Don't Discriminate Against Species

Chapter 136 - Extra: Dao Bonding Ceremony (1)

Holding fast to the principle of being true to one’s heart and pledging to only be with the other in their entire lifetime – to the cultivation world, bonding oneself to another as a Dao Companion was a serious affair that could not be reversed. Unlike ordinary people, they could not divorce just because they couldn’t continue living together or found the other displeasing to the eye. The cultivation world’s Dao Bonding Ceremony had to be witnessed by heavenly law, and no matter whether one lived to a hundred or thousand years old, they only had one chance.

Therefore, the cultivators who came into more and more contact with the culture of the human world pretty much all liked using their identification cards in the human world to get a marriage certificate at the Civil Administration Bureau. Yet, they didn’t dare to rashly hold a Dao Bonding Ceremony.

Because a cultivator’s life was too long, and the temptations of the mortal world were too great.

It was precisely because of this that the cultivation world was so shocked that Zhuang Qing wanted to have a Dao Bonding Ceremony with a dead yao cultivator.

But their shock meant nothing when they saw Fu Li standing along the corridor. The cultivation world could create puppet people that weren’t too far off from the real person, but these puppet people didn’t have thoughts or a soul, and definitely couldn’t be like this ‘Fu Li’ walking along the corridor and speaking so vivaciously, with a smile as bright as a living person.

But they personally saw Fu Li’s physical self die and his Dao extinguish, so how was he alive?

These cultivators were clearly astounded on the inside, but on the surface, they still maintained a smile, not daring to reveal any strange expressions. It was fortunate that these cultivators weren’t actors, otherwise the acting industry was done for, thought Fu Li.

“It’s been hard on you, coming this far. Please take a seat in the inner palace,” Fu Li straightened his celebratory clothes and made his way to Zhuang Qing’s side. Linking hands with him, he did a ‘please’ gesture at everyone.

The poor cultivators opened their mouths, but didn’t know what to say. Even if they didn’t believe it, they had no choice but to admit that the Fu Li standing before them was alive and well. He wasn’t a puppet, nor was he a projection created by human technology.

For a moment, they couldn’t quite decipher what was real and what was illusion. Were they dreaming? Or had they entered some scary fantasyland?

The sect leader of the Fields Sect looked down at Zhuang Qing and Fu Li’s intertwined hands. There were a myriad of thoughts and emotions in his heart, but when they reached his mouth, what came out was the word ‘congratulations’.

Nobody understood why Fu Li daoyou had revived despite dying, but none could voice this question. Reviving after death was not a principle that existed under the Heavens; if there was, an immense price must have been paid. They’d rather not ask so that their conscience might be more at ease.

“You are still a match made in Heaven, may your hearts be everlasting and your love eternal,” The sect leader of the Fields Sect bowed deeply to Fu Li. This one bow was his thanks to Fu Li for saving their lives.

Fu Li smiled and returned a half-bow. He made a ‘please’ gesture. “Please take a seat in the inner palace.”

“Thank you,” The sect leader of the Fields Sect bowed again before leading the rest into the inner palace. Grand decorations adorned the interior of the golden flying palace. The attendants created from magic devices were vivid and lifelike; if not for their reticence and lack of life force, those from the Fields Sect would have thought them real.

The dragon clan was hot on the heels of the Fields Sect. Back when the Qing Xiao Sect held a birthday banquet, the enormously arrogant dragon race dispatched only one representative per clan. But this time at Zhuang Qing’s wedding banquet, everyone in the dragon clan turned up, from the old to the young. It was just that their faces wore what strongly appeared to be forced smiles, as if they had gone broke.

When they saw Fu Li, their reactions were even stronger than the Fields Sect, to the point that they even suspected the Fu Li beside Zhuang Qing of being an amorous yao who deliberately took on Fu Li daojun’s appearance to confuse Zhuang Qing.

Fortunately, they were rational enough to know that there were still ancient great yao in the flying palace like the Vermilion Bird, Baize, and Fenghuang. Even if His Majesty the Dragon Emperor was fooled by an amorous yao due to lovesickness, it was impossible for these great yao to fail to distinguish the child they had raised from young.

Qing Yan felt that if it weren’t for his disabled legs, he would definitely swoop out of his wheelchair and investigate if Fu Li was the real deal.

“Something wrong?” Zhuang Qing glanced at the dragons. Turning, he straightened out the pretty much nonexistent creases on Fu Li’s celebratory attire. “Fu Li and I aren’t elegant people. There’s no need to be polite, eat and drink to your heart’s content after you take your seats.”

Qing Yan forced out a smile. His gaze scanned Fu Li multiple times before he cupped his hands in greeting at Fu Li. He then let the other members behind him push him in.

Seeing that the future head of the azure dragon clan hadn’t said much, the other dragon clans followed suit as well. After they all entered the inner palace, they exchanged gazes with one another, each well aware of the shock the other was experiencing. But no one said anything, as if whoever posed the question first would be the loser.

The reception hall that ought to be bustling with noise and excitement was strangely quiet at the moment. The sect leaders and elders of the major sects were silently playing the profound thinker, while the dragon race had on calm expressions, as if they knew the whole truth but were just unwilling to let the others know.

Seeing that the dragon race and major sects weren’t talking, the other individual cultivators all fished out their phones and lowered their heads, pretending as if nothing had happened as they scrolled through the forum.

But hidden beneath their serene appearances was a restless heart for gossip.

Anonymous poster: The Dragon Emperor’s Dao Bonding Ceremony is about to be held. The instant I saw his Dao Companion, my entire person was shocked silly. But what followed was happiness. Regardless of what happened these two years, I wish the Dragon Emperor and his Dao Companion eternal love.

This post stirred up a thousand waves in the forum. Countless cultivators were burning with curiosity, but this anonymous poster never again appeared after making this post, angering the cultivators till they couldn’t help but curse unreservedly.

“Pfft,” One of the individual cultivators seated in the palace hall finally couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Like a spell that broke the silence, his voice caused everyone to turn their gazes towards him, as if doing so would make things less awkward for everyone.

This poor cultivator was stared at till both his hands shook. By accident, he broke the screen of the Fruit 15s he just bought. Cradling the fractured screen, he felt a pain like that of a knife twisting in his heart.

“Why so careless?” The sect leader of the Fields Sect revealed a harmonious smile. “Quickly keep it, it’s Zhuang Qing and Fu Li daoyou’s big day today.”

The other people: See, there would always be a way to shift the topic of conversation to Fu Li daoyou.

“That’s right, Zhuang Qing daoyou and Fu Li daoyou have been separated for so long and it wasn’t easy for them to be together. We must ensure this Dao Bonding Ceremony is lively and festive,” The sect leader of the Qing Xiao Sect followed up. He turned to look at the dragon clans. “What do the clan heads think of this?”

You’re all aquatic clans, so you must know some things through the grapevine, right?

“Sect Leader Zhao is right,” Qing Yan smiled gently. “His Majesty and Fu Li daojun’s feelings are heartfelt. The entire aquatic race is very happy that their love has finally come to fruition.”

The Qing Xiao Sect had two disciples who were high-ranking members in the management bureau; they definitely had insider information.

All the sects: The dragon race is really tight-lipped.

The dragon race: Human cultivators really know how to put on an act and lie.

The individual cultivators: The sect leader of the Qing Xiao Sect and the dragon race seem to know something.

The place was caught up in a kind of bizarrely calm atmosphere, where ‘I know you definitely know’ and ‘I may not know, but I feel like you definitely know’ tangled in the air, causing the cultivators to reveal artificial smiles.

The morning sun slowly rose in the sky, gradually heading towards the center of the sky.

After the guests slowly streamed in, Fu Li and Zhuang Qing went to the back to change into their formal Dao Bonding celebratory gowns. From the inner lining to the robe, every article of clothing was personally crafted by the elders. Only the not very eye-catching jade pendant at Zhuang Qing’s waist was personally carved by Fu Li, who had also added a talisman to it.

As someone who had been coddled by yao from young, Fu Li had some understanding of refining tools, pill-concoction, and talisman-drawing. But he was also not proficient in them. These abilities of his might be considered top-rate in the current cultivation world, but in the eyes of the ancient great yao, it was merely at the level of a kindergartener who had just learned how to hold a pen.

But even then, Fu Li still personally crafted a pair of double heart pendants.

The day he returned – the first day of the lunar new year – he stood outside the iron gates engraved with flowers and got Zhuang Qing to open the door for him.

Zhuang Qing had stared at him in a daze for a very long time before walking to the gate with shaking limbs. He forgot to press the electronic lock buttons and also forgot to use his key. He pulled open the iron gate, and it collapsed with a loud bang.

Zhuang Qing didn’t dare to reach out and touch the person before him. Because for close to two years, he had already seen Fu Li return countless times and stand outside the gates, smiling at him. But not a single one of those times had been real.

As long as he reached out and touched him, he would become nothing and vanish in the air.

There were people around him who called him crazy, and gradually no one in the cultivation world dared to mention Fu Li’s name. Until one day, a little aquatic yao spirit tugged on his sleeves and bawled loudly, asking him not to die along with Fu Li.

Watching the little yao spirit’s incoherent crying, Zhuang Qing’s heart felt empty and very cold, but not painful. Once he became used to it, there was no longer much feeling, just like when immersing a wounded hand into ice-cold water during winter.

From that day onwards, he returned to the way he lived in the past. It was just that he would open the door to the bedroom every night and keep the living room lights on.

He always thought that if Fu Li hadn’t died, he would definitely return to find him.

One year later, on the day of Fu Li’s death anniversary, he opened a passage to the underworld and took a ferry that was now the underworld’s tour boat. Passing by the Wangchuan River, he arrived at the end of the Naihe Bridge.

The Naihe Bridge was packed with souls waiting to be reincarnated. Beside Meng Po was a long row of automatic water dispensers, which every soul would need to take a cup from before they could enter the pool of reincarnation.

There was no pitch-black cauldron here, nor was there any big, long ladle, only a sealed pot of soup that towered so high the top of it was barely visible. It was full of Meng Po’s soup.

The souls who were unwilling to drink the soup were forcibly fed the soup by the yinchai before they were tossed into the pool of reincarnation. When one was reborn and advanced towards a new life, the matters of the past no longer had anything to do with them.

Meng Po caught sight of Zhuang Qing and let out a faint sigh. “Your Majesty Dragon Emperor, the soul you want to see is not here.”

She knew what Zhuang Qing wanted to ask, but she was nothing more than the underworld’s Meng Po. The underworld could not take in the souls of great yao, and moreover, Fu Li daojun’s soul had scattered, so how was there going to be a soul?

Zhuang Qing probably knew this as well, he just couldn’t accept it and harbored absurd delusions in his heart.

Sure enough, His Majesty the Dragon Emperor’s complexion paled even further once these words left her mouth. He stared blankly at Meng Po’s soup, looking very much like Bo Lian when he heard that all of the yao on Reflecting Mist Mountain had been killed by the azure dragons.

She thought Zhuang Qing would cry, but he didn’t.

“That day at the Ghost Market, you said drinking this soup would allow me to recall my past life. Is that true?”

“It’s true, does Your Majesty want to drink it?” Meng Po got up to get the soup. “I said that night that drinking the soup necessitates a price, but it’s different for you. You already paid the price.”

In his past life, Bo Lian had exchanged a wisp of virtue for a promise from her.

If he were to encounter Fu Li’s reincarnation in his next life, then let him drink the soup and recall the affairs of the past. However, Bo Lian forgot that the past life and the present life were different. The him in the present life wasn’t at all willing to drink this bowl of soup.

The soup had already been placed in front of Zhuang Qing. The colorless, odorless soup contained in the jade bowl was full of a mysterious temptation.

Zhuang Qing shook his head. “No need.”

Meng Po looked up at Zhuang Qing.

Zhuang Qing was standing on the bridge, the wind blowing the edges of his clothes. “Goodbye.”

Meng Po watched Zhuang Qing leave from the back and then kept the bowl of colorless, odorless soup.

She thought that this bowl of soup would probably never be sold.

Zhuang Qing didn’t mention all these to Fu Li. Practically every morning after Fu Li came back to life, Zhuang Qing would take a few anxious glances at Fu Li lying beside him and touch him before he could be sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Zhuang little dragon,” Fu Li made his way to Zhuang Qing after changing into his celebratory clothes. The fresh red of his celebratory attire gave his face a red tinge. “Am I handsome?”

Zhuang Qing walked over to him, crouched down, and straightened the corners of Fu Li’s robe for him. “Handsome.”

Fu Li happily kissed him on the head. Seeing Feng Ruizhong pass by, he hollered, “Uncle Feng, is it the lucky hour yet?”

“Stop hurrying, stop hurrying, there’s still one hour to go!”

Fu Li sighed. Why was there still so much time left?

He couldn’t wait for Zhuang Qing to be in his household register.

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