In front of the ruins, Bai Shuo, who had just been teased, froze and seemed to drift away for a moment.
For all these years she had played the obedient child and the clown, hiding every thorn and every bit of her temper. She had done it to stay alive in this strange, chaotic world of immortals and demons, where it seemed anyone could crush her. Nobody wants to die, but it was not fear of death that drove her. She needed a long life because only then did she have even the smallest hope of keeping the promise she had made to that person.
A hundred years, a thousand years, wait for me. Wait until I become an immortal, and I will find you and repay you.
From that night on, her whole life seemed to exist for this alone. Her obsession weighed more than her own life.
Yet Hua Hong said she had not hidden her temper well. Why?
Bai Shuo did not even need to ask herself. She was simply angry. But angry at what? That the Palace Lord of Haoyue Palace had brought back a stranger without asking questions? That he had used his divine power for that girl despite his injuries?
Neither. What angered her was that Fan Yue's favor and his special treatment were no longer hers alone.
Realization came late, but when it did, the confusion in her eyes cleared. She turned to Hua Hong.
Hua Hong folded her arms and smiled. "Figured it out?"
Bai Shuo nodded, turned, and ran toward Fan Yue's residence without a moment's hesitation. If she was displeased and puzzled, she would go and ask him directly, and say what she had to say.
Hua Hong laughed and muttered, "She really doesn't dither."
Bai Shuo ran the whole way. Near the residence, her steps stopped, and she looked up.
Under the boundless moonlight, Fan Yue stood on the stone pavilion in his black robe, gazing at the moon.
The light fell on his profile, his brows dark as ink. Bai Shuo's heart skipped a beat, and she slowed down. She had a heart full of questions and a heart full of things to say.
"Is there really no way to take the demonic power out of her body?"
Bai Shuo paused. He was not speaking to her.
Inside the pavilion, Long Yi flew out of some corner and grumbled, "It's not that there isn't."
Fan Yue lowered his eyes and stared straight at him.
The pig fluttered up in front of Fan Yue. "All demonic power in the world comes from the Demon God, Jing Yuan. If you could find the Demon God, of course you could take it out. But nobody knows where the Demon God is."
Fan Yue's gaze swept over him, and Long Yi hurriedly raised one wing. "Easy, easy. We can't find the Demon God, but I know where the Demon-Gathering Banner is. It's the Demon God's artifact and can command all demons. It holds a trace of the Demon God's true divine power. It could definitely draw the demonic power out of that girl."
Impatience had already crept into Fan Yue's eyes. Long Yi did not wait to be asked and cheerfully raised his other wing. "The banner is on Jingyou Mountain."
Fan Yue's eyes sharpened. "The fox clan?"
Long Yi flapped his wings. "You're not thinking of splitting the barrier around Jingyou Mountain, are you?"
"And if I am?"
Long Yi choked. "Let me tell you, if you're going to make trouble, you need some self-awareness. Hong Yi set that barrier. Never mind that you're injured now. Even at the peak of your divine power..."
Fan Yue plainly was not listening. Long Yi finally couldn't help asking, "She wouldn't be the person you've been searching for all these years, would she?"
The question had been asked with purpose, and it stopped both of them, one inside the pavilion and one below it.
Who was the Great Demon looking for? Bai Shuo had only ever known Fan Yue as the Palace Lord of Haoyue Palace. But who had he been before he became the Palace Lord? Had there ever been someone he cared about, someone he kept hidden in his heart?
At that moment Bai Shuo was desperately tense. She raised her head slightly and waited for his answer.
"This Lord has never seen her face clearly," Fan Yue said evenly. "But this Lord knows that she is connected to that person."
"Only connected? And you'd take this risk for that? What you should be doing is gathering the rest of the bodhi wood. If you can't, you'll die!" Long Yi snapped, smoldering.
"Isn't this the very reason this Lord became a god?"
Only ten words, spoken lightly and calmly. Bai Shuo's hand tightened in her sleeve, and her chest was so tight she could hardly breathe.
Long Yi was speechless. He sighed and turned to look at the silver moon hanging in the sky.
Beside the moon, the stars glimmered faintly, dim and unclear. Long Yi thought it had been many years since the world had a sky full of stars.
"Then what about Bai Shuo?"
Bai Shuo's head snapped up.
Yes, what about her?
Fan Yue, what am I to you?
Never in her life had Bai Shuo felt such anguish.
Not when she fled with Chong Zhao. Not when she nearly died in the evil dragon's claws. Perhaps not even when Mumu vanished before her eyes.
But she got no answer. The same Fan Yue who had just said so easily that becoming a god was for this never spoke. It was as if he hadn't heard Long Yi's question at all, or found it too tiresome to answer.
When Fan Yue came down from the pavilion, he saw only Hua Hong, frowning. The place where Bai Shuo had stood was already empty.
"Palace Lord, there are times I really can't make you out." Hua Hong stretched and said coolly, "If you don't care, why do all this?"
Fan Yue seemed not to hear. He did not stop and walked straight past.
"Hah, and he still acts so grand." Hua Hong snorted, reached out, and pinched Long Yi the pig's wing between her fingers. She narrowed her eyes. "Pig, what are you scheming? Jingyou Mountain isn't a place you can storm just because you feel like it. Besides the Phoenix Island, only the fox clan has been passed down since ancient times. Do you think that half-god Chang Mei is a vegetarian?"
"Don't slander a pig! I did try to stop him, but I couldn't. If you can do better, go ahead." Long Yi the pig rolled his eyes and tried to slip out of Hua Hong's grip as lightly as he had last time. This time Hua Hong did not let him. The Heaven-Burning Staff came down without hesitation, straight at the pig.
It was the power of a High Lord at her peak, and in an instant fire exploded in all directions. Never mind the pig, half the palace would have been smashed through.
At that moment a layer of spiritual light suddenly wrapped around Long Yi the pig. It looked thin and not at all strong, yet the Heaven-Burning Staff could not advance another inch.
Hua Hong's expression went from careless to cold. Inside the light, a slender hand caught the staff. Long Yi had turned into a boy. He flicked it lightly and the Heaven-Burning Staff flew back into Hua Hong's hand, leaving her palm numb.
What on earth was this pig? Hua Hong was shaken inside, but showed nothing on her face.
When she met Fan Yue, this pig was already at his side. She had never asked about Fan Yue's origins because they didn't matter to her, but Long Yi's existence was a delicate matter. Loyal to Fan Yue? In all her years in Haoyue Palace, apart from the time he stopped Fu Ling on Muxiao Mountain in the mortal realm, she had never seen Long Yi lift a finger, whatever danger Fan Yue was in. The fox clan was hiding the Demon-Gathering Banner. He could have kept quiet. Telling Fan Yue was no different from urging him to go.
"I won't harm him," Long Yi said, as if he had guessed what she was thinking. He yawned, walked past Hua Hong, and let the words drop slowly behind him.
"Forgot to tell you. Yesterday, at Yuanling Marsh, they ran into Chong Zhao."
So that was it. Hua Hong needed no more than her toes to work out what was wrong with Fan Yue.
There was no need to ask how much Chong Zhao meant to Bai Shuo. Everyone had seen her broken arm, and how she had put her life on the line to protect him in the Phoenix Hall.
With his temper, Fan Yue had not asked a single question in all this year, only sulked. Yesterday's encounter at Yuanling Marsh was probably enough to bring out the fire he'd bottled up for a year.
"Good grief, so loyal. When we go back to Taichu Palace, there may not even be a place left for me to stand." Far off, Long Yi mumbled and muttered to himself.
Hua Hong was too far away to hear. She shouldered the Heaven-Burning Staff and briskly headed for Bai Shuo's residence.
The little half-immortal was tough and full of schemes, but she was so clever she was nearly a demon, and she had a flaw: she was afraid of being hurt and afraid of being abandoned. After finally seeing her own heart clearly and gathering all her courage to run over, she hadn't received a single answer. Never mind Haoyue Palace, not even the Nine Heavens Palace could keep her.
Meanwhile, Bai Shuo had returned to her own residence, soaked in a comfortable bath, climbed into bed without delay, and fallen straight asleep. She slept so soundly, so utterly without a care, that Hua Hong, who had kept watch outside for half the night, nearly thought she had misjudged her.
Early the next morning the door opened. Up in a tree, Hua Hong woke and rubbed her eyes. She watched the girl with a small bundle on her back walk silently into the wind and snow, and nearly whistled.
What had she said? Not even the heavens could outcalculate her.
Bai Shuo trudged through the snow of the Northern Realm, one foot deep and one foot shallow. The north wind scraped her face and nearly knocked her over. She touched her stinging cheek and gave a short laugh.
"How silly, Bai Shuo. You're a High Lord now. You can fly."
With a whoosh she shot straight up. She used too much force and went rather high. Hua Hong, trailing not far behind, hadn't expected this sudden move and was about to stop her when, with a bang, spiritual power scattered in the air. The little half-immortal had hit a silver barrier. The barrier did not budge, and Bai Shuo plunged to the ground like a shooting star.
Boom. The snow caved in under her. Bai Shuo scrambled out of the crater, dizzy and disoriented, looked up at the shimmering barrier in the air, and her face darkened.
Not far off, Hua Hong nearly burst out laughing. This barrier had been taken down the moment Bai Shuo entered Haoyue Palace a year ago. When had it been put back up?
Well. Her Palace Lord really did have eight hundred schemes in him.
"What were you thinking? The three Demon Kings of the demon realm all have fearsome reputations. Do you think you can walk in and out of their lairs as you please?"
A familiar voice came from next door, and it really was next door. Bai Shuo turned her head. Mu Jiu was lying in a pit in the snow, looking at her across the barrier.
"What are you doing here?"
"What else? I've been at it all night. I really can't open a half-god's barrier, so I figured I'd see if I could dig a hole and crawl in."
Bai Shuo looked at the pit in the snow and, for the first time in her life, was left speechless. "Everyone says you're clever. I think you insult the word."
"Insult me all you like, little half-immortal. Against absolute strength, stupidity has its uses. As long as I dig deep enough, she'll surely see it, and maybe she'll even let me in." Mu Jiu dug at his ear and pretended not to hear.
Not far off, Hua Hong looked at Mu Jiu's face and, absurdly, felt embarrassed on his behalf.
Bai Shuo eyed the barrier, propped up her chin, and suddenly said, "This wasn't here when I arrived." She thought for a moment and turned to look back at Haoyue Palace. "It wasn't here when I went out yesterday, either."
Mu Jiu was baffled. "What does that mean?"
Bai Shuo turned back to him, in a very good mood, and concluded, "It means you're unlucky."
Mu Jiu felt that the little half-immortal's mood had somehow improved. His eye fell on the small bundle on her back and he blurted out, "You're not running away from your wedding, are you?"
Bai Shuo blinked. "What wedding?"
"It's all over the place outside. They say you're the sweetheart the Palace Lord of Haoyue Palace has been looking for all these years, that he'd defy the entire immortal race to bring you, a little half-immortal, back to Haoyue Palace, and that he's going to marry you as Palace Lady soon. But others say that little half-immortal from Piaomiao Island is trapped in Haoyue against her will. She gave herself to the demons willingly, to beg the Palace Lord of Haoyue to save her beloved Chong Zhao on Wutong Phoenix Island. So, little half-immortal, which of those two rumors is true?"
Bai Shuo had listened to the first half with great interest, but the second half was a monstrous misunderstanding. She was just about to protest when a silver light flashed and Fan Yue landed in front of the barrier.
Hua Hong quietly drew back the foot she had been about to step forward with. That fox had asked at exactly the wrong time. He was asking for it.
Fan Yue's gaze fell on Bai Shuo's bundle, and his eyes turned cold. Ice and snow swirled across the sky, and Mu Jiu couldn't help it. He sneezed from the cold.
"Palace Lord, I..." Bai Shuo began, but at the first word the ice in Fan Yue's eyes seemed to freeze solid. He seized her wrist, there was a flash of spiritual light, and they were gone, straight back into Haoyue Palace.
Hua Hong clapped her hands and was about to leave when she heard movement behind her.
She turned and saw the little fox wrapped in wind and snow, shivering with cold, still digging.
Hua Hong took a few steps and swung out the Heaven-Burning Staff, hauling the fox out of the pit and into the barrier. He landed with a mouthful of snow.
"A-Huo!" Mu Jiu beamed, scrambled up, and hurried after her. "Did you see me digging and come specially to fetch me?"
"Shut up."
Hua Hong's forehead twitched. She strode on through the wind and snow and did not see the corner of Mu Jiu's mouth curve up.
The little half-immortal had hit the barrier and made such a commotion that Fan Yue was bound to come and see. And as the foremost general of Haoyue Palace, the Heavenfire Demon Lord, how could she not come and have a look?
Honestly, this master and servant of Haoyue Palace were so easy to fool.