Fifteen: Seawrecked

Fengjiu woke up in the solitude of Dong Hua's suite in Taichen Palace, wrapped in the arms of the cold, no, warm-blooded god. Even though it had been a week since they had both registered their marriage with the goddess Nüwa, she still found it unreal that in just a few months' time, her unexpected fate with the god had transformed her mindset from that of one unwilling to love to that similar of a curious teenager madly in love. Though it was almost 5 months in the mortal world they had lived on, less than 90 days had transpired in the immortal realm.

Neither of them had mentioned the word 'love' with each other but rather, employed actions to speak for themselves and express their feelings for one another. Fengjiu had been rather discreet with sneaking around in between Qingqiu and the Sky Kingdom, and since Dong Hua had revamped the Sky Kingdom with his many creations, she was able to pop in and out without being noticed, as her bedroom in Qingqiu had been equipped with a hidden mystical teleportation pad which would take her directly to Dong Hua's suite.

When he had introduced her to his cronies and Liansong formally as his woman, they all showed no signs of astonishment. Dong Hua could care lesser about keeping his affairs a secret, and Fengjiu was confident that probably Si Ming and Liansong had been aware all along, but kept their mouths shut in fear of Dong Hua formulating a new amnesia potion to be used on them, or some random concoction in his laboratory for them to keep their mouths shut from gossiping about them. Since he had the habit of burning down labs in the mortal world, who knows what would happen if they were to drink one of his failed potions? Likely they would be the ones combusted.

She later discovered from the talkative Liansong that, prior to the pagoda infiltration plan, he had been listening in to her conversation with Cheng Yu, and it was with his orders, that the security system had been disarmed and the guards instructed to loosen their security. That was how Liansong had known that he had an interest in her. She had been slightly infuriated that he had knew all along, and it had not been some coincidence unlike how she had thought, that he had happened to be present and rescued her by chance. Of course, after that, he had knocked some sense into Liansong with a flick on his temple for ratting on him to her,  but the hardest was how he had to coax Fengjiu into forgiving him with a bowl of mung bean soup. Of course, she had pouted when he had omitted sugar for him to ensure she was having her desserts as healthy as possible, but she still accepted his apologies and indulged him. She was dismayed that her debts to him were not chanced, and rather, planned by him. Except of course, their initial meeting, but he had been chasing the demon, and the demon had driven the vehicle that almost hit her.



Meanwhile, Bai Qian was still in seclusion in the Kunlun Mountains and since her aunt wasn't around, Fengjiu was relieved that she wouldn't be introduced to any more blind dates or receive more suitors. That would buy some time for them to build up their relationship in secret before they announced their marriage officially. At the same time, Yehua was still on the road to making a full recovery after the Immortal Execution Platform plunge. It looked like the wedding ceremony between Bai Qian and Yehua wouldn't be taking place for some time.

She focused on the sleeping god beside her. His arms had been wrapped possessively around her, and he had done this not just on one occasion. While she enjoyed how eager and attentive he was with her, she wondered if it would prove a problem in the future. Though he called her his queen, they had yet to understand each other fully to that extent, that she considered their marriage still contractual. On the other hand, he had her convinced that she would fall for him, and she was earnest to see him prove it, although she knew she was already feeling love for him.



They were bare under the blankets after some action the night before, and her body had been slightly aching from all the work. Nevertheless, she just wanted to give him a little peck on the cheek, but try as she might, she couldn't unwind his hands which were wrapped around her like a serpent.

When she finally got fed up of her repeated unsuccessful attempts to free herself, she heard a laugh from him and as it turned out, he had used a tighten spell to ensure she would not break free from his grasp and run away in the middle of the night. Exasperated, she chided him for his immaturity, but since she was not able to free herself, she was at his mercy until he did.

"I just want to put some clothes on," she remarked.

"You don't need to, there's nobody here," he teased. "You look great this way, all for me to see." Shameless of him!

She made a face at him. "What do I do then, just lie here and do nothing the whole day?" He laughed, and dispelled the spell he had cast on her to tease her with. "Since I don't have much work to look at today, why not we go on a boat ride?"

A boat ride? She seriously didn't know how to respond to his offer, but with everything that was going through her mind right now, she felt a bit emotional. She didn't know how it happened, but she just cried on the spot. Dong Hua was taken aback, but hurriedly calmed her down, and kissed her tenderly on her cheeks to stop her tears. Then, he slowly removed the blanket, and brought her to rest her head on his shoulder, caressing her gently.

"I don't know why I cried. I'm just feeling emotional," she said shyly. "It's just.. I haven't had a boat trip in a very long time. I hope you don't find me childish." He surprised her with a bunch of his sensational kisses, before gradually moving downwards and teasing her with his tongue, causing her to erupt with need and let out a shrill moan. It was his cue to perform his magic on her.

"Are you feeling a lot better now?" he asked once they were done and she was lying exhaustedly in his arms. She groaned, "Again you're asking the obvious question." He grinned at her wide-eyed, and kissed her on the cheek. She didn't know to be thrilled or distressed from the fact that she was married to such a sensual god. As much as she was desirous, he returned her cravings with even more voracious ones of his own.

He helped her into the motor boat slowly and meticulously, paying attention to her sore parts. They drifted from the harbour aimlessly, allowing nature to take its course. Again, she had been fooled by him that it was a simple boat ride, but in this instant, it was not. Where in the Four Seas and Eight Deserts would they be ending up this time?



Fortunately, Dong Hua had not forgotten about mortal technology, and he had invented and adapted some variants which would allow a signal to be maintained in the boat. It had a home cinema, a portable kitchen with all the appliances one could imagine, an e-cultivation platform and a two-player console, with no doubt to coerce Fengjiu to join him in whatever he planned to spend his time on. But seriously, Fengjiu would rather spend her time reading novels and watching dramas than play console games. Unfortunately, nature had other plans for them.

"Can you do something about the weather?" Fengjiu demanded, feeling the instability of the boat as it was apparently flung across the seas the stormy weather that persisted during their journey by sea. Dong Hua just smiled. It appeared to be that they were heading into a perilous adventure across stormy seas. Being audacious by nature, Dong Hua found it thrilling.

After much turbulence, the boat came to a standstill, but to Fengjiu's horror, the water billowed. They took a peek from the window to realise that a sea serpent was howling outside the boat. Fengjiu trembled, screaming and running to hide inside the toilet, and it was then evident to Donghua how she feared snakes. As a cub, she had been terrorised by a snake, and with the exception of Shao Xin, she would run as far as she could once she saw one. Her extreme fear of snakes had been a liability to her, but Dong Hua reassured her that it was going to be fine, before calmly heading out of the cabin for a solo duel with the serpent with his Canghe sword.



The waves thrashed, and in no time, Dong Hua returned, looking weary. Noticing one arm hanging weakly and how his robe was bloodstained in different areas, Fengjiu couldn't help but cry frantically.

"You've been hurt, have you? By the serpent?"

"It's dead," Dong Hua said. "The poison from the serpent makes me tired. Let me lie on you."

Despite her concerns for him being poisoned, she indulged, and after a short while, a tremor followed, resulting in the boat to rock violently. "Jiu'er, I'm sorry. The ship is seriously damaged," he explained. "We have to take shelter at the nearest possible area."

The waves rose, creating a rift in between, where the boat seemed to magically enter. The next thing was, everything seemed to spin before her very eyes, and then she lost consciousness abruptly.

When she came to, Fengjiu realised they were in a fancy-looking room with blue curtains and the bed she was lying on had sea-green sheets.

"Where are we, Dong Hua?" she asked nervously, in a panic. "Have we been caught by sea serpents? Or pirates?"

He laughed at her nonchalantly at how she was panicking unnecessarily. "My silly fox, we've entered the West Sea."

"What happened?" she asked again.

"The boat was damaged," he told her. "I've magically disguised us as a traveling immortal couple. I said that we were on a trip home when we got caught in a storm. Don't worry, no news will reach your family's ears," he teased, and she smiled faintly. As much as he was willing to help her mask the truth about their marriage, Fengjiu was aware that it was not like Dong Hua's character to hide his paramount status and then pretend to be a common immortal. But then she caught sight of their host, and she realised why he had disguised them with magic. Their host was simply dashing!

She smirked, appreciating how the cold god was again, being jealous of their host and concerned that he might be after Fengjiu's attention, had she appeared in her actual noble status as fox princess of Qingqiu. But at the same time, Dong Hua wanted to just play a few jokes on his host by pretending to be a regular immortal while seeking refuge temporarily in the West Sea. He had long heard of the charitable Second Prince Su Mo Ye, and without invoking his power as the Lord of the Universe, Emperor Lord, or the Lord of Taichen Palace, he desired to test Su Mo Ye whether he could earn any charity from him. As usual, it was just plain crafty of him, but of course, Fengjiu didn't know that.