ADAPTED FROM BAI LU CHENG SHUANG'S LOVE IN THE CLOUDS
Your Lordship!
Your Lordship.
What is this?
What happened?
I killed him.
What?
I killed him.
Your Lordship, even if you wish to help Ming Yi,
you must look after yourself.
I'm fine, Fuyue.
Don't worry. I'm perfectly fine.
Come on.
Your Lordship,
you've opposed Mu Qibai time and again for Ming Yi's sake.
I fear you've already become a thorn in his side.
Mu Qibai has more than one enemy.
The enemy of my enemy is a friend.
Since that's the case,
I'll lend this friend a hand.
The Judgment Hall reports that you abducted Fairy Ming Yi
and even carried out a private punishment.
Is that true?
Through investigation, I discovered that Ming Yi carried spiritual veins,
and Ji Bozai concealed and sheltered her,
so, naturally, I had to get to the bottom of it.
It's true she has spiritual veins,
but the one who covered up for her wasn't Ji Bozai.
It was me.
I've long intended for her to serve at Shouhua Academy.
Absurd!
A fairy born with spiritual veins is a jinx,
yet you want to bring her into Shouhua Academy?
Such a foolish rule should have been broken long ago.
Soon, as the Venerable of Shouhua Academy, I will decree
that all women within Jixing Abyss who bear spiritual veins
need not hide any longer
and may compete to be warriors.
Uncle, instead of worrying about such a trivial matter,
perhaps you should explain
why a charred corpse found in this case
came from Zhushui Spiritual State.
He's dead?
Who
was he?
Whoever he was, it's not your place to question me.
Then never mind… the corpse.
But think about this, Uncle.
Why did the Judgment Hall report this matter to me so quickly today?
Uncle,
Jixing Abyss is no longer yours to control alone.
Uncle Qibai is growing ever more brazen,
even consorting with people from Zhushui Spiritual State.
Your Highness, what should we do next?
Now that the Judgment Hall no longer obeys Lord Hanfeng,
can we not accuse him directly?
Though he is no longer what he once was, it's still not easy to bring him down.
We must awaken my father,
no matter
what it takes.
You really don't understand your master.
He'd never turn his back on Ming Yi.
You're so loud.
Last night, His Lordship took your master's fiancée
to the hot springs to heal and keep warm.
Instead of gossiping here, you'd better keep an eye out
before your master ends up getting cheated on.
I can't be bothered. It's not me who'll get cheated on.
Th-Thanks.
You may dislike us most of the time,
but knowing the danger, you went with me to Dragon Carp Terrace to rescue them.
You're actually a decent person,
loyal when it counts.
If you had gone alone and been caught,
you might not have withstood the torture and revealed secrets about Wugui Sea.
That would've brought real trouble upon His Lordship.
Besides, when His Lordship was struck by the Netherbeast-Luring Caltrop,
Fairy Ming Yi helped us.
So, by that reckoning, I owe her one.
Then by your logic, since you helped me beat Sun Liao,
I owe you a favor too.
-No need… -How about this?
I'll grant you three wishes.
No need. Don't make a big deal out of it.
Tell you what. For the first wish, I'll go fishing with you.
Sounds like you're the one who wants to fish.
And don't you dare steal my dried fish again.
Fine. That counts as the second wish.
What?
Very well. Then you'll buy the fishing rods.
I just sent a message to Master She,
asking him to study the Soul-seizing Technique
to see if it can suppress the Heavenly Grief,
since you used your spiritual veins
but didn't suffer any aftereffects this time.
Thank you for worrying about me.
Why are you being so polite? You…
What's wrong?
Ming Yi, no matter how much you like him,
stay focused on what truly matters.
You have only one life.
True.
If one dies,
any amount of love won't matter.
When I finally steal the Golden Millet Dream,
he'll think I've been lying to him all along
and will hate me for it.
And everything will be over.
He's always been cold and decisive.
It won't take long for him to get over me.
It won't.
Master.
After everything that's happened,
I find myself no longer concerned about her past.
Her true identity no longer matters to me.
As long as I know
she truly cares about me,
that is enough.
Whatever the future holds,
I trust her.
Your Lordship, though you've refined the netherbeast core successfully,
your body is also weakened by it.
Please take care of yourself.
Don't worry. I know my limits.
Sun Liao, Jixing Abyss had no chance in the first place.
If not for the miasma of the Sunken Abyss perfect for breeding netherbeasts,
Father would never have entrusted such an important task to Lord Hanfeng.
Now, the netherbeast army is gone,
and my elder brother has died so strangely in Jixing Abyss.
How am I supposed to explain this to Father?
Your Lordship…
Please, I beg you to keep this matter secret!
Look, your father has so many sons.
If they all stay alive, how could he ever value you?
Don't you think so?
In our realm, brothers and friends respect each other.
But lowlifes like you have corrupted our relationship.
Anyway, since the netherbeasts have already been refined by Ji Bozai,
it's time for your realm to fall.
Let's start with you.
Your Lordship, spare me!
Please spare me!
In fact, Lord Hanfeng still has a trick up his sleeve.
He's secretly kept an unformed netherbeast.
Chao Yu hasn't returned to Zhushui for so long,
so Father sent me to check on the situation.
But who would've thought?
Chao Yu actually died.
What is this awful tea?
Anyway, this is a simple matter.
I can just go back and say that to form a netherbeast army,
my elder brother unexpectedly exhausted his spiritual power
and decided to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Touching, isn't it?
This will make a great story to tell!
It will also solve a big problem for you.
I appreciate your kindness, Your Lordship, but I'm afraid I don't understand.
The netherbeasts have been refined by Ji Bozai
and disappeared from the world.
How can we come up
with a satisfying explanation to your father?
Even now,
you are still lying.
Sun Liao already confessed.
Listen carefully.
Hand over the netherbeast you've hidden.
Only then can I cover for you in front of Father.
Your Lordship, you listen carefully.
The beast is in my hands.
If you want my help, you should say "please".
"Please"?
-You…! -Do you even know how to use
what I have?
If you cooperate with me
and pin everything on that mute corpse,
once my great cause is accomplished,
everything in Jixing Abyss will be credited to you.
Then you'd better hurry. Father doesn't have my patience.
Where's the "please"?
Please hurry.
Ming Yi, how are you feeling now?
I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Immortal Situ.
But I'm curious.
How did you know about it so quickly?
Even Princess Tianji and the others came.
I just regret I couldn't come sooner.
By the barrier, they found a body that couldn't be identified.
The Judgment Hall has examined it,
but we still can't confirm its identity.
Was there a wound on the wrist of that body?
I didn't see the person's face,
but I saw a cut on his wrist.
Yes, there was indeed.
Right?
But I heard the body was burned into a charred skeleton by magic.
Immortal Situ, how could you tell there was a wound on his wrist?
Perhaps…
Ming Yi,
if I didn't kill him,
he would've killed you.
She cares about me after all.
NOTICE: THE SOUL-HIDING NAIL LAW FOR WOMEN HAS BEEN ABOLISHED IN JIXING ABYSS
From now on, women with spiritual veins in Jixing Abyss
don't need to have Soul-hiding Nails anymore!
That's great! Does this mean there will be female warriors?
The Princess did a great thing!
-Madam, I'll take this one. -All right. Thank you.
Zhang Tai, you were gravely injured.
Are you really okay now?
Don't worry. Princess Tianji treated my wounds.
You also had your young friend, Twenty-Seven, send me medicine,
and I took it.
I've never felt better.
Don't worry about me.
-Madam, I'll take this too. -Sure.
-It was all my fault. -Thank you.
If something serious had happened to you, I really…
Don't say that.
By the way, did you notice anything different about me today?
You've applied red blush and painted your eyebrows dark green.
No, it's not that.
Look, I can use spiritual veins now!
After I got injured, Princess Tianji's people treated me,
and they discovered my Soul-hiding Nail.
They asked if I wanted it removed, and, of course, I said yes.
So now, I also have spiritual veins!
Although I can't break through to a higher stage,
my cultivation has still improved a lot.
In the future, making hairpins will be much easier for me.
It must've hurt a lot to remove the nail, right?
At least now you can do what you love.
All right, you've seen me.
Now hurry back.
Immortal Ji has been waiting for you for so long.
What's going on between you two?
Oh, please don't ask.
I don't want to lie to you, but I can't tell you either.
I…
Actually, I've known for a long time that you have many secrets.
I don't want to ask about them,
but I can tell Immortal Ji really likes you
and treats you well.
Of course, that doesn't matter. What matters is how you feel.
You like him too, don't you?
Yes.
Despite everything, I've fallen for him.
But it won't last.
But Ming Yi, you know what?
In this world, moments of happiness are rare.
You may part ways in the future,
but you still feel overjoyed to see him now, don't you?
Madam, please wrap this up for me.
Sure.
It seems you're unwilling to do it.
No worries. I won't force you.
After all, even if you don't do it, I have other ways to get it done.
But once it's done,
I will still tell everyone that you did it.
You must be joking, Lord Hanfeng.
I am but a humble physician with little skill.
If you spread such a story, no one will believe it.
How could that be?
That's exactly what makes it believable.
You, a humble physician
with little skill, chose to serve me for your own good.
Then one day,
you made your move against the Emperor to pledge your loyalty.
Doesn't that sound reasonable?
Since you'll end up the culprit anyway,
why not just do it and take full credit for it?
Immortal Yan, the Princess wants to see you.
JADE RABBIT HALL
Immortal Yan, please go over there.
SERENE BEYOND
Your Highness.
Your Highness, why have you called for me today?
I'm feeling unwell,
so I want you to check on me.
You look fine.
How could you be unwell?
I had a nightmare.
I dreamt that you killed my father,
and it left me unsettled.
Your pulse is rapid and tense.
I don't think the nightmare caused it.
It's more like you are…
nervous.
Why would I be nervous?
I think you are the one who's nervous.
Did Your Highness summon me just to tease me?
You may leave now.
Father!
Your Highness, give it back to me.
What do you mean?
I don't understand.
You can play dumb now, but I will report to Lord Hanfeng
and sabotage whatever you plan to do.
Then go ahead and tell my uncle.
I will say
that you gave it to me willingly.
Take a guess.
With you leaving my Jade Rabbit Hall at midnight
and me
looking so disheveled,
who will he believe?
Your Highness,
do you know what you're doing?
Do you think I'm too afraid to act?
I just miss my father too much.
What's wrong with that?
I will return it to you.
No one will know what happened.
Just help me this once.
Just once.
Please, Xiao?
Why?
Why are you doing this? I trusted you!
You know full well
that Uncle Qibai caused my father's unconsciousness.
He only assigned you to monitor my father's condition
so you could keep him unconscious!
I know
most of Jixing Abyss now follows Uncle Qibai's orders
because he can offer them a path to power and keep them safe.
But that's their choice.
I don't care about what they choose.
But you can't do this to me.
Why are you doing this? You can't do this to me!
Fine. I'll only ask one thing of you.
Sooner or later, Uncle Qibai will take my father's life.
When that day comes,
please help me keep my father alive.
Will you do it for me?
I'm begging you, Xiao.
Your Highness, you've overestimated me.
Yes, Lord Hanfeng made me His Majesty's physician,
but if he wants His Majesty dead,
what right do I have to oppose his will?
I never thought
you'd be
so despicable and shameless,
only following the wind to gain favor.
You're truly pathetic.
I don't know anything.
I never came here.
GRANNY'S EATERY
It's ready. It smells great.
Here, Wheat, take it to the table over there.
Sir, here's your scallion pancake.
Please enjoy.
He's all you can see, huh?
Madam.
You've grown taller.
Go on. Go back to work.
Since you refined the netherbeast core, Mu Qibai has been lying low.
-I suspect he's up to something. -Be patient.
He's in the shadows, but we're not necessarily in the light.
I've had Buxiu keep an eye on Mu Qibai.
We'll find out what he's up to sooner or later.
You said you brought me here to discuss matters,
but I feel like it's just an excuse.
Really?
In fact,
that night, I was under the influence of the Soul-seizing Technique.
That's why I said things I shouldn't have.
Shouldn't we talk about serious matters?
Otherwise, it'll seem like I'm really after something else.
Father, you're awake.
Why have you lost weight?
In my dreams,
I kept catching you stealing candy.
That's not true.
Lord Ji, you suffered greatly refining the netherbeast core.
The netherbeasts must have undermined your will, right?
They had been trying to tempt me into accepting their power.
The netherbeasts are indeed tempting.
Whether it's Mu Qibai or the other realms,
none would willingly give up that power.
Without a strong will,
one would surely be corrupted by the netherbeast core.
Luckily, it was you.
Luckily, it was me?
Do you trust me that much?
Immortal Ji, His Majesty summons you.
BENEVOLENCE, KINDNESS WISDOM AND PROPRIETY
Greetings, Your Majesty.
You don't seem surprised to have been summoned so suddenly.
Of course not. I've been waiting for this day.
Tianji somehow cured the illness that afflicted me.
Her Highness must have sensed the danger
and feared Your Majesty might be harmed.
Harmed?
Are you talking about Lord Hanfeng?
While Your Majesty lay unconscious,
Lord Hanfeng's intentions became clear to all.
Your Majesty, you must've heard I refined the netherbeast core
and sensed Lord Hanfeng's moves.
Do you now see how urgent it is
to root out these hidden dangers?
I beg you to be resolute.
Bai is my only brother.
Of course, I know what he wants.
He's impatient and often plots against me.
He even sent a physician to keep watch over me.
I know very well what he's been up to.
But when I remember
how naive and innocent this younger brother of mine once was,
I can't bring myself to be harsh.
But never… Never did I expect…
Never did you expect him to be so driven by greed,
colluding with Zhushui Spiritual State,
breeding netherbeasts,
and endangering the Six Realms.
You have done much for Jixing Abyss, and I'm deeply grateful.
But the netherbeast army was a direct threat
to the Six Realms.
Yet you handled it alone and did not report it.
Think of the consequences.
Half of Jixing Abyss follows Lord Hanfeng.
Immortal Ji was only trying to prevent news from leaking.
Besides, it was precisely because you once let Uncle Qibai grow strong
that we are in this crisis now.
Under these circumstances, it was only natural
that Immortal Ji found Jixing Palace hard to trust.
I swore as a child to do everything I could
to stop Uncle Qibai from harming you again.
Now, no one knows what he will do next.
So,
no matter how reluctant you feel,
I ask you
to put Jixing Abyss first and seize Uncle Qibai at once.
Immortal Ji, I'd also like to ask you
to trust us once more and join us in protecting Jixing Abyss.
Jixing Palace is indeed hard to trust,
but not all who hold power are slaves to it.
For the sake of the Six Realms, I'm willing to unite as many as I can.
But Mu Qibai has Zhushui Spiritual State behind him.
Alone, we can hardly rival them.
Please, Your Majesty, think about the people of Jixing Abyss
and order Mu Qibai's arrest.
Please, Father, arrest him at once.
EMBRACE ALL SUMMITS AND SEAS
Yuanfeng, you haven't fully recovered. You should be resting.
If there's anything you need, just have someone send word for you.
I've been hearing many disturbing rumors lately.
Most of them are about you.
Now that my condition has improved,
I'd like to hear the truth from you directly.
What rumors?
I'm being subtle because you are my blood brother.
But if you still won't confess to forming a netherbeast army,
I will have no choice but to take action.
Who made up these rumors?
They're pure fabrications, nonsense!
Yuanfeng, are you going to believe outsiders
over your own brother?
Qibai,
when did you become like this?
Like what?
You've been fragile since childhood.
You used to be gentle and considerate.
When we trained together back then, you were so kind.
You'd rather get hurt yourself than harm others.
"Rather"?
"I'd rather"?
I couldn't, Yuanfeng!
If I'd been a bit stronger, I wouldn't have always been defeated.
If my elder brother had been a bit more decisive,
we wouldn't have been constantly hindered by those old fools,
unable to clean up the rot!
If you had been a bit more resolute,
Jixing Abyss wouldn't have kept ending up among the Lower Three Realms!
And even now, you, my incompetent brother,
are still reminiscing about my so-called kindness, gentleness, and mercy.
You don't deserve to sit in this chair at all!
Yuanfeng, Jixing Abyss won't fall because of the netherbeast army.
It will fall because of people like you.
Chao Yu is dead.
The news of the nameless charred corpse at Dragon Carp Terrace
has already spread far and wide.
The Emperor of Zhushui will surely investigate thoroughly.
Your Lordship, be careful.
Don't let them find out.
Don't worry. I won't.
To outsiders, Mu Qibai is the one who last saw Chao Yu.
He is the perfect scapegoat.
Besides, with the netherbeasts refined by Ji Bozai,
Mu Qibai no longer has value to them.
They won't let him off.
Today, the Emperor of Jixing detained Mu Qibai.
-Today? -Yes.
It hasn't been officially announced.
It seems that Ji Bozai
has gained the upper hand in this game after all.
How could it have gone so smoothly? me after all.