Volume One: Hidden Depths of the Azure Abyss Chapter Fifty

“A-Li.”

Jinli turned and saw Sang Li, whose eyes now held a trace of sorrow. “A-Li, I know you have feelings for Geng Yuan, don’t you?”

Jinli simply smiled, not denying it in the slightest, but her air was calm and detached. “Yes, but if I were given the chance to go back, I’d rather never have had those feelings. Senior brother, thank you for taking care of me all these years.”

Sang Li lowered his gaze. “You know my heart, don’t you?”

She knew. She simply wanted to escape. She dared not accept nor face Sang Li’s affection. She didn’t want to hurt him, yet she couldn’t bear to confront him, either.

In her heart, he was the one who carried her up tens of thousands of steps, the one who always brought her candied fruit when he returned, the one who quietly covered up all her mischief. He coaxed her, stayed by her side, comforted and encouraged her. He was always her bright moon, but she could not return his love.

There was only the engagement—a marriage for purpose, not for love.

“When is the wedding set?”

“It is scheduled for the day after tomorrow.”

“Very well, then I’ll wait for you to fetch me at Lotus River.”

With those words, Jinli smiled and left.

Behind the divine pillar, Geng Yuan listened silently to all of this. He stared at the demonic blood in his palm. He had awakened the evil bone within him, used it to rouse the Siren Demon, and in the end, he and Jinli had gone their separate ways.

He and she could never be together.

“Who says so? Who says you can’t be together?” Rui Xin’s voice rang out again beside his ear.

“Be quiet,” the young man warned in a low voice.

Rui Xin toyed with his hair, speaking in a beguiling tone, “As long as you accept this power, you can have her, and protect her as well. Don’t you see the nature of this world? Greed, ignorance, treachery, darkness, despair, separation... That is the world—broken and beyond repair. Only by remaking it anew can you and she live together in peace and happiness.”

Geng Yuan seized Rui Xin by the throat, his tone fierce. “I said, shut up!”

Rui Xin only laughed, as if relishing the moment.

Yes, as long as he gathered enough despair and darkness, the Supreme would return.

“She abandoned you—she left without a word twenty years ago, then again in the Kingdom of Xi, leaving you alone at Illusion River. The years of waiting, the endless nights, the snowy cold, the river’s chill cutting to the bone. Whether it was Nan Mo or her, those who love you and those you love, everything you care for has abandoned you because you are not strong enough. But if you are powerful enough, you can rule everything, and none of them would leave you.”

Geng Yuan’s heart was in turmoil.

“That’s not true. Jin never abandoned me—she healed me, comforted me, believed in me, even signed the divine pact with me. She never gave up on me. It’s you—you’re the one bewitching me, trying to shake my resolve! Spreading wicked words!”

“Oh? Is that so? Then why did she choose that Crown Prince over you? What if she knew you refined the Siren Demon, awakened the evil bone, and were destroying the mortals she cherished? How would she see you then? What about your so-called companions?”

“Enough!”

“As long as you accept this power, she will be yours—forever yours.”

The young man fell silent. The weight of that promise was even more alluring than the power itself.

Jinli would be his—his alone.

But the mortals she loved should not be destroyed by his own hand.

In silence, he left the Sacred Realm.

At Mount Jiuyi, he once again met the elegant fox immortal.

Li Qingmo was not at all surprised by Geng Yuan’s arrival, but the young man’s question gave him pause. He hadn’t expected Geng Yuan to ask not why Jinli was marrying Sang Li, but rather what compelled her to do so.

“Because I know Jin feels nothing for Sang Li.”

Geng Yuan’s eyes shone.

Li Qingmo nodded. “Do you know the goddess’s mission?”

He had seen it at Lotus River: the goddess clan, to prevent the Demon God’s rebirth, formed a pact with the Celestial Clan, forged the Demon-Sealing Guide, and eradicated the evil bone. The cost, however, was to use the goddess’s life—her soul and divine essence in total exchange, to drive the Demon-Sealing Guide herself and perish together with the Demon God.

Jinli would die.

“So Jin knew all along?” Geng Yuan asked.

Li Qingmo nodded.

Geng Yuan lowered his head, a single tear falling into his palm and turning into a pearl.

“I see. Thank you.”

Geng Yuan left Mount Jiuyi, went alone to Pear Blossom Valley, and gazed upon the lantern-lit river of stars amid the falling snow. He stood among the flowers, quietly weeping.

When Jinli returned to Lotus River, Yun Xiang asked, “My lady, you’re finally back. These days you were away, I was so worried.”

“While I was gone, did anything happen?”

“Fairy Susu came.”

Susu, Geng Yuan’s betrothed who had not yet entered his household.

“Why did she come?”

Yun Xiang shook her head. “She said she came to pay her respects to you.”

“Pay respects?” Jinli let out a cold laugh. “There’s no need to announce her to me if she comes again.”

“Yes, my lady.”

She entered her room and gazed at herself in the jade mirror, unable to muster a smile.

Rumors of the Demon God’s imminent awakening grew ever more rampant. The next day, Jinli went to the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons, where countless monsters and demons were sealed. She had no idea what it was like inside, but she strengthened the seal once again.

When she returned, she saw Geng Yuan standing outside Pear Blossom Valley.

The young man wore his hair loose, the moon-white ribbon trailing down his back, mingling with his black hair. Hearing footsteps, he turned to look at her.

She could not smile, no matter what.

“What brings the Sea Lord here?” she asked.

His eyes were filled with sorrow. “Jin, could you not marry him?”

Her body stiffened. Pear blossoms drifted down upon their shoulders, and as they gazed at one another, it seemed as if everything else in the world had gone still.

A hundred years ago, they had played chess and drank tea beneath the pear trees. Now...

She did not reply.

The young man went on, his words tinged with pleading.

“Could you give me another chance? Even flowers bloom again—do I not deserve another chance?”

“Sea Lord, please have some self-respect.”

Jinli wanted to flee, to escape his gaze at once.

But the young man seemed to read her mind, and in a flash, he pulled her into his arms.

For the first time, he tried desperately to hold on to someone, more determined than ever.

But he realized with sorrow that he could no longer keep her.

In the end, even Jinli left him.

On the third day, the Celestial Clan’s wedding garments, fashioned in red, blue, and white, were light and flowing, the brocade robes lavish, the beaded coronets resplendent. Blue phoenixes led the bridal carriage, flowers scattered through the clouds.

It was Geng Yuan who came to escort her, which made her hesitate.

“His Highness the Crown Prince awaits you in the Ninth Heaven. Let me take you to the Celestial Palace.”

In the end, she placed her hand in Geng Yuan’s, letting him lead her into the cloud carriage.

At last, he saw her in her wedding finery—she was beautiful, so beautiful it made his heart ache.

Jinli soon fell unconscious, and Geng Yuan gazed longingly at her in the carriage.

In the end, he chose that power, unable to bear the sight of Jinli holding another’s hand.

When Jinli woke, her hands and feet were bound, her immortal powers sealed. She was as helpless as a mortal, surrounded by strange sights, unsure where she was.

A chill ran through her body.

It was Geng Yuan.