Chapter 189: Chapter 156: Red Thread on the Wrist, Who is the Fated One? (Part 2)

"Seeing as you’ve been so dedicated, I’ll leave her to you!"

"Tell her to give up on her little schemes. Just because she learned a few heterodox tricks doesn’t mean she can delude herself into thinking she can cheat the heavens and alter her destiny!"

"This union of the living and the dead is meant to repay one’s fate, even one’s very Life Essence! It’s just like a normal marriage—if you accept a betrothal gift, you must offer a dowry in return! There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world!"

The Red-Browed Ghost King, as if he had just received a priceless treasure, carefully cradled Granny Ghost. His ferocious, massive face—with its blood-basin mouth and teeth like rows of copper coins—was unexpectedly filled with tenderness.

"You expect me to spend my days with an ugly brute like you? Trapped in this godforsaken place for the next hundred years? I’d rather die!"

Granny Ghost’s eyes flew open. When she saw the Red-Browed Ghost King’s face, a fit of rage seized her, and she killed herself on the spot.

"Granny!"

The Red-Browed Ghost King was overcome with grief, wailing as he held Granny Ghost’s body.

"Is this ever going to end?"

The chubby girl’s face was a mask of impatience. The tragic, obsessive love between these two ugly ghosts was frankly disgusting and hard to stomach.

The wings on her back suddenly unfurled, unleashing a tremendous force that sent the Red-Browed Ghost King flying more than ten miles away.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Having dealt with the trivialities, the chubby girl opened her mouth and spat out Yang Xun, who had been enveloped in a black cloud.

With her hands behind her back, she circled the old man—three times to the left, three times to the right—scrutinizing him from every angle.

’Did the red thread get it wrong? It must have!’

’It makes no sense otherwise. How could it lead me to an old coot with one foot in the grave!’

No matter how impressed the chubby girl was by the new Shao Yang Monarch, she could never accept her mistress’s spectral marriage prospects falling upon this man.

She scurried over to the palanquin and retrieved a square box made of thousand-year-old peach wood.

The red thread lay inside, perfectly still.

’But it definitely twitched twice just now! Gui’er saw it with my own eyes...’

The chubby girl’s eyebrows furrowed into a knot, her face etched with frustration.

"Thank you for saving this old man, Lord Upper Cultivator!"

Yang Xun prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed respectfully.

"Alright, alright!"

The chubby girl’s eyes darted about as she gave him a thorough once-over.

This old fellow was only a Human Cultivator, barely at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, but he possessed a decent amount of fortune.

No wonder Granny Ghost had set her sights on him.

"Old man, what’s your name? Where are you from?"

Normally, the chubby girl wouldn’t have bothered with someone of his caliber, but she had descended through the eighteen levels to the bottomless abyss for the sole purpose of finding this "fated person."

"This old man is Yang Xun, from the Qianji Sect’s Dharma Lineage on Beimang Ridge... I was under orders from the Sect Leader to come and purchase some Yin Fungi and Yin Ginseng..."

Yang Xun explained everything in detail.

"Just you?"

The chubby girl narrowed her eyes.

This old man had only reached the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer at his advanced age. Logically, he didn’t seem like someone with abundant fortune or blessings.

Yang Xun’s heart sank, and his voice trembled.

"There was one other... Junior Nephew Han Li of the Inner Peak."

The chubby girl circled around behind Yang Xun, then suddenly poked her head forward and grinned, revealing a mouth full of fine, sharp teeth.

"You’re lying! This grandma can smell it! You didn’t tell the truth, old man!"

Her sinister tone, like a Fierce Ghost demanding his life, terrified Yang Xun so much that the hairs on his body stood on end. He felt as if he had been plunged into a freezing cavern.

How could he dare reveal the slightest trace of Jiang Yi’s whereabouts? This chubby girl looked cheerful, but in reality, her ferocity was overwhelming.

She had nearly cleaved a character like Granny Ghost in two with a single strike and almost swallowed her whole as a snack.

"Old man, this grandma can divine cause and effect. You’d best explain yourself clearly."

The chubby girl’s spirits lifted, and she let out a sinister laugh.

"Don’t be afraid. I’m not like those other evil ghouls; I don’t eat living flesh! Now hurry up and talk. Was there someone else with you?"

"What does he look like? Is he handsome? And how old is he?"

Yang Xun swallowed hard. Listening to this barrage of questions, a strong sense of unease washed over him.

"Lord Upper Cultivator... could it be that you are also seeking a husband?"

"Of course!"

The chubby girl nodded repeatedly, thinking this answer would put him at ease.

"See this red thread? My mistress is looking for her fated person! If it works out, it’ll be a wonderful spectral union!"

Yang Xun instantly thought of Granny Ghost, and then of the long-tongued old matron’s words about "the living marrying the dead to have their fate borrowed." He clenched his jaw tightly.

’Is the Celestial Lord toying with Ah Yi and me on purpose? Making both grandfather and grandson suffer this ’romantic calamity’?!’

’I absolutely cannot let Ah Yi be violated by a female ghost and lose his innocence!’

The thought flashed through his mind, and in that instant, Yang Xun made his decision.

He channeled energy into his palms and slammed them toward his Primordial Gate, intending to shatter his Divine Sense and Primordial Spirit completely!

The sudden turn of events startled the chubby girl.

’A spectral union with her mistress was a blessing countless people could only dream of!’

’How could it have driven this old coot to prove his resolve by taking his own life?’

The chubby girl’s eyelids twitched violently. A thought flashed through her mind, and nine ferocious heads suddenly materialized around her.

Her Qi Mechanism flared out, suppressing the surroundings!

Even though Yang Xun’s actions were swift and decisive, his vision instantly went black. His Divine Sense felt as if it were pinned down by a giant boulder, and he was frozen in place.

In the face of an Upper Cultivator, a Lower Cultivator does not even have the luxury of choosing death.

"You old fool! You don’t know what’s good for you!"

The chubby girl flew into a thunderous rage. If her mistress hadn’t specifically instructed her not to kill, she would have ripped the old man’s head off.

The nine ferocious heads swayed, as if talking amongst themselves.

The chubby girl hesitated, wondering if she should perform a soul search. It might reveal clues about the "fated person."

After all, in all her days in the bottomless abyss, this old man was the only one who had made the red thread react.

Before the chubby girl could make up her mind, a clear voice suddenly rang out.

"Lord Upper Cultivator, please do not make things difficult for my Grandpa."

The chubby girl turned to see the speaker, a young man with a calm and serene expression.

She let out a soft "Hmm?" This young man was quite handsome, but his face was pale as paper, and he had an overly delicate, yin-like quality. He didn’t seem like the type her mistress would favor.

"Are you with this old coot?" the chubby girl asked.

"Yes."

Jiang Yi nodded, his reply composed.

"My Grandpa and I were traveling together. He was captured by Granny Ghost while out purchasing Yin Fungi and Yin Ginseng. It took me a long time to track him to the Cumulus Cloud Cave."

"I am endlessly grateful that you saved him, Lord Upper Cultivator."

The chubby girl walked up to Jiang Yi, pinching the red thread, and asked in confusion:

"You’re definitely a living person, so why are you covered in a ghostly aura?"

She raised her eyebrows and shot a sidelong glance at Cui Ying, who was standing nearby.

’Could this boy be the type to lose his head over women? Has a female ghost sucked all his Yang Qi dry?’

Jiang Yi said with a solemn expression:

"I have had a weak constitution since I was young. My Primordial Yang is difficult to contain and leaks easily, which is why I may not seem like a living person."

The Breath-Concealing Spell he had passed on to his Grandpa, Yang Xun, was a half-baked, simplified version that couldn’t fool the discerning eye of an Upper Cultivator.

But the "Concealment" art he himself used sealed his Dao Embryo from the inside out, allowing him to even alter his own Qi Mechanism.

"Never mind all that for now."

The chubby girl circled him twice, her nine ferocious heads taking turns examining him.

’His fortune is acceptable, and his karma is clear, but he doesn’t have the utter Perfection of a Saint King’s Fate. And he’s definitely not the new Shao Yang Monarch.’

The chubby girl muttered to herself while holding up the thousand-year-old peach wood box.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths... A full ten breaths passed!

Just as the chubby girl thought it was another misunderstanding, the red thread inside the box shot out with a SWOOSH and wrapped itself around Jiang Yi’s wrist.

...

...

「The Majestic Eighteenth Level, Profound City Central Palace.」

Within the deep, serene great hall, a graceful woman seated on a Jade Platform tilted her head up slightly, as if speaking to the heavens.

"This True Monarch will not reach for the Shao Yang, only choose the Fated One."

Another red thread, extending from the boundless void and the limitless cosmos, suddenly snapped and drifted away into nothingness.

A faint, benevolent chuckle echoed, causing the Great Dao to flow and a myriad of phenomena to descend.

"Good."

The two Daoist Monarchs hidden Beyond the Qingming had each offered a red thread.

One for the Shao Yang, one for the Fated.

In the end, the Profound Law Nvqing True Monarch chose the latter.

Choosing the Shao Yang would have been marrying up, and she could not afford a sufficient "dowry."

By tying herself to the Fated One, she would at least not be short-changing him.