25 – Love? This is Impossible, It Will Never Happen in This Lifetime
The next day.
As dawn’s first light barely illuminated the sky, Yun Sangsang opened her eyes.
She gazed at the wisps of cooking smoke rising from the foot of the mountain, stroking her chin thoughtfully: “The villagers below have already started cooking breakfast. I should make breakfast for my Little Yuanning too. Other children get to eat steaming hot meals as soon as they wake up – my child shouldn’t be treated any worse…”
She looked up and instructed the parrot dozing on a tree branch: “Little Parrot, go gather some wild vegetables and mushrooms from the forest. We still have some leftover rabbit meat from yesterday. I’ll slice it thin and cook it with the vegetables and mushrooms into a big pot of stew for our Little Yuanning to make do with for this meal.”
The parrot pretended to be dead asleep, ignoring its owner who loved ordering it around.
Yun Sangsang snorted.
This lazy creature wouldn’t move without some threat.
She casually picked up a rock weighing over ten pounds, weighing it in her hand while squinting at the parrot. “Our little bird is tired, is it? No matter, sleep well then. We’ll start today with a bowl of bird meat soup to refresh ourselves.”
“Urk…” The parrot secretly cracked open an eye, saw the huge rock in its owner’s hand, and immediately fluttered up in panic!
Its owner wasn’t human!
How could she treat a delicate, well-behaved little bird like this?
As it flew hurriedly toward the forest, it muttered: “No distinction between close and distant! That little brat hasn’t even agreed to make offerings to you yet, but you treat him so well. I’ve been with you for a thousand years, yet you bully me all day! Favoring the new over the old! Always looking for something better! Truly, one only sees the new love laugh, but never hears the old love cry!”
Yun Sangsang watched the bird muttering while flying away, both exasperated and amused.
This bird certainly had a sharp tongue, but for someone as lonely as her who had endured millennia of solitude, having such a lively companion around was necessary to dispel the loneliness.
She withdrew her gaze and jumped down from the large rock.
Glancing at the sleeping Yuan Ning Wang, not wanting to wake the child too early, she quietly gathered firewood nearby and cut bamboo tubes.
Without proper pots or stoves, she could only use bamboo tubes as makeshift pots to manage through this meal.
Yuan Ning Wang, who had been nourishing his demon bone all night, hadn’t actually been asleep. Hearing Yun Sangsang get up, he lay motionless, secretly observing her every move with his Divine Sense.
Watching Yun Sangsang gather firewood and start a fire, he eagerly waited for her to get burned by her own Immortal Fire again.
Unfortunately, even a Broom Star doesn’t encounter major misfortunes every single moment. Today, Yun Sangsang started the fire smoothly without setting herself ablaze.
Then, seeing Yun Sangsang whittle bamboo tubes, Yuan Ning Wang wondered if someone as unlucky as her might cut her own hand?
Sadly, after waiting for a long time, he still didn’t get to see any entertaining mishaps.
He couldn’t help but ponder: It seems this Broom Star might not be as terrifying as expected… If one only needs to suffer misfortune once or twice a day due to her influence, maybe it’s not completely unacceptable?
He curled the corner of his mouth and pretended to be woken by the noise, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up.
Yun Sangsang was squatting by the fire, using yesterday’s leftover rabbit skeleton to rapidly slice meat into the bamboo tube.
The slices, thin as cicada wings, fell into the bamboo tube filled with clear water, creating beautiful ripples.
Noticing movement behind her, Yun Sangsang turned her head and asked with a smile: “Awake? Did you sleep well last night?”
Yuan Ning Wang rested his chin in his hands and gazed at her.She thought to herself, if it were a sweet and obedient child, they would now be answering sweetly—Celestial Maiden Sister, I slept very well! I’ve always been alone before, but with Celestial Maiden Sister by my side last night, even my dreams were wonderful!
But he was not a sweet and obedient child.
So he looked at Yun Sangsang with a faint, ambiguous smile: “No bed, no blanket, no pillow, huddled all night on a cold, hard rock in the bitter wind and rain—Celestial Maiden, what do you think? How well do you think I slept? Sigh, if only you hadn’t destroyed my house…”
“Uh…” Yun Sangsang’s smile stiffened on her face.
Oh dear, warm, everyday moments were clearly not meant for her and Little Yuanning. As a Broom Star, with this ungentle little brat, there was no hope for cozy, affectionate daily life.
But as soon as she thought of his collapsed stable, Yun Sangsang felt a pang of guilt and couldn’t help but give a light cough.
Just as she was about to change the subject, she happened to glance at Yuan Ning Wang’s face and noticed with surprise, “Huh, Little Yuanning, the aura of death between your brows is gone! It seems you safely passed yesterday’s Death Tribulation!”
Instantly perking up, she proudly and triumphantly took credit for herself: “See, see? If it weren’t for Celestial Maiden Sister protecting you, could you have safely passed the Death Tribulation? You might have died yesterday under the thunder, in the collapsed stable, or in the caved-in mountain cave.
Anyway, without me, you would have died one way or another. It’s only because I Defied Heaven and Altered Fate for you that you managed to snatch your life back from the King of Hell!”
“Uh…” Yuan Ning Wang raised his hand to touch the space between his brows, a faint smile curling his thin lips.
The aura of death between his brows was gone?
Hah, of course.
When he possessed this body yesterday, the poor child was already dead, so naturally, an aura of death lingered between his brows. After a whole night of fusion, this body had essentially regained its vitality, so of course, the deathly aura had dissipated.
So, this was not the Broom Star’s doing; it was his own.
Not wanting to owe any gratitude to this Broom Star, he raised an eyebrow slightly: “About this aura of death between my brows, it’s always been you, Celestial Maiden, talking to yourself. I never saw it anyway—who knows if it’s true or false? I don’t acknowledge your favor.”
Having said that, he waited for Yun Sangsang to resentfully call him an ungrateful wretch, to scold him for not knowing what was good for him.
After all, from Yun Sangsang’s perspective, she really had changed his doomed fate yesterday, yet he showed not a shred of gratitude—how could she not be angry?
However, Yun Sangsang did not get angry or upset as he had imagined.
Hearing his ungrateful words, Yun Sangsang merely went from triumphant to slightly disappointed. After glancing at him a few times, she said very nonchalantly, “If you don’t believe it, then you don’t. If you ever come to believe it in the future, just remember to thank me then.”
Yuan Ning Wang looked at her calm demeanor, somewhat surprised.
Anyone else who had done a good deed and saved someone, only to have that person show no gratitude, would feel stifled and think the other was ungrateful and not worth saving. But this Broom Star—why was she always so composed?
Yesterday, she had shielded him from the Thunder Tribulation on the treetop, and when he didn’t acknowledge her kindness, saying he hadn’t even seen any thunder, she had also brushed it off lightly, never bothering to argue or dwell on the matter with him.At this moment, she saw the aura of death vanish from between his brows. Though he refused to acknowledge it as her doing, she merely felt a fleeting disappointment before lightly brushing it aside, simply asking him to offer thanks someday if he ever came to believe it.
How could she…
Remain as composed as a broad-minded living bodhisattva?
Yuan Ning Wang studied her for a few breaths, then asked with a smile, “Celestial maiden, you keep saying you saved me, yet I don’t believe you, refuse your kindness, and feel no gratitude. Aren’t you the least bit angry? Don’t you feel your good intentions were misplaced?”