Future Beast World: Becoming A Pampered Beauty-Chapter 514 - 453: If You Keep Burning, My Life Will Really Be Shortened
"It’s... it’s not him..." Sang Luo shook her head, choking on a sob. "He was killed..."
Crown Prince Yun Hua was also stunned. He had no idea what had happened during the hour they were separated.
Just a moment ago, he hadn’t been able to find Sang Luo or the man in red at the Prefect’s Mansion, so he had taken his men out to search. He was halfway through his search when he heard an explosion in this area and rushed over with his retinue. The sight that greeted him was a tragic scene of utter ruin. The area had obviously suffered immense destruction, but when he questioned the surviving bystanders, none of them could tell him anything coherent.
Then, he caught a glimpse of Sang Luo in the ruins. His heart clenched, and he rushed over. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that, aside from being covered in soot and having a few scrapes, she had no life-threatening injuries. ’So her old flame... died in the attack?’
With a mix of complicated emotions, Yun Hua gently patted her back. "Let’s go back to the palace. It’s dangerous here."
"...Okay."
After they had handled things at the scene, they started back to the palace. Seeing Sang Luo looking so lifeless, as if she’d lost her soul, made Prince Yun Hua’s heart heavy as well.
When they passed a shop selling funeral supplies, he had the carriage stop. He personally disembarked, went inside, and bought some joss paper. "Here," he said, "burn some of this for him. It might make you feel a little better."
"..." The sight of the joss paper made Sang Luo’s eyes turn red, and the urge to cry became overwhelming.
Crown Prince Yun Hua panicked. "On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t!"
But Sang Luo took the large bag of joss paper from him and proceeded to burn it in the Crown Prince Palace for half a month straight.
Burning joss paper was strictly forbidden in the Eastern Palace. The punishment for being discovered was severe and absolute.
For a mere Dancing Girl to burn joss paper in the palace, right under the Crown Prince’s nose—and for another man, or so the rumors claimed—would be a crime punishable by beheading for anyone else!
Yet the Crown Prince showed no sign of displeasure. He even sent his men to buy more joss paper for her.
He would buy as much as she could burn.
Prince Yun Hua’s blatant and exclusive favor toward this Dancing Girl from a brothel led many to speculate in secret that he intended to make her his Crown Princess Consort. The rumor even reached the Emperor’s ears.
The Emperor was enraged. He summoned the Crown Prince for a meeting, personally warning him not to become infatuated with a woman’s beauty and tarnish the Royal Family’s good name...
Sang Luo remained oblivious to these rumors. Heartbroken, she even built a cenotaph for the deceased Fei Yuan, a memorial for her poor old Phoenix.
One evening, as she finished her nightly ritual of burning the newly purchased joss paper, a soft sigh drifted to her ears.
"If you keep burning those, you’re really going to shorten my lifespan."
Sang Luo whirled around to see the man’s incomparably handsome face, bathed in moonlight and graced with a faint smile.
Her eyes instantly welled with tears. She threw herself into Fei Yuan’s arms, her voice thick with emotion. "So you decided to come back after all!"
"’And what if I hadn’t? I couldn’t possibly leave my Little Luoruo here all alone.’ Fei Yuan cupped her face, wiping the damp tears from her cheeks with a helpless smile."
Sang Luo lightly pounded his chest in frustration. "For the last half-month, I couldn’t sense you at all! You couldn’t even send a single message! I... I really thought you were dead!"
"A Fire Phoenix can achieve nirvana and be reborn. I could die a few more times and still be fine," Fei Yuan said with a relaxed smile. "I took a little detour through the Ghost Realm. Luo’er, can you guess what I found?"
The question on the tip of Sang Luo’s tongue—’If you weren’t dead, why didn’t you come back?’—died in her throat. She looked down at his open palm. A cluster of ethereal Soul Energy coalesced into the form of a tiny, translucent fox. It flew from Fei Yuan’s palm to hers, nuzzling its face affectionately against her fingers.
"This is... Yan’s last soul fragment! You found it in the Ghost Realm!"
"Yes. Every time soul fragments are reincarnated into the Mortal World, they must pass through the Ghost Realm’s Ten Thousand World Water Mirror. Dun interfered and detained this particular soul fragment in the Ghost Realm, which is why it never managed to reincarnate." Fei Yuan explained that he hadn’t been able to find Yan’s soul fragment in the Mortal World, but he had sensed a trace of its aura on a Ghost Cultivator. That led him to a theory, and everything that followed proved him right: the Divine Venerable of the Ghost Domain had imprisoned the soul fragment there.
"That was far too reckless..."
Sang Luo didn’t want to lose one of her loves just to get a Beast Husband back.
"’Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ Fei Yuan’s gaze, filled with complex emotions, fell upon the ashes of the joss paper and the makeshift cenotaph. He gave her cheek a gentle pinch. ’So, you would have been this heartbroken if I’d actually died, huh?’"
Sang Luo buried her face in his chest and said earnestly, "I can’t imagine my life without you. I can’t lose you... Ah Yuan is very, very important to me!"
The arm Fei Yuan had around Sang Luo’s waist tightened, and his heart melted into a puddle. His Little Luoruo rarely uttered such sweet nothings, but whenever she did, he was utterly defenseless against them.
"Don’t worry. If I really died, I’d become a Fierce Ghost and haunt you day and night. For all eternity... you wouldn’t be able to shake me even if you tried."
Sang Luo gave his firm abdomen a light pinch. "In that case, you can just get lost!"
Seeing her finally smile through her tears, Fei Yuan smiled too. But then he remembered something, and his expression grew serious. "Did you fight that Ghost Venerable? Were you hurt?"
On his way back, he’d heard about the mysterious attack in the city half a month prior and had immediately guessed its origin. When Sang Luo nodded, Fei Yuan’s expression tensed further. He had rushed back as fast as possible, yet he still hadn’t been able to stop the Ghost Venerable from targeting her.
"He even disguised himself as you. For a moment, he almost had me fooled... But it was only a Split Soul, so I was strong enough to handle it."
"That Divine Venerable of the Ghost Domain is incredibly powerful. I’m sorry, Luo’er. I’m not his match, and I failed to protect you." Fei Yuan didn’t usually pay much attention to his Cultivation, but now he was filled with deep regret. If he could just break through to the Divine Venerable realm, he wouldn’t have needed to take such a risk, and she wouldn’t have had to worry for so long.
"He’s an old monster who’s lived for more than a hundred thousand years, from the same era as Yan. You don’t need to compare yourself to an old deviant like that."
Fei Yuan saw Sang Luo grind her teeth in fury at the mere mention of the man, and noted how clearly she knew his history. A sudden thought struck him. "Luo’er... don’t tell me you know the Divine Venerable of the Ghost Domain?"
"The deviant I met one hundred thousand years ago... Ye Wushuang, the Pavilion Master of Yeque Pavilion... that’s him! The Divine Venerable of the Ghost Domain, Dun!"
Sang Luo then gave Fei Yuan a rough summary of what had happened all those years ago.
She deliberately omitted the complicated history of love and hate between herself and Ye Wushuang, but Fei Yuan could still sense the undercurrents. His expression grew even more grave. "He won’t let you off the hook so easily. He’ll definitely look for a chance to get his revenge. Once we’re finished here, I’m taking you back to the Beast World."
Sang Luo nodded, her voice urgent. "Dun is sure to realize this soul fragment is missing soon. He might even come after us again. We need to move fast. What’s our next step?"
As she spoke, a gray pigeon flew over the wall and landed on her hand, a small scroll tied to its delicate leg.
