Residence: Divine Realm Water Domain Heaven, Immortal Realm Tianshi City
Specialties: Governing all waters of heaven and earth
Hobbies: Wine tasting, traveling the four seas
Wish: Unknown
Appearance: Black hair to the knees, water pattern markings on both cheekbones
Family: None
Partner Criteria: Unknown
After this underwater journey, I discovered a tragic fact: merpeople knew absolutely nothing about the gods and immortals of the upper realm. No wonder they dared to speak so boldly to the Divine Lord Yinze. As the jade waves crashed against the shore, rolling up thousands of piles of snow, a mermaid beauty swayed her waist onto the shore. Her eyes were lazy and seductive, with a mole at the corner of her mouth, breasts large as spheres, clothes revealing as a courtesan’s—so shocking I dared not look.
She simply stood behind Yinze, hands on her hips, saying, “When this old lady said ‘man,’ I was referring to you, handsome young master. Are you playing dumb, or are you deaf?”
Snow flew wildly over the sea, the cold moon like frost. Yinze didn’t turn around, only slowly turned his head sideways, “You are the cook Huakui?”
His voice was extremely flat, yet cold and distant, carrying an air of natural authority that completely crushed Huakui’s momentum into a duck egg. Her mermaid tail retreated three or four inches, and she cleared her throat, “So what if I am?”
Yinze handed her the nine-colored clams he had taken earlier, “Make these into a cold dish. I’ll come to collect it in one hour.”
“Cold nine-colored clam? Do you know how much this old lady’s cooking is worth? You say make it, and I should make it? On what grounds…” She was about to throw a tantrum when she met Yinze’s casual glance and instantly weakened, “Making it is fine, but this old lady always requires fine wine to accompany nine-colored clam. Without good liquor, don’t expect to take it away even when it’s done.”
“I was planning to get wine anyway. Wei’er, wait for me here.” After saying this, Yinze walked over and whispered in my ear, “No need to tell her too much.”
After his instructions, a mist of water rose, and his figure had already traveled a thousand miles away under the bright moon.
Cook Huakui said, “Tsk tsk, what’s this person’s background anyway? His skills are quite good. His looks are also very good, but his personality is a bit lacking. Little girl, your taste is rather unique.”
I had just finished changing clothes and immediately waved my hands with a smile, “No, no, you’ve misunderstood. We’re not the kind of relationship you think. He’s my master.”
She toyed with the nine-colored clams, slowly approaching the stove. Originally graceful, after lighting the fire, she became as agile as a tiger in the wind.
She used magic to draw seawater, throwing the nine-colored clams into the water with one hand while rotating a kitchen knife with the other, saying smoothly, “I see. Master-disciple romance indeed has a special flavor.”
How exactly was this cook understanding things? Now I shook my head along with everything else, “No, he and I aren’t what you think…”
“Alright, alright, does the little girl think this old lady is so foolish? To be honest, your master is really to this old lady’s taste. What this old lady likes most is this type of noble and cold man, and his butt is quite perky.” She made a pinching gesture, ate a piece of raw shellfish meat, and said while chewing, “You can tell at a glance that the elasticity is very good. This kind of man has considerable… length.” When she said “length,” for some reason, her voice also drew out very long.
I suddenly didn’t feel cold anymore, then very quickly felt frozen solid from head to toe. Heavens, what exactly was she saying, daring to speak so rudely about the Divine Lord? But after struggling for a long time, all I could do was laugh dryly, “Cook, you… you… ha, haha…”
She curved her lips with a mocking expression, the mole at her mouth corner moving along, “Look how scared you are, your face is red again. The little girl is too pure. If it weren’t for seeing how deeply he cares for you, this old lady would make an effort.”
At this moment, I clearly felt my heart skip a beat, “He cares for me? Where does this conclusion come from?”
She spun her blade, scooping out the shellfish meat piece by piece, “This old lady has traveled all over the Eastern Sea and seen every type of man. A man like him, you can tell at a glance he’s had plenty of women. But just now, when you were stripped like that, he still didn’t make a move, which shows his feelings run very deep.”
I said helplessly, “Cook, you’re overthinking. He didn’t make a move because he truly sees me as his disciple.”
She looked back at me, raised her sharp knife, and gently waved it twice, “Fine, you’re right about everything.”
After that, Cook Huakui concentrated on cooking and didn’t talk to me much more. By the time Yinze returned, she had already finished a plate of cold nine-colored clam. Taking the wine Yinze brought back, I said, “Master, leave the rest to me. It’s getting late, you should go back and rest first.”
“Leaving you alone in this desolate sea—do you think your life is too long?” He took the wine back and handed it to Cook Huakui, “How is this wine?”
Cook Huakui shot me a provocative look. Though she said nothing, I seemed to hear her eyes saying, “What a deeply caring master indeed.” I felt somewhat indignant and turned my head away, refusing to look at them.
She took the wine and slowly smelled it, her pupils suddenly dilating, “This is… Flowing Cloud Wine?”
Yinze said, “Correct.”
Cook Huakui said in amazement, “To retrieve the immortal wine Flowing Cloud in such a short time, could it be that Your Excellency is… from the Divine Realm?”
Yinze said, “May I take the dish now?”
Cook Huakui dropped to her knees with a “thud,” presenting the cold nine-colored clam with both hands. “This servant’s knowledge is insufficient, actually failing to recognize the divine being’s true form. Please, Your Excellency, be magnanimous and don’t lower yourself to this servant’s level. And please, little immortal maiden, don’t mind what this servant said earlier. If this servant had known your master was a god, I definitely wouldn’t have spoken such frivolous nonsense.”
Yinze didn’t say much to her and turned to leave with me. After hearing Cook Huakui’s final words, my heart received quite a shock. First, because her attitude changed so drastically, instantly transforming from “this old lady” to “this servant.” Second, because she hoped I wouldn’t mind what she had said. Presumably, after learning Master’s true identity, she, like me, was certain he wasn’t someone easily approached. For some unknown reason, thinking of this made me inexplicably dejected…
We delivered the cold nine-colored clam and Flowing Cloud wine to the snow snake. The snow snake’s cold blood boiled as he wildly flicked his tongue, even acting like a weathered old man, drinking wine, gnawing meat, gazing at the moon, and sighing deeply, saying a bunch of nonsense: “Snake life is sufficient like this. If Miss Luowei would lay eggs for me, I wouldn’t mind dying…”
Having resolved this matter, we rode the wind and moon, returning to Tianshi City along the way. Back at Cangying Manor, I was already exhausted and wanted to return to my room early to rest, but I saw a black shadow dart through the garden. Instinctively knowing danger was occurring, my speed was completely inferior to that black shadow.
I saw a silver light flash, gleaming brightly in the corner—an extremely powerful sword energy pressed toward me! Just as I was about to cast magic to resist the attack, a thin, transparent ice shield blocked in front of me! That was magic Yinze had cast! I turned my head to see him standing in front of me, facing the one pointing a sword at us—Fu Chenzhi!
I cried out in shock, “Brother?! Why is this—”
At this moment, Fu Chenzhi’s eyes glowed red, half his body buried in darkness. His breathing became white, cold mist, his chest rising and falling, his gasping completely inhuman, more like a bloodthirsty beast on the verge of madness. He opened his mouth, exhaling a long breath through his throat, his voice hoarse. His hands struck several snow-white sword flowers with such force that they pierced the sky, looking completely mad. However, his swordsmanship remained as skilled as ever, inheriting Master’s sharp speed.
“Stand back.”
Yinze pushed me backward, turning sideways toward Fu Chenzhi, extending his right hand with palm facing Fu Chenzhi. A magic array descended from the sky, framing Fu Chenzhi within it. Fu Chenzhi struggled desperately, shrieking wildly, but was finally pressed down, kneeling on the ground. Yinze withdrew his arm, waved his sleeve forward, his jade ring glowing faintly.
Fu Chenzhi’s red eyes suddenly widened, then the blood color dispersed, returning to their original appearance. His body swayed, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
I quickly ran over to support him, asking anxiously, “Master, what happened to brother?”
Yinze said, “He practiced too diligently and was corrupted by evil energy while fighting demons. I just dispersed the evil energy from his body—he’s fine now. Help him back to his room to rest.”
Just because he practiced too diligently and fought with demons, he could become like this? Cultivation was a dangerous discipline. Fortunately, Master was present; otherwise, I might have been cleaved in half by my brother, truly like a toad jumping on one’s foot, scaring someone to death. After sending my brother back to his bedroom, I also returned to my room.
Having been away for several days, seeing my little warm bed and the extraordinarily enthusiastic Xuanyue filled me with nostalgia. I quickly fell asleep on the bed, dreamless through the night.
However, the next morning was the same as always—after the rooster crowed, I had to go to Mount Baidi for cultivation. Seeing me return, fellow disciples were all very considerate, asking after my well-being for a long time. Having not rested enough the previous night, I swayed through a morning of magic practice, and by noon break time, I casually found a grassy spot to sleep.
Thinking of everything that had happened these past days, my mood remained exceptionally complex, and I drifted into a half-dream, half-awake state in confusion.