Proofread by Zhu Yuan
I must look dull because my mind was a blank at that moment. I even suspected that I had misheard him, but he spoke so clearly. With his firm and clear statement, I couldn"t doubt it at all.
He said: "I am Emperor of Donghua."
I stared at him and wondered. He turned out to be Emperor of Donghua? Was he the Emperor in the legend who was born in the ruin of wild spirits above the blue sea and created the whole world? I suddenly remembered a pa.s.sage once read by Bai Xiaoshan about Emperor of Donghua, "He has the air of Tao condensed in his body. He practices to be the purist immortal by obeying the natural law. It is his responsibility to enlighten the world and to bring boom to every creature in the world. With the purist air from the east, he was born in the ruin of wild spirits above the blue sea. He oversees all the male creatures in the east region, and people also call him w.a.n.g Gong. He and Queen Mother of Gold both have unique qualities and they are responsible to help people become immortals. He cooperates with West Queen to govern and nurture the world. Every male who wants to be immortal should be known by him. He lives in the Mountain Fangzhu. There are thirty-five deified judges of life under his command to record whatever happens in the whole world."
No wonder he had such awesome temperament, no wonder he was so handsome and no wonder his eyes could be so clear and innocent. There was no one in the world but Emperor of Donghua who had no desire and no l.u.s.t.
If Bai Xiaoshan knew that the man standing in front of me was Emperor of Donghua, whom he always mentioned and admired so much, he would be so excited and pa.s.sed out right on the spot.
I had never been so shocked in my life, and it took me a little longer to regain my presence. I felt that I was lucky, or I could never have such a rare chance to meet Emperor of Donghua.
"Are you really Emperor of Donghua?" I took a deep breath and pretended to be calm.
He smiled slightly and the smile almost made me faint again.
In fact, my question was meaningless. The biggest doubt lay behind.
"If I were really the Fairy Peony you"ve mentioned, I would still be an ordinary fairy. Why do you condescend to help me?"
Hearing what I said, his smile disappeared in an instant. He wanted to say something, but he didn"t say a word after all.
Seeing his secretive expression, I simpered and asked him, "Did my falling from heaven have something to do with you?"
This was a flippant comment, but I was surprised by his acquiescence.
"You are depraved like this all because of me. If there are causes, there will be effects. I came here to be responsible for the mistake I had made." He said slowly, and his voice was a little depressed.
I saw guilt in his eyes again, and I couldn"t help wondering how such a top fairy could mess with a small flower fairy? For money? Not likely. He must have more money than Fairy Peony. For love? That was even more impossible. His heart was made of stone. He couldn"t feel sad or panic even if the sky fell! Well, it seemed that the reason was going to be an eternal mystery.
"In a word, you owe me. Well, you owed me in the past life when I was still Fairy Peony. That"s why you want to help me become a fairy and return to heaven, right?" In addition to this, I really couldn"t think of any other reason he might give.
He nodded. After a while, he asked hesitantly, "Don"t you want to know the causes and effects of all this?"
I shrugged and asked, "Do you want to say it?"
He remained silent.
"I don"t want to ask, you don"t want to answer, and then why bother? In any case, it was the business between you and Fairy Peony. I have nothing to do with that." I continued.
He looked at me in a daze for a long time, and he sighed again when he turned his eyes away.
I bit my lips in regret and wondered that a person sighed a lot would grow old soon. Although I always thought that Emperor of Donghua should be an old man with white hair, he turned out to be such a handsome guy. It would be my fault if he suddenly got a wrinkle on his face!
"Well, now things are clear, and I guess you should be very busy. We should say bye now!" As I said this, I walked out, eager to stay away from this great immortal.
"Don"t you want to be a fairy?" The emperor asked me from the behind.
"No," I answered very simply. I ignored him and went out of the inn.
However, after a few steps I came back.
"Well..." I hesitated for a moment and asked: "Since you are so powerful, can you take me to find Bai Xiaoshan?"
He was surprised by my returning, but after I asked this question, his eyes dimmed again, only looking at me in silence.
I was discouraged by the silence, so I scratched my head and said: "I forget that you are very busy! Let"s pretend that I"ve never asked you that question."
"Let"s go." Just as I was about to leave, he took me back to the restaurant in a flash.
I looked up and noticed that the restaurant was called "Wonderland for Fairies". It was no wonder that Bai Xiaoshan came straight here. He had an abnormal obsession for the word "fairy".
"Thank you and bye!" I knew how to burn the bridge after crossing it, but unfortunately Emperor of Donghua was also shrewd. He had higher accomplishment and became more brazen in the process. He turned a deaf ear to my words and followed me quietly, which made me speechless.
"My dear sir and madam, please go upstairs and try our new specialty!" As soon as we entered the restaurant, a bartender greeted us politely.
"I"m here looking for Bai Xiaoshan," I said straight to the point.
The bartender was stunned and immediately answered, "I haven"t seen the man you are looking for"
"Nonsense, I"ve seen him come in."
"Well ..." The bartender was puzzled and said: "I"ll try to find him for you."
Just then, another bartender walked by me with a large stack of bowls in his hand. He muttered, "Where did this man come from! How could he eat so much rice! Even a hungry ghost cannot compare with him in terms of appet.i.te!"
I had sharp ears, so I heard his whispers clearly. I suddenly saw the light. I couldn"t find anyone who loved rice so much like Bai Xiaoshan! So I excitedly grabbed the bartender and the stack of bowls in his hands quivered. Fortunately, he held them tightly and they didn"t fall off.
"Ma…madam, what can I do for you?" The bartender stuttered.
"Where is Bai Xiaoshan?"
"What Bai Xiaoshan?" He was puzzled.
I pointed to the bowls in his hands, "The one who ordered rice."
As soon as I finished speaking, his face immediately changed from puzzlement to soberness, and then to lividness. He glanced at me and suddenly shouted: "Help me to catch her! She"s the accomplice of the dine-and-dash man!"
I was shocked. A group of uniformed bartenders rushed over with brooms in their hands and surrounded us. One of them pointed at me angrily and said: "The boss ordered me to take charge of this restaurant today. How dare you come here to make trouble! You"ve stopped my way of promotion!"
One of his colleagues also shouted: "He ate all the rice in our restaurant, and all the other guests could only eat vegetables. Why are you so immoral?"
Another cut in on him, "He only ate rice without ordering any dishes, and didn"t give tips when he left. How could he be so stingy?"
Someone added, "Cut the c.r.a.p and take them all to the court!"
Just as they were about to catch us, Emperor of Donghua calmly pulled out an ingot of gold from his pocket and asked lightly: "Is this enough?"
All the bartenders were dazzled by the light of the golden ingot. The foreman first cooled himself down. He threw the broom away, grabbed the ingot and put it into his pocket. He smiled and answered, "That"s enough." Then he glared at other bartenders and scolded, "Why are you still standing here? It"s time to work!" He lowered his voice and asked Emperor of Donghua: "What else do you want to eat, sir? Please go upstairs!"
Alas, rich people always had a say. He had so much money! After a long time, I finally realized that I was here to look for Bai Xiaoshan, so I rushed to the bartender and asked: "Where is Bai Xiaoshan?"
"He disappeared after eating all of our rice. Before you two arrived, I thought he was here to take meals for free."
"That"s impossible. He said he would wait for me here." In fact, I knew that even if he didn"t say this and he didn"t come to find me, he would still wait for me in the restaurant. The two of us had lived together for more than 1,000 years, and there was some tacit agreement between us.
"Oh, young lady, I will never lie to you! The man has already gone, and I didn"t charge him for the rice!"
I was a little confused, and I didn"t know how to describe the feeling. If Bai Xiaoshan was not in the restaurant, where would he go?
"Can you help me to find some clues in the restaurant?" Emperor of Donghua took out another silver ingot and gave it to the bartender.
"Ok, sir! Wait a moment and I will do it right away!"
He consulted all the guests in the restaurant dutifully, and some guests told him that when Bai Xiaoshan was eating intently, a beautiful Taoist nun suddenly appeared. Seeing her, Bai Xiaoshan threw the bowl to the table and jumped down directly from the second floor. The Taoist nun also chased out, and they both disappeared.
"Your Majesty, you have boundless and miraculous power. You must know where he is, don"t you?" I grabbed the arm of Emperor of Donghua and looked at him tearfully.
He was somewhat helpless, "I can only say that I cannot perceive any demonic smell in thousands of miles around us, so he should have left the mortal world."
"Then he must have returned to Qiyun Mountain." I suddenly realized and looked at his eyes with grat.i.tude. If he was not that respected by other people, I would give him a big hug!
Rushing back to Qiyun Mountain, I headed straight to Bai Xiaoshan"s chicken coop, ready to take him out and teach him a lesson. How could he leave me, such a delicate beauty in the mortal world alone! What he did was indeed outrageous!
I searched the chicken coop and my place, but I didn"t see any trace of Bai Xiaoshan. I didn"t want to give up, so I searched the whole of Qiyun Mountain. I asked every demon whether he or she had seen Bai Xiaoshan. The fact was cruel that Bai Xiaoshan didn"t come back to Qiyun Mountain.
I changed back to a fox and lay down in Bai Xiaoshan"s chicken coop with some resentment in my heart. Mortal Taoist nuns were no threat to him since he had acquired his accomplishment, and his ability to escape was always excellent. He could always protect himself no matter how strong his opponents were. Therefore, there would be nothing unfortunate that happened to him. The only explanation was that Bai Xiaoshan had a crush on the beautiful Taoist nun. He once said that it was easy for a man to be captivated by beautiful women. It was very likely that he had been captivated by the beautiful nun. Otherwise, how could he forget our friendship which lasted for more than 2,000 years and leave me in the mortal world just for a Taoist nun?
Thinking of this, I was heartbroken. This was a typical example that a pheasant was bewitched by a beauty. Bai Xiaoshan once reckoned himself as a promising young man who would soon become successful. But I had no idea where he had gone.
I felt sorry for myself for a long time. I was so tired that I fell into a deep sleep. I told myself that maybe when I woke up, Bai Xiaoshan would come back.
I had a dream that Bai Xiaoshan stood in front of me holding the beautiful Taoist nun"s hand and said regretfully, "Bai Li, I"m going to marry her. Go find someone else who loves you. Let"s break up now!"