Chapter 6: Completely Changed

Su lun sighed but did not answer.

Liu shuang did not press further, as the person she truly wanted to ask was not Su lun. She simply could not understand—if Yan Chaosheng did not love her, why had he married her?

Su lun led her back, and as they approached the palace of the Ghost Realm, Liu shuang noticed many demon envoys leaving in succession. Normally, she would not have paid attention to such things, but today was different.

In previous years, Yan Chaosheng’s birthday celebrations had been grand and lively, with the nine-headed birds singing in harmony, their tail feathers like rainbows, and cups of wine clinking together. Today, the lavish decorations for the banquet were still in place, but the festivities had not yet begun, and the demon envoys were being dismissed from the Ghost Realm.

Changhuan waited anxiously at the palace entrance. Upon seeing Liu shuang, she exclaimed with concern, “Your Highness, how did you get injured?”

On Liu shuang’s delicate neck, a dark bruise from a chokehold looked particularly gruesome.

Liu shuang did not answer Changhuan, her gaze fixed on the departing demon envoys.

Yan Chaosheng always placed great importance on this day—not because he particularly cared about celebrating his birthday, but because he had been stationed in the Ghost Realm for years, fighting for the Ghost Realm and unable to attend to matters in the Demon Realm. Thus, the great demons had elected envoys to come to the Ghost Realm on this day, both to celebrate the Demon Lord’s birthday and to report on significant matters in the Demon Realm.

Earlier that morning, she had begged Yan Chaosheng for a moment alone, only to be refused. Yet now, he was dismissing the demon envoys.

For the first time in a century, he had broken precedent.

Something seemed to emerge from the fog, revealing a faint silhouette.

The moment Su lun saw Liu shuang staring at the departing demon envoys, he knew things were amiss. He said, “Your Highness, this place is chaotic. Let us return.”

Liu shuang tightened her cloak, her lips pressed together. For the first time, she did not heed his words, no longer docile and obedient. Instead, she walked toward the demon envoys.

She ascended the steps, her purple robes fluttering, surrounded by the envoys who had been ordered to leave. Immersed among them, she, who had once turned a blind eye and deaf ear, now heard the whispers of the world—

“Why has the Demon Lord canceled the banquet and ordered us to leave? Many matters in the Demon Realm remain unreported. What if they are delayed?”

“You don’t know? Feng Fuming has always been too timid to provoke the Demon Lord. This time, he sent troops to the Ghost Realm for the sake of one person—his Celestial Consort, Mi Chu.”

“Oh? Celestial Consort Mi Chu, the one known as the most beautiful immortal in the celestial realm?”

“Indeed. It’s said that centuries ago, she and our Demon Lord shared a romantic past, and she nearly married him.”

“Is that true?”

“Of course. If not for Feng Fuming’s interference, Celestial Consort Mi Chu might have married the Demon Lord and become the Queen of the Demon Realm.” The envoy chuckled suggestively. “After all these years, it seems the Demon Lord still harbors feelings for her. After centuries of conquests, he has finally reclaimed her from Feng Fuming.”

“Celestial Consort Mi Chu is also a fiery one. In order to be with the Demon Lord, she followed him back and even jumped into the Mirror of Reincarnation, nearly scattering her soul. The Demon Lord saved her and has been searching far and wide for soul-stabilizing artifacts. However, Mi Chu’s life-jade bamboo is gone, and her injuries are severe. Her barely stabilized soul is in danger of scattering again.”

The others suddenly understood. “Stabilizing the soul requires peace and quiet. No wonder the Demon Lord ordered the banquet canceled and postponed discussions. It must be because Mi Chu’s injuries have flared up.”

“After centuries of separation, to have her back—the Demon Lord truly dotes on her.”

The wind lifted the layers of Liu shuang’s cloak, the sheer fabric billowing around her. Amidst the murky demonic aura, she heard for the first time so many stories she had never known.

One by one, the demons left, and the gates of the Ghost Realm palace slowly closed behind her. The palace fell silent, leaving only Changhuan and Su lun by her side.

She sat on the stone steps, absentmindedly holding the ribbon in her hand. The spiritual energy it once carried had long been eroded by the Ghost Realm’s malevolent aura.

Su lun did not know what she was thinking after hearing all this. He said, “Your Highness, don’t listen to the baseless rumors of these rabble. In his youth, the Demon Lord was not as renowned as he is now. He was just an obscure disciple of an immortal sect. No one knows the truth of that past except him. These rumors are nothing but idle speculation.”

Changhuan also called softly, “Your Highness.”

“You needn’t worry about me.” Liu shuang smiled faintly, her face pale, and looked at Su lun. “Thank you, Lord Su lun. For the past century, even if you deceived me, you made me feel content and happy. I won’t despair. I’m just a little sad. He… he never loved me, after all.”

“Grandfather Tree once said that the fates of marriage are predetermined and cannot be forced. For a century, we’ve been husband and wife. What I need to hear, what I believe, must come directly from his mouth, not from the gossip of others.”

Su lun opened his mouth but said nothing, watching as she held back her tears, her eyes clear and bright.

Even now, she still trusted Yan Chaosheng. She would not completely reject him based on what others said.

Su lun fell silent. In the past, as Yan Chaosheng’s strategist, he had approached Liu shuang to secure a better future for himself, and he had not thought highly of her.

Her spiritual power was weak, and she was naive, believing everything she was told. She delighted in anything she was given, no matter how trivial. She was gentle, soft-spoken, and always smiling.

Such a queen, lacking authority and strength, had earned Su lun’s outward respect but his inner mockery. He believed she was unworthy of the ruler of two realms, Yan Chaosheng.

But as the century passed in the blink of an eye, he began to truly understand her.

Her heart was pure and beautiful. Even when neglected, she remained optimistic, cultivating a small sea of flowers and towering phoenix trees in the Ghost Realm. Despite being wronged, she did not wallow in self-pity or easily believe the rumors about Yan Chaosheng.

When she learned of Celestial Consort Mi Chu’s existence, she did not break into hysterics or act in an ugly manner. Instead, with her clear, dark eyes, she held back her tears and waited for Yan Chaosheng’s explanation. It was as though, as long as he explained, she would trust her husband.

Su lun bowed deeply, this time with the etiquette reserved for a ruler. “Your Highness, you will be happy.”

For the first time in a century, he did not resort to clever words but offered a simple blessing.

You are so good. How could anyone truly dislike you?

Changhuan helped Liu shuang wash up, worriedly eyeing the injury on her neck. As a ghost cultivator, Changhuan practiced mostly sinister and aggressive techniques and had never learned healing arts.

Lord Su lun, being a strategist, would not touch her skin to avoid impropriety, so the glaring mark remained.

Liu shuang said, “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore, though it looks frightening. Please tell the guards of the Forbidden Grounds that if the Demon Lord heals Celestial Consort Mi Chu’s injuries, could he return? I have something to say to him.”

“I’ll remember that.”

After Changhuan left, Liu shuang wrapped herself in a fragrant silk quilt, curled up, and began to tremble, slowly letting her tears soak the fabric.

She told no one how terrified she had been earlier, surrounded by a group of ghost cultivators. Their malicious laughter, their foul stench, the countless hands reaching out to her, their pale and horrifying faces—it had all filled her with terror.

What she had said to Lord Su lun was not all that was in her heart. She was deeply saddened, pressing her hand against her chest to keep the overwhelming grief from spilling out.

Grandfather Tree, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, once said that of all human desires, the hardest to overcome was love—

If you love someone who does not love you, and if you do not value yourself, you will become pitiful.

Liu shuang did not want to be pitiful.

Born of heaven and earth, she was only two hundred years old. Compared to the immortals, demons, and gods who had lived for millions of years, she was still so young. Yet she never felt insignificant; instead, she was happy and fulfilled. She had spent one hundred years learning about human emotions and growing up, and the other hundred loving Yan Chaosheng.

For the Demon Lord Yan Chaosheng, these hundred years might have been but a fleeting distraction during his endless conquests. But for Liu shuang, they were half her life.

Liu shuang covered her mouth, trying to suppress her sobs. She wanted to be stronger, so that when Yan Chaosheng returned, even if he told her he had never loved her, she could leave him gracefully and tell him it was alright. She was no longer as naive and fragile as when she first took human form. She had been striving to grow, to stand on her own.

Even if she had to leave him, she could swallow her grief and smile, wishing him well.

Yet on this night, returning home was like a snail retreating into its shell, or a paper crane caught in a gentle breeze. Every beam of light offered solace, and she could not help but weep.

For the first time in her life, she had learned what it meant to yearn. Loving Yan Chaosheng had consumed all her tenderness and devotion.

That night, the Ghost Realm experienced a rare occurrence—a “Yin Year,” something that happened once in decades. In the mortal realm, it would be akin to snow in June. As the ghost crows cawed, the Ghost Realm was bathed in a soft, black rain.

Unlike the rain of the mortal world, the rain in the Ghost Realm was black, infused with potent ghostly energy.

Rain was rare in the Ghost Realm. For ghosts, it was a blessing, but for immortals and other beings, it was akin to a corrosive poison.

Liu shuang pushed open the window and saw the sea of flowers in her courtyard withering under the rain, their roots being eroded.

She called out, “Changhuan!”

No one answered. Changhuan was nowhere to be found. The fierce wind howled, and the ground was soon covered in a thin layer of black rain. All was silent, not even the ghost crows were to be seen. It was as if she were the only one left in the world.

It was only then that she realized how much of a failure she had been as Yan Chaosheng’s consort. Aside from Changhuan, Lord Su lun, and the usually stern General Fuheng, she knew almost no one. Even her cries for help seemed feeble.

The life she had nurtured was slowly fading before her eyes. These were her memories, proof of her existence.

Though Liu shuang did not belong in the Ghost Realm, after a hundred years, this small corner of the world had become her home. She stood under the eaves, watching her carefully tended garden being ravaged by the storm.

Finally, when the towering phoenix tree in the courtyard began to shrivel, its branches becoming transparent and nearly vanishing, Liu shuang could no longer hold back. She threw on her cloak and ran out.

She spread her arms, and the faint green spiritual energy at her fingertips surged toward the phoenix tree.

Her efforts could only slow its erosion, not save it. She tried to find something to shield it from the rain, but in the Ghost Realm, her spiritual power was weak and insignificant. Even the barrier she conjured shattered in moments.

No one came to her aid. She realized she could not even create a barrier to protect this courtyard from the storm.

The rain fell on her, and the corrosive pain made her gasp, collapsing to the ground. In that moment, she finally understood what Grandfather Tree had once said: celestial herbs should live where immortals belong, absorbing the essence of the moon and dew, never forgetting the path of cultivation.

They should not stop for anyone, confine themselves, or give up on moving forward.

She could not save the life she had painstakingly built over decades. Now, sitting in the rain, she could not even save herself.

Liu shuang struggled to rise, but the sinister ghostly energy began to erode her body, turning her lips black.

In the midst of the storm, someone stepped through the wind and rain, a flash of black energy, and appeared by her side, lifting her from the ground.

For the first time, Liu shuang felt that her body temperature was lower than his. Shivering from the ghostly energy corroding her, she even felt that Yan Chaosheng’s body was warm.

“What’s this? Don’t you want to live anymore?”

Liu shuang had never heard Yan Chaosheng speak in such a cold, urgent tone. The arms holding her were so tight they made her bones ache, as though he wanted to crush her. The tightness gave her the illusion that he did care for her, after all.

She looked back at the courtyard. Under the heavy rain, the life she had nurtured with her spiritual energy had vanished. It was as if, for decades, they had never existed.

Would the Ghost Realm ever hold a place or color she loved again?