The Sky Realm was magically silhouetted against the dreamy sky by magnificent colorful rainbows. Two sky immortal guards stood still, being watchful as they guarded the entrance of the Heavenly Kingdom. Without a beat of disturbance, everything was quiet and tranquil; there were only the sounds of heavenly birds chirping and leaves rustling in the wind. Suddenly, the appearance of a sparkling red mist broke the peacefulness in front of the entrance of the Heavenly Kingdom.
Alerted by some strange presence, those guards were on their position within easy striking distance. They raised their spear and aimed them at the dissolving mist as it slowly turned to a human form.
No. It was an immortal, scanned both of the guards.
A man in black appeared from the mist, danced down towards them, his cloak rippling in the wind. They sensed rare heavy magic clinging around him. What was with this immortal? Where had he come from? They had never seen such powerful magic within a strange person unless that person was a deity scale immortal.
"Who's there?" they demanded in unison.
Jie Moshu knew the reason for his sudden visit would cause suspicion to the people of the Sky Realm. But he wanted to check whether his suspicion was right. He then used magic to mask his presence, to make himself less noticeable as he passed through. And he did cast a spell over the guards so they would forget he had been there. He didn't want the entire Heavenly Kingdom to know that he had returned.
For nearly hundreds of years, Jie Moshu had been searching for her soul—now she was a mortal named Liu Huayu. There was no way he could let anything hurt her, ever again. Though Jie Moshu could keep her in check with the protection spell he cast on her, he wasn't entirely sure once he left the Human World. He wondered if he could make it on time within one hour.
He wouldn't have thought of coming back to this Heavenly Kingdom until Si Ming personally came to him providing him the information about Goddess of Souls.
True, he was acquainted with Si Ming for a lifetime now. After suffering an ordeal, he had helped Si Ming to relieve his curse by regaining his immortal form—with two ethereal souls.
Before the curse, there had been two celestial-beings in charge of the position of Defied Judge of Life. The god known as Big Si Ming was responsible for the life and death of mortals, while the goddess, Little Si Ming, was responsible for marriage, childbirth, and fortunes. Everything had been well until the tranquility of life become boredom. That was the time when things were turning bad.
Little Si Ming was tempted to write one horrible story of a mortal without calculating his deeds from his past life. Her reason was that she was bored with writing the same pattern all over again. She wanted something different. It was intentional, ignorant of her duty. In fact, she had the pleasure of observing the human's misery. That human had a long life but conceived such a horrible fate, experienced the seven sufferings—born, aging, sick, death, resentment and hatred, mourning, unable to achieve one's desire. Each of them was written in a worse and nastier way than before.
Little did she know, the mortal she was playing with was the child under the care of the Goddess of Souls. Outraged with Little Si Ming messing with her boy, the Goddess of Souls swooped down on him with their spell, letting her immortal body rotten. Oh, she, too had taken that Little Si Ming's soul to be one of the prisoners within her Six Cycles Palace.
Unable to see such misfortune befall on his friend, Big Si Ming went to plead the goddess for mercy. The price was high, she demanded a thousand years of cultivation Qi. As a mere Deified Judge of Life, that large amount of cultivation would cost up to his life. Big Si Ming went to seek Jie Moshu's help and promised him in return to write a good fate for any mortal he wanted. To which, Jie Moshu agreed.
Jie Moshu learned for the matter much later that the Goddess of Souls had her chance. She took her revenge by merging the two Si Mings ethereal souls in one body.
That was indeed how the story goes. But what happened afterward was another story to be told, as the news reached the whole Three Worlds—the goddess died for a human boy in the Human World. Rumor said that it was an awful death. No one knew where her body lied.
It didn't matter to Jie Moshu that the infamous evil mistress had passed away, but her body was valuable. He learned that the woman he once loved had made a contract with the goddess. As one of the rulers of the Underworld, the goddess possessed a dark ethereal body that allowed her to keep her flesh intact without going rotten. The same power that bound those who signed the contract of life and death. The goddess itself was the cure to Liu Huayu's ultimate beauty poison. The power to bring the undead alive under the contract's influence.
Jie Moshu entrusted Si Ming to search for the missing body of the Goddess of Souls. As Si Ming was the last immortal who had seen her alive, he would be perfect for the job. And he was the only god in the entire Sky Realm who could pass the barrier to where he was staying in the Human World. All this time, Si Ming would always send Jie Moshu a message before showing his presence.
Strangely, the Si Ming from two days ago appeared without warning. Even he had the nerve to ask for something in return. Jie Moshu's mind raced to remember when Si Ming came to him. The words he uttered throbbing in his head.
"I've had the information about the goddess' whereabouts. But I wanted you to give me something. Rumor says that you're the last immortal to have access to godly herbs. I want that. How, is it possible?"
Something about Si Ming had made Jie Moshu felt uncomfortable enough, building natural curiosity and lingering doubts inside him. At first he let him be to know his real purpose. But now... Si Ming wanted more than godly herbs—he wanted Liu Huayu. That was something he couldn't stand of. Something he would never allow to happen.
The teleporting magic had landed him with a thud on the ground as the wind whistled around, snapped him out of his mind. In front of him, the Hall of the Northern Sphere came to view with all straight walls and heavy overhanging roofs. It wasn't the largest place in the entire Sky Realm, but it was a place with less magic tainted. A reservoir for vellum scrolls containing the fate of each mortal ever lived on earth.
A little fairy boy serving the place approached Jie Moshu, bowed before him. "What brings Your Highness to Hall of Northern Sphere?"
"Your master, star deity Si Ming. Do you know where he is?"
"Master?" The fairy boy shot Jie Moshu a blank look, his smile was awkward as if he was meant to do so. "Didn't he leave to find you, Your Highness?"
Jie Moshu raised an eyebrow at him. He believed that the fairy boy was only telling him honestly. A part of him doubted that the boy had actually in a normal state, so he asked another question. "How's your master doing?"
"Master?" The boy said again, this time his smile was even wider. "Didn't he leave to find you, Your Highness?"
It was the enchantment magic from the fox tribe. He would have noticed the bewitched signs. Stiff, rigid shoulders, keeping his back straight, a coy smile, and the repetitive words to a certain question. It was one of the ancient spells but only beings from the fox tribe could wield such power. Who would put such a spell on a fairy boy, unless someone was aiming for Si Ming?
Jie Moshu gestured his hands to the boy. The enchantment spell rippled with a flash of bright red and released from his body. Pink sparks flew.
The boy shook his head as if clearing the fog from his skull. "Your Highness?"
It took him a second to finally regained his train of thought. He cringed as his expression creased into a wary frown. "Your Highness! Something bad has happened to the star deity!"
Jie Moshu's instincts were right once again. "Tell me what you know."
"Report to Your Highness, the star deity did have a progress in finding the Goddess of Souls," the fairy boy said in a low voice. "And he went to the Human World to see for himself before informing back to you. But not long after he left, a female celestial-being came with the star deity's tally."
"A female celestial-being?" Jie Moshu asked.
"Correct, Your Highness. That celestial-being had the star deity's tally, saying that the star deity had encountered trouble, asking her to help on relying a message to you, Your Highness." The fairy boy paused. "I was told by star deity to not reveal the place you're staying unless it was urgent, but I..."
His next statement was obvious.
"You revealed my residence," Jie Moshu whispered. "The same celestial-being that cast enchantment spell on you."
The fairy boy nodded. He then knelt for pleading mercy, "Forgive me, Your Highness. It was all my fault, I—"
"Tell me the last place your master had gone to."
"A fraud temple named Ninth Elysium," a note of hesitation vibrated in his voice. "Several mortals worship the false who God residents there."
Jie Moshu straightened. "Save your remorse when your master returned." And with that, Jie Moshu vanished from the Hall of Northern Sphere, all dissolved back into a red mist.
It didn't take Jie Moshu long to get back to his mansion. He landed in almost exactly the spot where he had left for the Sky Realm.
"Master! Master! You've finally returned!" Mr. Fang panted as he ran towards Jie Moshu. The moment was right, it was as though he had been waiting for him.
"Yuanheng, what is it?" Joe Moshu's voice sharpened as he heard the panic in Mr. Fang's tone. "Tell me."
"The young master," Mr. Fang said between his panting breaths. "The young master—the young master has disappeared!"
Mr. Fang's frantic note made Jie Moshu had a clear sign of surprise and panic, but he smothered those emotions by curling his hands into tight fists. "Axiang? How?"
"A woman, a woman came by before—"
A woman? That female celestial-being? She had Si Ming's tally, no wonder she could break the barrier easily. Every muscle in his body was wound tight like daggers flung in his direction. Restlessness built up insurmountably inside him. Then he had remembered Si Ming's sudden change of terms. The thoughts of every word that he had uttered gone his head. Truly horrendous thoughts.
This was bad. His family was in danger. She was in danger. If that woman dares to pluck a hair out of one of them, she will pay hundreds, no, thousands of times. He ensured it.
Jie Moshu's eyes blazed with fury crimson. Without talking further, red mist flooded through his right hand and swallowed him in a whole.
"Master! Where have you gone to? I haven't told you in detail yet!" Mr. Fang was left gaping, stunned that his master was again disappeared to thin air. Somehow he murmured under his breath. "Doesn't master know I'm old enough to do a sprint?"