Chapter 111: The Power of Choice

Lu Qingjiu pondered Xuan Yu's words as he held out his hand to him, still lying in the snow. Xuan Yu smiled slightly and took Lu Qingjiu's hand and pulled him up from the ground. He got up, gently patted the snowflakes off himself and said gently, "Mr. Lu, it's cold outside, let's talk inside."

It is indeed quite cold outside, Lu Qingjiu.

He agreed to Xuan Yu's proposal and went back to the house. Yin Xun, who had been furious before, was like a balloon that had been burst, and his whole body wilted. But obviously, he knew that this kind of persuasion was useless, so he swallowed back the words that were coming out of his mouth, and just fell into a sad silence. Lu Qingjiu could only pat him on the arm as a gesture of comfort.

When they returned to the warmth of the house, Yin Xun, fearing that Lu Qingjiu might get cold, went to the kitchen and poured hot tea, but he was so stingy that he did not pour hot water for Xuan Yu and threw ice cubes from the fridge into Xuan Yu's cup, wanting to freeze the monk who had prevented them from leaving.

Xuan Yu didn't mind at all and took a drink from his glass of water, smiling gently at Yin Xun and thanking him.

Xuan Yu said, "Mr. Lu, whether you leave or stay, the choice is yours."

Lu Qingjiu said, "If I leave, will Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun die?

"We're not going to die." Yin Xun said angrily, "We are all non-humans, even if we are injured, we will recover"

Lu Qingjiu ignores Yin Xun and continues to look at Xuan Yu.

Xuan Yu, however, nodded and said, "When the two realms merge, the junction will be the first to suffer, and Shuifu Village will no longer exist, not to mention Ying Long, who guards the human realm with his true body."

Yin Xun was about to retort, but Lu Qingjiu held him back. He seemed to understand the meaning of Ao Run's attack on him, that Ao Run was forcing him to leave Shuifu Village by injecting cold Qi into his body. But beyond that, Ao Run seems to want the two worlds to merge

Xuan Yu continued, "The four gods are dead, and without the four gods in the way, it is only a matter of time before the two realms merge, and Mr. Lu is the only one who has the power to stop it."

Lu Qingjiu had heard this before, but when he heard it again, he found redundant information. He stared up at Xuan Yu suspiciously and said, "Little Master, you know where the God of Winter is and you know his current status."

Xuan Yu hooted softly.

"But hasn't the God of Winter been missing for a long time? The God of Winter is called Xuan Yu" Lu Qingjiu said, "and your name is Xuan Yu, what is your relationship?"

Xuan Yu sighs: " Mr. Lu "

Lu Qingjiu said, "Go ahead, I can take it all." Both Ao Run and Bai Yuehu refused to give him a choice when it came to certain matters, because they thought it was no better to know than to be kept in the dark about something, but Lu Qingjiu was always a man of his own ideas, who knew what he wanted and didn't need or want others to decide for him.

"It is true that the God of Winter has been gone for many years." Xuan Yu said, "The last time he met with the other three gods was a hundred years ago."

Unlike the other gods, the god of winter is not loved by man.

He brings death, hunger and cold. In the midst of the snow, people look forward to a cold winter that will soon pass and to a spring full of life. Whereas other gods were born out of human faith and expectation, the god of winter was born out of fear and awe.

"But the God of Winter didn't mind." Xuan Yu said, "He didn't resent it."

Lu Qingjiu knew that something must have happened to the God of Winter and asked, "And then what happened?"

Xuan Yu's eyes were downcast and his voice slightly lowered as he said, "All this, until the God of Winter was tainted."

Lu Qingjiu looked stunned: "The God of Winter is tainted he is tainted"

Xuan Yu nods his head.

"Wait, why would God be contaminated?" Lu Qingjiu wondered, "But even if it is, doesn't it mean that the problem is not serious?"

Xuan Yu said, "It should not have been serious, because the gods of all seasons can be reborn, and once they are reborn, the contamination is lifted. It was only before the rebirth that the God of Winter had an accident."

Lu Qingjiu got nervous: "What is going on."

Xuan Yu said, "The god of winter has split."

Lu Qingjiu: "Ah," he immediately thought of his grandfather, who had been split into red and black.

"He split his soul into two parts, one inheriting the contamination and one pure and flawless, and the part that inherited the contamination was killed by the pure and flawless, after which it took decades to reconstruct the body." Xuan Yu said, "This is something that no one knows about." He explained that originally the four gods were all sensing each other, and if the God of Winter died, the other three could feel it, but the problem was that the God of Winter had been split into two parts, so when one of them died, the other three did not react, thinking that the God of Winter was still alive. However this was not the worst, the worst was that after the contaminated part of the God of Winter was reborn, the contamination surprisingly did not disappear, not only did it not disappear, it also lost its previous memory and was full of evil thoughts towards the human realm, and even colluded with the Candle Dragon clan, wanting to merge the human and non-human realms directly together.

Xuan Yu said this with a note of helplessness in his voice, clearly not understanding how something that should be simple could be so complicated by a minor accident.

Lu Qingjiu was silent after hearing this and then looked at Xuan Yu with a strange look in his eyes: "You don't think you are"

Xuan Yu and Lu Qingjiu looking at each other.

"You are part of the God of Winter" Lu Qingjiu originally thought that the names Xuan Yu and Xuan Hei were just coincidences, but now that I think about it, how can there be so many coincidences in the world, and every time Xuan Yu appeared there was a heavy snowfall coming, the first time in winter and the second time this year when the snow flew in June The first time was in winter and the second time was in June this year when it snowed.

Xuan Yu said, "That's right." He admitted it so easily.

"No, you're the God of Winter," said Yin Xun, who was sitting next to him and couldn't sit still any longer.

Xuan Yu looked helpless, saying that he had basically shared no power when he split his soul at that time, and that if the contaminated part of the God of Winter had not volunteered to die, he would not have been able to kill him, except that now that part, having been reborn, had no memory of what had happened before, and had absolutely no intention of letting him kill it again, and even tried to fuse him.

Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun listened in awe, not expecting this to be the case at all.

"Then why didn't you tell the others earlier?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "If you had told them earlier, there would have been a chance of salvaging them."

Xuan Yu said, "My power is so weak that I can only appear at the coldest times. Before I thought he was just being grumpy, but it was only this year that I realised he was actually serious." He let out another sigh.

Lu Qingjiu was about to speak when he heard a violent wind blowing in the courtyard, a wind so different from its usual sound that it was as mournful as a howl, and it even swept up the snowflakes on the ground and threw them into the sky, blotting out the sunlight and plunging the whole world into darkness.

"He's here." Xuan Yu stood up.

Lu Qingjiu knew he was talking about the part where the God of Winter was tainted and was busy saying, "Don't you go out, Bai Yuehu will be back soon."

Xuan Yu shook his head, "He won't be back that soon."

Lu Qingjiu said, "What do you know?"

Xuan Yu said, "Do you remember the snow in June?"

Of course Lu Qingjiu remembers, he even remembers the visions of heaven and earth and the candle dragons that fought with Bai Yuehu.

Xuan Yu said, "That was a trap they laid, Zhu Rong's death was just the beginning." He folded his hands and saluted Lu Qingjiu, "Mr. Lu, I'm sorry."

Before Lu Qingjiu could react, Xuan Yu stretched out his finger and nudged Lu Qingjiu's forehead, then Lu Qingjiu felt a chill on his forehead and all the coldness in his body seemed to converge on the top of his head. As Yin Xun stared in amazement, several dancing ice butterflies appeared in front of Lu Qingjiu's eyes, flying out of his skin and taking away the cold sensation from his body.

" Mr. Lu doesn't have to worry whether he stays or goes." Xuan Yu said in a gentle voice.

Before Lu Qingjiu could rejoice, he saw Xuan Yu trying to push out the door. He tried to stop Xuan Yu, but Xuan Yu was already determined to go, saying that he had no power left in his body and that the fusion might be able to stop it, so Lu Qingjiu didn't have to worry.

Lu Qingjiu said, "But you won't be there after the fusion."

Xuan Yu smiles: "I have done what I have to say and do, I am one with him."

He refused to be stopped by Lu Qingjiu, but pushed the door open and walked slowly out of the courtyard.

Through the howling wind and snow, Lu Qingjiu vaguely saw a short figure standing outside the house. He struggled to recognise it and realised that he had seen the child before, never imagining that the child was the legendary god of winter.

"You've finally come back." The child rubbed his cheek against the back of Xuan Yu's hand with some fondness, his voice still childish, "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Xuan Yu let out a soft muffled breath and said, "I've kept you waiting."

The child said, "Let's go."

Xuan Yu bends down and skilfully picks up the child, who wraps his arms around Xuan Yu's neck as if he is afraid of leaving again, and their figures fade into the curtain of snow, and the wind that was so bitterly cold calms down.

Lu Qingjiu is standing by the window, staring.

Yin Xun poked Lu Qingjiu and muttered, "Wine, are we still going?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "No, let's wait for Bai Yuehu to return."

Yin Xun wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing.

After Xuan Yu and the child left, the snow stopped and the warm sunlight poured through the clouds, the air was cold but it did not cause Lu Qingjiu any more pain, Xuan Yu took the chill out of his body and returned him to his normal state.

Bai Yuehu returned around dusk, when Lu Qingjiu had fallen asleep on the bed, and he entered the house very gently, but Lu Qingjiu opened his eyes immediately and saw him.

" Ao Yue ." Lu Qingjiu called him by his real name.

Bai Yuehu looked slightly stunned, as if he did not expect Lu Qingjiu to know his name, his black robe was covered with dark red blood, which had solidified due to the low temperature, emitting a faint smell of blood. Qingjiu's cheeks tickled slightly as he said, "How did you know?"

"I guessed it." Lu Qingjiu blinked and reached out to take a strand of Bai Yuehu's hair in his hands, "You're back."

"Well, I'm back." Bai Yuehu placed a tender kiss on Lu Qingjiu's lips, then lifted Lu Qingjiu from the blanket, "We'll leave right away."

"No." Lu Qingjiu said, "I'm not going, and I'm not cold, I'm going to stay here with you."

Bai Yuehu's hands stopped moving and his soft expression faded as he looked at Lu Qingjiu and refused, "No."

" Xuan Yu is the god of winter." Lu Qingjiu said, "He helped me to get rid of the cold inside my body, so I didn't have to go."

"You have to go." Bai Yuehu reached out and touched Lu Qingjiu's face, slightly relieved to feel the soft warmth of human skin on Lu Qingjiu's cheek instead of the coldness it had been before, but even so, he had no intention of letting go, "It's going to get dangerous here."

Lu Qingjiu: "I know, that's why I want to be here with you." Xuan Yu had said that he was the only one who could save all this, and someone had already told him the answer, and although he was still confused, he felt he would understand eventually.

Bai Yuehu, however, forcefully refused Lu Qingjiu, saying that he had to leave the place. Of course, what he said sounded extraordinarily heartless, just saying that Lu Qingjiu's body was too weak and that he would still have energy to protect Lu Qingjiu in case he and Candle Dragon fought. Lu Qingjiu didn't get annoyed at his words, he just squeezed Bai Yuehu's shoulder and stiffly turned his head around, gesturing for him to look him in the eye and repeat what he had just said.

Bai Yuehu said angrily, " Lu Qingjiu "

Lu Qingjiu said, "Say it again and I'll leave."

Bai Yuehu took a deep breath and seemed to be mentally building up, intending to repeat what he had just said, but then he noticed the aggrieved look in Lu Qingjiu's eyes, so he swallowed the words that were on his lips.

"See, you can't even say it." Lu Qingjiu laughed and wrapped his arms around Bai Yuehu's neck and said, "I don't care, I won't leave anyway. "

Bai Yuehu gripped Lu Qingjiu's wrist and gritted his teeth: "How dare you?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "What's there to be afraid of? You're all gone, I dare anything."

The more he thought about it, the angrier Bai Yuehu became. When he thought of Lu Qingjiu with someone else without himself, he wanted to swallow the man in front of him, so that he would not be able to go anywhere. Lu Qingjiu looked at Bai Yuehu's faintly reddening pupils and knew he couldn't irritate his little angry dragon too much, so he hurriedly offered a soothing kiss until his breath was uneven from Bai Yuehu's kiss, then he said vaguely, "Look, you're so angry just because I'm talking about it, Bai Yuehu, I know you're worried about What, but I'm not afraid of you going anywhere I want to be with you." Even if it was hell.

Bai Yuehu hugged Lu Qingjiu to death, wanting to embed him into his body, and he said, "You will die."

Lu Qingjiu buried his head in Bai Yuehu's long hair, sniffing the scent of the wind and snow in his hair as he said, "If I'm gone, you can't go behind my back and find someone else."

Bai Yuehu couldn't stand it any longer and bit Lu Qingjiu's ear, a bite that didn't let up at all, causing Lu Qingjiu to hiss. By the time Bai Yuehu stopped, Lu Qingjiu's ear was already bleeding.

Lu Qingjiu was made to laugh and cry by Bai Yuehu's childish behavior. He patted Bai Yuehu's shoulder and said, "Come on, let's stop, let's just live our lives, as for what will happen in the future, let's talk about it.

Bai Yuehu looks a little bored and seems to be struggling.

Lu Qingjiu said something else, to the effect that Bai Yuehu should imagine himself alive without him, and that it would be better to live like this than to accompany Bai Yuehu.

Bai Yuehu's mood gradually calmed down.

Lu Qingjiu's body was free of the chill and he felt like a young man again, so he rushed to the guest room and pulled Yin Xun, who was also taking a nap, up and said let's have a big dinner tonight.

Yin Xun was confused by Lu Qingjiu and said, "What's the big meal?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "It depends on what you want to eat."

Yin Xun was dumbfounded for a few seconds before recovering from his dumbfounded state and saying, "No, how

What about dinner? What about Bai Yuehu? Is he back yet?"

Lu Qingjiu pointed to his ear, which had been bitten so much, and said, "It's back, not only is it back, but it also bit me and almost took my ear off"

Yin Xun :""

Lu Qingjiu said, "And a little shy."

Yin Xun's expression twisted for a moment, not knowing whether to hate them for giving him dog food at this time or to be happy that Bai Yuehu was fine, and he said, "Bai Yuehu didn't say anything when he came back."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Say what?"

"Of course I want you to get out of here." Yin Xun said anxiously, "Didn't Xuan Yu say that something was going to happen soon?

Lu Qingjiu pats him on the shoulder and gestures for him to calm down. Then slowly he explained what he and Bai Yuehu had agreed on, which in a nutshell was that he had decided to stay here and Bai Yuehu had chosen to support his idea.

Yin Xun was dumbfounded, he had thought that the first thing Bai Yuehu would do when he came back here was to take Lu Qingjiu away, Xuan Yu could fool Lu Qingjiu, could he also fool Bai Yuehu? to stay here

" Bai Yuehu is crazy, how could he allow you to stay." Yin Xun said incredulously, " Didn't he know you were going to die? He was also brainwashed by Xuan Yu"

"Yin Xun." Lu Qingjiu called out to him, he knew what Yin Xun was thinking, as Yin Xun's only friend, Yin Xun would naturally want him to live, but there are things in a person's life that are more important than living, Xuan Yu did not force him to stay, he just told Lu Qingjiu all the options and let him make his own choice. "Everyone will die."

Yin Xun still refuses to accept it.

Lu Qingjiu said, "Calm down, everyone dies. I'll ask you a question, if between the two of us, only one could survive, and I gave you that chance, would you be happy?"

Yin Xun thought for a moment and then said no, lost in thought.

"I won't be happy either." Lu Qingjiu says, "I've gone and survived, but I'll spend the rest of my life missing Bai Yuehu and you.

Yin Xun calmed down and stopped trying to persuade Lu Qingjiu, who was still very depressed.

Seeing this, Lu Qingjiu could not persuade him to go back to the kitchen alone.

It was an important day and Lu Qingjiu decided to cook a nice dinner.

He took a large number of ingredients out of the fridge and began to handle them carefully with his head down. The prawns were thawed, cleaned and fried in a frying pan, the side ingredients, potatoes, onions and carrots, were cut into strips, blanched and then stir-fried with a special seasoning, and finally the prawns were added and smothered for a period of time to make a delicious dry pot of prawns. The rich aroma of the food soon fills the room and at some point Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu both appear in the kitchen and start helping Lu Qingjiu.

"These shrimps are even better when they're fresh, but they've been frozen for a long time now." Lu Qingjiu shatters, "I'll definitely buy more fresh seafood to eat when spring starts next year."

"I want to eat squid flowers." Yin Xun said sullenly from the side.

"It's too late to tell you, I'll make it for you tomorrow." Lu Qingjiu brought the shrimps up and looked again at the chicken soup still simmering in the pot, "Would Foxer like something to eat"

Bai Yuehu shakes his head, signalling that nothing matters.

Lu Qingjiu took more pork from the fridge and planned to stir-fry a back-cooked pork.

Lu Qingjiu, with a helpless face, put down his hand and turned to him to ask what he was crying about.

Yin Xun choked up, "I just remembered the days when you didn't come and I didn't have any meat to eat, and when I could hardly buy meat, I had to cook it in plain water, Lu Qingjiu, I was so scared."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Although Bai Yuehu did not say anything, he gently took Lu Qingjiu's hand in his and their fingers were interlocked, and the uneasiness in Bai Yuehu's expression subsided a little.

"I won't let you and Bai Yuehu suffer," Lu Qingjiu said. Lu Qingjiu said, "Look how hard it is in this village, there isn't even a rubbish bin, at least Fox can go through it."

Bai Yuehu: "I didn't"

Lu Qingjiu: "No, really"

Bai Yuehu: "Occasionally."

Lu Qingjiu: "Occasionally"

Bai Yuehu gave up talking, let go of his hand and went back to his work, ignoring Lu Qingjiu who was teasing him. Lu Qingjiu was softened by Bai Yuehu's appearance that he went over to him and kissed his petty fox spirit carefully, and it took him a long time to reassure him.

The corners of Yin Xun's mouth also barely broke into a smile.