What should I do? I was kissed by him. My first kiss was actually with my brother…!

This was truly embarrassing. How should we get along in the future? How would I explain this to my future husband… My heart pounded like drums, my entire mind in chaotic thoughts, still struggling with whether to push him away or wait for him to pull back himself.

But brother was completely different, kissing with focus and restraint. I heard his every breath was particularly heavy, several times wanting to pry open my mouth, but ultimately holding back.

Since we were at the bottom of the small hill, the fellow disciples above shouldn’t be able to see what was happening here. Only when he propped himself up on both sides and we looked back, we saw a child with a topknot standing to one side. He held a half-eaten pomegranate in his hand, tilting his head to look at us, red marks around his mouth.

I made a “shh” gesture to him. He nodded and happily made a “shh” gesture back at me.

Fu Chenzhi propped himself up from the grass and pulled me up too. The scene suddenly became eerily quiet. I didn’t dare look at my brother directly as we returned to the slope one after the other. All the disciples were stunned.

Junior Brother scratched his face helplessly: “That was dangerous just now. Fortunately, Tianheng Senior Brother caught Senior Sister Luowei; otherwise, someone would surely have been injured… But Senior Sister Luowei, are you alright? Why is your face so red? Did you hit something when you fell?”

“No-nothing.”

The sensation of my brother’s touch still lingered on my lips. He had always been serious and detached by nature, without desire in eating and drinking, never flushing when drinking, and with no particular obsessions. At this moment, his expression was naturally much the same as usual, but his ears had unknowingly turned bright red.

Cherry blossom trees in the immortal realm were twice as tall as those in the mortal world. Therefore, when drunk dancing in the spring breeze, cherry blossoms exceeded flying snow. The petals were pink, brother’s hair was black, the scattered petals against the pink at his neck were like playful butterflies lingering, evoking infinite feelings…

Deep in my heart, I wasn’t unaware of my brother’s feelings. I had just been avoiding his emotions. He had never pressured me either. If not for today’s accident, if not for his momentary loss of emotional control, our relationship would probably still maintain that childhood sibling affection.

I liked my brother, but my feelings for him were only those of close family.

Just then, a child’s voice suddenly sounded behind us: “Sister.”

I instinctively turned around, not realizing this was the stupidest thing I’d ever done. That little brat who was eating pomegranate had followed us, his face still stained with red pomegranate juice, like he’d just sucked human blood.

He smiled brilliantly at me, made a “shh” gesture, and blurted out: “Sister, I won’t tell anyone about you and your brother kissing.”

Instantly, heaven and earth froze, and all sounds fell silent.

Paper cannot wrap fire, especially when among this group was a girl who remained devoted to Fu Chenzhi. When she heard that we had kissed, Ruoli’s reaction in that instant was like experiencing an earth-shattering collapse, hurricanes, and tsunamis, then she immediately burst into tears and wailing.

After that, no matter how we pleaded, she couldn’t calm down. Like this, she made a scene from Fahua Cherry Plain back to Cangying Sect. None of us had forgotten the sect rules that Master Uncle had repeatedly emphasized. Knowing this matter had blown up, we were all prepared for the worst.

However, I still held onto one last hope. That hope was the Divine Lord Yinze. I had already prepared hundreds of excuses in my mind, gathering my qi in my dantian, preparing to display my flattery skills to somehow make Master happy. As long as he said one word, deliberately turning it into an accident, the worst result would just be copying two hundred times.

However, I never would have imagined that waiting for us in the front courtyard of Cangying Sect was Master himself. Fu Chenzhi and I had just been brought up when we saw him standing at the front of a formation of a hundred people, hands behind his back, facing away from us. He didn’t even turn to look at us, only dropping one sentence: “Take Fu Chenzhi to Nine Sect Pool. Five hundred staff members strike. Execute immediately.”

Everyone gasped lightly but didn’t dare make a sound. Nine Sect Pool was at the peak of Mount Baidi, Cangying Sect’s beast-taming ground. When the injured entered the pool, they not only had to endure extreme cold torture, but their wounds would never heal until death. I said urgently: “Master, this matter isn’t…”

“Silence!”

I had never seen Master so angry. Even without seeing his face, this rebuke made me break out in cold sweat. After this, we were both taken to the peak of Mount Baidi. Xuanyue also hurriedly flew over. Under orders from other elders, Fu Chenzhi was taken into the ice chamber, while Yinze stood expressionlessly at the mountain’s edge.

Hearing the sound of staff strikes from inside, I ran over and knelt beside Yinze’s legs, grabbing his trouser leg: “Master, you can’t blame brother for this. It was purely accidental! Brother fell down the slope to save me and got injured. We only accidentally touched…”

“Let go.” Yinze’s voice was even colder than the ice here.

I froze, then quietly released my hand. This time, Master was truly angry. Those staff strikes carried the sound of wind, hitting extremely hard, each one feeling like it struck my own body. I wanted to rush in, but the ice chamber door was guarded, and I had no way. I could only kneel before Master and not get up.

Finally, the long five hundred strikes ended. Master walked past me into the ice chamber. I quickly stood and followed. As soon as I stepped into the ice chamber, extreme cold hit me. I couldn’t help but tightly hug the fluffy Xuanyue for warmth.

I was a water spirit with stronger cold resistance than ordinary immortals, yet I couldn’t bear the severe cold inside, let alone Fu Chenzhi. Beside an ice pool in the center, Divine Lord Yinze stood silently, as if he couldn’t feel any temperature. He looked sternly at the person in the Nine Sect Pool—brother, who had already received the staff punishment.

Yinze said, “Fu Chenzhi, do you know your fault?”

“Disciple knows his fault. Disciple shouldn’t have violated sect rules, been improper with junior sister, and brought shame to Master.” Fu Chenzhi was suffering greatly, his lips and face completely bloodless. “But Master, ten years ago disciple already told you… Luowei is the disciple’s unbetrothed wife. You said then that I was still young and didn’t understand what love was… Now disciple still thinks the same…”

Yinze said, “You are truly without remorse.”

Fu Chenzhi said weakly, “Master is a god who doesn’t understand what love is. Disciple grew up in the mortal world from childhood, yet happens to be… vulgar like mortals…”

Yinze turned away: “Throw him in the pool.”

“Wait!” I hugged Xuanyue and rushed over.

In the end, I owed brother. From childhood, I always needed him to protect me, always needed him to help clean up various messes, yet I rarely did anything for him. I looked at brother, then at Master, and said trembling: “Master, that matter was initiated by disciple.”

Yinze frowned: “…What?”

Though my teeth were already chattering, I still forced a smile: “Disciple was the one who actively kissed brother. It had nothing to do with the brother. You shouldn’t punish him—you should punish the disciple.”

“I see.” After a brief silence, Yinze suddenly smiled slightly. “It seems this master misunderstood Chenzhi. So you two are mutually in love.”

Although Master was frightening when angry, I knew that when he showed this kind of relaxed smile, it was truly an ominous sign.

I took a deep breath and said: “Disciple is willing to accept punishment in brother’s place.” After speaking, I closed my eyes and jumped into the ice pool. The severe cold pierced my bones like ten thousand small, sharp knives, cutting countless small wounds on my skin one by one.

Fu Chenzhi said urgently, “Weiwei, get out!”

I ignored him and continued sinking into the pool water. Cangying God, Master, what kind of soul-destroying sensation was this? I felt like I was about to die.

Yinze smiled: “Luowei, you truly surprise me. Since you so love this Nine Sect Pool, soak in it. Watch her—she may not come out for seven days.” After speaking, he left one person to supervise us and led everyone else away.

Only after he left did I dare let my teeth chatter: “C-c-c-c-cold…” Seeing Fu Chenzhi wanted to come in, I stretched out my hand to press down his arm: “Don’t-don’t come down, or-or-or I’ll break off relations. I m-I’m serious!”

“Weiwei, I’m sorry.” He froze beside Nine Sect Pool, only supporting his severely injured body as red blood fell on the ice blocks. “I told myself I would wait until you could accept me… never thought… I would implicate you…”

“No-no-no-no problem. I’m just c-c-c-cold here, better than your p-p-p-pain there.” If this continued, I would become a stutterer after seven days.

He held my hand, lying on the ground, thick mist coming from his mouth: “Nonsense, your hair is freezing. I’m still more comfortable.”

“I don’t want to be like bro-bro-bro-brother. Brother’s butt-butt-butt was beaten o-o-o-open…”

His expression changed: “Butt beaten open?”

“Bloomed like flowers.”

He gripped my hand even harder and laughed loudly.

Honestly, I didn’t think I was more comfortable than he was. It’s just that thinking of his dedication and waiting made me feel very sad. Because ordinary boys’ affection was just based on early spring’s youthful impulse. Even if I wouldn’t do it, other girls would be fine. As long as they were prettier than I, they would probably want to change ten new people.

But brother was different. Many girls were infatuated with him, his future remained bright, and he absolutely wouldn’t worry about marrying a beautiful woman at home. Yet he carefully and silently waited for me. I thought his feelings should be the same as mine—just wanting to be together for life without separation. Relying only on a non-blood sibling relationship, such a wish absolutely couldn’t be maintained.

I knew his sincerity, so rejecting other boys’ pursuits never caused me the pain I felt now.

“Weiwei.” After a long while, he said softly, “Do you remember when we were little, you often asked me to sneak out with you to play?”

“Re-re-re-member.”

“I won’t force you to be with me. We can still be like them, ordinary siblings. I’ll wait patiently.” He gripped my hands tightly, as if trying hard to transmit some warmth. “Until the day you accept me.”

“Alright.”

Staying with your brother like this for life would be wonderful. What was I hesitating about…

Seven days later, Fu Chenzhi and I came out of the ice pool. During this time, we had to thank Xuanyue for being very loyal, finding food, and bringing it to us. Fu Chenzhi’s constitution was stronger, so he wasn’t too affected. But for me, with the cold inside and spring warmth outside, this hot and cold contrast, plus the chilly spring nights, I fell seriously ill for three days and nights.

During these three days, Fu Chenzhi was consistently considerate, brewing medicine and making porridge for me, massaging my shoulders, and covering me with blankets. If not to avoid suspicion, he would have wanted to stay in my room constantly. Yinze also had people send me miraculous elixirs and arranged for four maids to take turns caring for me—it could be said to be very thoughtful.

I was in pain all over from illness, confused and muddled. Every day, watching the sunset and moonrise outside the window, I always harbored a faint hope in my heart that Master would come to see me personally once. However, after three days, he never came even once. But I knew this was another of my willful thoughts. Master was so busy, he very likely couldn’t spare the time.

I worried about him greatly. On the first night after recovering from my serious illness, I went to his room to find him. Knowing I had made no small mistake this time, I first obediently knelt on the ground before knocking on the door. After a long while, Yinze’s voice came out: “What is it?”

“Disciple came to apologize to Master.”

“No need. Go back and rest.”

Though he couldn’t see me, I still smiled at the door: “Not seeing Master for ten days, disciple felt very much missed Master, even my spirits aren’t good. Master, please open the door and let the disciple see if your health is well?”

“Master?”

“Speak of anything tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright…”

However, from this day on, I rarely had private time with Master again. He seemed to have become the original Divine Lord Yinze again… no, not Divine Lord Yinze, but the Cangying God in our impressions.

Sometimes I couldn’t understand and would confide my thoughts to people around me. They all thought I was strange, saying wasn’t the Divine Lord always like this?

This time, I truly reflected. It must be because I made too many mistakes that he became very angry.

He never called me Wei’er again, addressing me by my full name both publicly and privately.

He also no longer went alone to the Floating Buddha Star Sea, but returned to the divine realm more frequently. And the divine realm was truly a place I could only hear about but never see. I had heard countless legends about it and knew that Tianshi City’s Boundless Well, leading to the divine realm, was near the Floating Buddha Star Sea. I often saw Yinze leading immortals in that direction. He had even taken Fu Chenzhi to the divine realm.

But as a spirit, I could never go there in this lifetime. To say I wasn’t envious would be lying. Like this, the relationship between Master and me grew increasingly distant. I wanted to find an opportunity to make amends, but he behaved too properly, leaving me no idea where to start.

Until winter arrived, a goddess named Qingwu also came to the immortal realm. However, she hadn’t come to summon spring for us, but came with the Divine Lord Lingyin to find Yinze. Qingwu had an enchanting figure and serene bearing, wearing emerald skirts and flowers in her hair. Though the same color as the butterfly woman Yinze had previously favored, that refined elegance from the divine realm made even noble fairy maidens bow their heads in submission.

When she came to the Cangying Sect, the disciples were all excited. The boys called out “goddess, goddess” like they’d drunk love potions. That day, I heard no fewer than ten stories about her.

Outside Cangying Sect’s main hall, seeing her with Divine Lord Lingyin, Yinze raised his eyebrows: “Lingyin, your love-hate affair with Lü Bu should be enough for you to savor for decades?”

Divine Lord Lingyin’s mouth twitched, wanting to curse but not daring, wanting to endure but unable. Qingwu covered her mouth and laughed: “Divine Lord Yinze, you’re still so wicked.”

We group of disciples hid indoors, lying at the windows, all discussing in low voices. I heard someone say: “That goddess is Master’s wife! Master’s wife!”

“Master’s wife?!” I said in shock. “What does Master’s wife mean?”

“Senior Sister, you don’t understand what Master’s wife means? She and the Divine Lord are old acquaintances in the divine realm. They got together three months ago! They’ll probably marry in the future!”

“Ah? When did this happen? Why haven’t I heard?” I thought for a moment: “That’s not right. Master has women flowing like water around him. They can’t all be Master’s wives, right?”

“We’ve heard about the Divine Lord’s romantic affairs, too, but this one is serious…”

Before he finished speaking, Qingwu had already turned to look our way, smiling: “Look quickly, there’s a water spirit girl over there, so young with jade-like skin and bones, truly beautiful.”

My heart skipped a beat as I quickly covered my face. Yinze looked over following her gaze, but did not comment. Divine Lord Lingyin said, “Water spirit girls are indeed beautiful, but their youth is truly brief. Qingwu, you don’t need to worry too much. In two hundred years, she’ll be old, and you’ll still be young.” After speaking, he glanced meaningfully at Yinze.

Qingwu blushed: “What nonsense are you talking about? I just praised her once—where are you thinking?”

In two hundred years, she’ll be old, and you’ll still be young.

In two hundred years, she’ll be old, and you’ll still be young.

In two hundred years she’ll be old, and you’ll still be young…

Why did this sentence hit me so hard? I really couldn’t figure it out and didn’t want to think deeply about it. But I was more curious than anyone whether this Goddess Qingwu was truly the Master’s wife.

Fortunately, that evening, learning he had gone to the Floating Buddha Star Sea again, it was truly a great opportunity for direct dialogue with Master!

If she were Master’s wife, I would go make her happy, and maybe I could win back Master’s trust. If she weren’t Master’s wife, I would use my ultimate strategy on Master—shameless flattery skills. My wisdom and might sometimes truly rivaled Master’s.

This time, we hadn’t seen each other for a full month. This night Tianshi City had heavy snow. I brought a hand warmer and ran over excitedly, preparing to go serve Master well…

But the scene at the Floating Buddha Star Sea cliff was somewhat unusual.

Yinze wasn’t alone there.

Goddess Qingwu also stood beside him.

When I reached the boulder at the cliff, she was stretching high to hold an umbrella for him. And he happened to remove his white fur cloak and drape it over her shoulders. From where I stood, I couldn’t see his face, but I could see her gently lift her head with a smile that could melt snow and bring spring.

Then she cupped points of firelight in her palms, surrounding them both.

Where the firelight traveled, snow would melt, then grass would sprout and flowers bloom.

Winter Tianshi City was colder than other places. The light of those brilliant stars was also taken away by the cold air, becoming pale between heaven and earth.

Around them was a circle of colorful spring. With that warm contrast there, the surroundings seemed even colder.

I instinctively reached out to grab something nearby, wanting to hug Xuanyue tightly, but suddenly realized I had rushed out too quickly before and even forgot to call Xuanyue.

For a moment, I felt like I couldn’t run anymore. I unconsciously loosened my grip and accidentally dropped the hand warmer on the ground, making quite a noise. Goddess Qingwu quickly looked over: “Is someone there?”

“Probably some of my naughty disciples. No matter.” Yinze didn’t even turn his head. “It’s already late. Let’s return to the divine realm first.”

“Alright.”

After speaking, their figures flickered and instantly flew toward the Boundless Well. I held my hands that had frozen purple, crouched down, and tried to warm myself by the extinguished stove.

I felt no resentment in my heart. Anyone seeing their silhouettes would praise them repeatedly, saying this was a divine couple.

The Divine Lord and goddess were originally a match made in heaven.

There were still sparks remaining in the stove, but in the overwhelming snow, they quickly turned to dim ashes.

Since I first left Suozhao, I had already known this world was larger than I imagined. I just hadn’t thought it would be this large.

I hugged my legs and sat quietly against the rock for a long time.

The star sea mist showed ice blue, and in the distance, the full moon had also grown cold, shrouded and surrounded by pervasive ice fog.

People today do not see the ancient moon; this bright moon once shone on ancient people.

Perhaps all that remained was this crescent moon built above Suozhao. Over ten years, I wasn’t without homesickness, but no night could compare to tonight.

—In two hundred years, she’ll be old, and you’ll still be young.

Originally just a joke from Divine Lord Lingyin, at this moment it was more piercing than Nine Sect Pool’s water.