Against the Gods

The woman in the red dress looked pale and haggard. The light in her eyes looked like it was losing strength. Her illness was so severe that her countenance was beginning to show signs of age.

Even so, no one would doubt that she used to be devastatingly beautiful during her better days.

Yun Che knew immediately that she was the mother of Xia Qingyue, Yue Wugou.

He never thought that he would “meet” his mother-in-law—a woman who once shook the God Realm with her beauty, and yet led a life that could only be described as miserable—under such circumstances.

Yue Wuya rose to his feet and smiled gently at her. “The healing process is growing smoother and smoother as of late. If you take about twenty four hours of rest and avoid using your profound energy during this time, I’m sure you’ll get better over time, Wugou.”

His expression was relaxed, but there was a flash of well-hidden pain in his eyes.

Yue Wugou knew that he was trying to console her, so she responded with a peaceful smile and said, “Don’t worry, Wuya. I’ll do my best to recover. I still wish to accompany my daughter a couple more years after all.”

“Thank you for your aid, senior.”

She had witnessed this scene countless times already, and yet she never failed to be touched by it.

Back then, her mother had suddenly regained her memories and even some of her profound energy. However, it really was just a case of terminal lucidity.

Yue Wugou was going to commit suicide, but she ultimately chose to return to the Moon God Realm with all her power just so that she could meet Yue Wuya one final time. She did this knowing full well she might be rebuked and shamed for her infidelity. She was even prepared to be killed by her old lover.

However, Yue Wuya did the opposite of her fears and tried almost every method he could think of to drag out her life until now. He even went so far as to expend his precious blood essence again and again.

It was almost as if her mother’s life was so tragic that even the cruel heavens couldn’t help but shower her with a bit of good luck.

Yun Che was deeply moved by what he saw.

It was just an illusion, but he could still see that Yue Wugou was a candle in the wind that could be extinguished at any moment.

He found it difficult to believe that the god emperor of a king realm would go so far as to expend his blood essence to extend a lover’s life. It clearly wasn’t even the first time he did it.

Anyone would be stunned in his place.

Suddenly, he recalled that Yue Wuya was the only god emperor to have died in Jasmine’s hands when the king realms of the Eastern Divine Region had ganged up on her. That Yue Wuya was one of Jasmine’s most hated enemies was of course one of the reasons he died, but the prolonged expenditure of his blood essence might very well be the other.

“Qingyue,” Yue Wuya turned his gaze on Xia Qingyue, “I have something important I would like to speak to you about.”

“Please speak, senior.” She could see that Yue Wuya was serious about this.

The Moon God Emperor took a moment to choose his words, but in the end he decided that he would speak frankly, “I wish for you to become the Moon God Empress.”

Yun Che had known about this back then, so of course he wasn’t shocked by the revelation at all. However,  the same couldn’t be said for the Xia Qingyue of the time.

“What did you say!?” Her brows knitted, and the gratefulness in her eyes instantly became replaced by frigidness. She even took a step away from him.

“It is not what you think it is. Please allow me the time to finish.” Yue Wuya wasn’t surprised by Xia Qingyue’s reaction in the slightest. He continued in an indifferent tone, “To put it simply, it will just be an empty title to you. You don’t have to perform any of the duties that are expected of the Moon God Empress.”

“Empty?” Xia Qingyue’s frown remained deep and frigid. “If you are simply ‘bestowing’ me the title of an imperial concubine, then sure. However, the Moon God Empress is a different thing entirely! A great wedding must be held, and an invitation must be sent out to the entire God Realm! The title is anything but meaningless!”

“Calm down, Qingyue.” This time, Yue Wugou was the one who spoke up. She shook her head with a smile and spoke with a voice that sounded like the soothing wind, “I promise you that he has no interest in you that way. Just let him finish first, will you?”

Yue Wuya nodded. “You are correct. I will be holding a great wedding, and I will send out invitations to all the realms… However, the bride who will be attending the marriage is your mother, not you. All I ask of you is to show your face one time.”

“...?” Xia Qingyue grew even more confused. “What are you saying, senior?”

Yue Wuya explained, “When the time comes, I shall hold the greatest ‘divine moon in the sky’ in history in Divine Moon City. Before the wedding ceremony, you will appear briefly so that the world will memorize your face, your aura and your name. They will realize that you possess the ‘Heart of Snow Glazed Glass’ and ‘Nine Profound Exquisite Body’ and understand why I made you the Moon God Empress.”

“After that, I will execute the ‘Moon Star Substitution’ technique and transfer your aura to your mother. It won’t last for too long, but combined with the rich moon aura of the ‘divine moon in the sky’, it will fool everyone long enough for us to finish the wedding ceremony with your mother.”

Yue Wuya slowly closed his eyes and said solemnly, “It has always been my lifelong regret that I wasn’t able to marry your mother back then.

“Ridiculous!” The favors she owed to Yue Wuya were as heavy as a mountain, but she still couldn’t stop herself from blurting the word. “If you truly love my mother, if you truly wish to marry her, you wouldn’t care about the opinions of the masses.”

Yue Wuya shook his head slowly. “I won’t defend myself. If one day you are in my position, you will understand that there are too many things which even a god emperor cannot resolve.”

“However, marrying your mother and eliminating one of my lifelong regrets is but the secondary objective of my proposal. I’m doing this… for your sake.”

“... for me?”

“Qingyue, you may have come from the lower realms, but you understand how special you really are, right?” Yue Wuya’s voice deepened. “The Heart of Snow Glazed Glass, the Nine Profound Exquisite Body. Both of these traits—especially the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass, which hadn’t appeared again since six hundred thousand years ago—would be considered an unparalleled gift from the heavenly way.”

“In fact, the previous owner of the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass was the founding ancestor of the Eternal Heaven Realm herself.”

“However, for both the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass and the Nine Profound Exquisite Body to appear on the same person…” Yue Wuya sighed a little. “I have gone through many scriptures in the past couple of years, so I can say with certainty that it is unprecedented in the entire history of the God Realm.”

She did understand what he was saying. She was no longer the child who knew nothing when she first arrived in the God Realm after all.

“For the past few years, you haven’t taken a single step from this pocket world. It isn’t an imprisonment, but it may as well be one. It is because your existence will shake the entire God Realm the moment you reveal yourself to the world. The moment they learn that you have the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass and the Nine Profound Exquisite Body, you will never enjoy peace in your life ever again.”

“Will that title really protect me?” Xia Qingyue asked dubiously, “Back then, the entire world knew that my mother was your Empress back then, but she still failed to escape her villains’ clutches…”

Xia Qingyue’s accusation dragged Yue Wuya’s most painful memories into the light. His features contorted, and it took him a couple of moments before he finally calmed himself enough to say, “And I have learned my lesson. The empty title will not protect you, no…”

He raised his arm and summoned a purple light that looked as pure as crystal.  “But my Purple Pylon divine power and my throne will!”

This time, even Yue Wugou was surprised by his declaration.

“He wasn’t joking after all,” Yue Wugou whispered to herself.

“You want me… to inherit your Purple Pylon divine power?” Xia Qingyue could hardly believe her ears.

She was born in a lower realm, so of course she didn’t possess the bloodline of her Moon God. However, her Nine Profound Exquisite Body allowed her to inherit any divine power perfectly—even if it was the divine power of a Moon God. 

“And my throne,” Yue Wuya emphasized tirelessly. “Qingyue, you are ultimately an outsider to the Moon God Realm, and even the fact that you carry both the Nine Profound Exquisite Body and the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass isn’t enough to make my realm treat you like one of our own. If we are to make you the Moon God Empress, however… then the objections against me passing my powers and my throne to you will not be so overwhelming that I cannot force it to happen.”

Xia Qingyue shook her head slowly. “I don’t understand…”

Yue Wuya looked Xia Qingyue in the eye with none of the pressure a God Emperor should have, and only the purest sincerity. “Believe me when I say that I haven’t made this choice out of impulse. I have thought long and hard before I made up my mind.”

In summary, Yue Wuya was offering Xia Qingyue his Moon God divine power and the throne of a god emperor… for a time, even he couldn’t believe that he would make such a decision.

He was certain that Xia Qingyue would accept his offer though. There was no reason for her to reject the highest level of power and status available to the current universe be it for her own safety or control over her own fate.

However, he saw Xia Qingyue slowly but firmly shaking her head in clear rejection.

“Senior, the favors my mother and I owe you are as heavy as a mountain. If one day I have to die to repay them, I will still march to my death without a shred of regret or resentment in my heart.” Xia Qingyue’s eyes were as clear as a mirror, and there was almost no struggle or hesitation in her voice whatsoever. “However… I cannot agree to this.”

“Why?” Yue Wuya frowned deeply in puzzlement. “Be it you, your mother or me, this arrangement is absolutely beneficial to all of us! Even if something were to happen during the wedding ceremony, I am the one who will be bearing all the consequences. What possible reason do you have to reject this?”

Xia Qingyue simply closed her eyes and said, “I’m sorry for disappointing you.”

No one could possibly know what she was thinking right then.

“Qingyue, you—” 

“Enough, Wuya.” Yue Wugou lightly interrupted her lover. “Do not force her if she doesn’t wish to accept it.”

Her soft rebuke was enough to make Yue Wuya swallow his words back down his throat. He let out a quiet sigh and said, “Maybe I was too hasty. Do take your time to consider this, Qingyue… just know that I don’t have much time left.”

“What do you mean?” Xia Qingyue looked up.

“It is exactly what it sounds like,” Yue Wuya replied in an indifferent tone. “I have received a prophecy from the Heavenly Mystery Realm. I will be dead in five years at most.”

He wanted to tell her that her mother was running out of time as well… but he couldn’t possibly say such cruel things in the presence of Yue Wugou.

Xia Qingyue frowned slightly. “Senior, you are the Moon God Emperor. How can you believe in such—”

“I know what you mean.” Yue Wuya interrupted her before continuing in a low tone, “However… it is a prophecy from the Heavenly Mystery Realm.”

He ended his talk with Xia Qingyue on that ominous note before half-crouching beside Yue Wugou. After enveloping her in a blanket of gentle moonlight, he said, “Rest well, Wugou. I will return to see you tomorrow.”

Yue Wugou looked at him and said, “You are a busy man. You don’t need to visit me so frequently.”

Yue Wuya simply smiled and brushed a finger across Yue Wugou’s cheek. His movement was so gentle that it looked like he was touching a warm jade that might shatter at the slightest touch. Finally, he rose to his feet and walked away from the pocket world.

After seeing Yue Wuya off, Xia Qingyue moved to her mother’s side and asked her in a soft tone, “Was what he said… your wish too, mother?”

Yue Wugou held her daughter’s hands and said in an even but weak voice, “Yes. It is my lifelong regret that we weren’t able to marry. But…”

Xia Hongyi’s image flashed across Yue Wugou’s eyes, pierced her heart and spread the pain across her entire soul. She shook her head to clear the image before smiling. “It doesn’t matter. You are my daughter, Qingyue. I want you to be able to live the life you wish to live. You don’t have to force yourself to do something you don’t want to do.”

Xia Qingyue’s lips parted, but she didn’t say anything.

“Speaking of which…” Yue Wugou’s gaze and smile suddenly grew warmer. “It looks like your relationship with that Yun Che you spoke of was much deeper than you described.”

Startled, Xia Qingyue answered a bit dazedly, “We were husband and wife, but we didn’t consummate our marriage. Moreover, I left him after our wedding day, and the number of times we met each other again after that can be counted on two hands. With that in mind, how could it possibly be a deep relationship?”

“Even so…” Xia Qingyue shook her head. “I find it… difficult to accept such a proposal even though he is no longer in this world.”

Yue Wugou watched her daughter’s eyes dotingly. “I am sad that your boy didn’t survive the jealousy of the heavens, but I still think he is very lucky to have someone like you care for him.”

Yue Wugou then changed the subject and said, “However, you should understand just how great of a fortune and misfortune it is to possess both the Nine Profound Exquisite Body and the Heart of Snow Glazed Glass. Had you cultivated without guidance in this ambitious and dangerous world… heaven knows how long it would’ve taken for you to leave this place.”

Xia Qingyue looked at the sky and said dazedly, “I didn’t even realize so much time had passed.”

When she wasn’t accompanying her mother, she was either reading up on the God Realm or cultivating. The latter took up at least eighty percent of the time she had been here.

“Now that he mentioned it, I actually feel like heading out to see how the outside world is doing.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Yue Wugou shook her head smilingly. “Even if you somehow convince me to say yes, he was the one who set up the barrier at the entrance. Only those who are directly connected to him by blood are allowed to enter this place. Also, you know why he ‘imprisoned’ you here. It is so that you can enjoy the peace and quiet.”

“I understand.”

“Speaking of the outside world,” Yue Wugou’s voice suddenly softened, and her eyes grew unfocused. “Today is your father’s birthday, isn’t it?”

“...” Xia Qingyue’s lips parted as she mumbled. “Father’s… birthday…”

Suddenly, she realized that she didn’t remember her father’s birthday.

Maybe it was because she had spoken for too long for the day, but Yue Wugou’s aura suddenly showed signs of weakening. Xia Qingyue hurriedly supported her mother, lay her down on the grass and said, “Rest well, mother.”

“Mn.” Yue Wugou responded and closed her eyes. A short time later, she had fallen into a peaceful slumber.

After watching over her mother for a moment, Xia Qingyue rose to her feet and walked almost aimlessly.

Xia Hongyi, my father.

It had been years since I met him, but I hadn’t visited him even once after I entered the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace.

Today, I just realized that I didn’t even remember his birthday.

He deeply loved my mother… he would cry soundlessly to himself watching images of her… He often mumbled her name beneath his breath… He never played the string again after she left… I wanted him to reunite with my mother… It was the reason I began cultivating in the first place.

So why… why do I remember so little about him…? And why do I only have memories that are related to my mother…?

During my time in the God Realm, I had thought about Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, Yuanba, the fate of the Blue Wind Nation and many more things… but not him. Not even once.

I… don’t even remember his face very well anymore…

He was my father for sixteen years…

Sixteen years of memories… and they are so faint it’s almost as if they never existed in the first place.

Am I… really such a cold-blooded person?

She continued walking in this state for god knows how long. Before she knew it, she had arrived at the entrance of the pocket world.

The light purple barrier glowed with a gentle but tenacious light.

After staring at the barrier she couldn’t step through for both tangible and intangible reasons, she suddenly found herself lifting a hand to touch it. She didn’t know why.

Instead of the expected resistance and dissonant noise, her hand passed right through it like it never was.

“...” For a long time, Xia Qingyue could only stare at her hand and the pierced barrier.

After she withdrew it, she abruptly flew all the way back to her mother’s side.

Yue Wugou was still sleeping peacefully. Nearby her was the pool of blood that Yue Wuya had spat not long ago.

Heart beating wildly for no apparent reason, Xia Qingyue summoned a bead of blood from her fingertip and another from Yue Wuya’s blood.

When the two beads of blood made contact with each other and mingled perfectly with one another, her eyes lost focus entirely…

    ————

Author’s Note: Who else dares to call me short? (▼ヘ▼#)

T/N: To provide context, one of the most popular lines Chinese web novel readers like to spam their author is “short and impotent”.