The Great King Ordered Me to Marry – Chapter 21

Speaking of the Conspiracies Back Then

Had it been any other immortal, Zhuoxue would have already set aside old grievances and shouted for Longming to grab her and run.

But this was not some other immortal. This was Lan Hui.

            

Zhuoxue stood bewildered and helpless, her thoughts emptied entirely.

The demonic power suspended above Lan Hui abruptly stalled. Rather than withdrawing, it split into a dozen or more tendrils that drove straight into the rubble, forming a cage.

Lan Hui lowered her gaze, her bearing as composed as ever. Only, several lines suddenly cracked open across her neck and arms, as though a petrified shell were gradually crumbling.

            

On closer look, it was not crumbling at all—patches of turtle shell had grown across her body, linking together into a beautiful carapace pattern.

At first glance the pattern resembled snake scales, yet it was far less delicate and dense.

“I have seen you before.” Longming walked slowly toward Lan Hui, her eyes holding nothing but confusion.

            

Lan Hui looked up at the sound. Though her expression remained mild, it betrayed a desperate resolve¹.

Yet she…still did not fight back. She stood perfectly straight amid the rubble, with no intent to battle.

Zhuoxue suddenly felt that she did not know Lan Hui as well as she had thought, and wondered in a daze whether this desperate resolve of Lan Hui’s stemmed from the exposure of her true identity.

            

“Why would an immortal hide under a false name in the demon realm’s humble Qiufeng Ridge?” Longming reined in her oppressive aura, her silver hair falling back to her shoulders. “The restriction on the fox’s body—was it your doing?”

Lan Hui’s expression grew complicated. She answered only half: “I did not place it. I am also seeing it for the first time.”

“This is Kunlun Jade Capital’s customary technique, imbued with their divine power. I have tried several times and cannot break it. You undo it.” Longming turned her wrist, making as if to open the cage.

            

Lan Hui fell silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: “I cannot undo it either. It looks like a Shadow-Hiding Spell, but it is not ordinary—there seem to be additional spells stacked on top of it. This talisman never manifested before. It is only now showing its outline because years of depletion have weakened its foundation. I earnestly beg the Demon Lord not to harm Zhuoxue’s life.”

“I never intended to harm her.” Longming turned and walked to the Bone Throne, draping herself across it as she sat. “First, tell me your purpose in coming to the demon realm, Sacred Immortal Lan Xiang.”

The moment that name was spoken, Zhuoxue could not help but freeze.

            

She had heard the name Lan Xiang from the mouths of mortals.

She had heard that this Sacred Immortal Lan Xiang was a thousand-year turtle deity who could keep kingdoms safe and grant mortals health and longevity.

In the past, the mortal realm had many temples dedicated to Sacred Immortal Lan Xiang. Mortals even designated the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month as Lan Xiang Day, when they would offer incense to the Sacred Immortal. Those who did so would dream of the divine turtle at night, ensuring good fortune for the year ahead.

            

Only, no one knew when it began, but Sacred Immortal Lan Xiang stopped manifesting miracles. Over time, Lan Xiang Temple lost its incense, and the people of the world no longer worshipped her.

In Zhuoxue’s imagination, if this turtle immortal had taken human form, she would have been a white-haired elder. She never expected that Lan Hui’s face bore only faint traces of time—not at all toothless, faltering, or weathered with age.

Lan Hui gave a slight start. The resolve on her face diminished, and a look of longing touched her eyes—she had not heard that name from another’s lips in a very long time.

            

After a long while, her expression grew troubled, and she said plainly: “You know of me.”

“One of the former Eight Sacred Ones of Yaojing—how could I not?” Longming said.

Lan Hui gave a bleak smile. “I have rarely shown myself these years, precisely because I knew that if I appeared, I could not hide it from demonkind.”

            

“The Heavenly Realm has everything one could want. You came to the demon realm—surely not because you grew tired of staying there.” Longming raised a brow. “Unless this fox hides some extraordinary secret, and the Heavenly Realm sent you to leverage the situation and sow chaos among demonkind?”

Lan Hui stared at Longming for a long time, all her hesitation unspoken.

“Or perhaps there was turmoil in the Immortal Realm, and you violated celestial law, which is why you left Kunlun Jade Capital?” Longming narrowed her eyes. “I have made so many guesses—at least one or two must hit the mark.”

            

Lan Hui was still deep in thought, her eyes dark and somber.

“Sacred Immortal Lan Xiang, what more do you have to hesitate over?” Longming raised her wrist slightly.

The words had barely fallen when Zhuoxue was hoisted higher. She cried out in alarm, certain she was about to slam straight into the ceiling beams.

            

No way—was she using her to threaten Lan Hui again?

She had figured it out by now. Longming had no intention of killing—she was only forcing Lan Hui to tell her everything.

She hastily squeezed her eyes shut and stopped struggling, her four limbs dangling limp, like a frail flower stalk trailing from a spider plant.

            

“You…” Lan Hui did not want to fall out with Longming over this. The All-Demons Banquet was not yet over—if her immortal qi leaked outside, it would surely draw every demon to swarm her. But neither could she bear to see the fox she had raised with her own hands suffer.

Things having come to this, it was time to make a decision. Lan Hui closed her eyes and said: “Do you know of the matter a century ago, when Emperor Tianji colluded with the Nightmare Tribe?”

Zhuoxue did not crash into the ceiling beams. She merely fluttered up and down a few times like a blade of grass caught in the wind.

            

She propped up her chin—her heart had already gone numb—and was about to sigh softly when the demonic power around her waist suddenly cinched tight. She plummeted from midair, landing not too hard, not too soft, beside the Bone Throne.

“Ah—”

Even a kite shouldn’t be flown this roughly!

            

Before Zhuoxue could even rub her aching muscles, the oppressive aura at close range frightened her into her original form.

A snow-white ball of fox huddled against the white tiger’s leg, too frightened to move. After a while, the white tiger lifted her onto her lap, stroking her idly.

This was no gentle grooming—it was clearly still using her to threaten Lan Hui.

            

Lan Hui continued: “Back then, Tianji colluded with the Nightmare Tribe, deliberately provoking the Immortal-Demon War. He used the war to make his name in Kunlun Jade Capital and ascended to the position of Celestial Leader. I discovered it by chance and intended to stop it, but the Bureau of Heavenly Law had long been of one mind with Tianji.”

Immortals and demons colluding—even mortal talebooks wouldn’t dare write this.

The more the fox was stroked, the more her fur bristled. She thought to herself: This tiger demon didn’t lose unjustly—how could she, fighting alone, stand against two factions joining forces?

            

“I did not wish to be silenced, nor did I want to become complicit. I could only resign my celestial post and leave Kunlun Jade Capital, seeking another opportunity to expose the matter.” Lan Hui’s voice was heavy. “But the right moment was hard to find. I was alone and weak, with no choice but to live in hiding in the demon realm.”

The hand smoothing the fox’s fur paused abruptly.

“The fox is which piece on the board?” A sharp light flashed through Longming’s crimson eyes.

            

Lan Hui spoke slowly: “It was precisely because of this fox that I learned of Tianji and the Nightmare Tribe’s scheme. Not long after the war, the Nightmare Tribe sought to infiltrate the Yaojing Celestial Register. They used a demon and a mortal who was destined to become an immortal, and swapped their reincarnations. The demon, bearing a demonic spirit, became an immortal, while that mortal—whose immortal soul had already formed—was forced into demonic reincarnation.”

“Entering the cycle of reincarnation requires the approval of the Heavenly Dao.” Longming gave a cold laugh. “This restriction was likely placed to conceal her true identity and deceive the Heavenly Dao.”

Zhuoxue’s hair stood on end.

            

“Once an immortal soul has formed, they cannot kill the mortal before reincarnation—doing so would surely draw down heavenly lightning.” Lan Hui looked at Zhuoxue. “The path to immortality has no queue, but the reincarnation paths for demons and mortals stretch in endless lines. I came to the demon realm and waited nearly a century. When that mortal—who had been reincarnated as a demon—was nearly killed, I intervened in time.”

“The one you saved—is her.” Longming stated it as fact.

Lan Hui did not deny it. Half-hidden within the cage, her expression was difficult to read. Her eyes burned bright as torches, yet were dark and unfathomable—as though her very soul were being pulled in two directions, neither side gaining the upper hand.

            

Zhuoxue listened in a daze. This was no small matter. Was this something Lan Hui should be saying? Was it something she should be hearing?

This was no little whirlpool—it was a vast ocean.

The water ran deep indeed.

            

“After learning of Tianji and the Nightmare Tribe’s scheme, I resigned my celestial post. I have now been in the demon realm for a century.” Lan Hui sighed softly. “Though I bear an immortal soul and spirit, my heart no longer belongs to Kunlun Jade Capital.”

“You tell me all this—are you not afraid I will spread the word and throw Kunlun Jade Capital into chaos?” Longming said, unhurried.

Lan Hui’s voice was steady: “Kunlun Jade Capital should have fallen into chaos long ago. From the moment Tianji conspired with the Nightmare Tribe to provoke the war, the peace of the Jade Capital was nothing but an illusion. The entire capital has been kept in the dark. It is only a matter of time before he and the demon tribes devour it completely.”

            

“You want to form an alliance with me.” Longming sat up slightly, drawing the fox into her arms.

Lan Hui spoke with resolve: “You want to return to Wugou Stream, do you not? So long as Tianji is not destroyed, the Nightmare Tribe’s power will only swell—like cold water filling a vat, rising ever higher.”

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