Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 21: You Have to be a Match Made in Heaven (6)

The two of them left the stall afterward and even exited the small square, instead just wandering through the neighborhood with the sounds from the festival once again becoming a quiet backdrop.

Jing He was still holding onto the small chest, looking at the small necklace inside.

Qiu Ling glanced at him, his lips curling up in a smile. "What a coincidence that it is from the dragon realm of all places."

Jing He looked up at him, stopping in his tracks. A coincidence ... Maybe that was what it was. Or maybe ... there was something more to that. "Has Longjun ever heard of the story of Lu Yu and Yong Xia?"

Qiu Ling didn't really know where he wanted to go with this but he still shook his head honestly. "I guess it is a story of the god race. That is, unfortunately, not something I'm very familiar with."

"Then would Longjun like to hear it?"

Qiu Ling stepped closer, lightly touching Jing He's hand. "Are we really back to using our titles now?"

Jing He's face flushed red and he turned away, putting the small chest in his spatial bracelet. "If you don't want to hear it, then you don't have to."

Qiu Ling kept up with him, not disturbed in the least. In fact, the fact that Jing He had neither used his name nor his title just now brought a small smile to his lips. "To be honest, I would like to hear it." In fact, whether it was this story or any other story, he would like to hear it as long as the one telling it was Jing He. He held back from saying that though. There was a line that shouldn't be crossed. "So, just what happened with these two? It sounded like they were a pair of lovers?"

Jing He calmed down when he heard that question and nodded. "They were indeed. They were ... a quite unlikely pair if I may say so. Yong Xia was originally born a mortal like I said before in answer to that riddle. He cultivated to immortality and became an ascended deity, entering the Nine Heavens.

"The ascended deities ... they are free to settle down wherever they want. Just like any trueborn god would as well. Yong Xia decided to leave the capital city where he arrived and instead went to the Northeastern Heaven. There, he met a trueborn god named Lu Yu."

"I presume the two of them fell in love?"

Jing He nodded. "You're right with that. Some versions of the story say that it was love at first sight while others say that it was a long path until the two of them were mutually in love. Who knows what exactly transpired? It is only known that one day, Lu Yu was caught in an accident and lost his life."

The two of them stopped in their tracks as if say had agreed on it and turned to look at each other. Qiu Ling reached out, gently taking Jing He's hand again and holding onto it, not saying anything.

Jing He didn't prevent him. He just looked at him as well, his gaze difficult. "The story might've been over just like that but Lu Yu was in a slightly special situation himself. At the time when the two of them met, he had been undergoing a trial.

"Normally, one would do so in the mortal realm but it was an exception. Nobody knows why something like that would happen or if there was some deeper meaning to it. Some would say that maybe it was prevision, something destined in the High Heavens to allow these two people to meet. In any case, while Lu Yu woke up in his true body, his memories were not yet intact."

Qiu Ling lightly raised his brows. "He did not remember his lover?"

Jing He nodded. "Not for the time being anyway. As it is with these trials, they would be useless if one knew that it was a trial. The god in question will only ever remember their original life when returning to their body. And they will only remember the life they led in the trial after a few days of adjustment. It is quite normal. But in this case, it could've ended fatally.