On the thirtieth day of his damaged spirituality, Fucang no longer even had the strength to turn over.

It was another morning of extreme exhaustion. Having been unable to sleep for several nights, he quietly gazed at the familiar azure canopy.

This was his courtyard, hidden in the deepest recesses, a place he absolutely did not allow anyone to enter at will. It was also his final peaceful refuge.

But even this place had been stained with the dragon princess’s colors of ice and snow. The azure canopy gradually seemed to transform into her fluffy long hair. Fucang suddenly closed his eyes, but her pale and lonely gaze appeared before him again.

There was nowhere to escape.

She really would be the death of him.

When his father sent him to Cangsheng Hall to descend to the lower realm and resolve their karmic ties, his expression was grave: “Karmic ties each have their differences. Even if you resolve them in the lower realm, you may not necessarily be able to truly sever this ill-fated bond. Do you know what you truly want?”

Fucang thought: Let him forget her. Just treat it as if nothing had happened. No one should blame anyone. Let the distorted trajectory straighten back to normal. It was just a case of misplaced love.

“Father, don’t look for her,” he said in a low voice.

There was no need to disturb her peace. They were never meant to be on the same path to begin with. Moreover, his current appearance was truly quite unsightly.

But his father still wrote a letter to the dragon princess, and she actually came.

Under the mulberry tree of the Imperial Daughter, their karmic ties were resolved and his spirituality recovered. In that instant, he suddenly realized that what he wanted was not to forget. And she had always known this and had given him what he truly wanted.

Their eyes met. Fucang saw her gaze that was both tender and sad. In the Upper Realm, she had never had such an expression, but in the lower realm, her eyes always revealed such feelings.

Was it because she was facing him who knew nothing and was thoroughly pure? Or was it because she knew that everything in the lower realm would ultimately be like bubbles and illusions?

Don’t let it become bubbles—stay and don’t leave yet. Wait for him. He would definitely hurry to come.

But when Fucang rushed to the lower realm, she was no longer there.

A fine layer of frost had formed under the mulberry tree of the Imperial Daughter. The courtyard by the Azure Emperor Temple was sealed in ice and buried in snow. He slowly pursued along the traces the dragon princess had left, until he saw the imperial mausoleum swallowed by heavy snow.

On the stone tablet sat those various small snow trinkets she had made for him during those days. They had all been very carefully re-carved, each one exquisitely crafted. Fucang held them, only feeling that all the white snow throughout the imperial mausoleum was pressing on his heart, as if he couldn’t breathe.

Turning around, the skylight fell, the mountain forests were all white. The last place she stayed in the mortal realm was his grave.

What had he missed? What had he misunderstood?

The morning light fell on the Zhuyin snow covering the mountains and wilderness, refracting points of cold light, like the tears that flashed briefly in her eyes. She neither spoke nor showed emotion, severing everything with such cruel and calm finality.

It was his foolishness and naivety that had brought things to this point.

*

When he arrived at Zhongshan, the one who came out to greet him was Divine Official Qi Nan, his face full of grief. Upon seeing Fucang, he seemed to add another layer of regret. Before he could speak, Qi Nan opened his mouth first: “Fucang Shenjun, please go back. The princess… doesn’t want to see any visitors.”

She didn’t want to see him—he could wait. Wait a thousand years, two thousand years. He could keep waiting until she was willing to see him.

But Divine Official Qi Nan’s grief was too obvious. He sighed again: “I shouldn’t have pressured the princess like that back then… She experienced that kind of thing in her childhood. How could I pressure her…”

Childhood? Was he talking about the matter of Zhongshan Dijun’s wife perishing?

Qi Nan said in a low voice: “Fucang Shenjun, you have an upright manner, are refined and value propriety. In the future, there will surely be better goddesses to accompany you… Please let our princess go. She has many troubles on her mind and a strange temperament. After tormenting you like that before, she truly… is not worthy of you.”

Fucang was silent for a moment, then said softly: “In such matters, there is only whether one likes someone or not. I like her.”

That straightforward “I like her” instead made Qi Nan’s eyes redden. Holding back tears, he lowered his head and smiled: “If the princess heard these words, she would make a fuss again… It’s too late, all too late. Fucang Shenjun, please go back.”

Fucang turned and rose on the wind, saying slowly: “I’ll come again tomorrow.”

The first tomorrow, the second tomorrow, the third… Many tomorrows passed. He came persistently, and the dragon princess persistently refused to come out to see him. Fifty years passed. That morning, Fucang suddenly felt some kind of enlightenment in his heart. Clear energy wrapped around him in layers, vibrating endlessly.

The time for a thousand-year dream had arrived.

Fucang forced himself not to fall asleep and walked to his desk. He took up brush and ink, but facing the blank letter paper, he couldn’t write anything.

What should he write to her? His apology? His regret? His love?

With the dragon princess’s ice-and-snow intelligence, how could she not understand these things? Her insistence on not seeing him and her avoidance were not to blame him, but rather to hope that the blade called affection would no longer hang over her heart.

Don’t leave, don’t abandon him. If everything could start over, he would never let loneliness devour her, nor would he pressure her so hastily like that. Whether she wanted to be bickering adversaries or cling to him to the ends of the earth, he would accompany her.

A thousand words and ten thousand phrases—he didn’t know where to begin.

Fucang placed the blank letter paper into a Huaxu Clan envelope and sent it out by mystical arts.

He was always one step late. The once abundant and even somewhat exaggerated fate between them seemed to have completely disappeared now. The thread that tied their ill-fated bond had broken and seemed impossible to reconnect. If their previous karma had been severed, then let everything start anew. He would always be there, and he would always wait for her.

*

Another lonely dawn arrived. Fucang opened his eyes. What met his gaze was still the familiar azure canopy.

Since he awoke from his four-thousand-year dream, nothing had changed, yet everything had changed. Zhongshan was hidden behind barriers of swirling clouds and mist, and even the patrolling divine officials no longer came out.

How was the dragon princess doing inside today? Would she show a bit more smile? If she could smile, that would be good.

He rose to wash and dress, hastily ate breakfast, and was about to leave the Azure Emperor’s palace.

The Azure Emperor, who had maintained silence on this matter for all these years, finally couldn’t help but speak: “Fucang, I’m very grateful that Zhuyin Clan’s Princess Xuan Yi was willing to descend to the lower realm to resolve your karmic ties for you, but I don’t approve of you having any further dealings with her. If a goddess truly likes you, she absolutely wouldn’t torment you for such a long time.”

Yes, but she truly liked him and still had to torment him. It was always like this—one moment wanting to give her the softest and most beautiful things in the world, the next moment hating her so much he wanted to crush her to pieces with his hands.

By now, all the extreme emotions that could appear and be endured in his life had been given to the dragon princess. He could never return to his former tranquility. If one had never been loved, it ultimately wouldn’t be fatal. But once one had tasted that bone-deep flavor, one would be lost for the rest of one’s life.

The Azure Emperor cleared his throat again: “A few days ago, the Crimson Emperor spoke to me about Princess Yan Xia. Back then when she descended to the lower realm to resolve her karmic ties, she received protection thanks to your awakened sword dao. As it happens, Old Baize Dijun has been slacking off and refusing to teach classes lately. Taking advantage of the vacation, the Crimson Emperor is bringing his daughter to formally visit and express gratitude. You must stay in the Azure Emperor’s palace tomorrow.”

In his heart, he was actually not very satisfied with Yan Xia either, but the two families had excellent relations, and Yan Xia was ultimately much better than that wicked and strange Zhuyin Clan princess.

Fucang silently left the Azure Emperor’s palace. From the moment he obtained Chun Jun, his sword dao had only ever protected one goddess.

The next day, the Crimson Emperor’s family indeed came. After resolving her karmic ties, Yan Xia’s face showed much less childishness, and she spoke much less than before, only sitting silently in the Pale Moon Pavilion counting the grains of rice in her bowl one by one.

Fucang sat across from her, only slowly sipping cup after cup of Luofu Spring wine. Neither of them spoke.

The Crimson Emperor’s wife felt rather awkward. She laughed dryly, trying to create some conversation for them: “You two children, you’re fellow disciples, and you’ve both descended to the lower realm to resolve karmic ties. There’s so much you could talk about. Why are you both being so silent?”

The Azure Emperor said warmly: “Perhaps it’s because there are many elders here. Fucang, take Princess Yan Xia for a tour of the Azure Emperor’s palace. You’re the host.”

Fucang put down his wine cup and said flatly: “Senior Sister Yan Xia, please follow me.”

It was early winter, cold wind whistled along the lakeside path, and a thin layer of ice had formed on the lake surface. The two of them walked one in front of the other for half a day. Finally, it was Yan Xia who broke the silence: “Junior Brother Fucang, Senior Brother Gu Ting… is he still blaming me?”

After she returned to Mingxing Hall having resolved her karmic ties, she never dared to take the initiative to speak with Gu Ting. Because of the incident at the South Garden that had blown up too much, Gu Ting was also indifferent toward her, not as enthusiastic as before. The more he was like this, the less she dared to apologize to him.

Fucang stopped walking and looked back at her: “Gu Ting is absolutely not a narrow-minded person.”

Yan Xia lowered her head and played with her fingers: “Then, then do you think if I apologize to him, he’ll forgive me?”

This princess’s resolution of karmic ties probably only resolved her infatuation with Shao Yi. She seemed much more composed, but was actually still the same, grasping at anyone for help whenever something happened.

Fucang thought for a moment: “The one he blames should not be you.”

Yan Xia breathed a sigh of relief, but then for some reason became even more nervous: “Then, then when the teacher starts teaching classes again, I’ll go apologize to him… Junior Brother Fucang, can you say some good words for me?”

She asked twice but received no response. Instead, she saw Fucang staring in a daze at two giant golden carp leaping in Chengjiang Lake. She recalled what she had heard after returning to Mingxing Hall about Fucang and Xuan Yi’s entanglement. Honestly, she hadn’t expected the two of them could end up together at all.

Perhaps that capricious and wicked princess Xuan Yi had wronged him? Yan Xia secretly speculated, just as Shao Yi had wronged her. Now when she thought of Shao Yi, she no longer felt any ripples. Looking back at her past obsessive entanglement, she only found it slightly amusing. So Yan Xia didn’t stop her curiosity and asked: “Junior Brother Fucang, what’s going on with you and Junior Sister?”

Who knew Fucang would instead ask: “How does Senior Sister Yan Xia feel about Shao Yi now?”

Yan Xia smiled: “Didn’t you also resolve your karmic ties? Naturally, you should know—it’s like when wind passes and trees become still. The disturbed trajectory simply returns to normal.”

But he wasn’t like that. His trajectory became more and more chaotic. He sank deeper and deeper.

Fucang turned and gracefully walked forward again: “My heart already belongs to someone. I hope our fellowship as fellow disciples will endure.”

Yan Xia secretly breathed another sigh of relief. Honestly, she really couldn’t adapt well to Fucang’s cold temperament—it made her afraid to joke casually.

The two young deities slowly finished touring Chengjiang Lake. Naturally, nothing came of this matter. The Crimson Emperor’s family was very disappointed. The Crimson Emperor had quite approved of Fucang, but who knew his daughter would insist on getting tangled up with that romantic Shenjun from the Qingyang Clan. With great difficulty, his daughter’s ill-fated bond was resolved, but now Fucang was endlessly entangled with the Zhuyin Clan princess.

It seemed this marriage alliance was not meant to be.

That night, the Azure Emperor and Fucang talked all night long, but ultimately it was fruitless. It seemed this innate stubbornness was hard to change—he was just like his mother.

*

The fine sound of rain swirled in his ears. The morning light penetrated the azure gauze curtains dimly. On a rainy dawn at the Azure Emperor’s palace, when Fucang awoke, he only felt that both body and mind were at peace.

The wind carried a familiar fragrance. He instinctively reached to his side but touched emptiness. Only then did he realize with surprise that the dragon princess, who usually slept late and rose late, was actually not sleeping beside him.

For three days after the grand wedding, guests came and went endlessly. She had hardly slept at all. Why had she gotten up so early today?

Fucang walked barefoot to the outer chamber and saw the dragon princess wearing his outer robe, leaning against the nanmu wood corridor gazing at the dawn obscured by clouds and rain. The continuous fine rain wet her feet, and her loose hair scattered over her long sleeves also dripped wetly.

Such a scene—he could never tire of watching it for a lifetime.

Sensing him drawing near, Xuan Yi turned her head to smile at him, docilely resting her head on his shoulder and saying softly: “I thought we would move to that Azure Emperor’s palace at the top of Tai Mountain.”

Originally they should have gone there, but he hadn’t moved.

“I still prefer this side.” She raised her toes and nimbly shook off the rainwater on them. “I quite liked it the first time I came.”

He too preferred it here.

“So that’s why you always mess up my room so much?” Fucang flicked away the water droplets from the tips of her hair and laughed.

She turned her head away: “Even if you begged me to mess up other places, I wouldn’t.”

He tapped her forehead extremely lightly, then put his arm around her shoulders. Together they leaned against the nanmu wood corridor watching the rain threads falling from the sky. That fine and subtle sound of falling rain scattered on the leaves of towering trees, scattered on him and her, and also scattered on his heart.

Peaceful and profound, serene and distant.

“Want to sleep a bit more?” The dragon princess in his arms, who had rarely gotten up early, started yawning again.

What a coincidence—he too rarely felt like being lazy. Let them embrace and fall asleep this time. If they could wake up together, that would be even better.