Being with you

Chapter 16 - Coming to the past

In the throne room Yan Chiwu greeted all the guests warmly. He also bestowed several precious gifts. There was fine wine made of fruits that grew only in the demon realm. There were knives, swords, and arrows made with iron from the coldest parts in all domains. Even a small wound from these could be fatal or hard to treat for demons, mortals, and immortals alike. There were hairpins and ornaments made with dendrite quartz, chrome diopside, and angel stones. The Demon Lord sincerely wanted the Celestial party to know that the Demon Realm valued their friendship and intended to protect the peace. Everyone expressed their gratitude and praised his attitude.

Ji Heng was impeccable in her queenly duties. She bowed and smiled to Dong Hua Dijun, Lian Song, Bai Zhen, and Zhe Yan. She hugged Cheng Yu, Jie Lu, and Feng Jiu. She patted the silver hair of Gun Gun. Very politely, she greeted Chong Lin and Si Ming. Everyone was impressed with her.

Everyone except Gun Gun. He heard her vicious thoughts. "When will this be over? I can't wait for the day when I become the empress. Empress of all realms. With Dong Hua as my husband. How long do I need to endure these fake smiles?" Gun Gun heard Ji Heng think. He knew this queen was not to be trusted at all. He wondered why no one seemed bothered, and they were all praising her. He decided to be alert and stand by his mother. She was the most precious person for him in the whole universe. And he knew she would be the target of this evil queen.

As they were about to take their leave, Dijun said, "Demon Lord, I would like to visit the outskirts - the once-forbidden land. I will take the Celestial deities with me if they want to come along. I hope you won't mind."

"Sure, Dijun. That shouldn't be a problem at all. Those lands are no longer forbidden, and we plan to plant trees and help with afforestation in those regions. Please feel free to look around and share any ideas you might have. I'd love to know", Yan Chiwu replied.

Dijun had called him Demon Lord instead of Yan Chiwu. It was a rare occurrence for Yan Chiwu to have realized Dijun's address was because they were in the throne room among all the demon ministers and guests. That is why Yan had responded with 'Dijun' instead of 'ice-face.' Feng Jiu smiled internally. Her simple-minded friend was behaving all grown up.

They bid goodbye and left.

Dijun took everyone in his aura and teleported them to the outskirts of the Demon Realm. They landed in a barren land. There were dead and decaying trees everywhere. They could see some efforts had started on clearing up the area for new plantations. But that area was still quite bleak.

"Here we are, Xiaobai," said Dijun as he lovingly took her hand in his. They started walking towards the spot where Feng Jiu had fought with a tiger and Dijun had saved her. 

Gun Gun ran forward and took her hand. "Mother, why are we here?" he asked curiously.

"Well, Gun Gun, this was the place where I saw your Father for the first time. That day I was trying to run away from Jingwei. He is a spiritual bird and your Zhe Yan Ye Ye's mount. He wanted to take me to the Peach Forest, and I wanted to run away so I could have fun. Something weird, like a black shadow, brought me to the Demon Realm and dumped me here. As I was looking around, a ferocious tiger attacked me. I kept running and fighting. At one point, my ankle got trapped in a tree branch and the tiger was about to pounce on me. Out of nowhere, a purple-robed deity appeared, killed the tiger, and saved me. He was skilled, and fearless, and oh so handsome with his silver hair. I knew he was Dong Hua Dijun, and I knew I wanted to be with him forever.", Feng Jiu explained.

Everyone had gathered around them, and they all were listening. "I recall the story as it happened on the other side. It was a normal day when I was playing Go with Dijun at Tai Chen Palace. Suddenly he became alert and stopped playing. Without a word, he disappeared. I feared something had happened to the Miaoyi chasm. Somehow I was able to track Dijun's essence to this place. As I got here, I saw the then-Demon-Lord Xu Yang was arguing with Dijun to return the woman who had trespassed on the forbidden land. Dijun categorically denied having seen any woman. A war was about to break out. I somehow pacified both parties by having Dijun promise to Xu Yang to grant one wish for him. I had never seen this side of Dijun where he tried to protect a woman by outright lying." Lian Song chuckled.