After Losing My Memory, I Became My Rival's Palm-Sized Chirper - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: He Ate the Bird

Several hours later, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

The Heavenly Emperor returned, treading through the moonlight. He remained tall and upright, though upon closer inspection, his pace was somewhat heavier than usual.

The night-watch generals along the path bowed to him; the Emperor’s face remained expressionless.

However, before stepping into the Hongmeng Palace, he abruptly stopped and asked with hesitation, “Where is the Heavenly Queen?”

“After Your Majesty left in the evening, the Lord returned to Weiyang Palace,” the gatekeeper replied respectfully.

The stiff-faced Emperor finally looked up at the sky.

Just as Immortals need to eat and sleep, the Ninth Heaven experiences the rising and setting of the sun and moon. At this hour, as dawn was about to break, most celestial beings were in their deepest sleep.

Yu Baixi paused for a moment, then nodded. Expressionless and poised as ever, no one knew what he was thinking.

The Emperor entered the Hongmeng Palace alone.

In the backyard, beside the pool of churning black medicinal juice, a single white magnolia tree bloomed quietly. Everything inside the Emperor’s bedchamber was as usual. The only difference was the faint scent of blood clinging to him—not heavy, at least not as pungent as it had been when he was in the Demon Realm, but mixed with the medicinal smell of the pool, it still carried an unpleasant odor.

Yu Baixi raised his hand to stop his bleeding again and cast a cleansing spell before slowly shedding his robes.

With a very light splash, the Emperor entered the water. He sat cross-legged in the pool and closed his eyes.

The world was silent.

A faint scent of blood wafted up. In the darkness, it felt as though a sea of red fire was burning again. The members of the Heavenly Moon Clan fell to their knees one after another, shouting “Long live!” toward him. Various types of blood merged and solidified, soaking the earth beneath their feet.

Amidst the spreading voices of those who worshipped him, there was also a mix of dread and sighing.

“Three thousand people… all slain by the Heavenly Emperor alone…”

Yu Baixi snapped his eyes open. The dark red sea of fire in the darkness vanished; the voices in his ears were long gone. Before him remained only the pitch-black, churning medicinal water and the white magnolia tree standing silently in the breeze.

…In the thousands of years of his routine existence, the Emperor actually felt that tonight was somewhat long.

The next moment, the water splashed violently as the Emperor stood straight up, his movements incredibly swift. A moon-white robe formed from spiritual energy was draped loosely over him. Standing tall in the pool, Yu Baixi looked toward the surface of the water in disbelief: “Didn’t you go back to rest… what are you doing again?”

A neon-yellow little bird surfaced along with him.

The fat bird’s feathers were dry and clean; a closer look revealed a faint red protective barrier surrounding his entire body. Furthermore, he was holding a red string in his beak. One end of the string was tied to his own tiny bird claw, while the other end hung loose.

But Yu Baixi knew that just a moment ago under the water, that end of the red string had touched his ankle.

“Tying the red string to you and me,” the fat bird replied truthfully, not at all flustered at being caught.

At the same time, Qi Jia looked at Yu Baixi head-on for the first time tonight. He suddenly felt that the Emperor was very different tonight—his hair, which had been as black as ink, now had several strands of frosty white mixed in. Beyond that, the Emperor’s smoky-cyan pupils were no longer as indifferent and upright as before. Instead, they had become bewitchingly strange; if one looked closely, there seemed to be a hint of red within them…

“What red string?” the Emperor asked with a frown, clearly not in the right state of mind.

“The marriage thread.”

Qi Jia withdrew his scrutinizing gaze. Though suspicious in his heart, he shook the dangling end of the red string and said clearly, “I specifically went to the Old Man under the Moon (Matchmaker) today to ask for it.”

“…Nonsense!”

Hearing what he was saying, Yu Baixi’s voice was more stern than it had ever been in front of the bird. “Do you have any idea that once the red string is tied, your marriage is fated? It is nearly impossible to untie, and it means…”

“I know.”

Qi Jia weighed the red string in his grasp. “Didn’t you say we could only Dual Cultivate on the day we truly wed? This Lord figured that you still don’t believe I won’t blame you after I regain my memories. So, let’s tie this red string first. That way, even when I regain my memories, we’ll still be together. I guarantee we’ll never leave each other.”

Before the Emperor could speak, Qi Jia added: “Besides, I worked hard ‘ambushing’ you here all night just to tie this on you secretly. On the day I regain my memories, even if I regret it, I won’t blame you.”

“…You waited here all night.” The Emperor’s reddened eyes flickered.

“Yes,” Qi Jia said. “I originally planned to wait for you to come back and tie it on quickly while you weren’t paying attention. I didn’t expect you to take so long to return!”

As he spoke, the fat bird started to feel aggrieved—he had already taken three naps!

Yu Baixi: “…”

Only after slightly adjusting his expression did the Emperor speak again, his tone almost motherly in its persuasion: “This is too hasty. What if your heart already belongs to someone else? What if I am not worthy of your trust…”

“My heart belonging to someone else is unlikely,” Qi Jia interrupted him. “I’ve been suffering with amnesia for so long and haven’t seen ‘Him’ come looking for me. How could this bird keep such a person in my heart?”

“As for whether Your Majesty is worthy of my trust… I think you’re a decent person. Except for the fact that you didn’t come looking for me either… Hmph.”

“But putting aside feelings and just talking about character, you’re not bad,” Qi Jia spoke eloquently. “Your Dragon Breath at least helped me. Those Spirit-Nurturing Pills you gave me—I know now they are supreme treasures. They say every single one requires a vast amount of heavenly treasures…”

“There are many people willing to spend heavenly treasures on you.”

Yu Baixi coldly stated that it was nothing, but a moment later, his tone suddenly softened: “Furthermore, marriage is not child’s play. Since there are no feelings, we should not do this.”

“But I’m not playing,” Qi Jia said. “I am very seriously wanting to marry you right now!”

Yu Baixi: “…”

The Emperor did not answer immediately. He lightly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they had returned to being devoid of joy or sorrow.

“I am temperamental and addicted to slaughter. Once dawn breaks, you will hear people say that I killed another three thousand people tonight.”

“Three thousand innocent souls.”

His eyes were no longer purely grey-blue but glowed with a red light representing slaughter, yet they held no emotion. Yu Baixi continued indifferently, “When you regain your memories, you will realize that I am not a good person. Even you… will loathe me.”

“As such, why add more troubles to your life?”

By the end, the Emperor’s voice became lighter and lighter, as if it might scatter in the wind at any moment.

Qi Jia: “…”

Qi Jia understood what the other meant. He pondered for a moment, then blinked suspiciously. “But a Bodhisattva lowers their eyes, and a Vajra glares. When the four realms are in turmoil, why can’t the Heavenly Emperor be the one in charge of slaughter?”

Meeting Yu Baixi’s sudden gaze, Qi Jia said seriously, “…Even though I have amnesia and can’t figure out the details, I still believe it was unavoidable. And even if there was a mistake, it shouldn’t be your mistake alone.”

Listening silently to this speech, the Emperor fell into a daze.

Immediately after, his pupils suddenly constricted!

Qi Jia had taken advantage of the Emperor’s stunned moment to dive headfirst into the water, intending to “attack” him at close range and tie the red string.

He chose Yu Baixi’s ankle, which was submerged in the pool. He felt that if he aimed for the wrist, his intentions would be more easily discovered.

Just as he was curling his lips into a smile at his own cleverness, the fat bird entered the water and saw—not a pair of long legs—but a Dragon Tail that had manifested at some unknown time!!

Weren’t those human legs just a second ago when he was bathing? And this tail of the Emperor… it’s really long…

Qi Jia was momentarily stunned. He suddenly couldn’t find a place to use his claws to tie the red string. The Matchmaker only said to tie the wrist or ankle; he didn’t say where to tie it when a dragon doesn’t have an ankle!

So what now? Tie the tip of the tail? But where was the tip of the tail right now?? Seriously, it was too long!!!

Unfortunately, Qi Jia didn’t have any time to think further, as Yu Baixi’s reaction and spiritual power far exceeded his previous estimates. In the moment Qi Jia was stunned, the Emperor had already slightly raised his hand, and the bird could not get a hair’s breadth closer.

Not only that, but the protective barrier he had formed earlier suddenly shattered due to the incompatibility of fire and water and his insufficient spiritual power.

Although he retreated rapidly—his reaction wasn’t slow—a few drops of the black medicinal juice still splashed onto the fat bird’s meticulously groomed feathers.

“…Bah, bah!” The clean-loving bird immediately felt extremely uncomfortable. Without thinking, he shook his body and transformed back into the handsome young man with black hair.

The long hair of his human form could get wet. But the feathers on his head, which he carefully maintained, could not. This was his final stubbornness and obsession as a little parrot!

Immediately after, Qi Jia felt his waist tighten.

At some point, the distance between him and the Emperor had become very close. The next moment, he was swept up by the waist.

“I told you, do not recklessly use your spiritual power.”

A cold, low voice rang out. Yu Baixi stood straight in the medicinal pool. His hold on Qi Jia’s waist was steady, lifting him completely out of the water; only the hem of his long robe and a section of his belt remained soaked in the black pool.

In the faint light of dawn, the beautiful youth wore a look of shock. Because he saw the usually expressionless Heavenly Emperor suddenly reveal a strange, chilling smile:

“You want to Dual Cultivate, and you don’t know what ‘mating’ means? …Fine, I shall teach you.”

Qi Jia: ?

The two figures in the pool vanished instantly.

Half an incense stick of time later, the slender youth flew out of the Emperor’s bedchamber in a daze, looking hurried.

Qi Jia was still not wearing shoes because he had practically bolted out the door. He gave Han Mo—who had just arrived for the first morning shift—a massive fright.

“Lord? Are you alright?”

Qi Jia held his loose belt with one hand and covered his other wrist with his second hand. His long hair was messy, and his clothes were in disarray.

“Help! Your Emperor… he ate the bird!”

Han Mo: “?”