Huai Falls for an Old Friend - Chapter 5

The closer our wedding came, the more uneasy I felt.

It was as though something beyond my control was about to happen.

Mother said it was nothing but needless worry before the big day. With Xie Huai, one furrow of my brow was enough to make him wonder what he’d done wrong.

He even came to Qingqiu and stayed with me for an entire day, making promise after promise that he would never let me suffer the slightest grievance.

The weather was mild and clear.

As always, I rose early to cultivate.

That morning, all my dread reached its peak.

I looked up at the thunderclouds.

My tribulation to ascend as a high god had come.

To keep anyone else from being hurt, I chose the most barren peak in Qingqiu.

One bolt. Two…

Father had told me that the Nine Heavens’ Profound Thunder was the hardest tribulation to endure.

Yet as lightning engulfed me, something inside struggled to break free.

“My name is Yun Chen. From now on, you shall be called Yun Jing.”

“Come protect me once you’ve finished cultivating.”

“Ah-Jing, can’t you learn to be soft and delicate like the other immortal maidens?”

“Take care of yourself in this battle.”

“Is there truly no other way?”

…

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

So I had been the fallen God of War from the Nine Heavens.

Yun Chen and I were a destined match ordained by the Heavenly Dao. He was the Child of Destiny, fated to become the Heavenly Emperor. I was the God of War whom Heaven and Earth later brought forth to protect the Three Realms.

The Heavenly Dao itself had tied the red thread between us, yet in my last life I had fallen because of what happened.

Mercifully, the Heavenly Dao had preserved one chance for me to live again.

No wonder my heart had raced the first time I saw Yun Jingchen in this life.

A match ordained by Heaven.

I truly ought to thank him.

Without that knife, I might never have severed the bond between us.

By the time I survived the heavenly thunder, a crowd had gathered before the mountain.

Heavenly Emperor Yun Chen stood at the front. With excitement on his face, he reached out to me.

“Ah-Jing. Come.”

I clasped my hands in formal greeting. “Bai Qingqing greets Your Majesty.”

A dense mass of people filled the space behind him. Some had come to stare. Others wanted to know the full story.

Father and Mother looked deeply worried.

Xie Huai stood at the very edge, his face expressionless.

Yun Chen’s answer allowed no argument. “You are Ah-Jing, Yun Jing, God of War of the Nine Heavens.”

“Your Majesty is joking. She fell in the great war long ago. I am only Bai Qingqing of Qingqiu.”

My lips curved. “The Heavenly Dao did issue a decree just now. I have indeed inherited the title of God of War.”

Yun Chen and I faced each other, neither willing to yield.

Father stepped in with a laugh to smooth things over. “Your Majesty, perhaps Qingqing should go home and recover first? She’ll be taking up the mantle of God of War soon enough.”

Yun Chen accepted the offered escape. “Very well. Ah-Jing, I will wait for you at Mount Xinyi.”

Mount Xinyi had always been the residence of the Gods of War, though in my previous life I had spent most of my time in the celestial palace.

Once Yun Chen left, everyone else departed as well, whatever their private purpose had been.

Who did not know how formidable the former God of War had been? Perhaps only the Heavenly Emperor himself could have matched her.

Though I insisted I was merely Bai Qingqing, old friends had been among the crowd. The red birthmark had vanished during my tribulation, revealing the same face I’d worn in my former life.

Before long, word that I was Yun Jing would spread across the Eight Wilds and Four Seas.

Back in the fox den, Father sighed and fretted. He looked at me, then Mother; at me, then Xie Huai; at me again…

Smack.

Mother slapped him. “If your eyes are broken, go have them treated. What are you peeking at everyone for?”

“Qingqing, you…”

Mother did not finish, but I understood.

When I had been the God of War, Father had not even won Mother’s heart yet. Xie Huai had still been a dragon egg—and I had once held him in my arms.

I looked at Xie Huai, who had followed us in without a word. His steps were uneven, as if his spirit had wandered elsewhere.

“Father, Mother, in this life I am the fox cub you gave birth to.”

Mother’s eyes filled with tears as she pulled me into her arms. “Good. Good, good.”

“Qingqing,” Father cut in, “now that you’re the God of War, does that mean your old father can swagger sideways among those shameless fossils?”

With one sentence, he ruined the mournful mood.

Mother busied herself twisting his ear, while I went to find my runaway little dragon.