CH 111

Since their son had succeeded the throne of Heaven, Yan Jing and his husband had gone on a trip to the four corners of the world. When they learnt of the turmoil in the Heavenly Realm ten thousand years ago, they had to rush back to take over the mess and reign over the Heavenly Realm for their son.

When Yan Yuan returned from the mortal world to resume his position as Emperor of Heaven, he had to host a banquet at the Heavenly Palace to celebrate with all the gods. Ye Ling Shenjun had personally arranged for the immortal eunuchs to begin preparations a few days earlier, so Yan Yuan could not afford to disappoint his mother.

Atop the Purple Sky Cloud Palace, Yan Yuan was dressed in a silver and white imperial robe, wearing a platinum dragon crown. He sat in the high hall, looking down on the immortals and gods below him, happily enjoying peaches and bear paws, drinking jelly and wine, all of them celebrating his return from the mortal world, but not mentioning why he had gone there.

It was as if the name Xuan Long had been forgotten.

The hall was lively, but Yan Yuan's heart was cold. He turned his head to look at the empty throne beside him. He had gone to the mortal world for ten thousand years, but not only had he failed to bring back his A'Po, he had also completely lost that stupid dragon.

All the gods rose to offer Yan Yuan a toast, and he did not refuse, raising his cup and drinking from it each and every time. His divine body could drink very well, and although he drank a lot, he did not get drunk at all, not even a trace of alcohol on his face.

Neither Yan Jing nor Ye Ling Shenjun appeared, and it was not clear what they were doing. Ye Ling Shenjun only said that when the banquet was over, Yan Yuan should go to the Temple of Clouds to find him and he would tell him how to save Xuan Long.

Yan Yuan did not feel like sitting still for long, so after the banquet was half over, he left the Purple Sky Cloud Palace, leaving all the immortal gods behind. He performed a teleportation technique and arrived outside the Temple of Clouds in the blink of an eye, and was about to knock on the door when he heard a strange sound coming from inside.

“En..."

"Hurry up… Yuan'er will come looking for me soon." Suppressing a sweet, hoarse gasp, it was the voice of Ye Ling Shenjun, his mother.

Yan Yuan's hand that was about to knock on the door halted mid-air.

Then he heard his father speak hoarsely.

"How can it be done quickly?"

"If this is done quickly, you may not be able to hold on to your lute one day."

The circular jade bed in the hall was covered by several layers of light white veil. Inside the tent, Ye Ling Shenjun's long black hair was scattered behind him, covering his back, which was cold and white. His body was embraced by a pair of muscular arms, and he was sitting on Yan Jing's lap, holding Yan Jing's neck and resting his forehead on Yan Jing's shoulder, panting lowly. 

"Yan Jing, it's been so many years, why do you still hold a grudge?"

One hundred thousand years ago, Ye Ling Shenjun, who had been in charge of the scattered souls that had transcended the Six Realms, mended the hole at the edge of the Six Realms by himself and prevented the spirits of grievances from invading the Six Realms in time, was promoted from an upper immortal in the Eighth Heaven to a superior god in the Ninth Heaven.

In the Purple Cloud Sky Palace, he fell in love at first sight with the cold Heavenly Emperor in the high court. Ye Ling was without burden in life, and after that, he appeared in front of Yan Jing in many different ways. When he failed to chase after him, he simply jumped on him and seduced him.

On that day, when Ye Ling was a bit drunk, he shamelessly chased away the immortal eunuchs and fell into Yan Jing's arms as he was serving him tea and water. Yan Jing tried to push him away, but Ye Ling pulled him by the neck and refused to get off of him, his peach blossom eyes smiling with a glistening smile. He came up to his ear and said he liked him, and asked him what was wrong with himself and why he was so cold.

A spark drifted up inside Yan Jing, landing on dry firewood and burning into a prairie fire which doomed the man.

Both of them

The first time, as we all know, it is easy for the first time to be short.

Ye Ling thought he wasn't charming enough and was quite aggravated when he exclaimed:

"That's it?"

As a result, this bridge was made, and Yan Jing instantly stood up and did it again. 

The second time, he made him faint.

Later on, they did get together, but even though Yan Jing's body was with him, his heart was still cold, and the only thing that was hot was the sex, so over time there would be disagreements and Ye Ling was troubled.

The two of them had no reason to be at odds, so he grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. 

The first time he said that Yan Jing couldn't do it, not only could he not do it, but he had a dead face all day long, it was no fun. From beginning to end, it was the same, he wanted to find someone who was hot in bed and hot out of bed.

This was outrageous.

This grudge lasted for a hundred thousand years. To prove that he was not 'just this', Ye Ling had never had a problem in bed since. From time to time, Yan Jing would sourly mention the incident with a cold face.

Ye Ling just regretted it. Regret.

"Hiss... gently."

"Lighter."

Yan Jing's lust-stained black eyes hid a fierce intent, and Ye Ling was carried over and pressed down on the bed. He knew that something was wrong, so he hurriedly wrapped his arms around Yan Jing's neck and used his strength to lift his body up to kiss him on the lips, smiling and saying, "Husband... I was wrong, wrong."

"Shout it again."

"Husband."

"Want to hear it again."

"Husband..."

"Continue."

Ye Ling's meek smile gradually twisted as he pushed against the man's sturdy chest, "Come on, Yan Jing! You want to open a dye house just because you were given some colour, don't you? There are immortals in the Heavenly Realm who specialise in weaving cloth, they don't need a dye house!" He said, getting up and running away.

His white ankle was grabbed by a large palm, and he was dragged back and pressed down underneath him again. The fierce look in Yan Jing's eyes faded and his black eyes looked at him quietly, similar to a large dog that had been abandoned, and he spoke in a dark voice, “A'Ye, you are so impatient with me nowadays."

"You really don't…" The fluffy head nestled into Ye Ling's neck, making a muffled sound, "don't love me anymore, do you?"

Ye Ling lifted his hand to cover Yan Jing's smooth hair and softened his tone: "What are you thinking about? You're the one who's getting ahead of yourself, and you don't know how to restrain yourself even though you've been told your son is coming."

"But you haven't paid any attention to me for several days..." His head rubbed against Ye Ling's neck.

"Not yet..." Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by Yan Jing's sudden movement, "Mmmm..."

There was another moan from inside.

It was not that the soundproofing of the Heavenly Palace's halls was bad, it was just that the five senses of the gods were too keen and their hearing was too good.

Yan Yuan withdrew his hand and stepped aside in silence, ready to wait until the sound inside stopped before knocking on the door.

An hour later, the door of the palace was opened from the inside, and Ye Ling Shenjun, fixing his collar with a long frown, stepped out of the threshold with his front foot. When he raised his eyes, he saw Yan Yuan standing by the jade pillar, and his figure stopped.

When Yan Yuan heard the sound, he turned to look at Ye Ling and bowed: "Mother... Father."

Ye Ling laughed dryly: "How long have you been here?"

Yan Yuan spoke indifferently, "Not long."

"Let's go to the Dongji Hall and talk about it.” Ye Ling's smile remained unchanged, but he cursed Yan Jing for being so old and lecherous. This son has just lost the love of his life, and he was called to listen by this wall.

Yan Yuan paused, “En."

Dongji Hall was his and Xuan Long's bedchamber. He had been away for ten thousand years and had not been back since returning to the Heavenly Palace.

The two of them teleported and appeared outside the Immortal Palace. Yan Yuan raised his hand to touch the jade door and gently pushed it in. Not far away, he saw a neat bookcase with a brush bath on the table, a row of delicate wolf-hair brushes hanging from the brush stand, and a conspicuous red gold silk brocade bag.

Memories of the past surged before his eyes, and he saw, in a trance, that he was sitting behind the desk with Xuan Long and holding a book in one hand as he encircled his waist and read poems to the child in Xuan Long's womb.

His A'Po became sleepy as he listened, nestling on his chest and sleeping so soundly that he didn't even wake up when he was kissed.

“Yuan'er?"

Ye Ling called out to Yan Yuan several times, and Yan Yuan snapped back to his senses, turning his head to look at Ye Ling, the ends of his eyes already red.

"Father, how can I save him..."

Ye Ling knew that Yan Yuan must have remembered something, and did not say anything. After raising his sleeve and reaching inside, he unfolded his palm. A white light flashed, and a dark gold hexagonal soul gathering box appeared in his palm. The body of the box was hollowed out, a large black gemstone was embedded in the centre, and next to the gemstone were two vivid candle dragons carved. (Angel: A candle dragon is a dragon with a human face and a red snake body.)

It didn't look like a magic weapon, but rather a beautiful jewellery box.

"Shortly after you and Xuan Long fell into reincarnation, I calculated that in ten thousand years he would have a calamity because of you. This is a soul gathering box, it took me ten thousand years to forge it, if you use it, you may be able to save Xuan Long.” Ye Ling Shenjun handed Yan Yuan the magic instrument.

Yan Yuan carefully took the soul gathering box and murmured, “May?..."

That is to say, he may not be able to save it.

Ye Ling: “En, this soul gathering box contains the spirit essence of your father and I. It is enough to reforge Xuan Long's soul, but if he is not willing to come back with you, there will be no next chances."

"Because the soul gathering box can only be used once, once it fails, the only way is to reforge it. In another ten thousand years, I am afraid that not even Xuan Long's flying ashes will remain in this world."

Yan Yuan's fingers gripping the soul gathering box could not stop tightening: "What should this son do?"

"Although his soul has turned into thousands of shattered ashes, most of the soul's ashes wandering in this world have joy and anger. You have to coax him and make him happy so that he can enter this soul gathering box. Once his soul is collected and complete, you will be able to bring him back."

Yan Yuan looked down at the small dark gold box in his hand and said in a mute voice, "How can I coax him?..."

A'Po didn't believe his words anymore.

Ye Ling laughed, "Coax with your heart."

"He has always trusted you, it should be easy for you to coax him."

Yan Yuan's eyes were sour and he was silent.

It was easy, otherwise how could he have so easily tricked that dragon to his side in both lifetimes.

But he had destroyed all his trust in him.

"... How do I know where he is?" Yan Yuan asked, looking up with red eyes.

Ye Ling's palm covered the small dark gold box in Yan Yuan's hand, and the lid was lifted up with his divine power. He gestured for Yan Yuan to look at it while saying:

"The lid on the soul gathering box can be opened. Put Xuan Long's favourite things in it, and when you arrive in the mortal world, first go to the place where he died and cast a soul summoning spell. The soul gathering box will absorb all the ashes of his unconscious spirit, and the rest, the conscious ones, will need you to find them yourself."

"Shortly after a person dies, their soul will linger in the place where they left their obsession, and the same goes for the soul's ashes. Go to Xuan Long's favourite place in life, and if you find it, the black gem on the soul gathering box will glow and become blue."

"At this point, you will then perform the sleeping technique to put yourself to sleep, and the soul gathering box will bring you into Xuan Long's consciousness, allowing you to meet him in your dreams. No matter what you see him doing, all you have to do is coax him and ask him to enter the soul gathering box."

"When the ashes of his soul are completely collected, the gem on the soul gathering box will glow green. At that time, you will bring him back to the Nine Heavens and Father will tell you how to reshape his physical body."

"Do you remember everything?"

Yan Yuan nodded and whispered, "I remember."

Looking at his son's distraught appearance, Ye Ling urged uneasily, "His soul is shattered and his memory is fragmented and incomplete, the many bad things that happened in the past will likely make him even more stubborn than usual. Father knows that you have been spoiled by him and always try to bully him, but this time, you must give in to him, understand?"

“En..." Yan Yuan's chest ached and his eyes filled with hot tears. He wanted to say that when he returned, he would let him do everything, but when he thought that there was no future for them, he changed his mind. "I know that... I will not bully him again."

Ye Ling's gaze was deep and gentle as he looked at Yan Yuan, and he raised his hand to pat him on the shoulder: "Go and get him back."