(Part 1)

The hem of the jade green skirt fell to the ankles. The beautiful figure under the veil was looming. The woman sitting on the spirit tree beside Juxian Pond had a charming face. She lowered her head and eyes to look at Jing Zhao, saying blatantly, "Princess Jing Zhao, I helped you hide from His Highness Jing Yang for you to go out of Juxian Pond and also told you a way to save that Lord Qing Mu. Why be so cold to me?"

Jing Zhao paused, then glanced at her and said, "You are a demon lord. If you are discovered by my Heavenly Father, you'll inevitably end up as smoke, so why not leave earlier?"

"You're afraid that I'll tell Lord Qing Mu that you saved his life!" The suspended feet swayed and kicked on the branches and leaves. The fairy dew on the spirit tree fell to the ground. Qing Li gave a 'tsk tsk' and softly smiled, "Unexpectedly, Princess Jing Zhao of the Heavenly Palace is an infatuated one. But, you used your dragon pellet to save him but your sweetheart doesn't know about it at all, isn't it a pity?"

Jing Zhao's pale face struck a touch of disdain. She glanced at her and said lightly, "Qing Li, don't believe that I don't know what you are thinking. How can Qing Mu be comparable to Sen Yu? Do you think that he will stay in the Heavenly Palace because of my dragon pellet? The Three Realms knew your methods back then, so why bother to be a good person here now!"

Hearing this, the smiling woman in the green skirt paused. There was a sharp look between her eyebrows. She squinted her eyes, her voice full of mockery, "Princess Jing Zhao, why pretend to be high up there? You used your dragon pellet to save him, also so Qing Mu would be grateful and stay by your side. And besides, even if you don't say it, the Heavenly Emperor and Empress will know sooner or later. Don't think that your thoughts can be hidden from others. You keep saying that you don't want him to know, saying it in an awe-inspiring way, but in reality, you're no different from me!"

Maybe it was because she was a proud daughter of the heavens once she was born and was respected by all immortals. Jing Zhao had never heard such harsh and disdainful words, but every sentence was shot into her heart. The gloom hidden at the bottom of her heart had nowhere to hide. Jing Zhao, who was crouching on the fake mountain, lowered her head. She didn't pay attention to the coldness in Qing Li's words. Her dry lips tightened furiously, and her loose hair fell, silent and embarrassed.

Qing Li, who was quietly sitting on the spirit tree, looked at her coldly and heard Jing Zhai's voice after a long time.

"You're right, but at least I'm willing to use my life to gamble once. Qing Li, you are more pitiful than me. You used ten thousand years to weave your lies. Once you wake up from your dream, won't you regret it?" Jing Zhao raised her head and fixedly looked at Qing Li who was sitting on the tree, with a serious and determined expression.

The ridicule in Qing Li's eyes eased. She squinted her eyes, a wave of fluctuation appearing in them, and she suddenly curled her lips and smiled, "No, at least he has been with me for ten thousand years. If I can't get it, then no one can. Princess Jing Zhao, since you are willing to gamble, then I'll wait and see. Will Qing Mu stay in the Heavenly Realm for your lifesaving grave or will he return to that little god of Qingchi Palace?"

After saying these words, Qing Li glanced in the Heavenly Palace's direction, and suddenly disappeared beside Juxian Pond without a trace. Only the spirit tree she was sitting on a moment ago left a strange fragrance.

Hearing the name of the last person Qing Li said, Jing Zhao blinked and her hands slightly tightened. Her expression was a little unwilling, and she closed her eyes in silence.

Thousands of years ago, in the depths of the North Sea, she had locked eyes with the black and red-robed immortal lord. Since then, she determined him to be the one. Qing Mu, if I am willing to gamble everything, will you stay for me?

After a while, Jing Jian appeared beside Juxian Pond. He looked at Jing Zhao who was weakly leaning against the fake mountain with a complex expression, and sighed, "Third sister, why are you doing this? You clearly know..."

"Second brother, no need to say more. How is Heavenly Father going to punish me?" Jing Zhao interrupted Jing Jian's words. She opened her eyes, a touch of decisiveness in them. The golden dragon inner pellet was so important to her. How disappointed her Heavenly Father will be...

"Heavenly Father said...to have you go to Suoxian Pagoda." Jing Jian hesitated for a moment and said the Heavenly Emperor's order. But seeing the coldness on Jing Zhao's face, he hurriedly said, "Third sister, don't worry. Heavenly Father loves you the most. He's just momentarily angry. After he calms down, everything will be fine."

Jing Zhao's face was pale. She didn't say a word, but her eyes flashed faintly.

"Jing Zhao, how did you know that Qing Mu had caught the Three-Headed Fire Dragon's dragon breath, and how did you come out of Juxian Pond?" Jing Jian paused but still asked the question he wanted to ask the most.

"Second brother, you don't need to ask. First brother is in Juxian Pond. You should go wake him up. I'm going to Suoxian Pagoda now." Jing Zhao shook her head and stood up, her body fragile, and a trace of stubbornness flashes across her eyes.

Jing Jian watched anxiously and hurriedly reached out to help but was blown away by the colorful light that suddenly appeared from Jing Zhao's body. The light was full of spiritual power and the darkness contained coercion, enveloping Jing Zhao inside. It was only a short breath's worth of time that her pale complexion recovered some of its redness.

Jing Jian's eyebrow tightened. Knowing the reason, he took a few steps back calmly and stood upright, a look of respect suddenly appearing in his eyes.

"Jing Zhao, why haven't you changed your personality. You're like this now, and you still want to be strong?"

The colorful light slowly disappeared from Jing Zhao's body, and a cold voice sounded in the void, with a touch of anger and pain.

"Greetings to Heavenly Mother."

It had already been a thousand years since the Heavenly Empress started cultivating in retreat. Her birthday banquet was several months away. Jing Jian rarely had chances to see her during normal times but didn't expect her to be alerted by this situation and leave her retreat in advance.

Jing Zhao raised her head and looked at the shadow in the air. The grievances in her eyes finally surfaced and her reddish eyes were full of mist, "Heavenly Mother, Jing Zhao doesn't dare."

The soft cry reduced a lot of the anger from the person in the air. The Heavenly Empress's voice came slowly, "Your father and I have spent thousands of years teaching you, but you have now made yourself so pitiful for a mere lord. I ask you, do you really like him?"

"Heavenly Mother..." Jing Zhao froze, her face turning red and showing a bit of a little girl's tenderness and bewilderment. She said nervously, "You know about it?"

"Your dragon pellet is in that immortal lords body, I could feel it when I used my god sense. How could it be hidden from me? But he has deep spiritual power and is rare among immortal lords. I didn't know such a person had appeared in the Immortal Realm these one thousand years..." The Heavenly Empress's voice paused before saying, "But even so, I will still retrieve the dragon pellet inside his body. Jing Zhao, he is only a normal lord, how could you use your dragon pellet to save him?"

Her Heavenly Mother hadn't asked about the affairs of the Immortal Realm for a thousand years, and even when the three of them got injured last time, she just sent the order to have them enter Juxian Pond. Not knowing about Qing Mu was normal. Jian Jian paused, about to make a sound, but was anxiously interrupted by Jing Zhao.

(Part 2)

"Heavenly Mother, no. If he doesn't have the dragon pellet, he will die..." Jing Zhao knelt to the ground, her eyes full of panic. She understood the Heavenly Empress's care for her. If Qing Mu irritates her because of this, he'll find it difficult to live in the Three Realms in the future.

"Jing Zhao! If you lose your dragon pellet, your cultivation will be greatly damaged in the future. Do you know how serious the consequences are?" Seeing Jing Zhao so stubborn, the voice in the air suddenly became serious and even held some deep disappointment.

"Heavenly Mother, I don't regret my decision. I hope you can fulfill me." Jing Zhao suddenly raised her head, her lips pressed into a fragile arc, but her expression was extraordinarily stubborn.

The floating shadow in the air fell silent, and after a while said, "Forget it, has he ever asked your Heavenly Father for your hand in marriage?"

As soon as this remark came out, Jing Jian slightly frowned and silently said "not good". From what his Heavenly Mother thought, if Jing Zhao was willing to save someone with her dragon pellet, the two were both in love with each other. If she knew that...

"What?" Jing Zhao looked up in amazement. Her face suddenly paled after she understood what the Heavenly Empress meant, and she bit her lip tightly, "Heavenly Mother, he doesn't know that I saved him..."

"What did you say? Explain, what exactly is going on?"

"Heavenly Mother, he likes someone else...If he knows that I saved him with my dragon pellet, he won't agree."

"Oh? Who is that woman?"

The expected anger did not come, but the Heavenly Empress's voice suddenly cooled. Jing Jian sighed inside. In his Heavenly Mother, there was probably no person in the Three Realms that was comparable to Jing Zhao. Has she forgotten...Hou Chi in Qingchi Palace that was left outside the Three Realms?"

"She's...Hou Chi." As if it was extremely difficult, Jing Zhao let out a sigh of relief, and finally said these two words.

Juxian Pond suddenly fell into silence, and the air instantly condensed. After a while, the two people heard the Heavenly Empress's voice that was a little surprised.

"Is that so?" The voice stopped and suddenly lightened, "Jing Zhao, go back to the Heavenly Palace to recuperate. I'll explain to your father. Jing Jian, have her see me tomorrow."

Although the Heavenly Empress didn't explain, everyone knew who the 'her' she was talking about was.

Leaving this sentence, the faint shadow in the sky slowly disappeared. The face of Jing Jian, who was standing beside Juxian Pond, darkened. He turned around and helped Jing Zhao from the ground with a complicated expression, "Third sister, you..."

"Second brother, I won't retrieve the dragon pellet in Qing Mu's body."

"But you know that if Heavenly Mother intervenes, he will know the truth sooner or later!"

"I want to gamble." Jing Zhao lowered her eyes, her fingertips pushing into her palm, "I'm not satisfied to lose to her like this."

Jing Jian slightly frowned, lightly sighed, and looked into the depths of the Heavenly Palace with an inexplicable expression.

Dawn in the Heavenly Palace was as peaceful as before. Sitting in Zizhu Courtyard, Hou Chi listened to the immortal boy called 'Ping Yao' talk about the interesting things in the Mortal Realm with a smile on her face. From time to time, a few pine nuts were thrown to him as a reward. These two people whose horse's mouth did not match up to the bull's head [1] also created a somewhat harmonious atmosphere.

When Jing Jian walked into Zisong Courtyard, what he saw was exactly this scene. Hou Chi was smiling, and the entire courtyard became soft and peaceful because of her presence. It was also this scene that made the few short steps across the courtyard seem as difficult as crossing the sky.

"Jing Jian?" Jing Jian's footsteps in the courtyard weren't soft. Hou Chi patted Ping Yao's shoulder and gestured for him to retreat. She turned her head, the coldness between her brows fading, and said, "Are you here to see us off?"

Jing Jian hesitated for a moment, the hands behind his back slightly clenching. Only after a while, under Hou Chi's increasingly weird expression, he said slowly, "Hou Chi, Heavenly Mother wants to see you."

This time, he didn't use Goddess for Hou Chi but directly said her name.

It was only a light sentence, but it suddenly cooled down the peaceful atmosphere just now. Hou Chi lowered her eyes and rested her chin on one hand, tapping her fingertips in a semicircle on the stone table to the side, making a crisp sound. There was a distant look in her eyes, and she said indifferently, "The Heavenly Empress...wants to see me? No need, the Heavenly Empress is the leader of the Three Realms. She has a noble status. How is she someone I can meet casually?"

Even though she said this, there was no hint of sincerity or fear in Hou Chi's voice. A light sigh flashed across Jing Jian's eyes and he gave a wry smile, "Even if you're unwilling, you can at least pretend for a minute"

Hou Chi squinted her eyes, her eyes suddenly darkening. There was a bit of bitterness in her expression, "Second Highness, in this heaven and earth, I only recognize my God Father. Other people have nothing to do with me."

"Hou Chi..." Jing Jian slightly froze, sighed, and said, "Heavenly Mother is after all your..."

"Such a joke. When I was still in the dragon egg and it was unknown whether I would die or live, she wasn't there...When I was young and weak and unable to transform, she wasn't there...When my spiritual veins were cut off and I withstood the Three Realms' ridicule, she wasn't there. At that time, when she was sitting high in the clouds, being admired by everyone, being worshipped by all spiritual beings, did she ever remember me? Can such a person be called the mother of me, Hou Chi?" Hou Chi straightened her eyebrows, her eyes burning. Every word and every sentence was careless but extremely serious.

This voice was too cold. If spoken by someone else, Jing Jian would have thought that they were expressions of grief and indignation. But when said by Hou Chi, he could not feel the slightest anger, as if she was stating a fact very seriously.

Until now, Jing Jian really felt that the Heavenly Mother the four siblings were proud about, the god that was respected by the Three Realms...might be...really minor in Hou Chi's eyes.

Perhaps, how much Hou Chi cared about God Gu Jun was how much she hated their Heavenly Mother.

The purple shadow in the courtyard seemed to be suddenly tinged with a strong scent. Jing Jian's breathing was stagnant, and he couldn't say any words of excuse.

After a while, his eyes finally flashes a touch of relief, and he said, "Hou Chi, you should leave with Qing Mu. Leave now. Go back to Qingchi Palace or Liaowang Mountain."

The whole thing started because of him, so he should be the one responsible for it. Jing Zhao lost her dragon pellet. No matter what method he would use, he would try his best to compensate, but if Qing Mu and Hou Chi stay in the Heavenly Palace...

Hou Chi looked suspiciously at the turned-serious Jing Jian. Hearing that there was another meaning to his words, she frowned and said, "Jing Jian, what happened? Are you hiding something from me?"

The expression in Hou Chi's eyes was too thorough. Jing Jian's heart sank. He made his expression look more natural, and said, "No, but if you don't want to see Heavenly Mother, it's best to leave as soon as possible."

Right after Jing Jian finished saying this and Hou Chi didn't have any time to react, Zisong Courtyard was suddenly enveloped in a burst of colorful light.

"Hou Chi, you walk through the door but never enter. [2] Has your God Father taught you to be this way...these ten thousand years?"

An indifferent voice resounded above Zisong Courtyard, floating like an illusion and with a touch of careless coercion and unwillingness. Hou Chi slightly squinted and suddenly laughed.

[1] 'The horse's mouth does not match up to the bull's head' – two people that don't get along very well, or don't have any similar interests.

[2] "Walk through the door but never enter" – 過門而不入, meaning that you have a duty but forget about it selfishly.