A silver butterfly fluttered its wings and landed on the willow branches in the small courtyard.
Inside the ancient cave on the side of the Jade Void Mountain , the scent of chicken was overflowing. On a large round table, there were about ten roasted chickens hot and smoking, and people were sitting around the table, chatting among themselves.
Feng Yu Die stood blankly on the stage, looking at the people below. She felt her head spinning and didn't know why she was standing there, and why she was wearing a big red robe.
Suddenly, Master Taixu's voice came from behind. "Yu Die, what are you still standing there for? Go and bring the bride to the hall for the ceremony."
Feng Yu Die turned around and saw her master sitting on the high seat. Her eyes widened, but she soon came to her senses and asked in a low voice, "Ma...Master?! Haven't you... already... passed away?"
Hearing this, Master Taixu frowned. She grabbed a red date from the table next to her and smashed it on her forehead. "You brat, are you cursing me to die? I should have sold you for wine money."
"Ah..." Feng Yu Die rubbed her forehead, pursed her lips, and lowered her head timidly. "But, I remember you..."
"Forget it." Master Taixu waved her hand as she shook her head helplessly, and then pointed behind her with her chin. "The bride is still waiting for you there, go and pick her up. The stork will come to deliver the baby soon."
"..."
Feng Yu Die was silent for a moment, then slowly turned her head toward where Master Taixu was pointing, only to see a silhouette wearing a red veil standing in front of the courtyard gate.
After a pause, she looked back at the other person sitting next to Master Taixu on the high seat.
Seeing that it was Patriarch Ye of the Hundred Lotus Sect, she realized that the one in the red veil was...
"Sister... Sister Pei?"
"..."
Feng Yu Die's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, and she no longer wondered about the current scene. She immediately ran over, gently pulled the sleeves of the woman in the wedding dress, and took her to the stage.
Master Taixu nodded to them with a smile, flicked the horsetail whisk in her hand, and suddenly, there was a sound of flapping wings in the sky.
A stork, holding a basket in its beak, landed from the sky in front of the two.
In the basket, the baby, with only a few silver strands of hair on his head, was sucking his right thumb, sleeping sweetly.
Master Taixu stood up with a smile and spread her hands. "Yu Die, this is your baby... Hurry and pick him up."
"Pick... Pick him up? Oh..."
Feng Yu Die paused shortly after hearing this and glanced at the bride beside her. She pursed her lips shyly, but finally mustered up her courage, took a deep breath, and gently held the bride's shoulders.
"Sister Pei... I will treat you well for the rest of my life."
She licked her lips, moistening them with saliva, grabbed a corner of the red veil, lifted it, and then saw Ye Anping's face behind it.
Ye Anping, with light rouge applied on his face, was looking at her calmly with his deep purple eyes.
Looking at her calmly.
Looking at her calmly.
Calmly...
...
"Ha---!"
An inhaling sound broke the tranquility in the pavilion.
Feng Yu Die sat up suddenly, gasping for breath. After realizing it was a dream, she felt slightly more at ease, covering her chest and sighing.
"...Hoo--"
She closed her eyes for a while, then turned her head and looked at the window, watching the moonlight shine through. She was at a loss for a while before remembering what happened before.
"I seem to have fought with the Demon King..."
Feng Yu Die murmured, slowly lowering her head to look at her collar. It seemed that Sister Pei or Sister Xiao had changed her clothes while she was asleep. She was now wearing a loose snow-white robe.
Pulling open the collar, she could see a bandage stained with a bit of blood wrapped around her chest.
Underneath the bandage, the words "Blessed by Heaven" and "Ye Anping" were imprinted.
These words looked like some kind of seal, but more like the branding iron type of print, not on the skin, but underneath it.
Feng Yu Die tried to rub it off with her fingers but found that it couldn't be removed. With a dark face, she looked around and called out.
"Xiao Tian."
"..."
"Xiao Tian!!"
"..."
Xiao Tian did not respond.
Feng Yu Die pouted slightly, looked around, then got off the bed, walking barefoot to the door before pushing it open two inches.
The rooms on the second floor of the inn were all dark. It seemed that Pei Lianxue and the others had already gone to bed.
Feng Yu Die looked toward Pei Lianxue's room and hesitated for a while. Then, she tiptoed to the door, struggled to find an excuse, and raised her hand to knock. But before her hand touched the door, she suddenly heard a flute sound coming from the roof.
Siiiiii♪--- Siiiii♪♪---
The sound of the flute was melodious and clear. Although it was late at night, it did not seem annoying. Instead, it was just the right accompaniment to the moonlit night.
Feng Yu Die's ears twitched slightly, and her eyes suddenly widened after listening for a while. Looking around, she saw that there was a ladder to the roof right around the corner, so she hurriedly went there.
This tune was written by her master.
When she was a child, her master would go to the top of the mountain and play this song on a jade flute every time the moon was bright.
Feng Yu Die didn't think it was her master, but this song shouldn't have been heard by anyone other than her master and her.
Climbing the ladder, she slowly pushed open the skylight leading to the roof and poked her head out. Then, she saw a handsome young man in blue sitting on the roof tiles, holding a jade flute and playing slowly.
Under the moonlight, Ye Anping's body seemed to be emitting a faint dreamlike halo, and Feng Yu Die was stunned on the stairs, holding the cover of the skylight on her head.
Shortly after, the song ended, and she came to her senses.
Ye Anping put down the jade flute, and Xiao Tian, who had been lying on his head, clapped her hands and praised. "Anping, you played so well! I just told you the score once, and you memorized it!"
"Heh..."
Ye Anping shook his head and smiled wryly, inexplicably a little nostalgic.
Just now, wandering around, he found a jade flute, so he asked Xiao Tian to teach him a song so that he could show off to his sister. However, he didn't expect that the song Xiao Tian taught him was the background music of the login interface of the "Heavenly Sword Fantasy" game.
Xiao Tian blinked, sensing someone staring at her. She looked around and saw Feng Yu Die's head sticking out of the skylight and peeking out. Her eyes lit up, and she flew over quickly.
"Yu Die?! Are you awake?!"
"Yeah, I'm awake..." Feng Yu Die nodded slightly. She climbed up the stairs, walked carefully on the tiles to Ye Anping's side, and stared at his face intently.
The moonlight shone on Feng Yu Die, who was now dressed in white, and made her look vivid. The autumn wind at night made her silver silken hair flutter.
Ye Anping felt a little uneasy being stared at, and he asked in confusion, "What? Why are you staring at me like that? What's on my face?"
Feng Yu Die was silent for a while, then picked up her skirt and sat down, hugging her knees. "I had a dream."
"Hmm... what dream?"
"I dreamed that you were wearing a wedding dress and a red veil and married me."
?
Ye Anping was stunned for a long time and asked back, "... So?"
Feng Yu Die rested her face on her knees, turned to look at Ye Anping, and blinked. "You look pretty good in a wedding dress, hehe..."
Ye Anping raised his hand helplessly, grabbed her face, and twisted it hard. "Asking for a beating, eh? I even prepared a roasted chicken for you, it seems you don't want it right?"
"Ah?! Roasted chicken..." Feng Yu Die heard the magic words and giggled. "...Just kidding, I didn't say anything, no."
Ye Anping rolled his eyes at her, sighed, then took out a roasted chicken wrapped in oilcloth from the storage bag, and handed it over.
"Here."
"Hehe..."
Feng Yu Die looked at the roasted chicken with shining eyes. She took it, tore off the oilcloth, and started gorging herself without caring whether the oil would fall on her white clothes.
Ye Anping watched her eat for a while, then he rested his head on his palm and lay on the roof, looking at the mountains in the east and waiting for the sunrise.
After Feng Yu Die gnawed the roasted chicken until only the bones were left, she also collapsed beside him with a satisfied look on her face and patted her slightly bulging belly, letting out a cute burp. "Burp~~~"
She turned her head slightly and glanced at Ye Anping's profile as he stared intently into the distance. Suddenly, her mind wandered off, but after a pause, she subconsciously reacted and raised her hand to punch Ye Anping in the face.
?!
Ye Anping didn't even anticipate that this bastard would suddenly throw a punch and hurriedly raised his hand to block, but it was still a step too late. The fist landed directly on his nose.
Bam---
Ye Anping looked at Feng Yu Die with twitching eyes and gritted his teeth. "What... the hell... are you... doing? 💢 Huh?"
"Oops..."
Feng Yu Die came back to her senses after hearing the voice. She timidly shrank her neck, waving her hand as if she wanted to help him rub it. "Ah... Sorry. Master Ye, are you... are you okay?"
"..."
Ye Anping looked at her flustered appearance in silence. After all, it wasn't the first time that she acted crazy. He simply held his breath, raised his hand, and straightened his crooked nose with a 'click'.
Then, he reached out and twisted Feng Yu Die's right cheek.
Feng Yu Die hastily begged for mercy, her cheeks slightly flushed, and lowered her head. "Ay, ay, ouch... I'm sorry, I just... I felt like you were seducing me again... so..."
?
Ye Anping stared at her for a while before slowly withdrawing his hand. "The Demon King wants the Heavenly Dao Scroll and will inevitably come after both of us. This matter can't be resolved without a fight. I have no chance of surviving in front of him, but you can at least stay alive. Through the Black Moon Routine , one can use the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal to draw energy from the spiritual veins under the Heavenly Gate City . As long as the person is not dead, they can be saved."
"Why on earth does he want the Heavenly Dao Scroll ?"
Ye Anping answered with a shrug. "That fox used to be quite infatuated. Thousands of years ago, his cultivation partner died, but her body was never found. He didn't even know where she died or at whose hands. For thousands of years, he had searched for the answer to this question, but, unfortunately, he found nothing. In the end, he had to put his hopes on the Heavenly Dao Scroll ."
Feng Yu Die was slightly surprised, and asked with a raised eyebrow, "Well, can't he just ask? What's the big deal? I can help him check. He doesn't have to just draw his sword without saying anything..."
"You are a human cultivator. Do you think he will believe your side of the story?"
"Well... There's that."
Ye Anping shook his head with a sigh. "Over the past thousands of years, Hu Mu has asked many people, but most of these people only wanted to use him to help them get rid of someone."
Feng Yu Die held her chin, thought for a while, then nodded. "Driving the tiger to devour the wolf?"
"Hu Mu's cultivation partner has been dead for so many years, and the clues and evidence are long gone. If he wants to track down the murderer now, he can only rely on the Heavenly Dao Scroll that records the events from ten thousand years ago that took place in the Immortal Realm ."
Feng Yu Die turned to look at Xiao Tian and found that she was hiding far away. A little confused, she asked, "Xiao Tian, why are you so far away?"
"Ah... hehe." Xiao Tian wanted to give the two of them some space to be alone, but when she heard Feng Yu Die calling her, she flew over and asked, "No, it's nothing. Yu Die, what do you want me to do?"
"Check the matter of Hu Mu's cultivation partner."
"I already checked when Anping told me earlier. His partner died at the hands of the Heavenly Demonic Sect's Patriarch, and that fox demon's name was Hu Yulan. She sacrificed her life in order to save Bai Yurou, a cultivator she had followed to the Eastern Region ."
"Bai Yurou? Who is that?"
Ye Anping picked up the conversation. "The last person who owned the Heavenly Dao Scroll ; a disciple of the Bright Star Sect and a close friend of Hu Mu. It's a pity that although Hu Yulan helped her stop the leader of the Heavenly Demonic Sect, she still didn't escape from the East Region alive and died from the demonic poison."
"So..."
As Feng Yu Die listened, she could not hide the pity in her eyes, and after pondering for a while, she said, "Then, how do we tell the Demon King this?"
"We'll tell it as it is. I guess he will find us with that sly little vixen soon."
"Sly vixen?"
"The little fox demon following him, have you forgotten? Her name is Xue Tianqiao. She was born with a very sensitive nose and can smell the scent of the Heavenly Dao Scroll . Moreover, because she looks very similar to Hu Yulan, Hu Mu can't get angry with her."
"Oh..."
Feng Yu Die nodded and then followed Ye Anping's example and lay down on the roof tiles.
She once again turned her head to look at Ye Anping's face and squinted, smiling. "Young Master Ye."
"What?"
"You're much more useful than Xiao Tian, hehehe--"
?
Ye Anping glanced at her. "Are you praising me or mocking me?"
"Of course I'm praising you." Feng Yu Die relaxed as she stretched her body lazily. "Every time I encounter something, Xiao Tian just cries and makes a fuss in my ear, which is not useful at all."
Xiao Tian puffed up her cheeks, rushed forward, and grabbed Feng Yu Die, kicking her and then biting her head. "Yu Die! Who are you calling useless?! Waa~~!!"
Feng Yu Die laughed helplessly, sat up, and looked at Ye Anping with narrowed eyes.
At this time, the sun peeked out from behind the mountains in the east, dyeing the horizon red. The morning light sprinkled on Feng Yu Die's smooth face, somehow replacing her silliness with sweetness.
Ye Anping was a little dazed by her charming and heartfelt smile.
Feng Yu Die lowered her eyes, avoiding Ye Anping's gaze, and her cheeks flushed slightly as she said daintily, "Young Master Ye..."
Feng Yu Die squirmed for a while, pursed her lips, and brewed for a while before saying, "Can I sleep with Sister Pei tonight? I want to repay her by giving her a child... Sister Pei saved me, and... Young Master Ye, can you lend us your bird?"
Ye Anping, who was lost in thought, came back to his senses instantly after hearing these words. He gently raised his foot and kicked her in the ass with no expression.
"Ah?!"
Feng Yu Die directly slid down the roof on her butt, and before she could react, she crashed from the third floor of the inn into the chicken coop below, stirring up a flurry of chicken feathers.
Cluck, cluck, cluck---
Ye Anping sat up, looked down at her, and raised his eyebrows. "Out of the question."
He then lay down on his back again, relaxed, and greeted the new day.