A Match Made in Heaven

The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death, but when I am by your side and you do not know that I love you—

Lord Meishan couldn’t remember from what book did he read this very talented pa.s.sage from . At that time, he only felt like he was. .h.i.t in the chest and his tears had wet his clothes .

Last time, he had rushed to the Imperial Mausoleum with a rare kind of pa.s.sion and wanted to elope with his beloved girl . However, he missed it again and completely lost his courage . He didn’t even want to deal with all kinds of new gossip right now . He just cried and drank inside House of Meishan all day long and always drunk .

It happened that Fu Jiuyun and Zhen Hongsheng had came together to visit him that day . The spirit ghost guarding the gate led them to the Lotus Pond . Pointing at a slovenly man frozen thin in the pond, it said, “He has frozen himself in the pond for four or five days . Can you two please have a look at him?”

Zhen Hongsheng had to cover his mouth from laughing at the scene . While Fu Jiuyun broke a branch, then he squatted on the edge of the pool and gently poked the nostrils of the person in the pool . He was startled . “He seems to be dead . ”

‘Ka’, the thin ice cracked, and the long-haired Lord Meishan grabbed the branch weakly and without strength¹Chinese idiom : dispirited, “Leave me alone…I want Little Mei…Little Mei…”

“Little Mei?” Fu Jiuyun vaguely felt that he had heard the name somewhere before but he could not remember it for a while .

“That’s the little girl from Xinxie Manor . ” Zhen Hongsheng kindly explained to him .

“Oh, that little beauty . ” Fu Jiuyun suddenly enlightened, and gave a thumb up to Lord Meishan, “You have some vision . She is indeed very beautiful . Since you like her, why don’t you go after her?“

This question stabbed Lord Meishan’s dull pain and he let out an anguished sobs, as he got to the bottom of the pool with a bunch of bubbles rolled up .

Zhen Hongsheng continued to explain kindly to Fu Jiuyun, “She has already gotten married—she married a war demon . ”

Fu Jiuyun smiled as he clearly understood . Then, he put his hand into his sleeve, and said to the decadent figure in the pool, “Meishan, come up, I’ll give you a good thing . ”

Lord Meishan poked out his face . His expressionless eyes looked like dead fish eyes, and he was currently observing him .

A piece of soft paper was taken out, unfolded and sent straight to his eyes—

His dead fish’s eyes suddenly shone with astonishing light!

“Little Mei!”

He suddenly threw himself at the paper, but because of the mud at the bottom of the pool, he slipped and tumbled like a dog fell into the water .

On that piece of spread out paper was an awesome painting of a great beauty in lively colours brought forth fragrance²Chinese idiom : one’s writing or painting is lively and colourful . Her eyes were bright and full of confidence . She had a slender stature, and elegant appearance . She was like an 18 to 19-year-old version of Xin Mei .

Fu Jiuyun looked at him pitifully, and his voice was surprisingly gentle as he said, “Meishan, as a friend, I can help you, help you—by seeing the thing, think of the person³Chinese idiom seeing the things makes one think of sb . This little picture is for you . “

Lord Meishan jumped out of the Lotus Pond and Zheng Hongsheng immediately waved his long sleeve . The water and ice that stuck on Meishan’s body in an instant disappeared . At that time, Meishan was busy rolling and crawling to grab the little picture that had fallen . He couldn’t wait to rip his chest open and stuff it into his heart .

“Let just leave him by seeing the thing, think of the person³Chinese idiom seeing the things makes one think of sb, Fox, while we will have a drink . This time, I have brought a carriage full of good wines called, ‘As If Entranced⁴Chinese idiom : leading a befuddled existence’ . ”

Fu Jiuyun’s attire was elegant and graceful, as he cheerfully led Zhen Hongsheng into the room to drink . “Wait!” cried Meishan . “Me too! Fu Jiuyun! Dead fox! You mustn’t drink them alone!“

Zhen Hongsheng just smiled, “Aren’t you busy thinking of Little Mei?”

Lord Meishan carefully folded Xin Mei’s portrait and placed it close to his heart . “Having this is already enough to comfort me . ”

It was much better than staring into the empty air every day .

It was already rare for the three of them to get together for a drink on normal days . Fu Jiuyun had brought over a carriage full of ‘As If Entranced⁴Chinese idiom : leading a befuddled existence’ wines . They drank till there were only a few jars left for him to drink in the morning .

At that time, while the three were talking, a spirit ghost suddenly ran into the door while losing its head out of fear⁵Chinese idiom : be in a state of panic as it shouted, “Master! It is that War Demon General again…“

With the sound of ‘xiu’, Lord Meishan lost his grip on his gla.s.s and immediately put his head under the table . He didn’t want to die .

The spirit ghost ran up to him and looked at him with disdain, “…the War Demon General sent a letter . ”

The immaculately dressed Lord Meishan emerged from under the table and gave out a dignified smiled, “I’m just picking up the wine gla.s.s . ”

The spirit ghost abandoned the letter, gave out a scoffing sound and escaped while picking its nose .

Lord Meishan opened the letter with his flushed face . This time Liu Qianqiao was not looking for a person, but a few rare herbs . As it happened, he knew where they grew, and immediately wrote back . He then asked a spirit ghost to send it over .

Zhen Hongsheng unknowingly remembered something and he suddenly smiled, “When it comes to this War Demon General, I saw him once, last two months . At that time, he looked like an evil spirit . I thought it was not going to be a good situation at that time . I had seen the palm of that girl from Xinxie Manor before, and it seemed like their had no fate together . I personally thought that the General would kill the girl after his transformation, but unexpectedly…that Immortal Yu Qing’s eyes really have poisonous influence . This girl’s husband jinx fate has stopped the life change of the War Demon General . Now he has eyes of red and black, like a mixed-race cat . “

Lord Meishan only heard him said that fate had been broken in the sentence of transformation . He was very excited for a while and clutched at Zhen Hongsheng’s lapel, “Are you serious?! They’re not meant to be?“

Zhen Hongsheng rolled his eyes and looked at him . “That’s not what I said . . . fate may not necessarily be something that can be entirely trusted…”

“You just said that they really don’t have fate together!” yelled Lord Meishan .

Zhen Hongsheng slightly smiled, “Yes, that was what I read from her palm at that time…Meishan, I think that girl may not necessarily dislike you, but somehow, you don’t want to let her know how you feel . You just hide yourself here and cry . What are you thinking?”

“Good brother!” Lord Meishan was moved to tears that he patted him on the shoulder . “Thank you for your encouragement! I’ll go now!“

Fu Jiuyun looked up and saw Lord Meishan ran to the door . Then, he saw him rode on Little Crane and flew away as his face glowed with health⁶look happy and healthy . He couldn’t help looking back at Zhen Hongsheng and blinked .

Zhen Hongsheng cheerfully took the last two jars of wine, one for each of them, while saying, “These are enough for both of us to drink them alone . ”

Fu Jiuyun nodded and smiled, “You fox—really not a good thing . ”

In the morning, Lu Qianqiao sent someone to deliver a letter outside the Mist Formation, saying that he would come back on the third day of the second lunar month and would stay for two days before he would be leaving again . Counting the days, the third day of the second lunar month would be tomorrow . Xin Mei rushed to write a list, which filled two sheets of paper and handed them to Silan, asking him to purchase them outside .

Before Xin Xiong went to sleep, he saw his daughter carrying a bucket of water, a rag, and a big broom . She then cleaned up everything on the east and did the same thing on the west . She had spring breeze all over her face⁷Chinese phrase : be full of joy as she hummed a small song .

Xin Xiong’s eyes suddenly lit up, “Precious treasure, is son-in-law coming back?”

He had stayed in the Imperial Mausoleum for one month . The scenery here was really good and he had his days in leisurely, with his daughter cook delicious food for him every day . He was much happier here than when he was in Xinxie Manor by many times . He almost didn’t want to go back . His only regret was that, his son-in-law was not at home, but when he thought about it, as a general, his son-in-law should have a lot of battles to fight . A man should aspire to travel far and make his mark⁸Chinese idiom : be ready to realize one’s aspiration anywhere all over the country/world . While he, was an old man who lived in his home every day . Now that he was finally coming back, this father-in-law of his was very pleased .

“Dad, you can amuse yourself as you please, I’ll clean up the house . ”

Xin Mei pushed her father out of the door . Then, she noisily splashed a bucket of water on the floor and brushed it with a big broom .

Xin Xiong touched his beard and went out . After two steps, he saw Tao Guoguo and his younger brother noisily running around playfully . His younger brother had a pair of yellow chicken wings on his back . As soon as they saw him, his younger brother immediately withdrew it .

When Xin Xiong pa.s.sed by the Lotus Pond, half of Miss Yinglian’s body had turned into a lotus and she was stretching herself in the water . As soon as he approached, she naturally leaned against the pond and sat with her legs crossed, as if the lotus was just an illusion .

He continued to walk pa.s.s Zhao Guanren⁹respectful term of address for a man in the Song Dynasty’s small cave . Zhao Guanren⁹respectful term of address for a man in the Song Dynasty was standing at the entrance of the cave and looking up at the sky–it was said that he was waiting for the G.o.d of inspiration to honour him with his presence, while a thin tail of a mouse stuck out from his clothes . It looked like a crutch on the ground . Occasionally, it would scratch his hair and pick his nose .

At the sight of Xin Xiong coming over, the mouse tail instantly disappeared . Zhao Guanren⁹respectful term of address for a man in the Song Dynasty patted his clothes and greeted him, “Boss Xin, you are early today . ”

Xin Xiong smiled in return as he walked all the way to the high platform . There, he leisurely lit a cigarette from a bag of cigarettes, smoke a mouthful, and he was as happy as a fairy .

For the sake of his son-in-law, they had pretended very hard in front of him and he was embarra.s.sed to expose them . Monsters had more love than people, which was quite unusual in this era .

When Silan returned, he brought along a man in addition to a large bag and a pile of things . He was an Immortal .

When Xin Mei heard the noise, she looked over her head from the kitchen . She saw Lord Meishan making a big fuss while shedding bitter tears¹⁰Chinese idiom : cry one’s heart out . Instead, she was calm and even looked around with some of old Mei-like aloofness . Her face looked determined to win and was immensely proud . This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね . Please read this chapter at xin-shou . blogspot . com .

“Lord Meishan, are you coming here to play?” She greeted him with friendliness .

With a joy on his face, he immediately ran forward and was about to open his mouth to talk, when he suddenly turned his head . Behind him was a group of little monsters p.r.i.c.king up their ears, trying to eavesdrop when they immediately scattered like birds and beasts¹¹Chinese idiom : flee in all directions .

“Little Mei, come here, I have something to say to you . ”

For the first time, Lord Meishan boldly took her soft little hand, and as if he was in the cloud, he dragged her to the scenic tomb pa.s.sage .

Cherry blossoms along the tomb pa.s.sage had already shown a little light red colour, and would bloom after a while . Warm spring would be coming soon .

Lord Meishan looked at Xin Mei’s beautifully white face and stammered, “Little, Little Mei, I, I, I, I, I, I am an Immortal who can live for a long time…and that, I don’t care about this world marriage…even if you, you, you are already married, I, I, I am not afraid…”

Xin Mei blankly looked at him, “Lord Meishan…”

His voice was so low as he stammered and jabbered . Only a ghost could hear him clearly .

“You, you, you and the War Demon General…there is no fate…so…”

“What fate?”

No more hesitation and cowardice, Meishan! Let’s talk about your state of mind and everything! Yes, there’s no shame in liking her! If you don’t say it, it will be a disgraced for you to be sticky towards her all day long!

Say it, say it!

Lord Meishan gazed at her with emotion and shouted, “Little Mei! I-I-I-I like you!“

……why didn’t she respond?

He tried to clean up his eyes, which were too excited and distracted, only to find that she was staring around him and focusing her eyes behind his back . Subconsciously he turned around, to a pair of expressionless black and red eyes .

Putong, kacha…seemed to be the sound of his little heart falling from a higher ground .

Xin Mei suddenly jumped and quickly threw herself around him, heading straight into the man’s arms and shouted, “Why are you back today? Didn’t you say tomorrow? Your meal is not ready yet! I…“

Lu Qianqiao picked her up, patted her on the back and glanced at the ashen-faced Lord Meishan, while saying, “…it seems that it is the right time to come back . ”

That look, that look…he would never guess wrong again! This time the General was definitely treating him like a rival! Absolutely!

Xin Mei held Lu Qianqiao’s head and kissed him hard for a few times . Then she remembered that there was a gossip Immortal nearby . She casually beckoned at him, “Meishan daren¹²t.i.tle of respect toward superiors, stay for dinner today . ”

Lu Qianqiao looked down at him and said, “…you are definitely welcome . ”

……he didn’t want to eat . Unexpectedly, he didn"t want to eat anymore…he just wanted to turn into black ash, then dissipate in this miserable s.p.a.ce between heaven and earth…

—The furthest distance in the world is not when I am by your side, but when you do not know that I love you . But…I’ve summoned up the courage to say I love you, but you and my rival treat me like air!