The puppets inside the hall surged forward, while the puppets outside turned their heads in unison to look in the direction of the doors.
As the cold wind picked up, Fuguang ignored the puppets behind him and slowly reached out to caress the patterns on the doors.
Click, click, click.
The puppets’ eyes turned to his hand on the doors.
The palace doors slowly opened, but the space outside was empty. There was nothing there.
“No one is allowed to enter.”
Outside the hall, the puppet opened its stiff mouth, emitting a flat voice.
The puppets in the hall turned around in unison, taking identical steps to return to their original positions, standing silently against the wall.
The grand hall was empty, with only layers of fluttering gauze veiling the immobility of the space.
The cold wind had long since blown away the shallow footprints, leaving no trace behind. Fuguang held the pearl, staring blankly at the empty doorway, slowly lowering his eyelids. The pearl in his hand also quietly extinguished.
The cold wind blew against his pale cheeks. He slowly turned his head to look at the pitch-black hall, then turned around…
A warm hand grabbed his fingertips.carpreads.pages.dev
He turned around abruptly, looking at the empty space behind him, his grasped fingertips trembling slightly. He opened his mouth, but found that his voice seemed to have been carried away by the snowy wind that kept blowing into the hall.
The warm hand gradually moved up, trying to wrap around his entire cold hand. He looked down at the hand, wanting to hold her hand back, but he was too timid.
The hand seemed not to care about his hesitation and forcefully dragged him out of the dark and empty hall.
She pulled him over the steps and ran across the hard, slippery snow to the edge of the cliff, which was surrounded by wind and snow.
“I can’t leave.” Fuguang looked at the empty space ahead, his cheeks slightly flushed. His eyes were as bright as stars, as if someone had accompanied him as he ran out of the grand hall that was like a cage, crossed the icy path that he had walked countless times but always alone, and he was immensely satisfied.
“If I leave this place, the ten immortal cauldrons will quickly lose their spiritual power and will no longer be able to suppress the world’s misfortune.” Fuguang lowered his head, summoning all his courage, and slowly and gently held the hand that was holding his. “Little Senior Sister, I’m sorry, I can’t go home with you now.”
Underneath the mermaid yarn dress, Jiu Hui stared blankly at Immortal Lord Fuguang before her, or rather, her junior brother, Zhi You.
She clutched Fuguang’s hand tightly and took a deep breath. “You said that you’ve lived in the mountains since birth, so you’ve been living here?”
Fuguang nodded. He held Jiu Hui’s hand and flew to a piece of ice that could only accommodate two people. Looking at the puppets rushing over, Fuguang whispered, “In the entire Fuguang Mountain, only here can the puppets not follow. So I often fish for moonfish here and collect moon essence.”
Those densely packed puppets surrounded the boulder from below, looking like a group of hideous demons.
Jiu Hui could not imagine how many days and nights Fuguang had sat on the icy rock in the midst of the snowstorm to collect the moon essence and moonfish.
Above was the endless sky, around were wind and snow, ahead was the cage-like Fuguang Palace, and below were the omnipresent puppets.
She felt like she should say something to comfort Fuguang, but she couldn’t say anything at all.
Seeing that Jiu Hui didn’t speak, Fuguang explained awkwardly, “I’ve gotten used to this kind of life over the years, and I don’t feel too sad…”
A pair of hands hugged him tightly. The sudden warmth in his arms shattered all his words into nothingness. He lowered his head helplessly, his eyelids trembling slightly.
He knew he shouldn’t be held by Jiu Hui like this, but his little Senior Sister’s embrace was just too warm…
So he shamefully gave birth to a greedy heart and did not dodge this embrace.
“I should have guessed it earlier.” Jiu Hui whispered, “Your whole body is covered in the golden light of merit. How many people in the world can have more profound merit than you?”
However, the many formations of the Fuguang Palace and the spiritual energy that Immortal Lord Fuguang transmitted to the Ten Immortal Cauldrons confused her, making her believe that Fuguang had been living in seclusion in the mountains and had never been out.
If Zhi You hadn’t told her that he could keep Bu Ting’s injury from healing, and Nan Feng hadn’t said that the person who injured Bu Ting was Immortal Lord Fuguang, she still wouldn’t have been able to figure out the relationship between the two.
The past that Zhi You had told her about was the lonely years he had spent as Lord Fuguang.
If she had figured it out sooner, she would have found him sooner.
“It doesn’t matter.” Zhi You reached out and put his hand on Jiu Hui’s back. He only touched her lightly before carefully moving his hand away. He held her in the void but did not dare to truly touch her. “I’ve seen many landscapes and met many people by your side. Although my body is still on Fuguang Mountain, my heart is already free.”
He gouged out his own heart, split his own soul, dodged heavy surveillance and formations, and gained his freedom.
Stripped of his status as the Son of Destiny, he was merely seen as someone with average aptitude in the eyes of the major sects. No one paid him any attention, nor did anyone think he was irreplaceable.
That day in Wenxian City, he and Jiu Hui fell from the Wenxing School’s flying boat and landed in a muddy puddle.
She crawled out of the mud pit covered in filth. Her first act was to use an elixir to save the mortal lying on the ground, whose life hung in the balance. She didn’t even notice that he had fallen in the same place as her.
At that time, he secretly thought that she was dazzling, even covered in mud.
Jiu Hui noticed something strange about Fuguang’s body. She reached out to his chest, her hands trembling. “Where’s your heart?”
“It has always been by your side.” Fuguang had never thought of deceiving Jiu Hui. The biggest lie he had ever told her was when he said eighteen years was eighteen months.
“I am Zhi You, and Fuguang is also me.” Fuguang held his empty chest. “My mind and heart are connected to his. What he sees, thinks, and says are all me.”
“So, Little Senior Sister, don’t worry about me.” Fuguang tried to make himself smile more pleasantly. “This is already very good.”
“How can one be well when their body and soul are separated?” Jiu Hui was not an inexperienced young girl. “Using this soul-splitting technique, one must endure the pain of their heart and bones being devoured every day. True freedom should not be like this.”
Fuguang smiled. “But I’m very happy to have met you.”
Jiu Hui’s heart trembled slightly. She wanted to leave this suffocating place with Fuguang, regardless of the consequences.
“But how much longer will you be imprisoned here?” Jiu Hui’s throat was choked with emotion. “Fifty years, a hundred years, five hundred years, or for all eternity, until your soul is scattered?”
Fuguang laughed.
“Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?!” Jiu Hui cursed softly, glancing at the puppets under the ice. “Fuguang, I’ll find a way, I’ll definitely find a way, you have to believe me.”
Fuguang lifted a corner of the mermaid yarn garment. With his back to the puppet, he met Jiu Hui’s watery eyes. “I believe in you, Little Senior Sister.”
Fuguang’s appearance was almost identical to Zhi You’s, but Fuguang’s complexion was whiter, almost transparently so, and his eyes, which had never seen the light of day, held a pure divinity.
The face suddenly peeked into the mermaid yarn garment, and Jiu Hui suddenly had a feeling that she was a beautiful temptress who had lured the immortal into the mortal world. She was slightly stunned, looking at Fuguang who was within reach.
“I’m so happy.” The faint smile on Fuguang’s face lingered for a long time. “Finally, someone is accompanying me to sit here and watch the snow-covered Fuguang Mountain.”
He reluctantly pulled his head out of the mermaid yarn garment and looked up at the sky. “In another hour, the sun will rise. Little Senior Sister, watch the sunrise with me before you go.”
Jiu Hui leaned closer to Zhi You, sitting next to him. “Who said I was leaving today? It’s tiring to fly all the way here from Nushen Mountain.”
She grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at a puppet’s head, watching it spin around like a headless chicken. She threw a few more snowballs at the puppets. “The formation on the main gate of Fuguang Palace and the floor tiles is too complicated. I can’t guarantee that I won’t trigger the formation when I go in, which will attract the attention of the Ten Great Sects.”
Fuguang was satisfied, though. “It’s fine. It’s nice sitting outside.”
“Are you an idiot?” Jiu Hui poked Fuguang’s forehead. She was used to poking Zhi You, so she had no qualms about poking Fuguang’s body. “I can’t go in, but you can. After you watch the sunrise, you can carry me on your back and sneak me in.”
“Anyway, I’m wearing a mermaid yarn dress, so the puppet won’t be able to find me.” Jiu Hui had already made up her mind in her heart: “I’ll show you the place where I lived when I was a child, and then it’s your turn to take me to see where you live.”
“The place where I live…” Fuguang shook his head. “It’s boring and unremarkable.”
“Then I’ll go and have a look too. No one can stop my curiosity.” Jiu Hui whispered in his ear, “Maybe when I figure out all the formations in Fuguang Palace, I can free you from this hellhole.”
Fuguang was about to speak when he suddenly felt Jiu Hui lean on his shoulder.
“Don’t move, let me lean on you for a bit.” Jiu Hui yawned. “I’m a little sleepy after flying for half the night. When the sun is about to rise, remember to wake me up.”
“Alright.” Fuguang took out a snow-white cloak from his storage ring and pretended to put it on himself, but in fact, he wrapped Jiu Hui tightly in it.
He reached out and gently supported Jiu Hui’s back, looking up at the dark sky.
The snow wind was still howling. He looked down at his bare feet and realized that he had forgotten to put on his shoes.
“Here you go.” A pair of boots appeared on the ground. “Zhi You is still sleeping in the village. I stole the new shoes that Auntie Jiao made for him for you to wear.”
Fuguang wiped the snow off his feet, put his feet into his boots, and smiled, “I knew my Little Senior Sister would treat me the best.”
“Remember to wear shoes next time you go out.” Jiu Hui leaned on Fuguang’s shoulder again. “Otherwise, Zhi You will lose another pair of shoes.”
Listening to Jiu Hui’s muffled voice, Fuguang knew that she was really sleepy. He reached out and gently patted her on the back. “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when the sun rises.”
Jiu Hui slept peacefully, and Fuguang leaned against her, quietly waiting for the sunrise.
At this time, the ten great sects all saw on the jade wall that the light spot representing Immortal Lord Fuguang had stopped at the edge of Fuguang Cliff and had not moved. However, the Immortal Lord had always stayed in this place for the past few hundred years, so they had long been accustomed to it.
Only Qiu Hua looked up at the jade wall of the Qinglan School, a hint of astonishment on her face.
For years, Lord Fuguang would only stay here when the moon rose. When the moon set and before the sun rose, he would return to Fuguang Palace and no longer look at the scenery outside the palace.
She turned her head to look at the sky. The morning sun was about to rise. Why hadn’t Lord Fuguang left yet?
“Immortal Venerable, is there something wrong with Fuguang Mountain?” The Elder in charge of monitoring the jade wall saw that the Sect Master had been staring at the jade wall without leaving, and his heart was a little worried.
“It’s nothing.” Qiu Hua’s expression had already returned to normal. She shifted her gaze from the jade wall and turned her head to look at the eastern horizon. “The new day’s sun is about to rise.”
-—–
“So beautiful.” Jiu Hui opened her eyes in a daze, looking at the red clouds in the sky, and subconsciously tightened her mermaid yarn dress to keep it from slipping.
The first rays of the morning sun fell on Fuguang Mountain, and the entire mountain was dyed a reddish gold. She covered her face and said, “When it comes to reading, I regret not having read enough. Seeing such beautiful scenery, I can only praise it as ‘wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.’”
“To receive a compliment from you is its honor.” Fuguang chuckled. He looked at the increasingly bright sunrise in the sky. It turned out that the sunrise of Fuguang Mountain could be so beautiful.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the sun rise higher and higher until it became blinding.
Jiu Hui stood up, and Fuguang felt the space beside him become empty, so he looked beside him in alarm.
“Don’t move.” Jiu Hui patted his back. “Lie down and take me inside with you.”
Jiu Hui jumped onto Fuguang’s back and noticed that her feet were exposed from under her mermaid yarn dress. She quickly pulled her feet back in. “Let’s go, let’s go.”
Fuguang blushed and whispered, “Then I’ll have to offend you.”
“What?” Jiu Hui asked, wrapping her arms around Fuguang’s neck and whispering in his ear, “What are you offending?”
“N-nothing.” Fuguang supported Jiu Hui, flying down from the ice rock and landing on the flat ground.
He could have flown directly into the hall, but his shameful greed led him to walk on the slippery ice with Jiu Hui on his back.
His neck and earlobes turned as red as if they were about to drip blood from his scalding breath.
The puppets guarding the palace saw Fuguang returning and dispersed from under the ice stones, standing quietly in the wind and snow.
Stepping onto the steps, Fuguang said to the person behind him, “We’re going in.”
He lifted his foot and stepped through the gate. The formation on the gate didn’t react at all. He stepped in with his other foot, and still there was no reaction.
Inside the hall, Jiu Hui didn’t dare to use sound transmission technique, for fear of being discovered by one of the thousands of formations in the hall. She looked at the puppets standing against the wall and gently patted his right shoulder.
Fuguang paused in his steps and turned to enter the back hall on the right. The scattered letters on the floor were so numerous that it was almost impossible to step down. Jiu Hui glanced at these letters, most of which were various reports and letters from major sects.
Continuing further in, there was a back room filled with countless top-grade magic weapons. Fuguang ignored the two puppets following him and stuffed several magic weapons into his cloak.
Jiu Hui instantly understood that this was to help Fuguang transfer the good stuff, so she took the magic weapons and put them all into her own storage ring.
When Fuguang opened the small door next to him, countless spirit stones and spirit marrows gushed out like a fountain. Jiu Hui hurriedly poked his shoulder and simply took off her storage ring, stuffing it directly into Fuguang’s hand.
Transfer, transfer as hard as you can.
Fuguang swept his sleeve, and all the spirit stones on the ground entered Jiu Hui’s storage ring.
Moon essence?
If Jiu Hui needed it, give it to her.
Metalware and jade pendants?
Jiu Hui might like it, pretend to give it to her!
A flying boat and building worth a fortune?
All of them were for Jiu Hui.
His brewed wine?
Let Jiu Hui bring back to the sect and secretly give to the Senior Brothers and Sisters to drink.
Rare and precious spiritual herbs and elixirs in the world?
The master and sect uncles might need them, so transfer them all.
The storage ring couldn’t fit it? No problem, prepare two more for Jiu Hui.
The cultivation techniques of the yao clan?
He also equipped Jiu Hui with them, thinking that it might come in handy.
Fuguang stepped on the letters from the major sects, searching for everything that could be used, and packed it all for Jiu Hui. If it weren’t for the formation on the wall, he would have wanted to dig out the formation gems on the wall.
During that year at Wangshu Pavilion, Lord Fuguang, who had always been aloof and above the mundane world, finally became a mortal who sought benefits for his sect.
He sighed softly as he looked at the enormous gemstone on the wall. Finally, he turned his gaze to the glazed tiles on the ceiling, wondering if the Ten Great Sects would notice if he removed a few of them.
Sensing his intention, Jiu Hui quickly pinched his earlobe. That wouldn’t do. She had seen the blueprints of the Fuguang Palace, and there was also a formation on the spiritual glazed tiles.
Fuguang felt a little regretful. He would wait until next time. After the new year, the ten major sects would come to pay tribute with spirit stones and spirit treasures. As long as the spirit stones did not have special markings, they could all be given to Jiu Hui.
He looked back at the top-grade magic weapons, but unfortunately, these magic weapons were too conspicuous to be taken back to Wangshu Pavilion.
The puppets had no idea what Fuguang was doing. They had no intelligence or consciousness. As long as Fuguang did not leave Fuguang Mountain and no living beings entered Fuguang Mountain, they would not react in any special way.
Fuguang carried Jiu Hui back to his bedchamber, the place where he had lived for five hundred and six years. Jiu Hui noticed an empty flowerpot on the desk. The flowerpot was carved out of a whole piece of jade marrow stone, and a green garlic chive leaf pattern was painted on the belly of the pot.
She looked at this room, and for some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity.
Fuguang lifted the layers of gauze curtains and carried Jiu Hui to the bedside. The entire Fuguang Palace was covered in formations, except for his bed.
He placed Jiu Hui on the bed, lowered the bed curtains, and took out paper and a brush.
[There is no formation on the bed.]
He didn’t mean anything else.
Jiu Hui took the paper and brush and wrote a sentence on the paper.
[The blanket is so soft, can I go to sleep?]
Fuguang nodded with a red face and burning ears. He looked at the small mound bulging under the covers and fumbled to cover Jiu Hui with the blanket.
This was his bed, and his little Senior Sister… didn’t disdain him at all.
Fuguang felt his face flush from his feet to the top of his head. He looked at the paper on the bedside table, folded it up, and tucked it close to his body. He hid Jiu Hui’s shoes in his storage ring, and his mind was filled with thoughts of whether Jiu Hui had fallen asleep.
Jiu Hui reached out and grabbed Fuguang’s busy but clueless hands. She whispered in his ear, “Do you want to sleep with me?”
Boom!
Fuguang felt his mind was even more chaotic than the wind and snow outside the hall. He opened his mouth and waved his hands rapidly.
No, no!
Jiu Hui was slightly taken aback when she saw Fuguang’s reaction. She then realized that in her little junior brother’s eyes, she was a young girl, not a garlic chive.
After staying in Shanghuang Village for a while, she almost forgot about such an important matter.
Seeing that Fuguang’s face was redder than the rising sun, Jiu Hui took out a small notebook from her storage ring and drew a little person on it with a pen. She then drew a garlic chive next to the little person.
Fuguang saw a horizontal line drawn next to the little person, and two words were written after it—Fuguang.
Then another horizontal line appeared behind the garlic chive, with a single word written on it—me.
It was not appropriate for a young man and a young woman to be on the bed together, but it didn’t matter if it’s a person and grass.
Upon seeing this scene, Fuguang instantly calmed down, even though he had just been hit in the head with a huge snow mountain.
Jiu Hui saw that Fuguang was stunned and speechless, and thought that he still didn’t know her identity, so she added a few more words after the word “I”.
[I’m a yao, not a human.]
So there was no need to be too particular about the mundane etiquette of the mortal world.
Fuguang managed to hook the corner of his lips with difficulty. At this moment, he wished that Jiu Hui would care more about some mortal customs.
After revealing her true identity, Jiu Hui felt at ease as she curled up in her bed, closed her eyes, and drifted into a sweet slumber.
Fuguang watched her sleeping, her little head accidentally exposed from her mermaid yarn clothes. After a long while, he sighed softly and pulled her mermaid yarn clothes back up.
There should not have been any love affairs in the world to bother the Little Senior Sister, even if this person was him.
The sun was high in the sky when there was movement under the covers. Fuguang, who was sitting by the bed, quickly took out some pastries from his sleeve. A hand reached out and took the food from him.
Fuguang’s eyebrows were filled with a smile. It was already very good to be able to do this.
A formation on the wall flickered. Fuguang looked out the window and said softly, “The people from the Ten Great Sects are here.”
Upon hearing this, Jiu Hui stopped eating her snack, quickly wrapped herself in the mermaid yarn, and sat cross-legged on the bed, waiting to watch the excitement.
“Bu Ting of the Jiutian Sect, here to plead guilty to the Immortal Lord.” Bu Ting knelt on one knee outside the palace door. “Bu Ting knows he is at fault and is willing to give up his position as Sect Master of the Jiutian Sect to atone for his past sins.”
The palace doors swung open, and Lord Fuguang’s voice drifted out.
“What you did wrong was not just trespassing the Fuguang Palace.” Fuguang walked to the entrance of the palace and looked down at Bu Ting. “You used the disciple of the Changshou Palace another sect as bait. Yin Ji and the Demon Princess attacked the people of Taolin City. That is your real mistake as the Sect Master.”
Bu Ting did not expect Fuguang to know about these things. He looked up at Fuguang and asked, “Immortal Lord, where did you hear these rumors?”
“Rumors?” Fuguang retorted, “The cultivation world isn’t just your Jiutian Sect. If your Jiutian Sect doesn’t report it, can’t it still reach my ears?”
Bu Ting suppressed the shock in his heart. Could it be that the other nine sects had secretly reported these matters to Fuguang?
“Bu Ting,” Fuguang said, “If a person falls into obsession, they will be doomed forever. You have too many obsessions, and there will come a time when you will reap the bitter fruit of your own actions.”
Bu Ting stood up and said, “Immortal Lord, you live in seclusion on Fuguang Mountain, and you don’t care about worldly affairs. How would you know what obsession is?”
“Are you saying that I shouldn’t live here?” Fuguang’s eyebrows twitched slightly. “Good, I’ll leave Fuguang Mountain today and stop being an Immortal Lord who doesn’t care about worldly affairs. Will that satisfy you, Sect Master Bu?”
“My words were inappropriate.” Bu Ting cupped his hands and said, “Please forgive me, Immortal Lord.”
The current Lord Fuguang spoke with a sharpness that surprised him.
“Since you don’t want to be the sect master, let someone else do it.” Fuguang sent Bu Ting flying with a palm strike, his tone indifferent. “I don’t care about worldly affairs. You don’t need to ask me about such trivial matters.”
“Immortal Lord Fuguang, please calm your anger.” Nan Feng entered through the wind and snow barrier. His cultivation was limited, and the wind and snow on Fuguang Mountain left him covered in wounds. He walked outside the palace and bowed deeply to Fuguang. “Junior Nan Feng pays his respects to Immortal Lord Fuguang.”
Fuguang shifted slightly to the side, avoiding his kowtow. “Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, there’s no need for such formality.”
Nan Feng stole a glance at Fuguang, who was wearing a mask. Senior, you’re addressing my master directly by his name and calling me a fellow Daoist. Wasn’t that a bit inappropriate?
However, he only glanced at him and didn’t dare to look again.
“Come into the hall to talk.” Fuguang remembered Jiu Hui who was still on the bed and knew that she would definitely want to watch the excitement, so he decided to bring the master and disciple into the hall.
“Qinglan School’s Qiu Hua pays respect to Lord Fuguang.”
“Huai Yan of Changshou Palace pays respect to Lord Fuguang.”
“Junior Yuzhen Sect Jin Qingqiu pays respect to Lord Fuguang.”
“Wenxing School…”
Fuguang watched as the nine great sects arrived together. He glanced at Bu Ting, who was still lying on the ground vomiting blood, and said calmly, “The last time I saw you all at the same time was five hundred years ago.”
Everyone recalled the skinny and young Fuguang back then, and they were too ashamed to look up. Only Jin Qingqiu, who had not participated in the incident back then, secretly lifted his eyelids and glanced at the legendary Immortal Lord.
“Even though we haven’t seen each other for five hundred years, you all are still as taciturn as ever, which is quite in keeping with the tranquility of this Fuguang Palace.”
Everyone lowered their heads even further: “…”
We are as silent as ever, but you, old man, are quite sharp-tongued.
Every sentence was free of obscenities, yet every sentence stabbed at the heart.
Author’s Note
Fuguang: Standing before you is no longer the Fuguang of the past, but the evolved version of Zhi You, the Fuguang PLUS who has been influenced by Little Senior Sister and Wangshu Pavilion.
Little Garlic Chive: hiding at the head of the bed, watching the excitement. How thrilling!