Nezha stood among the crowd, speaking with the fortune-teller. The Clam Spirit caught a glimpse from afar, then slipped back into the residence in a puff of smoke.
The sun blazed overhead, and sweat made her skin sticky. Besides, her clothes needed changing.
All Nezha's fault!
Because Nezha had just woken up today, full of energy, he'd dragged her back for more. Before Shuanglian could finish her sentence, Nezha had already pulled her hand away.
Shuanglian thought to herself, how shameless—his own six hands weren't enough, he had to take hers too!
The moment she tried to pull her hand back and refuse, Nezha tackled her onto the couch, coaxing sweetly, "Young and inexperienced, need to try more," but in truth he was having the time of his life, panting heavily, lotus fragrance wafting from his body.
Nezha's long hair swayed with his movements, brushing against Shuanglian's cheeks. She felt ticklish and turned her head to avoid it, but Nezha thought she was rejecting him. He cupped her jaw with one hand and leaned down to kiss her.
The kiss was sticky and lingering, and he began to babble recklessly: "Don't you dare dislike me. If you avoid me, I'll cut off your immortal pills…"
Shuanglian couldn't dodge, so she went along with his wishes.
"Ha…" Suddenly delighted, Nezha's voice turned husky and magnetic, trembling and broken. "Good Shuanglian, good sister, you spoil Nezha the most…"
Nezha pecked her cheek, pecked her neck, kissed all the way down to her collarbone. His twin topknots were a complete mess, and his words were just as disheveled.
Shuanglian listened to him panting hotly by her ear—"Feels so good," "What bliss," "Worth dying for"—and blushed so hard she hurriedly pushed him away. She shoved him back a little, but Nezha was like a greedy big dog, clinging on and pestering her with kisses and licks.
His upper body bare, Shuanglian touched his firm muscles. Nezha didn't react, but her own face flushed first, and the leg pinned beneath him trembled.
When she changed clothes by the bed, she secretly swapped out her undergarments. In the few seconds it took to change, Nezha haunted her like a ghost, slipping off the couch and coming straight for her.
"Are you hiding from me?" He came around the screen just as the Clam Spirit was tightening the sash across her chest. Nezha walked up to her, his fingertips lingering below her collarbone.
Shuanglian gathered her collar: "Don't you want more?"
Nezha knew he was in the wrong, said nothing, and tirelessly wagged his tail as he burrowed into her embrace. Shuanglian backed away, blocking the door, her eyes clearly saying: I want it.
Want it—if you don't give it to me, I won't move, and I won't leave.
Shuanglian had no choice but to reach out. Nezha leaned against the screen, one long leg bent, head tilted back, eyes half-closed, Adam's apple bobbing.
Seeing that he'd closed his eyes, Shuanglian's gaze lingered on him for a moment before quickly looking away. She pressed her legs together, embarrassed—she was probably sick too.
She'd just changed her clothes and couldn't easily change again. Nezha didn't know about the Clam Spirit's affliction either. Refreshed and energetic, he wiped himself down, washed the Clam Spirit's hands clean, and wanted to take her out to play.
Shuanglian felt she must have owed Nezha money in a past life. Her gaze drifted, her pants uncomfortable, and she was afraid Nezha would insist on stripping her to check, so she had no choice but to follow.
One trip out and back, the weather outside was hot, and by the time they returned her clothes were soaked through, her skin sticky and uncomfortable. Shuanglian shed her skirt, stepped onto the smooth cobblestones, and walked into the small bathing pool behind the courtyard.
The pool water was cool and deep, reaching just below her chest. The Clam Spirit loved water. She sighed contentedly, leaned against the pool wall, and slowly closed her eyes, catching up on the sleep Nezha had squeezed out of her last night.
The West Gate was bustling. Nezha stood before Yuan Shouchang's wooden table: "What does 'stranger in a strange land' mean?"
Yuan Shouchang didn't dare offend Nezha and answered plainly: "That young lady's soul does not belong to this realm—hence, a stranger in a strange land."
Nezha paused: "And her marriage fate?"
Nezha didn't believe in marriage fate. He didn't believe in Immortal Fuyuan's either.
During the campaign against King Zhou, his comrade Hong Jin had a fine marriage with a princess. Immortal Fuyuan, who oversaw marriage fates, had bestowed the match upon them.
When his comrade married in Xiqi, Nezha was on the front lines. He was fifteen then, arrogant and wild, often covered in blood from fighting enemies.
Nezha had a Lotus Body—he didn't bleed. Instead, lotus petals scattered from him in profusion. The blood was naturally the enemy's. From dawn till dusk he fought, and when the enemy's blood on him had all dried, he'd cut off their head with one stroke and return to camp to report.
Even if he was wounded through carelessness, Nezha never cried out. He only trembled, waiting for the searing pain to pass.
In pain, soldiers would inevitably speak of such matters, their hearts full of envy.
Nezha thought: what did marriage have to do with the campaign against King Zhou? Would the enemy stop killing you just because they knew you were married?
In the camp, hearing others speak Immortal Fuyuan's name, the name flowed out of his mind like water.
Later, the newlywed Hong Jin was captured by the enemy's Magic Treasure, "Limb-Numbing Paralysis," and in the end Nezha struck down the enemy himself, letting Hong Jin return to his wife's embrace.
Young Nezha thought again: marriage hadn't made Hong Jin stronger, nor had it freed him from the treasure's grip. What use was it?
Little did he know that years later, that Immortal Fuyuan would pop up before him, pointing at him and saying, "Nezha, you too have a marriage fate."
If the old man stood before Nezha now, Nezha would surely roar: "Since you know my name, how dare you claim I have a marriage fate? Hong Jin was mortal flesh and bone, captured by Long Anji's 'Limb-Numbing Paralysis' and nearly killed. I have a Lotus Body, originally without a soul—never bound by 'Limb-Numbing Paralysis,' and even less bound by that marriage fate!"
Without a soul, what could Immortal Fuyuan's red thread possibly latch onto?
Nezha didn't believe in superstition. He looked at the fortune-teller Yuan Shouchang before him.
Yuan Shouchang was a person secretly placed by Guanyin Bodhisattva. Nezha could see through Yuan Shouchang's identity, and hearing Yuan Shouchang say that Shuanglian had a marriage fate, Nezha was displeased.
The lock of fate cannot bind, but it can bind a foolish Clam Spirit. Not fond of it, so not allowed. Nezha doesn't necessarily need an answer—after all, he fears neither heaven nor earth; soldiers block soldiers, water covers earth.
The diviner Shuanglian is a stranger from another land. Clench those five fingers tighter, airtight, so no gap is left for escape. The diviner Shuanglian has a fate-bound match—kill the match along with the diviner.
Shout, shout—what old beasts, toads, and rats dare to speak recklessly? Even if beaten to death, it's a trivial matter.
Of course, Yuan Shouchang was personally chosen by Guanyin Bodhisattva. If Guanyin were to submit a memorial to the Jade Emperor, Nezha certainly couldn't go block Guanyin Bodhisattva at the Southern Heavenly Gate and beat him up too.
Nezha didn't use the Universe Ring. Yuan Shouchang knew he had provoked a vicious one, wiped his sweat, and smiled: "Young master, this is heavenly secret."
Nezha smiled back: "What time it rains tomorrow isn't a heavenly secret?"
Yuan Shouchang's face turned pale instantly. He knew this ancestor before him had heard the bet clearly. —Before Shuanglian and Nezha, a scholar in white robes, having heard of Yuan Shouchang's divine divination, had specially wagered on when heaven would rain.
Yuan Shouchang recited the time and amount of rain from the Jade Emperor's decree, word for word. The scholar in white was the Dragon King of Jinghe in disguise, governing wind and rain in this area. Naturally, the Dragon King didn't believe Yuan Shouchang could have the Jade Emperor's decree, made the bet, and left, waiting quietly for tomorrow.
The Dragon King didn't know death was approaching—this was a trap set for him by Guanyin, the Jade Emperor, and others, concerning the pilgrimage for scriptures, a matter of great importance.
Nezha feared neither heaven nor earth, and smiled brightly instead: "Is the Jade Emperor's decree not a heavenly secret?"
Yuan Shouchang could see this person before him was no ordinary being, and could only say: "Young master, that girl's fate-bound match falls on no one else."
The hint was obvious. Unfortunately, Nezha hadn't studied much, and didn't take fate-bound matches seriously in his heart, so he didn't catch the meaning between the lines.
Nezha: "What toads and rats from where are worthy of binding a fate-bound match?"
"…" Yuan Shouchang quietly listened to Nezha curse.
Nezha had no intention of meddling in Guanyin and the Jade Emperor's affairs. He finished and left, but before leaving, he tossed Yuan Shouchang a gold ingot, without context: "Can the stranger from another land stay?"
Yuan Shouchang: "Yes, yes."
Nezha strode away. Turning his head to see no one by the stall, his lashes fluttered, divine power sensed she had gone home, and only then did Nezha walk toward the direction of the residence.
Entering the backyard, parting the bead curtain, the Clam Spirit he longed for left him only the back of her head. Leaning against the edge of the bath, body submerged in water, sleeping soundly.
Nezha briskly stripped off his top and bottom garments, and walked into the bath completely naked. His body moved before his mind—in the water, he walked toward her. Beneath the surface, his leg touched hers.
Shuanglian's skin was smooth; he liked pressing against it. Nezha's hand stroked her arm, stroked her waist, his knee sliding between her legs, clinging like an octopus.
Shuanglian didn't wake. His heart stirred slightly—the feeling of a child stealing candy made him especially excited.
Usually, she wouldn't let him touch.
Nezha leaned close to her ear, whispering: "Shh, sleep on. I'll make you feel good too."
Shuanglian had a nightmare.
In that bath, there were snakes, snakes—ahhh!