Chapter 14: Chapter 14

In no time, three days had passed in a blink. Qiwan realised how slow time seemed to flow as she was away from the heavens. It made her, at the same time, worry about how her friends and her father were doing. The unease of having left everything behind also stressed her. She knew she couldn’t go further with Yingshang, even though she started to appreciate him during this time. Her conscience was telling her she had done wrong.

Behind closed doors, she found Yingshang to be the same person she had loved, a little mysterious and a little mischievous. The fact she was giving him false hope of being with him for eternity weighed heavily on her shoulders. She attempted to find time during dinner to tell him, but she found it increasingly arduous.

Qiwan couldn’t bear to hurt Yingshang’s feelings at this time. So, even if she had told herself that she would end it in a few days, she ended up giving herself another extension.

“All these places you have brought me, they seem familiar in my mind,” Qiwan said as they walked into a wheat field the next day.

Yingshang didn’t say a word. He continued walking through the field as if she had not said a word. She remembered running through the field with the disguised Fang Yiqi, which Yingshang didn’t even bother to deny was him.

Originally, she had thought that going on the mission and seeing Yingshang for the last time before she embraced her fate would make her happier. But she was feeling a lot worse now. She was conflicted between her duty to her father and family, and her sinful desire for Yingshang.

She couldn’t run away and hide in this mortal habitat forever with Yingshang. Honglie hadn’t told her about the vicious circumstances she would endure if she stayed too long, but she had a gist about it. Early in the morning, she had woken up coughing blood. Yingshang hadn’t noticed, but she knew her immortal essence was weakening the longer she stayed in that place. Surely there had to be a way, she hoped. She wasn’t ready to leave him just yet.

When she was leaning back and enjoying the warm bath that Yingshang had drawn for her, Honglie appeared.

“You’ve already taken your part of the offer,” the goddess smiled as she stroked Qiwan’s chin. Qiwan trembled, feeling cold under the warm water in the tub. If the goddess wanted her to die right now, she couldn’t live.

“Just… a few more days….” she stammered. “I still haven’t managed to tell him.”

There was nowhere that Honglie couldn’t travel to. Qiwan had probably underestimated her power; in return for her help, she usually wanted at least a trifold of what she had given.

“Three days is too long, Wen Qiwan. Just one day will do, and whether you’ve told him or not, you will return to where you came from. And I will claim my part of the bargain,” Honglie hissed, her tongue moving rapidly out of her mouth like a snake’s twisted fork.

Qiwan didn’t know what Honglie's claim was but she just nodded solemnly.

“Yes, My Lady. I will do as you order.”

She knew she was under Honglie’s control as Honglie muttered an incantation and pressed hard on Qiwan’s forehead. It wasn’t painful but she knew some magic was in place as she fell weakly under Honglie’s spell. A force held her beyond her will, even after the goddess vanished. It happened so quickly in just a few minutes, that she wasn’t aware of what was happening.

Climbing out of the tub as fast as she could, Qiwan dried herself hurriedly with a towel and slipped on her clothes. After seeing the goddess, she was starting to feel a bit dizzy. She didn’t know if it was a coincidence because she had woken up a bit uneasy. Six days with the God of Mischief’s mortal self had weakened her to the point of nausea. She was also a bit emotional.

“You took your time,” he laughed, glad to see her after her bath.

“I was filthy. It wasn’t easy, helping you get your fish to sell in the market!”

It was just the beginning between them in his eyes. They would, unlike in the heavens, bicker over trivial matters and behave like a newly-wed young couple. The fact she was clean did not keep his adventurous hands from her. Before she knew it, he crashed her lips upon hers once more. He loosened her robes, slipping naughtily under them. She didn’t care; it was the last day she would probably spend with him, and she let him do what he wanted.

All of a sudden, he pulled from her. She was taken aback by how the God of Mischief suddenly stopped far from his goals. When he wanted one thing, he would do what it takes to get to it, be it fishing or buying something he liked in the market. Even her. In their interactions in the immortal realm, he had commanded her against her will to submit to him, and he had almost achieved what he wanted then.

“Wan-er, I’ve been thinking about this for a very long time.” He gazed into her eyes sincerely, allowing her to realise he was serious.

“What is it, Brother Shang?” she leaned against him weakly, ignoring her robes hanging loosely around her petite figure.

“I am thinking of a mortal marriage.”

A mortal marriage? His words repeated themselves in her ears. While he was the God of Mischief, he had wanted her so despicably that she had little choice about it. But now, he was giving her a choice that she would have been so happy to accept, had they been in the heavens.

“I want to take you as my wife, Wan-er. Until the day we both return to the immortal realm, we will be together. I will love you for eternity.”

“Brother Shang, you can’t be serious about-”

She hadn’t completed her sentence when he cut her off with an abrupt kiss on her lips. Her eyes closed and she inhaled softly, feeling him push her down on the bed as he relieved her of her garments. Even without the spell, she had no power to resist him. His touch on her body teased her, making her arch her shoulders in anticipation of what would come next.

Her mouth filled with sounds she hadn’t paid attention to during the last six days. She didn’t know if it was the effect of her mortal desires or Honglie’s spell. He lined kisses all over her bare body, riddling her with all the sensuality she had ever felt in a lifetime.

It was, by comparison, much more than what she had felt during the tryst with ‘Fang Yiqi’. Yingshang was not holding back this time. He wanted her to feel all the love he had kept bottled up in his heart all this while when they were separated. She felt it so strongly that she forgot herself, that she was Wen Chang’s daughter or that she had an impending marriage to Di Qing. All she could focus on was the fact they were now one and she was his.

Then he stopped what he was doing, and helped her to sit up.

“Let’s get married now, Wan-er. If you’re willing.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks uncontrollably as she heard him say those words. He had made her wait so long for it, even disappeared without telling her goodbye, and in the one day that remained for them together, she now heard his request.

“I am willing,” she breathed out, and he clutched her tightly.

“I’ll never let you go, Wen Qiwan.”

She just cried on his shoulder, unable to tell him the thoughts in her mind. Even if he couldn’t let her go, she had to let him go.

And this was most likely the very last moment they would spend together.