Chapter Twenty-One: Lu Dongbin Teases White Peony Three Times

Because the wedding was immediately followed by a honeymoon, I could not accompany Zhong Yang when he brought Wang Aiyan to the dojo. As soon as the honeymoon ended, I brought local specialties and tea leaves I had purchased on the trip as gifts and headed to the dojo.

Teacher Xing used the tea I brought to brew a pot, poured a cup, and handed it to me. Teacher Yang sat beside him. Clutching my tea cup, I asked curiously, "What exactly is Wang Aiyan's background?"

Teacher Xing did not seem to think much of Wang Aiyan and appeared reluctant to discuss her, signaling for Teacher Yang to explain.

Teacher Yang’s eyes held a hint of helplessness. "She is the son of Fuxi—Lu Dongbin."

"Wait..." I was confused. "Why would Fuxi’s son have the surname Lu? Shouldn't he be called Fu Dongbin? Is it possible that Fuxi was cheated on?"

Teacher Yang rolled her eyes at me, scolded me for speaking nonsense, and began to explain in detail. "Lu Dongbin’s past life was the Emperor of the East, Donghua Dijun..."

Many people mistakenly believe that the Great Emperor Taiyi, the Duke of the East, and Donghua Dijun are the same deity, but in reality, they are three distinct gods.

The one who truly founded the Heavenly Court and became the first Lord of the Three Realms was the Great Emperor Taiyi—Teacher Xing’s father in his primordial form and the husband of the Queen Mother of the West. The Duke of the East and the Queen Mother of the West were merely colleagues; the Queen Mother governed all female immortals, and the Duke of the East governed all male immortals.

Compared to these two great deities, Donghua Dijun was considered a mid-level, or even lower-mid-level, deity in the divine realm. "Donghua Dijun" was merely a title. Back then, Fuxi’s son, Fu Qing, held that position. Fu Qing was a rogue in the divine realm—lustful and of poor character. Not long after he became Donghua Dijun, he committed a grave mistake, causing his primordial spirit to dissipate into the heavens and earth, leaving behind only a single strand of celestial soul.

Fuxi and the Goddess of the Luo River nurtured this soul, stripping away all of Fu Qing’s vices, and sent him to the mortal realm to be reincarnated as Lu Dongbin. They paved his path to cultivation, allowing him to join the group known as the Eight Immortals and ascend to heaven together. From then on, the name Fu Qing became a thing of the past; he could only remain in the divine realm under the identity of Lu Dongbin.

In his mortal life, the pure-yang Lu Dongbin was indeed a good man who slew demons and rid the world of evil. However, once he returned to the divine realm, those past memories and base instincts flooded back, and he reverted to the unscrupulous creature he had once been.

This time, the Jade Emperor charged him with multiple offenses, including teasing the White Peony three times and molesting numerous goddesses. Not only was he severely punished, but the entire group of Eight Immortals was implicated and cast down to the mortal realm. On the day of execution, Fuxi personally sent his troublesome son to Henan Province to be reincarnated as a girl in the Wang family—who is now Wang Aiyan.

At this point, a flicker of confusion crossed Teacher Yang’s eyes. "I suspect there are other crimes that are inconvenient to make public. How could the Jade Emperor punish him so severely for merely molesting goddesses?!"

Teacher Xing had initially wanted nothing to do with Wang Aiyan, viewing her as a curse and a nuisance, but Fuxi had come to him several times to plead for leniency, and Teacher Xing eventually yielded out of respect for Fuxi.

In this profession, we view over 95% of mental illnesses as "hollow illnesses" caused by demons. A great author I once admired suffered from such an affliction. On one hand, he spent years writing about gods and ghosts, and the more powerful a novel’s energy field, the more it attracts such entities. On the other hand, he was so popular at the time that he invited the envy and jealousy of many.

Those who have contact with the metaphysical circle have heard stories like this; this author eventually recovered because his family found a master in the field who removed the "thing" from him. Wang Aiyan’s schizophrenia was also caused by the many demons and spirits tormenting her. These demons knew that entering the dojo meant certain death, but because they had inhabited Wang Aiyan’s body for so long, they found it difficult to leave on their own—it is easy to climb a mountain but hard to descend.

To prevent her from reaching the dojo, these demons used every underhanded tactic, repeatedly goading her into suicide. Once, while Wang Aiyan was on a video call with Zhong Yang, her expression suddenly became eerie. She looked up, let out a sinister chuckle, and said in a malicious tone, "Do you really think I will let her live long enough to reach the dojo?"

Zhong Yang realized that the demon possessing Wang Aiyan was speaking. She felt a cold shiver of fear and asked, suppressing her unease, "Who are you? What are you going to do to her?"

"Heh heh, I am the Plague Lord, and I am going to make Wang Aiyan die right now..." As soon as he said this, Wang Aiyan climbed onto the windowsill in a daze, half her body hanging out. Zhong Yang screamed frantically through the phone. At the critical moment, just before Wang Aiyan could step out, she managed to call her back to her senses.

Another time, on a busy street, Wang Aiyan was on the phone with Zhong Yang discussing train tickets to the dojo. Mid-sentence, her tone shifted, and she hissed, "I won't let her live. I want her to die—" She then stared blankly and walked straight into the middle of the road, ignoring the red light. As a speeding car bore down on her, Zhong Yang, sensing something was wrong, shouted, "Wang Aiyan, wake up!" In the nick of time, Wang Aiyan regained control of her body and narrowly missed being hit.

Despite several crises, Zhong Yang eventually succeeded in bringing Wang Aiyan to the dojo. She had short hair and dressed in a very androgynous style; at a glance, one could hardly distinguish her gender.

As soon as she stepped into the dojo, a demon in black robes lunged in from outside the window, grabbed a red-robed demon attached to Wang Aiyan, and tried to flee. Teacher Xing, sitting behind the tea table, narrowed his eyes. With a wave of his hand, the Divine Dragon Sword, gleaming with brilliant golden light, materialized like a majestic dragon and struck the two demons down. Two shrill, hoarse roars pierced the sky, and the two demons vanished into ashes.

The red demon that was almost saved was the Plague Lord who had been repeatedly driving Wang Aiyan to suicide. Besides the Plague Lord, there were many other demons and spirits lurking within Wang Aiyan, all of which were struck down one by one by Teacher Xing’s sword.

There was also a lecherous ghost named Qian Qingtian inside her. He was a slick, lecherous, and heavy-drinking man. Wang Aiyan could drink without end because Qian Qingtian was absorbing the alcohol for her. Upon seeing Teacher Yang, Qian Qingtian’s lecherous eyes widened, and he began spouting flirtatious remarks, asking if she wanted to "hook up" or if this "little sister" would let him steal a kiss.

Teacher Yang was livid, and Teacher Xing, with a cold, stern face, slapped the lecherous fatty, sending him spinning like a top around the dojo until he collapsed. He summoned the Black and White Impermanence, who appeared from the ground in their official robes and tall hats. Teacher Xing ordered them to shackle Qian Qingtian and throw him into a dungeon to starve for two hundred years.

Qian Qingtian wailed and begged, "I can't even go a meal without eating! I’ll apologize, I’ll apologize! Big sister, I was wrong..."

Teacher Xing ignored his pleas and let the Impermanence drag him away like a pig.

Teacher Yang sensed that Wang Aiyan had been cursed with a love hex and a spell to divert her wealth, both cast by a woman named Wang Jing. When Teacher Yang mentioned the name, Wang Aiyan’s face turned pale. "Impossible. Wang Jing wouldn't do this to me..."

Teacher Yang noticed something unusual. "Who is Wang Jing to you?"

Wang Aiyan had to admit, "Wang Jing is my girlfriend."

It turned out that although Wang Aiyan was born a woman in this life, her soul and bones were those of a man. Even though she had married and had two children, she remained stubbornly obsessed with women. She had dated Wang Jing and spent over a hundred thousand on her. Later, when Wang Jing wanted to break up and marry someone else, Wang Aiyan had even hired a shaman to cast a binding spell on her, though she later regretted it and hired someone else to demand the money back.

Teacher Xing sensed that the Jade Emperor was furious with Wang Aiyan. He asked her to think about whether she had done anything in this life to offend the Jade Emperor.

Wang Aiyan finally recalled an incident: years ago, when her mother was desperate for a cure for her schizophrenia, she took her to a temple to burn incense. While her mother was busy kowtowing to the Jade Emperor, Wang Aiyan took off her shoe and threw it at the statue of the Jade Emperor. By the time her mother realized what was happening, it was too late. With a loud thud, the shoe struck the statue squarely.

Throwing a shoe at the Jade Emperor’s statue had enraged him, and she was sentenced to eighty-one lashes. Teacher Xing produced a leather belt and ordered Wang Aiyan to kneel before the seven divine statues while he administered the punishment. Wang Aiyan endured the pain with remarkable stoicism, neither dodging nor crying out.

After the punishment came the task of placing her primordial spirit back into her body. Since the primordial spirit of Donghua Dijun was gone, they had to use the spirit from the Lu Dongbin incarnation. However, because Lu Dongbin had committed such grave errors, his spirit was currently imprisoned and being punished by the Great Emperor of Mount Tai.

Teacher Xing summoned Lu Dongbin’s spirit with his mind. The spirit appeared elegant and handsome, with an air of romantic charm, bound by seven chains, pierced by seven blades, and with a large nail driven into the back of his head.

Teacher Xing removed the chains and the blades, saying sternly, "Lu Dongbin, enter Wang Aiyan’s body."

Lu Dongbin did not move. He looked at Wang Aiyan with deep disgust, both at the female form he was to inhabit and at Wang Aiyan’s character. Although the spirit of Lu Dongbin was romantic, he was not vulgar.

Teacher Xing saw his resentment and persuaded him, "She is your reincarnation. Only by becoming one and cultivating properly will you have any hope of returning to the Heavenly Court."

Lu Dongbin’s spirit had no choice but to begrudgingly step toward Wang Aiyan and vanish into her body.

Names carry magnetic information. "Wang Aiyan" was not a good name; the character "yan" (beauty/lust) has the character for "color" (lust) above a blade, and the preceding "ai" (love) suggests the bearer is obsessed with lust. Teacher Yang gave her a new name, "Wang Xinyue," hoping for a fresh start.

The pot of tea Teacher Xing brewed was finished, and the story of Lu Dongbin had come to an end. At the time, I had no idea that the fact that Lu Dongbin had been cast down to the mortal realm would have anything to do with me, nor did I know how unfathomable the truth behind it was. All of that would only be revealed later.

To me at that time, learning that Lu Dongbin was the son of the Goddess of the Luo River and Fuxi simply meant that he was my cousin.

It wasn't until several days later that I received a WeChat message from the divine realm in my sleep.

Great Emperor Zhenwu: "Yu'er, do you remember when a fire dragon knocked you off the cliff and you nearly died of thirst?"

I replied with confusion: "Father, I remember. Why?"

Great Emperor Zhenwu: "Wang Xinyue is that fire dragon you fought. Because of that brawl in the divine realm, both you and Wang Xinyue had one of your souls detained in the hall of the Great Emperor of Mount Tai to be punished."

A scene suddenly flashed in my mind: in a dark, empty hall, my wrists were bound by ropes, hanging from the beams. Not far in front of me, another man was suspended in the same position. We glared at each other, gnashing our teeth. Even though our bodies were restrained and we were in such a state, we were still filled with a vicious urge to fight, either bumping into or kicking each other.

Great Emperor Zhenwu: "You must ask Xing Zhengang for help. Only he can release your souls."

My father seemed to hesitate, then sent another message: "Once released, you should reconcile with Wang Xinyue."