Chapter 120 Part 1

Sang Chi chatted with Rabbit Tuan when he suddenly remembered something. He held the soft, fluffy ball in one arm and took out a box of pastries from his storage pouch with the other, breaking off half a piece and feeding it to Rabbit Tuan’s three-petaled mouth.

“Eat up. Fill your belly first, then we’ll talk.”

He had rushed back to Dali Mountain from Shangjing. Though his mood had been heavy the entire way, he couldn’t break his old habits. His body had honestly bought plenty of things that Rabbit Tuan would like.

In the past, his relationship with Qixue had been terrible. He had never given these things to Qixue himself but had always sent them under someone else’s name, using various excuses to pass them along indirectly.

Over time, almost everyone knew he liked Qixue—everyone except Qixue himself.

He knew that in Qixue’s eyes, he was a terrible fox, the one Qixue disliked the most. Relying on his youth, he thought he had endless time with Qixue, enough to squander, so he had never considered confessing his feelings.

It wasn’t until Qixue married someone else that he learned regret.

But he firmly believed Qixue would eventually return to Dali Mountain. Helan Ji was just a mortal with limited lifespan. Once he died, Qixue would have no choice but to come back. A mere few decades—he could wait.

“Hoo…”

The moonlight was cool and clear. A chilly breeze blew through the dense, soft grass, releasing the fragrance of fresh greenery.

Sang Chi lowered his gaze and quietly watched Rabbit Tuan curled up in his arms, nibbling on the snack.

Looking back, he had been so happy back then, oblivious to worry or sorrow. His biggest trouble had been something trivial like “A Xue ignored me again today.”

How he longed to return to those carefree days… But it was impossible now.

Sang Chi gave a self-mocking smile and reached out to wipe the tears from Rabbit Tuan’s eyes. He asked, “Why are you crying? Why isn’t the Holy Monarch with you? Did you two fight?”

Rabbit Tuan bit into the sweet jujube paste filling, sniffled his damp nose at the question, and didn’t know where to begin.

After learning Xuan Yang’s dark side, his emotions had nearly collapsed. He couldn’t accept that this was the god he had worshipped for a century—it made him feel pathetic and foolish.

Even crueler was that he had to marry such a cold-blooded, brutal god and trample countless lives’ bones alongside Him, sharing power stained with blood and eternal life.

He truly couldn’t do it. He really wanted to run away.

But he couldn’t. For His Majesty, for the millions of demon clan on Dali Mountain, he couldn’t flee, and he had to keep this truth hidden.

He had been holding on strong, not daring to cry in front of the Holy Monarch. But the moment he saw Sang Chi, he broke down and just wanted to bury himself in the other’s embrace and cry his heart out.

Facing Sang Chi’s concerned gaze, Rabbit Tuan’s black eyes gleamed like they had been washed clean, filled with clear tears, brimming with fear and sorrow, yet he couldn’t utter a word.

In the end, he lowered his head and silently finished the snack, licking the crumbs from Sang Chi’s palm. In a muffled voice, he said, “It’s nothing. Don’t ask. Like you said, the sky won’t fall, and I won’t die.”

He wouldn’t tell Sang Chi.

This fox couldn’t tolerate a grain of sand in his eyes; he saw things in black and white. If he learned what Xuan Yang was really like, he would definitely confront Xuan Yang, even if it meant certain death.

He didn’t want to drag Sang Chi to his death. He hoped Sang Chi would live well, as a happy, free fox, and never return to Dali Mountain.

The more Rabbit Tuan refused to speak, the more convinced Sang Chi became of his guess: “The Holy Monarch did something to wrong you.”

For a moment, Sang Chi’s heart sank to the bottom, thinking Rabbit Tuan had learned of Wei Huai’s death.

But soon, he sensed that Rabbit Tuan was unaware of Wei Huai’s death—at least, he didn’t know Xuan Yang had killed him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t just hide in his burrow crying; he would have gone to fight Xuan Yang to the death.

Since it wasn’t about Wei Huai, what could the Holy Monarch have done to A Xue?

Undoubtedly, the Holy Monarch loved A Xue; otherwise, he wouldn’t marry him. But if he planned to spend his life with A Xue, why hurt him like this? Was his love meant to suffocate and torment?

Rabbit Tuan didn’t answer. He curled into an even smaller ball, trembling faintly. “Don’t ask…”

Sang Chi heard the pain in his voice and felt his own heart ache faintly. He took a deep breath, his resolve growing firmer.

“Alright, if you don’t want to say, I won’t ask.”

He said, “I just want to tell you—give me a few more days. I’ll keep my promise and end all your suffering.”

Rabbit Tuan froze, recalling Sang Chi’s promise: to help him escape the marriage, to the ends of the earth where no one could find them.

“Don’t be reckless!”

He knew Sang Chi was serious—more serious and determined than when he’d made the promise. He hurriedly hugged Sang Chi’s finger. “Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

Sang Chi patted his little head and set him down in the grass. Softly, he said, “I know who you’re worried about, but rest assured—I won’t let anything happen to them. Just wait for my news.”

He turned to leave but was suddenly tugged by his sleeve. Looking back, he saw Rabbit Tuan had turned human form and grabbed him.

“What about you?”

Qixue’s eyes were red, his slender fingers gripping tighter. “What will happen to you?”

Sang Chi was stunned and instinctively averted his gaze. “…Of course, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re lying!” Qixue glared at him. “You’ve been like this since you were little—when you’re guilty, you can’t look people in the eye. If you’re telling the truth, look at me! Sang Chi, look at me!”

“…”

Sang Chi swallowed hard and forced himself to meet Qixue’s eyes.

He saw his reflection in those clear, limpid eyes, shimmering with tears like gentle ripples, and in that wavering light, he felt himself shatter.

His heart trembled as he forced a casual smile. “That’s rare. You’re actually concerned about me? That’s not like you at all.”

“You’re one to talk…” Qixue wasn’t as good at pretending to be strong; tears welled up again. “You’ve changed too, sacrificing so much for me. Is it worth it?”

Sang Chi raised his hand, his cool palm covering Qixue’s tearful eyes. “I’ve never changed. You just never understood me.”

He had always been willing to give everything for Qixue.

When Qixue opened his eyes again, Sang Chi was gone.

The night was as still as water, as if no one had visited. He stood there for a long time before turning back into Rabbit Tuan and burrowing into his nest, curling up in the soft dry grass and falling asleep.

A pair of eyes watched Rabbit Tuan from the darkness.

He had been watching for a long time—or rather, he had never left. Rabbit Tuan had only thought he did. In truth, he had overheard every word of the conversation between Rabbit Tuan and Sang Chi.

Xuan Yang slowly emerged from the shadows.

But he said nothing and did nothing. He simply leaned down, parted the grass, cast a warming spell and a Calming Spell on Rabbit Tuan, then quietly departed.

At least tonight, A Xue could have a good dream.

…

The next day.

Qixue went specifically to see the Mountain Lord and asked him to lock Sang Chi up, then assign guards to watch him strictly until after the wedding.

The Mountain Lord didn’t ask why Qixue wanted this done, but the Mountain Lord’s Wife seemed hesitant to speak several times, her expression sorrowful.

In the end, neither said anything. They simply assured Qixue they wouldn’t let Sang Chi disrupt his wedding.

Qixue knew they had misunderstood his reason for confining Sang Chi. His thinking was simple: he just didn’t want Sang Chi to do anything foolish. They couldn’t fight a god. No matter where they fled, Xuan Yang would find them.

He pretended nothing had happened and returned to Xuan Yang’s side, treating him as before—affectionate and dependent.

Since escape was impossible, he wouldn’t show resistance or distance toward the Holy Monarch. He couldn’t afford to anger him. What he needed to do was please the Holy Monarch and protect everyone around him as best he could.

…

The eve of the wedding.

In two more days, it would be Qixue and Xuan Yang Holy Lord’s wedding. Luxiangqiu flew through the air, dutifully inspecting the lavish wedding preparations and the demons above and below the mountain. Her heart swelled with pride and joy, genuinely happy for Qixue.

The closer it got to the wedding, the less she dared relax her vigilance, for she knew the world had been chaotic lately.

Ever since news of Qixue and Xuan Yang Holy Lord’s marriage spread like wildfire, and “Qi Xue Niangniang”‘s holy title became widely known, countless demons became Qixue’s followers. His survival was no longer a secret and had been fully exposed to the imperial palace.

Luxiangqiu wasn’t surprised. She had known this day would come eventually.

What she hadn’t expected was that Qixue’s former lovers would go to such mad extremes to bring him back, sparing no cost to reach Dali Mountain before the wedding.

First, hundreds of silver dragons took to the skies from Cang Mountain’s peak near Shangjing, carrying tens of thousands of demonic beasts and a few human soldiers. They marched day and night without rest.

At the same time, Great Yong’s army of hundreds of thousands set out from the capital suburbs, accompanied by Cloud Moon Temple’s Daoists. Along the way, they gathered armies and cultivators from various states, all heading to Dali Mountain.

The silver dragon forces handled the most dangerous obstacles and were harder to control, so Xie Shu led them. The human army was personally commanded by Emperor Helan Ji, with Ji Yuheng as deputy general, mainly responsible for securing the rear and rallying forces.

Luxiangqiu’s bird friends spanned the world, and her information network was always reliable. She had learned of the movements from Shangjing early on but hadn’t told Qixue.

No matter how she thought about it, this wasn’t good news.

On one hand, she didn’t want Qixue’s wedding disrupted. On the other, she believed even Xie Shu couldn’t match Xuan Yang Holy Lord. If something happened to them, she didn’t dare imagine Qixue’s reaction.

Her greatest hope was that Helan Ji and the others wouldn’t come to Dali Mountain—that they would give up on Qixue.

But then again, if they really didn’t come, Luxiangqiu would be furious: A Xue was so wonderful—how could they abandon him? Was their love that fragile?