Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

Xiao Yao walked out of the gambling den with Fang Feng Bei chuckling at her. “You seem in a pissy mood. But in this day and age, I can’t imagine anyone in the vast wilderness who dares make you upset.”

The two arrived at the end of the corridor and Xiao Yao sniped back, “As far as the edge of the sky, as close as right before my eyes.”

Fang Feng Bei smiled. “The future Chi Sui clan leader's wife, where is that proud future husband of yours? How come you came to such a place alone?”

Xiao Yao silently took off her dog face mask as did Fang Feng Bei.

Xiao Yao asked, “You already know I’m engaged?”

“Something so newsworthy, it’s hard not to know even if one doesn’t want to know! I forgot to say congratulations!”

Xiao Yao silently stared at Fang Feng Bei for a few moments before shaking her head with a smile. “I need to discuss two things with you.”

Fang Feng Bei played with his mask. “Tell me.”

“The first is making poisons for you. I can still do it now but after….I’m married I won’t be able to anymore.”

Fang Feng Bei held the mask still and smiled at Xiao Yao. “And the second?”

“I want to remove the voodoo bug linking us. The Tu Shan Madam had a doctor from the Jiu Li tribe who said that…….our bug might be the legendary Lover’s Bug. This bug is used by lovers…..and you and I…..it’s not suitable!” Xiao Yao mockingly said, “Last time you said you were annoyed by the bug so I want to know when you have free time to go to Jiu Li with me so that we can find the Voodoo King to remove the bug.”

Fang Feng Bei stared at Xiao Yao and under the dim light of the gambling hall his sliver of a smile felt cold.

Xiao Yao added, “Even if the bug is removed, I’ll still be good for my promise.”

Xiang Liu coolly said, “Fine, wait until I have time.”

...

Xiao Yao softly asked, “Bei, tell me…..why is it so hard to find a person to walk the path with?”

Fang Feng Bei said, “Finding a person isn’t hard, finding a person who shares the same interest, genuinely treats you well, and makes the journey more interesting, that is what is hard.”

Xiao Yao asked, “Can one never forget a person for an entire life?”

“Depends on the person. If you are talking about Jing, then I think it’s highly possible.”

“Do you mean he can’t forget me, or I can’t forget him?”

Fang Feng Bei smiled, “However you want to interpret.”

Xiao Yao furrowed her brows and angrily said, “There are a lot of good men left in the vast wilderness!”

“There are plenty of good men, but there aren't many who will really put you inside his heart.”

“What do you mean? So I shouldn’t marry Feng Long?”

“I don’t mean anything. You asked me so I honestly told you my thoughts.”

“Xiang Liu, I really don’t know, what is your heart thinking deep down inside?”

“You and I are travelers who have crossed paths in this windy world. Whenever we meet we are each other’s companions to enjoy the world is all! Why do you care what I think deep down inside?”

Xiao Yao mocked herself, “Yes, it’s my over-thinking! No matter what you feel deep down inside, none of it has anything to do with me!”

Xiang Liu stared down the dark alley and said nothing.

Xiao Yao was silent for a few moments and then casually said, “Jing knows you’re Xiang Liu now. He won’t tell my Gege, but if Feng Long knows, Gege will find out. You……be careful.”

Xiang Liu stared at Xiao Yao and she avoided his piercing gaze and asked, “Who was that old man selling donkey meat?”

“He used to be a subordinate of Qi Yo and one of the survivors in the final battle in Yi Province. Carrying all the memories of those who perished, it’s easier just to have died.” Xiang Liu smiled “Actually, to a General, the best ending is to die on the battlefield.”

It was a warm Summer night but Xiao Yao suddenly felt her entire body turn cold in an instant.

They arrived outside Little Zhu Rong’s residence and Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu both stopped at the same time. But one didn’t depart and the other didn’t go in. They just silently stood there.

In the past she felt they had so many opportunities to see each other, but it wasn’t clear when it began that Xiao Yao started to feel that she was seeing less and less of him. Until tonight, when this feeling became impossible to ignore.

After a few moments, Xiang Liu said, “You go inside!”

Xiao Yao wanted to talk to him but she didn’t know what she wanted to say. She said, “Now is not like before, you shouldn’t come to the Middle Plains so often anymore.”

Xiao Yao thought Xiang Liu would mock her, asking whether she was worried Zhuan Xu would kill him, or worried he would kill Zhuan Xu. But surprisingly Xiang Liu said nothing and continued to just look at her.

Xiao Yao quietly stood there waiting, but she didn’t know what she was waiting for.

Xiang Liu's cold voice spoke, “You go inside!”

Xiao Yao smiled and curtsied to him before turning to knock on the door. The door opened and Xiao Yao stepped inside while Xiang Liu continued to stand outside, white robe black hair, tall and proud, like the white snow on the black mountains in the North, even if it was covered with flowers it would still look imposing.

Xiao Yao couldn’t take another step and stood rooted in place staring at him as the door slowly closed and Xiang Liu disappeared from sight.

The Grand Emperor wrote back to Xiao Yao that he and Feng Long’s grandfather had conferred and set the wedding for two months hence.

Ever since Xiao Yao got engaged the Grand Emperor had her trousseau prepared already so all Xiao Yao needed to do was don her wedding dress and walk down the aisle. But the Grand Emperor requested that Xiao Yao return to Five Gods Mountain to prepare for the wedding before he would announce the wedding date to the entire world.

Xiao Yao knew why her dad did this, it wasn’t to adhere to wedding custom because her dad didn’t care about that. It was the request of a father who was worried and anxious over the future of his daughter and wanted to confirm her decision one last time. He wanted to be certain that Feng Long was the man his daughter wanted to entrust the rest of her life to.

Xiao Yao wrote back that she would return to Gao Xing after she did a final personal matter.

Xiao Yao went through Yu Jiang to contact Chi Sui Xian to ask her to dig up something that Xiao Yao asked her to bury a few years ago.

After Zhuan Xu assumed the throne, Xiao Yao used her position for the first time in her life to have precious treasures from around the vast wilderness collected and brought to her.

From the Northeast tops of the Snow Mountain, she collected a piece of Snow Mountain Ice Essence. It grew on the tops of the Snow Mountain and itself was not poisonous. But if something poisonous went inside when it was forming, then it would soak up the poison and after tens of thousands of years it would become one of the most poisonous things in the world. This particular Ice Essence that Xiao Yao found happened to have an injured ice worm demon crawl inside so after countless thousands of years underneath Snow Mountain, it had become a piece of extremely rare poisonous ice. It appeared like a beautiful piece of icy jade but actually exuded a poisonous aura that could pierce straight to the heart.

Xiao Yao used all her effort to carve this piece of poisonous Ice Essence into the shape of a sea clam shell, she carved two sides of an exquisite white clam shell with wave ripples along the edges. When it was opened it resembled a blooming flower.

Xiao Yao then used all sorts of exotic herbs and poisons to create two merpeople. She put the mermaid on the clam shell and she put the merman in the corner away from the clam shell. Xiao Yao also made red coral and colorful little fish.

After it was all completed, Xiao Yao brought out the ice crystals collected from the North Pole and had a specialist split it open and hollow it out. She put the red coral in first and secured it on the bottom. Then she mixed up a batch of poisons with Jade Mountain bone essence to create a blue liquid suspension that she filled the ice crystal ball with so it appeared like blue water. She then put the clam shell with the mermaid and the merman carefully inside the poisonous liquid and surrounded it with the colorful fish. She then closed up the ice crystal ball and used her spiritual power to temporarily seal it.

To permanently seal back up an opened ice crystal required that it be returned to the North Pole and placed back inside the ice mountains. Then a powerful ice spirit god or goddess would then create a spiritual maze around it. After two or three more years, the opened up ice crystal would permanently seal back up without any signs it had ever been opened.

Back then when Xiao Yao finished to the final step, she racked her brains and remembered the most powerful ice power god in the vast wilderness was Chi Sui Xian. She asked Zhuan Xu if she could ask Xian to help and he said, “You found the right person. I’ll have Yu Jiang ask her for help. That ice goddess is quite warm towards Yu Jiang.”

When Xian came to see Xiao Yao, she thought Xian would look down on her for asking such a powerful goddess to do such a little favor. But when Xian saw Xiao Yao’s creation she exclaimed, “It’s so beautiful! You must have spent a lot of time?”

Xiao Yao nodded.

Xian said, “I’ll help you seal it into the ice mountain in the North Pole. When you need to retrieve it, just have someone send me a message.”

Four years had passed and now Xiao Yao needed to take it out. When Xian brought the ice crystal back, she placed it on a dish and it was covered with more ice so it looked just like a regular chunk of ice crystal dug out from the North Pole.

Xiao Yao asked a master carver who spent three days and three nights to finally shape the ice crystal into a round ball.

The clear exquisite ice crystal, inside was the deep blue sea, and in the water was colorful little fishes swimming and beautiful red coral. There was an all-white giant clam shell like a blooming flower and inside a beautiful mermaid sat on the clam shell. Her hair flowed like seaweed and her beautiful tail was half on the clam shell and half in the water. She had one hand on her heart and the other hand reached out towards the distance like she wanted to grab onto something or like she was calling someone to her. In the direction where her hand stretched there was a merman floating in the water. He appeared close to the clam shell but he was coldly staring outside the ice crystal ball so that it felt like he was actually in another world and not in the world of the peaceful isolated ocean with the mermaid.

The underwater world inside the ice crystal was so beautiful that it appeared like a blue-colored dream.

When the ice crystal ball was placed on the table, it was so cold the icy air swirled around it and made it even more illusory like it could vanish in a gust of wind, except the ice crystal was so hard that even knives and swords couldn’t damage it.

The Yellow Emperor saw what Xiao Yao had made and he was so taken aback. He walked into the hut and carefully examined it for a long time. He said nothing other than to sigh, “Only you will waste such precious things.”

Xiao Yao stared at the ice crystal ball and said, “This is the last time.”

Xiao Yao wrapped the ice crystal ball in a demon bear pelt and sent it along with a letter inside a jade container. She went to the Tu Shan clan messenger shop and paid five times more than usual to deliver it as soon as possible to Qing Shui Town.

Inside the jade container was a letter with only one short message:

“In two months I am getting married. This is the last poison I will make for you. Please accept with a smile.”

She then closed up the ice crystal ball and used her spiritual power to temporarily seal it.

To permanently seal back up an opened ice crystal required that it be returned to the North Pole and placed back inside the ice mountains. Then a powerful ice spirit god or goddess would then create a spiritual maze around it. After two or three more years, the opened up ice crystal would permanently seal back up without any signs it had ever been opened.

Back then when Xiao Yao finished to the final step, she racked her brains and remembered the most powerful ice power god in the vast wilderness was Chi Sui Xian. She asked Zhuan Xu if she could ask Xian to help and he said, “You found the right person. I’ll have Yu Jiang ask her for help. That ice goddess is quite warm towards Yu Jiang.”

When Xian came to see Xiao Yao, she thought Xian would look down on her for asking such a powerful goddess to do such a little favor. But when Xian saw Xiao Yao’s creation she exclaimed, “It’s so beautiful! You must have spent a lot of time?”

Xiao Yao nodded.

Xian said, “I’ll help you seal it into the ice mountain in the North Pole. When you need to retrieve it, just have someone send me a message.”

Four years had passed and now Xiao Yao needed to take it out. When Xian brought the ice crystal back, she placed it on a dish and it was covered with more ice so it looked just like a regular chunk of ice crystal dug out from the North Pole.

Xiao Yao asked a master carver who spent three days and three nights to finally shape the ice crystal into a round ball.

The clear exquisite ice crystal, inside was the deep blue sea, and in the water was colorful little fishes swimming and beautiful red coral. There was an all-white giant clam shell like a blooming flower and inside a beautiful mermaid sat on the clam shell. Her hair flowed like seaweed and her beautiful tail was half on the clam shell and half in the water. She had one hand on her heart and the other hand reached out towards the distance like she wanted to grab onto something or like she was calling someone to her. In the direction where her hand stretched there was a merman floating in the water. He appeared close to the clam shell but he was coldly staring outside the ice crystal ball so that it felt like he was actually in another world and not in the world of the peaceful isolated ocean with the mermaid.

The underwater world inside the ice crystal was so beautiful that it appeared like a blue-colored dream.

When the ice crystal ball was placed on the table, it was so cold the icy air swirled around it and made it even more illusory like it could vanish in a gust of wind, except the ice crystal was so hard that even knives and swords couldn’t damage it.

The Yellow Emperor saw what Xiao Yao had made and he was so taken aback. He walked into the hut and carefully examined it for a long time. He said nothing other than to sigh, “Only you will waste such precious things.”

Xiao Yao stared at the ice crystal ball and said, “This is the last time.”

Xiao Yao wrapped the ice crystal ball in a demon bear pelt and sent it along with a letter inside a jade container. She went to the Tu Shan clan messenger shop and paid five times more than usual to deliver it as soon as possible to Qing Shui Town.

Inside the jade container was a letter with only one short message:

“In two months I am getting married. This is the last poison I will make for you. Please accept with a smile.”

Once she arrived on Five Gods Mountain, as expected her dad asked again if she was certain she wanted to marry Chi Sui Feng Long.

Xiao Yao giggled. “If I didn’t want to marry him then why get engaged to him?”

The Grand Emperor said, “Back then Zhuan Xu was surrounded by danger from all sides so knowing your personality you would do anything to help you. If you didn’t get engaged to Feng Long, the Middle Plains clans and families would never have banded together to back him.”

Xiao Yao said, “But Grandfather planned to pass the throne to Zhuan Xu already.”

The Grand Emperor said, “Silly girl, it’s not the same. If the Middle Plains didn’t band together then the Yellow Emperor may have waited to keep watching Zhuan Xu and delay the passing of the throne. With one delay anything can happen. If it wasn’t for the Four Great Clans banding together to lead the other Middle Plains families, do you think they would support Zhuan Xu this completely? In their eyes Zhuan Xu is the bloodline of Xuan Yuan and the Middle Plains are natural rivals. But because of their battle with the Yellow Emperor they think Zhuan Xu is the Emperor they chose and not the successor the Yellow Emperor chose thus all their rivalry vanished.”

Xiao Yao said nothing. When she agreed to marry Feng Long it was because of Zhuan Xu, she kept insisting otherwise because she didn’t want him to feel bad. But now she didn’t want to call off the wedding because Feng Long was the best choice for her. He knew about her past with Jing and accepted it. They also agreed that he would help Zhuan Xu and he did do that. Feng Long held up his end of the bargain, it was Xiao Yao’s turn to fulfill her end of the promise.

The Grand Emperor said, “I’ll give you seven days to reconsider.”