Proofread by Zhu Yuan

Spring was finally scared out of his wits by my crazy scratch, and he jumped into Daode Tianzun’s oven as a last resort. I was not satisfied with that result, so I sat by the oven to feed the fire for a whole day. Daode Tianzun had tried every possible way to dissuade me. After knowing that Spring might become a roast chicken, I stopped and headed back to Fangzhu in a very bad mood.

The news that Bai Xiaoshan was a phoenix left me somehow at a loss. A phoenix was originally an immortal beast, and he had been practicing diligently for 2,000 years. He dreamed of becoming a fairy every day, and it was no wonder that he could progress so fast. However, I still wondered, how could a phoenix like eating rice so much? I spent 2,000 years with him but I failed to know that he was a glittering phoenix!

Alas, I didn’t expect that I was so stupid that I didn’t even recognize the race of Bai Xiaoshan.

I sighed and went back to Qinghua Garden. I stood at the gate for a long time. Feeling downhearted, I strolled to Donghua Hall at last.

“What’s up?” Seeing that I walked in without knocking at the door, Emperor of Donghua, who had been sitting quietly in the room, walked to me and asked.

“Bai Xiaoshan is a phoenix, not a pheasant!” I looked at his clear eyes and said.

He was slightly shocked and pondered for a while.  Then he replied: “Recently, news came from the phoenix clan that someone had found their prince in the mortal world. Now they have welcomed him back to the phoenix family. Perhaps he is Bai Xiaoshan.”

“The phoenix prince?”

“1700 years ago, Prince Fengyou just turned five hundred years old. At that time there was an insurrection started by a monster called Qiongqi. Elders of the phoenix family sent Fengyou to the mortal world to conquer the rebels, and that was also a workout for Fengyou. However, Fengyou was still immature. After the fierce battle with Qiongqi, he went on the path of Nirvana and disappeared, and at the same time Qiongqi was seriously injured. For nearly 2,000 years since then, the phoenix clan had been looking for Fengyou, but the divine power of him had somehow disappeared, and even the elders couldn’t pin down his location. A few days ago, the elders of the phoenix clan invited me to practice together, and I learned from them that Fengyou had been found.” He explained to me the past of the phoenix prince simply.

“1,700 years ago, that was when I first met Bai Xiaoshan,” I murmured. I just learned that Bai Xiaoshan was phoenix, but I didn’t expect that he was the phoenix prince! Fengyou, gee, this name was indeed better than “Bai Xiaoshan”.

“That’s right!” The emperor concluded.

“Since Bai Xiaoshan is now in the phoenix clan, let’s find him right now!” I excitedly grabbed his sleeve and said.

He looked at me and said: “Fengyou is now practicing in the holy land of the phoenix family. Even their own family members cannot see him now.”

“Ah? How long will he practice? I’ll wait for him!” I lost my excitement and asked sadly.

“Thousands of years at most and hundreds of years at least.”

I was totally disappointed. I was stupefied and didn’t know what to say. A thousand years? I had only lived 2,000 years. Although for a demon, a thousand years was only a very short period in its long life, for me, it was too long. I didn’t know how to spend a thousand years without Bai Xiaoshan.

I closed my eyes and felt extremely depressed.

“Li, if you really want to wait for someone, a thousand years was not long.” He saw through my thoughts and said, a pair of clear eyes looking at me with eagerness.

“Really?”

“Well, if you really want to wait for someone, even after thousands of years, when the world comes to an end, you will still have someone to wait for and live peacefully.” He turned around. His tall and straight back was tinged with silence and loneliness. His voice was calm and gentle, but he seemed to have the power to comfort.

I looked at him, gradually calmed down and said: “Have you ever waited for someone?”

He stiffened for a second but became normal immediately. He replied lightly: “Yes, I’ve waited for 2,000 years.”

I was surprised. I didn’t realize that he was actually such a devoted lover. I continued to ask: “Has she come back yet?”

He finally turned around and looked at me. He smiled and said: “She has come back but her love was not for me now, so I am still waiting.”

“Is she the beauty on the portrait?” My brain worked fast and I immediately asked the question I had been curious about for a long time.

“Yes.”

I was speechless. That beauty had such great charm that even Emperor of Donghua was bewitched by her! As far as I knew, Emperor of Donghua was bound to be loveless and emotionless. How could he be infatuated with a woman?

Therefore, I stood on tiptoe to pat him on the shoulder. I comforted him with a sincere tone: “Your Majesty, don’t be sad. From today on, I’ll join you to wait for someone. You wait for your beauty, and I wait for Bai Xiaoshan. You won’t be lonely with my company.”

He looked at me. With a hint of hopelessness and sadness, the emotion showed by his eyes was complicated. I gazed at him, only to find that his smile became blurred. It seemed that if I ever blinked, he would disappear. I was moved by his smile, so I raised my hand and touched his face involuntarily. His skin was smooth but cold, and the coldness was right conveyed into my heart.

I was in a trance. Then I suddenly woke up, withdrew my hand and knocked hard on my head. I was enchanted by the beauty of the emperor again. I shouldn’t do that!

“Your Majesty, I must go now!” I dared not look at him anymore. I went out of Donghua Hall and said “Amitābha” to myself repeatedly. I was afraid that I would flirt with the emperor again.

After returning to Qinghua Garden, I sat on my bed and started to count the days. I didn’t know how long Bai Xioashan’s practice would last, but at least I had a hope. After he finished that practice, I certainly would beat him first as revenge, and then torture him and ask him to explain about the beautiful Taoist nun. If they fell in love with each other, I would introduce the Taoist nun to another man, and let Bai Xiaoshan be a cuckold husband!

I counted the days, ground my teeth and thought about how to torture the traitor Bai Xiaoshan.

While thinking, I began to feel chilly. When I was about to pull out my quilt, I saw Fairy Qianbi sitting on my bed and staring at me. I was so startled that I slipped and staggered as I tried to escape from my bed. I didn’t want to be frozen again!

Fairy Qianbi seemed to have anticipated my response and opened her mouth. I immediately felt tight all over and prepared to be frozen again. But I didn’t expect that she closed her mouth soon, and I was relieved.

When I looked at her, Fairy Qianbi waved her sleeve and immediately there was a burst of white smoke in the air. Several large white words appeared: “Something happened to Bai Qingqing!”

I was dumbfounded. Fairy Qianbi was so smart that she could communicate with me in this way! But what could happen to Bai Qingqing?

“Come with me and you will know!” Fairy Qianbi seemed to be quite anxious and hurried out after writing these words. Although what Bai Qingqing had done to me was hideous, I still followed Fairy Qianbi to see what had happened to her.

When I came to Xingjiang Yard of Bai Qingqing, I saw her lying on the ground like a corpse with a big chicken leg in her mouth. Fairy Qianbi waved her sleeve in the air again, so I knew the whole story. It turned out that the Kitchen God could not stand the oppression of Bai Qingqing since almost all the chickens in heaven were robbed by her. Therefore, he put a spell on the chicken leg. Bai Qingqing would be unable to move after eating it. If she still wanted to eat, she would remain in that condition. Even if she couldn’t move, she was still conscious. So when I entered the door, Bai Qingqing started to stare at me.

However, only Bai Qingqing and I knew that she stared at me not because I was going to save her. She knew that I would definitely take revenge on her for what happened a few days ago.

I didn’t let her down either. I got a big bucket of ice from Fairy Qianbi, and then assured Fairy Qianbi that I would try my best to save her. After I coaxed Fairy Qianbi back to her room, my retaliatory actions began.

As soon as Fairy Qianbi left, I smiled, crouched down and leaned forward to Bai Qingqing. I pinched her cheek and said: “My sister, what goes around comes around. And today comes your retribution!”

Bai Qingqing stared angrily at me, and she was still biting that big chicken leg in her mouth, which looked very funny.

I fished out a block of ice about the size of a chicken leg from the bucket, pulled out the chicken leg from her mouth, and then stuffed the ice in. I gloated over her misfortune: “My sister, the ice must taste better than the chicken leg, right?”

Bai Qingqing continued to stare at me, but I chose to ignore her. I dragged her feet and lifted her up from the ground. I was not as stout as her, so I couldn’t carry her up; therefore, I dragged her all the way to her bathtub. In the meantime, her head was hit by the foot of the table accidentally, but I still skipped over that.

I finally put her into the bathtub with difficulty. Touching the bump on her forehead, I sighed: “My sister, I’ve no choice but take my revenge like this!”

Her eyes glistened with tears since she had been hit. As a result, I pinched the big bump on her forehead again and her tears finally streamed down her face.

I ignored her tears, brought over the bucket of ice, and grinned at her. I held the bucket high and poured all the ice right into the bathtub.

Seeing that her face suddenly became pale, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I sat on the edge of the tub, shock my calf and asked leisurely: “My sister, if you promise that you will not retaliate in the future, I can let you go! If you agree, just blink to me.”

She blinked eagerly to me, with tears in her eyes.

I felt her sincerity, so I jumped to the ground, brought over her quilt and put it on the tub. I said: “My sister, I’m so considerate! I know that you are cold, so I brought you your quilt!”

Bai Qingqing continued to shed tears and looked very sad.

“You’ve promised! No retaliation!” I warned her again, and then swaggered out of Xingjiang Yard.

I smiled triumphantly all the way back to Yueluo Yard. It was never too late for a fox to retaliate!