Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
Great Marsh Mountain had stood for sixty thousand years, its immortal aura rich and dense, imbuing even the small town at its foot with a simple, honest folk culture. The two descended the mountain at sunset, reaching the foot just as night began to fall.
Coincidentally, a lantern festival was being held in the town that day, with crowds bustling about. Ayin had been born on an Immortal Mountain, and the places she usually visited with Gu Jin were all frequented by immortals, demons, and spirits, so she rarely had the chance to observe mortals. When she jumped down from the clouds, she finally reined in her boldness, reluctantly withdrawing her hand from where it had been clinging to Gu Jin’s waist.
The two concealed their Immortal Power as they entered the town. Thanks to their previous trip to the capital, Ayin no longer reacted to the mortal world with the same wide-eyed astonishment as before. However, she couldn’t resist the sight of food. From glutinous rice balls to candied hawthorns, she sampled every treat along the street. When she turned around and couldn’t spot Gu Jin, panic instantly seized her.
“A Jin! A Jin!”
The streets were packed with people. With her full array of immortal arts, she could have easily used a simple immobilization spell to locate Gu Jin. Yet, the moment she lost sight of him, Ayin’s hand holding the candied hawthorn trembled. It was as if… as if they had been separated for a very, very long time—so long that in the blink of an eye, she might lose him again.
“Ayin!” A clear, bright voice suddenly called out from behind her. Ayin jolted and spun around to see Gu Jin smiling at her, holding a packet of osmanthus pastries. Without waiting for him to react, she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.
Gu Jin looked down at the person in his arms, momentarily stunned. Ayin lifted her head, pulling away from his embrace, her temper flaring with righteous indignation. “Where did you go? How could you leave me alone? I thought you were gone!”
Before Gu Jin could respond, an elderly woman selling love knots at a nearby stall smiled warmly at him and said, “Young man, you must hold onto your little wife! She was so worried when she couldn’t find you that tears welled up in her eyes. The streets are crowded—don’t lose your wife!”
Ayin’s open dependence on and closeness to Gu Jin in public was utterly innocent, and ordinary mortals who saw them simply assumed they were a young couple out enjoying the lantern festival.
The old woman’s words immediately made Ayin blush. She stammered, opening and closing her mouth, before finally managing to say, “I wasn’t crying at all.” Yet she didn’t deny being Gu Jin’s little wife.
Gu Jin looked at Ayin’s flushed face and gently brushed her hair. “Ayin, I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid! I just didn’t eat enough, so I got hungry, and that’s why my heart panicked,” Ayin blurted out.
Gu Jin raised an eyebrow, glancing at the candied hawthorn in her hand. Ayin was instantly mortified, but before she could think of an excuse, Gu Jin led her to the stall selling love knots.
The love knots woven by the old woman were not exquisitely crafted, but they were pleasing to the eye. One of them featured a small, delicately woven phoenix at its center, a unique touch. Gu Jin’s gaze sharpened, and he selected a pair with phoenixes.
“Grandmother, I’ll take these two.”
“Young man, a pair should be one male phoenix and one female phoenix. Both of these are female phoenixes,” the old woman said, noticing that Gu Jin seemed like a proper scholar and fearing he might not understand such romantic customs.
Seeing Gu Jin about to buy the love knots, Ayin immediately leaned in for a closer look.
“It’s fine. I’ll take these two,” Gu Jin said, handing the silver to the old woman. He took the love knots from her and quickly tucked them into his sleeve before Feng Yin could get a proper look.
Feng Yin pouted and narrowed her eyes, unable to guess Gu Jin’s intention in buying the love knots. Instantly, she grew unhappy.
“Let’s go.”Gu Jin acted as if he hadn’t noticed, leading her to continue admiring the lanterns. After taking a couple of steps, he noticed the little tagalong behind him had lost her spirit and stopped in his tracks.
Ayin couldn’t brake in time and bumped into Gu Jin’s back, her face scrunching up even more with grievance. Before she could even cry out, a pair of hands reached out from in front of her.
“Hold on tight. It’s crowded—don’t get lost and start crying again.”
A calm voice came through. Ayin’s eyes lit up, her mood instantly brightening. She slipped her small hand into the young man’s palm, her eyes curving into crescents as she bounced to his side.
“Hey, A Jin, the lanterns over there are big and bright. Let’s go take a look!” Ayin gestured excitedly with the hand holding the candied hawthorn, her voice crisp and sweet.
“Alright.”
“When we come back later, let’s buy a few bowls of fermented rice balls. Senior Brother and Qing Yi both like them.”
This time, the response paused briefly, but still came back gently: “Alright.”
No one saw the sorrow and longing in the young man’s eyes. He slowly tightened his grip on the soft hand in his palm, as if doing so could make the heart-wrenching past and millennia of separation fade from his heart.
Their figures gradually disappeared into the crowd and the sea of lanterns. The old woman who had been watching them smiled and packed away the remaining pair of phoenix-themed love knots from her stall.
“Ah well, that young man seems to dote on his little wife. If they bought the wrong ones, so be it. Maybe they’ll come again next year. I’ll keep this pair of phoenix knots for them.”
The bustling street was crowded and lively, but aside from the old woman who had sold a pair of love knots, no one remembered that Gu Jin and Ayin had ever been there.
As the moon rose above the willow branches, Gu Jin carried the tired Ayin on his back and returned to the Forbidden Valley of Great Marsh Mountain.
Under the moonlight, the phoenix tree cast a faint golden glow.
Gu Jin carefully placed Ayin on the soft leaves beneath the phoenix tree. As soon as he looked up, he met a pair of sparkling eyes.
“Who did you buy that love knot for, anyway?” After a whole night of indulgence, this was what Ayin cared about most.
As if he had anticipated her question, Gu Jin raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I heard there’s a custom in the mortal realm.”
“What custom?”
“On one’s birthday, they receive birthday gifts.”
Seeing the confusion on Ayin’s face, the young man blinked. “Today is my birthday.”
Before Ayin could react with surprise, Gu Jin took out the love knot from his sleeve and offered it to her. “Ayin, I haven’t received a birthday gift this year. Give this to me.”
Ayin stared blankly at the love knot in Gu Jin’s hand, unmoving. After a long while, she suddenly looked up, her expression earnest. “Do you know what this is? No, no…” She shook her head. “I won’t ask it that way, A Jin…” Ayin paused, her voice slightly strained. “Do you still like Hua Shu?”
Her voice grew softer, and she lowered her head slightly. “You’ve liked her for many years. You’ve been waiting for her all this time. Our bond… it can’t compare to the time you’ve spent thinking of her.”
Silence fell beneath the phoenix tree. Ayin’s heart felt hollow, filled with frustration and regret.
Why ask so clearly? Hua Shu is about to get married anyway. Why hadn’t she mustered the courage earlier to snatch the love knot and give it to A Jin as a birthday gift? Ahhh, she regretted it so much!
Ayin couldn’t help but wail inwardly, overwhelmed with regret.
Forget it, no more questions. Once I give him the love knot, he’ll be mine.Just as Ayin was about to look up, Gu Jin's voice rang out.
"Ayin, let me tell you a story."
Gu Jin sat down beside Ayin, leaning against the phoenix tree. He glanced toward the eastern direction of Great Marsh Mountain—the direction where Phoenix Island lay overseas.
"I once told you that in my youth, I made a mistake and also fell for someone."
"I know," Ayin replied. Since her birth, she had grown up hearing about this old tale of Wutong Phoenix Island. Gu Jin's journey to Phoenix Island over a hundred years ago had burdened him with guilt toward the Little Phoenix Lord of the Phoenix Clan and led him to meet Hua Shu, whom he fell for.
"Actually, I've been mistaken about something all along," Gu Jin lowered his gaze, looking at the listless Ayin. "Ayin, for the past hundred years, I've loved the wrong person."
"Huh?" Ayin was stunned, abruptly lifting her head with a dazed expression. "Loved the wrong person? What do you mean?"
"I once told you that Hua Shu helped me on Phoenix Island a hundred years ago, and out of gratitude, my feelings grew into love," Gu Jin paused. "But I was mistaken. The one who helped me back then on Phoenix Island was Feng Yin."
Ayin grew even more puzzled, blinking her eyes. "Feng Yin? How could it be Feng Yin? Wasn't she not yet born at that time?"
"She is of the Fire Phoenix lineage. Her soul had been nurtured within the ancient divine jade, the Fire Phoenix Jade. Although she hadn't undergone Nirvana Rebirth and hatched at the time, she could still shape-shift using her soul power. Back then, she helped me from the shadows. I never saw her face and mistook Hua Shu for her."
Gu Jin looked at the somewhat stunned Ayin and spoke earnestly, "Ayin, for that hundred years, the person I loved wasn't Hua Shu—it was Feng Yin of Wutong Phoenix Island."
As Gu Jin's words trailed off, Ayin's heart trembled. She should have felt sad—whether Gu Jin had loved and waited for Hua Shu or Feng Yin over the past century, it was never her. Yet, for some reason, a strange, indescribable mix of joy and sorrow stirred within her.
It was as if she had been waiting for these words for many, many years.
"What about now?" Ayin snapped back to reality, discarding that strange feeling in her heart before raising her voice to ask, "Now that you know it wasn't Hua Shu but Feng Yin who helped you back then, are you going to wait for her?"
She belatedly grasped the gravity of Gu Jin's words and suddenly felt her fate was truly bitter. She had finally managed to eliminate Hua Shu, who was determined to marry Lanfeng Supreme Lord, but before she could step in, an even more formidable rival had appeared.
Who was Feng Yin? She was the heir of Wutong Phoenix Island, the esteemed Young Lord of the Phoenix Clan. Not to mention, A Jin had once caused her soul to scatter and spirit to disperse, carrying that guilt all these years. As Ayin calculated in her heart, she suddenly felt that the companionship she and Gu Jin had shared over the years would likely be reduced to ashes in the face of that Little Phoenix Lord. Her small face instantly lost its glow.
"Yes," Gu Jin finally spoke. "I will wait for her to return."
Seeing Ayin's expression change drastically, he patted her head. "What are you thinking? Back then, I caused Feng Yin's soul to scatter and spirit to disperse. Naturally, I must find her three hun and seven po and help her achieve Nirvana Rebirth."
Seeing Ayin's uneasy expression, Gu Jin felt an inexplicable softness in his heart. He suddenly lowered his head, meeting Ayin's gaze at eye level. "Ayin, listen carefully."
Ayin had never heard Gu Jin speak with such seriousness before. Slightly stunned, she met his eyes."The person I once loved was Feng Yin. For the past hundred years, she has remained in my heart. I have missed her and felt guilty toward her. She was very important to me."
Under the phoenix tree, silence fell abruptly at Gu Jin's words. The light in Ayin's eyes dimmed, and she pursed her lips stubbornly, a hint of grievance in her expression.
"But all these years..." Gu Jin reached out and gently brushed Ayin's brow. "The one by my side has been you. The one who has faced life and death with me has also been you. Ayin, Feng Yin was once very important to me, but now..." As Ayin's expression grew increasingly astonished, Gu Jin finally spoke slowly: "The most important person to me is you. The one I hold in my heart is also you."
"Y-you... what did you say?" Happiness came too suddenly, like a bolt of Heavenly Thunder striking down. Ayin's heart trembled violently, her voice stumbling so much she could hardly form a coherent sentence. "A Jin, what... what did you just say?"
Seeing her flustered state, Gu Jin smiled faintly at the corners of his mouth and suddenly leaned back against the phoenix tree. "If you didn't hear it, then forget it. Who says such things twice?"
The young man's ears flushed red, and he suddenly couldn't bring himself to meet Ayin's gaze.
"I heard it, I heard it! You said you like me most, that your heart and eyes are only for me!" Ayin was beside herself with excitement and reached for the love knot in Gu Jin's hand. "The love knot, give it to me, quick! I'll tie it for you!"
Ayin hastily snatched the love knot and eagerly pulled Gu Jin's wrist toward her. But when it came time to tie it, her movements became gentle and careful. She lowered her head, her lips and brows brimming with smiles.
Gu Jin watched quietly as the girl's face flushed crimson, all tenderness and a profound emotion hidden deep in his eyes.
How many years had he waited for this moment?
From that night at the lantern festival in the mortal capital when he first understood his own feelings, he had been waiting for this day.
He had waited for this day for a full thousand years.
In his long and lonely life, the thing he had done for the longest time was wait for Ayin to return.
As long as she could call him "A Jin" once more, he would ask for nothing else in the rest of his days.
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