“Uh, no—what’s with those looks from you two? Isn’t it good that I’m back?” Ye Yu asked in puzzlement as he saw the resentful expressions on Zhu Diezhen and Wei Aoshu’s faces.
“Good—very good—especially good!” Zhu Diezhen and Wei Aoshu shifted their gaze to Winter Kui, as if their eyes alone could tell her that jumping the queue was wrong.
Winter Kui didn’t intend to respond. With only a light tap of her toes, she slipped back into her own room and closed the door behind her.
At the sight of this, Zhu Diezhen’s fiery temper flared immediately. “Hey, hey, hey—what does she mean by this?”
Just as Zhu Diezhen moved to confront Winter Kui, Wei Aoshu grabbed her arm. “Sect Leader—this won’t do, really!”
In truth, Winter Kui had not deliberately picked a fight with them; she simply hadn’t even looked at Zhu Diezhen and Wei Aoshu. Returning at the same time as Ye Yu, her mind was already in turmoil over the possibility of the Five Realms’ passages reopening. If that day truly came, should she remain in the Celestial Realm or return to the Netherworld? The choice suddenly troubled her. She had always insisted she disliked the Celestial Realm—and its immortals—but her feelings for Ye Yu had begun to change. Still, she would never bow her head willingly; pride was her nature. Even if she liked Ye Yu now, she wouldn’t confess—she would wait for him to make the first move, and then everything could proceed smoothly.
With such complex thoughts, she really hadn’t noticed their glares. Ye Yu, seeing the exaggerated expressions of Zhu Diezhen and Wei Aoshu, grew curious. “Seriously—what are you two doing? And Zhen’er, why are you so angry?”
“I...” Zhu Diezhen hesitated, then thought better of it. The plan was paramount: after so much preparation, they couldn’t lose everything over a small matter. If she had promised that Wei Aoshu would take the lead tomorrow, then she must do so. As mistress of the Ye household, she never broke her word. With that thought, Zhu Diezhen took a deep breath, smoothed her expression, and said brightly, “Husband, it’s nothing—I was just teasing! Today I made you some nourishing soup. Come on, let’s go inside and try it.”
She cast a casual glance at Wei Aoshu behind her. Wei Aoshu’s body stiffened. The words “come inside” were their agreed signal—the plan was officially underway. Next would be Ye Yu drinking the soup, Zhu Diezhen leaving, Wei Aoshu making her move, and the scheme would succeed. Sixteen true words summarized it—easy to remember and rhymed perfectly. Zhu Diezhen had arranged every detail for Wei Aoshu clearly. All they had to do was follow through.
Wei Aoshu inhaled deeply to steady her excitement—she was about to step onto the battlefield and absolutely could not mess this up! With a nod to herself, she lifted her chin.
But at that moment, Ye Yu asked a fatal question. “Where’s the soup?”
“The soup’s right...” Zhu Diezhen looked down at her empty hands, then at Wei Aoshu’s—also empty. Only then did they realize, in their excitement, they’d come downstairs and completely forgotten the soup in the room. How careless!
Wei Aoshu hurriedly raised her hand. “I’ll go fetch it right now—just wait a moment, I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
“No need,” Ye Yu said. “I’m heading out now. Let’s drink it in a couple of days.” Without waiting for explanation, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished decisively.
At once, the spirits of Zhu Diezhen and Wei Aoshu were crushed. After all that preparation, queuing, and then being cut in line—yet they had still failed. “Why # Nоvеlight # is it so hard?” they wailed, clutching each other’s hands, tears welling in their eyes.
...
Two days later, with the aid of the Great Wilderness Blood Vine, Ye Yu had broken through to the early Immortal King Realm. He had rushed to improve his cultivation in order to seize the Tiandao Imperial Weapon known as Qingci. His previous dream had shown him that his Immortal Lord Realm strength was no match for that mad少女; only at the Immortal King Realm could he hope to contend with her.
Now everything was ready. Ye Yu returned to the spot in the dream where he had first encountered Qingci and waited patiently. Sure enough, he soon saw the familiar tableau: dozens of immortals hung aloft in the sky like kites, while below them a pale girl of eighteen or nineteen in a white dress approached slowly. Her heavy blush was almost grotesque.
There she was. Ye Yu strode forward, his right hand behind his back shifting through Dao seals. With a smile he said, “Qingci, may I play with you?”
“How do you know my name?” Qingci asked, eyebrows lifting in mild surprise before she brightened. “Never mind—that’s not important. As long as Big Brother plays with me. Here—make the immortals fly like kites, okay?”
“All right, but that’s not enough,” Ye Yu said, still smiling gently, though his eyes shone coldly. “What’s the point of using immortals as kites? Why don’t you be the kite and I’ll fly you?”
Qingci frowned slightly, glancing at the immortals suspended above, then shook her head. “I don’t like being flown like a kite. I prefer to fly kites.”
“You don’t get to choose!” Ye Yu’s tone dropped, and he struck without warning. First, he unleashed Burning Nine Hells, incinerating the cords binding the immortals. Then, with one hand, he hurled Qingci outward, even as a rope of immortal energy shot from his palm to bind her.
“Like kites? Fine—I’ll fly you today!” Ye Yu sneered and shot forward, dragging Qingci far away under his tremendous power. It was unmistakably a kite-flying scene.
But Qingci was the Tiandao Imperial Weapon—she would not yield so easily. She struggled to break free from the energy rope. Unexpectedly, Ye Yu flicked his wrist, summoning a purple talisman’s phantom image. A wave of unnatural cold washed over Qingci, instantly freezing her solid as ice.
