Chapter 106: A Lotus Emerging from the Water

I reunited once again with Spring Breeze, Tian Sheng, and Old Sea Duke. Suppressing my fury, I recounted the information I had learned to the group.

"The Netherworld sent Ming Mo to spy on Yun Xiao and steal the Jade Dragon Vessel. Tian De, out of hatred and fear of Yun Xiao, betrayed him by secretly selling off his divine artifacts and heavenly city to the Netherworld in exchange for Yun Xiao’s life. So Yun Xiao was killed by their inside-outside collusion?" Spring Breeze asked me.

"Yes," I replied.

Spring Breeze erupted in a purple-red flame of rage. I quickly grasped his arm, fearing he might storm the Celestial Palace in anger.

"He’s not my elder brother! Not worthy of being crown prince!" Tian Sheng exclaimed furiously.

"Could the Infinite Cauldron have also been handed over to the Netherworld?" Old Sea Duke asked.

"Hard to say. That scoundrel Tian De could do anything," I answered.

"This is troublesome indeed," said Old Sea Duke.

Tian Sheng then dragged Gui Er out for interrogation. "Gui Er, regarding your family’s ancestral tomb and the Infinite Cauldron, are you hiding anything else?" he demanded.

Gui Er looked innocent and protested, "No! How dare I deceive you all!"

"What about the Chaos Garment? And the Sea Eye Abyss? Speak!" I scolded Gui Er.

Gui Er quickly forced a smile. "Oh! Oh! Haha, I forgot out of fear. The Tian Gai Island in the Sea Eye Abyss is where my family’s ancestral tomb lies. The Chaos Garment is a treasured robe required for entering the Sea Eye Abyss; otherwise, even high deities would freeze to death."

"Where is the Chaos Garment? Did you also give it to Tian De?" I pressed.

"No! No! Back then, life was hard during my cultivation, so I took out the Infinite Cauldron early and sold the Chaos Garment. I wasn’t planning to visit the ancestral tomb again anyway—it’s terrifying!" Gui Er replied with a mischievous grin.

"Sold it? To whom?" I inquired.

"My cousin arranged it. I don’t know," Gui Er said.

"You really dare to sell anything! Why not sell yourself too!" Spring Breeze mocked.

Gui Er looked helpless. "Who would buy someone like me? If a deity wants, I can serve as their servant."

"I don’t want that. Hundred Flowers Island isn’t so shameless," Spring Breeze said firmly.

"Isn’t your family’s ancestral seal technique recorded in the Sea Eye Abyss?" I asked Gui Er.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"You said you sealed the characters on the Infinite Cauldron using that seal, right?" I inquired.

"Yes, I learned it there," Gui Er nodded.

"Aren’t you afraid that selling the Chaos Garment would reveal the ancestral seal and open the Infinite Cauldron?" Tian Sheng asked.

"After selling the Chaos Garment, are you still worried about leaking the seal technique?" Spring Breeze sneered.

"The deity is wise. First, I didn’t take it seriously. Second, the seal is easy to apply but hard to break. Breaking it requires divine power as deep as my grandfather, the Sea King, and one must study the family’s unsealing technique in the Sea Eye Abyss. Such people are exceedingly rare," Gui Er explained.

I fell silent, my mind racing. Who would have the ability to unseal it? How could Xue Shan find the Sea Eye Abyss? Since he found it, did he see the secret incantation of the seal? Why is his cultivation deep enough to enter the Sea Eye Abyss directly? He even obtained Ming Bo—what is his relation to the Netherworld? My tears once fell on him; if he collected my tears, could their power of rebirth unlock the Infinite Cauldron’s protective seal?

I suddenly realized that when I was with Xue Shan, I was in a daze, not thinking deeply about many things.

Tian Sheng then summoned Gui Er’s cousin and questioned him about who he sold the Chaos Garment to. He raised a hand and pointed at Old Sea Duke. "That grandson! Xue Shan!"

"Ah?" Old Sea Duke looked bewildered.

The Chaos Garment was in Xue Shan’s hands! I was stunned.

That day, when he entered the Sea Eye Abyss, it seemed he used the Ning Yun Heart Method to form a barrier, but with my power, I couldn’t create such a barrier even with Ning Yun Heart Method. So… he used the Chaos Garment!

"Old Sea Duke, where is Young Lord Xue Shan?" I asked. Since we parted ways at the Sea Wolf Tribe inn, I hadn’t seen him.

"He left a message and went on to busy himself," Old Sea Duke replied.

"Spring Breeze, looks like we need to pay your grandmaster’s nephew a visit," I said.

Spring Breeze nodded. Just from the fact that Xue Shan has the Chaos Garment, he had many doubts. There were too many mysteries about Xue Shan.

At that moment, an urgent Flying Immortal Order suddenly appeared in my hand, accompanied by Xiao Xiao Bai’s voice: "Someone is attacking Hundred Flowers Island, trying to capture me! Auntie Shan He is seriously wounded! Auntie Ke Ke has been taken!"

Spring Breeze and I instantly transformed and rushed off!

"Xiao Xiao Bai!" I ran onto the island.

Xiao Xiao Bai swooped out, transforming into human form, collapsing onto me, covered in blood.

"Mother! Father! I’m fine; that’s others’ blood. Auntie Shan He is badly injured! Hurry!" Xiao Xiao Bai urged, leading Spring Breeze and me to the cave where Spring Breeze had been in seclusion.

Shan He had been reverted to her original form, her cultivation of thousands of years completely destroyed! She gasped in pain but made no sound, surrounded by many old and young flower fairies tending to her wounds.

"Strong as steel, so sturdy, she won’t die," Spring Breeze said without taking his eyes off her.

I used my immortal techniques to protect Shan He’s heart meridians.

"What happened?" Spring Breeze asked Xiao Xiao Bai.

"A group of masked men used some nails to break Dad’s barrier. I set an immortal interception formation on the island, so they couldn’t enter. They tricked us by claiming they captured Dad. Auntie Shan He left the formation and was injured by those nails! Me, Auntie Ke Ke, and the flower and tree fairies went to rescue her. Those people then came to capture me. I struggled, but later they took Auntie Ke Ke away," Xiao Xiao Bai explained.

"Fool! Do you think I can be caught so easily!" Spring Breeze scolded Shan He.

"They were soul-binding nails, and Tian De again! They dealt a death blow to Shan He. The nails cannot be removed; removing them means death. If left in, she can hold on a while," I checked Shan He’s wounds and said anxiously.

"You better cry a little to save her," Spring Breeze said lightly.

"My tears work differently from soul-capturing techniques. My tears only affect those who died unjustly or prematurely. You’re so carefree, have you not thought that if her fate is sealed, she’ll never again play and laugh with you daily?" I told Spring Breeze.

"Impossible… she’s so foolish, but is that really an unjust death? She’s usually stronger than me; fate wouldn’t end so easily," Spring Breeze softened, his gaze anxious.

Seeing him like this, I thought, "This stubborn, soft-hearted Spring Breeze."

Shan He twitched painfully a few times, biting her teeth in silence.

"Idiot! So stubborn! Not speaking even now!" Chunfen scolded Shan He.

"Stop scolding her! You all get out now," I ordered Spring Breeze, Xiao Xiao Bai, and the others outside. Only Shan He and I remained in the cave.

I gently stroked Shan He’s face. "Shan He, you can speak now."

She remained silent.

"Do you have any wishes?" I asked.

"Beauty," she wrote faintly on the ground, stained with blood.

"If you wish to be beautiful, you must pay a price; it may bring great calamities. Are you willing?" I softly asked.

Shan He nodded faintly.

Very well, Shan He! I will let you be reborn! Let you become beautiful! I will bear that price for you! The moment I pulled out the soul-binding nail, Shan He’s immortal meridians shattered completely; her soul separated from her body, and she passed away.

Heaven and earth darkened, the universe vast and wild. What does she wish? Beauty that spans all directions! I closed my eyes, tears falling upon her, mingling with the features I abandoned...

Spring Breeze, a woman beautifies herself for the one who loves her. Shan He was once a flower yet to bloom. I cannot repay your kindness but gave some of my own beauty to Shan He as a finishing touch. Her future visage will be as beautiful as the flowers on Hundred Flowers Island, and her voice will sound like celestial melodies. I hope she can repay you—and I hope you see this passionate heart like mine.

A beauty like a lotus emerging from water lay sleeping on the mat...

My face was as cold as frost, my hair white as snow...

"Alright, come in." I called to the outside.

"Alive? This is Shan He?" Spring Breeze was astonished by the sleeping beauty on the large mat. He rushed over, squatted down, and examined her closely. "Little Crow, you’re incredible..."

I smiled wearily. It seemed Shan He’s appearance was the type Spring Breeze liked. I took Xiao Xiao Bai’s hand. "Xiao Xiao Bai, let’s go."

"Mother!" Xiao Xiao Bai cried, staring at me.

"Enough, don’t disturb Auntie Shan He," I told him.

"Little Crow! Stop! Turn around!" Spring Breeze stood behind me, noticing the change in my hair.

He leapt before me, grabbing my arms tightly. "What happened to your hair? Why have you changed your appearance?"

"I’m fine. It will pass in a few days. Shan He is a divine body, different from ordinary immortals and mortals; she needs time to sleep and restore her primordial spirit. Don’t disturb her."

"He’s gone, and you don’t even care about your appearance anymore!" Spring Breeze said heartbreakingly.

"He’s gone; I care more about all of you," I replied.

"Little Crow, do you think changing like this, and Shan He becoming beautiful, will make me change my mind?"

"Spring Breeze, you won’t change your mind; you just haven’t understood your own heart," I said.

"You think you’re so great in this world! I don’t need you to meddle in our affairs. Even if she becomes beautiful, I have no interest in her! I’m going to find Ke Ke’s whereabouts!" Spring Breeze’s double flew out of the cave.

"Spring Breeze..." I didn’t call him back.

"I’m not great... which woman doesn’t want beauty? But beauty is no use to me now; better to give it to Shan He..." I whispered to myself.

"Mother," Xiao Xiao Bai looked up at me, gazing intently.

I knelt down and smiled at him. "Why are you looking at Mother like that? Did Mother become ugly?"

"Mother is the most beautiful. Like an ice-and-snow beauty! I must look carefully and tell Father in my dreams, so he won’t fail to recognize Mother."

I laughed. This child had learned quite a few sweet words from Spring Breeze.

I picked up Xiao Xiao Bai to leave the cave. He frowned; sensing something wrong, I put him down and knelt to examine him. He had a wound on his thigh, which he had treated himself, but his immortal power wasn’t strong enough yet to fully heal it.

"Does it hurt?"

"No, Mother, don’t worry. I can handle it myself," Xiao Xiao Bai smiled at me.

After healing him, I carried him again.

"Good boy, Xiao Xiao Bai, do you mind that Mother wasn’t gentle enough with you?" I asked, recalling the image of Little Ming Zhong tightly clutching me in the dream world, unwilling to let go.

"Mother loves me the most." Xiao Xiao Bai shared some traits with Little Ming Zhong, yet they were also completely different.

Xiao Xiao Bai then described the figures of those men in detail. Though masked, their bodies were flexible, slippery, and could not be bound by immortal ropes.

Just like when I encountered them at the foot of Mount Sumeru by the Milky Way—likely men from Lei Xia Ze, Tian De’s secret forces. Tian De is cunning, narrow-minded, and vindictive; failing to find the Great Sound True God, he must believe Spring Breeze is involved as a neighbor. Unable to send heavenly soldiers without cause, he dispatched these covert soldiers. Also, learning Spring Breeze was investigating the Heavenly Order Account and had traced it to Gui Er, they sought to capture Xiao Xiao Bai as leverage. Though they failed to capture him, they took Ke Ke and will surely make demands.

I summoned a Flying Immortal Order, sending it to the immortals and clans close to me in the Celestial Realm, asking for help in locating Ke Ke and Lei Xia Ze’s movements.

Spring Breeze issued a Spring Birth Order to inquire with the eldest senior brother about Xue Shan and the Chaos Garment.

Shortly, replies came in from all sides: Ke Ke’s location unknown, eldest senior brother in seclusion, Xue Shan gone and not returned, Lei Xia Ze’s movements sealed off—no useful information.

Just as we were at a loss, Ke Ke pushed the door open and entered!