"What brings the two of you to my Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Grove with time to spare?"
Zheyan gave a couple of light coughs, hiding the blushing young girl behind his back, while casually smoothing out his slightly rumpled robes.
"You tricked my maidservant away, and now you won't even let her master come and check if you've been bullying her? Yulan, come out!"
The bashful Yulan popped out from behind Zheyan in an instant.
"High God!"
The young girl trotted over with a bright smile, as if she were desperately trying to distance herself from any romantic entanglement with Zheyan.
This subtle gesture of disdain drew a stealthy (yet entirely open) chuckle from Baize, leaving the old Phoenix's face tinged with a faint red.
"High God Zheyan has asked for your hand in marriage, Yulan. Are you willing?"
The young girl scratched her head, looking at Yaoguang and Baize, whose affection for one another was obvious. Wherever they went, they were always together, their deep devotion enough to make anyone's heart flutter.
Yulan belonged to the Sujin Clan, a people known for their fierce devotion, most of whom lived and died by a single partner for life.
They were also fond of good looks.
Naturally, she was quite satisfied with Zheyan's appearance, but she also remembered running into Baizhen when she came to the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Grove to deliver wedding invitations.
Thus, the hesitation in her eyes was plain to see.
Yaoguang had no intention of persuading her; after all, anyone belonging to Yaoguang could hardly go wrong having high standards.
Zheyan, having lived for tens of thousands of years, naturally understood the misgivings in the young girl's heart.
"Yulan! I am truly fond of you..."
Yulan did not miss the sincerity in his eyes, and a flash of inner struggle crossed her own.
"High God, this humble servant wishes to be with Zheyan!"
Yulan thought to herself that she was willing to take a gamble; if she lost, it would simply be her fate.
"Very well. But since you are with Zheyan, you are no longer my maidservant!"
"High God! This servant will always belong to Yaoguang Palace. You cannot cast me aside! If that is how it must be... then I will not be with Zheyan after all!"
She looked from Zheyan to Yaoguang and decided that if being with Zheyan meant she could never return to Yaoguang Palace, she would rather call the whole thing off.
After all, she could manage without marrying, but Yulan was a person of Yaoguang Palace for the rest of her days.
Seeing her object so quickly, old Phoenix Zheyan's heart skipped a beat, fluttering wildly as if it might leap straight out of his mouth at any moment.
"Well now, little Yulan, your High God here is simply trying to take you on as a disciple."
Baize pinched Yaoguang's hand and teased.
"You..."
Yaoguang's hand, hidden within her sleeve, intertwined with Baize's fingers, fully aware of his mischief, yet she felt no annoyance at all.
"Really?"
"Indeed. You have stayed by my side for many years, and now that you have found someone you fancy, I am naturally happy for you. It's just that the status of a maidservant is a bit too humble. Besides, I often guide your cultivation on ordinary days—how could that not make us master and disciple?"
The young girl stared blankly at Yaoguang, still too stunned to move.
"Oh, come on, the two of you are taking advantage of me! If the little girl becomes your disciple, Yaoguang, doesn't that instantly make me a generation lower?"
"Oh, oh, oh, I know this one! You can choose not to lower your generation—just let our little Yulan return to Yaoguang Palace, and you each go your separate ways. Simple as that! Aren't I clever?"
Baize stepped in and offered the most direct solution, leaving Zheyan utterly speechless.
How was he supposed to answer that?
He certainly wanted the girl; after managing to trick her into his life, was he just going to let her walk away like that?
Just as he was feeling downcast, Yulan looked up at him with a hopeful gaze.
"A lower generation it is, then. I am fond of Yulan, so a matter of generations counts for nothing."
"Well then, little Yulan, aren't you going to hurry up and address your master?"
Baize looked at Zheyan with a wicked grin.
"Master... Grand-master?"
"Ah! Come, come, little Yulan, your grand-master has a greeting gift for you."
With that, Baize skillfully retrieved a defensive magical artifact from the storage pouch at Yaoguang's waist and handed it to Yulan.
"You really do quite well for yourself living off a woman, don't you?"
"Can't help it, my stomach isn't strong, so I have to eat soft rice. Isn't that right, my dear?"
Yaoguang offered a gentle, faint smile as she watched him and Zheyan bicker.
"Accept it; it is a token from both Baize and me. But Zheyan, you had better sort out the affairs in Qingqiu promptly. Otherwise, if Yulan ever comes back to me in tears, I will teach you a lesson even if I cannot beat you!"
"Naturally. I have already made up my mind; tomorrow I shall take Yulan back to the Sujin Clan to see her family and finalize our marriage."
Having visited Zheyan and Yulan, Baize grew tired of lingering in the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Grove, grabbed Yaoguang, and pulled her away.
"Where off to next?"
"Anywhere with Yaoguang is fun. Clearly, it was my dear who couldn't set her mind at ease regarding Yulan and dragged me along—it was hardly A Ze making trouble!"
And he wasn't wrong; Yaoguang indeed had her worries about Yulan, especially with Bai Zhen still lingering in the Northern Wasteland.
Spreading rumors about how deeply Zheyan loved him, Bai Zhen would immediately try to coax him back whenever he angered Yaoguang. If such antics happened too many times, no one could feel entirely at ease.
Besides, Yulan was just a young girl; if she were tricked by someone, there was no telling how pitiful she might become.
"Since you accompanied me to the peach grove, my dear, now you must accompany A Ze out for some fun. Shall we go play in the mortal realm for a while?"
"As you wish."
With no wars threatening the Four Seas and Eight Desolations nowadays, veteran High Gods like Yaoguang had little use for their martial might.
Staying confined to Yaoguang Palace day in and day out grew rather tedious anyway.
It might not be a bad idea to accompany this restless soul out for a stroll.
And so, Baize and Yaoguang descended to the mortal realm to live as an ordinary couple.
Meanwhile, in the days of their absence, certain events unfolded much as they always had.
For instance, that runaway Xuanv.
Yet this time, she failed to secure a home in Kunlun Xu, finding herself relegated instead to a cave at the foot of Kunlun Xu under Siyin's arrangements.
Coincidentally, this was the very same cave where Xuanv and Lijing, the Second Prince of the Ghost Tribe, had their secret rendezvous in the original tale.
Awakening from his long dream, Moyuan treated his once-cherished young disciple Siyin with none of his former indulgence.
Not even the birth of Qingqiu's little princess could tempt him to let Siyin descend the mountain.
Yet, even so, some threads of fate could not be entirely untangled.
Xuanv met Lijing.
Without Siyin present, the two still fell in love, and during one of their clandestine meetings, they were tracked by Lijing's eldest brother.
Liyu dragged them back.
Thus, their romance became the spark that ignited Qingcang's assault on the Heavenly Realm.
Without the stolen formation maps, the Sujin Clan suffered only minimal casualties.
Moyuan, fully awakened from his deep sleep and unclouded by Siyin's lingering influence, possessed a vast and formidable reservoir of fortune.
Even with the Eastern Emperor Bell in hand, Qingcang was no match for Moyuan.
Before he even had a chance to deploy the bell, Qingcang was captured outright.
The banks of the Ruoshui River were spared the carpet of corpses and the crimson stains of blood that had marked it in another time.
"A Ze, I had a dream—a terrifying dream. In it, I lost you, and I fell deeply in love with Moyuan, leading the entire Sujin Clan into battle until every last one of us perished, right here on the banks of the Ruoshui River!"
Clad in armor, Yaoguang cut an even more dashing and heroic figure, the formidable spirit in her brows leaving others scarcely daring to meet her gaze.
Yet before the one she loved, she bared her vulnerability.
"What deep love for another? You're thinking of Moyuan again—is he as young and vibrant as I am?"
Baize, an auspicious beast who cherished peace above all else, detested the bloody gore of the battlefield.
Yet for Yaoguang's sake, he forced himself to endure the discomfort and ran all the way to the banks of the Ruoshui River, solely to keep her company.
And yet Yaoguang's lips still muttered another's name.
It truly broke Baize's heart.