ATAVID CH114 [Extra]

Day after day slipped by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the fifth day of the sixth month.

Jiang Qunyu hadn’t slept well at all. He had repeatedly pumped himself up in his heart, telling himself it was just getting married again, not like it was his first time, so there was no need to be nervous.

Yet the more he comforted himself this way, the less sleepy he felt.

Because the storybooks in the mortal realm said that the newlyweds shouldn’t see each other for three days before the grand wedding, as meeting at this time would clash with the auspicious energy. Therefore, starting three days ago, he and Wei Xun had slept separately. Too lazy to climb back up Jade Capital Tower, he simply stayed in the Demon Palace’s sleeping chamber.

Tossing and turning on the bed for a long time, he really couldn’t take it anymore. He simply sat up cross-legged and rummaged through his Qiankun bag for a half-day, pulling out a cultivation mental method, thinking that reading it for a short while would bring sleepiness over him.

In ordinary times, he would only need to read it for half an hour before definitely growing groggy and falling fast asleep.

Yet tonight was strangely anomalous—not a single bit of sleepiness came. Instead, his mind grew increasingly clear, the words of the mental method swaying back and forth before his eyes without a single one entering his mind.

Jiang Qunyu decided it was better not to make things hard for himself. He decisively gave up on cultivating, flipped himself out of bed, and intended to go outside the hall to stroll around and clear his head.

He pushed open the window. The moment one foot stepped past the window sill, a very light, low chuckle drifted into his ear.

Jiang Qunyu: “?”

Raising his eyes with a completely dazed face, he bumped right into Wei Xun’s eyes.

The night was as deep and black as spilled ink, with only a few stars studding the distant sky. Inside the palaces of Yunque, night-luminescent pearls were placed beside the bluestone-paved paths and covered with algae, casting only small, hazy halos of light around the surroundings.

Wei Xun stood within that soft glow, clad in a plain white robe that fluttered lightly in the night wind. At this moment, his eyebrows and eyes were tinged with laughter, making him appear gentler than usual as all the coldness on his body completely dissipated.

Jiang Qunyu stole a glance at him, then sluggishly retracted his foot, intending to go back inside.

Yet before the window sash could close, a well-defined hand had already pressed against the window frame ahead of time. Right after, Wei Xun raised his hand and pushed the entire window fully open.

Separated by a window, one stood inside the hall, and one stood outside.

Wei Xun said dispiritedly: “I miss you so much.”

Jiang Qunyu: “Oh.”

Wei Xun was somewhat unhappy. Placing both hands on Jiang Qunyu’s soft cheeks, he rubbed them back and forth: “What are you thinking about? Don’t you miss me?”

Jiang Qunyu answered in all seriousness: “I was thinking: Wei Xun was also not asleep, so we met at the palace.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he couldn’t help curving his eyes into laughter first, raising his hand to lightly pat away Wei Xun’s hands, signaling him to stop kneading his face.

Releasing him, Wei Xun said with certainty: “You can’t sleep either.”

Jiang Qunyu didn’t deny it: “Right now my heart is beating so fast; I can’t sleep.”

Wei Xun also said: “I can’t sleep either.”

Then both of them stopped talking. Suddenly, looking at one another, their eyes curved into laughter.

Wei Xun bent down, kissing Jiang Qunyu’s lips. The two shared a lingering kiss in the quiet night.

After kissing for a bit, Jiang Qunyu forbade Wei Xun from kissing further. His expression even turned somewhat serious: “Tell me, it shouldn’t matter that the two of us met just now, right?”

“It doesn’t matter.” In truth, Wei Xun didn’t care about these things at all. Bending down again to kiss the side of Jiang Qunyu’s face, he said in a flat tone, “No need to be afraid.”

Jiang Qunyu was even less worried. The Demon Realm didn’t have rules about not meeting three days prior in the first place—if demons still fussed over those things, they wouldn’t be demons anymore.

He just wanted the two of them to exercise some restraint. Although he had previously agreed with Wei Xun to do it once every three days, he had practically never achieved it in reality—Wei Xun was always seducing him, causing his heart to itch as well.

Anyway, in short, it was all Wei Xun’s fault.

“I’m not afraid,” Jiang Qunyu raised his chin, “I’m only worried by a tiny bit the size of a fingernail.”

Hearing this, Wei Xun’s heart loosened, taking the opportunity to speak up: “Then can I come in tonight to hold you while sleeping?”

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

Without a second thought, he refused directly: “In your dreams!”

Wei Xun hooked his lips into a smile.

Since Jiang Qunyu refused to let him in yet couldn’t bear to let him leave just like that, the two stood silly across the window, chatting idly.

He babbled on, recounting everything he had done from morning till night to Wei Xun one by one, and after finishing, reached out to poke him, urging him to talk about his daily routine as well.

The two chatted about this and that for a long time. The tension in Jiang Qunyu’s heart gradually faded, and sleepiness finally surged up.

“Hugs.” Jiang Qunyu opened his arms.

Wei Xun gave him a hug and kissed his eyes again. The two lingered together affectionately for a while.

Only then did Jiang Qunyu say goodbye to Wei Xun with great reluctance.

Wei Xun let out a light sigh: “Can I really not hold you while sleeping?”

“No.” Jiang Qunyu’s attitude was firm. “Tomorrow is the binding ceremony, and there will definitely be many people watching. If you secretly bite me recklessly again and leave hickeys that can’t be cleared away in a short time, wouldn’t I be made a laughingstock?”

Wei Xun suggested calmly: “We can just use a spell to conceal it.”

The corners of Jiang Qunyu’s mouth twitched. Expressionlessly closing the window directly, he crossly accused: “I was just testing you! Wei Xun, you really intended to bite me! You even said just now that you would only hold me while sleeping.”

Wei Xun’s expression remained unchanged: “You misheard.”

Jiang Qunyu gnashed his teeth: “Wei Xun, your credibility with me has decreased dramatically!”

“Oh.” A touch of regret was hidden in Wei Xun’s tone as he curved his lips into a light smile. “Then we can only meet again tomorrow.”

One way or another, after tomorrow’s ceremony finishes, I’ll make up for these past few days, Wei Xun thought silently in his heart.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

The moment the words landed, the window sash was suddenly pulled open again.

Jiang Qunyu poked his head out, standing on tiptoe to quickly peck his lips, his eyes curving into crescents as he whispered softly: “Actually, I missed you so much, too.”

Having said that, before Wei Xun could react, he swiftly shut the window tight once again.

Wei Xun froze on the spot, and only after a long moment did he raise his hand to gently touch his lips, a light smile rippling through his eyes.

Perhaps because he had seen Wei Xun, Jiang Qunyu fell fast asleep not long after returning to bed.

At dawn the next day, the master of ceremonies of the Demon Realm brought a grand procession of maidservants and palace attendants, stepping into the sleeping chamber in a grand fashion.

Jiang Qunyu had no choice but to climb out of his warm blanket, allowing them to pat and dab rouge on his face.

Having had the experience of getting married once before, he was already thoroughly familiar with the routine this time around.

Yet looking at his reflection in the copper mirror with increasingly heavy makeup, he still couldn’t help the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, complaining inwardly: Is this still him?

Meanwhile, the cheeks of the little maidservants beside him grew redder the more they looked.

The youth was born exceptionally striking—eyebrows like willow leaves, eyes like peach blossoms, and that light-colored small mole at the corner of his eye added a touch of charm. His nose bridge was straight and his lips a deep, vibrant red. Clearly born handsome and delicate, he did not appear feminine in the slightest, instead exuding a crisp, youthful spirit.

The makeup was finally finished, and only then was Jiang Qunyu able to stand up and stretch his limbs.

The draping fabric rippled with a layer of flowing light with his movement as the grand formal wedding attire of the Demon Realm fully unfolded in clear detail.

The robe used a deep raven-black as its base, woven with tens of thousands of strands of ice-silkworm gauze. The entire body was secretly embroidered with flowing cloud and dragon motifs, the stitches fine and tight. Amidst the shifting dark light, the dragon motifs seemed to come alive, floating faintly along the hem of the garment—the most noble wedding totem in the Demon Realm.

At his waist was a silk-bound jade belt wrapped in gold thread, the craftsmanship immensely intricate.

Upon the jade belt, dozens of warm, translucent dark jades and green jades were embedded in a scattered fashion, the jade colors crystal clear without flaw, the green colors bright and vivid. The tightly bound belt neatly gathered his waist, outlining the man’s lean, tall, and upright waistline.

“Aren’t we going?” Jiang Qunyu tilted his head, looking at the crowd of dazed attendants and asking.

The little maidservant leading them snapped back to her senses violently, hurriedly bowing her head: “At once.”

The rest of the people also hurriedly kept pace.

The binding ceremony was set to take place on the plaza outside the Council Hall. The moment Jiang Qunyu stepped out of the hall doors, he saw Wei Xun standing quietly in the morning light at the other end of the corridor, wearing the same style of formal wedding attire.

Jiang Qunyu trotted forward happily, throwing himself into Wei Xun’s arms: “Why did you come so early?”

Wei Xun held him: “It’s fine, I didn’t wait long.”

After a brief embrace, Jiang Qunyu released his hands. The two held hands tightly with palms pressed together, walking side-by-side at a slow pace down the winding corridor.

The green tiles cast shadows while the steps bore soft light, stepping through the long passage step by step until they walked out of the end of the corridor.

Outside the hall, the day shone bright, and the clear, clean sky stretched for ten thousand miles.

On the plaza, every seat was already filled with guests spanning as far as the eye could see. The various city lords of the four directions of the Demon Realm were all seated; the disciples of the demon sect that Jiang Qunyu had built with his own hands stood in formation, exuding an imposing aura; the demon cultivators of Yunque City stood together, bowing in respect.

Not only were the people of the Demon Realm present, but the seats of the immortal sects were also packed without an empty spot. Shen Peiqiu sat upright in the primary row, his plain white immortal robes untainted by dust, with countless cultivation world disciples standing majestically behind him.

Today, immortals and demons sat together under the gaze of the masses, with Shen Peiqiu, as the leader of the Immortal Alliance, personally present to attest to Wei Xun’s clean name.

Under the spotlight of the crowd, Jiang Qunyu and Wei Xun held hands, walking with composed steps onto the binding jade platform in the center of the grand ceremony.

At the exact instant the two stood still, thousands of rare phenomena suddenly arose in the distant sky.

Layers of clouds billowed into auspicious clouds, and seven-colored radiant clouds spanned across the sky, shining brilliantly. Pairs of birds of paradise flapped their wings and soared high, their chirps crisp and melodious, echoing through heaven and earth. Floating across the sky, blue spiritual butterflies circled and danced, fluttering down around the jade platform like a dream or illusion.

The guests across the entire venue instantly held their breath, their eyes filled with unbelievable shock—an auspicious wedding omen that shook heaven and earth like this was virtually unseen since ancient times.

After a moment of silence, someone spoke first, their tone filled with astonishment: “An auspicious omen descending from the heavens, celebrated by both immortals and demons—this is a sign of ultimate good fortune across the ages!”

As soon as the words landed, the crowd burst into an uproar. Clamorous voices of discussion rose in waves, gasps of admiration interweaving with blessings, washing over the entire plaza.

Jiang Qunyu didn’t turn his head, merely looking at the sky, lowering his voice to speak in a tone only the two of them could hear: “This is definitely the work of the Heavenly Dao.”

Beside him, hearing his voice, the corners of Wei Xun’s lips curved into a gentle arc.

Turning his head slightly, his gaze landed on the person by his side.

With a single glance, he took in the bright, glowing eyes of the youth, holding all the joy of his entire life. In his eyes, there were no longer ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers—there was only Jiang Qunyu alone, clear and scalding hot, unchanging year after year.

With butterflies floating across the sky as matchmakers, clouds as witnesses, heaven and earth as the hall, and all living spirits as well-wishers.

Standing face-to-face, the two slowly released their clasped hands, holding etiquette as they bowed, performing the heaviest and most sincere ceremony of their lives.

First bow to Heaven and Earth: Grateful for the favor of the sky, resolving my years of obsession, granting us this reunion.

Second bow to Mountains and Rivers: Grateful to the four seas and eight directions for allowing my stubborn insistence, finally attaining a lifetime together.

Husband and husband bow to each other: From now on, the past is completely dispersed, grievances are laid to rest; mountains and rivers as a covenant, sun and moon as an alliance.

His destiny, which had originally been solitary, now found a home for romance and a promise for the rest of his life because he met Jiang Qunyu.

Today the ceremony was complete, and destiny came full circle.

From now on, in the mortal realm, the immortal realm, and the Nether Demon Realm, from north to south, east to west, year after year.

Wei Xun and Jiang Qunyu were joined as husband and husband, in love without doubt. In life, sharing the same quilt; in death, sharing the same grave. Mountains and rivers unaltering, initial intentions unbetrayed, growing old together in this life, given solely to one person.