Chapter 126: What Is A Wedding Night?

Bian Zhonghua never imagined that Qi Ci would try to slit his own throat with a knife. So upon witnessing such an act, Bian Zhonghua’s eyes widened as he hurriedly rushed towards Qi Ci. Fearing that it would already be too late after stopping Qi Ci’s hand, Bian Zhonghua had no other choice but to use his spiritual power to forcefully strike Qi Ci’s palm and push it away from his neck.

However, as Qi Ci’s hand received a side blow, the sharp blade of the knife ended up slightly cutting Qi Ci’s neck, finally burying itself through his right shoulder.

The next second, Bian Zhonghua tightly grabbed Qi Ci’s wrist, thus stopping all his further movements.

Qi Ci, for his part, was still crying heartbreakingly.

Qi Ci observed the valley in front of him as his vision gradually blurred due to his tears. In that instant, still in a daze, Qi Ci could almost see the past.

He could see when his siblings were still here, alive. When the valley was bustling with all of them cultivating, playing, and laughing together. Eager to ascend to Immortality.

But now, Qi Ci was trapped in despair after killing his siblings with his own hands. Facing a dead end where not even the remains of his siblings were left behind.

Qi Ci endured the loneliness and cultivated by himself for many years, hoping to reunite with his siblings one day.

But now, that was no longer possible.

“Why, why did it have to be like this…..?” Qi Ci screamed as loud as his throat allowed. As if he didn’t seem to feel the pain of the blade piercing his shoulder. He even struggled a number of times, causing the wound to open up even further as more blood flowed unceasingly from it.

Seeing Qi Ci on the verge of collapse, Bian Zhonghua was no longer able to bear it. So he had no choice but to reach out and knock Qi Ci unconscious and take him back to Zhoulu Mountain.

Qi Ci only woke up the next day.

At that moment, Bian Zhonghua was standing beside the bed, having stayed there all this time, not even leaving his side for a second. When he saw Qi Ci open his eyes, genuine joy appeared in Bian Zhonghua’s exhausted eyes.

However, that joy was quickly replaced by panic.

As Bian Zhonghua discovered that even though Qi Ci had opened his eyes, the ever-present glow in them had completely disappeared. His gaze was now completely devoid of vitality, filled only with numbness and emptiness. Just like a piece of rotting wood.

Qi Ci’s heart was as lifeless as ashes1, and as such, he lay in bed the entire day, neither eating nor talking. It was as if he was trapped in a dark, cramped place where no light could enter, and where you couldn’t go out to look for it either. He could feel hunger eating away at his body, but no matter what, nothing could stir his heart.

Even if his body wasn’t dead, his heart already was. Just like a withered dry tree.

Qi Ci thought he would die if he continued like this. But one day, Bian Zhonghua came to him and placed seven stone tablets in front of him.

These were the amulets Qi Ci had carved for his siblings. Engraved on each stone tablet, there were vividly carved dragons, each with a different shape.

Bian Zhonghua looked at Qi Ci, and in an extremely gentle voice, said: “I’ve been reading the ancient texts left behind by my Clan and found some records about the Ghost Domain. The Ghost Domain is a place where three thousand Evil Spirits are imprisoned, all sealed by the Yellow Emperor himself. It’s practically impossible for your elder brother, Fu Xi, to open the door of the Ghost Domain by himself, and yet, he still made you leave.”

Qi Ci’s eyes flickered slightly, and he slowly fixed his gaze on Bian Zhonghua.

Bian Zhonghua let out a long sigh and continued: “The reason you were able to get out of the Ghost Domain was because each stone plate contained the spiritual power of your siblings.”

At that instant, Qi Ci’s eyes slowly opened, and his body began to tremble.

Bian Zhonghua gently held Qi Ci’s hand with a warm and firm touch. Bian Zhonghua continued: “Your elder siblings should have experienced the same despair as you upon discovering that they had been deceived. But none of them succumbed to their hopelessness. Before they died, each of your siblings infused their spiritual power into the amulets you gave each of them, because even in their last moments of life, each of them were thinking about how to help you survive.”

Every word uttered by Bian Zhonghua struck hard at Qi Ci’s shattered heart, until finally he could no longer bear with it. Qi Ci curled up into a ball, and as tears began to fall from his eyes, he sobbed in pain.

He was Chiwen, the ninth son of the Dragon. The youngest son, and therefore, the most beloved brother of Mount Dushuo.

He was also the only hope and longing of his older siblings before they died.

From that day on, Qi Ci stopped torturing himself and resumed eating, drinking, and talking. Since then, he made efforts to heal from his wounds, recover, and continue living.

Bian Zhonghua stayed by Qi Ci’s side at all times. As a gentle and loving companion who entertained him with amusing anecdotes and interesting stories of the Human World.

On this particular day, Qi Ci was drinking clear porridge as he listened to Bian Zhonghua telling him about the most prosperous places in the Human World.

“Crowded with people, the atmosphere is bustling with so much activity that it fills the place with liveliness.” This is how Bian Zhonghua described it.

From the moment Qi Ci appeared in this world, he was only surrounded by his elder siblings, since he lived his whole life on Mount Dushuo, where no one else but them had lived for thousands of years. Therefore, it was hard for Qi Ci to imagine what it really meant to be surrounded by people in a crowded place.

“We can go take a look at it one of these days.” Bian Zhonghua said with a smile.

“Mm-hmm.” Qi Ci nodded, with a hint of joy welling up inside his heart. Suddenly, in the midst of all this, Bian Zhonghua’s soft whispers, as well as his patient demeanor of the past few days, surged inside Qi Ci’s heart along with that hint of joy, causing waves of inexpressible palpitations.

Qi Ci couldn’t help but think to himself: ‘What kind of virtue or ability do I possess, to be so lucky to have him here with me?’

“What’s wrong?” Seeing Qi Ci fall into a trance so suddenly, Bian Zhonghua asked.

After coming back to reality, Qi Ci shook his head.

Bian Zhonghua thought that Qi Ci was worried about the Ghost Domain, so he said: “Don’t worry, even without you, the Ghost Domain continues to be securely sealed. I’ve gone there to explore it on a regular basis, in case you’re worried.”

Qi Ci’s heart beat fiercely once again.

Qi Ci also wanted to do something for Bian Zhonghua. Something that would make him happy.

Suddenly, Qi Ci remembered a sentence Bian Zhonghua said to him a while ago: ‘You disappeared a day after the wedding ceremony. Not to mention we didn’t spend the wedding night together, I couldn’t even hear you call me ‘Husband’.’

Qi Ci thought about it for a moment, until he finally looked up resolutely and asked Bian Zhonghua: “By the way, what is a wedding night?”

Bian Zhonghua: “Why are you asking me about that?”

Qi Ci answered truthfully: “You mentioned it to me before.”

Bian Zhonghua pondered for a long while, to the point that perverted thoughts agitated his mind. However, reason and conscience prevailed despite lust: “Explaining the meaning of ‘wedding night’ is not something I can do in mere words. You’d better not ask me about it anymore.”

Clearly, Bian Zhonghua said this with the intention to stop Qi Ci from further inquiring about it.

However, Qi Ci understood that Bian Zhonghua was telling him to ask someone else.

For the next few days, Qi Ci stayed at Zhoulu Mountain to recover from his injuries. During that time, Qi Ci got to know the other three people residing there.

Although Lin Baihu followed Bian Zhonghua, he used to appear and disappear mysteriously like a ghost, so he rarely made an appearance. Whenever he made an appearance, it was because the human world was being attacked by some evil demon.

Immortal Lord Zhenwu also used to appear only to look for Bian Zhonghua to discuss recent events and resolve any misunderstandings.

Qin Yicang, on the other hand, was practically invisible. He would only appear to be near Lin Baihu.

After pondering over his question, the first person Qi Ci crossed paths with was Lin Baihu.

That day, Bian Zhonghua was absent because he was dealing with monsters, so he asked Lin Baihu to give Qi Ci some medicine to heal his wounds and nourish his spirit. It was then that Qi Ci took the opportunity to ask Lin Baihu about the meaning of ‘wedding night’. About the bridal chamber, and the dark lit only by ornate candles.

Lin Baihu explained expressionlessly: “Rumor has it that during the Marriage Ceremony between Emperor Yao and the Deer Fairy in Gushe Cave, a sacred fire was suddenly ignited bursting through the ceiling of the cave, dazzling and glowing. Future generations then referred to the newlyweds’ room as the ‘bridal chamber’. The ornate candles refers to a kind of red candle decorated with patterns of the Luan and Phoenix2, while the dark refers to the night. Any further questions?”

Qi Ci listened to the explanation with a puzzled expression. After a while lost in thought, Qi Ci shook his head and said: “I have no other questions.”

However, Qi Ci still didn’t understand why Bian Zhonghua would show an expression of extreme regret at the mere mention of the wedding night.

Suddenly, a man leapt into the room, wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the ever expressionless Lin Baihu, and waved a fan in his hand. With a smile, the man asked: “What were the two of you talking about?”

It was Qin Yicang.

Lin Baihu replied: “Master Chiwen asked me what the wedding night was.”

The fan in Qin Yicang’s hand fell to the ground producing a ‘clicking’ sound: “…..”

It took Qin Yicang a long while to come back from the initial shock. But when he came to his senses, he bent down to pick up his fan and asked Lin Baihu: “What did you answer him?”

Lin Baihu then repeated to Qin Yicang what he had just told Qi Ci.

Qin Yicang massaged his forehead, and for a moment, he didn’t know whether to feel more sorry for Bian Zhonghua or for himself.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, Qin Yicang felt that he was the one who deserved more sympathy.

Qin Yicang didn’t explain to Qi Ci what a wedding night was either, worried that the explicit words might be interpreted as flirting. Of course, just in case Bian Zhonghua found out, Qin Yicang didn’t want Bian Zhonghua to fight him due to a misunderstanding. Therefore, Qin Yicang took Lin Baihu away, then went to find Bian Zhonghua to tell him that Qi Ci had been asking about the wedding night.

As a result, by the time Lord Bian returned from dealing with the demons, he pressed Qi Ci against the bed. With a smirking face, Bian Zhonghua held Qi Ci’s wrists against the wall and above his head, then asked: “So, are you really that eager to know what a wedding night is?”

Footnotes

心如死灰 xīn rú sǐ huī ; A Chinese expression that describes a state of extreme despair, hopelessness, or emotional emptiness. It suggests that one’s heart feels devoid of any vitality, passion, or joy; similar to the lifelessness of ashes after a fire has burned out. 鸾凤 luán fèng ; The mythical birds, Luan and Phoenix, represent woman and man respectively. Together, these two birds are used metaphorically to refer to a couple, symbolizing the harmony and bliss of a perfect match.