Chapter 73

Due to staring directly at the heavenly thunder at such close range, Rabbit Tuan fell into a brief state of blindness, with only a blurry sense of light before his eyes.

He lay motionless in Dao Qing’s arms, his rabbit ears swaying backward in the howling gale winds. After a while, he felt the gale winds stop, and everything around him became extremely quiet. He could smell a faint scent of burning incense.

Rabbit Tuan was very familiar with this scent. He clearly remembered that it was the smell inside Xuan Yang Chamber.

He couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, wondering in confusion, Could our landing spot be the Holy Monarch’s courtyard? But shouldn’t the Ancient Mirror be placed in the Ancestral Master Hall?

He scratched at Dao Qing’s chest in bewilderment. “I can’t see anything. Help me look—where are we now?”

“Cloud Moon Temple, Xuan Yang’s hermitage. This is his bedroom, and the Ancient Mirror was placed beside the bed.”

As Dao Qing answered his question, he gently pressed his fingertip to the corner of Rabbit Tuan’s eye. “Can your eyes still not see?”

“Yeah…” Rabbit Tuan asked a bit uneasily, “It should just be temporary, right? I’m not going to be completely blind, am I?”

Dao Qing infused him with demon power and performed a check. “No, you needn’t worry. Your eyes are fine; they’ll recover in just three to five days.”

“Three to five days?” Rabbit Tuan complained. “That’s way too long. I shouldn’t have looked at the heavenly thunder!”

After returning to the present era, Zheng Yuan’s power had distorted Rabbit Tuan and Dao Qing’s consciousnesses, tampering with their memories.

Originally, Dao Qing and Zheng Yuan had drawn the heavenly thunder because they had altered fate, changing Dao Qing and Rabbit Tuan from fated but unattainable partners into Fated Dao Companions, which incurred the Heavenly Dao’s punishment.

But after the distortion, Rabbit Tuan’s memory became one where Zheng Yuan had triggered the heavenly thunder phenomenon to activate the bronze mirror and send them back. Just before leaving, he couldn’t resist peeking out of curiosity, and the thunderlight had stimulated his eyes into blindness.

Dao Qing, too, had all his memories of the Upper Realm sealed away, including his secret conversation with Zheng Yuan. However, that conversation planted a seed of suggestion in his consciousness, which would subtly guide him toward the correct path.

This was a measure Dao Qing had prepared for himself before entering the Lower Realm, in case he became completely lost there and unable to awaken. Zheng Yuan had been entrusted with activating the suggestion at the right moment.

Thus, Dao Qing and Rabbit Tuan’s false memories aligned perfectly. He also remembered that Rabbit Tuan had looked at the heavenly thunder out of momentary curiosity.

He stroked Rabbit Tuan’s little head. “I’ll take good care of you during this time until you can see the light again.”

Rabbit Tuan huffed. “I don’t want your care. I want to go back to His Majesty. I’ve been missing from Cloud Moon Temple for so long—he must be anxious sick. I need to comfort him properly.”

It wasn’t that he disliked being with Dao Qing, but they had spent over a month together day and night, which was already too much of a bargain for Dao Qing. Besides, he missed His Majesty terribly, and the child in his belly needed its father’s company. He couldn’t keep accompanying Dao Qing.

But with his eyes blind, His Majesty would surely feel heartbroken… Sigh. He wondered if His Majesty had been taking good care of himself during this time. Without him to alleviate the backlash from His Majesty’s witchcraft, His Majesty might have relapsed into his old ailment.

At this thought, Rabbit Tuan grew even more restless and patted Dao Qing with his paw. “Hurry and take me to find His Majesty. He might even be in Cloud Moon Temple right now. If he knows I’ve gone missing, he’d surely rush over.”

Dao Qing’s tone was cold. “Not going.”

“Take me!”

Though Rabbit Tuan couldn’t see, his movements in pummeling Dao Qing were as proficient as ever. His swinging rabbit paws never missed. “I want to see His Majesty! I want to see His Majesty!”

Dao Qing grabbed his rabbit paw. “Since you’re so insistent, I can take you to see Helan Ji. But I’ll demand that he divorce you, and I’ll tell him he’s unworthy of you—that I’m the one fated for you.”

“Don’t even think about it, you jealous eel!”

Rabbit Tuan flew into a rage. “If His Majesty is unworthy of me, then you’re even less worthy! Let me tell you, don’t delusionally think you can compete with His Majesty. You’d better pray he doesn’t know you exist. Otherwise, if he tells me to cut ties with you, I definitely will—even if you cry and beg me, I won’t change my mind.”

Dao Qing’s face remained expressionless, but a flicker of anger burned in his eyes. “You’re truly obstinate.”

Rabbit Tuan scoffed. “If I weren’t obstinate, I never would have traveled thousands of miles to Shangjing just to repay His Majesty’s kindness. You and I would never have even met.”

“By that logic, you should kowtow to His Majesty and acknowledge him as your adoptive father. If not for him, how could you have bedded someone as pretty and adorable as me?”

“What Heavenly Destined Marriage? If we’re so fated, why did you need someone else to play matchmaker just to meet me? Don’t keep bringing up your divinations. Maybe you got it wrong—maybe you and I don’t have that deep a bond at all.”

Rabbit Tuan rattled off a stream of words, but after a long silence with no response from Dao Qing, he thought he’d left the other speechless. He smugly lifted his little head.

After a while, Dao Qing spoke. “Are you done? Your body’s unwell and needs rest. I don’t want to argue with you.”

“Don’t give me that. You just can’t outtalk me.” Rabbit Tuan kicked his feet.

Dao Qing said, “Why do you always have to argue with me? Can’t we talk calmly?”

Rabbit Tuan retorted, “Am I the one picking fights? I was talking to you perfectly nicely, politely asking you to take me to His Majesty. How did you respond? You always start with your nasty attitude, then turn it around and accuse me of being unreasonable.”

“…” Dao Qing said, “Sorry. This time, it was indeed my fault.”

Rabbit Tuan’s ears twitched. “Not just this time—which time isn’t it your fault? You need to apologize properly to me…”

“Forget it, apologies don’t matter. Hurry and take me to His Majesty. We’ve been talking here for so long—with that spare time, you could’ve gotten me there already.”

Dao Qing said nothing and pulled out the yarrow stalks to divine. “Helan Ji isn’t at Cang Mountain. He’s in the Imperial Palace.”

“Is that so…”

Rabbit Tuan felt a twinge of instinctive disappointment upon hearing that Helan Ji hadn’t been waiting for him at Cloud Moon Temple. But then he thought better of it—Helan Ji was the emperor, after all, with endless state affairs. He couldn’t stay at Cloud Moon Temple forever. He had probably just returned temporarily to handle politics and would come back in a couple of days.

With that in mind, he felt better and said understandingly, “Then let’s go to the palace to find him. Take me there.”

Dao Qing gave a faint acknowledgment, cradling Rabbit Tuan as he pushed open the door. But just as he was about to step out of the courtyard, a burst of bright light erupted from the ground. The formation activated, forming a barrier that isolated the outside world.

“What happened?”

Rabbit Tuan sensed Dao Qing stop and asked blankly.

Dao Qing looked down at the formation underfoot. “It’s Xuan Yang’s prohibition array. He won’t allow us to leave his courtyard.”

“Daoist Xuan Yang won’t let us leave? Why?”

Rabbit Tuan was baffled, unable to understand Xuan Yang’s motives. It was also strange that Xuan Yang had moved the Ancient Mirror to his own courtyard. Why relocate the bronze mirror for no reason? Did the Holy Monarch really intend to trap them?

“No idea.” Dao Qing said, “He’s here. Let him explain himself.”

Just as he finished speaking, a young Daoist with black hair, white robes, and a refined face appeared at the courtyard entrance.

His brows and eyes still held that compassionate pity for all things, but a thick scent of blood clung to him, overpowering even the courtyard’s floral and tea fragrances.

Yet his plain white Daoist robes showed no trace of blood. No one knew where this bloody aura came from.

The instant Xuan Yang appeared at the entrance, his gaze locked firmly onto Rabbit Tuan. The chilling gloom in his eyes suddenly faded, replaced by intense joy. “A Xue.”

He lost his composure. In front of an outsider like Dao Qing, he should have addressed Rabbit Tuan as “Noble Consort,” drawing a clear line. But he forgot—or perhaps he no longer cared. Nothing mattered more than Rabbit Tuan’s safe return.

“Daoist Xuan Yang!”

Rabbit Tuan was thrilled to hear Xuan Yang’s voice and turned toward it, trying to focus his gaze on him, though it was slightly off.

Xuan Yang immediately noticed the subtle abnormality, and his smile vanished. “A Xue, what’s wrong with your eyes?”

Rabbit Tuan said sweetly, “Don’t worry, Daoist. I’m fine—just temporarily blind. I’ll recover soon.”

“Temporary blindness,” Xuan Yang enunciated slowly, his tone very soft, “just that?”

“A Xue, what do you mean by ‘just that’?”

Dao Qing said coldly, “Before Qixue explains, I need your explanation first. Xuan Yang, why did you move the Ancient Mirror to your courtyard and set up this imprisoning prohibition array? Do you intend to imprison us?”

Only then did Xuan Yang’s gaze drift lightly onto Dao Qing. “This doesn’t concern you. It’s for A Xue. Only by personally guarding this Ancient Mirror can I ensure A Xue finds his way back.”

“As for the prohibition array, A Xue has no need to go out. Once he returns to reality from the Ancient Mirror, I’ll immediately take him back to his homeland.”

Rabbit Tuan was startled. “Now? Take me back to Dali Mountain?”

Xuan Yang affirmed, “Yes. The outside world is too dangerous. Dali Mountain is your true home. Didn’t you want to go back? I’ll make your wish come true right now.”

His tone was extremely gentle, but Rabbit Tuan keenly sensed something off. The Holy Monarch’s emotions seemed wrong, and these words were meant for their ears alone—why say them in front of Dao Qing?

At that moment, Xuan Yang looked at Dao Qing and smiled faintly.

“Thank you for bringing A Xue back from the Ancient Mirror.”

“As repayment, now—you can die.”