Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 138: I Envy Mandarin Ducks, Not Immortals

[T/n: note on chapter title]¹

Of course, Ji Yuan’s words were a bit exaggerated. He was not very clear about the specific capabilities of the Land God in the capital of Dazhen. He merely meant that he was able to snatch people from his grasp.

Ji Yuan mentioned this on purpose in order to remind the woman that it was indeed him who rescued her, and that he was capable of snatching people from the Land God, so she should not consider starting unnecessary conflicts with him.

After all, she was still a monster, and she had been chased constantly. If she lost her composure thinking Ji Yuan was also an enemy and fought desperately, he would definitely be discovered by both the City God and Land God. Then he might be implicated in this situation as well.

When Ji Yuan turned around to look at the demon girl Bai Ruo, there was only one woman left in the attic; the body on the ground created from the tail had merged with the main body once more.

After being stunned for a moment, Bai Ruo immediately fell on the ground facing Ji Yuan.

“My deepest thanks for saving me, Lord Immortal. I will never forget this kindness. If I can be of any use to you, I am at your service, even if it means being your slave!”

In Dazhen, kowtowing was a significant and rarely performed act. Even when meeting an official, one did not have to kneel unless one was a convicted criminal. Although there were cushions in front of the statues in the temple, people usually stood when they burned incense. They would only kneel occasionally when praying for something really important.

In fact, the only time one would kneel in a ceremony was when paying respects to Heaven and Earth and the parents at a wedding.²

In this instance, Ji Yuan had saved Bai Ruo’s life. For such a great favor, the latter knelt down and kowtowed to express her gratitude. It was quite polite and her words were sincere.

Ji Yuan opened his eyes briefly as she knelt, and saw a white deer vaguely emerge superimposed on her hazy figure.

“Haha, no wonder the tail was so short. I was wondering what kind of monster she was. It turns out she was a white deer woman!”

When he had just seen the body created from the white tail, Ji Yuan truly had no idea what animal it was from. He guessed it might have been a squirrel or weasel. After all, he had never studied deer tails in either of his lives. He had not realized the truth until this moment.

Bai Ruo shuddered at his words and continued lying on the ground, not daring to get up. In truth, she had no idea why this immortal had saved her. It was very likely that she had just escaped from the tiger’s den and into the dragon’s lair.³

“Get up. I don’t need you to be a slave. Just answer a few questions for me first.”

Bai Ruo straightened from where she was kneeling, waiting for Ji Yuan’s questions with some trepidation, but then she saw him smile.

“Miss Bai, tell me about your origins. How did you and Zhou Niansheng meet? How did you fall in love with each other? I quite like to listen to stories.”

Bai Ruo looked at Ji Yuan and saw that he seemed serious.

She was silent for a while, calming herself down, then thought back to her memories and slowly spoke.

The cold winter wind blew through this attic, penetrating through the open door. It blew the curtains aside in a gust of wind, ruffling Bai Ruo’s hair.

“More than 60 years ago, a powerful monster in the mountains of the Southern Wilds used some unknown method to steal an alchemy pill furnace from Tianji Pavilion. After having his location divined by the immortals of Tianji Pavilion, they rode the clouds and chased him to the Southern Wilds. At that time, there were two sword immortals from Changjian Mountain present. With the help of the immortals of Tianji Pavilion, the monster had no escape, and was eventually captured and brought back to Tianji Pavilion. I do not know whether he was killed in the end, or imprisoned in the Demon Imprisonment Tower…”

Bai Ruo hesitated for a moment and continued.

“However, several years later, immortals from Tianji Pavilion would still come to the Southern Wilds to search. Then, rumors of the demon who had stolen the alchemy pill furnace spread like wildfire, causing chaos in the Southern Wilds. A few demons truly had consumed some elixir pills, and made great progress in their cultivation, proclaiming themselves Demon Lords. Over the next twenty years, the situation became increasingly dire. With the rampant demonic Qi and demonic flames, a group of demons even began causing chaos in the small country next to the Southern Wilds, causing many tragedies… In the end, they brought about bitter consequences, and the Mountain God of Hengshan Mountain was furious. Several immortal sects took action. The monastic sect of the Mingwang Buddha also appeared. The demons trembled, and countless people fled…”

As Bai Ruo spoke slowly, Ji Yuan’s brows furrowed. Bai Ruo’s description was very comprehensive. With the synergy between his supernatural eyes and his inner world, the scene seemed to restore itself before his eyes; he could feel the demonic aura permeating the mountains for tens of thousands of li in the Southern Wilds. The demons that had cultivated separately in the past were agitated due to the stolen alchemical pill furnace, and the billowing demonic aura and demonic flames covered the sky and the sun.

The subsequent breakout was like a murderous aura that spread everywhere. No one knew whether this was a good or bad sign. Ji Yuan thought of his small wooden plaque; based on its contents, this was obviously a bad omen.

“Because I was very afraid of being implicated, I traveled thousands of li to escape to Dazhen. At that time, I was already grievously injured, and my vitality was greatly damaged. However, I didn’t dare move about casually, let alone try to hurt others… Then, I met Minister Zhou, who was heading to the capital to take the imperial examination. I used a little beauty technique to blend into his entourage and convoy. I wanted to avoid the gods of Dazhen, but I also had a bit of an evil thought…”

Before, Bai Ruo was speaking of her origins; only now did she begin recounting the stage of her romance with Zhou Niansheng.

“At that moment, Scholar Zhou was intriguing. He very obviously coveted me, but he never touched me. He said that he wished to formally be matched with me and marry…”

Bai Ruo’s expression showed warmth.

“He was really good to me. As a demon, I had never felt that kind of care and true love. He also spent a lot of money to buy me all kinds of rare herbs. I was a little confused, and one day I accidentally revealed my true identity…”

When Bai Ruo said these words, her expression turned both angry and amused. Ji Yuan was curious.

“I thought Minister Zhou must surely be frightened, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill him at that tome, so I thought I’d just leave. Unexpectedly, that idiot… was just so starled that he didn’t even shout. He just asked me, ‘If you’re a demon, could you still have a child with me?’… Haha…”⁴

Bai Ruo couldn’t help but laugh, and her face turned a little red.

It was incredible, Ji Yuan felt. He couldn’t believe that the old-fashioned Zhou Niansheng had such courage back then. Was he brave or just stupid? He must have been even more powerful than Brother Xu Xian, right?⁵

“That question stunned me for quite some time… That night, I realized that we had been together for over half a year. Minister Zhou had long noticed my abnormalities. He was afraid at first, but when he found that I would not hurt him and that I treated him gently, he gradually stopped being afraid. That night, he was just surprised…

“After learning that I was originally a white deer, Minister Zhou was unexpectedly delighted. He said that in his hometown, the white deer was an auspicious animal. There was also a folk story of lost people in the mountains who saw a white deer and resolved their difficulties. He was no longer afraid of me…”

Bai Ruo still seemed to have a trace of doubt on her face; she couldn’t understand why Minister Zhou was not afraid simply because she was a white deer.

However, Ji Yuan thought of an explanation: perhaps Zhou Niansheng was just looking for an excuse to make himself feel at ease.

“After that, Minister Zhou did not pass the imperial examination, but we got married and settled in the capital…”

Bai Ruo’s expression showed both happiness and sorrow.

“He didn’t know then, and I didn’t know either. After we got married, we didn’t have restraint, which actually harmed Minister Zhou’s vitality…”

Ji Yuan interjected.

“Did he realize it later, and thus married other wives and concubines?”

Bai Ruo was surprised and shook her head.

“That’s not the case. I am a demon, and cannot give birth to a son for Minister Zhou, so he married other mortal women. As the saying goes, there are many unfilial acts, but the worst is not to bear a son.⁶ I didn’t want the Zhou family’s blessings to be cut off, so I agreed.”

Ah, so that was the reason.

This was indeed a feudal society. Ji Yuan wanted to complain, but he also knew that this was the current social reality.⁷

“About seven or eight years later, I finally realized that something was wrong. Even though I had never previously done anything to harm Minister Zhou, I had tried my best to protect him during intercourse, and I concealed my demonic aura from him so that he would never be affected by it, his vitality was still depleted, and his life span was unstable. At that time, I grew even more panicked than I had been during my time in the Southern Wilds, and I began to look everywhere for a way to save him…”

The story was not all that long, and the whole thing could be said to be rather straightforward, with the biggest twist being the part at the end, where the soul had been sent to the underworld.

But Ji Yuan was at ease listening to it. The whole story was full of Bai Ruo’s genuine emotions, making it a true love story between a human and a demon. It couldn’t even be considered a tragedy, as it had a relatively happy ending.

Even in the mundane world, how many couples could possibly compare to Bai Ruo and Zhou Niansheng?

After Bai Ruo finished her story, she merely continued staring blankly in the direction of the temple. For some reason, once the story ended, she felt a sense of loss, wondering whether it would have been better had she not escaped.

The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt.

“It is indeed a good story! I don’t think this story should only be known to me; it shouldn’t disappear into history!”

Ji Yuan said with some emotion. Perhaps he would change some of the details and let Master Yin write “The Story of Lady Ruo”?

As he thought about it, Ji Yuan came to his sense and realized that Bai Ruo was actually kneeling down in front of him again with a respectful posture, and had no intention of getting up.

“Miss Bai Ruo, what are you doing?”

Bai Ruo knocked her head against the wooden floorboards, making a loud noise, but refused to get up.

“Immortal Master, this Bai Ruo knows that you are a person with great supernatural powers, but I do not want to practice cultivation in this life anymore. I do not want to attain enlightenment!”

The woman raised her head, tears streaming down her face.

“I want to go to the City God of the Capital Prefecture’s underworld. Please send me there. I have escaped before. If I go there now by myself, I will be beaten to death on the spot. Please accompany me there. I beg of you, please speak with the Lord City God, and allow me to accompany Minister Zhou in the underworld until my life span has been exhausted. At that time, whether my demonic soul is refined, or I am sentenced to something else, it is up to the underworld!”

“Bang, bang, bang…”

The woman kowtowed again, and the sound of her forehead hitting the wooden floorboards rang out continuously.

“I know that this is a presumptuous request, but I have nowhere else to turn to. I can only beg you, Immortal Master. Please, please…”

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Ji Yuan was a little dazed. For a moment, he had no idea how to respond to the woman in front of him. The first thing that crossed his mind was not the troublesome reality of dealing with various city gods, but rather the impulse to murmur something

“As we look at each other in the light of the moon, I only envy the mandarin ducks, instead of the immortals…”⁸

1. “Mandarin Ducks” refers to couples – “I Envy Romanic Couples, Not Immortals” – because they only have one mate throughout their lives, unlike other ducks
2. In traditional Chinese weddings the bride and groom perform the “three bows,” to Heaven & Earth, the parents, and to each other. Here he’s arguing that the first two bows are actually kowtows. Not sure how accurate that is but we’ll roll with it
3. Similar “out of the frying pan and into the fire,” escape a bad situation only to end up in a worse one
4. T/n: couple goals, I love that supportive relationship
5. Once again referencing the “Legend of the White Snake,” see prev. chapter footnote 1
6. Quote by Mencius, a Chinese Confucian philosopher from the Warring States period.
7. T/n: heck yeah JY drinks that respect women juice
8. Line comes from “Ancient Chang’an” by Lu Zhaolin, one of the four great poets of the early Tang Dynasty.