Chapter 127 - Fate
The seafood was eaten by everyone with particular gusto. Even Xu Yuan, who usually hollered about wanting to diet, also displayed extraordinary fighting strength, stuffing herself so full that she nearly couldn’t walk.
In order to freeload off Zhuang Qing and eat frequent lavish meals in the future, everyone even racked their brains for ways to praise how compatible the two people were and how their relationship would last for eternity. Zhuang Qing, who usually sported a cold face, was coaxed till his brows and eyes softened considerably.
But no matter how they ate, there was a limit to how much everyone could eat. Fu Li and Song Yu belonged in the category of the most capable eaters. Song Yu’s original form was the Suanyu, whose body was akin to a mountain, and the amount he was capable of consuming was known to everyone. But Fu ge was a mere rabbit, how was he also able to ingest so much? He was truly an oddity among rabbits, the type that was especially good at putting food away.
Everyone ate till their bellies were as round as b.a.l.l.s and the cups and dishes lay on the table in complete disorder. Fu Li got up to go to the washroom and b.u.mped into Chu Yu, who was just on his way out of the toilet.
“Fu ge,” Chu Yu had drunk too much wine. Not only was his face red, even his shiny scalp was a little flushed. “We’re very happy that Fu ge got together with the boss, really.”
Fu Li pa.s.sed the soap to Chu Yu. Chu Yu squeezed out a large amount and scrubbed his hands for an eternity without placing his hands beneath the water tap. It was then that Fu Li knew he was heavily drunk.
“The boss isn’t very fond of talking and he doesn’t know how to say pretty words, but he’s still very serious when it comes to emotions,” Chu Yu was standing a little unsteadily. He propped his hands against the corner of the washbasin. His soapy hands became even more slippery, and with a clang, he banged into the washbasin, turning into a black and white fish.
Fu Li stared blankly for two seconds before retrieving a colored gla.s.s jar from his Qiankun pouch, collecting a bit of tap water, and then tossing Chu Yu in.
“This water tastes horrible, why does it taste like bleach?” Chu Yu popped his head out of the water and spat out two mouths of water. “I want to drink spring water from the mountains.”
“I don’t have spring water from the mountains now, only tap water,” Fu Li pressed Chu Yu’s head back down.
Unresigned, Chu Yu’s head popped out of the water again. “Fu ge, I say, there hasn’t been a single yao by the boss’ side all these years, I almost thought he doesn’t have emotions. There was a peony yao in the past who was deeply enamored with the boss, but there wasn’t even a crease in his brows.”
“And then?” Fu Li was extremely interested in this sort of dog-blooded past story.
“There was no ‘and then’. The very proud peony yao about-faced and left the country to pursue their studies,” Chu Yu shook his tail. “The boss is a very boring yao, so boring that even the emotion-driven gossip involving him is completely unable to shake anyone up or move them to their core.
“Seems like you’re a bit disappointed?” Fu Li’s smile became even gentler.
Upon seeing this smile, a good half of the intoxication on Chu Yu’s face vanished. “F-Fu ge, these were all rumors I heard of, don’t take them as the truth. Really, the boss has been single for close to two thousand years. You’re his only love partner, I swear on the Dao.”
“En,” The smile on Fu Li’s face didn’t change. “It’s right not to engage in puppy love.”
“It’s terrific that you think sok2026;”
“Shh, someone’s coming,” Hearing footsteps approaching outside, Fu Li pressed Chu Yu down with his fingers and cast a silencing skill in pa.s.sing.
A young lad walked in. Seeing the fishbowl in Fu Li’s hands as well as the fat and ugly fish in it, his brain momentarily short-circuited.
“This is the pet I bought along the way,” Fu Li shook the fishbowl. “I changed his water.”
“Ah, this fish’s appearance has quite a lot of… character,” The young lad stared blankly for a long while before uttering an insincere compliment.
“I think so too,” Fu Li carried the fishbowl out, leaving behind a young lad with a face full of confusion. A good while later, the young lad thought out loud, “Directly changing the water to tap water for a fish he just bought, can that fish survive?”
When Fu Li carried the fishbowl back, everyone had already put on their jackets and was preparing to leave. Noticing the fishbowl in Fu Li’s hands, Zhuang Qing took it and pa.s.sed it to Qing Xu. “Come, carry your family’s elder well.”
Qing Xu cautiously took the fishbowl. Looking down at Chu Yu, who was continuously spitting out water, he thought to himself that it was rather unexpected for elder Chu Yu to possess such a childish heart and to still be fond of blowing bubbles at his age.
Chu Yu’s heart was shattering to bits. He wanted to return to his human form and didn’t want to drink tap water. Exactly what restriction had Fu ge placed on him? Not only was unable to speak out loud, he couldn’t even transform?
Zhuang Qing and Fu Li’s relationship could be considered to have been made public to the management bureau after the seafood feast. The only thing they lacked was a Dao Bonding Ceremony. The several elders living in the flying palace made divinations here and there all day long, constantly thinking about picking out a perfect date and time for the ceremony.
In a blink of an eye, two to three months went by. On the vast sea that stretched as far as the eye could see, Zhu Yue sat on a magic flying boat. Her right hand gripped a fishing rod while her left hand held a wine jar. Not a single fish had been baited, but half the wine had already been drunk.
After waiting for an eternity, her wrist moved all of a sudden. The fishing rod twisted as if it was alive and hauled a fish out from the water.
“Daren, spare my life!” The fish landed on the boat, transforming into a half-human and half-fish yaoguai. When yaoguai had insufficient cultivation, there was a possibility of having poor control over their human form, causing certain characteristics of their original form to be revealed.
Zhu Yue shook the wine jar in her hands. Draining the jar of all the wine, she tossed the empty wine jar into the sea. “So it’s just a little yao who can’t completely change forms. What were you doing nearby?”
The little yao cowered in a corner, trembling. “Replying to daren, this humble yao cultivator is a part of the azure dragon clan who manages this area of the sea…”
“Azure dragon clan…” Zhu Yue smiled coldly. “What are those azure worms intending to do now?”
Hearing the disdainful way Zhu Yue spoke of the azure dragon clan, the little yao grew even more terrified. Someone who could sail and fish alone in the sea, and be so egotistical in territory managed by the dragon clan was definitely a great yao with profound cultivation. The more the little yao thought this way, the more fearful he was of enraging this great yao. As such, he stammered and stuttered, unable to form a complete sentence even after a good while.
“R-Replying to daren, this little one is under orders to search for treasures in the sea and to make my humble contribution to the great wedding of our clan’s Dragon Emperor.”
“Dragon Emperor?” Zhu Yue thought about the surging of spiritual qi in the East Sea a few months back that could be felt in all parts of the nation. The dragon clan’s new emperor had appeared as sweet rain descended continuously from the skies.
“So that’s the case,” Zhu Yue disliked the azure dragon clan, but after living for so many years, she believed herself open-minded and wouldn’t take her anger out on an innocent little yao. “Which clan does the dragon race’s Dragon Emperor come from?”
“Replying to daren, Dragon Emperor daren is half-dragon and half-human. Not only is he the emperor of our aquatic races, he is also the person in charge of the cultivation world. The Dao he cultivates is one with the nation’s fate; he is an exceptional individual,” The little yao’s eyes shone when he mentioned the emperor of the aquatic races. It was evident just how much he revered this yao emperor in his heart.
“Half-dragon and half-human?” Zhu Yue recalled the dragon who was on good terms with Fu Li and who had nearly broken his tail from taking a blow from the Taowu on behalf of Fu Li. “This yao emperor you speak of, is it Zhuang Qing?”
“Indeed, it is Chief Zhuang.” Zhu Yue kept her fishing rod. “So it’s him who’s getting married. I am familiar with this Dragon Emperor of yours, I should also send generous gifts during his Dao Bonding Ceremony. May I know who his Dao companion is?”
“Dragon Emperor daren’s Dao companion is also a very impressive yao cultivation. On top of having more than four thousand years of cultivation, he is also Dragon Emperor daren’s colleague. These two darens getting together is an affair much antic.i.p.ated by the cultivation world and human world.”
More than four thousand years of cultivation. His colleague. There was a faint absurd premonition in Zhu Yue’s heart.
“May I know the name of this individual…”
“It’s Fu Li daojun, who is highly regarded by many yao cultivators.”
Zhu Yue’s body swayed, just short of falling headlong into the seawater. Why did her family’s cute little Fu Li suddenly decide to hold a Dao Bonding Ceremony with Zhuang Qing?
“When is their Dao Bonding Ceremony going to be held?” Zhu Yue picked the little yao up, scaring the little yao into reverting to their original form and struggling in despair in Zhu Yue’s grip. “Daren, Dragon Emperor daren and Fu Li daojun’s Dao Bonding Ceremony will be on the eighteenth of the next month, because Fu Li daojun’s elders said that the weather on that day will be clear and all living creatures will be revitalized; it is the best day this year.”
“Got it,” The Vermilion Bird nodded. Flinging the fish that was shivering with fear into the sea, she turned into her bird form and rushed into the sky.
The elders mentioned by the little yao had to be the Dangkang and old Fenghuang, who had sent her information previously. What exactly were those two thinking? How could they let Little Li and Zhuang Qing hold a Dao Bonding Ceremony? Had they forgotten Fu Li’s natal chart?
The fish yao’s head popped out of the sea. When it next looked at the surface of the sea, there was no longer any yao cultivator to be seen, nor was there the wooden boat that seemed like it would fall apart at a single gust of sea wind. He shook his head before plunging headfirst into the seawaters.
He had to report to the Dragon King at once. This great yao that seemed to know Fu Li daojun didn’t seem to approve of Dragon Emperor daren and Fu Li daojun being together.
The Dao Bonding Ceremony that was highly antic.i.p.ated by everyone could not be ruined in this way.
At Zhuang Qing’s villa, the gemstones embedded in the wall had already been switched out in its entirety. The elders lacked other things, but they had more than enough of all kinds of gemstones. Fussing over the color and dazzle of the stones, they poured out a mountain of gemstones and took their time choosing from them.
Defensive talismans had been added on all the furniture, even the flower patterns on the carpets were made out of various extinct, ancient magic formations. If any evil yao were to charge in, they would simply be trapped within the formations with no way of escaping.
The elders also found Zhuang Qing’s villa too small and inconvenient for them when turning into their original forms. Therefore, they set up a dimensional s.p.a.ce in the tiny study room. Inside, there was a mountain, water, flowers, plants, as well as a swimming pool that contained spiritual qi. Kang Gu had also used up quite a few natural materials and treasures to personally build the rooms in the dimension.
Only when Zhuang Qing was standing in the dimension did he understand the true capabilities of the ancient great yao. Many of the magic formations and dimensions in the management bureau were the products of many years of toiling, but even then it lacked the abundance of spiritual qi that was in this dimension, let alone the safety and size of the dimension. Even scarier was the fact that the management bureau’s dimensions were fixed whereas the dimension in the study room could be turned into a small portable object when not in use.
“I came up with the set-up for this dimension after being inspired by human vernacular stories. Although this dimension can’t let animals and plants mature in a night even with me exerting a bit of power, it’s still not too bad,” Kang Gu had researched many human novels and had experienced many bursts of inspiration from them. To humans, many of these settings were fantasy stories, but to him, they were incredibly novel ideas. When he had time in the future, he even planned to specially craft a dimension capable of growing plants and rearing fish like how it was described in human novels. When he had nothing to do, he could plant some spiritual grain and medicine inside.
Just as he was blissfully imagining this, the barrier outside Zhuang Qing’s villa shifted. A yao cultivator was planning to barge in forcefully.
“Who is it?” Kang Gu walked down the stairs and opened the main door. A fluffy object suddenly came slamming over, and his entire yao body was sent flying out. The house was filled with chaotic fluttering feathers.
Hearing the not-so-small movement downstairs, Fu Li, who was choosing jewels while seated on the floor, called Zhuang Qing out from the dimension. “Let’s go down and take a look.” Just as these words left his mouth, crisp cracking sounds came from the floor below.
Zhuang Qing thought of the celadon lotus flower vase from the Song dynasty he had put on display in the living room and cracks appeared in his heart along with the porcelain. He glanced at Fu Li, and his cracked heart instantly healed. He was even going to have a Dao Bonding Ceremony with Fu Li; if the porcelain had to shatter, then so be it.
At this instant, Zhuang Qing’s mood suddenly lifted, as if he had finally broken free of the last chain that bound him. Apart from Fu Li, there was nothing else in the world that he couldn’t overcome or be without.
Sensing the shift in Zhuang Qing’s mood, Fu Li was a little astonished. The elders were smashing things downstairs yet Zhuang Qing’s mood actually rose, what kind of logic was this?
Downstairs, Zhu Yue, donned in fiery-red attire, pointed her sword at Kang Gu. “d.a.m.ned fat pig, is there something wrong with your brain? There’s no way you don’t know about Little Li’s situation, how can you allow Little Li to be Dao companions with another yao cultivator?”
According to Little Li’s natal chart, he was foreordained to be alone his entire lifetime; his fate revealed a dangerous visage. How could he be Dao companions with a yao cultivator? Wasn’t this just making things worse?!
He would be better off finding a human with an especially good natal chart, perhaps there would still be a sliver of a chance if so.