It’s getting dark, and it looks like it’s going to rain.
After Xue Huai and Yun Cuo had some fun, he finally got down from his arms with a smile.
He squatted down to educate the gluttonous ghost: “Xiao Tao, you are now a mature little gluttonous. You must learn to carry both your father and mother on your back at the same time.”
The gluttonous ghost was reluctant. After it grew bigger, it lay on the ground and let Xue Huai climb on top first.
When it was Yun Cuo’s turn, the gluttonous ghost lay down with a howl, refusing to move. The two had no choice but to go down to the ground again and summon the green bird.
Xue Huai pointed at the tip of the little gluttonous’s nose and criticized it: “Stupid Xiao Tao, lazy Xiao Tao.”
The gluttonous ghost let out a howl, climbed onto his shoulder, stayed still, calmly using its claws to pull at Xue Huai’s hair, and tried to eat a few strands of his hair.
Yun Cuo got a piece of red gauze from somewhere, lowered his head, and tied it around the neck of the gluttonous ghost, who was lying on Xue Huai’s shoulder, without a gentle smile in his eyes: “Xue Huai ge, let’s give Xiao Tao a day off today.”
The little gray cat saw this and started circling around their feet. Xue Huai then picked the kitten up as well and asked Yun Cuo to tie a mandarin duck knot on it in the same way.
Both of them were very happy, and even the little animals felt a hidden, indescribable joy in their hearts.
Finally, they still took the green bird. It started to rain on the way, and Yun Cuo opened a big red cloud umbrella to cover him and Xue Huai completely.
He whispered, “Do you want me to drive away the rain, Xue Huai?”
Xue Huai shook his head and said with a smile, “No need, raining a little bit looked nice.”
Yun Cuo said, “But your clothes will get wet soon.”
Xue Huai leaned close to his ear and whispered seriously, “If it’s wet, can’t you just help me take it off again?”
Yun Cuo’s ears felt hot, and he wasn’t sure what was on his mind either. After a while, he answered “Alright”, which made Xue Huai laugh for a long time.
There were not many people around the Sansheng Stone. Perhaps it was just as Yun Cuo said, because it was not an auspicious time. Sometimes those in the Immortal Realm would also pay attention to these superstitious tricks, and sometimes it was just to seek peace of mind.
Because of the rain, the sky seemed a little gloomy. The road was full of deep red spider lilies as they walked along the Wangchuan River.
They interlocked their fingers and walked over slowly. They looked up and saw a minor official from the underworld sitting over there. He waved at them from a distance and said, “Hello, are you guys here to register?”
That was a very handsome young man with a feminine look and dressed in red.
Xue Huai didn’t recognize him, but Yun Cuo had met him once before and knew that the person in front of them was the deity depicted by the Panguan Pi1Panguan Pi is the name of a weapon that belongs to hidden weapons category, and it’s translated as judge’s pen in English. Calling him judge’s pen is kinda weird and too modern so I’ll go with the pinyin.. During the war between gods and demons, it was the Panguan Pi that awakened the memory of Emperor Xing Yi of Fu Li at a critical moment, allowing him to break through the fifteenth level of the demonic cultivation and cooperate with Yun Yan’s army to repel the offensive of the Demon Realm.
He took Xue Huai over, nodded, and asked the young man about the procedure.
The Panguan Pi pointed casually, “Over there, the tallest and largest red stone is the Sansheng Stone. Although we in the Underworld don’t take care of the entire wedding process for Daoist couples, and this is not our responsibility, but do you want some souvenirs?”
Xue Huai asked curiously, “What souvenir?”
Panguan Pi said, “We have all of them. There are eight kinds in total. We usually make them for young Daoist couples as keepsakes. There are rings, hairpins, jade pendants, sachets, heart-shaped bells, heart-shaped locks, etc. Of course, the free ones may not look very good. If you want to customize them, we also have descendants of Lu Ban here who can make the styles you want for you.”
Xue Huai looked at the sample pictures he gave and thought that, although they looked nice, they were unnecessary. He already had a lot of small objects, whether they were his own or given to him by others. He was about to refuse, but Yun Cuo suddenly said, “Let me see.”
Xue Huai also stopped talking.
Yun Cuo’s eyes lit up. He lowered his head to look at the drawings one by one, choosing the style, and then asked, “After I make this, he and I will wear it together. Will others know that I am with him?”
Panguan Pi smiled and said, “That’s right. Our tokens are made of Nuwa jade and Fuxi gold, and each pair is unique. Young Immortal Lord Yun may not have experience, but the color of this material’s token is taken from the blue of the polar sky. The polar sky is also the place where Fuxi and Nuwa made a lifelong promise, gathered, and separated. With that color, others can tell that you are married at a glance.”
Yun Cuo took the material he handed over, and his eyes moved.
Xue Huai also came over to take a look. It was a very pure and unique blue, and it was indeed very easy to recognize—after looking at it for a long time, it seemed as if one could see flowing clouds, flying birds, the sun, the moon, and the stars in that color. If there was a color that could be used to describe time and years, it would be this color.
Xue Huai said, “What if we don’t want this material? Do you have Zhuque Jade or Xiushan Jade here?”
No matter how beautiful it is, only he can see this color, and Yun Cuo can’t see anything. This is unfair.
Yun Cuo stopped him and looked up. “Xue Huai ge, this is what I want.”
Seeing his expression, Xue Huai’s heart softened all of a sudden. “…Really?”
Yun Cuo nodded and whispered, “Although I can’t understand it, but… I just want this.”
Xue Huai said, “Then fine.”
He gave Yun Cuo full responsibility for this matter. The two forgot their original purpose—Panguan Pi quickly summoned the descendants of Lu Ban and the red spider lily demon and began to create tokens for them on the spot.
According to Yun Cuo, he wanted all of these and also wanted to give a pendant to the gluttonous ghost and the little gray cat. He held the gluttonous ghost in his arms and asked someone to measure the size of the gluttonous ghost’s neck in a serious and nervous manner. He also called Xue Huai to measure the size of his fingers as well.
Xue Huai was the one with the least time, and the occasional suggestion he gave was just, “Forget about the hairpin. I seldom tie my hair up.”
“And this jade pendant, just make a pair of them. What do you want to do with twenty?”
……
Later, he was bored, so he gave a notice to Yun Cuo and went over to carve the words.
The Sansheng Stone was different from what he had originally imagined. It was as clear as water and deep red inside, like a huge ruby.
There were layers of names hidden inside, and next to it was a black object like a compass filled with fine sand.
Xue Huai was a little curious. He thought about it and tried to write the three words “Murong Mi” on it.
Soon, the deep red crystal in front of him glowed slightly, and a few words appeared: “Life and death, ups and downs, the previous relationship is over.”
Xue Huai looked at the words, smiled and sighed, then erased the words on the sand table.
He asked the Panguan Pi from a distance, “I just have to engrave the names?”
Panguan Pi also shouted from afar, “Yes! Young Master Xue, you can just carve the words directly!”
Xue Huai looked at Yun Cuo, who was still discussing the details with the craftsmen, and muttered quietly, “Then I’ll just write it first.”
He gathered his magical power at his fingertips and wrote earnestly with a strength close to piety:
——Yun Cuo.
Somehow, he remembered the first time they met alone in this life, and Yun Cuo leaned over from behind and held his fingers.
The scent of ink spreads out, one horizontal line, two horizontal lines, the dark stroke moves downward, encounters the first bend, and then it is an almost continuous stroke, going down along the converging force.
In his previous life, he had written this person’s name countless times, but he never thought that his name would be put together with his in this form. It is also very strange to think about it.
After Xue Huai finished writing Yun Cuo’s name, he felt very satisfied and called him casually, “Hey, Little Young Master Yun over there, please come over and write your Daoist partner’s name. If you don’t write it, I will write all the names ah.”
He had a smile in his eyes and left his name for him to write.
Yun Cuo turned back and hurriedly said, “Keep it for me—Xue Huai!”
As soon as the word “Xue Huai” came out of his mouth, Xue Huai immediately noticed that Yun Cuo’s eyes changed—as if he had seen something very scary—and even his tone became ferocious, with fear and worry.
It was as if there was something behind him.
Xue Huai subconsciously wanted to look back, but there was nothing behind him. At the same time, something burning and scorching slowly penetrated into the top of his head and was about to come down.
The next moment, he was thrown backwards into the red spider lily bush. The petals were heavy, and the body was soft under his body, but he felt pain all over, and his ears were buzzing. The world was silent for a moment, and then he heard a sound after a while.
That was the sound of heaven and earth collapsing and rubble rolling down.
He opened his eyes with great effort and saw Yun Cuo standing in front of him, silent.
At that moment, Xue Huai’s heart sank. He struggled to get up, hugged Yun Cuo, and asked him in a hoarse voice, “What’s wrong? Yun Cuo, are you alright?”
Panguan Pi, on the other side, was also stunned.
“Are any of you going through the calamity? Why is there thunder in the sky at this time?”
About three or five feet away from them, the Sansheng Stone, which was as huge as half a mountain, was split in half by the rolling thunder!
Yun Cuo was patted by Xue Huai left and right, and he tried to wake up. He comforted him, “It’s alright, it’s alright; luckily, I blocked it. Are you alright, Xue Huai?”
Xue Huai’s face was pale, and he lowered his eyes to check his injuries: “You are bleeding. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have insisted on coming today.”
A steady stream of blood was flowing down Yun Cuo’s back. Xue Huai had just experienced a thunder calamity not long ago, and he knew without even looking that Yun Cuo’s back must be torn and bloody at this moment. The thunder had a killing attribute, and this wound would take a long time to heal.
He himself didn’t even realize that there was a slight tone of crying in his voice.
But he still looked very calm: “Don’t move, and don’t talk either. Let’s stay in the Underworld for one night. I will treat your injuries.”
Yun Cuo still had time to think about his token: “I’m fine, Xue Huai, our token is ready.”
He smiled, and seeing Xue Huai’s worry, he went over to hug him, patted his back, and said softly, “I’m fine, I’m fine, Xue Huai ge. You never know when we’ll see it again, don’t be sad.”
The gluttonous ghost and the little gray cat hurried over, making a sound and staying close to the two of them.
Xue Huai said nothing, stood up, and supported Yun Cuo.
Panguan Pi immediately led the way and let them stay in the side hall of the Lord of the Underworld to rest for a while.
“The Lord of the Underworld has been in seclusion recently and cannot come out to receive guests. I will send the best medicinal herbs over later, and then go to Nuwa’s descendants to report the problem and check the breakage of the Sansheng Stone. Please have a good rest.” Panguan Pi had obviously never seen such a scene before, and his guilt was evident on his face.
Xue Huai took a pair of scissors and cut open Yun Cuo’s wedding dress—the wedding dress was custom-made at such a high price, but now he didn’t feel any pain at all when cutting it.
He carefully applied medicine to Yun Cuo, performed healing magic, and then personally went to boil the medicine for him.
“Thank you for your help.” He calmly said to Panguan Pi, “But in addition to repairing the Sansheng Stone, I would also like to trouble you to help report to your mansion’s Faithful Crow Judicial Department that Yun Cuo and I are both going through a catastrophe. This time the thunderbolt is not coming for the Sansheng Stone, but for me.”
He remembered now.
The first time, he was hit by a cold arrow in the fog, the second time, a cliff broke, and the third time, he was struck by a thunderbolt. It wasn’t that he had suffered many disasters after his rebirth, but that he was deliberately targeted.
Xue Huai had never been more certain than now: someone wanted to kill him.
They want him dead again and again, unless there is a huge blood feud.
The author has something to say: Three-year-old Yun: Xue Huai ge, it doesn’t hurt. (*￣︶￣)
Four-year-old Xue: q .q
