A WAY AROUND.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be entertaining your Lady at this time?"

The young man standing at the door took a few steps forward and bowed.

"Tell me why you came."

"Yue Xiang is still resting, which is why I dared to disturb you."

The King abruptly stood up from the table, and in an instant, his hand was tightly clutching the young man's clothes.

"It is not for you to call her by her name! You do not deserve it!"

Yet, not a shadow of fear crossed the young man's face. He calmly removed the King's hand from his clothes.

"What if I can heal her? Will I then deserve to call her by her name in your presence, Your Majesty?"

The King's surprise was evident, betraying his thoughts and desires. "Go on, you clearly did not come to test my patience…"

"Líng Wáng," the young man began, but the King immediately interrupted him.

"Hey, Immortal Shangxian, do you have no shame or conscience at all? Or are you seeking your own death here?"

"Oh, forgive me, Your Majesty, I won't do it again!"

The King waved his hand, signaling him to continue, and called over a guard standing in the shadows, whispering something to him.

"As I mentioned earlier, I can relieve your long-suffering guest, aka my Lady Yue Xiang, or just Flower Goddess, of her ailment, but I will need your help."

"Ha, so you can't handle it without my participation?"

"No," the young man shook his head. "I can't handle it at all, which is why I decided to come to you today."

The King, suspicious, looked at the young man, certain there was a hidden catch. His premonition had never failed him.

"As you have already noticed, my music has a beneficial effect on my Lady. But I can only cure her if I retrieve my instrument, the pipa. It is my heavenly artifact that enhances my power."

"Well, if you want it back, then it is clearly not with you. So where is it?"

The young man looked down. "With the Second Prince."

Hearing this, the King jumped up from his seat.

"You wish for my rage! The Second Prince is unpredictable and best avoided. His temper is destructive and indiscriminate. No celestial being messes with him! How did you end up even talking to him? Damn you!"

"I exchanged my pipa for the opportunity to find Yue Xiang and be with her in the mortal world for her trial."

"Oh Gods! Or demons! What a fool!"

The next moment the young man fell to his knees and grabbed the hem of the King's clothes.

"I beg you! I can't watch her suffer and do nothing! But my strength is not enough here! My pipa is the last hope to keep her from sinking into Eternity!"

The King rubbed his forehead, clearly puzzled.

"So for a bribe, which was the pipa, the Prince found Yue Xiang here? In the Demon Kingdom? And you came for her?"

Still kneeling and holding the hem of his clothes imploringly, the young man replied, "The Mirror Master found Yue Xiang. He owed the Prince a favor, and so he returned it."

"Celestial stars! And the Mirror Master got himself involved in this!"

"Your Majesty, but I know a secret for which the Second Prince will be ready to give up not only my pipa, but even his life!"

"It doesn't matter what you know, because you have to forget about the pipa, or the Second Prince, or the entire Heavenly Kingdom in general!"

"Why are you so cruel to Yue Xiang?"

Barely restraining his anger, the King kicked the impudent servant. He had promised his beloved not to harm him, but he also wanted to hand him over to be torn apart by demons at that moment.

"You know nothing, and yet you behave like this, you foolish boy! The Heavenly ones have placed a barrier on the River of Oblivion, and the River itself no longer exists—just an ice. We are locked in, with no entry or exit!"

Hearing that, the young man grabbed his head shaking it in a frenzy, his hair disheveled, repeating, "It can't be, you're all lying. You just want her dead! Right, you are married now, why for the sake of Celestial Stars, will wish her alive?!"

Taking a deep breath, the King sat beside the distraught servant. "Listen to me, calm down, and return to playing for her. Neither you, nor I can reach the Heavens now."

"No, no, no!" the young man wailed.

"Take him away! Do not let him approach the Lady until he regains his senses!" the King commanded as two guards rushed into the chamber.

"No, no, no," the young man pleaded, crawling on his knees and clutching the hem of the King's robe again. "What if I know a way around? The barrier and the River are no obstacles; one can slip into any realm unnoticed."

Thx for reading.