After Provoking the Mad Beautiful Deity - Chapter 59

Marrying Yan Chen was not Xuan Ze’s decision alone. While Xuan Ze truly liked Yan Chen, the elders wished to secure Yanlai’s assistance. After much deliberation, they decided that an alliance through marriage between the two clans was the best path forward.

Yanlai held a high status and even greater cultivation. With her strength, the Wilderness clan would surely grow rapidly. Yan Chen was both Xuan Ze’s beloved and the Wilderness’s most strategic choice.

Hearing this proposal, the gentleness on Yanlai’s face vanished. “Do you wish to marry her, or do you simply wish to borrow her power?”

“No, no, High God, you misunderstand! I truly love Yan Chen. She is intelligent and courageous, the finest fairy in my eyes. I beg for your permission.” Xuan Ze panicked, dropping to his knees to show his resolve. “If you agree, Xuan Ze will devote his entire life to her alone and never fail her.”

Yanlai looked down at the young man’s handsome features. In terms of appearance and family background, Xuan Ze was indeed outstanding.

Unfortunately, she had no disciple to give him. She only had a wife.

“Xuan Ze, to tell you the truth, Yan Chen is not my disciple.”

“Then… who is she?” Xuan Ze was stunned.

Yanlai spoke the truth plainly: “She is the Demon Lord, Hongchen. Do you still dare to marry her?”

Xuan Ze was petrified. “The Demon Lord? Hongchen? No, that is impossible. She has no demonic aura. She is so innocent; how could she be the Demon Lord?”

Xuan Ze refused to believe it. Yanlai did not care for long explanations and simply said, “Follow me.”

With a wave of her sleeve, she summoned the Qilin and ordered Xuan Ze to board it. She followed suit. The Qilin raced across the sky, returning to the gates of the Demon Palace in a matter of moments. The Young Lords were gathered at the entrance, and upon seeing their Shiniang return, they stepped forward to pay their respects.

“Shiniang.”

Xuan Ze was at a loss. Yanlai introduced him to the Young Lords. “This is the Clan Leader of the Wilderness, Xuan Ze. Greet him.”

The Young Lords bowed in unison. “Greetings, Clan Leader Xuan Ze.”

Xuan Ze’s legs nearly gave out. The legendary, demon-like Young Lords were actually a group of delicate-looking girls. Was Yan Chen truly the Demon Lord? At that moment, he believed half of it.

As they walked into the palace, they saw women everywhere, all clad in black robes with pale, exquisite faces. Upon reaching the bedroom, Hongchen walked out wrapped in vibrant red silk. She was an anomaly in the Demon Realm; she loved wearing red, so no one else dared to wear it, as no one wished to compete with the Demon Lord’s color.

Hongchen noticed Xuan Ze and let out a small “Oh?” before stepping forward to greet him.

Xuan Ze was dumbfounded. The face was identical, yet the girl’s expression had changed. Her brows were slightly arched, giving her a charming and moving allure. The red fabric made her skin appear even fairer and her lips more vivid. As he looked closer, he noticed the red marks on her neck.

In an instant, he understood. Yan Chen had not disappeared; rather, Yan Chen had never existed. He had been blind. From the very beginning, there had only been the Demon Lord, Hongchen.

Hongchen approached and patted Xuan Ze’s shoulder with familiarity. “I heard about your father. Please accept my condolences. If you encounter any difficulties, you may seek me out. Though there is a gap between Immortals and Demons, if anyone bullies you, I can still help.”

Xuan Ze was overcome with shame and hurriedly bowed. “The Demon Lord is too kind. The hour is late; I must return to the Wilderness.”

Hongchen, unaware of his internal turmoil, said, “You cannot leave empty-handed. I will give you a few life-saving magical artifacts. Do not refuse them; they can save your life in a crisis.”

Times had changed, and Xuan Ze did not dare refuse. Life-saving artifacts were indeed precious. As Xuan Ze expressed his gratitude, Hongchen raised her hand and placed a layer of protection on his forehead with a slight smile. “Rest assured, if you are in danger, I will be the first to come to your rescue.”

“Demon Lord… why are you so good to me?” Xuan Ze clutched his forehead in confusion, looking at the beautiful and spirited girl in disbelief. There was a divide between their races; why would she treat the leader of the Immortal Wilderness so well?

Hongchen was not offended. Instead, she smiled with pity. “I simply pity you for losing your father. He was an upright man. It is a tragedy. Rest assured, when the war between Immortals and Demons begins, as long as you do not participate, I will not touch a single hair on your head.”

Xuan Ze stared at her. After a few heartbeats, Yanlai stepped in to block his view. “The hour is late. Yan Guang, escort the Clan Leader out of the Demon Realm.”

Xuan Ze snapped out of it. Yanlai took the Demon Lord’s hand and led her away. Facing the stern expression of the Fifth Young Lord, Xuan Ze bowed in thanks and followed her to retrieve the artifacts.

Inside the bedroom, Hongchen climbed onto the sitting couch like a person without bones. Yanlai placed a soft pillow behind her waist. As Hongchen reclined, Yanlai sat perfectly upright.

Hongchen sneered at her, “There is no one else here. Who are you putting on this dignified act for?”

Yanlai was used to it; she had been restrained since childhood, unlike Hongchen’s unbridled freedom. For ten thousand years, this self-discipline had become a habit. Yanlai replied, “I am used to it. You are a Demon Lord, yet you have no posture when sitting or standing. It is embarrassing.”

“You have posture, you have poise, you are so very impressive. Impressive enough to bite me several times in one night.” There was a hint of disdain in Hongchen’s eyes, not for Yanlai, but for the restrictive rules of the Immortal Race.

Yanlai had intended to have a proper conversation, but being silenced by that one sentence, she said nothing more and stood to leave the hall. “Rest well, so you do not complain about being sleepy tonight.”

Hongchen huffed, pulled the quilt over herself, and fell fast asleep.

Yanlai could not stop worrying about the Empress, so she returned to the Nine Heavens. Being an Immortal herself, she could easily eliminate the slight trace of demonic aura on her body with her own spiritual power.

To avoid detection, she first sought out Siming. As the one in charge of human destinies, Siming was incredibly busy. Yanlai found him in the Siming Hall in front of countless archives.

Upon seeing Yanlai, Siming’s eyelids jumped. He quickly closed the hall doors. “Why are you here again?”

“How is the Empress?” Yanlai handed a communication artifact to Siming. “In the future, if there is important news, you can tell me directly.”

Siming, used to her antics, took the artifact but asked, “What could possibly happen to the Empress?”

Yanlai hesitated. Could it be that the Heavenly Emperor did not punish the Empress? “Go to the Empress’s bedroom once. I will wait for you to return. Just find any excuse.”

Siming did not ask for details, only, “Is there anything specific I should look for?”

“As long as she is safe.”

Siming hurried away.

Outside the Empress’s chambers, everything appeared normal. The maid announced him, and Siming saw the Empress without any hindrance.

Siming strode into the hall. The Empress was sitting by the window enjoying the view. Seeing him approach, she beckoned him over. “What business do you have with me?”

Siming did not dare be careless. He approached and tested her: “The matter Your Majesty entrusted to me a few days ago has been settled. I wonder if Your Majesty is prepared?”

“What matter?” The Empress looked confused.

Siming took a step forward and whispered, “The matter of becoming a Female Emperor.”

“Female Emperor?” The Empress chewed on the words. Her expression was solemn and her eyes were clear, devoid of her usual joking manner.

Siming swallowed nervously. The Empress looked up at him and said, “I have forgotten. You may explain it in detail.”

“You forgot? You said you wanted to go to the mortal realm to be a Female Emperor. I have been busy with it until now. Do you no longer wish to go?” Siming sensed something was wrong. This was a matter the Empress herself had raised. How could she forget something so important?

As Siming questioned her, the Empress also looked puzzled. “Perhaps it was just idle talk and you took it seriously. Let the matter be dropped.”

Siming held his breath, secretly pinching the back of his left hand to force himself to stay quiet. He changed his tune and said, “Since it is nothing, I shall take my leave.”

The Empress waved him away with a look of affection.

Leaving the palace, Siming hurried his pace, fearing someone might be following him. He even ran to the Old Man under the Moon to take a red thread as a cover. The Old Man grumbled at her, “You goddesses take my red threads for no reason and never do anything with them. That Moon Goddess comes every day for several strings, says she’s found a male god, and it always ends in nothing.”

Siming laughed, made a few jokes, and left with the thread. He looked left and right before returning safely to the Siming Hall.

The moment he entered, Siming looked as if his soul had been drained. His whole body was trembling. Yanlai was startled. “Did something happen?”

“The Empress is physically fine, and her palace is as it was. However, she does not remember the task she gave me. Some time ago, she wanted to go to the human world to be a Female Emperor; I guessed she intended to take ‘that person’ with her. Yet, when I asked today, she had no memory of it at all. It is as if it never happened.” Siming sat in a chair, feeling like he had just survived a disaster.

Yanlai furrowed her brows. “The Emperor took her memories. Since she does not remember Chu Rou, she naturally forgot her agreement with you.”

“At least the Empress is unharmed.” She let out a sigh of relief, but as her breathing leveled out, another thought struck her. “Does the Heavenly Emperor know the Demon Race’s ‘Forgetting Dust’ technique?”

“What? How could the Heavenly Emperor know Demon techniques?” Siming stood up in shock. If the Lord of the Immortals knew Demon arts, the Demon Realm would mock them for ten million years.

Yanlai stood up again. “I am going to see the Moon Goddess. You pretend you know nothing.”

“Why are you looking for the Moon Goddess?”

“I will have the Moon Goddess go to the East Sea to find the wife of the East Sea Clan Leader. She knows how to heal. With just one look, she will know if the Empress has been afflicted with Forgetting Dust.” Yanlai did not delay, leaving Siming to head for the Moon Palace.

By coincidence, the Moon Goddess was pulling at the Old Man for red threads, and the Old Man was refusing to give them. Yanlai, disguised as Siming, pulled the Moon Goddess aside. Siming held the red thread and said, “I followed your advice and tied a red thread to every male god, but I still feel nothing. What kind of terrible idea was that?”

Yanlai’s mouth twitched. She lowered her voice and said, “It is I, Yanlai. Go to the East Sea immediately and secretly invite the wife of the Clan Leader. Say you wish to visit the Empress.”

“Did something happen to the Empress?” The Moon Goddess steadied herself and took Yanlai’s hand. The two walked and talked, appearing perfectly casual to onlookers.

The Moon Goddess found it hard to believe. “How could anything happen to the Empress?”

“Siming went to see her, and she has forgotten things. I suspect she is under the Forgetting Dust curse. The East Sea are relatives by marriage, and Princess Deshun is pregnant. It would be perfectly logical for the Clan Leader’s wife to visit the Empress now,” Yanlai said, her eyes scanning the distance to ensure no one was approaching.

The Moon Goddess replied in a whisper, “I understand. You should leave the Nine Heavens first; it is far too dangerous here. By the way, Prince Qingfeng has awakened, but they have been keeping his condition a secret from the outside. It seems things are not going well.”

Yanlai sneered, “A useless waste.”

With those words, she snatched away the red strings that the Moon Goddess had just managed to beg for.

Left empty-handed, the Moon Goddess had no choice but to turn back and find the Old Man under the Moon again.

Seeing her return, the Old Man turned and fled. The Moon Goddess chased after him, shouting, “Old Man, give me a few more! I will try again. I will trade a rabbit with you, how about that?”

Yanlai left the Nine Heavens with the red strings and returned to the Demon Palace. She summoned Yan Guang and handed her the strings she had surreptitiously obtained.

“Red strings from the Old Man under the Moon.”

It was no secret for tens of thousands of years that the Old Man of the Nine Heavens presided over matters of love and affection. However, these red strings were items of the Immortal Race, things the Demon Realm could never obtain.

Yan Guang had heard of them but never seen them. Suddenly finding herself with such a novelty, she was overjoyed.

“Shiniang, thank you, Shiniang!”

Yanlai said with affection, “You may try them with whomever you wish.”

“Shiniang dotes on me the most!” Yan Guang clutched the red strings and left, unable to wait to get out of the palace.

Yanlai was caught between laughter and tears. With no other business in the hall, she went back to spend time with Hongchen.

Upon entering the room, she heard Hongchen’s voice: “Can you speak? Say a few words for me to hear.”

“Say: Long live the Demon Lord.”

“The Demon Lord perishes.”

“It is ‘Long live the Demon Lord’!” Hongchen corrected.

Yanlai stepped over the threshold and walked over quickly, only to see a person and a rabbit sitting on the bed together.

“Where did this rabbit come from?”

“Xuan Ze sent it to thank me for the magical artifacts. But this rabbit is truly just a rabbit; it cannot take human form,” Hongchen said regretfully. She picked up the rabbit and poked its belly. “Say: Long live the Demon Lord.”

The rabbit replied, “The Demon Lord perishes, the Demon Lord perishes.”

Hongchen covered the rabbit’s mouth and said to Yanlai, “I suddenly feel like eating roasted rabbit.”

The rabbit immediately broke free from Hongchen’s embrace and lunged toward Yanlai. Yanlai did not want it either, especially since it was a gift from Xuan Ze. She could not forget the look in Xuan Ze’s eyes when he looked at Hongchen—fervent, warm, and full of affection.

“How is the Empress?” Hongchen lay back comfortably on the bed, looking perfectly content. She had just woken up and was in high spirits.

Yanlai said, “I suspect she was hit with Forgetting Dust and has forgotten Chu Rou. She forgot the things she once entrusted to Siming. Just like me, I suspect she is under the curse. Can you break it?”

“I might not be able to. The Heavenly Emperor’s cultivation is profound and unpredictable; his Forgetting Dust must be incredibly powerful. I cannot even break the one on you,” Hongchen sighed. At this moment, she truly felt the importance of her missing soul fragments.

Yanlai nodded. “Then perhaps we should go to Phoenix Mountain to retrieve Liuguang and see if we can find your soul. If the artifact spirit is there, your soul must be there as well.”

Items offered as a sacrifice must be integrated with Liuguang.

Hongchen looked at the celestial herb on the table, isolated by a barrier. “Let us wait for her to return first. If the Empress has forgotten, then let her forget for now. If she returns and wishes to find that relationship again, we can help her then.”

Yanlai dropped the subject and rubbed her brow tiredly. Hongchen’s gaze suddenly shifted as she looked at her with a smile. She stepped forward and pulled Yanlai back to sit on the bed.

“Are you tired?”

“I am not.”

“You seem quite tired to me.” Hongchen reached out to massage her back, her pinky finger grazing Yanlai’s ear. Yanlai shuddered and instinctively caught that hand.

It was like a stone dropped into a pond, immediately stirring up ripples.

Yanlai spoke again, “Has your body recovered?”

“Not yet,” Hongchen said, feeling inexplicably guilty.

Yanlai sat up straight. “Then what are you thinking about?”

Hongchen gave a small huff of disdain but quickly leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Yanlai was surprised, and a smile touched her lips.

“Do you not want to bring her back to life sooner?”

“I do, but we cannot be reckless. We must take it slow. I have a life to live too,” Hongchen said, pointing to her own heart. “It has desires.”

“Shameless,” Yanlai said with a smile, no longer showing her past resistance. Though she appeared still, her heart was already in a state of upheaval.

Hongchen reached out and pulled the pin from Yanlai’s hair, letting her long locks cascade down. Yanlai glanced at her, as if to say: Stop playing around.

The ink-black hair draped over her shoulders, appearing gentle and elegant. Hongchen stroked the long hair, a surge of emotion in her chest. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Yanlai’s waist. “Yanlai.”

“I am here,” Yanlai murmured, closing her eyes and answering softly. The hand around her waist held her tightly, as if trying to merge her into her very bones and blood.

Rays of warmth enveloped her. She let go of her strength and relaxed, allowing herself to lie in Hongchen’s embrace.

Hongchen kissed the corner of her lips gently and lingeringly. Yanlai held her breath, listening to the sound of Hongchen’s heartbeat.

A soft light enveloped the two of them.

Yanlai closed her eyes, feeling the spring breeze brushing against her. The breeze was so gentle yet so powerful. It swept over the grass, creating ripples like the rise and fall of mountains.

The breeze was soft, yet so comfortable. The spring wind was wanton, embracing all things.

Yanlai was forced to open her eyes and reached out to hug Hongchen tightly. Hongchen paused for a moment, the light in her eyes turning deeply affectionate.

She loved her.

Everything was worth it.

“Why have you stopped talking?” Hongchen asked.

Yanlai chuckled, tilting her slender neck. “I am not exactly a chatterbox.”

Hongchen sneered, “That is just because you are dignified and restrained. I do not restrain myself. If I am hurting, I cry out; if I am comfortable, I am happy.”

Yanlai covered her ears, not daring to listen to any more of her bold words.

Hongchen refused to let her, pressing down on her shoulders to move her hands away. “I will say it. I will say it all for you to hear. You cannot escape.”