Chapter 117: Drifting Rain and Snow

I never expected that after five hundred years of longing, chasing, and searching for him, he would finally return to life. Before I could even process the joy, I had to watch him and Lu Xue inseparable, like a devoted couple. As if that weren't enough, he even confronted me as if we were mortal enemies. The military power I had exhausted my life’s blood to secure for him was handed over to Tiansheng, and with a single word, he stripped it all away.

I let out a deep, weary sigh.

"Better to let go than to hold onto memories," Chunfeng lamented.

"If we cannot support each other in the shallows, it is better to forget each other in the wide world. He must have forgotten everything he wished to forget, leaving behind only what he deemed most important," I replied.

I decided I should go search for Keke. Of all the women in the world, those who fall into deep obsession are the most foolish. I prayed Keke would not follow in my footsteps. I searched and searched until the immortals of the West Sea returned from their refuge in the cold abyss of the sea eye. As the West Sea returned to peace and the armies disbanded, Master, Lu Xue, and my fellow disciples returned to the Jade Purity Realm. Still, there was no sign of Keke, nor of Ming Mo.

I returned to Hundred Flower Island, feeling a exhaustion I had never known before. When I arrived, Chunfeng was in a towering rage.

"Let's go! To the Jade Purity Realm! We’re done keeping secrets!" Chunfeng grabbed me, ready to depart.

"No... I'm tired..." I collapsed onto the couch.

"He has expelled you from the sect! He claims you dressed as a man to disgrace the sect and bewitched a High God!" Chunfeng roared.

I froze.

"He has expelled Yu Fei from the sect!" Chunfeng enunciated each word clearly.

"Chunfeng, is he really going to announce it to the world like this..." I asked blankly.

"Yes! He says you disgraced the sect and bewitched a High God! I can no longer tolerate this! Has he lost his mind?" Chunfeng fumed.

I lay on the couch, motionless, letting Chunfeng drag me along to settle the score. The kiss I once shared with him was indeed bewitching, and the fact that a disciple under a High God’s seat had married Ming Zhong and suffered such humiliation was indeed a disgrace to the sect. So, he knew. And he cared so much. I smiled faintly. "Don't go... he truly isn't afraid that I, like Biyou twenty thousand years ago, would stab myself to prove my innocence. It doesn't matter; these are things I have done... my skin is thicker than Biyou's!"

"Little Crow! What nonsense are you spouting! I suspect he is not Yunxiao! Let's go to the Jade Purity Realm and see for ourselves!" Chunfeng pulled me up.

"Princess Changyang has already checked his primordial spirit with the Mirror of Two Lives. It is him," I said.

"I will go to Changyang and borrow the mirror! I will see it with my own eyes! Regardless of who he is, he cannot do this! To protect the reputation of some broken Chongming God, he treats you like this! He was never like this before!" Chunfeng flew off toward Qingqiu.

I sat before my dressing mirror, staring at the beautiful woman reflected in it: "If I bewitched you, why not use this false face to properly play the beauty trap? It was nothing more than a single kiss under a charm. You have awakened and must face the world again; did my jumping into the Heavenly River to join you in death bring you shame? Or have you learned of the disgrace of my marriage to Ming Zhong? Expelling me from the sect is one thing, but why claim I bewitched you, exposing my identity to the world in such a wretched way... If you still hold Bi Yao in your heart, why pour such filth upon me?"

"Little disciple!" Princess Changyang’s voice rang out from outside the hall.

I hurried out to greet her.

"So you’ve changed your appearance again! And your identity! You didn't even tell me, leaving me to believe Jiang Ye's nonsense and sink into sorrow!" the Princess chided me.

"That place is crowded with gossip. The Heavenly Palace insists that the True God Dayin is the Red Flame Demon Star and wants me dead. I am merely clinging to life," I said.

"They are all fools! Even if it weren't clear whether you are the Red Flame Demon Star, if you were, that would be Lu Xue, not you! Chunfeng ran to me to borrow the Mirror of Two Lives, saying Yunxiao is going to expel you. Your master is being even harsher to you than he was to me back then. At least I actually harmed Lu Xue. You have done nothing," Princess Changyang said sympathetically.

"Lu Xue has always viewed me as a thorn in her side," I said.

"Actually, if it weren't for the mirror, I wouldn't believe it was Han Qing! And I wouldn't believe it was Lu Xue!" Princess Changyang said.

"As long as he is alive, let him expel Yu Fei!" I said.

"Are you stupid! Chunfeng has gone to find Han Qing. He wants to see for himself," Princess Changyang said.

"Holy Maiden, you should go and see. I fear they might cause a scene," I said, worried that Chunfeng’s temper would lead to a fight.

"I will not go! You know he and I are like strangers! If you want to go, go yourself!" she replied.

"I... I have little Xiaobai to look after... what if they fight and your Mirror of Two Lives is damaged? That was crafted by your parents," I said.

"Then bring little Xiaobai along! So you and Chunfeng have a child! You should have said so sooner!" Changyang said.

I sighed. It was all a mess. I gave up explaining.

Chunfeng arrived at the Jade Purity Realm with the mirror.

"Uncle, you're here. What should I do? Should I write it down or not?" the twelfth brother stood before the sect records, struggling.

"Write nothing! He had no say in accepting Yu Fei, and he has even less say in expelling her! I refuse to believe I, as his elder brother, cannot keep him in check!" Chunfeng roared.

The eleventh brother cried to Chunfeng, "Uncle, even if our little junior brother became a little junior sister, it doesn't matter. We've been together all these years; there is no difference. The little sister even jumped into the Heavenly River for him. Master cannot be this heartless! Ever since Lu Xue arrived, the little sister has suffered!"

"Don't let this leak out. As long as Master hasn't written the expulsion into the sect records, it doesn't count," the fifteenth brother said.

"Even if he writes it, it won't count! Where is that brat? Get him out here!" Chunfeng yelled.

"I just saw Master and Lu Xue at Yixian Valley," the fourteenth brother said, bringing over tea and snacks.

"Uncle, stay calm!" the fifteenth brother urged.

In Yixian Valley, Yunxiao stood silently under a pear tree by the Mirror Lake, deep in thought. The saplings planted five hundred years ago had grown into great trees, with clusters of flowers like clouds and snow.

"Han Qing, what are you thinking about?" Lu Xue asked softly.

"I am thinking of Xue'er..." Yunxiao said faintly.

Lu Xue smiled shyly. "Xue'er is right here in front of you. Are you still thinking of her?"

"Yes," Yunxiao replied.

"I am thinking of you too," Lu Xue said tenderly.

Yunxiao remained silent.

"I asked Yu Fei to plant these pear trees back then. Aren't they beautiful?" Lu Xue reached out to catch a falling petal.

"They are," Yunxiao answered.

"Have you expelled that Yu Fei from the sect yet?"

"Yes."

Lu Xue gave a light hum. "She intentionally dressed as a man to bewitch you back then. That lowly woman was seducing Chunfeng into debauchery while she was at the Jade Purity Realm. I saw her in the Thirty-Three Heavens before you woke up. It turns out she wasn't dead at all; she only pretended to jump into the river to appear loyal and pitiful, all while going off to seduce Chunfeng. In just a few hundred years, her beauty has faded, and she has hair as white as an old woman's. For someone with such lowly essence to dare attempt to bewitch you both is truly despicable. I beat her severely at Mount Sumeru to vent your anger."

Yunxiao actually shed tears...

"Han Qing, are you feeling unwell?" Lu Xue asked with concern.

"My Xue'er has been wronged..." Yunxiao gazed at the falling petals.

"Xue'er knows you sent me away back then for my own good..." Lu Xue choked back a sob.

"Yunxiao! You bastard!" Chunfeng arrived at Yixian Valley and swung his mace at Yunxiao.

Yunxiao dodged and said coldly, "You are here."

Chunfeng roared, "You love Lu Xue! Your heart holds only her! Fine! But when did the Little Crow ever bewitch you? Was her jumping into the Heavenly River a bewitchment? Was her burning herself a bewitchment? Was her hair turning white overnight a bewitchment? Was her spending five hundred years living under a false name, carrying your burden and fulfilling your duties, a bewitchment? Was her giving her very life to the mountains and rivers a bewitchment? Was her being shot to death on the battlefield a bewitchment? How did she bewitch you! What do you mean by expelling her from the sect! Have you lost your mind?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xue asked in surprise, "Yu Fei is dead?"

"If you were shot through the heart with an arrow, would you be dead? If you aren't dead, why are you still here? Waiting to bewitch him?" Chunfeng fumed.

"Since she is dead, then let it be. But since she bullied Xue'er so much, Han Qing, you must compensate her. Xue'er wants a wedding," Lu Xue pouted.

"Very well. I had the same intention. We shall hold the grandest wedding in the Heavenly Realm for Xue'er," Yunxiao said.

Lu Xue was overjoyed. "Wonderful! Han Qing, you thought of this! We are truly of one mind!"

"You arrange the wedding preparations as you wish. I am a bit weary," Yunxiao said.

"Alright! Han Qing, go and rest," Lu Xue said.

Yunxiao flew back to the Jade Void Palace. He left a note for the twelfth brother: "No need to write it down," before heading to the Luoxia Cave behind the mountain.

Lu Xue excitedly went to check for an auspicious date.

Chunfeng stood under the pear tree, holding the Mirror of Two Lives, and muttered, "It really is Yunxiao and Lu Xue!"

"Chunfeng, are you alright?" I asked, seeing him standing there in a daze.

"Daddy," Xiaobai tugged at his sleeve.

"Ah, I'm fine. It really is Yunxiao," Chunfeng handed the mirror to Princess Changyang.

"Since we are here, we are not leaving! The war has just ended, Tiansheng is still locked in the animal garden, and these two are rushing to get married! I want to see what other mischief they can stir up!" Chunfeng declared.

"You look after Tiansheng. I am leaving. Yu Fei did disgrace the Jade Purity Realm and him. Yu Fei accepts this." I did not want to escalate things by dragging the shame of the Underworld into the light, nor did I want to witness their wedding.

"Don't go! Stay here! Protecting Tiansheng is too much for one High God to handle! They have gone too far! He listens to everything his Xue'er says and has lost all sense of right and wrong!" Princess Changyang gritted her teeth.

"Mother, did that second uncle bully you? If he did, I will teach him a lesson for you," little Xiaobai’s voice turned cold.

"No! Children shouldn't think such things!" I quickly forced a smile.

"The grandest wedding in the Heavenly Realm! Shameless! Little Crow, let's have one too!" Chunfeng said in a fit of anger.

I smiled faintly. "Chunfeng, don't joke. Go back and hold one with Shanhe."

"Stop pairing me with Shanhe!" Chunfeng flew back to the Jade Void Palace.

Changyang returned to Qingqiu. Chunfeng wouldn't leave, determined to keep an eye on them. Xiaobai stayed to read. I couldn't rest easy regarding Tiansheng. After weighing my options, I decided to stay with them.

My fellow disciples said Chunfeng hadn't broken his word and had indeed brought his wife. Chunfeng boasted that his wife was the most beautiful, a thousand times more beautiful than Lu Xue.

Lu Xue looked at Bai Fei with even more hatred than she had for Yu Fei. After all, she was the one who had beaten Yu Fei, but Bai Fei had beaten her. Master looked at me coldly as well, for I had beaten his beloved. If I hadn't been under the guise of Chunfeng’s wife, he likely would have torn me to pieces. So, I instructed Chunfeng to persuade Master and reveal what Tiansheng had done to him. As for me, I tried my best to avoid him and Lu Xue, either delivering food to Tiansheng in the animal garden to guard him and discuss strategy, or burying myself in books in the Library of Ten Thousand Volumes with little Xiaobai.