Yun Qingxue looked back at Xiao Xiaoxiao with an innocent expression.
Xiao Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but grow even more worried. “Qingxue, have you forgotten the 21st century?” she asked.
“Is there any difference between the 21st century and the Xuanling Continent?” Yun Qingxue countered.
“Of course there is! Qingxue, do you remember how in the 21st century, people used phones to stay in touch? No matter how far apart they were, a single call could let them hear each other’s voices.
People drove cars and flew on planes when they traveled…
Qingxue—!”
Before Xiao Xiaoxiao could finish, Yun Qingxue suddenly reached out and hugged her, murmuring, “That’s great… you really are Xiaoxiao!”
“Qingxue?” Xiao Xiaoxiao was even more confused now.
Yun Qingxue then explained, “How could I forget the 21st century? I just thought you might not be the real Xiao Xiaoxiao, so I was testing you…”
“Yun Qingxue!”
Xiao Xiaoxiao suddenly roared, “You’re really something! You couldn’t even recognize your best friend?!”
“No, that’s not it…” Yun Qingxue quickly explained, recounting how she had ended up in the Yunhuang Illusion and then inexplicably arrived in the underworld.
By the time Yun Qingxue finished summarizing the situation, Xiao Xiaoxiao had already led her and Daise out of the Eighteenth Level of Hell and arrived in front of an imposing palace.
“This is the Underworld King’s Palace. Unless something urgent comes up, that bastard Mingdi usually stays here,” Xiao Xiaoxiao explained before reaching out to push open the grand palace doors.
*Creak—*
Before her hand could even touch the door, it swung open from the inside. A tall man dressed entirely in white stepped out.
Yun Qingxue took one look at him and immediately recognized him as one of the legendary Black and White Impermanence—White Impermanence!
The reason she recognized him so quickly was because this “Brother White Impermanence” dressed exactly as the legends described—with extreme flair!
He wore a tall white hat with the words “Wealth at First Sight” written on it. His face was deathly pale, and a bright red tongue hung from his mouth all the way down to his chest. In his hand, he held a Soul-Snatching Staff…
“Ah!” Daise couldn’t help but let out a startled cry upon seeing White Impermanence.
“Underworld Queen,” White Impermanence greeted Xiao Xiaoxiao respectfully with a bow.
“Is Mingdi inside?” Xiao Xiaoxiao cut straight to the point.
“The Underworld King is not here,” White Impermanence replied promptly. “There was some business at the Yama Hall, so His Majesty went to handle it personally. I was sent to retrieve some items for him.
If the Underworld Queen has urgent matters, I can relay them to the Underworld King or take you to him directly.”
Xiao Xiaoxiao glanced at Yun Qingxue.
Yun Qingxue smiled. “Since the Underworld King is occupied, our matter can wait.”
“Brother White Impermanence, you may go about your business!” With Yun Qingxue’s response, Xiao Xiaoxiao waved him off.
White Impermanence smiled and departed, quickly vanishing from sight.
“Let’s go inside!” Xiao Xiaoxiao pulled Yun Qingxue into the Underworld King’s Palace.
Daise, sensing that her mistress and the Underworld Queen seemed to be old acquaintances and were likely about to catch up, tactfully stayed outside with Liuli in her arms.
“Xiaoxiao, why do they call you the Underworld Queen? Did you marry the Underworld King?”
Once inside the palace and certain that the person before her was indeed Xiao Xiaoxiao, Yun Qingxue couldn’t help but ask.
“Ugh—!” Xiao Xiaoxiao let out a long wail, lamenting, “Don’t even ask! I had no choice! My fate is so tragic—!”
“What happened?” Yun Qingxue frowned.
Xiao Xiaoxiao looked at her with teary eyes. “Would you believe me if I said Mingdi forced me into marriage?”
Yun Qingxue’s lips twitched in disbelief. “The Underworld King forced you?”
“Exactly! Qingxue, you have no idea how scheming that guy is! Black-hearted, black-livered, black-lunged—just a walking pit of darkness!”
“So…?” Yun Qingxue pressed.
“So I was forced into marriage!” Xiao Xiaoxiao declared.
“What are you planning to do now?” Yun Qingxue asked further.
She didn’t know what had transpired between Xiao Xiaoxiao and the Underworld King, but if Xiao Xiaoxiao truly didn’t want to marry him and be the Underworld Queen, she would do everything in her power to help her escape.
Because Yun Qingxue was Xiao Xiaoxiao’s friend—they had weathered hardships together!
But what Yun Qingxue didn’t expect was that Xiao Xiaoxiao’s next response nearly made her collapse.
“Plans?” Xiao Xiaoxiao blinked her large, watery eyes, looking utterly innocent. “I can’t out-scheme Mingdi, I can’t beat him in magic, and his authority crushes mine…
So my only option is to submit to his tyranny.”
“You’re quite self-aware…”
Yun Qingxue suddenly laughed, giving Xiao Xiaoxiao a thumbs-up.
Originally, she had been worried that Xiao Xiaoxiao was unwilling and resentful about the marriage. But though Xiao Xiaoxiao’s words sounded like complaints, Yun Qingxue detected a hint of sweetness in them.
Clearly, Xiao Xiaoxiao wasn’t entirely opposed to Mingdi—she just refused to admit it for some reason!
“A wise man submits to circumstances!”
Xiao Xiaoxiao said this with such solemnity that Yun Qingxue burst into laughter again.
“Even a salted fish will turn over one day! Qingxue, you have to believe me—one day, I’ll make that brat Mingdi kneel and sing ‘Conquer’ to me!”
“I believe you!” Yun Qingxue replied, barely holding back her laughter. Then she asked, “Does Mingdi treat you well?”
Xiao Xiaoxiao thought seriously for a moment before answering, “Aside from being a bit unreasonable and overly controlling, he hasn’t mistreated me…”
Yun Qingxue smiled warmly at her. Despite complaining about the Underworld King’s flaws, Xiao Xiaoxiao’s face glowed with happiness.
Seeing her friend happy made Yun Qingxue happy too.
“By the way, Qingxue, since you’re already in the underworld, do you want to visit the place where you used to live?” Xiao Xiaoxiao suddenly asked, as if struck by a thought.
At the mention of her past life, Yun Qingxue’s smile faded. She didn’t have much attachment to her previous life—except for the lingering pain of Zhou Dao’s betrayal, which had left a knot in her heart.
She wasn’t a saint. After such a deep betrayal, she couldn’t simply forgive those who had hurt her.
Especially since she had once saved Zhou Dao’s life and trusted him with her secrets…
Yet in the end, that betrayal had shattered her heart and filled her with hatred.
That ungrateful man—her memories of the heart transplant surgery only went as far as the moment of the earthquake. She didn’t know if they had succeeded in taking her heart…
She wanted to go back and see…
Whether the surgery had succeeded or not, she wanted Zhou Dao and Lin Chuchu to pay. Only then could she untangle the resentment and bitterness coiled in her heart.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage