CLX Book 6 Chapter 13 – Part 1

Chapter 13 – Lovers Ended Up as A Family

Could a god shed tears too?

Yes.

You can say that there is practically no god on earth, but you cannot say that gods never shed tears. Because gods have feelings too. Those without emotions cannot become gods, they cannot be considered human either. _{Translated by foxs}

Now, the one shedding tears was, naturally, not a god, but a human.

The god’s mask has been lifted off, revealing a pale and beautiful face, a pair of crescent moon-like eyes.

This face was originally eternally bright and cheerful, originally this pair of eyes was eternally carrying intoxicating smile.

But now, the face was haggard, the eyes were also brimming with contradictions and pain.

Not because she did not want to see Chu Liuxiang, these contradictions and pain were because he came in person.

But Chu Liuxiang never expected that this very moment he would see her.

Zhang Jiejie.

Not even in his dream would Chu Liuxiang think that their god was unexpectedly Zhang Jiejie.

Chu Liuxiang held the mask in his hand, it felt like it weighed a thousand catties.

Chu Liuxiang’s palms were wet with cold sweat. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Suddenly a hand stretched out from the side and took over the mask. It was a withered and old hand.

Chu Liuxiang turned his head around and saw an old woman covered all over in black dress, her face also covered with a black veil. Could it be that she was the demonic woman who appeared on the water in that foggy moonlit night?

Now Chu Liuxiang still could not see her face, he only saw her pair of eyes shining inside the black veil.

Fixing her gaze at Chu Liuxiang, she spoke slowly, “Didn’t I tell you that as long as you can get here, not only all the mysteries can be answered, but you can definitely find her as well?”

Her voice was gentle and kind, totally different from that night. She continued slowly, “I did not lie to you, did I?”

Chu Liuxiang nodded his head with blank expression on his face. Actually, he still did not understand, even more than before.

Right now, those answers he got from them a moment ago were completely overturned. _{Translated by foxs}

Not only Ai Qing was not the mastermind who conspired to kill him, all along she had been helping him in secret.

Just now she deliberately sealed his acupoint, presumably it was no more than to help him to enter this holy altar.

Maybe this was the only way he could get in here.

Not only when she made her move it was extremely measured, but the timing was also calculated extremely accurately. The strength with which she sealed Chu Liuxiang’s acupoint would disappear automatically exactly at the most important moment. Otherwise, how could Chu Liuxiang jump up?

Evidently Ai Hong also colluded with her early on to play this drama together.

Hence the reason whatever crime she was charged with, she did not deny at all.

If the person who plotted to take Chu Liuxiang’s life was not them, then who was it?

Could it be Zhang Jiejie?

That was absolutely impossible – if she wanted to kill Chu Liuxiang, there were really too many opportunities.

All these mysteries still remained mysteries, there was still no resolution.

But whatever the case, he finally met Zhang Jiejie. To him, this was the most important thing. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

It did not matter whether this was a holy altar or a tiger den.

Whether Zhang Jiejie was a god? Or a human being? It was entirely not important. The important thing was that he still loved her. Moreover, they were finally together again.

He opened his arms, he fixed his gaze on her.

She threw herself into his arms.

At this moment, they had completely forgotten everything. Not only did they forget where they were, they also forgot everybody else in this place.

Tears are salty, but it also carries a hint of faint sweetness.

Chu Liuxiang lightly kissed the tear stains on her face, he said, “You, this little demon, little monster, this time where can you run away to?”

Zhang Jiejie lightly bit his neck, she muttered, “You, this old demon, the stinky old bug, how did you find this place?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “You knew very well that I would find you, didn’t you? Even if you fly into the sky or drill down into the ground, I can still find you.” _{Translated by foxs}

Zhang Jiejie’s eyes grew big, she said, “You are looking for me for what? Do you want me to bite you to death?”

She bit hard, bit his neck, bit his mouth, her passion was enough to burn both of them.

But why was she so cold just now?

Chu Liuxiang remembered what happened just now, he remembered the people just now – they were not the only two people in this place.

He could not help taking a peek below, and only then did he see that all the people were lying prostrate, with their head and their limbs on the ground in worship, no one dared to look up at them.

Could it be that she was really a god?

Otherwise, why did these people revere her so much?

Zhang Jiejie suddenly raised her head, she said, “When did you become a blockhead?”

Chu Liuxiang chuckled and said, “Just now.”

“Just now?” Zhang Jiejie repeated.

Chu Liuxiang said, “Just now when you saw me but deliberately pretended not to know me, wouldn’t it mean that you were also a blockhead?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Zhang Jiejie said, “Not a blockhead, but a god.”

“God?” Chu Liuxiang said

Zhang Jiejie said, “You don’t believe me?”

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he said, “I really can’t see which part of you that would make you look like a god.”

Zhang Jiejie’s face blushed again, she bit her lip, and said, “That’s because now I’m not a god anymore.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Since when did you become human again?”

Zhang Jiejie also chuckled and said, “Just now.”

“Just now?” Chu Liu Xiang repeated.

Zhang Jiejie said, “Just now when you lifted my mask, I became a human again.”

She began to bite Chu Liuxiang’s neck again, and whispered, “Not only becoming a human again, but also a human who can also bite; a woman who can pout prettily [or act up], a real, living woman.” _{Translated by foxs}

No one could deny her statement, in term of biting and acting up, these two aspects, she was simply an expert.

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh again, he smiled wryly and said, “I still don’t understand; not only I don’t understand, but I’m getting more and more confused.”

Only to hear someone said, “You will slowly understand.”

The old woman in black reappeared, she was standing beside them, looking at them with a smile.

Chu Liuxiang could not help feeling his face burning. He wanted to push Zhang Jiejie away, but he was a bit reluctant to do so. He could hold her in his arms again, it was really not easy, besides, she was hugging him really too tight.

The old woman in black laughed and said, “You don’t need to be embarrassed; she is already yours, you can hug her anytime and anywhere, no one will dare to interfere.”

She suddenly raised both hands and spoke a few words loudly. Her voice sounded so weird and complicated that Chu Liuxiang could not even understand a single word. Immediately there was a burst of cheers from under the holy altar.

While Chu Liuxiang was still at a loss, the holy altar suddenly began to sink; it was sinking fast. Suddenly, they were already inside a hexagonal room underground, with a hexagonal table in it, which was surprisingly full of wine and some dishes.

The old woman in black laughed and said, “The wine is Persian [grape] wine, the dishes are also your favorite.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Zhang Jiejie clapper her hands and said with a laugh, “Looks like there is also shark fin, my favorite.”

She laughed just like a child.

Chu Liuxiang was a bit could not laugh, but he also could not help asking, “You already calculated accurately that I would come here?”

Surprisingly the old woman in black also blinked, she laughed and said, “I only know that any place Chu Xiang Shuai wants to go, there has never been anybody able to stop him.”

No matter what kind of mystery, there is always an explanation.

The old woman in black finally provide the explanation.

There were two things that shocked Chu Liuxiang the most.

First, Zhang Jiejie was precisely the old woman in black’s explanation.

Second, the person who wanted to kill Chu Liuxiang was unexpectedly also this old woman in black. _{Translated by foxs}

Since she wanted to kill Chu Liuxiang, why did she point Chu Liuxiang to the bright path?

The reason for this was indeed mysterious and complicated. If Chu Liuxiang hadn’t experienced it himself, he might not even believe it.

We are indeed a very mysterious family. No one knew where we come from, so much so that even we ourselves cannot find our former hometown.

What we believe in is also one kind of mysterious and strange religion. Its origins came from the ends of the earth, somewhat similar to the Persian’s Zoroastrianism [lit. fire worshiper], also similar to the Buddhism that was passed on from the outside to the Central Earth.

The god we worship is precisely the Holy Maiden of our religion.

The Holy Maiden is selected from among the virgins in our family. The holy maiden of our previous generation chose her successor, which is she — which is also my daughter.

No matter who is chosen as the Holy Maiden, she would have to sacrifice for our religion and family for the rest of her life. She can no longer have a mortal life, let alone have mortal feelings.

No matter who is chosen as the Holy Maiden, no one can change this fact, no one dares to oppose even more, unless there is a stranger from the outside who can break in into this holy altar, and take off the mask on her head that symbolizes the holy spirit and the divine power. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

But not only this place is secret, moreover, it never allows outsiders to break in. No matter who, coming here is simply more difficult than ascending to the heaven.

Therefore, this kind of decree was tantamount to nothing. For more than ten generations, no Holy Maiden has ever escaped her fate of being lonely and solitary all her life.

In other people’s eyes, this may be an honor and glory, but I know that after a young girl becoming the Holy Maiden, she would pass her days in much suffering.

Because after giving birth to her I became the guardian [hufa, protector of the law] of this religion, no one was closer to the Holy Maiden of the previous generation than me, and I was also the only one who have ever seen it; when she woke up in the middle of the night, she appeared to be losing her mind due to the pain of loneliness. In moments of extreme pain, she even asked me to prick her body with sharp needles, pricked her so that her blood flowed incessantly.

Naturally I cannot bear to see my daughter also endure this kind of pain, I must find a way to free her.

But even though I am the protector of the religion, I am unable to change her fate, unless the true God of Heaven can bestow me a stranger, and let him come in to pull off my daughter’s dreadful mask.

Therefore, I thought of you. _{Translated by foxs}

The smoke from the burning incense in the stove permeated the air like a faint mist, the old woman in black sat cross-legged in the mist, narrating the tale in accordance with the fact.

It was as if Chu Liuxiang was listening to a fairy tale, unconsciously he was spellbound.

Listening to this point, he could not help interjecting, “Hence you tell her to go and look for me.”

The old woman in black said, “I wanted her to go.”

Chu Liuxiang could not help stroking his nose, he asked with a wry smile, “But why did you tell her to kill me?”

The old woman in black said, “There are two reasons.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “I’m listening.”

The old woman in black said, “I know that you are a very curious, as well as a very adventurous – man, but if I simply tell you like that, you must be unwilling, because you practically have no feeling toward her.”

Chu Liuxiang could only admit.

The old woman in black said, “Therefore, I could only use some kind of method to arouse your curiosity and enthusiasm, and then gave you guys the opportunity to meet, to let you guys develop feelings naturally.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang could not help asking, “How do you know we would definitely develop feeling?”

The old woman in black opened her eyes wide, she looked at him, and then at her daughter, and said with a smile, “A girl like my daughter, how could there be any man who does not like her?”

Chu Liuxiang sighed and said, “That is indeed difficult to find.”

Zhang Jiejie laughed, she spoke sweetly, “A man like you, women who don’t like you are similarly very difficult to find.”

Chu Liuxiang picked up a piece of shark fin and stuffed it into her mouth, he said, “Good pat on the horse’s butt [flattery], I reward you with a piece of shark fin.”

The old woman in black laughed and said, “She’s right. If I were thirty years younger, I’d probably like you too.”

Zhang Jiejie tittered and said, “Even now, don’t you still like him very much? This is called mother-in-law [lit. wife’s mother] looking at son-in-law [lit. daughter’s husband], the more she looks, the more interested she is.”

Between them, mother and daughter, there was indeed some kind of feeling that is different from other people, perhaps it was precisely because they lived in a very particular environment. _{Translated by foxs}

But hearing that, Chu Liuxiang’s face was burning again.

The old woman in black looked at them, she smiled and said, “In some people, between a person and another person, there is a relationship like magnet and iron, as soon as they meet, it is very difficult to separate. This is probably what others call karma [fate, predestined affinity].”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Just now you mentioned two reasons.”

The old woman in black nodded and said, “I just told you that no matter who wants to come here, it is as difficult as ascending to the sky. Although I have heard of your reputation, I have not seen you.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Hence you have to test me.”

The old lady in black chuckled and said, “I wanted to test you, to see if your martial arts and quick-witted are as high as the legends say, to see if you are qualified to be my son-in-law.”

Smiling ruefully, Chu Liuxiang said, “What if I die due to you testing me?”

The old woman in black spoke indifferently, “Everyone is bound to die in this life, right?”

She spoke it in such a light, easy manner, it seemed like in her eyes, other people’s lives did not even worth a wen [classifier for coins]. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

This was perhaps because she grew up in a callous environment, and what she believed in was a strange religion, everyone was not the least bit concerned with each other. She practically had not come into contact with real people with flesh and blood, therefore, apart from the natural bond between mother and daughter, she was completely indifferent toward other people, also did not attach importance to their lives.

But listening to that, Chu Liuxiang could feel cold sweat running down his spine.

He originally wanted to ask her why she chopped off Ai Hong’s hand. But now he already realized that this question was superfluous.

If one did not attach importance to other people’s lives, why would one care about a mere hand?

The old woman in black said, “Everything you guys went through was arranged by me personally. You did indeed not disappoint me, that’s why I went to see you that night, and then ordered Ai Qing and Ai Hong to meet you up outside, hence the reason I was able to calculate accurately that you would be able to come here.”

Chu Liuxiang could not help letting out a sigh, he said, “Now I still have one thing that I don’t understand.”

The old woman in black said, “You may ask.” _{Translated by foxs}

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, “Why you did not look for someone else, but solely choose me?”

The old woman in black chuckled and said, “I know you are a very good-looking man, very easy to win women’s favor; I also know your martial arts and quick-witted, very few people in Jianghu can match. Besides, to this day, you are still a bachelor, I believe that there are a lot of laotaitai [old ladies], when they want to choose a son-in-law, they will definitely choose you.”

Chu Liuxiang could only stroke his nose.

The old woman in black said, “But all these reasons are not the most important.”

“Oh?” Chu Liuxiang said.

The old woman in black said, “The most important reason I chose you was that you did something that made me happiest, therefore, I have been trying to repay you.”

Astonished, Chu Liuxiang asked, “What did I do?”

The old woman in black said, “You killed Shi Guanyin for me.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Do you have any enmity against her?”

The old woman in black’s eyes revealed a bitter resentment, she spoke hatefully, “She was simply not human, she was a monster who ate people, not only that, she only ate men.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang did not need to ask any more, he could already imagine it.

Shi Guanyin’s greatest pleasure was to steal other people’s husbands and lovers. After he killed Shi Guanyin, there must be many women in the world who wanted to repay him, to express their gratitude to him. But Chu Liuxiang hoped that this would be the last time; this way of repaying, he really could not stand it.

Although mother-in-law looking at son-in-law, the more she looks, the more interested she is, but the more the son-in-law looked at the mother-in-law, the more he looked, definitely the angrier he was.

Fortunately, this mother-in-law could still be considered tactful, surprisingly she left.

“You guys haven’t seen each other for many days, there must be a lot of things to talk about, I’d better be a bit more sensible.”

When Chu Liuxiang was seeing her off, for the first time he felt that more or less she still had a bit of human nature. Zhang Jiejie already hugged his waist from behind, and was biting his neck lightly again.

---