Volume 4: Immeasurable
Who are you?
The Qinyuan1 were originally a race of divine beasts from Kunlun2.
A divine beast conceiving a demon fetus3—who wouldn’t find that laughable?
The celestial gods of the Heavenly Realm would surely despise a demon fetus. The Demon Realm had always remained neutral, having little involvement with either the Heavenly or Devil Realms. And as for the various clans of the Devil Realm, even if they had to submit to that powerful, born-as-a-demon force, few would ever truly accept an “outsider” who had been expelled from the Heavenly Realm.
Some people’s words and actions on the surface were completely different from what they thought in their hearts.
You Yan had certainly heard plenty of words like heavenly flowers falling in chaos4, but they were nothing more than flattery. If they weren’t afraid of her, they definitely had ulterior motives. She would never trust those whose heart and mouth were not as one5.
“This is what I like about you. When you lie, you wear your guilt all over your face.” You Yan’s tone was a bit more serious than usual. “Your eyes don’t lie.”
Faced with words that could be taken as either praise or criticism, Yi Qiu didn’t know how to respond for a moment. She just pursed her lips, blinked, and offered no rebuttal.
After a long silence, You Yan spoke again.
“I’m going to go heal.”
“Mm.”
“Don’t catch a cold.”
“Mm.”
You Yan smiled and patted Yi Qiu’s head, then turned and walked into the cold spirit pool6. Her slender back flickered in and out of view amidst the pool’s cold mist, blending into it, as hazy and indistinct as an immortal.
Yi Qiu watched her quietly, unable to shake the words that had sounded so much like lightly sketching and faintly writing7.
——I like your voice, I like your personality, I like how you’re not too bright…
——This is what I like about you…
What kind of “like” was the “like” that You Yan spoke of?
Yi Qiu thought about it seriously for a moment, then suddenly snapped back to reality, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
Why am I even worrying about the answer to something like this?!
I’ve been acting so strange lately.
The next morning, You Yan took Yi Qiu to get a look at Yi Bird’s “old nest” from afar.
Although she couldn’t get a close-up tour, she had to admit that Yi Bird was a bird who knew how to live.
Yesterday, when You Yan said Yi Bird had a residence in the mountains, Yi Qiu had assumed it was just some ordinary mountain dwelling. Something like the place she and the little sweet bird lived in on Kunlun Mountain, or the place on Ao’an Mountain where Xun Chi lived with his two fierce beasts.
But seeing it today, she was stunned.
Yi Bird’s “home” was built in a dense forest in a low-lying area of Snake Mountain. It wasn’t orderly like a human house; instead, it resembled a bird’s nest, built entirely in the trees.
It was clear that Yi Bird hadn’t cleared out a patch of land but had used the forest trees as a foundation, with each room clinging to several tall trees.
They were suspended mid-air, embraced and enveloped by the dense branches and leaves around them, merging so tightly that they looked as if they had naturally grown there.
Vines grew along the houses, hanging down from the suspended rooms. Some were woven into a vine ladder, some into a swing, and the rest served as “beaded curtains,” swaying gently in the wind.
Beside the treehouse was an incredibly clear mountain spring, enclosed within the yard by a flower fence. A few chickens were also kept inside the yard.
A five-colored spiritual light, condensed through sorcery8, swirled faintly around the residence, making the place, already brimming with life, seem like a dream, like an illusion. It was like a jungle palace, possessing a kind of mysterious beauty. Looking from a high vantage point, even a single distant glance made one feel as if they were in a dream.
The place Yi Bird lives is just too dreamlike, too romantic, isn’t it?
Yi Qiu, squatting in the grass and peeking from afar, got jealous. So jealous it was like she’d been possessed by a lemon spirit9, so jealous she couldn’t help but bite her lower lip, her eyes filled with envy.
It was true. No comparison, no harm10.
At a time like this, all she had to do was recall the little wooden cabin You Yan had built for her in the dream, and the gap between one bird and another became painfully obvious.
“You Yan, you need to reflect on yourself!” Yi Qiu frowned.
“Hm?” You Yan couldn’t help but glance at Yi Qiu.
“You’re both birds, so why is someone else’s home like this, while our home… even the most basic bedroom is all crooked?” Yi Qiu turned her head and glared at You Yan.
“Our home?” You Yan couldn’t help but laugh. “Isn’t it the Demon Emperor’s Palace? What, you don’t think it can compare to a place where some wild little bird lives?”
“…” Yi Qiu was at a loss for words, completely unsure how to argue.
After coming to this world, she hadn’t actually spent much time in the Devil Realm. For a good while, she had followed You Yan, living in various places in the human world.
To her, the only places that could be called home were probably the old You family residence where she lived with the little sweet bird in that dream, or the wooden cabin the little bad bird had built for her.
She had truly forgotten that this Demon Lord actually presided over such a massive Demon Emperor’s Palace. Thinking back on it now, it was indeed quite comfortable. Although it wasn’t as brimming with life as the human world, it had mountains, water, and sunlight. It was quiet, and there were people to serve her.
Compared to constantly rushing about outside, she really did prefer to find a place to hole up and peacefully go about eating and waiting for death11.
Once those two main characters successfully pass their mortal trial, I can go back with You Yan, right?
But before that, I have to rescue Chao Yun and get out of here.
“You Yan, is Yi Bird in there?”
“She is,” You Yan replied faintly. “She doesn’t conceal her spiritual aura12 here.”
“If she doesn’t leave, we can’t go in.” Yi Qiu frowned. “I don’t even know if she really has Chao Yun locked up in there.”
“Don’t rush.”
When You Yan said not to rush, she really meant it. She immediately leaned against a tree and closed her eyes to rest.
Yi Qiu approached on tiptoe13 and sat down beside You Yan. She hugged her knees, rested her chin on them, and stared at the distant “castle in the air14,” lost in thought.
Neither of them was a professional, and after staking out a place for a long time, one was bound to get sleepy.
Time ticked by. You Yan sat beside her with her eyes closed, completely still. Bored out of her mind, Yi Qiu let out a long sigh. Unable to hold it back, she opened her mouth and gave a huge yawn.
The moment her vision blurred with tears, she could faintly feel You Yan’s gaze on her from the side.
But what truly chased away her sleepiness was movement finally coming from Yi Bird’s distant residence!
“You Yan, look!” Yi Qiu raised the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, then instantly grabbed You Yan’s wrist. “Someone’s coming out!”
Someone had indeed come out of the beautiful treehouse, but they were too far away for Yi Qiu to see their face clearly. She could only deduce from the figure that it was a woman.
“Doesn’t look like Chao Yun,” Yi Qiu muttered under her breath, wishing she could stretch her neck longer than an alpaca’s.
“It’s Yi Bird,” You Yan said, subconsciously pinching the back of Yi Qiu’s slender neck.
Yi Qiu instantly flinched, clamping her shoulders around the cold left hand on her neck. She turned to the side and frowned at You Yan, looking startled. “What are you doing?”
Hearing this, You Yan withdrew her left hand, patting Yi Qiu’s little melon head15 as she did. “I was afraid you’d break your neck,” she chuckled.
Yi Qiu was momentarily speechless, baring her teeth and grinning16 for a long while without managing to say a word. In the end, she just turned back to look at the slender figure in the distance.
The woman fetched some water from the spring, watered the flowers and plants in the yard, and then walked over to the chicken coop to feed the chickens for a bit.
Before long, another woman emerged from the treehouse, descended the vine ladder, and walked over to Yi Bird’s side in just a few steps.
“It’s Chao Yun!” Yi Qiu was so excited she shook You Yan beside her.
During the days when everyone was seriously injured, Chao Yun had taken meticulous care of them all. Because of that, even from this far away, Yi Qiu could still recognize her figure.
But wasn’t Chao Yun captured by Yi Bird?
Why do they look like they’re getting along so harmoniously right now?
“What’s going on? What do you think they’re talking about?” Yi Qiu instinctively perked up her ears, but it was a futile effort. At this distance, unless she had the legendary wind-following ear17, there was no way she could hear their conversation.
“No need to be curious. They’re probably just discussing what to have for lunch,” You Yan said faintly.
“No… no way, right?” Yi Qiu was astonished.
“Why not? Didn’t you ask me the same question this morning?”
“But, but it’s different!” Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then said seriously, “I’m following you willingly. Chao Yun was captured by Yi Bird…”
You Yan gave Yi Qiu a thoughtful look and retorted, “One, she’s not tied up. Two, she’s not locked away. And she’s been living here for some time now, to say the least. When she wakes up in the morning and walks up to Yi Bird, is she supposed to start a fight instead of asking some mundane, household questions?”
Yi Qiu’s mouth fell open, instinctively wanting to argue, but she found that You Yan made a lot of sense.
Although she couldn’t see their expressions from so far away, she could sense that there was no conflict between them.
How could this be?
First, Yi Bird had used the Huodou to burn down Xianlu Sect. Then she had captured You Yan with the Floating Dream Pearl. And after that, she had used some unknown method to force Xun Chi to take the risk of bringing the male and female leads back to Ao’an Mountain for protection.
No matter how you looked at it, there was no reason for Chao Yun to be getting along so harmoniously with this Yi Bird.
Could it be that she suffered so much that she had no choice but to obey?
“Let’s wait and see,” You Yan said, gently taking the back of Yi Qiu’s hand.
Yi Qiu froze for half a second, then her cheeks suddenly flushed. She lowered her gaze and nodded, absent-minded.
You Yan said that Yi Bird couldn’t possibly stay home forever. As long as they waited patiently, they would eventually see her leave.
Sure enough, around Wei hour18 in the afternoon, Yi Bird left under Chao Yun’s watchful gaze.
After confirming that Yi Bird was truly long gone, You Yan gently shook awake Yi Qiu, who was dozing off beside her, hugging her knees and swaying left and right19.
Yi Qiu squinted her eyes open, a dazed look in them.
“Yi Bird’s gone.”
“Ah!” Her drowsy eyes instantly cleared up.
She followed closely behind You Yan, her heart pounding as if she were in a game, running to go stealing the base20 from the enemy.
Before long, they arrived in front of the barrier21 made of five-colored spiritual light.
Yi Qiu subconsciously stopped and looked up at the yard ahead, shouting, “Chao Yun! Chao Yun, it’s me, Yi Qiu! You Yan and I are here to save you!”
She yelled a few times, but there was no response from inside.
You Yan couldn’t help but frown. She gathered her spiritual power22, squeezed Yi Qiu’s hand, and charged directly through the barrier that looked incredibly weak.
Yi Qiu’s heart jumped, terrified that triggering the barrier would alert the recently departed Yi Bird. Fortunately, when she looked back nervously, she saw that the barrier behind her showed no reaction or damage, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected of You Yan, she can even do that.
Just as Yi Qiu was marveling at this, Chao Yun, who hadn’t responded no matter how much she’d yelled, suddenly pushed open a door, staring at the two “outsiders” in the yard with a look of astonishment.
“Chao Yun, are you okay? Did that Yi Bird do anything to you?!” Yi Qiu said, instinctively wanting to step forward, but You Yan grabbed her by the wrist.
Yi Qiu paused, stunned. She looked back at You Yan, then at Chao Yun, a trace of shock rising in her eyes.
She realized that at this very moment, the way Chao Yun was looking at them was unfamiliar, and extremely wary.
“Who… are you?”
Is this some kind of joke? She really doesn’t recognize us?
What’s going on?
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