her hot breath landed directly on her, igniting a fire throughout her body.
If she had started the fire initially, she was now adding wood to it.
As she became the fire, she became the water—softening because of her, drowning in her.
She slowly swallowed her completely. Only when she was sure she was fully ready did she press down hard. After a brief moment of pain, a different kind of pleasure surged through both of them.
At that exact moment, the vines on the backs of the Venerable Yanluo and the Yanhou (Queen of the Underworld) extended, slowly blooming flowers that then intertwined with each other.
The purple-gold red ropes on Yan Aohan’s left wrist and Zhu Yanyi’s right wrist reappeared. The two red ropes twisted together, binding deeper and deeper.
From this moment on, their destined marriage could never be stripped from them.
Again and again, over and over. From her initial teasing to her final pleas, it all became the most beautiful melody of the night.
It was a moonless night, but the dim light was hazy. When all movement finally settled, Yan Aohan looked at his lover, who had fainted from his efforts. Satisfaction and tenderness filled his face.
“Silly girl, this is the happiest gift I’ve ever received. Thank you for your preparation over these years.” Yan Aohan understood Zhu Yanyi’s heart perfectly.
She knew her worries. she believed no one could compare to her, but she was twelve years older than her. Sometimes, she feared she might not be able to hold onto her forever.
Last year, he could say he wasn’t even thirty yet, still young, and could wait. But after the New Year, though he had only aged one year, he suddenly felt a vast distance between them.
She was not yet twenty, while she was already thirty. The gap felt wide.
This made her cling to her more closely. Whenever she had time, she didn’t want to be far from her.
She must have seen her hidden worries, so she gave her the best gift for her thirtieth birthday.
She kissed her forehead gently, then got up, picked her up, and went to clean her.
“I want to sleep,” Zhu Yanyi said, too exhausted to lift her hands.
“Be good. You sleep, and I’ll clean you up,” Yan Aohan said softly.
Zhu Yanyi didn’t care anymore and fell asleep immediately. Seeing her completely defenseless, Yan Aohan chuckled lightly.
She carefully carried her to the bathroom, cleaned her, and then carried her back out. She first changed the messy white bedspread, which bore blood-red plum blossom marks, and then gently placed her on the bed, covering her with a quilt.
Then, he took the white bedspread to the balcony. With a slight wave of his hand, the bedspread floated up in the air without wind, standing vertically.
her eyes instantly turned into two whirlpools—one black, one white. she bit her finger. No one noticed that her blood droplets were golden. she dropped the golden blood onto the blood-red plum blossom. A ripple spread out, and a faint voice echoed: “Heaven and earth, yin and yang harmonized. Venerable Yanluo descends, Yanhou returns to her position.”
She opened her palm, and the Earth Book appeared. She opened it, and the bedspread transformed into a page, naturally binding into the book. Four large characters appeared on the Earth Book: Yanhou Returns to Position.
A satisfied smile appeared on her face. Good. She had returned to her position. Even though they weren’t married yet, she truly belonged to her.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yanyi found herself in a dream. This dream was strange, particularly its atmosphere.
The sky was blue, yet seemed somewhat black. Zhu Yanyi couldn’t tell if the sky was truly blue or black.
She saw a woman cultivating a field of medicinal herbs.
The woman looked up. Zhu Yanyi paused slightly. The cinnabar mark on her forehead, the delicate cheeks, the satisfied expression—it was clearly her own face.
The woman carefully used her wood ability to nurture the herbs, then smiled with satisfaction.
Looking at the ripe herbs nearby, she carefully picked them, refining them as she went. Zhu Yanyi was certain this woman’s wood ability was higher than her own, as she hadn’t reached that level yet.
Suddenly, a black smoke rushed over. The woman seemed to notice it and sighed slightly. “The resentment in the human world has deepened again, Binglan. Don’t you think so?”
A blue flame emerged from behind her, swaying gently.
She patted the blue flame. “Alright, rest well. We need to refine pills tonight.”
Then, looking at the black smoke, she flipped her left hand, and a book instantly appeared—the Human Book.
Zhu Yanyi was sure she wasn’t mistaken. It was the Human Book. Then she heard the woman begin to chant: “Heaven and earth, heaven, earth, and humanity divided. The Heaven Book determines heaven, the Earth Book suppresses earth, the Human Book ferries humans. I am the Human Book, ferrying people and souls. Souls return to their homeland, clearly defined. In the next life, return to clarity. Therefore, ferry all who can be ferried, ferry all souls that can be ferried. Souls, return! Ferry the souls!”
The black smoke entered the white Human Book and disappeared.
The woman looked at the sky, as if deep in thought. After a long while, she said, “Do humans really have so much sorrow and resentment? How can this sorrow be resolved?”
“To resolve it, one must first experience it.” A voice spoke. A red figure appeared. The figure turned its head. Before Zhu Yanyi could see clearly, she felt her eyes were particularly deep. Then, a headache struck, her vision blurred, and she woke up.
“Ani, what’s wrong?” Yan Aohan asked immediately upon seeing Zhu Yanyi wake up.
Zhu Yanyi shook her head slightly. She felt an indescribable strangeness. “I had a strange dream. I dreamed of a woman who looked exactly like me. She also had wood ability, the Human Book, and Binglan. But her personality was gentler than mine. I’m not that gentle.”
“She felt that humans had too much sorrow and wanted to resolve it. A person in red appeared and told her that to resolve it, one must first experience it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good look at who the person in red was. I only felt her eyes glance at me, then my head hurt, my vision blurred, and I woke up.”
Yan Aohan listened patiently to Zhu Yanyi’s words, then smiled slightly. “Don’t worry too much about things you don’t understand. Besides, for you right now, it’s just a dream.”
Zhu Yanyi shook her head slightly. “I always feel that the woman in the dream is related to me. Otherwise, why would we look exactly alike?”
“Then what do you think is the relationship between that woman and you?” Yan Aohan asked back.
“Probably my past life,” Zhu Yanyi said, then laughed heartily. “Otherwise, why would I dream of her?”
Yan Aohan chuckled lightly. “Dreaming is just dreaming. Past life is past life. You possess this current life. Why worry about the previous one?”