Shao Yi couldn’t help but look at her a few more times. Her gaze was full of sharp rejection, not avoiding meeting his eyes at all. In front of him, she had always hidden things very deeply—this was the first time she had revealed such a direct expression.

Instead, he smiled even more deeply: “Speaking of which, you’re right. You descended to the mortal realm for Junior Brother Fucang, helped him resolve his karmic ties, yet instead your heart wound relapsed and you nearly perished. On this point we’re truly not very alike—I don’t have so many concerns.”

Perish. She hadn’t imagined that one day this word would also be applied to herself.

Xuan Yi let out a breath and released his sleeve, her voice calm: “You should go. Thank you for saving me today.”

Shao Yi smoothed out the sleeve she had wrinkled: “I never accept verbal thanks. How about letting me kiss you again?”

Xuan Yi said flatly: “My life is already held in your hands. What thanks could be heavier than that?”

Shao Yi tilted his head and thought for a moment, then laughed despite himself: “You’ve rendered me speechless again. Ah, this little loach.”

He picked up the paper umbrella and slowly furled it. By now the wind and snow had stopped. The silver moon at the edge of the sky had become extremely faint, the dawn a deep blue. He stood up and gazed for a while, then said with his hands clasped behind his back: “I’ve already resigned from my studies. I’m afraid we won’t see each other for a very long time. Remember to preserve your life. If you cause another situation like this that affects me, I can only take back the heart feathers and let you perish as you will.”

He walked a few steps, then suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned back and looked at Xuan Yi again. She had just recovered from a severe injury, her complexion countless times paler than usual.

Shao Yi’s eyes flowed with light as he said softly: “Of the celestial gods who descend to the mortal realm to resolve karmic ties, nine out of ten will let go of their past experiences upon returning to the upper realm. Infatuation is fundamentally the most useless thing under heaven—it harms others and harms oneself. Ah, return home soon.”

He rose on the wind, his long sleeves fluttering like wings. In the blink of an eye, he could no longer be seen.

Xuan Yi leaned back against the stone tablet, silently watching the morning mist pervading the imperial mausoleum. For some reason, her heart instead became calm and relaxed. Those clamoring voices of the wind that had entangled her for so long had all disappeared without a trace because of this ruthless and brave confrontation.

She was different from Mother. She was of the Zhuyin Clan.

Indeed, she should go back. She wouldn’t go see Fucang again. Of course, perhaps he wouldn’t want to see her either.

Their time was too long, so long that the variables were truly too many. The harm she had given him had now all been returned in full, so let it end here. No one knew what would happen in the future, but at least she had obtained a love that was truly mutual. In this mortal realm rolling with turbid energy, illusory as dreams and bubbles, this was already enough.

Xuan Yi lifted her sleeve. The Zhuyin Clan healed wounds slowly. The mark he had bitten out on her arm was still there, a patch of blues and purples. Fortunately her arm hadn’t yet grown dragon scales, otherwise it would have broken all his teeth.

She lowered her head and kissed that mark. Let the youth she loved sleep quietly in his tomb like this. She wouldn’t think about the other him who was a divine lord. If she didn’t think about it, she would feel somewhat better.

*

When she returned to Zhongshan, Xuan Yi felt for the first time the peace of mind of a weary bird returning to its nest. After all, this place was still her home.

She was very tired. Her heart wound had just healed, and it had taken a long time to fly back. Right now she couldn’t even lift her head, and could only sit on the bluestone at the mountain gate gasping for breath.

She guessed that what Shao Yi had sprayed into her mouth was something that activated the power of the phoenix heart feathers. The Qingyang Clan had always had mysterious and strange methods emerging endlessly, worthy of being called the greatest in the divine realm. However, in order to control the Zhuyin Clan, he surely wouldn’t let the heart wound completely heal. The regenerative power really wasn’t quite sufficient. By the time Qi Nan hurriedly rushed over, she was so weary she was nearly asleep.

“Why did the Princess return so late? I nearly went to the mortal realm to fetch you!” Qi Nan began his startled exclamations again, chattering on and on. “Did the Princess encounter any formidable demon clans in the mortal realm? Why is the Princess’s complexion so poor? Princess? Princess?!”

Unless they had lost their minds like that Wujiang Immortal Maiden, which demon clan would willingly provoke the Zhuyin Clan for no reason? Xuan Yi was so bothered by his noise that her head felt like it would explode. She raised a single finger and said seriously: “Call the divine servants, carry the vine bed…”

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt extremely dizzy and softly tilted over.

It seemed like she hadn’t slept in a very, very long time. She was especially tired, without a shred of strength, and could only let her body fall into viscous darkness, sinking down bit by bit. This feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to her—it seemed to have happened before, but she just couldn’t remember. This darkness made her feel safe and comfortable. She didn’t know how long she had been sinking in it when one day she seemed to touch bottom. Her body trembled slightly, and she opened her eyes.

What met her eyes was also a patch of thick darkness, with only a point of candlelight flickering in the distance. Xuan Yi blinked her still-sleepy eyes. This was Father’s palm-held candlelight. It was much brighter than in earlier years—it seemed his injury truly was improving.

This mass of candlelight rapidly approached her, followed immediately by Zhongshan Dijun’s slightly excited voice: “A Yi, you’re awake. How do you feel?”

Xuan Yi touched her disheveled hair and was astonished to discover it had grown quite a bit. She couldn’t help but murmur: “I’m… naturally fine.”

She had just been tired and slept for a bit—how had she ended up sleeping in Changsheng Hall? And what was with this hair?

“You’ve already slept for two hundred years. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Is your chest tight?”

Zhongshan Dijun examined her carefully, his gaze containing hidden worry. When she was injured in childhood, she had slept like this for a hundred years. He hadn’t imagined that after so many years, the heart wound would actually rupture.

Two hundred years?! She was startled and subconsciously pressed her hand to her chest. There was no discomfort at all—it was just as good as usual.

This action caused a flash of anger to pass over Zhongshan Dijun’s face: “How dare Qi Nan have you go resolve some karmic ties for that member of the Huaxu Clan! Simply absurd! Since when has the Zhuyin Clan been kind-hearted enough to help others resolve karmic connections?! Otherwise your childhood injury wouldn’t have relapsed…”

He suddenly stopped speaking, aware he had misspoken, his complexion alternating between dark and light.

Xuan Yi sighed and sat up straight in bed, saying: “Father, after I was injured in the chest in childhood, how did I recover?”

Zhongshan Dijun’s expression was gloomy: “Did Qi Nan tell you? He’s becoming bolder and bolder!”

“I remembered some fragments myself.” Xuan Yi looked at him. “Please clarify this for me, Father.”

Zhongshan Dijun’s gloomy expression gradually became sorrowful and remorseful as he sighed deeply: “Since you’ve forgotten, why must you remember? Your heart was pierced by a ten-thousand-year fire rock needle. Your life hung by a thread, but ascending to heaven or descending to earth, ten thousand methods were useless. That day my spirit was rarely somewhat clear, and Qing Yan insisted on having me let him take you to Cuihe River. I didn’t agree, but later he secretly carried you there for a trip. That night when you returned from the severe injury, you began to improve. After sleeping for a hundred years, you were completely healed. This… this must be A Cui’s divine consciousness… protecting…”

By the time he reached this point, his eyes were already glistening with tears, and he could speak no more.

No wonder he and Qi Nan didn’t know about the phoenix heart feathers. It seemed Qing Yan had deliberately concealed it.

Xuan Yi paused for a while, then asked as if casually: “I’ve heard that phoenix heart feathers can heal all things. Did Father seek the Qingyang Clan’s help that day?”

Zhongshan Dijun said: “Naturally I went to seek them, but the Qingyang Clan’s Qiongsang City is incomparably mysterious. Often they don’t see a single outside guest for tens of thousands of years. No one knows where it falls in the Nine Heavens. Qi Nan searched for a long time without finding it. Subsequently your injury improved, so we let the matter rest.”

He didn’t want to discuss these sorrowful past events with her at length. He dispelled the Zhuyin darkness and summoned immortal maidens to bring food. Only after watching Xuan Yi drink two bowls of porridge with his own eyes and seeing her complexion become rosy did he command divine servants to use a vine bed to carry her back to Zifu.

On the vine bed, Xuan Yi saw the entire Zhongshan mountain wreathed in clouds and mist, vastly different from usual days. She couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Has Father hidden Zhongshan behind a barrier?”

The attending immortal maiden said respectfully: “In reply to the Princess, because the Princess slumbered without waking, Dijun was very worried, so he released a barrier to seal Zhongshan and not permit any outside guests to disturb.”

Outside guests? When had Zhongshan ever had outside guests? Xuan Yi shook her head and asked again: “Where is Qi Nan?”

“In reply to the Princess, Dijun punished Divine Official Qi Nan to spend a full two-hour period in Dragon Slumber Valley every day before he can come out. Only when the Princess woke would he no longer receive this punishment.”

Why was Qi Nan always being banished to Dragon Slumber Valley?

“Have him come to Zifu. Tell him I want to see him.”

She hadn’t imagined that this sleep would last two hundred years. The ice and snow in Zifu had long since melted, presenting a scene of bright spring glory. The intertwined red and green leaves of the empress mulberry trees were once again making their clear, crisp rustling sounds.

Xuan Yi walked beneath the trees and gazed up for a moment before turning to step into the sleeping palace. Surveying the room, she suddenly saw a small wooden box beside the bed that hadn’t been there before.

She opened the wooden box and couldn’t help but freeze. Inside was a snow-colored outer robe—the garment of Fucang’s she had asked Qi Nan to request from Qing Di. She hadn’t imagined he hadn’t returned it but had instead kept it here for her. Beneath the robe was a piece of white paper with writing on it. Surrounded by the pure energy of the divine realm, the white paper was as pristine as new, and the two characters for “dragon” on it were also richly inked, as if they had just been written.

She gazed quietly for a while, then suddenly heard a rush of hurried footsteps behind her. Qi Nan stumbled and rushed in. Upon seeing her, tears streamed down his face. No longer caring about any etiquette, he embraced her tightly.

“Thank goodness you woke up!” Qi Nan choked with emotion. “These old bones of mine can’t stand being frightened anymore!”

Xuan Yi smiled slightly: “Why are you crying? I’m perfectly fine. After sleeping for two hundred years, look—the scales on my neck have nearly grown in completely.”

She pulled him to sit in a chair, bent down to wipe his tears with a handkerchief, and said as she did so: “Tell me about anything new that happened in these two hundred years. Stop crying already. Put those tears away.”

Qi Nan held her hand and cried for quite a while before finally calming down: “There’s nothing much else. Dijun’s injury is improving more and more. There’s also… Princess, Dijun sent a letter of resignation to Baize Dijun on your behalf. Baize Dijun…”

“Agreed?”

Qi Nan was silent for a moment: “Baize Dijun didn’t agree. He only said the Princess could stay home as long as she wished, but resigning from studies was unacceptable. In these two hundred years, he has sent a booklet every year for the Princess to read at home.”

He pointed to a wooden box that had appeared beneath the bookshelf.

Xuan Yi wasn’t surprised: “Oh, he can’t bear to part with the dragon scales.”

Qi Nan was silent again for a while, then sneaked a look at her expression and tentatively spoke: “There’s also Divine Lord Fucang…”

Seeing her expression remain calm, he felt slightly relieved and continued: “After Divine Lord Fucang resolved his karmic ties, his spiritual nature greatly increased. A hundred and fifty years ago, he began the Thousand-Year Dream. Princess… you can set your mind at ease.”

Xuan Yi smiled but didn’t pick up this topic: “I think I can learn some techniques from Father. What does Qi Nan think?”

Qi Nan was greatly astonished. Had the Princess slept for two hundred years and awakened her brain? Finally knew she should learn something?

“You should also learn combat skills.” He immediately raised even higher requirements for her. “Where is there a member of the Zhuyin Clan who doesn’t know combat skills!”

Xuan Yi frowned and imagined herself coming and going in clouds and wind, swinging fists to pummel and lifting feet to kick, treating divine lords like punching bags—a brutish image. She felt it was truly unacceptable. If she fought like that, how could she wear beautiful clothes? The golden hairpins on her head would probably fall off with a single shake. She’d have to wear soft boots too, and she hated soft boots most of all.

“…We’ll see.” She casually deflected.

Qi Nan sighed. Basically, when she used this tone it meant “impossible to learn.” He asked: “Princess… will you return to Mingxing Hall to attend lectures?”

Xuan Yi slowly but resolutely shook her head: “I won’t go. I’ll just stay home and read the booklets.”

After Qi Nan left, she shook out Fucang’s outer robe and held it in her hands, looking at it for a long time. Then she pinched one sleeve, as if by habit wanting to pick at the cloud patterns on it.

But in the end, she didn’t pick at them. She merely folded it neatly and placed it together with that paper into the small wooden box, then put it in the very back of the drawer.

Xuan Yi took out one of the booklets Baize Dijun had sent and earnestly opened it.

Starting today, she would be a diligent princess who read books properly and studied techniques daily. This idea truly wasn’t bad at all.