Early the next morning, Shi Yongheng felt a tickle on his nose in his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes to find a delicate face before him. Shui Bi was teasing him with a strand of thatch from the roof.
Shi Yongheng sat up and smiled. "Shui Bi, what do you plan to do now?"
Shui Bi paused. She had descended to the Human Realm in pursuit of that water monster. As the goddess of water, she governed all the world's rivers and seas. Kind by nature, she had followed the creature into the mortal world.
But she had come down without permission and would surely be punished if she returned. Besides, she had never wanted to go back to that cold God Realm.
The God Realm knew no affection. Ages passed, but its millennia of loneliness never changed.
"I want to stay with you. I'm not ready to go home." Shui Bi still did not reveal who she was. Even though the man before her could match the Demon Venerable Chonglou in battle, she did not want her troubles to become his.
"All right. Come with me, then. I've been meaning to travel."
"That man singing earlier had such a beautiful voice. Did you know he would be there?" Shui Bi asked happily as they walked along the shore.
They were in Anxi Village. When Shi Yongheng had heard the beautiful singing, he had guessed it was Xifeng.
Now that Xifeng's face was healed, he probably had no wish to follow the Demon Venerable into the Demon Realm and spend a lonely life in darkness.
At dusk, the sea breeze brushed their faces. Shui Bi's spell had cleared away the earlier stench, leaving the air fresh.
"I can't sing, but I can play the flute. I'd say I'm decent."