Chapter 202: Chapter 163: 2 Dowries, Fortunate to Meet the Monarch (2)

Xiaoqiao lifted her fishing rod, pulling another three-headed, endlessly shrieking resentful soul from the River of Oblivion. With a gentle flick, she sent it arcing through the air and into her fish basket.

"I’ve had a bit of a harvest myself, so I can’t help but be pleased."

With a tranquil expression, Jiang Yi looked at Xiaoqiao and asked,

"Master of Harmony, are you putting your rod away?"

Xiaoqiao chuckled and raised her chin with a playful air.

"The catch is big enough. Any more would be hard to stomach."

The little boat, which had been spinning in place, began to move again, parting the murky, dark waters of the River of Oblivion.

The Bright Flame Mirror cast out shimmering streams of flame, like the faint glimmer of a candle in the vast, dark void.

Xiaoqiao put her fishing rod away. A moment later, she raised a hand and pointed forward.

"That’s Mount Shuo."

Jiang Yi looked up to see a colossal mountain dominating the sky, its peaks rugged and imposing. The roar of the wind and the shrieks of ghosts echoed each other from a distance. As their boat drew closer, the view grew ever clearer.

There were no other trees on the mountain, only a single, incomparably massive peach tree. Its branches crisscrossed like a net cast across the heavens, its trunk ancient and powerful, its bark like old scales, seeming to blot out the sky itself.

Its gnarled branches, twisted like dragons and serpents, slanted toward the northeast, naturally forming a gateway.

’The Peach God of Mount Shuo, coiling for three thousand li... What the books say is actually true. There isn’t a single lie.’

Jiang Yi held his breath, his expression touched with awe.

He had once read a similar account in a collection of travelogues, which said, "On Mount Shuo there is a great peach tree, coiling for three thousand li. The space between its northeastern branches is called the Ghost Gate."

But the feeling he got from the text was worlds apart from the shock of seeing it with his own eyes.

A colossal tree spanning three thousand li, a Ghost Gate on Mount Shuo so vast it seemed boundless.

It was as if he had stepped into a myth.

Through the vast, hazy mist, Jiang Yi could faintly hear the rustling of peach leaves mixed with the chirps and murmurs of ghosts, as if they were whispering to one another.

"There used to be a great rooster at the top of the tree," Xiaoqiao said softly, as if reminiscing. "It would crow at sunrise, its call echoing throughout the cosmos. When wandering souls and wild ghosts heard it, they had to obediently return through the Ghost Gate. They weren’t allowed to linger in the Mortal World."

"And now?"

Jiang Yi made a point of looking up. His gaze pierced through the dense, tangled branches, only to find the top of the great tree completely empty.

"The rooster is a bird of the Five Virtues, perfectly embodying the concept of the sun rising in the east. The Eight Sceneries Palace invaded Fengdu, captured the rooster, and presented it to Tai Yang to bolster its great Daoist representation."

Xiaoqiao sighed softly.

Jiang Yi’s mouth twitched. He suddenly had a much more direct and profound understanding of the phrase, ’The world has long suffered under Tai Yang.’ ’Or more accurately,’ he thought, ’the Daoist Lineages of Yanfu have long suffered under Tai Yang.’

The small boat passed slowly through the Ghost Gate, gnarled, dragon-like branches twisting and hanging down all around them.

Xiaoqiao giggled again.

"It’s because this Ghost Gate was formed from the Peach God that people in the mortal realm say peach wood can subdue ghosts and ward off evil. Back when Grandpa Peach was still around, any living person from the Mortal World who passed through here could ask for one of his divine branches. They would use it to forge a Flying Sword or carve a protective talisman."

This time, Jiang Yi didn’t press the issue.

’For the Eight Sceneries Palace to not have cut down the peach tree was probably an act of "great mercy" on their part. They certainly wouldn’t have just spared the Peach God.’

After passing through the Ghost Gate, the boat arrived on the sunny side of the mountain.

Compared to the gloomy stillness of the shaded side, the sunny side was a forest of peach trees with lush, green leaves. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the flowering season, so there were no brilliant blossoms to be seen. Instead, the air was tinged with decay.

"Hey, I remember there being lots of Forget-Worry Flowers here..."

Xiaoqiao gazed at the riverbank. Seeing only sparse, withered plants and a scene of utter decay, a look of disappointment crossed her face.

"They’re so beautiful when they bloom. A pink mist covers the mountains, and their fragrance spreads for miles... What a shame."

Jiang Yi’s gaze softened, and he spoke gently.

"Master of Harmony, you needn’t worry. When the time is right, the Forget-Worry Flowers will bloom again. Besides, everything in the world has its own beauty. There is beauty in a brilliant bloom, and beauty in a quiet fall. There’s no need to force either."

Hearing this, Xiaoqiao stared at Jiang Yi for a moment. Then her eyes curved into crescents, the disappointment on her face vanishing completely as she said with a grin,

"You really have a way with words, Young Master Jiang."

The green-robed girl reached up to brush aside a lock of hair hanging by her temple. She turned to look at the riverbank again and suddenly cried out in surprise.

"Look! Young Master Jiang... The Forget-Worry Flowers are blooming! There are so many!"

Jiang Yi looked where Xiaoqiao was pointing and froze.

On the once sparse and withered riverbank, a single pale pink bud had quietly opened. In the blink of an eye, the bloom began to spread at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Forget-Worry Flowers blossomed one after another, their layered petals unfurling like rosy dawn clouds.

In moments, both riverbanks were blanketed by a sea of pink and white blossoms. The misty air, thick with their fragrance, condensed into colorful ribbons in the air, a truly magnificent sight.

’The Forget-Worry Flowers... they haven’t bloomed in thousands of years...’

The plump girl who had hurried to Mount Shuo stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

It had been agonizing over what to do, never expecting the Celestial Lord to grant such a beautiful wish.

It immediately summoned a host of Wang Liang to blow gentle gusts of yin wind, causing the flowers to roll in waves and drift in every direction, like an explosion of radiant light!

"They really bloomed!"

Xiaoqiao clapped her hands in delight, her eyes curving into crescents. Her crisp laughter scattered on the wind.

The small boat drifted silently on the River of Oblivion, nestled within the sea of flowers that lined both banks.

A soft breeze rustled by, and delicate petals drifted down. Some landed on Xiaoqiao’s conical hat, some on the wide sleeve of Jiang Yi’s robes, and still others fell into the water, fanning out softly with the current.

Xiaoqiao held out her palm to catch a drifting petal. She glanced sideways at Jiang Yi, her eyes reflecting the endless colors of the blossoms.

"See? Aren’t they beautiful?"

Jiang Yi nodded slightly and uttered a single word:

"Stunning."

The wind sighed through the peach forest, leaf-shadows danced, and on the River of Oblivion, the small boat rocked gently.

The figures in black robes and green clothes stood side by side, silently gazing at the Forget-Worry Flowers that carpeted the mountainside.

...

...

「The Eighteenth Heaven, Profound City Central Palace.」

A graceful figure seated upon the Jade Platform sighed softly.

’The Forget-Worry Flower only blooms in the presence of Yang Qi, its fragrance spreading only in the light. So, the fated one is Shao Yang... and Shao Yang is indeed the fated one.’

A faint smile then graced her lips, as if she had thought of something amusing.

’Since his fate is tied only to Shao Yang... I wonder which "dowry" this new monarch will choose.’

Lady Xuan’nv glanced down at the red thread, barely visible, tied around her slender wrist.

If the new Shao Yang enters the Profound City Central Palace, he can temporarily wield my True Monarch Golden Position and open the Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven.

If he chooses Xiaoqiao, he can claim the Immortal Sword that hangs on Mount Shuo.

A Yang union and an Yin betrothal have always been a matter of mutual choice.

Just as the bride’s family inspects the betrothal gifts, the groom’s family considers the dowry.

That sword beneath the peach tree of Mount Shuo, the one that once destroyed the Dharma Body of the World Honored One, a weapon whose killing power ranks in the top ten of the Yanfu Vast Land...

...that is the "dowry" Xiaoqiao can offer.

...

...

The small boat docked, and Jiang Yi followed the green-robed girl through the sea of flowers. Fragrant, colorful ribbons of mist swirled around him, filling him with a sense of peace, as if he could truly forget all his troubles.

The two followed a small mountain path, climbing steadily higher until they stood beneath the great peach tree that coiled for three thousand li and blotted out half the sky.

Jiang Yi looked around, feeling as if he were standing at the junction of two different worlds.

The shaded side, gloomy and still, teemed with a vast expanse of ghosts; the sunny side, warm and gentle, was covered in lush greenery.

Xiaoqiao took out the wisp of Primordial Spirit from the woman in the silken dress, then emptied the seven or eight resentful souls from her basket, burying them all together beneath the roots of the peach tree.

"It’s not easy being a ghost. To accomplish anything is a thousand times harder," she said softly.

"You have to maintain a clear mind and not let your true nature dissipate. But over time, it becomes difficult to hold on to who you are.

These Primordial Spirits and resentful souls will be nourished by the gentle Yang Qi of the divine peach wood, cleansed of the three poisons, and imbued with celestial spirit. They can then transform into Essence Sprites and no longer have to suffer the endless torment of hunger, thirst, cold, and heat."

A look of surprise on his face, Jiang Yi said earnestly,

"Master of Harmony, you are truly as kind as you are beautiful."

Xiaoqiao huffed, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Truly? It seems your earlier compliments weren’t entirely sincere, were they?"

Jiang Yi remained unruffled and replied candidly,

"Everything I said, both then and now, came from the heart. It’s just that this time, it holds a bit more sincerity."

Xiaoqiao clapped her hands and dusted the soil from her green robes, looking as if she had just performed the greatest deed in the world.

She looked up at Jiang Yi and said earnestly,

"Thank you, Young Master Jiang, for allowing me to see the Forget-Worry Flowers bloom today."

With that, the young woman performed a formal curtsy.

Jiang Yi sidestepped, not accepting her gesture of respect.

"I don’t deserve such thanks. Perhaps the Forget-Worry Flowers simply wished to see the Master of Harmony’s brilliant smile, and that’s why they vied to bloom. It has nothing to do with me."

But Xiaoqiao’s lively, skipping demeanor was gone. Her expression was now serene and demure, like that of a refined lady from a noble house of ancient lineage.

She gazed silently at the sea of flowers covering the mountain and said softly,

"The Forget-Worry Flower only blooms in the presence of Yang Qi. But Fengdu has been sunken in the Netherworld, cut off from the Mortal World, for thousands of years.

I, Qiao Yu of the Sword Discussion Pavilion, am fortunate today to have witnessed the blooming of the Forget-Worry Flowers, and to have met the new monarch of Shao Yang."