âBack then, I decreed that you two would sever your bonds of love in the Yuanjia Cave, though I never wrote out the details. But I didnât expect the Nine Spirits Sovereign Goddess to take matters into her own handsâand do so well.â
âYou jumped off the Immortal Punishment Platform and destroyed your own celestial body, then gave all of your cultivation base to the Fang Hua Beast so he could reincarnate on another path.â The Immortal of Fates sighed with feeling as he looked at me. âIf I had written the plot to this story, I wouldnât have created something so soul-stirring.â
âYouâre overpraising me.â I was very modest.
âActually, there was no need to break off contact with your divine side,â the Immortal of Fates raised his tea and sipped it with his head down. âWhen I descended to the mortal realm that time, it wasnât to take you into custody. The original plan was to return you the Heavens after you suffered for your crimes, but I didnât expect such a fright.â
âSpeaking to the end, I still have to thank you for giving me a bit of immortal qi that time. Otherwise, it might have taken tens of thousands of years to recover myself.â
âYour soul hadnât finished dissolving by then. The immortal qi I gave you was like a stone in the sea. I was convinced that you were going to die,â the Immortal of Fates looked like he didnât want to bring up the topic again, before giving me a genteel look. âIn any case, it was I who carried over the Fang Hua Wood from NĂŒwa to you. Iâve always felt sorry about that, so at least this counts as paying you back.â
âImmortal of Fates is always clear with your calculations. But I wonder when youâll return the armadillo and furballs you took from my house?â
âYouâre erring on the side of stinginess. Isnât saving your life worth a furball or few?â
âNow this sounds more like the Immortal of Fates I know.â
âHow did you live these past years? No one in all of Heaven could grasp a sliver of your immortal qi. I really thought the Nine Spirits Sovereign Goddess didnât exist in this world anymore.â
âI reincarnated into a few nameless wombs and attached my soul to them a few times. I donât remember the rest of the details.â Iâd lost about half of my cultivation base when Iâd jumped from the Immortal Punishing Platform and used most of the rest to save Fang Hua. Finally there was only a little bit left curled up and asleep within my soul, which kept reincarnating on Earth. It was no wonder he couldnât find me when I myself had no idea that I was a goddess.
âI discovered something extremely interesting when I came to deliver a body to you today. When you sent off the Fang Hua Beast to the cycle of reincarnation, did you ever wonder where heâd be now? Or what his name is?â
âIf the Immortal of Fates is saying this, does this mean you know?â I raised the bowl of tea to warm my hands.
âThatâs right,â he smiled.
I looked at him, somewhat surprised.
âThe Fang Hua Beast reincarnated as a human child in the southern territories, just like you in your latest life. Heâs on Earth right now, and by my calculations, heâs probably thatâŠâ
âMy lord, you canât go in.â A clamor rose from outside the doors before they suddenly swung open, sending in a gust of wind. Yu Hua[1] entered wearing snow-white robes, leading along Yu Muqing[2]. Their robes floated in the air with a standalone elegance. As my eyes shifted up, I saw that he was wearing a Fang Hua wood hairpin in his long black hair.
Dead silence fell upon us.
Yu Muqing the furball shyly threw himself on my knees before glancing back at his father. Then, with a very reserved voice, he called me mother. Iâd never been a fan of furballs, but couldnât help widening my eyes at the sign of his fine and furry ears. I touched them, finding them quite soft as they twitched in my hands, before tightening my fingers.
The Immortal of Fates was on this fox-eared Yu Muqing, who was acting like a spoiled child in my lap. âLook at those slender eyes, theyâre just like yours. But all his looks, especially his ears, are a hundred times cuter than you.â Praising my son was like praising me. Even if that wasnât his intention, I still felt fine with it.
âWhat I just mentioned to you back then,â the Immortal of Fates said, looking at our family of three with a deep sigh, âYou can just pretend I said nothing at all.â
âYou donât need to say anything. Iâve known for a while already.â
The Immortal of Fates raised his brows slightly at Yu Hua to laugh before stretching his neck towards me. âThen you should know that the Jade Emperorâs long restored your title and standing? Theyâre not going to investigate the case of the Fang Hua Beast, so when will you go back with me?â When he mentioned Fang Hua Beast these three words, he intentionally raised his voice.
The High Immortal Zhao of Omens spoke up in support. âThis humble immortal shall escort auntie back to the Heavens.â
I looked towards Yu Huaâs dark eyebrows and the faint hint of sorrow on his face. Though his manner was calm and dignified, it didnât seem he could hold on for much longer. Before he opened his mouth to speak, I replied respectfully to High Immortal Zhao.
âWho says Iâm going? The population is thin in the southern territories, making it the perfect place for me to offer my humble efforts. At this moment, growing branches and scattering leaves[3] is more important.â
Little Yu Muqing tightly clutched my robes, rubbing his hand against my palm. My expression was solemn as I spoke. âAs far as I can see, no one elseâs blood is as pure or potent as mine. The responsibility of saving the southern territories is a duty I cannot shirk without dishonor.â
Yu Huaâs lips seemed to be quirking up into a smile.
âBut the Jade EmperorâŠâ High Immortal Zhao of Omens carried misgivings on his face.
âDonât worry, the Jade Emperor wonât do anything to her. All these years heâs been keeping one eye open with the other closed, so he wonât bother her for something like this,â the Immortal of Fates observed the tender looks between Yu Hua and I before he felt incomparably sour.
âThe old Jade Emperorâs seen enough chaos these recent years, itâs about time he gave me peace and quiet. Heaven is a good place, but it doesnât know warm and cold like the mortal realms. A goddess is just a title, so let it hang where it will. It makes no difference to me either way.â
âYouâre still holding a grudge from that time with the rotten millet,â the Immortal of Fates said as he drank his last mouthful of tea.
âYes. If the Jade Emperor had let me take charge back then, then Heaven and Earth wouldâve been very different,â I said in rapt attention.
âThen Heaven would be doomed,â the Immortal of Fates brushed dirt off his robes, slowly rising to his feet. âSince you donât want to return to the Heavenly Court, Iâll go back to report my mission as finished.â
I smiled. âIâll send you off.â
The Immortal of Fates looked at me, then at Yu Hua, wearing a significant smile. Iâd asked him if the Fang Hua Beast who reincarnated as a human would ever recover his memories like I did. He said no. In the middle of sighing, Iâd felt a sense of relief and lingering sorrow.
The Immortal of Fates had only looked at me and said, since youâve decided on this, then you should live every day happily. Donât nitpick about the rest.
I thought his reasoning was very sound.[4]
-o-
[1] Yu Hua (çć) â the male protagonist of the authorâs other novel, ăWho Was the Secret Substitute for Those Fleeting Years?ăYu means jade, Hua means splendid, magnificent. The human reincarnation of Fang Hua after Shaoâer freed his soul.
[2] Yu Muqing (çæ ćż) â Yu Huaâs son, who usually takes on the appearance of a fox.
[3] growing branches and scattering leaves (ćŒææŁć¶) â kaizhi sanye, to grow and progress.
[4] The rest of the story talks about the fate of the characters in Who Was the Secret Substitute for Those Fleeting Years. A summary of the story follows below (click on the arrow to see):
Now that youâve finished the novel, why not take a peek at a hypothetical drama adaptationof FDFH? It was created as part of a 2018 April Fools joke and even includes a fake trailer made by your very own translator. đ