Kunlun paused for a moment, then replied without changing her expression: “That’s fine. I’ll have Meng Zhaozhong follow you.”
Only then did a hint of a smile appear on Little Chuci’s face. Her tiny fangs made her look lively and bright. Jiang Yang’s mood also lightened a bit.
“Let’s go.” Little Chuci turned back, facing her with that same blank expression.
Jiang Yang: “…”
Fine. This was just her fate. Hated by cats and dogs alike.
Without Kunlun by her side, Little Chuci became visibly impatient. Her original intention was to sit behind the desk, but her height wasn’t quite sufficient. After scanning the room, she opted instead for the lounge couch covered in white tiger skin. Her two feet dangled in the air, swinging back and forth as she fixed Jiang Yang with a look that said, “Spit it out, hurry up, this king has things to do.”
She’d completely forgotten who just helped her subdue a heavenly horse in the forest and even gave her an Inner Core to eat.
Watching her, Jiang Yang seemed to suddenly understand Little King’s intentions. She had seen that look in her eyes back in the forest. Was this attitude now meant to put her in her place? If so, why not give her some face?
A faint smile touched the corners of Jiang Yang’s eyes. “Little King, what do you want to know?”
Little Chuci continued to put on airs: “What do you have to tell me?”
“Everything you want to know, I can tell you.” Jiang Yang gauged her expression, speaking slowly and deliberately. “Things you don’t want to know, I won’t say. Everything according to your wishes.”
Little Chuci tilted her head: “You seem to respect me a great deal.”
“You are the King.”
“Not necessarily. The ‘King’ you speak of is another ‘Chuci’.” Little Chuci asked curiously, “What relation does she have to me?”
Jiang Yang lowered her head respectfully. “You are her. You’re just young now. When you grow up and can undo the Seal, you’ll be able to return to this world as the King. Then, if you wish, you can trample the Three Realms beneath your feet.”
Little Chuci scoffed. “Why would I want to trample the Three Realms? Too much trouble. Hmm… what’s this about a Seal you mentioned?”
“Forty thousand years ago, you fought a great war with the Heavenly Realm. You were… unfortunately defeated and imprisoned on the Demon-Suppressing Platform. After three months of lightning strikes, you were burned by fire for three years. Because your corpse was hard and indestructible, the Heavenly Emperor feared you might regain world-destroying power and threaten the Heavenly Court. So he hid it in the Chaos Realm. If you wish to return to the Three Realms, you must undo the Seal and retrieve your corpse.”
“Why would I have fought a war with the Heavenly Realm? Would I do something so troublesome?”
Jiang Yang frowned. “I wasn’t by the King’s side then. I’m not clear on it either.”
Little Chuci: “But didn’t you just say you could tell me everything I wanted to know?”
Jiang Yang: “…”
Little Chuci: “You rolled your eyes at me.”
Jiang Yang: “I did not.”
Little Chuci stated firmly: “I saw it!”
Jiang Yang said woodenly: “This subordinate admits fault.”
“Good.” Little Chuci finally smiled at Jiang Yang. Though this was purely the joy of teasing someone. “Then why did you come looking for me? What do you want from me? Did someone order you to come?”
Jiang Yang answered: “Of course, I came to find you hoping you will undo the Seal and lead the demon hordes once more. But there’s another matter before that. Back then, the King’s Primordial Spirit fled the Heavenly Court. Half was destroyed by the Heavenly Emperor. The other half of the Primordial Spirit is you. Do you often feel your spirit unstable, your memory unclear? If it’s not repaired in time, the best outcome is a lifetime of perpetual confusion. If it’s the worst…”
Jiang Yang bit her lip. “Sooner or later, your Soul Consciousness will dissipate.”
—If she asks, don’t say I sent you.
So Jiang Yang finally added: “The King is the leader of the Demon Clan. Your subordinate naturally needs no one’s orders. The Heavenly Court is increasingly exterminating the Demon World. Helping the King return to the throne is mutually beneficial for the Demon Clan, isn’t it?”
“It seems my grudge against the Heavenly Emperor runs deep indeed,” Little Chuci said, the casual smile fading. She stared coldly at Jiang Yang. “You say I’m only half a Primordial Spirit?”
Perhaps because Chuci’s usual authority ran so deep, Jiang Yang felt a chill wash through her body under that gaze. Her voice lowered unconsciously. “Yes.”
Little Chuci fell silent. Her swinging feet stopped. Her expression was terrifyingly cold. For an instant, Jiang Yang thought she was seeing that divine consciousness in the heavenly portrait. She silently confirmed the furnishings around her, then continued holding her breath like a cicada in winter.
Little Chuci said: “Why should I believe you?”
Jiang Yang replied: “You can search my Soul Consciousness. The memories within cannot be faked.”
Little Chuci seemed unwilling to admit something. She muttered sullenly: “My power is far weaker than yours. I can’t search your soul.”
“Then you can have Divine Lord Kunlun search it. She and I are roughly equal in ability. If there’s a single half-truth, she can destroy my Soul Consciousness on the spot.”
“Then I’ll go find Kunlun.” Little Chuci jumped off the soft couch, running as she spoke. “You stay here and don’t move.”
But she stopped at the door and asked Jiang Yang, “Since my power is heaven-defying, how did I lose back then?”
“Because…” Jiang Yang was about to answer, but Little Chuci cut her off: “Forget it, no need. Once Kunlun searches your soul, I’ll know. What if your words now are just lies to trick me?”
Jiang Yang thought to herself: Oh King, you sure know how to find an excuse for yourself. Even if Kunlun searches my soul, she won’t tell you that.
She had concealed some things she couldn’t speak of. And for Kunlun, those things were the same. Search her soul? What did she have to fear?
Kunlun waited outside while Little Chuci and Jiang Yang talked inside. When she got bored, she picked up the axe Meng Zhaozhong had thrown aside and started chopping wood. She didn’t appear to use any force, but the wood split cleanly in two beneath her axe. Her cyan robes lifted and fluttered, her movements as light and graceful as plucking spring flowers or brushing away summer dust—utterly without any worldly effort.
Soon, Little Chuci came dashing out of the study, pulling her to see Jiang Yang, shouting: “We have to search Jiang Yang’s soul!”
Whatever Little Chuci said went for Kunlun. Just a soul search? Just to verify the truth of her words? Then so be it. She pressed her palm to Jiang Yang’s forehead. Past events cascaded back like images in a revolving lantern. She also saw the parts of the story she hadn’t witnessed.
When Chuci was imprisoned on the Demon-Suppressing Platform, Kunlun had been dormant at the peak of Kunlun Mountain. By the time she opened her eyes again, seas had turned to mulberry fields, and the world was irrevocably changed. She regretted the mistakes she’d made back then, but could never make amends.
“Demons are just demons, you’ll never learn what you gods call ‘divinity’!”
“But mark my words! For all the humiliation heaped upon me today, one day, I will point my sword at the Thirty-Third Heaven and make you gods of the Nine Heavens… pay blood with blood!”
Kunlun had never seen her like this. The Chuci in her eyes was always pristine, spotless. Even if she got dirty playing, she’d immediately go bathe in the waterfall. The Chuci in her eyes was always haughty and arrogant, looking down on everyone. Apart from herself, it seemed everyone else was invisible in her eyes.
Her eyes were so clear, clear like a child’s. Even when she committed evil, it made Kunlun unable to bear blaming her. Occasionally, when her emotions stirred, the gold that surfaced was so brilliant it outshone the sun. Kunlun had never seen her eyes crimson, like a wild beast trapped within a tiny space, word by word, swearing a curse against heaven! Demanding they all suffer miserable deaths!
Suddenly, within Jiang Yang’s Soul Consciousness appeared a vision of a back view dressed in white. Three silver bells were tied to the end of her hair, producing crisp collisions sounds as she turned around. Her lips held a faint smile, her golden pupils seemingly still filled with endless tenderness. She said, “You’re seeing me again, Kunlun.”
“Don’t cry,” she said. “I’m waiting for you.”
This was her second sentence, and her last.
The memory ended abruptly there.
Only then did Kunlun feel the coolness on her face. Without her knowing, tears had already streamed down.
