The White Moonlight Disdained by the Male Protagonist of Redemption - Chapter 24.3

Meanwhile, in the divine realm, beneath the Ancient Tree of Truth:

Ning Yuzhu was woken by a burst of chattering voices.

He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, but his grumbling had already begun: “Do you people have no manners? Can’t a guy get his beauty sleep?”

The chatter did pause—for a moment—before starting up again.

Ning Yuzhu snapped his eyes open and glared murderously. Surrounding a Bodhi tree, he saw Jie Zhongyi, Chu Xiao, Tu Manxing, and a round-faced girl he didn’t recognize, all deep in animated discussion.

Jie Zhongyi paced back and forth. “This doesn’t make sense. Ning Yuzhu’s already awake. How could Tang Tang not be? Her spiritual power is among the highest, right?”

He pointed at Tu Manxing. “Higher than yours?”

Tu Manxing: “Not higher.”

Then he turned to Chu Xiao. “Definitely higher than yours.”

Chu Xiao shrugged. “And yet I still woke up earlier.”

Jie Zhongyi frowned. “That’s what’s strange…”

Wu Fulai mumbled as she stared at the Bodhi tree, “It is kind of odd. She’s been asleep long enough. Should’ve woken up by now.”

Ning Yuzhu interrupted, “What’s going on? ”

He looked around, memories flooding into his long-dormant mind. “This… this is the divine realm?”

Wu Fulai nodded. “Yes.”

Ning Yuzhu suddenly sprang up like a monkey. “Where’s Yao Yao? The High God—where’s my sister?! ”

Wu Fulai gave the others a glare that said, “I told you so,” then sighed. “I’ve already explained this four times: Ning Yuzhu, your sister has been appointed as the new God of Fortune. She’s off handling matters at the River of Passage.”

Ning Yuzhu asked, “What kind of place is that? Is it dangerous? Why is she working already?”

Wu Fulai waved him off. “That’s a common question. You guys explain it—I’m honestly exhausted.”

Jie Zhongyi took the easy way out and waved Ning Yuzhu away: “Sit tight. We’ll explain later.”

With that, he turned back to the real issue. “Lord Overseer, is Tang Tang’s condition serious? Will it hurt her?”

“Logically, no,” said Wu Fulai. “Recovering in one’s original body should only help, not harm. But… you said Ning Tang’s spiritual power is high, yet she’s still not awake…”

She frowned. “I’m reserving judgment. After all, she wasn’t with you when you were brought back. Maybe she encountered something—maybe her power was diminished, or maybe there’s another reason. I can’t say. Let’s observe for now—this is the divine realm. There’s nothing here that can’t be resolved.”

That reassured everyone.

Once Wu Fulai left, Ning Yuzhu couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t Tang-jie go to help Brother-in-Law get treated? Could it be she gave him all her spiritual power and now she can’t recover?”

Chu Xiao replied, “The only one Tang Tang would give all her power to… is Yao Yao. For a man? Half, at most—not a drop more.”

Tu Manxing added, “Tang Tang’s not that foolish.”

Ning Yuzhu thought about it. “True.”

Since they couldn’t figure anything out right away, Jie Zhongyi concluded, “Let’s wait. Maybe she’ll wake up even before Yao Yao gets back.”

That was what everyone hoped. For now, the four of them just sat around Ning Tang’s resting body, staring at her, not sure what else to do.

Ning Yuzhu asked again, “So, can someone explain what I asked earlier?”

Jie Zhongyi looked at Tu Manxing, who turned to Chu Xiao. Chu Xiao sighed and repeated Wu Fulai’s explanation from earlier.

Ning Yuzhu, lounging on a chair, blinked as he absorbed the info. Suddenly, he sat upright. “Lord Overseer—doesn’t that mean she knows all the gods? Did no one ask her about Brother Zhou? What kind of god is he now? Is he doing okay?”

Jie Zhongyi said, “She just got here. Would it be decent to bombard her with questions like that?”

Ning Yuzhu protested, “We’re not talking about strangers! We’re talking about family! She talked about Tang-jie and Yao Yao—why not Brother Zhou?!”

Tu Manxing kicked Ning Yuzhu lightly and delivered three pointed questions: “Is his true form the Bodhi Tree? Does he remember any of us? How do we even prove we’re his family?”

Ning Yuzhu was speechless.

Chu Xiao added, “Forcing someone to remember can damage their mind. If you see him as family, then let it be. Don’t disturb him.”

Ning Yuzhu exploded, “Did I say I wanted him to remember?! Did I say I wanted a tearful reunion?! I just want to know if he’s doing well! Is that so wrong?!”

“Alright, alright,” Jie Zhongyi waved his hand. “Ask if you want. Honestly, I’m curious too—it’d be good to know. The Overseer shouldn’t have gone far. Go find her. Chu Xiao, go with him.”

In just a short while, they had chased out, but there was no sign of the Overseer Deity.

The ancient Tree of Truth was enormous—tall as the mid-slope of Mount Luoxiang. No matter how fast one’s pace, once at the bottom, paths stretched in every direction. Who could tell which way the Overseer had gone?

Chu Xiao looked around and said, “Forget it. We’ll ask next time if there’s another chance.”

Ning Yuzhu wasn’t ready to give up. “The Overseer is probably really busy. She won’t always come to check on us. Who knows when we’ll see her again… Hey, look, there’s someone over there. Let’s go ask!”

Chu Xiao tried to pull him back. “Calm down. The divine realm’s huge. You think any random person you ask will know?”

But Ning Yuzhu shook him off. “Ugh! If we were asking about some nobody, sure, they wouldn’t know. But Zhuo-ge? He’s powerful, kind, gentle, and so good-looking.”

Chu Xiao thought about it. That… did make some sense.

No harm in asking. If they got an answer, great. If not, well, they tried.

So the two of them walked over. As they got closer, they saw it was a pretty young woman, simply dressed, her hair neatly tied in a topknot like a man’s. Yet rather than looking severe, her appearance was clean and refreshing.

Ning Yuzhu was the first to greet her. “Greetings, High Deity.”

The girl replied, “I’m not a High Deity—just a member of the divine race.”

She gave them a quick once-over. “Judging by your appearance, you must be from one of the divine clans too?”

The two nodded.

“What clan are you from?”

“The Bodhi Divine Clan.”

She nodded. “Oh, I’m from Luoyin River.”

Luoyin River, huh? A big clan.

Ning Yuzhu had woken up late, so he didn’t know. But Chu Xiao, who’d had long chats with Wu Fulai, did. According to their conversations, there was a special divine clan in the divine realm—the only remaining lineage of an ancient creator god. While most of the ancient deities had perished or faded, only the Moon Maiden’s line had preserved the ancient divine bl00d and survived to the present.

That clan lived in Luoyin River. A supremely noble bloodline, so much so that even the Flame Lord Wuji had to show them respect.

Chu Xiao, who had at least a little more tactful than Ning Yuzhu, quickly said, “Ah, so you’re from the Luoyin River clan—my apologies for not recognizing.”

The girl gave a soft “Mm.” “You stopped me—what’s the matter?”

Ning Yuzhu couldn’t hold back. “Would it be alright if I asked you about someone?”

She gestured for him to continue.

“I want to know about a certain High Deity… his name is—”

But the girl raised a hand and gently stopped him. “Among the divine race, directly calling a High Deity by name is considered extremely disrespectful. Even just hearing their name like that isn’t proper. Besides, once someone becomes a god, people usually refer to them by their divine title. Even if you told me his name, I might not know who you mean.”

“Oh…” Ning Yuzhu looked a bit down.

So he tried his best to describe: “The High Deity I want to ask about is really good-looking. Not just the average kind—he’s stunning, like you see him once and you’ll never forget. He’s gentle, kind to people, very patient, super smart—good at everything. He’s basically perfect in every way. I figure… in the divine realm, he’s gotta be pretty popular. A lot of people must know him.”

The girl looked troubled. “That’s… a bit too vague, isn’t it?”

Chu Xiao nudged Ning Yuzhu aside and added, “He ascended to godhood ten thousand years ago.” He’d checked his own wood-type spirit vein wheel—it had indeed been ten thousand years.

“Ten thousand years ago?” The girl suddenly understood, eyes lighting up. “Then I know who it is.”

She sounded confident. “That must be the Jade God.”

The two of them spoke in unison: “The Jade God?”

The girl said, “Yes. Think about it—strikingly handsome, unmatched in appearance, graceful and gentle in demeanor. The Jade God’s sacred name is truly among the most esteemed in the divine realm. Many people admire and revere him. And yes, he ascended exactly ten thousand years ago. Everything you said matches.”

So it really was him.

Chu Xiao and Ning Yuzhu looked at each other, still feeling like something was off—it didn’t quite feel real.

Sure, the description matched, but there was something indescribably strange about it. Just as Chu Xiao was about to ask more, the girl suddenly said:

“Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you two something as well. Since you knew the Jade God before he ascended, you must know how he did it, right? There’s a rumor going around that he killed his wife to attain divinity and then ascended. Is that true?”

She smiled a little. “I’m not spreading gossip or anything—it’s just that the Jade God is going to marry into our Luoyin River clan, and he’s marrying the High Goddess’s own daughter. We lowly folks don’t know much about what goes on above, so I was just curious. Did he really kill his wife?”

Chu Xiao and Ning Yuzhu both fell silent.

After a moment, Chu Xiao said, “We’re not sure about that.”

Ning Yuzhu quickly followed up: “Yeah, we know him, but not well.”

He gave an awkward little laugh and added, “Our… boss has some acquaintance with him, but it’s not deep. We just know he’s a good person. After all, we’re from an insignificant little clan—he probably doesn’t even remember us anymore. Not worth mentioning.”

The girl looked disappointed. “Ah, I thought I might hear some juicy secrets. Oh well, never mind.”

After bidding farewell, she left. The two of them stood there in silence, staring at each other for a long time.

Ning Yuzhu finally asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

Chu Xiao replied, “Why, I’m not allowed to?”

He teased, “The way you called him ‘boss’ earlier—so corny it hurts.”

Ning Yuzhu snorted. “What’s wrong with corny? I am from the dirt. Aren’t you? If you look down on the earth, you’ve forgotten your roots.”

They only bickered for one round before running out of things to say.

Silence spread between them. Chu Xiao sighed but said nothing. Ning Yuzhu sighed too.

After sighing, he said, “So Zhuo-ge’s been titled the Jade God, huh? That’s nice. Really nice. I think it suits him.”

Chu Xiao nodded.

Yeah… it really did suit him. That old saying—a gentleman is like a jade—describes Feng Jingzhou perfectly. “Jade God”… tsk, just hearing it brought to mind someone noble and elegant, peerlessly handsome, warm and approachable… a truly good god.

Ning Yuzhu’s voice dropped. “It’s just… he really has completely forgotten about us. And now, he’s going to marry someone else.”

Chu Xiao asked, “What’s that tone supposed to be? Have a little dignity, will you?”

Ning Yuzhu actually answered, “Melancholy. Bitterness. Relief. Closure.”

Chu Xiao: “Alright, that’s enough. Gross.”

The two of them headed back the way they came. As they walked, Ning Yuzhu suddenly said, “I really am at peace with it. Aren’t you?”

Chu Xiao said, “Yeah, I’m at peace.”

Ning Yuzhu went on, “Really, we just asked for peace of mind. Even if we didn’t ask, I know Zhuo-ge’s going to be just fine. And now, he’s getting married—he’ll finally have a family of his own. There’ll be people around him to care for him, to worry about him like we used to.”

He glanced at Chu Xiao, his tone somewhere between exasperation and quiet relief. “And us? We’re still the same old bunch.”

And that’s just fine. Life always moves toward something better.

They went on bickering and bantering as always. As for Zhuo-ge… as long as he’s happy, that’s enough.