Chapter 58: Alive Yet Mortified, the Heavenly Emperor Visits

"May you obtain happiness in this mortal world."

As Chuxue recited the poem up to this line, a certain person naturally came to her mind.

Happiness...

Well, it seemed he didn't need her blessing; he was already living a very happy life.

Chuxue smiled happily—a smile of profound relief.

As the poem reached its end, Chuxue took a deep breath, stood up, opened her arms, and closed her eyes, as if she were embracing the vast ocean:

"I only wish to face the sea, with spring blossoms... blooming!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The recitation finished, and the sound of the crashing waves seemed to grow louder, as if applauding her reading.

Chuxue opened her eyes, feeling her mind clearer than ever before.

Beyond that, she also felt a strange sense of bewilderment.

It should be about time now, shouldn't it?

Why was nothing happening at all?

Amidst her confusion—

Clap... clap... clap!

Applauding sounds reached her ears:

"Well read, full of emotion!"

Chuxue froze slightly, then blushed crimson, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to hide in:

"You... why are you back again!"

Wang Chu walked up to her side:

"If I didn't come back, how could I have heard such a moving voice?"

Chuxue was somewhat at a loss:

"You... how much did you hear?"

Wang Chu pressed his hand down, an enigmatic expression on his face:

"Not much, just the contents of a poem."

He began to imitate Chuxue's posture, curving the corners of his eyes into crescent moons like a cunning little fox:

"Starting tomorrow, be a happy person..."

"Stop... stop reciting, please!"

Chuxue buried her head deep in her hands and raised one to stop him.

The shame.

It was utterly, intensely shameful!

Fortunately, what brought Chuxue some comfort was—

She should be dying very soon anyway.

Otherwise...

That scene was simply too horrifying to contemplate!

"Are you thinking that it's a good thing your time is running out?"

Wang Chu seemed to read Chuxue's thoughts and asked with a teasing expression,

"Actually, it's no big deal. What's wrong with facing the sea and reciting, *I only wish to face the sea, with spring blossoms blooming*? There's nothing wrong with that."

He said it so casually, but when he mentioned that line of poetry, Wang Chu wore a smile and clumsily mocked her previous stance, which was enough to drive someone crazy.

Chuxue grew exasperated out of embarrassment:

"You, you, you... stop reciting! Don't your conscience hurt treating someone who is about to die like this?"

Wang Chu frowned, arching one eyebrow downward while lifting the other upward:

"About to die? But you aren't."

"Not about to die?"

Chuxue froze for a moment:

"What kind of..."

"The midnight hour passed long ago," Wang Chu reminded her.

Chuxue's eyes widened in disbelief:

"But clearly I didn't..."

Before she could finish, Chuxue suddenly realized something:

"That juice just now, and that fish..."

Wang Chu looked at her approvingly:

"Still somewhat smart, aren't you?"

A ripple stirred in Chuxue's heart, though she still dared not believe it, dreading that this might just be one of Wang Chu's jokes:

"Then why did you say earlier that the promise couldn't be fulfilled?"

Wang Chu smiled and explained:

"The promise truly couldn't be fulfilled—the promise of having you buried."

Chuxue was amused by Wang Chu's words.

She laughed for a moment, then instantly reined in her smile, only to beam again, tears already welling up in her eyes.

Chuxue covered her mouth, her voice muffled:

"You... why didn't you just say so earlier!"

Wang Chu cleared his throat:

"If I hadn't done that, how could I have heard you recite, *I wish—*"

"Stop!"

At this moment, Chuxue experienced a whirlwind of emotions. She rejoiced over her newfound life, yet felt utterly ashamed and helpless from being teased by Wang Chu:

"You... you really are a strange person! How... how can someone as strange as you exist! I hate you! I hate you to death! Wuwah—"

At the end of her words, Chuxue finally lost control and burst into tears.

She instinctively threw herself into Wang Chu's arms, her tears quickly soaking through the fabric of his chest.

It was just like the very first time she had cried in his arms.

The difference was:

That first time, she had cried in secret.

Whereas this time, she was crying her heart out right in front of Wang Chu, unreservedly and without any hesitation.

She knew that the future Wang Chu might not belong to her.

Yet at this moment.

By the seaside, beneath the moonlight.

Wang Chu's chest was, at least for this fleeting instant, her sanctuary.

Within this sanctuary, she could weep to her heart's content and vent all her bottled-up emotions.

Starting today.

She, Chuxue, would no longer live for her sect, but for herself... No, not just for herself... Because she was far too lonely, she should add Wang Chu into the equation as well.

After who knows how long, Chuxue's crying finally subsided.

Reluctantly, she pulled away from the warm sanctuary, looking hazily at the damp tear stain on Wang Chu's chest, and laughed through her tears:

"Hehe, now you know the price of teasing me!"

Wang Chu wasn't angry at all; he merely asked:

"Feeling better now?"

His sudden seriousness made Chuxue's smile pause for a fraction of a second before she blinked and replied:

"Mm, I feel completely weightless, better than ever before."

This sudden stroke of good fortune almost instantly liberated the heart that Chuxue had suppressed for so long.

Her so-called rebirth extended far beyond the physical realm—it reached deep into her soul.

"I don't even know how to repay your kindness."

Wang Chu took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the remaining tears from the corner of her eyes:

"Aren't we friends?"

Warmth flooded Chuxue's heart. Just as she was about to say, "That's not enough, I must properly repay you," Wang Chu changed the subject:

"However, if you insist on repaying this favor, it's not entirely impossible."

Chuxue instantly felt a little less touched. She twitched the corner of her mouth and narrowed her eyes, asking:

"How?"

Wang Chu put away the handkerchief,

"I want you to do three things for me."

He raised three fingers, articulating each word clearly:

"First, join Beiming; second, enter the Sound Sect; and third... reclaim leadership of the Solitary Star Gate!"

The amount of information contained in Wang Chu's words was simply too overwhelming, leaving Chuxue momentarily dazed:

"Beiming, the Sound Sect... the Solitary Star Gate?"

Wang Chu offered no explanation. He folded down two of his three raised fingers, leaving only his index finger pointing straight up.

A beam of light shot forth from the tip of his index finger and vanished directly into the center of Chuxue's brow.

Immediately afterward, mysterious runes flickered in and out of sight within Chuxue's pupils.

Before Chuxue could open her mouth to ask what the glowing light that had entered her body was,

Wang Chu cut her off:

"You will understand very soon."

The moment his voice fell, Chuxue was sucked into a spatial rift and vanished from sight.

Wang Chu turned around and let out a yawn:

"Ah—so late, time to go back to sleep!"

...

Several days later, Wang Chu was dozing off behind the counter when a man suddenly stepped into the shop, looking around and sizing up the place.

When his gaze landed on the dozing Wang Chu, the man froze slightly, looking startled.

The resemblance was striking—truly too striking.

Although the young man's facial features were not quite identical to hers, those brows and eyes were simply too much like that woman's.

Could it be...

An abrupt possibility crossed the man's mind, fueling a surge of anger in his chest.

He quietly activated his divine sense, hurriedly scanning the bloodline within Wang Chu's body.

After a thorough inspection, the man let out a breath and finally set his mind at ease.

Thankfully, it wasn't...

He found no trace of that woman's bloodline in Wang Chu.

Nor, of course, was his own bloodline detected.

The youth before him must simply happen to share a similar eye and brow structure with that woman...

With this thought, the man spoke up:

"Shopkeeper, wake up."