Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I had heard Sihun speak of Choulu’s past. She was a dewdrop from the banks of the Thousand Cold Pool who had attained human form through cultivation. By serving the Empress of Heaven with utmost humility and diligence, she eventually earned her favor.

Cangyu had fallen for her at first sight, but she looked down on the Golden Crow Clan, who were merely driven as servants by the Celestial Clan of the Ninth Heaven. Her heart was set on pursuing Sihun. Later, after Sihun rejected their marriage arrangement, she turned her sights toward Siming.

She devoted herself entirely to Siming. Immortals find it naturally difficult to conceive, yet she risked her life to bear him two children.

I wondered how much of what Siming just said had reached her ears.

Such a person was hateful, yet perhaps also pitiable.

“The price of staying in the Ninth Heaven is too high. It isn’t worth it.”

She froze at my words.

I brushed past her, not knowing what expression Choulu wore behind me.

To keep Xuanya from worrying, I went to Fangfei Hall to regulate my breathing and heal my injuries.

By the time I returned to my quarters, it was evening, and the night sky was already draped with sparse stars.

Xuanya had caught some fireflies and put them in a glass jar, which he hung from the peach tree outside my bedchamber.

From a distance, I could see the glow of those Glazed Fireflies, flickering like tiny points of light.

Xuanya seemed to sense something and glanced toward me.

Seeing me smiling and waving at him, he hurriedly turned his head away with an awkward air, looking for all the world like a dutiful yet tsundere crow.

With the firefly lamp he had hung, this corner of the world instantly felt much warmer. My bedding was soft and fluffy; as I lay down on it, I felt my entire body relax.

Looking at Xuanya, who was still stubbornly looking away, a bit of mischief rose in my heart.

“I’ve heard that when male birds pursue a mate, they build a nest first.”

Xuanya’s face instantly flushed red all the way to his neck.

“No way… You haven’t actually fallen in love with your sister, have you?” I gasped, cupping my face in mock disbelief.

“Stop calling yourself my sister!” This immediately hit Xuanya’s sore spot.

“So you’re admitting you’ve fallen for your sister then?” I looked at him with a grin.

“…I haven’t,” Xuanya huffed coldly.

“That’s good. After all, your sister is a notorious demoness. You must never fall in love with her.”

Xuanya remained silent for a long while before looking into my eyes.

“If Lord Cangyu never wakes up, will you just keep waiting for him like this?”

“Who’s waiting for him? I just owe him a small favor, that’s all.”

“Alright, let’s not talk about that. Your sister brought you a treasure!”

I quickly changed the subject and pulled a fragrant, bright red Peach of Immortality from my sleeve.

“Is it big? Do you like it?”

Xuanya probably felt there was something strange about the way I phrased that, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He could only nod dumbly. “It’s big. I like it.”

“It’s for you. Eat it quickly. Once you finish it, you’ll be able to complete your transformation.”

Perhaps because my gaze was too intense, Xuanya took a bite uncomfortably.

“Is it good?”

Before Xuanya could answer, I saw his entire body gradually become enveloped in a layer of fine, shimmering light.

I stared in a daze-he was transforming?

He appeared in black attire the color of his crow feathers, with thick, dark, damp-looking lashes and eyes so red they were nearly pure black. Because his true form was a Golden Crow, his figure was tall and slender, with a narrow waist and long legs. His body possessed the restless, surging vitality of a youth, while his features were etched with pride and disdain.

Just like his true form, his hair, brows, and lashes were a deep, rich black.

Because the space was too cramped, I was currently pressing down on him, separated only by a thin quilt.

Seeing my face so close to his, Xuanya’s face turned visibly red.

I was completely stunned.

Except for those eyes, he looked almost exactly like Cangyu did in his youth.

And the Peachwood Hairpin in his hair was the very one I had given to Cangyu long ago!

My heart was suddenly jolted by old memories. As a member of the Golden Crow Clan, Xuanya said he was only a thousand years old.

And it had been exactly a thousand years since Cangyu fell.

“Little Demon?” He gave me a confused look. “I…”

He called me ‘Little Demon,’ and that hesitation in his voice only served to confirm the suspicion in my heart.
I suddenly recalled what Sihun had told me:

“After his Apotheosis, he sealed away a part of his true form’s emotions and memories.”

“The Soul Lamp has not gone out; he is merely asleep.”

Oh, no. This was bad.

Could I have mistaken him for someone else from the very beginning? Was the sealed-away part of his emotions and memories the Xuanya who had helped me collect demon cores, while the one who betrayed me was Cangyu?

Regardless, it was probably best to escape first, right?

After all, no matter which version of him it was, the one he loved was Choulu.

But Xuanya caught my wrist.

“Don’t go…”

He seemed to have a splitting headache, his brow furrowed as he tried desperately to process something.

“You feel so familiar to me…”

He slowly began to overlap with the youth in my memories.

I must have had it wrong from the start. Cangyu was that stern, humorless War God who didn’t possess a single shred of memory regarding me.

And the part that had collected demon cores for me-the part stripped away of its memories and emotions after his Apotheosis-was Xuanya.

Before me, Xuanya raised a hand, his fingers tracing the contours of my face with delicate care, as if he were lost in a distant memory.

His lips brushed past my earlobe several times, his hot breath hovering teasingly against my cheek.

Fengchun seemed to stir restlessly within my body once more.

The tips of my ears grew hotter and hotter. My entire body felt flushed with heat, and the Xuanya before me looked more and more delectable.

Everything reminded me of Cangyu’s tenderness that day.

As for that half-god cultivation within me, it was time to settle the score with him.

Unable to help myself, I leaned down and pressed a kiss onto his lips.

Xuanya froze, but he did not push me away.

“You… wake up, Little Demon…”

His face grew increasingly flushed.

“Did you eat something you shouldn’t have?”

Though Xuanya’s eyes were filled with panic, he still tried his best to maintain a facade of composure.

I pressed closer, looming over him as I pinned him firmly beneath me. My immortal robes fell half-open, spreading out beneath us.

I reached out and pulled the Peach Blossom Hairpin from his hair.

The gold chain binding my own hair slid down beside his hand, releasing a cascade of raven hair that was indistinguishable from his own, the strands intertwining.

“Call me Sister Ruogui,” I said, my voice husky as I tilted Xuanya’s chin up.

Xuanya’s face instantly turned bright red.

“But this is the heart of the War God Cangyu… it’s sacrilege.”

As if realizing the taboo nature of the situation, Xuanya’s body went stiff.

“Be good. Call me Sister Ruogui…”

“But…”

Seeing that his face was red but he still wouldn’t yield, I gathered a lock of his long hair and kissed it. Then, I pressed kisses to his forehead and his eyes, purposefully avoiding his lips.

He had intended to struggle, but I leaned down and kissed his Adam’s apple, my lips lingering with gentle persistence.

He finally broke.

“Sister Ruogui…”

A flicker of satisfaction from a long-awaited revenge swept through my heart.

He finally knew my name, and I was finally able to repay the kindness he had shown me back then.

From this day forward, the paths of immortal and demon would diverge; we would never cross paths again.

As if in response to the frantic state of my true form, the peach blossoms on the tree by the bed burst into full bloom. A night breeze suddenly rose, swirling countless crimson petals into the air, falling into our eyes and onto our hands.

The jar of Glazed Fireflies shattered in the commotion, their tiny sparks of light chasing after the falling petals.

My consciousness felt blurred, and my heart felt as though it were on fire.

In the haze, Cangyu’s features seemed to slowly blur together with the person beneath me.

In a daze, I whispered, “Is it you, Cangyu?”

The person beneath me suddenly stiffened.

“It’s you, isn’t it, Cangyu?”

I felt as though I were heavily intoxicated, yet I fought to sever all ties with him.

“I am returning everything I owe you.”

“From now on, you owe me nothing, and I owe you nothing.”

His body went completely rigid.