Heavy Sweetness Ash-Like Frost

Chapter 23: No Door For Redemption (Part 2 of 4)

"Mi Er."

   I continued to play with the flowers and grass with my hands, and pretended I did not hear anything. He has imprisoned me for three months. No matter how much I pleaded, there was only a gentle reply, "I will not let you go, and will not tell you what is the missing medicine in the golden pill. When spring arrives, we will get married."

  After a month, I stopped pleading with him, and I also stopped speaking. I only treated him as a thorn. He came everyday, always speaking to me gently and softly. He looked after my three meals, so dedicated that he even controlled the temperature of the tea and water perfectly. He was scared my waist hurt from sitting, scared my back would hurt from lying down - he acted as if he hated that I could not be placed in his palm to care for. The immortal attendants all cried injustice for him. They all felt that I was blind and such a devoted man like the Heavenly Emperor was few in this world.

  Yes, how can a man treat a woman so well in this world? If such a thing happened, then it must be false. Perfection is an illusion. If I had not personally experienced it, who would believe that behind such gentleness and elegance lied such fierce cruelty?

  "All of you go down, I want to speak alone to the Water God." He waved his hands and the immortal attendants retreated. He bent down, "Mi Er, are you farming?"

  My hands paused, it was his voice, it was his breath, but this tone...

  "Beauty... Mi Er, why are you not rising to greet me? You cannot rely on my fondness for you and be so rude. Do you know why I became the Heavenly Emperor? One good point is that besides the Heavenly Empress, I can also marry many concubines."

  I placed down my shovel and answered, "Whatever." I haven't spoke in a long time and my voice was a little hoarse.

  "Ah ya, what impertinence, looks like I have to personally teach you," He single-handedly held his chin, looking as if he was in pain and sadness, "But, how should I teach you?"

  Suddenly, he touched my hand and I was so shocked that I wanted to lift the shovel to hit him. But, he squeezed my palm and said seriously, "I shall bring you to a room and carefully teach you!"

  Quickly, he pulled me hurriedly towards the bedroom, the attendants that we passed along the way saw us holding our hands and the direction we were heading too, all of them gave a relieved and pleased smile. My face darkened.

  "Why have you come?" Once we entered the bedroom, I pushed away Master Pu Chi's hand.

  "Beauty, you have hurt my heart. Today, I risked my life to become the hero that saves the beauty!" Master Pu Chi's face made a bitter expression. Seeing him use the Heavenly Emperor's face to make such an expression made me feel very uncomfortable.

  "Let's not waste time. It was so difficult to wait for today where the Great Buddha is giving a sermon, and he has left the Heavenly Realms. We cannot wait any longer or he will return," Master Pu Chi took out two common hill mynas (birds) from his sleeves and a placed a piece of paper on the table.

  On the paper were a line of words, "Borrowing the Water God to discover the true essence of mutual cultivation."

  The moment I realised what the words were, I heard the two mynas standing on top of the bed and started to sing.

  "Ah..... Ah! No.... naughty...""

   "En.... hen.... en... you are so beautiful!"

   Then there was chirping water sounds.

  I was dazed and only woke up when Master Pu Chi wordlessly pulled me to fly out of the back window. I almost fell down. There was an almost untraceable breach in the closed divine boundary at the backyard, Master Pu Chi pulled me and I turned into vapour and slipped out. We flew all the way to the side of the Heavenly river. He pushed me into the Heavenly river and followed after. Using the Heavenly river, we avoided a team of surveilling Heavenly soldiers who had flew by the Heavenly river out of the Heavenly Realms at the same time.

  I saw from afar a youth dressed in red silk clothes. Master Pu Chi returned to his original appearance and patted on the youth's shoulder. The youth nearly fell, he was the Moon God. 

  Master Pu Chi said, "Dan Zhu, many thanks for using your weapon to help us open an exit."

  The Moon God pursed his red lips and unwillingly looked at me, but spoke to Maste Pu Chi, "I was helping you, not helping her! Since you are out, I'm going to leave!"

  Master Pu Chi lifted his brows and said, "Why the older your face is the thinner your skin. You don't have to be shy, there is no separation of the Beauty and I." After he spoke, he pulled my hand and said heartbrokenly, "Pity my Beauty, she was already so slim, but she has become even thinner. And forced to do farming by the Heavenly Emperor every day, look, your thumb has slimmed down by a circle! If this went on, you will become a farmer's wife!"

  I seriously kept back my hand, "Many thanks to Master Pu Chi's care, but what you saw was the little finger and not the thumb."

  "Ah, no wonder it was so long!" Master Pu Chi continued, "Beauty, with much difficulty, I picked this date where the Heavenly Emperor will be out, and used a divine pill I've secretly kept for fifty thousand years which allowed me to copy his expression and looks, and worked with Dan Zhu to steal you out of the Heavenly Realms. Facing this hard earned freedom, with the Moon God here, and before the Heavenly Emperor discovers, what wish do you have, just say it!"

  I froze, Master Pu Chi batted his eyes coquettishly at me and added, "For example, the wish to elope."

  The Moon God stood at one side, his face had the sternest expression I had ever seen, as he steadfastly looked at me.

   I lowered my eyes. After a long time, I raised my courage and spoke in a voice that only I could hear, "I want to go the Demon Realms, I want to see him..." My eyes soured and something seemed to slipped out, I quickly raised my eyes and tried to blink it away.

  Master Pu Chi let out a long sigh, "Heavens is unfair!"

  The Moon God seemed to let out a very long breath then turned his face away, "I will not help you again. If you want to go, then go. If not for how I pushed you to Phoenix before, he might not have been poisoned by you and fell for you. I cannot harm Phoenix again." He flipped his sleeves and turned to leave.

  I seriously bowed towards the Moon God and Master Pu Chi, "Jin Mi is eternally grateful for Master Yan You and the Moon God's true help in my moment of danger. In future, I will definitely do my utmost to repay both of you!"

  When I turned and left, I heard Master Pu Chi cry, "How can this be? How can this be? I haven't even travelled with the Water God before to Wu mountain..."

  I have never entered the Demon Realms before without transforming myself. Maybe it was because my divine aura was a little out of place, the demons along the way all stopped to look at me and whisper.

  "I have never seen a demon that looked like this. Is this someone new from the eighteen levels of hell?"

  "Stupid! What demon, can't you smell the godly aura?"

  "Ah! It's a god! Too bad she has such a beautiful appearance, why did she degenerate until becoming a god, what a pity..."

  Finally, I found the wordless wooden sign. I took in a deep breath and knocked on the door. For a long time, no one answered. Only the guard dog demons at the door expressionlessly looked at me. After a long while, I knocked on the door again. It took about the time for three scented incense to burnt, I finally heard the big door give out a loud sound and two demonesses walked out.

  "What's the matter?"

   "Could you inform your master, say... say Jin Mi seeks an audience."

  "Jin Mi? The Great One will not easily see unknown people," One of the demonesses answered with impatience and reached out to close the door. 

  I hurriedly reached out to stop her and added, "Then please say the Water God Jin Mi seeks an audience."

   The female demoness froze and dazedly looked at me. The other demoness looked like she was struck by lightning and appeared very frightened. She repeated, "Water God... which Water God? Unless it is?"

  The two demonesses stared at each other, then without hesitating closed the main door. The closing of the main door almost clipped my nose. I stood dazed with a bitter smile on my lips. I then lifted up my head to the sky and then lowered my head to stare at my toes.

  Surprisingly, the doors opened again and the two demonesses returned with a strange despising look on their face. Unwillingly, they said, "The Great One has ordered for the Water God to follow us in."

Comments: Yes, oh my goodness, they are finally meeting! I don't mean to stop at such a cliffhanger but there's honestly no better place to stop for now. Phoenix and Jin Mi, they are finally going to meet face to face as themselves. 

I write this without knowing what lies ahead except from my faint memory. I remember it being very intense and very difficult. I think it answers all sorts of answers in your heart, but provides both sweetness and pain. Ah, pain. 

Still, I really think Jin Mi has grown a long way and became a female lead that I really like. For someone who ate the Unfeeling pill and was never very knowledgeable about herself, she has grown to be very conscious of what is right and wrong - what is love and hate. 

And once, she learnt that she loved Phoenix and she deserved his hate, she still goes to Phoenix boldly to face the yearnings in her heart and the wrongs of her past. For, only then, can they find a future. 

Also, I wanted to write my little Ode on Master Pu Chi. I know he isn't a favourite character for some, but I really like him. Haha. In fact, I liked him so much that he is a character that I may write a fan fiction on, or create my own fiction inspired with his character. I really appreciate how he is a character whose impression changes for me. At first, you won't really like him very much because Jin Mi sees him as greasy. But, when you look at the overall story overall, actually he is a good-looking once great God. He has an overly flirtatious character and is very flippant on emotions and words. His ego is hilarious - one can never really tell if it's true, or hiding a more sensitive heart. But, I like to think that Master Pu Chi is actually very sensitive. 

For the greatest flirt, isn't he the most loyal? Regardless of what the world think of Jin Mi - her beauty, her coldness, her betrayal of Phoenix - he always saw her for herself. I don't think he was overwhelmed by her beauty, but I actually think he saw some parts of the older Flower Goddess in Jin Mi, and had some sympathy for the quiet tragedy that seems to accompany beauties that attract more men than they can cope with. I often wonder if Master Pu Chi actually wanted Jin Mi for herself, because despite his words, I did not think so.

I loved the part most when after he saved her, he asked her - what is your true heart's desire? Master Pu Chi already knows it, but I think he is reminding her to follow her heart because freedom is so hard-earned.

So, unlike the Heavenly Emperor, who professes he loves Jin Mi, but imprisons her. Or, Phoenix, who possessively guarded Jin Mi's heart and body, but often threatens to kill her.

There is Master Pu Chi. Who always called her Beauty. Who saved her when she was in need.  Who asked her what her heart desired. And, when she chose to leave him, sent her off with only a sweet mournful cry of what could be.