novelraw Chapter 122 : First Day of the Year
Chapter 122 : First Day of the Year
Chapter 122: First Day of the Year
“This method won’t work.”
“To use the lives of one city’s people to slay a Sixth Realm Great Demon is already the best outcome. If we don’t, once that demon’s magic matures, even more people will suffer in the future.”
“But how innocent are the mortals? They’re merely living their lives, yet must lose them because of the terrifying consequences brought about by cultivators’ desires.”
“No need to argue further. If you won’t help me, I’ll go and slay the demon myself!”
Lu Changyuan opened his eyes.
He had dreamed of the past—a bad dream.
Sunlight filtered through snow-dusted bamboo, casting soft shadows upon the white ground. Between the layered shades lingered a quiet sense of peace.
By his ear came the Little Fairy’s murmurs in her sleep: “Brother Lu, hehe, Brother Lu…”
Pa! Lu Changyuan lightly patted the Little Fairy’s head.
“Mm.”
Lu Changyuan said helplessly, “Time to get up.”
“Let me sleep a bit longer.”
The Little Fairy half-opened her hazy eyes, caught sight of Lu Changyuan’s profile, then quickly ducked her small head back under the blanket. She pulled the quilt over her head and softly curled against Lu Changyuan, using him as a pillow.
“The sun’s already high.”
Lu Changyuan then saw the little koala use the Dao of Time; at once, time within the room stretched long and gentle. “Just one incense stick more…”
Heaven knew how much time might pass outside during that single stick of incense.
With no choice, Lu Changyuan pried the Little Fairy’s hand away, properly laid it down, and quietly slipped out of the room.
Just then, the door next to his opened. A silver-haired girl stepped out, dressed in blue-white garments, her hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. When she saw Lu Changyuan leaving, her crimson eyes fixed on him, carrying an inexplicable emotion.
Su Youwan wasn’t wearing her blindfold.
Her lips curved faintly. “Happy New Year.”
Lu Changyuan replied in kind, then asked, “Why didn’t you say that yesterday?”
Last night, they had eaten together, drank the Dao Sect’s aged wine, played and laughed until midnight. Only after the crackling fireworks faded did they finally return to rest.
The silver-haired girl paused for a moment. “For me, the rising of the sun marks the new day.”
That was… a fair reason.
In the girl’s crimson eyes, there was no emotion—neither joy nor sorrow—clear as a hanging mirror.
But she still asked, “Why was there no movement last night?”
Lu Changyuan froze. “What movement?”
He met the girl’s gaze; they stared at each other, big eyes against small, until he finally understood Su Youwan’s meaning—and found himself speechless.
Last night, the Little Fairy had held him all night long yet did nothing unusual. Perhaps she had been too tired from playing… or perhaps she knew she couldn’t win against Lu Changyuan and needed to conserve her strength.
Creak.
The door behind Lu Changyuan opened again. The Little Fairy, rubbing her sleepy eyes, grumbled, “Young Master, why are you up already?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to sleep longer?”
The Little Fairy’s hair was sticking up from where Lu Changyuan had pressed it last night, making her look adorably messy. “Since Young Master’s up, how can I still sleep?!”
So, it wasn’t that she loved the bed—it was that she loved the bed with Lu Changyuan in it.
The Little Fairy waved her hand, covered her little mouth with a dainty yawn, and greeted softly, “Miss Su.”
Su Youwan gave a quiet hum in reply.
Xia Lianxue blinked. “I’ll go make some porridge. Young Master, please go wake Senior Sister.”
Wake Qiu Yuehan?
The Little Fairy was already walking away. Lu Changyuan thought back to the sword practice under the snow last night, then stepped to Qiu Yuehan’s door and knocked.
No response.
He knocked again. Still nothing.
Had these fairies, who once relied on meditation for rest, become so accustomed to sleeping that they were now reluctant to wake?
Just as Lu Changyuan debated whether to open the door, it suddenly swung inward.
Lu Changyuan’s thoughts stilled. Before him bloomed skin like jade and bone like ice—smooth black hair and a pale moon-colored bellyband wrapped around an elegant, slender figure. The faint fragrance of a maiden, tinged with warmth, drifted toward him.
Those long, beautiful legs still generously fell within his sight.
The Moon Fairy’s expression was calm. “What is it?”
“Tang’er asked you to come have porridge.”
Qiu Yuehan nodded, then asked, “Would you like to come in?”
Lu Changyuan shook his head and stepped back.
Right now, Qiu Yuehan had a faint air of the Nether Lord about her.
That fairy’s boudoir looked more like a man-eating cave—best not.
Soon, the Little Fairy finished cooking the porridge. Even before she brought it out, the sweet aroma had already filled the air.
Snow Pear and Lotus Seed Porridge.
Lu Changyuan guessed that she had used the Dao of Time to ripen the ingredients instantly, picking them fresh to make the porridge.
The Dao of Time was truly too convenient.
If she ever sold fruit in winter, Little Fairy could become a rich merchant in no time.
Xia Lianxue filled a bowl for Lu Changyuan. “The wedding garment should be on the mountaintop. I’ll bring it down later.”
Lu Changyuan lifted the bowl, not bothering with a spoon. He squinted his eyes as he took a sip; warmth flowed down his throat into his stomach, spreading a soothing comfort.
“Young Master, I plan to return to the Jade Palace for a while.”
Lu Changyuan asked, puzzled, “Why return to the Jade Palace?”
The Little Fairy propped her cheeks on her hands, her eyes glimmering. “I came here muddled because of the Heavenly Tribulation, and things there were left unsettled.”
After all, Xia Lianxue was the Palace Mistress of the Jade Palace. She couldn’t just leave such a grand foundation unattended.
“I’ll go back to make arrangements and speak with Han Qiu. We’ll need to set proper procedures for the matters ahead.”
Han Qiu was the only surviving True Person among the three.
The Little Fairy smiled gently. “And I need to bring my dowry.”
The Dao Sect was Lu Changyuan’s territory; since she was marrying him, she had to dig up her small burial mound and take out the wedding garment she had buried there when she thought she was going to die.
She also needed to visit her seclusion grounds to see if there was any way to return to Jade Radiance. Lately, she had begun to feel a faint sense of unease.
“When will you leave?”
“Today.”
Lu Changyuan refilled his bowl. “In such a hurry?”
Xia Lianxue smiled sweetly. “The sooner I go, the sooner I return. Besides, I can’t let the Jade Palace decline under my watch. With the New Year comes a new beginning—time to make the Jade Palace shine again.”
The Little Fairy was, after all, the very first Palace Mistress of the Jade Palace. If it were to end with her generation, it would truly be a joke to others.
Lu Changyuan asked again, “Shall I go with you?”
“No need. I’m not a child.”
Though she often acted childish around Lu Changyuan, Xia Lianxue was in truth a powerful cultivator. Acting coquettish before her own people on Heavenly Mountain was one thing, but once she returned to the Jade Palace, she had to maintain her dignity.
Dignified and majestic—our Little Fairy in White!
Not far away, the silver-haired girl suddenly spoke: “I should return to the Black Domain as well. I’ll come back later; after all, it’s best for my cultivation here.”
Though she had recovered from her injuries and already sent word to the one at Cihang Palace, she hadn’t been back yet. It had been far too long.
Su Youwan felt she had glimpsed the mortal world. Seeing the joyful life at the Dao Sect, she suddenly felt the urge to see her own Master—not through the Cihang Statue, but in person.
She’d go back, tell her Master that she’d taken a liking to a man, and then return. Oh, and perhaps ask her Fourth Brother how to steal a man.
The Little Ancestor of Cihang Palace was quite busy indeed.
The once lively Heavenly Mountain seemed, in an instant, about to grow quiet again.
Xia Lianxue tilted her head toward Qiu Yuehan. “Senior Sister, would you come with me?”
Qiu Yuehan silently shook her head.
Why would she go back? She still had to stay at the Dao Sect to let the old monster teach her swordsmanship.
Some fairies had already forgotten they were the leading disciples of the Jade Palace—only remembering they were the Dao Sect’s Junior Sisters.
Unfaithful to one’s roots!
Xia Lianxue smiled suspiciously at Qiu Yuehan. After thinking for a moment, she realized that meant Young Master and Senior Sister would be alone together. Although that had been within her plans, she still couldn’t help but feel slightly uneasy.
The Little Fairy in white turned her gaze back to Lu Changyuan, showing a faint smile—her neat white teeth just barely visible.
Lu Changyuan looked a bit confused. Still drinking his porridge, he found her sudden smile rather hard to comprehend and asked, “Why aren’t you drinking your porridge?”
Xia Lianxue gazed at Lu Changyuan, amusement glimmering in her lovely eyes. She spoke softly, “I got up early today and don’t have an appetite. I’ll drink something else later. Young Master, please eat first.”
～～～～～～～～～
Qiu Yuehan silently stroked the dragon bone in her hand, thinking that since her Junior Sister would soon be leaving, she could practice her sword a little more recklessly tonight.
“I’m going to practice my sword.”
She finished the porridge, took up her sword, and walked toward the bamboo grove. Following the mountain path up Heavenly Mountain, Qiu Yuehan soon reached the mid-slope, where a large rock jutted out from the mountainside. Standing upon it, she could see the vast scenery beneath Heavenly Mountain.
Qiu Yuehan sat cross-legged on the boulder, lifted the dragon bone toward the sun, and recalled that legend.
The bone was black, and under the bright daylight, it didn’t match at all. How could a dragon ever turn into the sun?
Suddenly, a thought struck her—why not ask the shopkeeper where he had found this bone in the first place?
With that, Qiu Yuehan descended the mountain again.
Because it was the first day of the year, the streets of the dynasty still echoed with the sound of firecrackers, lively and festive.
Qiu Yuehan went straight to the antique shop at the corner she had visited before.
The shop was still there, red lanterns hanging out front, the furnishings unchanged. The shopkeeper was still that white-bearded old man.
When he saw Qiu Yuehan enter, the old man smiled kindly. “What might this young lady be looking for? Everything in my humble shop has quite a few years on it—genuine antiques, every piece.”
Qiu Yuehan froze slightly.
The old man… didn’t seem to recognize her?
She frowned. “That bone of yours—where did you find it?”
“Bone? What bone?”
Qiu Yuehan sensed something strange. “Five days ago, that afternoon, I saw a cultivator trying to rob you of a treasure. I stopped him, and you gave me the bone in gratitude.”
The confusion on the shopkeeper’s face looked utterly genuine. “Miss Fairy, you must have mistaken the shop. I’ve never had any kind of bone. And here at the foot of the Dao Sect, who would dare bully us mortals?”
At that, Qiu Yuehan’s pupils contracted. She took out the bone and handed it to him. “You truly don’t recognize this?”
“I don’t. Miss Fairy, isn’t this just a glowing stone? If it were lying on the ground, I wouldn’t even bother picking it up. My shop deals in antiques, not glowing rocks.”
So that was it.
The shopkeeper was just a mortal—he couldn’t possibly know the bone’s origins. Maybe he only brought it home because it glowed; there were many such luminous stones in the world, nothing rare about them.
But then… why had the shopkeeper from before refused to sell it?
The old man continued, “Besides, I never saw you five days ago.”
Qiu Yuehan frowned. “What were you doing that day?”
“Just minding the shop as usual. But around the time of Wei hour, I suddenly felt sleepy and dozed off right here until Chen hour. Old men like me nap too easily these days.”
Wei hour?
That was roughly when she had gone to the clothing shop.
If the real shopkeeper had fallen asleep then, the white-bearded man she’d met that day—who was he?
Qiu Yuehan asked, “Did you see a cultivator in green robes?”
That was the very one who had tried to steal the bone.
The shopkeeper shook his head. “No, but about four days ago, before the New Year, there was a corpse floating in the river outside the city. Don’t know who it was. Later… they wrapped it in straw matting and buried it casually.”
“Where?”
“Up north of the city. All the outsiders who die are buried there.”
Qiu Yuehan followed his directions and reached the burial grounds outside the city. With a wave of her hand, the ground burst open inch by inch.
Before long, as the soil turned, a corpse appeared. Though it was already decaying, the face still bore faint traces—indeed, it was the green-robed cultivator who had tried to steal from her.
The matter had become clear. That day, someone had disguised themself as the shopkeeper to meet her. But why? To give her the bone?
To give it… to her for what purpose?
Qiu Yuehan looked toward the Dao Sect—perhaps it wasn’t meant for her at all, but for Lu Changyuan.
~~~~~~~~~
“Me? Me again?”
Inside the Grand Hall of Pleasure, where the murals depicted scenes of intertwined men and women, Mei Zhao Zhao still wore her black robe. She pointed to herself. “Again me? I just came back from a mission and almost died in the Nether Kingdom! Xiao Qingfeng showed no old affection at all. I haven’t even rested long, and you’re sending me out again?”
Mei Zhao Zhao was utterly indignant. “I’m the appointed Saintess, yet I’m sent running around all day—how improper is that?”
Standing before her was a voluptuous cultivator, curvaceous and seductive, with crimson lips and alluring eyes.
A True Person of the Pleasure Sect, Sixth Realm Dawning Sun, from the branch of Desire—True Person Red Robe.
Mei Zhao Zhao spoke angrily, “My injuries from the Nether Kingdom haven’t fully healed. I can’t take this mission.”
True Person Red Robe looked at her with a bewitching smile, voice dripping with charm that could unsettle anyone’s heart. “If you’re still hurt, find a man to take. His essence will heal you quickly. Why delay? At this rate, when will you ever recover?”
At that, Mei Zhao Zhao grew even angrier.
Ever since the new Pleasure Sect Master took charge, the Purity Branch had been harshly suppressed, and she, as the Saintess, bore the brunt of it. The mission to the Nether Kingdom had been one of those cases.
It was a near-death mission—one she hadn’t wanted at all—but as a Spirit-Communing Body, she’d had no grounds to refuse. She’d been forced into the Nether Kingdom.
Now that she’d barely returned, she thought she could rest for a few days, maybe even use the time to break into the Fifth Realm. But no—True Person Red Robe had found her again.
“I can find you a dozen sturdy men. If that’s not enough, you can even use my obedient little pet—it’s got plenty of vitality.”
Mei Zhao Zhao gritted her teeth. “I don’t need any of that. My clothes aren’t for just anyone to remove. At least it’d have to be a man absurdly strong—someone like Daoist Chang’an—before this Saintess would cast aside her pride and climb on top.”
Funny, really—the Saintess of the Pleasure Sect was still a virgin.
“You people still pine for Daoist Chang’an? He’s already ascended!” Red Robe’s smile vanished, and seeing Mei Zhao Zhao’s defiance, she snorted coldly. “This mission is to the Blood Demon Palace. Rumor has it that Blood Smoke Rakshasa has vanished, and the Blood Demon Lord seeks to groom a successor and carry out something in secret. You’re to investigate. If you refuse, don’t bother attending the fox clan’s next liaison meeting.”
With those words, Red Robe disappeared, leaving Mei Zhao Zhao fuming.
Furious but helpless, she left the hall. As she stepped outside, sounds of indulgence and ecstasy echoed from the side chambers.
Mei Zhao Zhao hated such sights and sounds. She sped up, soon returning to her residence atop a nearby peak.
Amid this demonic place, her courtyard was like a lotus in the mud—pure and serene. Two or three plum trees stood at the gate, blooming beautifully amid the snow.
She had planted them herself, choosing among many varieties before settling on plum trees—perhaps because her surname was Mei.
Letting out a breath, Mei Zhao Zhao removed her black robe, revealing a breathtaking face.
It was a face of pure seduction, like aged wine—one didn’t need to taste it; just a whiff could make souls dizzy and reason fade.
With the charm arts of the Pleasure Sect, if she wished, male cultivators across the world would line up to kneel before her feet.
“Such bitter fate…”
She stepped into her house, tossing the black robe aside. Her wine-red hair cascaded down her shoulders, dazzling as plum blossoms—beautiful yet not vulgar, purity laced with temptation.
Her fair skin seemed to glow faintly in the dimness, and her warm eyes rippled like autumn water. Any man who met her gaze would instantly feel as if this maiden had fallen for him. They were dangerous eyes indeed.
Her cherry-red lips were flawless, enough to drive anyone mad with desire to taste them. Yet she merely parted them slightly and sighed, “Morning rain and evening wind—why must my fate be so bitter?”
She would have to visit the Blood Demon Palace after all.
But within the Blood Demon Palace, the only person she knew was Blood Smoke Rakshasa—that androgynous one who had cut ties with her own sect, losing the title of Young Lord.
Why would that Blood Smoke Rakshasa abandon such a good position? Now no one could live in peace!
Mei Zhao Zhao sighed, hoping that if the Blood Demon Lord caught her, he might spare her on account of her late Master once being his beloved concubine.
“Fortunately, I wasn’t injured at all.”
Indeed, she had come out of the Nether Kingdom nearly unscathed.
Closing her eyes, Mei Zhao Zhao silently cursed True Person Red Robe’s ancestors eighteen generations back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Woof, woof.”
In front of a small mountain village, a lame monk wearing a patchwork robe crouched down and patted a yellow dog’s head.
“Amitabha, could Dog Benefactor tell this humble monk whether the Young Lord of the Blood Demon Palace is here?”
When the yellow dog didn’t respond, the monk’s hand pressed down harder.
“Hey, why are you bullying Big Yellow?”
A village child ran up, scolding the monk.
“The humble monk merely wishes to ask Dog Benefactor a question.”
“You’re a strange monk! Why ask Big Yellow anything? He can’t even talk!”
The monk smiled faintly, his white teeth gleaming coldly. He pressed his palms together and said, “Amitabha, all beings have spirit.”