The two faced each other in silence, the atmosphere heavy and awkward all at once.
Of course, the awkward one wasn’t Nezha.
The Heavenly Court had a vast number of personnel, and Shen Fuxing, a mere Immortal Attendant of the Third Prince’s palace, searching for someone was like looking for a needle in the ocean.
At first, she thought she could ask Nezha to step in, but he refused.
Later, when she finally had the chance to meet the Jade Emperor, Shen Fuxing’s mind was filled with “Grandpa, Grandpa…”—the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas, the big boss, all thrown to the winds.
Having been absent from work for days, knowing she was in the wrong, Shen Fuxing lowered her lashes, her gaze shifting guiltily to the side. For the life of her, she couldn’t think of how to appease this ancestor.
Wherever Grandpa was, she would be. She couldn’t just find her grandpa only to be kicked out of the Heavenly Court for angering Nezha.
“I’m sorry. Punish me if you want.” Shen Fuxing looked up, a mist of tears clouding her eyes, her red-rimmed gaze looking utterly pitiful.
Anyone who didn’t know better would think Nezha had beaten her.
Though Nezha did want to hit her.
But he hadn’t even made a move yet, and she was already about to cry.
Nezha frowned, his gaze at Shen Fuxing shifting from icy to complicated, with a trace of resentment upon closer inspection.
Hitting her wouldn’t do, and not hitting her wouldn’t do either.
Forget it—he was a mighty and illustrious general. If word got out that he was bickering with a little brat, it would be a laughingstock. He might as well just scare her a bit.
Nezha closed his eyes and opened them again, speaking coldly: “Where have you been these past few days?”
Shen Fuxing hung her head, poking her two fingers together, lying through her teeth: “I went to find Grandpa.”
Hearing her soft mumbling, looking so obedient, an ordinary person would truly believe she’d learned her lesson and let her off the hook.
But who was Nezha? Deputy Commander of the Heavenly Court’s military, commander of the troops of the Three Realms, with eyes and ears everywhere.
At the slightest sign of trouble, his trusted subordinates would report back immediately.
Shen Fuxing pulling tricks right under his nose—did she really think he knew nothing? Like that old man Jade Emperor, fooled and still counting out the money for her.
Just as Nezha’s anger was about to flare up again after barely subsiding, Shen Fuxing decisively sacrificed Pagoda-Bearing King Li, offering to tend to his illness and take care of all of Li Jing’s daily needs.
Nezha raised an eyebrow.
Shen Fuxing’s gaze was resolute, as if she had a new mission, and she quickly added: “Rest assured, Boss. As long as I’m here, within three days, the Heavenly King will be reborn from the ashes!”
She guaranteed the rebirth—but whether he’d actually recover was another matter.
The Samadhi True Fire blazing on the Sky-Hiding Silk had completely extinguished, calm as could be.
To show his filial piety, Nezha took the Fire-Tipped Spear, turned his back, stood with his hands clasped behind him, casually twirling the spear in a flourish, and instructed: “Take good care of my father. If anything happens to him, come notify me immediately. Go.”
“Understood.” Shen Fuxing glanced at him. Looks like he was appeased.
As for Li Jing… she’d heard that after getting a close-up taste of Giant Spirit God’s breath that day, he’d suffered a double blow to body and mind and had been staying at the Medicine King’s residence.
He’d only moved back to Cloud Tower Palace yesterday to recuperate.
And she happened to return today too. What a coincidence!
—Your Fuxing will arrive in three minutes. Wishing you good health and a long life.
Li Jing lay on his sickbed, watching the girl sitting by his bedside patiently blowing on the medicine bowl, and sneered inwardly.
At least that unfilial brat had some conscience, sending a well-behaved little Immortal Attendant to care for him.
But… why did this girl look so familiar?
He felt he’d seen her somewhere before.
Having lain ill for so long, Li Jing’s memories were all of Giant Spirit God’s enormous mouth and that overwhelming, foul stench. After studying her for a while, he truly couldn’t recall.
“Heavenly King, time to drink your medicine.” Shen Fuxing smiled gently, holding the bowl in one hand while supporting King Li upright with the other, bringing the spoon to his lips.
He didn’t need to exert a single ounce of strength or move a single finger throughout the whole process.
See, how thoughtful a girl was—unlike that unfilial son of his, Nezha, who came to his room every day but only ever stared at the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, as if the pagoda were his father and he were just an insignificant pedestal.
It truly infuriated him!
With someone right there, Li Jing wanted to open his mouth and vent his grievances, talk about the hardships of being a father, and denounce Nezha’s unfilial behavior.
But before he could make a sound, a spoonful of medicinal broth emitting wisps of black aura was shoved into his mouth by Shen Fuxing.
All his lengthy complaints were blocked right back down.
And this was only the beginning.
The moment the medicine touched his mouth, Li Jing felt extreme sourness, extreme sweetness, extreme bitterness, extreme spiciness, and extreme saltiness all mixed together, exploding one after another on his tongue.
A hellish taste that instantly turned the Heavenly King’s face a mottled green and pale, nearly cutting off his breath.
He struggled to shift his gaze, only to see Shen Fuxing still wearing that obedient, warm smile, seemingly unaware of how much harm this medicine was doing to him.
Spoon after spoon, her movements were swift and efficient.
At this point, even a fool like Li Jing would realize—this wasn’t Nezha sending someone to show filial piety, but someone sent specifically to send him off, as if his illness wasn’t severe enough!
But trapped as he was, Li Jing, dizzy and weak in all four limbs, gritted his teeth and stammered: “…You! How dare you… poison this Heavenly King!”
Shen Fuxing looked innocent. “No, this is just the medicine sent by the Medicine King’s estate.” She smiled. “Hurry and drink it, King Li. You’ll feel better once it’s down.”
Bullshit! Would he even survive after drinking that?
Shen Fuxing said nothing, simply continuing to feed the medicine into Li Jing’s mouth.
Poor King Li—the medicinal taste numbed his tongue, and with a spoon in his mouth, he couldn’t call out to the Heavenly Soldiers, only managing muffled grunts as he stared wide-eyed, completely at Shen Fuxing’s mercy.
By the time the last spoonful was fed, Li Jing could no longer feel his tongue.
His throat had lost all ability to speak as well.
Shen Fuxing thoughtfully helped him lie back down, tucked in his blankets, and carefully wiped the residual medicinal broth from the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.
Her movements were impossibly gentle.
As if the person lying in bed wasn’t someone else, but her own biological father.
Even Yan He, the chief steward of Cloud Tower Palace, couldn’t help but praise her for her dedication.
Standing in front of King Li’s bed, Shen Fuxing accepted all the compliments with a clear conscience, shyly and humbly stating that it was simply her duty.
As a result, Shen Fuxing’s reputation in Cloud Tower Palace grew even better.
Attendants came and went, yet not a single one noticed Li Jing behind Shen Fuxing, frantically blinking and desperately seeking help.
There was nothing to be done—though Shen Fuxing was small in stature, the position she stood in completely blocked the upper half of King Li’s body from view.
Day one, day two—Li Jing couldn’t move, his face haggard, each day feeling like a year.
Yet despite his usual appearance of being on the verge of death, whenever Shen Fuxing’s gentle “King Li, time for your medicine~” sounded in his ears, Li Jing would immediately perk up, glaring at her with wide eyes, limbs flailing desperately, a hint of fear hidden beneath his resistance.
He remembered! He finally remembered!
It was her! Nezha’s little sidekick!! The one who tricked him into approaching the Giant Spirit God during the new soldier drills, letting that bad breath rush into his nose with lightning speed and linger for ages—Shen Fuxing!!
Damn her.
Fuxing, my ass—she was clearly his retribution!
Not only had she spent two days smiling while force-feeding him poison, but yesterday afternoon, when she was away, he’d finally managed to crawl out of bed for a drink of water.
That girl shot out like a cannonball, appearing from who-knows-where with a bowl of noodles. One sliding tackle sent him flying three meters, his head smacking into a pillar and knocking out a front tooth.
The noodles—which flew from her hand due to inertia—arced beautifully through the air, bowl and all, landing perfectly on King Li’s head.
Noodles resembling dreadlocks, dark brown sauce covering King Li’s face—he looked like he’d gone full African tribal.
Li Jing was furious. The Tuota Tianwang, weak in body and burning with rage, raged once and then… raged again, ultimately being helped back to bed by Shen Fuxing. He endured with steam practically rising from his head as she cleaned the noodles from his scalp and the sticky sauce from his face.
But the worst was yet to come.
For that vicious kick, Shen Fuxing’s explanation was that she’d accidentally stepped on a banana peel when entering.
Ridiculous. In his royal bedchamber, who would dare toss a banana peel around?
Shen Fuxing grinned cheekily. “Sorry about that. Actually, I ate it and forgot to have someone clean it up.”
Li Jing: “…”
Well, that explained it.
He lay flat on the bed, the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda nestled in the crook of his arm. He looked down, pulled the blanket up over his beloved pagoda, then stared expressionlessly at the ceiling.
There was a quiet madness in his calm.
For the first time in his life, he desperately missed Nezha.
Even if that rebellious son ignored him completely, it was still better than Shen Fuxing’s hands-on care.
Just as he was thinking this, Shen Fuxing returned with another bowl, plopping down on the edge of his bed. “Since the noodles spilled, let’s just go straight to the medicine.”
“Open wide, ah—”
In just two short days, that gentle tone and familiar phrase had become Li Jing’s nightmare.
Just catching a whiff of the spoonful at his lips, he dazedly thought he saw his great-grandfather.
Jin Zha, Mu Zha, my sons, return at once—your father is being poisoned to death!
To prevent Shen Fuxing from pulling the same trick—shoving the spoon in the moment he opened his mouth—Li Jing immediately rolled his eyes back, kicked his legs, and passed out cold.
He fainted so conveniently that Shen Fuxing raised an eyebrow. She didn’t press him, setting the medicine bowl down as he wished.
She raised her hand and casually grabbed at the air. With a flash of light, a syringe produced by the Medicine King’s estate appeared in her hand.
Since King Li refused to take medicine orally, this little immortal also happened to know a thing or two about intravenous injection.
Grandfather had said one must keep one’s word. She’d promised Li Jing three days of nirvana, and she had plenty of methods.
As for being reborn—losing forty pounds in two days, how was that not a complete transformation, a brand-new self?
And Li Jing had truly misunderstood her. Even with Nezha backing her up, she wasn’t stupid enough to openly poison the king’s medicine.
She’d only added a concentrated essence extracted from ten tons of lemons, ten tons of sugar, ten tons of coptis, ten tons of ghost peppers, and ten tons of salt.
The Medicine King’s people had said it wouldn’t affect the medicinal properties.
But intravenous injection would be a tiny bit uncomfortable.
Out of sympathy for Li Jing, the medicine she brought this time deliberately omitted the extra ingredients—instead, she sprinkled in a bit of peach-pink powder.
It wasn’t much of a tormenting effect—just that once the drug took hold, it would induce hallucinations, causing the victim to fall helplessly in love with the first person they laid eyes on upon waking, and then it would be like dry wood meeting a raging flame… ahem.
Shen Fuxing had done his research—in the afternoon, the Barefoot Immortal, a former ward-mate of King Li who had been ambushed by Taibai Jinxing with the Juling Anti-Wolf Spray, was coming to visit him.
Just thinking about that scene, Shen Fuxing couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
Too wicked.
He was about to get even wickeder.