Now, let’s turn back time to the morning at the Imperial Tomb.
The sky had just begun to brighten, and the Imperial Tomb was still temporarily harmonious. Xin Xiong rose early as usual to practice martial arts and circulate qi in front of his house; Yinglian and Uncle Bear continued their loving relationship; Master Zhao, who hadn’t slept all night, stood before the cave waiting for the divine muse of inspiration to arrive; Si Lan busied himself in the kitchen preparing breakfast; Tao Guoguo… Tao Guoguo paced back and forth in front of Lu Qianqiao and Xin Mei’s room, spinning in circles with anxiety.
To knock or not to knock—that was the dilemma.
Tao Guoguo, who considered himself no longer a child, understood that frantically knocking on a married couple’s door early in the morning was very inappropriate. He might interrupt something, and the serious consequences caused by such interruption would likely result in retaliation against him, such as plucking a few feathers from his wings.
But he couldn’t wait any longer. If this continued, he might commit a grave error.
“Creak”—the door opened. Lu Qianqiao, wearing outer robes with a dark expression, glared at him from the doorway.
“…What is it?” His tone wasn’t good.
Tao Guoguo was delighted: “Brother Qianqiao! I… I… that is…”
The matter needed to be explained simply from the beginning. Yesterday, mischievous Tao Guoguo and his little brother were playing at the edge of the Yunwu Array as usual. Among the demons in the Imperial Tomb, except for Si Lan, no one could leave the Yunwu Array. This formation both protected the Imperial Tomb’s demons from being discovered by outsiders and constrained the demons from going out to cause trouble at will. So for many mature demons, they wouldn’t approach the Yunwu Array whether they had business or not. Only the childlike Tao Guoguo brothers would treat that area as their hide-and-seek paradise.
Yesterday they were happily playing hide-and-seek when they encountered a mortal who had mistakenly wandered into the Yunwu Array—this wasn’t uncommon. Below Wanlan Mountain’s Imperial Tomb was Wanlan Town, where generations of Imperial Tomb guardians had lived. Occasionally, people going up the mountain to cut firewood or hunt would mistakenly enter the Yunwu Array, and Si Lan would knock them unconscious and send them back. With Si Lan not present now, Tao Guoguo and his brother were very nervous, folding their wings and hiding behind trees to peek—
A young boy in simple cloth clothes was slowly approaching, his expression showing confusion and helplessness at the surrounding mist.
Tao Guoguo turned back to instruct his brother: “You go back and call Si Lan. I’ll watch him here and not let him break through inside.”
His brother was always obedient and was about to fly away flapping his tender yellow wings, but the boy heard the sound and alertly threw his wood-cutting axe while shouting: “Who’s there?!”
The gleaming axe grazed the little brother’s cheek, and he tumbled from mid-air with a “wah” as he began crying. The boy hurriedly stepped forward to hold the little one, wiping his tears with his sleeve while pondering what this creature could be. If you called him human, he had chicken wings; if you called him a bird, he had hands and feet and could cry “wah wah.”
“This… could this be… the legendary—bird-man?!” the boy speculated in shock.
Tao Guoguo flew into a rage. He deeply detested the words “bird-man,” picked up a rock and threw it, hitting the other party right on the forehead—he had injured the person and knocked him unconscious in the process.
So when Si Lan arrived, he scolded Tao Guoguo severely and ordered him to bandage the person properly before sending him out.
And thus, a fateful entanglement was born…
“Brother Qianqiao! He swore an oath, insisting he must repay the favor and marry me! I told him I’m a male demon but he absolutely refuses to believe it! He even said… said if I don’t go to Wanlan Town to find him before noon today, he’ll jump off a cliff to commit suicide!”
“A human life, Brother Qianqiao! He’s so thick-skinned he’s gambling his life on me! If he really dies, Heaven will surely put this on my account, right? Definitely, right?! Then I’ll never be able to cultivate into a great demon! My whole life will be ruined!”
Lu Qianqiao rubbed his aching temples, thought for a moment, and consoled: “This account won’t be put on your head.”
“But what if he really jumps off the cliff?! Wouldn’t I be indirectly responsible for his death?! Brother Qianqiao, help me out. Cast the same spell on me as Brother Si Lan has, so I can leave the Yunwu Array to see him, okay? I promise to settle it once and for all!”
Lu Qianqiao shook his head firmly: “No. The town has heavy human energy—you can’t maintain human form and will cause trouble.”
“I promise I can maintain it!”
“No.”
“Please, Brother Qianqiao!”
“…No. The Imperial Tomb’s rules are like this. If I make an exception for you alone, how can I convince others in the future?”
“Brother Qianqiao…”
Tao Guoguo burst into tears.
“What’s all the noise so early in the morning?” Finally awakened Xin Mei came out rubbing her eyes. Seeing Tao Guoguo’s face full of tears, she was startled. “What happened?”
Lu Qianqiao went over to wrap her clothes tighter and smooth her hair, saying in a low voice: “Alright, let’s go eat together.”
Xin Mei was pulled along by him for a few steps, then looked back to see Tao Guoguo still crying there, looking at them with the eyes of an abandoned dog. She kindly approached and asked: “What’s really wrong?”
Tao Guoguo tearfully explained the situation again, and she immediately laughed: “After breakfast, I’ll take you out.”
“Xin Mei.” Lu Qianqiao frowned. “You cannot.”
She was astonished: “I take him out and bring him back—that’s not allowed either?”
“No.” The refusal was very decisive.
Xin Mei looked him up and down: “Lu Qianqiao, have I ever told you that you’ve been quite impressive lately?”
“…”
“Last time when several of my senior brothers and sisters came to see my father, you also coldly said no. The time before that, when I wanted to go out for a stroll, you still said no. I wanted to eat crab and you said no, wanted to drink some wine and you continued saying no, last night I wanted to be on top and you still said no, you…”
“Cough, Xin Mei.” A certain general over thirty who still looked young and handsome blushed and interrupted her words.
Xin Mei smiled at him: “Today I want to go out and play. Do you want to say no again?”
“Where are you going? I’ll accompany you…”
“I don’t want your company. You, the bird-man over there, come here. We’re going to eat.”
Grabbing the furious Tao Guoguo, she turned and left.
“Xin Mei.”
Lu Qianqiao blocked her path almost helplessly: “Don’t be stubborn.”
“One sentence—will you let me go out or not?” Xin Mei stared at him with wide eyes.
He left with a dark face, saying nothing, his retreating figure somewhat desolate.
As the saying goes, “distance lends enchantment”—this saying was absolutely true. Living inseparably with Lu Qianqiao at the Imperial Tomb for two or three years, they hadn’t seen major conflicts, but small ones were common. She remembered that before marriage, he would still appropriately yield on many matters, such as the drinking issue. After marriage, however, he had become overbearing. Last time when they discovered several jars of ceremonial wine for gods in the cellar, she opened one jar to taste it lightly, and his face immediately became darker than a pot bottom. He whipped the demon guarding the cellar twice and secretly drank all the wine himself, then lied to her that it was gone.
She knew drinking would make her feverish, so she only dared drink a little each time. In Lu Qianqiao’s eyes, was she forever a child who didn’t understand self-control? When a husband treats you like a child, it’s a complete crisis—it proves you have no feminine appeal in his eyes.