“Alright.” He nodded, his voice slightly hoarse.
The shadow from a thousand years ago merged with the person before him. Ruyi smiled with delight, starlight sparkling in her eyes: “Then it’s settled. The day after tomorrow, just you and me, at dusk, we’ll meet on the painted pleasure boat at Mirror Lake.”
“Mm.” He agreed, but belatedly remembered he was still angry and wanted to put on a stern face again, though it was already too late.
Ruyi fell into his embrace, her lotus-like arms reaching up to hook around his neck: “Does Master have any wishes?”
“No.” He answered without hesitation, his eyelids even drooping down, lashes trembling slightly.
As if there were some unpleasant memories.
“What a pity.” She wasn’t curious, only smiled. “We demons also know how to repay kindness. Master has been so good to me—you could make a decent wish.”
“No need.”
“Then let me make a wish to Master.” Taking advantage was her instinct.
He looked at her with tacit permission.
“The day after tomorrow.” Her eyes curved at the corners as she said suggestively, “Please cast aside all rules and drink with me until we’re thoroughly intoxicated.”
He had experienced this person’s drinking capacity before. Shen Qiyuan was somewhat reluctant. But she coaxed him softly, her clear eyes reflecting only his shadow.
“Alright.” He finally nodded.
Ruyi couldn’t help but sigh with emotion—had this little blue god not encountered any demons for hundreds of years? To indulge her so, just like he was bewitched by her.
If he met other demons, they wouldn’t be as kind as her, only seeking pleasure; they would all want his life.
It was time to give him a lesson.
Two days later, light snow began falling in Lin’an.
Ruyi wore a silk-tree phoenix-tail dress, draped with an embroidered silver cloud-patterned jacket, her bosom high and waist slender. She stood on the painted boat, waving to him from afar.
Shen Qiyuan looked from horseback, feeling she seemed to merge with the snowy heavens and earth, yet was even more brilliant and eye-catching.
He stared fixedly for a while, then gripped the reins and approached, dismounting to board the boat.
This painted boat was exceptionally exquisite, with six ridges and six peaks. Besides the tea area, there were two side chambers at the back, with beast-head connecting seats and complex patterns painted on the beams with gold powder and blue paint.
He approached to examine them closely, only to discover they were all paintings of mandarin ducks and love birds.
“How is it?” Ruyi proudly lifted her chin. “I spent a fortune having people rush to make it for half a year. This treasure just took to water—Master is the first to board.”
“Overly extravagant,” he said.
“Having money and not spending it—might as well save it to become a turtle.” She sat by the railing and chuckled. “When spring comes, I’ll take this boat south to gather some handsome young men.”
Shen Qiyuan neither agreed nor disagreed, only sat down and glanced at the wine on the table.
This wine had a very light fragrance, far less potent than last time.
His heart relaxed somewhat. He reached out to pour two cups: “I heard from Yanning that Wei Zijue has been visiting you these past two days.”
“What a gossip.” Ruyi pursed her lips. “He just lost his father, naturally, he’s grieving. Talking with me a few words isn’t against the law.”
“If he were truly grieving, he should kneel properly in mourning instead of always running about.” Shen Qiyuan tasted the wine and said indifferently, “The Imperial Clan Court has already received two of his petitions.”
“Oh?” Ruyi blinked. “Did Master intercept them?”
“No,” he said. “I had someone place those petitions on top and rush them to the imperial presence.”
“Hahaha.” She laughed and clapped. “Ziyan, truly worthy of you.”
The wine was fragrant and sweet. Shen Qiyuan looked up at her from his cup: “You’re not angry?”
“What would I be angry about? His behavior was inappropriate—you were just handling things impartially.” Ruyi waved her hand, also taking a sip of wine. “Compared to him, I naturally prefer Master.”
Shen Qiyuan’s throat moved.
It was strange—this world clearly demanded women to choose one and remain faithful, following the three obediences and four virtues, yet she was fickle and dissolute. Such a person with no propriety, when she said she preferred him, he felt somewhat moved.
Wei Zijue’s hundreds of years of companionship couldn’t compare to him, someone she’d just met. So back then, if he had waited a little longer, even if he’d just looked back once more, would she not have chosen Wei Zijue?
After just a few mouthfuls of wine, heaven and earth began to feel soft and hazy.
Shen Qiyuan instinctively reached out, and she happened to catch his hand.
“Master’s drinking capacity is still so poor.” She smiled and helped him up, entering the side chamber at the back.
There was a formation in this room—he sensed it, a formation that isolated heaven and earth. But she quickly kissed him, interlocking their fingers and gradually softening and dissolving his divine consciousness.
He withdrew his fingertips and closed his eyes, allowing the formation to complete.
“When you and I first met, fine rain was also falling from the sky.” In his dazed state, he held the person to him. “You wore blue gauze robes for cultivation, standing at the mountain gate staring motionlessly at the characters on the memorial archway. I thought you were a stone.”
Qidou Mountain was lush and verdant, mixed with continuous fine rain. Every breath carried the fresh fragrance of grass and trees, lake light sharing mountain colors, white clouds steaming evening glow. He felt that the scenery was beautiful, surely much more beautiful than when she met Wei Zijue.
What a pity—she didn’t remember any of it.
Ruyi held him, letting him ramble on. When she finally found it too verbose, she kissed his lips once, cutting off his next words: “An initial encounter with some young lady—how dare you attribute it to me?”
He frowned somewhat painfully.
Ruyi looked up and kissed his brow: “Be good, Qingqing, don’t be sad. I’ll take you to a happy place.”
Snow-white sweetness was naturally pleasant, but Shen Qiyuan’s brow remained tightly knitted.
He saw the fierce fires of Purgatory Valley, saw the earth collapsing at Partridge Mountain, saw the lightning tribulation that shattered the sky and her hand suddenly letting go in the heavy rain.
Thousands of years of memories were too heavy and too many. Two people bearing them together was manageable, but if only one person remained, how could they endure?
The last mouthful of wine was transferred into his throat by her lips, and the tense things in heaven and earth disappeared.
Ruyi withdrew and sat up, satisfiedly shaking the empty wine pot.
The lighter the wine, the more intoxicating it was. Qingqing should learn his lesson.
She placed Shen Qiyuan on the couch and covered him with bedding, admiring his handsome features. After appreciating them for the time of one incense stick, she changed clothes and left.
A small earthen hill had already been piled up in the wasteland outside the western suburbs. Ruyi strolled to the other side of the hill and saw a hole about half a zhang in diameter. Six pangolins emerged from the hole and nodded to her.
Ruyi bit her fingertip and fed them a few drops of blood, smiling: “Thank you for your trouble.”
Attempting a frontal prison break within two days would be somewhat difficult. Ruyi had calculated the positioning, having the pangolins tunnel through the mountain, passing through the hole to reach directly beneath Yuncheng’s cell.
However, breaking through the final layer of earth would inevitably attract the jailers’ attention, so she had to use some methods. To use methods without being detected, she first had to knock down Shen Qiyuan.
The blue god usually wasn’t so easy to deal with, but whether it was because the snow scenery was too beautiful or something else, he had fallen for her trick quite smoothly today.
The emotions flowing in that person’s eyes flashed before her. Ruyi pressed her heart and smiled to herself: “You are thoroughly wicked.”