Volume 4: Immeasurable
Even a grass mud horse would want to spit after hearing it.1
That fleeting, suspicious look in Yi Qiu’s eyes did not escape You Yan’s peripheral vision.
The next second, You Yan glanced sideways to meet her gaze. After a moment, Yi Qiu quickly lost her nerve, sheepishly averting her eyes.
The scene within the Realm Within a Painting shifted once more.
Through the countless, fast-forwarded cycles of sun and moon, Yi Bird had flown back to the Jade Sea time and time again, yet she was never again able to take so much as a single step inside.
She would always linger above the Jade Sea, gazing from afar at the towering, ancient tree that pierced the clouds. Sometimes she watched the scorching sun; other times she watched the green leaves on the tree.
She longed to see through the layers of barriers, to catch a glimpse of the god she thought of day and night, but every attempt ended in disappointment.
The Wood God always hid herself away in the distance, silently hoping for her arrival, then watching her departure. For a hundred years, a thousand years, she never let the memory of Yi Bird fade from her heart.
As Yi Bird’s cultivation grew, her form became larger, and her visits to the Jade Sea grew less frequent.
The Wood God couldn’t help but think that the little bird had perhaps grown up. That she was beginning to understand and could finally move on from a past that was, in truth, not worth mentioning.
But what she didn’t know was that, over all these years, Yi Bird’s lingering attachment2 to her had not diminished in the slightest.
It wasn’t until the Wood God chose to seal her own divine power and descend to the mortal realm—all to protect the Golden Crow and Fusang through their tribulation—that she finally understood what her own decisiveness had twisted Yi Bird into.
The night the bird demon revealed her true form at the Xianlu Sect was their first encounter in the mortal realm.
Chao Yun chased Yi Bird for a long time before she finally saw her stop.
The woman the bird demon had transformed into was just as she had been two thousand years ago, her face unchanged. But the look in her eyes was no longer the same.
“You’re curious, aren’t you? You’re very curious. Why do I keep targeting the Golden Crow? For the first nine lifetimes, I never dealt a truly fatal blow, because I just wanted to force you out. I wanted to ask you…” Yusu’s eyes were red as she spoke through gritted teeth. “If I was never important to you, why did you have to drive me away? Why wouldn’t you take me as your slave? Or… why not just let the Heavenly Realm execute me for the crime of blasphemy?”
“But you came out of that barrier, and it made me so miserable… Back then, you drove me away because of the heavenly rules. But now, what does it mean for you to disregard those same rules, seal your own power, and descend to the mortal realm?!” Yusu questioned her, one accusation after another. She was resentful. She was hateful. Her heart was filled with bitterness. “What makes me so different from them! You can throw everything away for their sake, so why was it impossible when it was me!”
“Goumang, Goumang… you have such a cold heart. Your eyes, they clearly held me in them, but deep down in your heart, the common people, the Heavenly Dao,3 and your fated duty to protect them—all of it, all of it, was more important than me!” As she spoke, she retreated several steps with a bitter smile. “If that’s the case, then I’ll destroy them all, and we’ll see if you regret it!”
That day, Yi Bird left before Chao Yun could drive her away.
Chao Yun subconsciously took a few steps forward to chase her, her mouth opening as if to say something, but the words she had kept buried in her heart for over a thousand years ultimately remained unspoken.
In the end, it was hate born from love,4 and resentment born from jealousy.
If only, that day at the Jade Sea, they could have spoken things through clearly.
If only the Wood God hadn’t sealed her power and come to the lower realm, stabbing Yi Bird’s increasingly twisted heart once more.
If only, at that moment, the Wood God could have made the same reckless choice for her that she was making today.
Perhaps everything would have been different…
But this world was filled with thousands upon thousands of ‘if onlys,’ and not a single one of them could become real through regret.
An indecisive person always ends up hurting others and themselves.
Yi Qiu had read too many similar novels, and every time, the plot point where the main characters would rather die than talk things out drove her crazy. But now that it was all happening right in front of her, she understood that everyone had their own struggles. There was too much that couldn’t be explained, too much bitterness that couldn’t be voiced.
Someone who tries to repair the house before it rains5 might not withstand a storm, and besides, the world is full of people who only learn to mend the pen after the sheep are lost.
These characters hadn’t transmigrated into a book or been reborn. Before they made these decisions, how could they have known what would happen next?
The scenes in the Realm Within a Painting continued to flow through time.
One night, Chao Yun, who had been tracking Yi Bird, suddenly sensed a disturbance nearby and rushed to the Wuzhou Stone Cave.
In her haste, she managed to rescue an unconscious Jiang Yuyao from Huodou,6 but she was defeated within a few exchanges.
Perhaps fearing that Huodou would harm Chao Yun, Yi Bird quickly revealed herself. Using her knowledge of “Fuzhu’s7 matter” as leverage, she woke the disoriented Huodou and tricked it into leaving.
This scene was like putting little hot dog’s intelligence on display for a public execution. Everyone subconsciously glanced at Yue Zhuo.
Yue Zhuo: “…”
Fortunately, the public execution didn’t last long, and the scene quickly shifted.
After saving everyone, Chao Yun worried that Yi Bird would harm Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao, so she secretly used her spiritual power to seal their Spiritual Auras.8 Once they had mostly recovered from their injuries, she set off for Ao’an Mountain, hoping to find Fuzhu for help.
But she was a step too late. By the time she rushed to Ao’an Mountain, it was deserted. Only upon returning to the mortal realm did she discover that something had happened at the Xianlu Sect.
After Huodou burned down the Xianlu Sect, Chao Yun had been searching for Yi Bird in secret, sending out signals time and again, hoping Yi Bird would come to her.
She had assumed that Yi Bird was now solely focused on revenge and might never want to see her again. But on the night of the Qixi Festival, she finally did.
“How can I make it up to you? What will it take for you to stop?”
Chao Yun’s thinking was as simple as it had always been. She ignored the hatred that could no longer be ignored, ignored all the obstacles that made it impossible for them to ever go back.
But Yi Bird was clear-headed.
“Lady Wood God, where is this coming from? Now that you’ve realized I’ll harm everything you care about, you finally decide to discuss this with me. Don’t you think it’s a little late?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“I’ve done so many terrible things. How could I possibly turn back now?” Yi Bird laughed softly, sitting down beside Chao Yun. She toyed with a teacup with one hand and propped her cheek with the other, her voice low as she asked, “I killed Luo Mingyuan’s family. Can the Lady Wood God forgive me on his behalf?”
“…”
“I also instigated Huodou to burn down the Xianlu Sect. If that Demon Lord had been a step slower, I’m afraid more than half of the sect’s members would have died in the Heavenly Fire.”9 Yusu raised an eyebrow. “Lady Wood God, will you forgive me on their behalf?”
“…”
At that moment, it wasn’t just the Chao Yun in the memory whose expression was complicated; it was also Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao.
Perhaps after their tribulation was over, this short mortal life would be nothing more than a drop in the ocean of their long existence. But right now, they were alive, living as humans.
Some grudges couldn’t be so easily let go.
He had said he would avenge his parents…
“I can’t turn back,” Yusu said, slowly rising. She walked to the window of the guest room and gently stroked the leaves of a plant on the sill.
In an instant, the leaves withered and died.
She said she couldn’t turn back, and she didn’t want to.
Right now, all she wanted was power. Enough power to hold everything she desired tightly in her hands.
In the world of 《Thin, Withered Branches》, the Demon Clan weren’t the true demons. A true demon had to possess the power of a Heavenly Demon.10
In truth, it wasn’t so different from the power of gods and immortals. Some were born with such immense strength, while others had to acquire it. To become a god, one needed a certain affinity for immortality. Those with a weak affinity could cultivate for a lifetime and never achieve it.
But to fall into the demonic path11 later in life, one only needed sufficiently powerful evil and a lingering attachment.
She would become a demon. She would be like the current Demon Lord, possessing a power that made others tremble in fear.
And the Golden Crow’s life would be her Pledge of Allegiance.12 When the Heavenly Demons saw it, they would surely accept her.
Then, she would have her ways of dragging that high and mighty god down into the world of mortals, to stay by her side forever.
Her words plunged everyone into silence.
Just then, You Yan let out a cold laugh. “Ridiculous. That someone would actually desire a power that others would do anything to avoid.”
Yi Qiu frowned, squeezing You Yan’s hand even tighter.
She knew that this innate power had brought You Yan so much pain. But if she had never possessed such power, You Yan wouldn’t be the You Yan of today, and they would never have met.
You Yan closed her eyes and took a deep breath, saying no more.
After a moment of silence, it was Yi Bird who spoke again.
She said softly, “You ask me what I want. Then let me ask you: are you willing to give up everything and be with me?”
Chao Yun was silent for a moment, then looked up and said earnestly, “As long as you’re willing to turn back, I’ll do anything.”
This was not the answer Yi Bird had expected.
Her eyes were filled with disbelief as she stared at Chao Yun, a disbelief that slowly, inch by inch, curdled into rage.
“So you really… you’d really do anything for them, wouldn’t you?”
Yi Qiu slapped a hand to her forehead.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. 《Thin, Withered Branches》 really is a prime example of ancient-early style13 dog blood14 melodrama. Even the villain’s lines are this cliché.
Could the déjà vu be any stronger?
Having read countless novels, she could write the following lines with her eyes closed!
—Hah, woman. So you really would do anything for that man?
—Are you trying to please me with your body? You think that will make me let him go?
—Do you have any idea how disgusting you are right now?
And sure enough, the very next sentence out of Yi Bird’s mouth was so damn similar.
“Goumang, oh Goumang, you truly never cease to amaze me… Based on that sentence alone, there’s no way I’m letting them go now.”
With that, Yi Bird raised a hand and knocked Chao Yun unconscious. The scene before them once again faded to black.
Yi Qiu let out a mournful sigh.
If this weren’t the Realm Within a Painting, I’d rush in there and knock those two stupid birds’ heads together.
“I’ll do anything” my ass! “Never cease to amaze me” my foot! Can’t you two just talk things out properly? If you’d just communicated this one time, you could have avoided so much trouble later on!
What kind of communication was that? Even a grass mud horse would want to spit after hearing it!
“I love you. In my heart, you’re different from them. I’m willing to agree to your terms because I want you to turn back and stop killing people. That way, we can atone for our sins together, figure something out, and see how we can secretly be together in the future.”
Are those words so hard to say? Are they?!
…
On second thought, for someone with Chao Yun’s personality, it might just be a tiny, tiny bit difficult.
The author has something to say:
As the saying goes: The one involved is confused, the onlooker is clear.15
Don’t wait for a third update. There will be red envelopes for comments made before the next post.
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