More beautiful than any woman in the Heavens, yet notorious for his mischievous ways, he was perfect to her. But differences kept them apart for all the years she had seen him. She still remembered everything as vividly as if it had been yesterday that she was at the immortal marketplace. Her captivation by the allure of his appearance would continue to torment her for years to come.
Years ago, at the marketplace, Qiwan was peeking from her hiding place behind an oak as he strode confidently and audaciously. With swift moves from his fingers, he sent the innocent lesser immortal folk rolling or tripping in different directions, without them even knowing. On top of his dexterity, he was extremely skilled in immortal magic, that a swipe of his fingers would cast a shield of invisibility over him or efficiently alter his disguise. She deeply admired him for his skills in hiding in the shadows, that she forgot that his victims were in pain, and chuckled. He then appeared to glance in curiosity towards her direction for a few seconds. Then he had diverted his attention to another possible candidate, disappearing into the distance as speedily as he had appeared.
She contemplated the fact that Yingshang was the God of Mischief, and one of the sons of the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor was the ruler of the Nine Heavens and had uncountable children. While she was the youngest daughter of the God of Knowledge, Qiwan. A complete nobody, causing her to pale in comparison with Yingshang. How would he even have heard of her?
Qiwan completed her painting of the god and hung it on the walls of her room to dry magically. She exceptionally loved Yingshang's wild and carefree nature, perceiving it to be the complete opposite of her restricted nature. As the youngest daughter of the God of Knowledge, Qiwan was expected to live up to the reputation of her father. She was obedient to her father, and spent her time embroidering, and reading books to enrich her knowledge. She was akin to a virtuous wife in the mortal realm.
Since the day she had set her eyes upon Yingshang, she could not get him out of her mind. But would he even take a second look at her?
All she could do was pleasure herself with a daydream of Yingshang and visualize him with his wild and sexy stares, and fantasize his muscular body on hers. If her father knew she had such dirty thoughts on her mind, he would have her punished by writing lines and reciting from memory, all the Taoist teachings that she had learnt since she was a child. Then she would probably be forced to go into seclusion and conduct some soul-searching until her mind was devoid of such indecent ideas.
Perhaps she should focus more on her cultivation, and awakening her powers.
......................................................................
"Thank you," she said, and the little immortal messenger vanished, teleporting to his next destination. Qiwan glanced at the little invitation card in her hand. With a flick of her fingers, the invitation unfolded itself into its original size, encompassing half of her bedroom and sending her flying against the wall. Fortunately, the walls of the rooms in the immortal realm were not made of concrete materials, but rather, magically-enforced clouds that felt soft to the touch. Hence, Qiwan was spared from any possible injuries being inflicted on her still-weak immortal body.
"The Queen Mother's Peach Banquet," she mumbled, and returned the invitation to its tiny size, slipping it into a drawer. Immortals of specific ranks and statures were expected to attend, and she was no exception. "Let's hope, this time the Monkey King doesn't get to the peaches first."
The story of the Monkey King stealing the Queen Mother's peaches for his own consumption had once jolted the entire heavens, but it was not likely to happen at any time in the future. All she heard was that the Monkey King had now reformed and was now somewhere in the mortal realm, accompanying a monk on a secret mission. With this news, she felt a sense of security and was assured that going to the banquet would be safe. Nevertheless, it sounded a boring event. She preferred putting her nose in a book instead of attending to all these formalities.
Aside from the books and scriptures, her father would compel her to read each day, Qiwan was particularly interested in reading romance novels. She would escape to the Immortal Marketplace to acquire novels of her liking and then hide the scrolls among the books her father had given her so that her father was unaware of what she was reading. As much as she loved novels, she was a sentimental person and would often burst into tears upon chancing upon a sad ending for ill-fated lovers. Her favourite was the Butterfly Lovers, a mortal classic smuggled to the heavens. In the said story, the lovers underwent opposition from their respective families, and the female protagonist was eventually forced to marry another. In the end, they were reunited with death and transformed into a pair of butterflies.
Qiwan knew nought about love and wondered if she would ever have the opportunity to experience immortal love. In the heavens, immortal destinies were decided by a higher deity, and the god Yue Lao would often play matchmaker to the immortals. Nevertheless, she was aware that she would probably not get a chance to decide her own fate, since her father was controlling in that aspect. He had decided the marriages of her older sisters, and she was the only one left unmarried at this juncture. She relieved herself with the fact that she was only 35,000 years, and would only come of age at 50,000 years.
Finally, the day of the banquet came.
Qiwan decked herself in an array of pastel-coloured robes for the event, and a pair of rose earrings adorned her ears. In such an event, she had to be mindful of her etiquette, and how she should avoid unnecessary drama and gossip. She trod softly and carefully, ensuring not to accidentally trip on the long train of her dress.
After hours had passed, she definitely had to admit it was boring. She found a quiet corner and no sooner had she hidden perfectly when she felt a poke on her arm. Her heart thumped as she perceived the familiarity of the God of Mischief's visage.
He let out an arrogant smirk. "Boring event, isn't it?"
She didn't dare to answer him, lest her father heard of how she had called the event boring and caused him to lose face.
Without waiting for her response, he moved on to ask her, "Would you like to slink off with me to a place that only we shall know?"
She gulped at his audacity, but her heart was saying yes, and she hesitantly agreed. The god smiled, and with a blink of his eyes, they had teleported into a majestic forest. Unlike the forest she had woken up in, this forest was rather romantic-looking.
He invited her to enter his treehouse. Qiwan was stunned by Yingshang's immaturity and playfulness. Wasn't a treehouse something that children played with? Nevertheless, she entered it anyway.
She instantly regretted thinking he had been childish. From above, the scenery had been breathtaking. Without warning, the mischievous god surprised her with a kiss on her lips.
"What's the meaning of this?" she demanded in a no-nonsense tone.
"I've set my target," he laughed. "You chose to enter my abode, and I will not stop until I have you."
"Abode?" she repeated in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"
The god laughed and snapped his fingers. The treehouse grew in size, and she realized it was where the god resided. Up to date, he had never allowed a woman near him, let alone brought one into his house, and it had been phenomenal how he had allowed her in just like that.
"But we just met, haven't we?" Qiwan gasped in confusion.
"Half an hour ago. But it's not our first meeting, Wen Qiwan."
She felt drawn to his allure, and this time, she closed her eyes to take in the magnificence of his kisses, setting her ablaze with such wondrousness that she was uncertain if she was still dreaming. His arms revolved around her possessively, giving her a sense of assurance, and yet, she was fearful of the future that lay ahead of them. She wanted more of him, but in the end, she was Qiwan, and he was Yingshang. They would never ever be a perfect match.
Everything felt so unreal, but at the same time, she felt that she knew him from somewhere. And yet, she didn't remember.
