Now, let’s turn back time to the morning at the Imperial Tomb.
The sky had just begun to brighten, and the Imperial Tomb was still temporarily harmonious. Xin Xiong rose early as usual to practice martial arts and circulate qi in front of his house; Yinglian and Uncle Bear continued their loving relationship; Master Zhao, who hadn’t slept all night, stood before the cave waiting for the divine muse of inspiration to arrive; Si Lan busied himself in the kitchen preparing breakfast; Tao Guoguo… Tao Guoguo paced back and forth in front of Lu Qianqiao and Xin Mei’s room, spinning in circles with anxiety.
To knock or not to knock—that was the dilemma.
Tao Guoguo, who considered himself no longer a child, understood that frantically knocking on a married couple’s door early in the morning was very inappropriate. He might interrupt something, and the serious consequences caused by such interruption would likely result in retaliation against him, such as plucking a few feathers from his wings.
But he couldn’t wait any longer. If this continued, he might commit a grave error.
“Creak”—the door opened. Lu Qianqiao, wearing outer robes with a dark expression, glared at him from the doorway.
“…What is it?” His tone wasn’t good.
Tao Guoguo was delighted: “Brother Qianqiao! I… I… that is…”
The matter needed to be explained simply from the beginning. Yesterday, mischievous Tao Guoguo and his little brother were playing at the edge of the Yunwu Array as usual. Among the demons in the Imperial Tomb, except for Si Lan, no one could leave the Yunwu Array. This formation both protected the Imperial Tomb’s demons from being discovered by outsiders and constrained the demons from going out to cause trouble at will. So for many mature demons, they wouldn’t approach the Yunwu Array whether they had business or not. Only the childlike Tao Guoguo brothers would treat that area as their hide-and-seek paradise.
Yesterday they were happily playing hide-and-seek when they encountered a mortal who had mistakenly wandered into the Yunwu Array—this wasn’t uncommon. Below Wanlan Mountain’s Imperial Tomb was Wanlan Town, where generations of Imperial Tomb guardians had lived. Occasionally, people going up the mountain to cut firewood or hunt would mistakenly enter the Yunwu Array, and Si Lan would knock them unconscious and send them back. With Si Lan not present now, Tao Guoguo and his brother were very nervous, folding their wings and hiding behind trees to peek—
A young boy in simple cloth clothes was slowly approaching, his expression showing confusion and helplessness at the surrounding mist.
Tao Guoguo turned back to instruct his brother: “You go back and call Si Lan. I’ll watch him here and not let him break through inside.”
His brother was always obedient and was about to fly away flapping his tender yellow wings, but the boy heard the sound and alertly threw his wood-cutting axe while shouting: “Who’s there?!”
The gleaming axe grazed the little brother’s cheek, and he tumbled from mid-air with a “wah” as he began crying. The boy hurriedly stepped forward to hold the little one, wiping his tears with his sleeve while pondering what this creature could be. If you called him human, he had chicken wings; if you called him a bird, he had hands and feet and could cry “wah wah.”
“This… could this be… the legendary—bird-man?!” the boy speculated in shock.
Tao Guoguo flew into a rage. He deeply detested the words “bird-man,” picked up a rock and threw it, hitting the other party right on the forehead—he had injured the person and knocked him unconscious in the process.
So when Si Lan arrived, he scolded Tao Guoguo severely and ordered him to bandage the person properly before sending him out.
And thus, a fateful entanglement was born…
“Brother Qianqiao! He swore an oath, insisting he must repay the favor and marry me! I told him I’m a male demon but he absolutely refuses to believe it! He even said… said if I don’t go to Wanlan Town to find him before noon today, he’ll jump off a cliff to commit suicide!”
“A human life, Brother Qianqiao! He’s so thick-skinned he’s gambling his life on me! If he really dies, Heaven will surely put this on my account, right? Definitely, right?! Then I’ll never be able to cultivate into a great demon! My whole life will be ruined!”
Lu Qianqiao rubbed his aching temples, thought for a moment, and consoled: “This account won’t be put on your head.”
“But what if he really jumps off the cliff?! Wouldn’t I be indirectly responsible for his death?! Brother Qianqiao, help me out. Cast the same spell on me as Brother Si Lan has, so I can leave the Yunwu Array to see him, okay? I promise to settle it once and for all!”
Lu Qianqiao shook his head firmly: “No. The town has heavy human energy—you can’t maintain human form and will cause trouble.”
“I promise I can maintain it!”
“No.”
“Please, Brother Qianqiao!”
“…No. The Imperial Tomb’s rules are like this. If I make an exception for you alone, how can I convince others in the future?”
“Brother Qianqiao…”
Tao Guoguo burst into tears.
“What’s all the noise so early in the morning?” Finally awakened Xin Mei came out rubbing her eyes. Seeing Tao Guoguo’s face full of tears, she was startled. “What happened?”
Lu Qianqiao went over to wrap her clothes tighter and smooth her hair, saying in a low voice: “Alright, let’s go eat together.”
Xin Mei was pulled along by him for a few steps, then looked back to see Tao Guoguo still crying there, looking at them with the eyes of an abandoned dog. She kindly approached and asked: “What’s really wrong?”
Tao Guoguo tearfully explained the situation again, and she immediately laughed: “After breakfast, I’ll take you out.”
“Xin Mei.” Lu Qianqiao frowned. “You cannot.”
She was astonished: “I take him out and bring him back—that’s not allowed either?”
“No.” The refusal was very decisive.
Xin Mei looked him up and down: “Lu Qianqiao, have I ever told you that you’ve been quite impressive lately?”
“…”
“Last time when several of my senior brothers and sisters came to see my father, you also coldly said no. The time before that, when I wanted to go out for a stroll, you still said no. I wanted to eat crab and you said no, wanted to drink some wine and you continued saying no, last night I wanted to be on top and you still said no, you…”
“Cough, Xin Mei.” A certain general over thirty who still looked young and handsome blushed and interrupted her words.
Xin Mei smiled at him: “Today I want to go out and play. Do you want to say no again?”
“Where are you going? I’ll accompany you…”
“I don’t want your company. You, the bird-man over there, come here. We’re going to eat.”
Grabbing the furious Tao Guoguo, she turned and left.
“Xin Mei.”
Lu Qianqiao blocked her path almost helplessly: “Don’t be stubborn.”
“One sentence—will you let me go out or not?” Xin Mei stared at him with wide eyes.
He left with a dark face, saying nothing, his retreating figure somewhat desolate.
As the saying goes, “distance lends enchantment”—this saying was absolutely true. Living inseparably with Lu Qianqiao at the Imperial Tomb for two or three years, they hadn’t seen major conflicts, but small ones were common. She remembered that before marriage, he would still appropriately yield on many matters, such as the drinking issue. After marriage, however, he had become overbearing. Last time when they discovered several jars of ceremonial wine for gods in the cellar, she opened one jar to taste it lightly, and his face immediately became darker than a pot bottom. He whipped the demon guarding the cellar twice and secretly drank all the wine himself, then lied to her that it was gone.
She knew drinking would make her feverish, so she only dared drink a little each time. In Lu Qianqiao’s eyes, was she forever a child who didn’t understand self-control? When a husband treats you like a child, it’s a complete crisis—it proves you have no feminine appeal in his eyes.
Deeply sensing the crisis, Xin Mei was determined to display her feminine charm, so last night she had launched a counterattack—an unsuccessful one. Before she could push him down, she was pushed down instead. During the process, she repeatedly tried to take the initiative, but was forcibly prevented each time. Such domineering behavior that gave no face was gradually increasing.
Setting aside bedroom matters, this guy was now trying to control what she ate, drank, wore, and even whom she spoke with.
This wasn’t a good sign—it needed to be extinguished immediately before it developed further.
Xin Mei, holding the large food box and leading Tao Guoguo, rode Qiuyue and gracefully flew away from the Imperial Tomb’s Yunwu Array.
She wanted to go out for a stroll, and no one was allowed to stop her.
Qiuyue searched around the Wanlan Town area, and near noon, finally spotted a delicate young man preparing to jump off a cliff on a nearby mountain peak. Behind the boy stood a dense circle of townspeople watching the excitement, with enthusiastic vendors occasionally calling out “Five-spice dried tofu” and such to attract business among the crowd.
Tao Guoguo was terrified, tumbling down from Qiuyue’s back: “He’s really preparing to jump off the cliff!”
Xin Mei comforted him: “It’s fine. You go over and show him your wings—all misunderstandings will be resolved.”
…What a rotten idea.
Tao Guoguo shamefully and angrily blew hard toward the crowd, the wind carrying demonic power stirring up flying sand and stones, with ghost wails faintly audible in the wind—pretending to be a ghost to scare people was his old profession. The townspeople watching the excitement all covered their eyes and crouched down. He seized the opportunity to grab the dazed boy at the cliff edge and frantically rushed into the forest.
Xin Mei encouraged him from behind: “Don’t be afraid! Show him your wings, and if that doesn’t work, take off your clothes and let him see everything!”
Tao Guoguo left her only with a despairing and tragic look.
What exactly the two discussed in the forest is currently unknowable. Xin Mei waited outside the forest for a long time, during which she ate two meat moon cakes and a three-fresh steamed bun. Qiuyue, who had seen countless romantic affairs and grudges over the years, dozed off with exceptional composure, until that delicate boy was the first to stroll out of the forest.
His steps seemed so ethereal and floating, and on his handsome face, his expression was so bewildered and helpless—just like a lost little deer, inspiring pity and affection.
“…Are you alright?” Xin Mei asked him carefully.
The boy slowly shook his head, a strange blush appearing on his face as he murmured: “So… so there really are bird-men with wings in this world! How unfair Heaven is! Giving him wings, yet also giving him supreme beauty! Since he was given supreme beauty, why not give him a female body?!”
Tao Guoguo? Supreme beauty? Xin Mei peered into the forest full of doubt. The culprit was darkly peeling tree bark with his round face and round eyes—he couldn’t be connected to supreme beauty in any way!
“I won’t give up!” The boy suddenly turned back, pointing toward the stunned Tao Guoguo in the forest, declaring righteously: “Since you’re a demon, you must be able to use some magic I don’t understand! You’re actually a woman, right?! I absolutely won’t believe what you said today! Tomorrow at noon, you and I will meet at this same place to clarify things! If you don’t come, I’ll jump off the cliff!”
With that, he covered his face and ran away frantically.
Tao Guoguo despairingly shed two streams of tears.
Xin Mei patted his shoulder: “You work hard to settle him. I’m leaving.”
“Where… where are you going?” Tao Guoguo desperately grabbed her sleeve, his helpless round eyes looking at her tearfully. “You’re just leaving me here alone like this?”
“You’re not a child anymore.” Xin Mei pried open his hands and spoke earnestly: “Use your masculine charm to conquer him. Crying all the time—no wonder people mistake you for a girl.”
“You really have the heart to abandon me alone?” More tears appeared in his eyes.
“I have the heart.”
Xin Mei nodded, patted Qiuyue’s head, and it obediently flew up.
“Work hard!”
She kindly waved goodbye, leaving Tao Guoguo hugging his head and screaming in place, flying toward Chongling Valley.
Then she encountered Zhang Dahu who had married, was told that Zhen Hongsheng was in seclusion and wouldn’t come out in this lifetime. After that, she came to Meishan Residence and was kept as a guest by the kind and enthusiastic Lord Meishan.
Thus passed a magnificent day.
The next day, Lord Meishan rose early and rushed urgently toward the kitchen. Indeed, as soon as he entered, he smelled the enticing aroma of vegetable and meat porridge. The girl of his heart had rolled up her sleeves and was holding a ladle to stir the porridge in the pot, her whole body suffused with holy white light, turning back to smile at him gently.
“Lord Meishan, you look unwell. You should still eat some meat appropriately. The vegetable and meat porridge I made isn’t greasy.”
There was an idiom in books—what was it? Heart blossoming with joy? Lord Meishan now truly understood what “heart blossoming with joy” meant, as if tens of millions of flower buds were stirring in his chest, all clamoring for spring’s arrival. Even if someone asked him to become a heavenly god the next moment, he wouldn’t go.
“I see there are no side dishes here, so I just heated up some steamed buns. They go well with the vegetable and meat porridge.”
She ladled out the porridge and handed over a steamer of hot buns.
Drinking a sip of porridge, then taking a bite of bun—what was happiness? This was supreme happiness! Lord Meishan shed tears of comfort and began seriously considering last night’s dream. Actually, taking her as a disciple was indeed a good idea—that way he could legitimately spend day and night with her…
“Lord Meishan, how does it taste?”
He nodded eagerly: “Heavenly delicacy! Unparalleled in heaven and earth!”
“I’m glad you like it.” She smiled.
The tens of millions of flower buds in his chest instantly became butterflies breaking from cocoons, rustling their wings and dancing gracefully in his chest cavity, making his heart itch and tingle, soft and tender. He couldn’t help clearing his throat and asking as seriously as possible: “Little Mei, looking at your face, you have immortal destiny. Do you… that is… want to cultivate with me?”
Xin Mei stared at him in astonishment with her mouth full of bun: “Learn how to collect gossip from you?”
“No… no…” Stay calm, stay calm. “Cultivation—becoming an immortal.”
Xin Mei was even more astonished: “Become a Gossip Immortal?”
“No…”
Lord Meishan choked up. So in her heart, he really was just a Gossip Immortal who only collected rumors…
Just as he was racking his brains to explain clearly, suddenly crisp drumming sounds came from the main gate—that was the small leather drum placed at the main gate specifically for visitors to use. These days the outside situation wasn’t good. It was said Tianyuan Kingdom was eyeing Qiong Kingdom covetously, colluding with peasant soldiers inside Qiong Kingdom, planning a coordinated attack from inside and outside. So people coming to ask him to collect secret information about Tianyuan and Qiong Kingdoms were especially numerous.
Lord Meishan impatiently waved his hand, summoning spirit ghosts, planning to instruct them to see no visitors today whatsoever, but unexpectedly Xin Mei stood up first.
“Lord Meishan, you handle your business. I’ll wander around Meishan Residence myself—the scenery here is nice.”
She stretched lazily and walked outside. Lord Meishan was torn, so he carefully followed, asking cautiously: “Do you… uh… not want me to accompany you and talk with you?”
Actually, I don’t want to see those vulgar people at all—I just want to accompany you!
But these words were too abrupt to say to her.
Lord Meishan looked at her longingly with eyes full of hints, hoping she could understand.
She didn’t understand at all and efficiently disappeared.
Lord Meishan turned back woodenly and roared at the spirit ghosts: “Prepare a cartload of strong liquor for me! If today’s visitors can’t finish this cartload, I won’t tell them anything!”
Xin Mei, who had already walked far away, heard him mention drinking and waved back: “Lord Meishan, drinking harms the body.”
He hurriedly smiled and nodded, craning his neck to watch until she disappeared into the bamboo grove, then reluctantly went to the main hall to receive guests.
Lord Meishan had never been as happy as today in his entire life. Xin Mei’s words “drinking harms the body” kept flowing in his ears, delighting him so much that his drinking capacity greatly increased—he had drunk dozens of jars in one morning. At lunch time, he instructed the spirit ghosts to strip the drunkards in the hall naked and throw them out, then excitedly rushed to the kitchen. His beloved girl had already prepared delicious food and was waiting for him gently.
If every day could be like this, he’d rather be a mortal and grow old and die with her… no, growing old and dying was still out of the question. If they were to be anything, they should be an immortal couple, with eternal beauty through all the vicissitudes of the world.
That day’s visitors were fortunate to see another side of the legendary cold and alcohol-loving Lord Meishan—he drank while smiling foolishly, his face seemingly ready to bloom with peach blossoms, unusually amiable to all visitors, answering every question, throwing his previous rules to the winds.
Then, in the evening, long-absent Fu Jiuyun arrived leading a beautiful young lady.