Chapter 150 - 117: Speculation and Profiteering

Chapter 150: Chapter 117: Speculation and Profiteering

Qiu Yuehan dazedly opened her eyes.

Her last memory was of... the Old Monster’s face. She seemed to have fallen from mid-air, right into her junior sister’s embrace.

’Where am I now?’

Her surroundings were so pure white they seemed to be a primordial land. Her pale, delicate feet were flushed slightly red from the heat radiating from her bracelet.

Qiu Yuehan gritted her teeth in frustration.

’I’m dreaming again. Seriously, can’t I get a break from this, day after day?!’

She didn’t realize she wasn’t the least bit nervous. After all, she had seen the Old Monster before she closed her eyes. As long as the Old Monster was here, any terrifying enemy became a paper tiger.

That was the Chang’an Daoist, after all. It was no big deal if she took a little nap.

If the sky fell, Lu Changyuan would be there to hold it up.

So, Qiu Yuehan examined her dreamscape carefully. The pure white surroundings seemed to reflect her state of mind. "Just let me have the whole dream at once. Don’t come in fits and starts."

Suddenly, color flooded her surroundings. A giant tree formed beneath Qiu Yuehan, then grew to touch the heavens, lifting the young woman high into the suspended sky.

The moon became her crown, and the stars embroidered her imperial robes.

Qiu Yuehan stood atop the tree’s crown, looking out over the Cultivation Realm.

She knew this was the Nether Monarch’s memory and had guessed that she herself was the Nether Monarch, but she was reluctant to accept it.

’How did Junior Sister accept that she was the Miao Yu Palace Master?’

Qiu Yuehan had asked Xia Lianxue this question. Xia Lianxue had told her, "Because I’ve always been the Miao Yu Palace Master. It’s like I just lost my memories and then remembered them again. That’s always been me... Senior Sister, do you remember what you ate for dinner a year ago?"

Qiu Yuehan said, "I didn’t eat. If I hadn’t met the Old—... if I hadn’t met him, I would have always been Fasting."

This had thoroughly exasperated the White Skirt Fairy.

But that was the general idea.

Just because you forgot what you ate for dinner a year ago, does that loss of memory mean the you from a year ago and the you now are different people?

No, they were one and the same.

"Hm?"

Qiu Yuehan stared blankly at the scene before her. What was she seeing?

Amidst a dense forest of trees and bamboo was a massive lake suffused with a rich aura of life. And in that lake, she was embracing the Old Monster... taking a lovers’ bath!?

Her perspective shifted abruptly.

Silken strands of black hair flowed into the lake like cascading moonlight. The water dampened her hair, and the cool lake water kissed her skin. The warmth of a human body rose up behind her, and Qiu Yuehan naturally shrank back, pressing herself toward that warmth.

"Ah!"

She had become the Monarch on top, but in an instant, she was pressed underneath by her own Lifebound Spirit.

Lu Changyuan’s hand slowly traced the line of her slender waist, brushing over the subtle ridge of her butterfly-like shoulder blades before his fingertips came to rest on her delicate cheek.

Qiu Yuehan’s raven-feather lashes trembled. On the shore, the reflection of her black dress in the water outlined the rise and fall of her rapid breaths. She wrapped her pale arms around Lu Changyuan’s waist, rubbing against his chest with extreme intimacy.

She heard herself say, "A Lifebound Spirit must satisfy its master’s requests. Didn’t you know?"

Lu Changyuan replied, "Never heard of it."

With that, Lu Changyuan started to get up and leave.

But the young woman said softly, "You’ve heard of it now."

The Feather Mark on Lu Changyuan’s shoulder suddenly glowed, immobilizing him. He sighed. "There’s really no such rule. A Lifebound Spirit is meant to ensure its master’s safety."

’It’s not something for you to use to satisfy your strange desires!’

Qiu Yuehan gave a sly smile. Lu Changyuan was forcibly controlled by her. As he bent down, the movement stirred their mingled breaths. A strange ripple spread through her chest; she felt her heart was beating so fast. The young woman finally melted her own loneliness, a gentle abrasion like the first snowflake dissolving on the tongue.

The lake water buoyed her body, rocking it gently. A silver fish darted by, its Scale brushing against her collarbone, leaving behind a faint itch like a firefly’s glow.

’He’s Junior Sister’s man, though.’

She chuckled lightly. "Give your master another massage."

The eternally snow-capped peaks began to gradually melt. Jade-like trees and pearlescent branches bent into graceful arcs in the wind. The snow-covered mountains stood opposite each other, their meltwater flowing silently down. Heaven and Earth seemed as beautiful as creamy, flawless jade.

A moment ago, a single exhaled breath had turned to ice, as if it were winter.

But in an instant, crimson petals crumpled and bloomed. Spring had arrived, its fresh breeze coaxing the crimson cherry blossoms all over the mountain to burst forth at once.

Time became a locked expanse of sand, soft and fine as if repeatedly soaked by the tide. With every step, one could feel the satisfying sensation of sand surging between the toes and falling away. And when a hand pressed down on the soft sand, the tide water held within would trickle out, wetting the fingertips.

Qiu Yuehan felt she was about to lose her mind. A few intoxicating crimson flushes appeared on her usually cool, fairy-like face. Her cherry-red lips were glossed with a sheen of moisture. She stood on her toes, wanting to touch that scalding heat again. Her delicate pink tongue darted out to soothe her breath, mesmerizing as the sea lapping against the shore.

But Lu Changyuan suddenly reached out, covered her mouth, and swept her up into his arms. "Bath’s over. Time to get up."

"Why?" she asked, bewildered. They hadn’t reached the final step. She hadn’t yet tasted the rosy apple.

Then the Old Monster said, "It’s time to go to the treetop!"

As his words fell, Qiu Yuehan found herself back on the treetop.

’What the hell, what the hell, what the hell!’

A strange surge of anger flared in the Moon Fairy’s heart.

A faint warmth spread from her pale white feet. The emerald-green jade bracelet pulled Qiu Yuehan’s senses back to reality. The Moon Fairy patted her cheeks, which were still flushed with a lingering, moist heat.

She cursed herself fiercely a few times.

’Qiu Yuehan, you’ve really fallen! How could you force the Old Monster to... No, that wasn’t me, that was the Nether Monarch. I did nothing wrong!’

An illusory shadow appeared before Qiu Yuehan.

"The scepter of the Netherworld used for the seal has returned. The Path of Death still exists in the Netherworld. Yuehan, those things are all yours."

The shadow’s hand turned over, and the emerald-green jade bracelet transformed, becoming a small Holy Bead.

Feng Xianlong had not been the one to leave something for Qiu Yuehan on Long Mountain. The one who left something for her was the Nether Monarch—which is to say, the Moon Fairy herself.

Qiu Yuehan was silent for a long time. "So, I don’t have a father. This Holy Bead is my origin, isn’t it?"

The word "Nether" displayed a part of the past before Qiu Yuehan’s eyes.

During a great war, the Nether Monarch helped the Human Race achieve victory but was gravely injured. So, she used her own Dao to fall into a deep slumber. She left her Great Dao in the Netherworld, and her Origin transformed into a bead, which she left on Long Mountain.

That was, until three thousand years ago.

Feng Xianlong’s mission was to retrieve the Holy Bead containing the Nether Monarch’s Spirit and have Qiu Yuehan be born as a human of the Human Race.

That was why Qiu Yuehan had no father. The Nether Monarch had simply used a mother’s body to transform herself into a member of the Human Race.

As for the Holy Bead, which was now just an empty shell, it had transformed into the jade bracelet, preserving Feng Xianlong’s Thought and staying with Qiu Yuehan ever since.

The shadow said slowly, "Accept this Holy Bead, and you can once again become the Monarch of Death. But even if you don’t, your memories will still slowly return. Yuehan, don’t be afraid. That has always been you."

If Qiu Yuehan wished, she could don the Nether Monarch’s crown right now. The Netherworld would return to her side. That was her Yao Guang Technique.

The Death Dao Star in the sky would shine for her once more.

Qiu Yuehan murmured softly, "Do I have to absorb it right now?"

"You can return to your identity as the Nether Monarch anytime. It doesn’t have to be now."

The shadow seemed to smile. She tossed the Holy Bead into the air, and it once again returned to the Fairy’s ankle, becoming the jade bracelet.

Qiu Yuehan lifted her delicate chin. "Then let it be. If one day I feel like it, it won’t be too late to master this Power then."

For now, she didn’t want to give up her identity as the Miao Yu Palace Chief.

Atop the World Tree, the Moon Fairy said, "The Nether Monarch was too lonely... I’m not that lonely now."

’Besides, I really like the Red Dust Sword Dao... I wonder if the Red Dust Sword Dao and the Path of Death can be cultivated together. I’ll have to ask the Old Monster later.’

The shadow shattered.

Feng Xianlong’s final Thought had completed its task. From now on, her presence would no longer be in Qiu Yuehan’s bracelet. But strangely, Qiu Yuehan didn’t feel the same loneliness as before. She had long known this wisp of a Thought would disappear sooner or later. She originally thought she would be incredibly reluctant to let it go, perhaps even cry her heart out, but now she only felt a slight sense of regret.

Qiu Yuehan sensed that she was slowly waking up.

She thought she heard her own voice asking a question.

"Do you still want the Old Monster to help you remove the Heart-Devouring Demon Pattern?"

Qiu Yuehan replied, "No need. He never used the Demon Pattern to do anything to me anyway. I can remove it myself once I’ve mastered the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique."

"What if he loses control one day and does something inappropriate to you?"

Qiu Yuehan bit her lip. "What can I do then? Even if I accept the Power, can I definitely beat him? Jiang Jiayi of the Daoist Sect is completely obedient to him. No matter how strong the Netherworld’s Power is, it can’t beat everyone ganging up. And then there’s Junior Sister. Junior Sister cultivates the Time Dao! She’s like a little wife, ’Young Master this, Young Master that’ all day long."

"You can use the revered name of Yu to restrain him."

Although Qiu Yuehan had not yet reclaimed her former Path of Death, her connection to her Lifebound Spirit—that is, her command over the name of Yu—had already returned.

With this power, if the Old Monster ever tried to force her to practice swordsmanship naked in front of him, she could turn the tables and control him instead.

Hmph!

Qiu Yuehan secretly opened her eyes.

It was soft.

There was the sound of wind outside. ’Mm, I must be in a palanquin. We should be on our way back to the Daoist Sect.’

’Looks like the Old Monster has taken care of the Blood Demon.’

Qiu Yuehan started to get up but heard a strange sound.

The Old Monster’s helpless voice drifted over. "Your Senior Sister is right here. We’ll talk when we get back."

"It’s fine. Senior Sister won’t wake up. And even if she does, she’ll just pretend she doesn’t know. If she pretends not to know, then she doesn’t know."

"Twisted logic."

"Mmph!"

Qiu Yuehan was horrified. Feeling a gaze fall upon her, she squeezed her eyes shut.

A sweet, warm sensation spread through the palanquin.

After a long moment.

Secretly, she cracked open her eyes just a sliver.