Xiang Zi could still remember saying to the bastard before they fought, "I'm an ominous cloud that will curse you for life."
Recalling this now, what she said was too one-sided.
When the both of them, bruises littering their whole bodies, knelt before the Jade Emperor, he thought for a while after hearing about what they had done to the red strings. He said, "Ease of manner is to be prized. The two of you have committed a wrong, hence punishment is justifiable. You have ruined the future of lovers. I'm punishing you with seven lifetimes of fated, mutual love. This can help you two clear your resentment as well."
"Wait!" The young man beside her risked his life and interrupted the Jade Emperor.
"You mean me and…her? This fierce…fierce woman who looks like a man—you want me to have seven lifetimes of fated love with her?"
His voice changed; maybe he had been scared out of his wits.
Xiang Zi had also been scared out of her wits and could only look at the Jade Emperor in horror…
The Jade Emperor nodded in confirmation.
She felt her body fall limp. All her hope vanished. Xiang Zi realized that from now on, not only would she become the young man's dark cloud, but he would also become hers. When they came together, it would be like thunderclouds.
"Xiao Xiang Zi, you're still Yue Lao's subordinate. In these seven lifetimes, however, you can't contact him."
The Jade Emperor pondered for a moment before he asked, "Tou Ta Li, are you there?"
A rough man holding an urn yelled, "I'm here."
The Jade Emperor stroked his long beard and said, "This matter will be handed to you."
"Understood."
His answer had been full of energy, which made her heart beat faster. She took a deep breath and raised her head to look at the Heaven Emperor Li. His life in heaven had made him fat.
Sensing that she had been looking at him, he turned around. His face had brimmed with radiance, and his cheeks had turned upwards when he laughed. Uncle laughed so beautifully.
Xiang Zi had felt her mouth tighten, her always healthy heart beating like crazy. She had taken a deep breath. The always healthy her felt like she was about to die at a moment's notice.
The Jade Emperor nodded in satisfaction. "Xiao Xiang Zi, do you still have anything left to say?"
I wanted to say that it was Yue Lao who messed up the red strings while he had been drunk. If the red strings were messed up, then let them be messed up. There was no need to punish me in such a vicious way!
She glanced at Yue Lao, and he gazed at her pitifully, as if pleading her to not expose him. Xiang Zi turned back around and continued taking deep breaths.
"May I curse?"
"No."
"Then…I have nothing to say."
The Jade Emperor nodded in satisfaction and turned to the young man. "Celestial Star Chu Kong, do you have anything left to say?"
Chu Kong…So the young man was the Mao Celestial Star (1).
Amongst the twelve Celestial Stars, he was the oldest. He looked after the first month of the year. Xiang Zi had finally learned the identity of the young man who would spend seven lifetimes with her.
She looked up at the ceiling then and thought that this world was truly ironic.
The young man beside her stayed silent for a long time until her curious eyes had fallen on his face. He had said with a straight, pale face, "Although it is our fault for the red strings being messed up in Yue Lao's house this time, I swear on Heaven that this woman messed up more red strings than I. Therefore, can you let this woman suffer a little more every lifetime?"
Xiang Zi stood up and wanted to pick a fight with him again. Heaven Emperor Li had come to her side and pressed her down. He calmly said, "I will look at this matter fairly."
Although Emperor Li's figure had gotten out of shape, his temperament had still been the same. She nodded gratefully, feeling that there was still love in this world.
When the verdict was over, everyone returned to their homes. All across the temple, she heard Emperor Li's laugh, "I love seeing the little wife chasing the husband, hahahaha!"
Xiang Zi stood there stupefied, slowly turning into a lonely shadow.
Yue Lao brought her back to the underworld. He patted her shoulder and sighed, "Xiao Xiang…"
She glared at him until he didn't dare to say the word he had been about to say. He sighed again. "No one will look after the temple now that you're gone. What do I do now?"
Xiang Zi pouted, saying, "Drink less; that way, you can help me accumulate more virtue."
Yue Lao pinched his beard in loneliness. She didn't possess the heart to be mean to him. Even though he had always been stingy, had been a little confused, and had never adhered to the books, he hadn't treated her badly. He had been unlike other fairies, who treated their own kind with beatings and harsh words.
She comforted him. "One day in Heaven is one year in the mortal realm. At most, seven lifetimes will only be a year. I'll be back soon."
Yue Lao shook his head and turned around with a hunched back.
Watching his departing figure completely disappear from the underworld, Xiang Zi turned around and looked at the tall gate.
You Ming Di Fu. (2) These four words on the gate appeared to be gloomy.
She removed the wine pot from her waist, looked up at the wine spirits, then had walked to the gate.
She thought, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just think of it as coming down to see the world.
There had been more spirits each passing day, wondering how to form a well-behaved row in front of the bridge. Six little spirits had been giving those rows a bowl of soup. The old Madam Meng (3) had been sitting to the side, dozing off.
Xiang Zi randomly chose a row and entered the Nether Hell. It was almost her turn to drink Madam Meng's soup, but she still hadn't seen that bastard Chu Kong.
While she had been wondering if he had already reincarnated, a golden light flashed in the dark Nether World, making all the spirits dazzled.
She glanced back. The one in red, full of virtue, wasn't that the bastard? By his side, there was also a young girl in pink.
Chu Kong, who had been so fierce when he was fighting with her, was looking gently at the girl in pink. In the stillness of the Nether World, besides the flow of the river, she could clearly hear him say, "Ying Shi, don't worry. I'll be back soon. We're both men, so Emperor Li will not let me suffer any losses."
"Even if it's like that, Chu Kong gege (4), you need to pay attention to your safety. I heard that Yue Lao temple's Xiao Xian Zi has a weird temper. You…you and her together, you need to be wary of her."
Xiang Zi looked up at Heaven and thought about what she had done to let this little white flower describe her in that way.
The little spirit coughed twice to remind Xiang Zi to take her soup. Embarrassed, She laughed and took the soup. She was about to drink it when she heard Chu Kong say, "Don't worry. Even though her temper is strange, her power and martial arts are both below mine. She can't do anything to me."
Xiang Zi narrowed her eyes and glared at the man who looked like a dog.
Chu Kong said, "Wait and see how I will handle that eunuch Xiao Xian Zi for seven lifetimes…"
The word 'eunuch' caused Xiang Zi to shake in anger, the bowl of Madam Meng's soup shaking together with her.
Chu Kong added, "Then I'll go count the stars at Morningstar Hall with you."
"Count your ass!" she roared. In front of the little spirit, Xiang Zi threw Madam Meng's soup at the bastard.
The soup flung skyward while the empty bowl landed on Chu Kong's face. He groaned, covered his face, and yelled. The eyes that she remembered from their previous encounter were finally turned purple by her.
Xiang Zi retorted, "Standing there with those panda eyes and yelling rubbish, don't you feel pain?" Chu Kong felt the pain a little later. He then looked up with eyes full of rage.
The pink-clad Ying Shi beside him kept mumbling about how her heart was pained at seeing him hurt. From her agonized expression, it felt like she struck her instead.
Xiang Zi sneered. Chu Kong gritted his teeth and looked at her. She saw that a spell was forming in his hands. It looked like he wanted to give her a death blow. Her calm heart had suddenly raced. After all, in terms of spells, hers were below Chu Kong's.
At that exact moment, the little spirit interjected, "You…You threw the soup! Do you want to rebel?!"
His loud voice woke Madam Meng up. When Madam Meng moved, the atmosphere in the Nether world turned gloomier. As I had only been a cloud, my legs suddenly felt weak as I trembled and pointed at Chu Kong. "It was him! He wants to rebel. That bastard didn't want to drink the soup. He wanted to see what will happen if I don't drink the soup. I was forced to do this!"
"Ah?" A deep and husky voice echoed through the Nether World, making it hard for spirits to breathe.
"Who doesn't want to drink the soup that I made?"
Madam Meng stood up. She was twenty feet tall, casting a shadow in the Nether World.
When she saw the broken bowl in front of Chu Kong, she yelled, "Who dares to not drink the soup? This old lady boiled the soup all day. You bastards dare to waste all my efforts?!"
As she spoke, a huge body had quickly flown above the little spirit, so fast that it was inconsistent with her weight. She landed before Chu Kong, scaring everyone. Even Chu Kong had a pale face.
Xiang Zi looked around and saw that nobody was paying attention to her, so she ran and crossed the bridge of reincarnation.
Before going into reincarnation, she looked back. She only saw the spirits running around and yelling. Madam Meng was with Chu Kong. Chu Kong was looking at her. His eyes were filled with hatred, wanting nothing more than to cut me into thousands of pieces.
Xiang Zi paused for a moment, feeling that she went a bit overboard…
Before jumping into the circle of reincarnation, she gave him a thumbs-up. Madam Meng pinched him, causing him to be even more embarrassed. Xiang Zi smacked her butt and happily walked into the circle of reincarnation.
Chu Kong will not get past without drinking the soup of oblivion. This lifetime, I'll be born first, and I'll still have my memory from my previous life. I'm stronger than him. In other words… Little bastard, just wait and see how you'll die.