Qinglian’S Heart Is Covered, Fate Meets Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lianhua Guards the Mortal Realm

Lianhua’s act of destroying her immortal essence startled the Nine Heavens. Three jade chimes in the Golden Palace shattered, and the clouds over the Palace of the High Heavens churned for three days. Finally, the Father Emperor of the Ninth Heaven felt compassion. He did not dispatch heavenly soldiers, but personally drove his cloud carriage down to the lower realm. Using Primordial Violet Qi, he pulled the dying Lianhua back from the brink of total soul annihilation. However, he did not force her to return to the heavens. He merely sealed her remaining immortal power within her mortal body, allowing her to stay in the human world to conclude her mortal karma. Thus, she remained Qinglian of the Jiangnan rain alley, guarding her promise to Gu Baifei.

When the news reached the immortal realm, the South Heaven Gate instantly erupted in noise. Immortals gathered beneath the auspicious clouds to discuss the matter. Immortal Officials lamented that she would forsake the divine position of the Primordial Sovereign of the Jade Pool for a mere mortal attachment; Immortal Maidens could not understand why she would damage her immortal root for a mortal; and the Elder Immortals sighed that her mind had been bound by the threads of love. Yet, these words ultimately could not reach the Jiangnan rain alley.

Qinglian stood beneath the old locust tree, dappled shadows covering her body. She gazed at the new grass growing on Gu Baifei’s grave, her fingertips tracing the tombstone she had personally carved. Her tone was calm yet firm: “A mortal’s lifespan has ended, but his obsession remains. I am willing to wait for him. One day in heaven is a year on earth, so what harm is there in waiting a few years? A gentleman’s agreement cannot be broken, and I do not fear the depletion of my lifespan.”

Knowing that mortal lifespans were limited, she wrote letters in the back courtyard of the teahouse under the dim oil lamp, meticulously arranging her affairs after death: the teahouse tables and chairs were to be given to the lonely old woman at the alley entrance, the purple lotus on the steps needed daily watering, and the task of weeding Gu Baifei’s grave every season was entrusted to the children of the neighboring village. She wrote sheet after sheet of paper, and the rain outside the window fell throughout the entire night.

Before she could settle the letters, the Father Emperor’s voice transmission entered her ear, his tone majestic yet tinged with helplessness: “My child, eighty years of mortal lifespan was the original limit. It is not that Father is heartless in urging your return to the heavens, but you have lingered too long. Your immortal root has been tainted by the mortal world’s turbid energy. Do not jeopardize your Great Dao.”

Qinglian bowed and pleaded earnestly: “Your child knows Father Emperor’s good intentions, but the obsession is not yet fulfilled. I beg Father to grant me a little more time, until his soul consciousness gathers, and we can fulfill the promise of growing old together.”

The Father Emperor’s voice softened slightly, full of heartache: “How could Father not wait for you? Sixty years from now, Father will lead the immortals to assist your ascension. If he has a chance for reunion, Father will also make an exception to grant it.”

The great stone in Qinglian’s heart dropped. She quickly thanked him: “Once matters here are concluded, your child will naturally return to her position to govern the ten thousand lotuses of the Jade Pool. I only ask to remain here first and await his return.”

In the years that followed, Qinglian guarded the small teahouse and Gu Baifei’s grave. In the morning, she would first place lotus seed porridge before the grave, then return to the teahouse to welcome guests. After closing shop at dusk, she would sit under the locust tree mending clothes, as if Gu Baifei had only gone on a long journey. The old woman at the alley entrance advised her to find another suitable husband, but she only smiled faintly and shook her head. When the children came to weed, she would treat them to lotus cakes and listen to them tell interesting stories from the village. Spring passed and autumn came; the leaves of the old locust tree fell and grew again. Frost touched Qinglian’s temples, but the obsession in her eyes never faded.

Fifty years passed in a flash. Cracks appeared in the wooden windows of the teahouse, but the purple lotus on the steps grew increasingly vibrant. This day, just as she finished setting out the porridge, the Father Emperor’s voice transmission arrived: “The ten-year limit is approaching. The immortals are already waiting for you. He… is also about to awaken.”

Qinglian looked up and saw a faint purple light emanating from the crack in the tombstone—that was the obsession she had merged into Gu Baifei’s glabella back then, now awakening his soul consciousness. Tears streamed down her face, yet she laughed and murmured: “Gu Baifei, I knew you wouldn’t break your promise.”

The wind carried the clear fragrance of the purple lotus, and the music of the Ninth Heaven faintly sounded. Qinglian’s gaze, however, remained fixed on the tombstone, guarding that unfinished mortal connection.