Since one day in Heaven is equivalent to one year in the mortal world, if they went back to the Nine Heavens for a honeymoon, several decades would pass down below.
Even if they stayed for just one day, a whole year would have gone by in the mortal realm.
But Lu Zhixing was unusually insistent. He shook his head.
“I can’t wait any longer, Master.”
Xi Yu frowned slightly. He really couldn’t imagine what Zhuxi had left behind that was so urgent, but judging from his expression, it must indeed be something very important.
“Returning so suddenly might cause a disturbance.”
He had already died, body and soul extinguished. Even after his reincarnation, only the Heavenly Dao knew about it. Those old-fashioned immortals in Heaven probably still hadn’t found out. If he returned rashly, they would certainly stop him and bombard him with questions, wasting precious time.
“That’s why we’ll sneak in,” Lu Zhixing said.
“Now?”
Lu Zhixing replied firmly, “Now!”
Xi Yu had recovered more than half of his spiritual power. Lu Zhixing, who had only possessed thirty percent the previous night, had already recovered seventy percent today. He wondered whether it had something to do with their dual cultivation.
A trip back to the Nine Heavens wasn’t particularly troublesome. Xi Yu became curious, too. He wanted to see what this supposedly extremely important thing Lu Zhixing had mentioned was, something he couldn’t retrieve without Xi Yu accompanying him.
Xi Yu assumed that by sneaking in, Lu Zhixing meant making themselves invisible. But when he saw Lu Zhixing knock out the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden, then transform into an adorable little boy with snow-white skin, his forehead began to twitch.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to go in like this?”
Lu Zhixing blinked. “Master, hurry up and transform.”
A moment later, Xi Yu was holding a glazed tray. He looked like a little radish, dressed in an orange-yellow outfit, with a tiny red dot painted on his forehead. Wearing a completely expressionless face, he followed Lu Zhixing along.
“Wait, this direction…” Xi Yu hesitated, then asked uncertainly, “Are we going to the Jade Pool?”
Lu Zhixing nodded. “That’s right. It’s the very Jade Pool where Master was born.”
………………….
Among the countless Jade Pools in the Nine Heavens, only the one where Xi Yu had been born was revered as a divine site.
The immortals weren’t worshipping the Jade Pool itself. They were worshipping the invincible Lanxing.
“Your thing is here?” Xi Yu asked, puzzled. “Why go to such lengths just to come here?”
This area was near Lanxing Hall. Since Xi Yu had been born here, it had long been regarded as his private territory. Even though he rarely visited, no one would casually come here.
Lu Zhixing gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Master will understand in a moment.”
Only when they could see the entrance to the Jade Pool did Xi Yu understand what Lu Zhixing had meant.
Ethereal clouds and mist swirled around the Jade Pool, forming a transparent barrier. Two beautiful young immortal maidens stood guard at the entrance.
Xi Yu moved closer to Lu Zhixing and lowered his voice.
“What’s going on?”
There had never been anyone guarding this place before.
Lu Zhixing’s expression was somewhat forced as he replied, “After what happened to Master… Huai Xi sent people to seal off the Jade Pool. No one was allowed to set foot here. At the time, your disciple had already lost his divine bones, and had only just… I couldn’t even defeat him.”
Lu Zhixing’s words were vague, but how could Xi Yu fail to understand the two things he had deliberately left unsaid?
After his death, Zhuxi had fallen into demonic cultivation.
Those two things seemed almost taboo to Zhuxi. Although Xi Yu had now been reborn and Zhuxi’s demonic aura had been completely purged, whenever anything related to those events came up, Zhuxi still avoided speaking about them.
The embarrassment Xi Yu had felt over being brought to tears by his own disciple the previous night had mostly dissipated.
Those must have been truly bitter days, Xi Yu thought.
At that time, he had just been reborn as a child, his consciousness still muddled. He hadn’t known that Zhuxi had suffered severe injuries in the Nine Heavens and used his divine bones to shape a new body for him.
Xi Yu blinked and instinctively began coaxing him.
“Once we’re back in the Nine Heavens, I’ll give you ownership of this Jade Pool. I won’t let him bully you again.”
Lu Zhixing pressed his lips together, looking shy.
“Is this the betrothal gift Master is giving your disciple?”
Xi Yu’s heart stirred. He really did have a betrothal gift that he hadn’t yet given Zhuxi.
It was something he had prepared long ago, but had never given to Lu Zhixing.
It wasn’t that he was deliberately drawing a distinction between them this time. Rather, if he gave it to Lu Zhixing, he was afraid the man would become jealous again. He could only give it to Zhuxi.
He had always known that the two were the same person. But since Lu Zhixing insisted on treating them as separate individuals, the gift he had prepared couldn’t very well be given to the amnesiac version of Zhuxi.
Now that he had regained his memories the previous night, Xi Yu could finally give it to him.
But Zhuxi had kept him pinned down all night, and he’d completely forgotten about it.
“Why is today’s dew offering fifteen minutes later than usual?”
The two immortal maidens stepped forward and stopped Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing.
Lu Zhixing blinked his big eyes and tilted his head up toward them.
“On our way here, the glazed flowers had just bloomed, so we stopped to admire them for a little while. That’s why we were delayed. Please don’t blame us, big sister.”
The immortal maiden bent down and smiled.
“You little rascal. Hurry inside.”
With a wave of her hand, the barrier opened.
As soon as Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing entered, the barrier automatically closed behind them.
“Why didn’t we just knock the maidens unconscious?”
They weren’t particularly powerful immortals. Why go through all this trouble?
Lu Zhixing explained, “If either of those two maidens is attacked, the Star Bell will ring.”
The Star Bell governed celestial phenomena and guided all things. It belonged to Huai Xi.
Those two little immortal maidens could report directly to Huai Xi without going through anyone else.
That was quite a high level of authority.
Xi Yu’s expression grew complicated. It was just a Jade Pool, yet now it was so heavily guarded that even the Star Bell had been brought into use. This was truly making a mountain out of a molehill.
The bitterness in Lu Zhixing’s words bubbled up like little bursts of foam. Xi Yu found it impossible to ignore, so he could only change the subject.
“This place is so heavily guarded. When did you put your thing here?”
Lu Zhixing didn’t expose his attempt to change the subject.
“Before I reshaped Master’s body, I came here once and stored the Heart-Guarding Scale in this place.”
Xi Yu stopped walking and glanced sideways at Lu Zhixing.
But Lu Zhixing was staring blankly at the wisps of mist rising over the Jade Pool.
“How could this be…?”
Xi Yu followed his gaze. His pupils contracted.
A gigantic black lotus stood in the Jade Pool. Only its center was a delicate pink, and resting there was a scale radiating seven-colored light. Against the Jade Pool, it possessed an eerily gorgeous beauty.
“Why has it bloomed?!”
“Why has it changed color?!”
Lu Zhixing and Xi Yu spoke at the same time.
Xi Yu froze, then turned to Lu Zhixing.
“What do you mean, why has it bloomed?”
Hadn’t it always been in bloom?
“After what happened to Master…” Lu Zhixing said, puzzled, “this lotus withered. I didn’t even know when it had bloomed again.”
Xi Yu fell silent.
This lotus had originally been formed from half of his true form. After his death, it was only natural that it would wither.
Now that it had bloomed again, it had also returned to its original appearance.
Xi Yu’s true form was a black lotus.
There was no need to ask why its color had changed, either. With half of his true form blooming again, and no spiritual power concealing it, this was simply its natural color.
Lu Zhixing waved his hand, intending to summon the scale back. But the lotus petals suddenly folded inward, releasing spiritual power and displaying immense hostility toward the person who had suddenly appeared and was trying to take away its treasure.
Lu Zhixing was struck and stumbled backward two steps. Xi Yu caught him around the waist, steadied him, and immediately flew forward.
The black lotus began trembling as soon as it sensed Xi Yu’s presence.
Xi Yu smacked it with his palm.
“Give it to me!”
The layered petals, which had been tightly closed just moments before, trembled and slowly opened. Xi Yu grabbed the Heart-Guarding Scale and flew back down.
“Here.” Xi Yu opened his palm. “It’s for you.”
Lu Zhixing was just about to say something when the barrier opened. The real Golden Boy and Jade Maiden rushed in angrily, followed by the two immortal maidens, whose expressions were grave.
When the maidens saw that the Heart-Guarding Scale had disappeared from atop the lotus, their expressions changed dramatically.
“Hand it over! Otherwise, today will be the day you die!”
“You dare steal something from this place?” the immortal boy stomped his foot. “You’re practically asking to be killed!”
Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing exchanged a glance.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, the best one was to run!
The two vanished from the spot in an instant. The little immortal maiden was so anxious that her face turned pale. The Jade Maiden poured the dew offering they hadn’t yet had a chance to deliver into the lotus before turning around.
“I’ve already obtained the Heavenly Emperor’s token and sealed off the Nine Heavens. Not even a fly will be able to escape!”
The immortal maiden declared, “I’ll immediately send a telepathic message to the Heavenly Emperor. I’ll make sure these two reckless thieves pay for what they’ve done!”
Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing couldn’t escape. Heavenly soldiers were patrolling everywhere.
“If we can’t think of another way, we’ll have no choice but to reveal ourselves.”
Xi Yu transformed into a butterfly and landed in the Hall of the Matchmaker.
Why had he chosen this place? Because the Matchmaker was in charge of matchmaking and spent every day dealing with tangled bundles of red threads. His temper was notoriously bad, and he might not let just anyone into his palace.
Lu Zhixing gave a soft snort.
“No need. Once Huai Xi receives the message, he’ll naturally order them to stand down.”
Xi Yu thought about it and realized that was true. If Huai Xi received the news, he would surely understand what had happened.
The Hall of the Matchmaker was filled with festive red decorations. Xi Yu dozed off out of boredom.
Lu Zhixing gently touched him, and the two of them became invisible.
Xi Yu leaned against Lu Zhixing and fell asleep.
No one knew how much time had passed before a torrent of furious curses came pouring in, as dense as raindrops.
“This is the Hall of the Matchmaker! You’ve even come to search MY place?! Believe me, I’ll bundle up your red threads and use them to wipe my ass!”
……………………
“I’m already fed up with work, and now you lot keep finding new ways to cause trouble for me every single day!”
The Matchmaker stood at the entrance with his hands on his hips. He was young and handsome, but had a fiery temper.
Xi Yu jolted awake and sat up in Lu Zhixing’s arms.
Lu Zhixing raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. Xi Yu turned his head and saw two Heavenly soldiers bowing, each holding a tracking compass.
“Please, My Lord. We know it’s not easy, we know it’s not easy. Just let us go inside and have a look.”
“This time, what’s been stolen is an item from the Jade Pool. It’s a matter of great importance.”
The Matchmaker’s brows were drawn tightly together. Reluctantly, he finally stepped aside to let them pass.
Xi Yu’s heart leapt into his throat.
Just as the Heavenly soldiers were about to raise the tracking mirror, Xi Yu shifted slightly, preparing to reveal himself. But then someone hurried over from behind and stopped the soldiers.
“By order of the Heavenly Emperor, there’s no need to continue the search.”
Xi Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the little immortal maiden had reported the matter earlier, which was why the order had arrived so quickly.
Seeing that everything was fine, the Matchmaker angrily chased the soldiers away.
A young immortal child, barely reaching the Matchmaker’s thigh and looking only a few hundred years old, tilted his head curiously.
“My lord, isn’t there only the lotus where Divine Venerable Lanxing was born and one of High God Zhuxi’s Heart-Guarding Scales in the Jade Pool? Was one of them stolen?”