Chapter 78: The Golden Cage Traps the White Phoenix (1)
The Yaoyue Pavilion stood atop the water, its lantern-covered candlelight casting a dim yellow glow. The inky black water beneath reflected like a mirror, making the entire structure appear as though it were suspended in mid-air, transparent and ethereal.
As one drew closer, the dragon maidens—beautiful and enchanting with antlers atop their heads—came into view. Upon seeing Bo Yan, they all quietly bowed their heads in greeting and did not rise until he had passed. The pavilion was built exceedingly high, and the loft at the very top had a skylight left open, meant to symbolize reaching out toward the distant moon.
Unfortunately, the Soul Abyss lay tens of thousands of feet deep; how could the moon at the edge of the sky ever be seen from here?
Bo Yan casually placed the oil lamp he had carried with him all the way down, allowing the eager attendants who had long been waiting to rush over and take it.
He sat in a soft chair facing the skylight. On the incense table in front of him sat a cage with its door open. Bo Yan gave an order: “Bring me a portrait of Yan Jingqiu.”
Previously, he had no interest in that early-dead man. But just now, he recalled that the very first time he had seen Bai Chunsheng on the Zhanbi River, Bai Chunsheng had angrily cursed him as Yan Jingqiu and even declared, “I’d recognize you even if you turned to ashes.”
At the time, Bo Yan had been entirely focused on the Taye Sword around Bai Chunsheng’s ankle and hadn’t given much thought to what was off about that encounter. But now he thought—if Bai Chunsheng said he would recognize Yan Jingqiu even if he were turned to ashes, then how had he mistaken him?
Bo Yan wasn’t in a rush to catch Bai Chunsheng now. If Shen Yuying caught him, she would certainly bring him here. And if she didn’t, he could always go catch him himself—it wouldn’t take long.
The attendants fetching the portrait returned quickly. Two of them stood one in front of the other and slowly unrolled the scroll before Bo Yan. The artist was the Immortal Elder Miaoyan from the Penglai Immortal Isle, and the painting depicted a peach blossom banquet held three hundred years ago. Yan Jingqiu, dressed in pale pink, was breathtakingly handsome—his features bearing both the pride of a young prodigy and the humility of someone raised in a noble family.
The two attendants holding the painting were visibly tense, not daring even to glance at Bo Yan from the corner of their eyes. After a few breaths, Bo Yan let out a soft laugh. “Put it away.”
He now understood why Bai Chunsheng had mistaken him—they looked nearly identical.
And now he also understood why, upon learning that he had lost his memory, Bai Chunsheng had almost laughed aloud.
Bo Yan chuckled too. He had never imagined he resembled Yan Jingqiu to the point of looking like a twin. With that, everything began to make sense.
Bai Chunsheng had loved Yan Jingqiu deeply but in vain. Their identities were a barrier—one the young immortal lord of the Yan family, the other the demon king of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect—doomed to be on opposing sides. Bai Chunsheng had been forced to suppress all his feelings, pretending to hate Yan Jingqiu with all his heart.
So instead, he fell in love with Bo Yan’s face, which bore such an uncanny resemblance to Yan Jingqiu’s. Before losing his memory, the oblivious Bo Yan must have fallen deeply and sincerely for Bai Chunsheng—so much so that he had even reforged his own sword into a silver bracelet to protect him.
Later, once he had learned the truth, he refused to be a substitute for Yan Jingqiu and broke things off with Bai Chunsheng, swearing never to see him again.
—Until the day he lost his memory.
That was why he no longer wished to be “Bo Yan.” That was why he now wanted to become “Yan,” the first (Yi) Yan.
Perhaps it was because Yan Jingqiu was already dead while news of Bo Yan still emerged from time to time that Bai Chunsheng didn’t realize that the one who had deceived and devastated him was Bo Yan. He probably thought he had once again been lucky enough to meet someone who just happened to look very much like Yan Jingqiu—and so he fell for him all over again. Bai Chunsheng, being simple-minded and muddled, often let things slip—but Bo Yan had always taken those as signs of Bai Chunsheng’s deep love for him.
And Bai Chunsheng’s love was deep—but not for him, rather for the Yan Jingqiu who shared his face.
Even that confession in the secret realm of Changliu Mountain was, in all likelihood, directed at Yan Jingqiu through his similar face.
Ridiculous. The most ridiculous one was himself.
Even without memories, he had still repeated the same mistake—falling in love with Bai Chunsheng all over again.
“Don’t repeat the same mistake.” Only now did Bo Yan finally understand those words—but it was already too late.
Some things were fated to repeat themselves. It was destiny.
Though Bo Yan had already figured everything out, he still wanted to hear Bai Chunsheng’s so-called truth. Facing death, he wanted to see what new lies that little con artist would come up with.
On the other side, Shen Yuying received the transmission from the Yaoyue Pavilion just as she was leading her people in a search for Bai Chunsheng’s tracks in the fast-flowing river. The spiritual energy here was chaotic; divine sense could only probe the upper part of the river clearly, while the lower half remained a blur. She could faintly sense that there were living creatures there.
There had originally been a teleportation array here, but it had been destroyed long ago. A new formation had been laid—a one-way teleportation array leading to the Water Abyss Realm. Shen Yuying had set this up ahead of time at the orders of her master.
Once they caught Bai Chunsheng, using this route would save them a lot of time.
There were signs it had been activated recently. However, the other end of the array likely led to the Lord, who was currently in seclusion. If Bai Chunsheng had gone through, then this mission would no longer be hers to complete.
When Shen Qing saw that there was a message from the Yaoyue Pavilion, she immediately came over and asked Shen Yuying, “What is it?”
Shen Yuying unfolded the paper crane, and her tightly furrowed brow relaxed. “The Lord has returned.”
She continued reading, and her relaxed brow furrowed once again. “Aunt, what do we do? Father said the Lord thinks we’re moving too slowly—he’s coming in person.”
Upon hearing those words, Bai Chunsheng, who had been hiding beneath the river, shuddered.
—What kind of virtue or skill did he possess to warrant Bo Yan coming personally to catch him?!
Author’s Note:
Yan Jingqiu: “I’ve figured it out.”
Yan Jingqiu: “Bai Chunsheng longed for Yan Jingqiu but couldn’t obtain him.”
Bai Chunsheng, furious: “In your dreams!”
The reason Yan Yi was teleported into the Water Abyss Realm the moment he fell was because Bai Chunsheng, trying to be clever, had attempted to mislead others by pretending he had escaped via the teleportation array.
But he didn’t know the original array had already been destroyed, and assumed Shen Yuying’s group was unaware. So he deliberately used a puppet with divine sense to activate the array to the Water Abyss Realm. However, since it was a cross-realm teleportation, the puppet, not being of Nascent Soul stage, couldn’t pass through. As a result, the array remained active until Yan Yi jumped in and got transported.
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
Uhh so is Yan Yi really Bo Yan?? Not Yan Jingqiu?? I feel like I was reading with my eyes closed 🫠