Side Story 02
The Diary of the Crown Prince – The Strange Man of the Heavenly River
Summer Solstice, Year 7,510,000 of Tianyuan
Recently, when I was studying in the Pavilion of Scriptures, I heard the fairy child mention that the Heavenly River was rising and was overflowing with starlight. At noon, the water separated and surged. There was a strange man wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat who was fishing. The water vapor around him made it impossible for others to get close to him. Thinking that the teacher would stay in class to observe the phenomenon of stars falling, it was better to leave for a while.
— — —
Fei Huo ran down from a small part of the Heavenly Staircase and walked back and forth for a total of 400 steps. His pair of short and fat legs were faintly sore and numb. The fine sweat on his forehead was blown by the cold wind of the Nine Heavens. The Vast Sun Star hanging on the side of the sky lost its color.
At noon on the Summer Solstice, the clouds seemed to be lit on fire by the scorching sun. What entered the nose was dry air, burning all the way to the bottom of the lungs. Most of the smarter immortals hid in the depths of the mansion and enjoyed themselves with iced tea and cold wine. Only the Crown Prince, the newborn calf, rushed to the Heavenly River to meet the strange man in the hot sun.
Now that the Six Realms were at peace and the rivers were clear and the seas were clear, the Celestial Ruler could use more and more people around her. She no longer had to take on multiple positions and work as the Night God. Immortal Luo Ying, who had just returned from the apprenticeship of the High Deity Yaoguang, experienced the Great War of the Netherworld and resolutely resigned from the war general position. She peacefully changed back to the lake-green dress that she wore when she was the Fairy of Shangyuan. Her slim figure was clearly like Fufeng, but her eyebrows no longer had the infatuated look of a young girl. Endless time and changes in the world had finally polished this weak dewdrop into jade. Even the words engraved on the seal were written with dragon and snake strokes, distant and profound.
The Celestial Ruler thought about it again and again. In this vast Nine Heavens, who else but her could arrange the stars and hang the night sky? He conveniently assigned the position of the Night God, but Chiling was used to living in the Xuanji Palace and could not be assigned.
On this day, Kuang Lu was counting the stars at the end of the Celestial River. Recently, the number of stars hanging in the sky had increased, and the night sky flashed as if it was daytime, causing many immortals to send petitions to protest. She was actually very worried. The stars had always been linked to the fate of the country. Now that Run Yu had cleansed the Underworld and returned to the River of Forgetfulness, and Fairy Jin Mi had been resurrected in the mortal world, the two bosses of the Celestial Demon Realm and the Demon Realm seemed to have collectively lost their memories. They could not remember the previous situation where they fought to the death. Instead, they were so harmonious that they even dared to let their son out alone. Even the stars were willing to look at this peaceful situation, so they naturally hung in the sky and refused to come down.
Kuang Lu tidied up her hands and cast a glance into the distance. The Little Highness of the Demon Realm was indeed the son of the Water God. He was only a thousand years old, but he could already control water. The hazy mist floated around his straw raincoat as if it was his arm, silently setting up a maze. From afar, he looked like a person fishing, but when you got closer, you could not see anything.
He was really a hero from a young age.
Speaking of which, Jin Mi had not yet been resurrected, the Chiling God was pregnant, and Tang Yue should be a hundred years younger than the current Celestial Ruler's legitimate son. However, during the Great War of the Netherworld, the Celestial Ruler risked his Primordial Spirit to cut up Qing Cang and his eldest son. He almost died. The current Celestial Ruler was scared out of his wits. He immediately took out the reverse scale and asked Taishang Laojun to refine the elixir. The dragon's reverse scale had always been the most precious thing since ancient times. The phoenix's Huandi Phoenix Plume would not die if it was plucked out, but if it was plucked out from the reverse scale, it would be a narrow escape. Although the Golden Elixir refined from the reverse scale was not as good as the Nine Turns Revival Elixir, it was not much worse. Moreover, Chiling had practiced medicine for many years, and there were countless gods, demons, immortals, and Buddhas who owed her a favor. When they heard that her benefactor was in trouble in the past, they all took out their treasured belongings. The "treasures" provided in the Celestial Ruler's pharmacy were not worth mentioning compared to the "treasures" of the ancient gods in the Shang Qing Heaven, the reclusive ancient demons in the Demon Realm, and even the rare demon gods.
Chiling was originally a celestial being that was born and nurtured by the earth. Her primordial spirit's muscles and bones were as strong as Pangu and Nuwa who created the world. She would not die easily. She was also hung up by the celestial's spiritual treasures and magical medicine. In addition, her sensible son in her primordial spirit spat out the ruyi leaf that Doumu Yuanjun gave her and protected her primordial spirit tightly. Not to mention tearing apart two underworld rascals, even if she were to tear apart two more, it would be very stable.
However, the celestial's child was conceived in the mother's primordial spirit. At that time, Fei Huo was only a wisp of soul smoke floating in front of Chiling's chest. When the mother's body was injured, it was inevitable that he was also injured. If it were not for Chiling who piled her spiritual power on her chest desperately to protect him, he was afraid that the son of the Celestial Ruler's first wife would not have been born at full term. Even though she later took a few cauldrons of celestial pills from Taishang Laojun to nourish the fetus and confirmed the rumor that Star Lord Yan Yue was the leader back then, it was inevitable that the fetus was congenitally deficient. Chiling did not want to give birth to a crippled dragon who would be sick for the rest of his life. Hence, she ignored everyone's objections and placed Fei Huo in her primordial spirit and carefully nurtured him for a hundred years until the wisp of soul smoke was nourished until it was smooth and glossy. Only then did she allow him to leave her body and transform.
Therefore, Fei Huo, who was supposed to be the elder brother, was now three years younger than Tang Yue. When he called him elder brother, his heart was crying blood.
Kuang Lu received a secret letter from the Demon Lord a few days ago, saying that the husband and wife were going to stay in the Flower Realm for a while and spend some sweet time together. Hence, she casually made up an excuse to send Tang Yue to the Celestial River to fish. There were few people here and it was not easy to cause trouble. She had to trouble her, the new God of the Night, to take care of him. There was even a 700-year-old water lotus attached to the back of the letter.
Lotus calmed the mind, and water lotus was especially effective. If one could take a plant for a job like managing the night, where day and night were reversed, he would not feel tired for about ten years. The Demon Lord was indeed smooth and slick in dealing with people. Even his gift was so appropriate.
However, the Celestial River belonged to the Celestial realm after all. Although the relationship between the two realms had become more and more harmonious in the past hundred years, as a subordinate, it was not good to recklessly guess the Emperor's intention. What if the Celestial Ruler did not like this child whom he had a good relationship with in the past? After all, according to the Chiling God, the long-haired and the long-scaled were separated by a layer and could not be trusted. Before Kuang Lu could finish thinking about the wording to report to the Celestial Court, the Celestial Ruler's order quietly arrived. In the order, she was relieved of the duties of managing the night for the next three months and could focus on taking care of Little Prince Tang Yue. On the back of the order, there was a thousand-year-old water lotus attached to the back of the order.
Kuang Lu found a rough stone without any edges or corners. She casually rolled up her sleeves and flapped them clean. Just as she sat down stably and was about to take a closer look at the two divine herbs, she caught a glimpse of a round little prince walking over from the far end of the Celestial River from the corner of her eyes.
Speaking of the enmity between Fei Huo and Tang Yue, it was formed when they were in their mother's womb. Chiling herself was pregnant and had been nourishing herself for a hundred years, becoming one of the best mothers in the Six Realms. The ancient gods were indeed different when they gave birth. Not only did they not have the slightest bit of bloated waist and lower abdomen, they instead added a bit more charm and grace than usual. The Celestial Ruler was also big-hearted and did not shy away from leading Chiling to travel around the world to relax and nurture her character. When ordinary immortals heard that the Celestial Ruler had come to visit, their hearts would jump up to their throats in fright. When they heard that the Celestial Ruler was about to visit, their hearts would instantly sink to the bottom of their feet. The up-and-down anxiousness had tormented a few older immortals until they were sick. Chiling could not bear it and decided not to harm the immortals in her family. Instead, she ran to the Devil World to cause trouble. Who knew that when she saw the similarly pregnant Jin Mi, she would suddenly feel uncomfortable all over. She had not eaten a single grain of rice for three days yet she still vomited so much that she became dizzy. As long as she was ten miles away from Jin Mi, her symptoms would immediately improve. The state of her symptoms was as quick as a summer shower. The Celestial Ruler stared at Jin Mi's swollen abdomen for a long time with a gloomy expression before he waved his hand and brought his wife back home. Since then, for a thousand years, until Tang Yue and Fei Huo's respective thousand-year-old birthdays, he did not let the two of them meet even once.
The Kuang Lu was well aware of the twists and turns in this matter. When two tigers meet, one is bound to be injured. Before the mischievous rock under her seat could even warm her scalp, she hurriedly conjured a spell and teleported in front of Fei Huo. She cupped her hands and smiled, "The Kuang Lu pays her respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince. The summer solstice is hot, why did Your Highness come to the Celestial River alone?"
Fei Huo was walking with his robes in hand when a wisp of green smoke suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. It took a lot of effort for his chubby little legs to not touch each other. He tilted his head and flipped through the Divine Book in his head to recall for a long while. He remembered the delicate and pretty fairy who had taken over his father's position in front of the Star Arranging Platform and immediately returned the greeting, "Fei Huo pays his respects to the Night Deity. Recently, I heard that a strange fishing man had come to the Celestial River. Father is busy with court affairs and has no time to attend to other matters. As a child, I naturally have to share his burdens. It just so happened that Teacher had arranged for a stargazing lesson, so I came over to take a look. I have already reported to Father on the Sky Stairs just now."
Reported to Father?
The Kuang Lu pinched the water lotus flower in her sleeve. The Celestial Ruler naturally knew that Tang Yue was in the Celestial River, but he did not stop Fei Huo. It seemed that he had the intention of letting these two little fellows meet, so he retreated to lead the way. "The Celestial River is filled with starlight. Immortals who do not know the ways of the world cannot see through the nebula. Naturally, they cannot see the fishing man clearly. That is not a strange man, but His Highness Tang Yue from the Devil World."
Fei Huo had heard his parents talk about the Devil World, so he naturally knew who Tang Yue was. Ever since he could remember, he had only seen big immortals or old immortals. He had never seen a living little immortal. Although the people from the Devil World could not be counted as immortals, at least there was no difference on the surface. Moreover, Tang Yue's parents were originally from the Celestial realm.
The Celestial River was rippling and boundless. The surrounding cool water vapor was shrouded by the starlight, giving off a sweet smell for no reason. Fei Huo walked along the river bank, kicking his little boots embroidered with dragon patterns. His delicate starry eyes stared at the figure huddled under the bamboo hat and raincoat in the distance, secretly calculating the time. He dawdled for an hour. He told the Kuang Lu that he wanted to observe the stars first, but he was secretly looking at Tang Yue. This person of the same age as him was so patient. He stood by the river bank like a rock and did not move at all. Was fishing so fun that he was so engrossed in it that he became a silly rock?
Fei Huo scooped up a handful of wet stars from the water and held it in his hand. With a flash of blue light, it made a sparkling and translucent star bracelet. The weave pattern imitated the Mermaid's Tear on Chiling's wrist. It was so vivid that the Kuang Lu was amazed. A thousand-year-old child could control water like this. Even the current Celestial Ruler did not have such talent.
Fei Huo looked left and right at the bracelet. He took out a delicate little box from his mustard seed and placed it on the bracelet. He stepped closer to Tang Yue, but the raincoat and bamboo hat gradually became blurry as if he had stepped into a maze. He tilted his head to look at the Kuang Lu, but saw that she was looking down as if she did not feel anything. He said, "Night God, can you still see Tang Yue?"
"Yes."
The Kuang Lu lied through her teeth.
It was best that the two of them did not see each other. It would save her the trouble of trying to stop the two young tigers from fighting. If either of them got hurt, she would be in deep trouble.
Fei Huo pursed his lips. There was clearly a water array, but it did not obstruct Night God's view. It seemed that his cultivation was too shallow, making him a laughingstock.
The Kuang Lu did not know that her words made Fei Huo feel ashamed. She saw the chubby little Highness raise his palms and slowly push out layers of water waves. In an instant, the maze that stretched for hundreds of feet was cleared. This was a maze that even she could not see through, but it was easily cleared by a thousand-year-old child. The younger generation will surpass us in time, the younger generation will surpass us in time!
The Kuang Lu had not finished lamenting. The Crown Prince, who had just done something big, was especially humble and embarrassed. He said, "Fei Huo's cultivation is not high enough. I could not see through the maze, so I could only use my hands to disperse it. Night God, please don't laugh at me."
Laugh at you?
The Kuang Lu's heart skipped a beat. She felt a stuffiness in her throat. She was in a dilemma. After holding it in for a long time, she said, "Your Highness, you are too modest, too modest …"
Tang Yue was holding the fishing line and carefully watching his wife who had not yet appeared in the Celestial River. He suddenly felt the water vapor around him dissipate. He looked up and saw Night God Kuang Lu bowing. She said, "Little God Kuang Lu greets Your Highness Tang Yue."
Tang Yue's brain was stuck for a long time. He had lived with his parents in the human world for a long time and was used to addressing people by seniority. However, the immortals in the Nine Levels of Heaven all had long lives. It was really difficult to think about it. Before he came, his mother was in a hurry to go out and only casually mentioned a few immortals. She did not say how to address him. So he put down the fishing line in his hand and called out tentatively, "Aunt Kuang Lu, is it not appropriate for Tang Yue to fish here?"
After he called out to Aunt Kuang Lu, he caught a glimpse of Fei Huo looking over with a pair of big watery eyes. Her chubby little face was white and tender like a milk bun that had just come out of the pot. The steaming steam was full of milk fragrance. She was as adorable as a little girl.
"Who is this little sister?"
Fei Huo still did not understand what "Aunt Kuang Lu" meant. When he heard the word "little sister", he suddenly felt that this young Highness of the same age as him was probably not very smart. His father had taught him to "judge others by his own standards" and not to expose people's sore spots. So he said, "My name is Fei Huo, the legitimate son of the Celestial Ruler. Recently, I heard that there were guests in the Celestial River, so I brought a small gift to meet them."
Then he handed over the small exquisite box in his hand.
Tang Yue belatedly remembered that the current Celestial Ruler did indeed have a precious son. His temperament was very similar to Jin Mi's, and he was very careless. He did not understand the hidden meaning behind Fei Huo's "legitimate son". He just happily took the box and opened it. What entered his eyes was a sea of glittering stars and cool water vapor.
"It's really a precious bracelet! Thank you very much! When I catch my wife in a while, I'll give it to her! "
"Catch — what?"
Fei Huo tilted his head and looked at Aunt Kuang Lu. Did he hear wrong?
Aunt Kuang Lu coughed dryly and stared at the tip of her feet like a piece of wood.
"Fishing for a wife, don't you know?" Tang Yue accepted the bracelet. He already regarded Fei Huo as one of his own. When it came to fishing for a wife, he naturally would not forget to benefit his own people. "Mother said that we, as immortals, must work hard if we want to get married. Back then, she personally planted Father and used several drops of precious honey. My original form is a water heron and I like to play with water, so I hope that my future wife will also be in the water. Do you want to fish together?"
Fei Huo channeled his spiritual power to his eyes and swept them over the Celestial River. Under the gurgling water, there was nothing but star stones. There was not even the slightest bit of life, let alone a wife. He finally concluded that there was indeed something wrong with this Little Highness of the Demon World's head. However, he did not dare to say it out loud. He only considered his words and declined politely.
"I'm still young. I still want to enjoy a few more years with Father and Mother, so I won't fish for a wife."
Tang Yue regretfully pulled back the fishing line, put a piece of roasted sweet potato on the hook, and threw it down again. He said, "You're not young even if you're a thousand years old. It's better to plan early! Your mother probably forgot to teach you. You don't even know how to fish for a wife. "
Fei Huo casually grabbed a ball of water from the Celestial River and put down an ice chair with a flip of his hand. He lifted his robe and sat down. "My mother usually only imparted some cultivation methods and principles of life. She never mentioned anything about a wife. Did your mother teach you anything else?"
"Anything else?" Tang Yue frowned and thought hard. His mother said a lot every day, told him a lot of stories, and might have even taught him a lot of things. However, he only remembered that he came to the Celestial River to fish for a wife. "I don't remember. My mother said that she didn't expect me to be very capable. She only hoped that I would have vegetables, meat, wine, and tea every day and be a carefree and happy immortal."
"Meat every day?!" Fei Huo widened his eyes and pursed his red lips. He secretly swallowed his saliva. "Your mother actually gave you meat every day! That's great! "
"…"
The current Crown Prince of the Ninth Heaven could not even eat meat?! Could it be that he was abused?!
Tang Yue was secretly shocked. He glanced at Kuang Lu from the corner of his eyes. While she was not paying attention, he secretly approached Fei Huo and asked, "Your mother didn't give you meat to eat and didn't teach you how to fish for a wife. She … she doesn't like you, does she?"
"Impossible!" Fei Huo's eyes reddened and he clenched his fists tightly. "Mother just doesn't want me to get fat!"
"Don't worry. I don't think it's possible either." Tang Yue could not bear to see those red eyes and felt that he was about to cry as well. He took out a waist token and handed it to Fei Huo. "If you want to eat meat in the future, take this and come to the Demon Realm to find me. You can eat as much as you want!"
Kuang Lu lowered her head and waited thirty feet behind the two Young Highnesses. Although she had tried her best to close her ears, she still accidentally heard this tragic conversation clearly. Gusts of cool breeze blew past the horizon, and in a trance, there seemed to be a corner of a fluffy brocade sleeve. She looked at Young Highness Fei Huo's eyes that were still red, and sighed deeply.
The position of Night God was really very risky!
The cool breeze from the horizon blew close in the blink of an eye. The cloud dissipated and a woman walked out. She was dressed in a cloud brocade that reflected the summer sun. Her skirt fluttered slightly as she walked, and an ice blue spirit dragon could be vaguely seen swimming.
The woman's eyes under her eyelashes were like autumn water, shimmering with light. They were bright like the moon in the jade pool, and as clear as the water jade in the hall. Being looked at by those eyes, the heat of the entire hot summer day would condense into water, flowing from the top of the head to the soles of the feet, cool and refreshing!
Kuang Lu bowed to the ground and apologized. "This little god has failed in her duty and was unable to take good care of Little Highness!" After saying that, she quietly transmitted the truth of the conversation.
Tang Yue had just finished badmouthing Chiling and was hesitating, not knowing what to do. He thought that Fei Huo would cry and run into his mother's arms. After all, Tang Yue himself was like this after being reprimanded by his father. However, Fei Huo only stared at Chiling with red eyes and a stubborn face. The corner of his mouth couldn't help but curl down, looking like he was about to cry but was holding it back.
Chiling glanced at her wronged son and first cast a spell to help Kuang Lu up. "Night God is busy with work and still has to take care of two little ones. I can't thank you enough, how can I blame you?"
This High God who was suspected of abusing her son was really beautiful. Tang Yue secretly looked at Chiling up and down three or four times before opening his mouth to greet her.
"Tang Yue greets Aunt Chiling."
"Little Highness, are you having fun?" Chiling gathered spiritual light in her palm and condensed into a small bell. "This jade bell is made from a water-stabilizing wall. It can save your life in times of danger. How about I give it to you as a greeting gift?"
"Thank you very much, Aunt!"
Tang Yue happily took the jade bell. Uncle's family in the Ninth Heaven was so generous. He must visit often in the future!
"Mother …" Fei Huo tugged at Chiling's sleeve. "Fei Huo is tired. Let's go back to the Xuanji Palace, okay?"
"Okay, I'm here to pick you up." Chiling rubbed her son's furry head and nodded at Kuang Lu and Tang Yue to say goodbye.
On the auspicious cloud back to the Xuanji Palace, Fei Huo rubbed his eyes hard and seemed to be even more wronged. "Mother, did Fei Huo do something wrong that made you unhappy?"
"Why do you say that?"
"… I'm just asking."
Fei Huo was personally taught by Run Yu since he was young. He had a strong personality and rarely cried. A man's tears were never something worth showing off. So he turned his back and secretly wiped his tears. His tender cheeks were inadvertently brushed by something cool. He opened his eyes and saw that Chiling's slender white fingertips had pinched a piece of translucent dragon horn and was carefully wiping away the tears on Fei Huo's face.
"Huo 'er, if you have any grievances, just say it. Don't be like your Father Emperor and keep it in your heart."
"But …"
But Father Emperor said …
Chiling wiped Fei Huo's little face dry and took out a thin thread from her bosom. She gently pressed it on the dragon horn and carefully hung it around his neck.
"When one is in a high position, one needs to control one's emotions and let one's subject guess. But in front of Mother, there are no taboos and no mistakes."
Fei Huo tilted his head and thought for a while before asking, "Mother, can Huo 'er also be a carefree immortal who has vegetables, meat, wine and tea every day?"
In fact, he could do without vegetables, wine and tea. As long as there was meat, he could live a carefree and happy life!
Fei Huo felt his saliva rushing up again and hurriedly swallowed two mouthfuls. Mother was usually very easy to talk to, but when it came to eating meat, she was stubborn. No one could persuade her, but he never thought that this time, Mother would soften her tone.
"Yes."
Chiling retracted her hand into her sleeve and gently rubbed her cold fingertips. She slowly said, "This dragon horn is very precious. You have to carefully protect it and don't let others see it. As long as the dragon horn is here, you can be free and unfettered. Once it's lost …"
"No, no! Huo 'er will definitely protect the precious dragon horn! "
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