More than one thousand years?
What kind of concept was more than one thousand years?
If she could live up to eighty years within a single lifetime, then that was enough to become tens of her lifetimes. Hundreds of thousands of suns and moons. For such an unimaginable amount of time, Fu Wang had been imprisoned somewhere and made to suffer in his every waking moment?
The passage wasn’t clear about this part, but as Shu Yu read on, her heart twisted and she almost suffocated from just imagining it. That person who cradled her carefully and preciously in the palm of his hand, who enveloped her in tenderness so firmly that escape was unfathomable— was he still alive?
Since so much time had passed, this record was practically a legend. Shu Yu, who stood there in a daze, suddenly shuddered as the book slipped from her hand and dropped on the ground, but she ignored that and instead rushed through the bookshelf, looking for books that could’ve recorded anything. Sure enough after a while, she found several mythos that were related to this “Devil Lord”.
Some of them spoke of how he was fond of devouring souls and spirits. Some claimed he was heartless, merciless, and ruthless, with a penchant for slaughter. Some described his avarice and greed and how he built a luxurious castle for monsters in a hidden location. But there was one thing in common—— No one knew what he had done, but he wrought upon himself divine punishment from the Heavenly Dao, which imprisoned him within Acheron Mountain and sentenced him to the eternal and inescapable torment of having his soul flogged, each and every day.
No book ever mentioned the name of this Devil Lord, but Shu Yu was sure, this Devil Lord was Fu Wang.
But it’s been so very long, what should she do? What can she do? Where was Acheron Mountain? Was Fu Wang still alive? If he was, did he still remember her?
One thousand years and more. Compared to the year and so they had spent together, such amount of time would’ve been enough to erode everything.
Shu Yu was kneeling on the ground, her forehead pressed against the bookshelf as her tears dripped one after another and plopped on the ground. In the beginning she just shed tears silently, but after a while she seemed to be unable to contain herself and burst out into loud sobbing. The anguish and sadness in her cries were clear to anyone who could’ve heard.
Outside, it started raining heavily with the sounds of pitter-patter and the rumbling of thunder. Lightning flashed through the rolling clouds, looking like they could cut through the sky.
With another ear-shattering clap of thunder, all the candles in the room were extinguished at once. A flash of lightning lit up the room for a single instant, illuminating the shadow of a silent, tall figure standing behind the bookshelf Shu Yu was leaning on.
Shu Yu was so immersed in misery that she didn’t notice the changes around her at all, it wasn’t until her voice became almost hoarse from crying that she noticed a person had been standing in front of her for who knows how long. The candles within the room were out and only the occasional lightning outside flashed through, and against the white-jade mask on this person’s face, it made him appear slightly frightening and eerie.
Shu Yu’s cries were choked into silence by the fright of the Grand Advisor’s sudden and soundless appearance. Then she wiped her tears with her sleeves and stood up using the bookshelf as an anchor, she looked straight at him, and asked with a hoarse voice, “Grand Advisor? I’ve heard, there’s nothing upon this world that the Grand Advisor doesn’t know. I wish for you to answer my doubts. If you’re willing to help me, then no matter what you want in exchange, as long as I have it, I can give it to you!”
She had thought a lot about this. High-end creatures such as the Grand Advisors have always been cheat codes within novel plotlines. As a matter of fact, as long as he was willing to tell her Fu Wang’s whereabouts, then no matter if it was gathering the seven dragon balls or destroying the shikon no tama1T/N: YES this is a direct reference to Dragon Ball and Inuyasha., or heck, even if the request was something like having to go on a pilgrimage to the west in search of sacred sutras2西天取经, Pilgrimage to the west for Buddhist Sutras. This is from the chinese novel classic named “Journey to the West” (西游记), which accounts the legendary pilgrimage of Xuan Zang who travels to the west in search of the sacred texts with his disciples. I’m pretty sure it’s a MUST READ for any chinese student in middle school (speaking from experience…), it’s even one of the heavy points in most exams and gaokao., she would do it no matter what.
However, Shu Yu never expected one thing; she had been prepared to agree to being sent off to fetch sacred sutras in the western heavens, but after being silent for a moment, the seemingly detached Grand Advisor opened his mouth and said unexpectedly: “And if I say, the price is to accompany me for a night?”
His tone was cold like the ice in the frostiest of winters, without a single speck of emotion.
Shu Yu couldn’t help her dumbfounded expression. Uncertain, she asked, “Accompany you for a night? Chatting with you? Playing chess?”
The Grand Advisor was blunt. He responded in that same chilly voice, “To sleep.”
Shu Yu, whose eyes were swollen from crying, couldn’t help but gawk internally.
This sleep seemed to be the verb for sleeping, but if it was like this, she’d rather go and collect all seven dragon balls in order to summon the divine dragon god! If she really agreed to this, Fu Wang would be furious when he found out later, he would be without a doubt extremely pissed off! Although Fu Wang never showed it too obviously, Shu Yu would never dare to underestimate Fu Wang’s possessiveness.
At once, Shu Yu felt like her heart – which had been full of grief just moments ago – was now completely filled with woes. Wasn’t the setting of a Grand Advisor that of an ascetic with no desire or lust and who was detached from the earthly pleasures of humankind? How to say it, he should’ve been a high and lofty figure who could only cultivate through maintaining his purity. Right now, wasn’t his character setting shattering to pieces, since he was saying such words?
“Can you change your request?”
“No.” Saying this, the Grand Advisor turned and walked away. His long black hair cascaded behind him like flowing water and his voice was chilly: “Under these heavens, the only one who can respond to your doubts, is me.”
This mysterious Grand Advisor was dead set on sleeping with her. Shu Yu bet fifty cents that the reason why the Grand Advisor was acting like this was most definitely because of Situ Jingjing’s protagonist halo! It was very normal for everyone to love the white lotus after all! But she didn’t want this kind of rotten peach blossom3烂桃花, rotten peach blossom. Peach blossoms or 桃花 can stand for fortune with relations of the opposite sex, while rotten peach blossoms is basically unwanted or unfortunate fortune/encounters with the opposite sex. at all, she still had to go rescue her man who was still being tormented and get him out from that shitty Acheron Mountain.
Shu Yu saw he was almost reaching the door and hurriedly hounded behind him. She pestered him, “The Grand Advisor knows what I want to ask?”
“You seek someone. Acheron Mountain.”
Hearing this, Shu Yu quickened her steps and asked urgently, “Then is the person I want to find still alive? And where is Acheron Mountain? Can I still find him?”
The Grand Advisor stopped in his tracks but didn’t answer. Shu Yu waited for him to speak with bated breath, then she saw him turn his head and look down at her feet.
Shu Yu followed his gaze.
She realized she had accidentally stepped on the hem of his clothing, which had been dragging behind him on the ground.
No wonder he wasn’t leaving, it was because she had stepped on his clothes, but with his robes being so long it was normal for someone to step on them, wasn’t it? And his mask was secured firmly on his face, not even his eyes could be seen, how could he even see anything in front of him?
Shu Yu awkwardly stepped back. She asked again, “Could the Grand Advisor please tell me?”
“Sleep, or no?”
Shu Yu was conflicted. So very conflicted. But the Grand Advisor didn’t care about her inner struggle, he turned around and made his way outside. Shu Yu clenched her teeth and then yelled, “Wait!”
She struggled for a while more, before finally squeezing out one single word: “Sleep.”
.
.
.
Shu Yu sat in a bubbling and steaming bathtub, deeply feeling like fate was making a mockery of her. She felt like the heroine of a miserable plotline, she had escaped the coercions of the domineering emperor, but not the condescending deals of the high and frosty Grand Advisor.
But Fu Wang… No matter what he had become now, she needed to find him and then tell him, she was back.
They had parted in such a hasty and sharp manner. There was still so much she hadn’t said to him, there was still so many things she wanted to try with him.
Shu Yu clenched her firsts under the water, then she suddenly felt her hand being nipped by something and jumped a bit in fright. But when she looked closely, she realized that there were a group of… red goldfish in her bath?
Wait a moment, this was hot water, how could goldfish survive in hot water?
But she soon didn’t have the mind to think about that, because the group of small fish swam leisurely to her and after noticing that she was a harmless fellow, they started an ‘attack’ on her.
“Hahaha, that tickles!” Shu Yu flailed in an attempt to stop the little kisses from the fish, but this group of little goldfish thought she was playing with them and played even more enthusiastically around her, accidentally nipping her waist, which made Shu Yu practically jump out of her skin.
After being chased and nipped by such a bizarre grouping of little goldfish, Shu Yu’s feelings of distress strangely got better. She sat in the warm water of the pool and cupped a dopey-looking little goldfish in her hands and murmured, “I will definitely save you, wait for me, Da-Yu.”
The little goldfish flicked its tail dumbly and jumped out of her palm, returning to the water. Shu Yu zoned out for a bit more, trying to encourage herself.
But no matter how much she tried encouraging herself, when she came to the Grand Advisor’s room wearing a lightweight dress robe and looked at the bed which was so clean it looked like no one had ever laid on it before, she still shrank down in the bottom of her heart.
The Grand Advisor waited for her in his usual robes and once he saw her enter, he pointed at the bed. Shu Yu stiffly walked over, simultaneously moving the same sides of her arms and legs, and sat down. As the Grand Advisor came closer and closer, she almost jumped up.
Shu Yu assumed she would be unable to bear it, but when the Grand Advisor’s fingers pressed on her shoulder and the warmth of his palm spread to her skin through the thin silk of her robe, Shu Yu realized that she strangely felt a particular feeling of safety rising within her.
His tone was cold, but his hands were unexpectedly schorching. As this thought flashed through her head, Shu Yu couldn’t help but think of Ye Linhuai, who had also made her feel at ease.
Could it be that… as long as it was a man, she would feel at ease? Nonono, that was too weird! No matter how one looked at it, she wasn’t that kind of unreasonable person at all!
When she was pushed down on the bed, Shu Yu became slightly afraid. She didn’t realize how distressed her expression was, the panic in her eyes couldn’t even be hidden. Shu Yu only felt that the Grand Advisor seemed to take a pause, and then he waved his hand in front of her eyes and she fell into darkness, knocked out.
This night proved to be dreamless.
When she woke again, it was already morning of the next day. She laid on the Grand Advisor’s humongous bed, her body covered in a light and soft quilt, alone. The clothes on her body were intact and impeccable and there were no strange sensations nor marks on her body.
So, she was not slept with?
Was the Grand Master, in fact, messing with her?
She got out of bed and found some clothes folded neatly on the side, and on top of the clothes there was a piece of paper, which was written with: Acheron Mountain, in the present where sacred peaks exist no more, is where the most powerful cultivation sect, Malice-Suppressing Sect, resides.
Shu Yu clutched the piece of paper and read it several times. Her gaze was determined. She was going to this whatsoever Malice-Suppressing Sect and dig for information on Fu Wang and rescue him.
Shu Yu didn’t see the Grand Advisor again, and he didn’t keep her for breakfast either, he simply sent her back on a boat. As she sat on the vessel in deep thought on how to escape the heavily guarded palace, Shu Yu naturally didn’t see that above in the high pagoda, on the window of the highest floor, there was a single person sitting there.
Heavy black and white robes, ink-like hair bellowing with the breeze, and half his figure hanging outside as he reclined against the window frame—— It was as if he was going to be whisked away with the wind at any moment.
The Grand Advisor gazed down at the small boat and his hand reached up and removed the white jade mask on his face, revealing facial features that were identical to Ye Linhuai’s, except that there was a striking blood-red color on his forehead. His eyes, as well, were also dyed in a crimson akin to that of fresh blood.
His lips were smiling but bathed under the warm rays of sunshine after rain, this did not give people the feeling of ‘warmth’, and instead it unreasonably gave off a sense of ruthlessness and bloodshed. Those eyes seemed to be concealing a bloody, gory purgatory within their depths, which would’ve made any onlookers be unable to stare directly at him.
Turning his wrist over, a single purplish-blue stardew blossom was revealed in his palm. After playing with the delicate flower for a bit, he suddenly parted his lips and plopped the blossom into his mouth.
He meticulously chewed on it, and then swallowed.
A sinister and eerie smile appeared on his lips.
It was completely identical to how the terrific Devil Lord smiled in the records.
“Go. Go on and find ‘him’… Except, can you truly get him back, Xiao-Yu?”
This was a cold, stagnant voice, speaking so low it was almost inaudible.
Chapter Description: Grand Advisor: Go, Young Girl.4去吧，少女. This could refer to many things, but I think there are two possible references and puns. 1) The pun is for “Go, Pikachu!”, but replacing Pikachu with young girl AKA Shu Yu. 2) The pun is for “Go forth, magical girls, do your best!” Personally I think it’s the first one tho lmao.
Translator’s Note: Sorry for the delay again sfkewofkwlsdrg
![The Rebirth of the Last Days and Return to [Fang] Hao](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image_2021-09-11_143139.png "The Rebirth of the Last Days and Return to [Fang] Hao")
