Imperial Weight Chapter 19 (Part 2)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 19.2
The next day Xingyi held court as normal, and Little Phoenix went along, crouching beside him. These past days Little Phoenix had often attended court with him, and the seated immortals all recognized him. Yet every time they saw Little Phoenix again, they couldn't help but comment, "The little bird the Emperor raises is really fat—every time we see him, he's just as round."
"I heard he's been dieting recently, but he doesn't seem to have lost any weight at all, and might even be fatter."
Little Phoenix crouched there round as a ball. Hearing these comments, he felt a bit unhappy. He resolved that after Xingyi dismissed court, he would run fifty more laps around Fuli Palace.
But Xingyi suddenly coughed and gestured for Qisha to bring over a blank jade scroll.
He picked up his brush and wrote, "The white phoenix before my seat is raised by me. His roundness and jade-like luster are due to his full plumage and abundant down—it is not corpulence."
Qisha read it aloud once, then following custom explained it again, "The Emperor decrees: the little phoenix before his seat is not fat, merely fluffy. Henceforth, anyone who says he is fat will be charged with slander according to Heaven's law."
Everyone: "......"
Little Phoenix: "......"
Xingyi sought credit, "How's that? No one will say you're fat anymore, so there's no need to diet."
Little Phoenix used his little wing to lift up a bit of the down on his belly to show him, his beady eyes very innocent. "But I really am fat, it's not because I'm fluffy."
Little Phoenix was quite dejected. "I know you mean well, but everyone should be reasonable. You can't just say I'm not fat and I'm really not fat. Thank you, but I still need to go run laps in a bit."
With that, Little Phoenix flapped his wings, jumped down from Xingyi's seat, and whooshed out along the wall in a roll.
Xingyi rubbed his temples.
After dismissing court, Qisha saw that Xingyi's expression was somber, as if troubled by something, so he asked quietly, "Emperor, what are you worried about?"
Xingyi said: "The little bird I'm raising always wants to lose weight."
After a moment of silence, Qisha suddenly smiled. "Perhaps what that little bird wants isn't this."
Xingyi was also silent for a while, then said, "He wants to be my empress, not a pet."
Qisha paused, then asked, "Then what are your intentions, Your Majesty?"
Xingyi said quietly, "He cannot transform. I can tell at a glance—this little phoenix depleted his vital essence while still in the egg, so he will never grow up. He... this little bird is somewhat greedy."
After a moment, he sighed softly. "And I, perhaps, am also somewhat greedy."
He was accustomed to going alone, with no plans to establish an empress. He felt things were fine as they were now and didn't want any mishaps to occur.
But this was unfair to Little Phoenix.
Qisha bowed and said, "Since you like this little bird and hope it can stay by your side, then going forward, whether or not he can transform, whether his identity is your pet or empress—what does it matter?"
"Forgive my frankness, Emperor—you haven't interacted with others for ten thousand years. Tanlang, myself, and the other Star Lords cannot be your companions, because deep down you do not like today's Heavenly Court. Your close friends were already buried ten thousand years ago. Your great achievements across the four seas have already become ancient history. Now that you have this little bird, you finally have a bit of human warmth about you. We don't hope you can integrate into today's divine realm, but we hope you can at least find a thread of happiness," Qisha said.
Xingyi gave a cold laugh.
Qisha quickly knelt down. Behind them, Tanlang, who hadn't spoken this whole time, was also frightened into kneeling on the ground.
"You hope that little phoenix will bewitch me, so that for its sake I'll continue working for you."
Qisha's face paled, and he said quietly, "I wouldn't dare."
Xingyi's gaze was sharp, staring him down as if wanting to discern something. After a moment, he lazily withdrew his gaze.
"You guessed right—I don't care about today's divine realm. You forcibly dragged me out from the Northern Heaven, and I haven't yet settled this score with your Heavenly Court." He said, "But there's one thing you got right—that little bird is very important to me. Not because it's cute, but because..."
He paused, as if reminiscing. "That day in the Snow Bamboo Forest when I first heard that little phoenix's voice, I felt that perhaps I had heard it before."
An empress and a pet—what was the difference?
The love and affection he'd never experienced with his heartless, emotionless body—what was the difference?
Both were identities of companionship by his side—no difference. Based on reason, he knew that whether this little bird stayed or left should also make no difference to him.
The final word.
Xingyi said, "Tanlang, Qisha, go to my armory and stand guard for me."
****
Tanlang followed behind Qisha, watching as Xingyi had already brought out the Star Disc and drawn a strange, complex formation on the ground. He quietly asked, "What is the Emperor going to do?"
Qisha quietly replied, "I don't know."
The two of them, according to Xingyi's orders, each went to their designated positions and set up barriers. Xingyi didn't actually need someone to stand guard—their purpose was only to maintain the barrier, preventing the enormous fluctuations when the Star Disc went wild from burning down all of the Northern Second Heaven.
The Star Disc floated quietly. Its surface was intricate and complex, changing by the instant, countless times more complicated than an actual chess board. One wrong move could trigger upheavals in heaven and earth. This was a grand gamble shared by heaven and earth—the fate of all things, the fate of humans and gods, all controlled by this heartless, emotionless person.
Tanlang frowned. "The Emperor couldn't be planning to..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Xingyi reach out his hand—passing through the intricate star orbits, directly touching the Star Disc itself!
Light blazed intensely, the powerful fluctuations searing people's eyes. Qisha and Tanlang couldn't hold on first, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood. But Xingyi's expression remained unchanged, eyes closed as if sensing with his heart.
Qisha said hoarsely, "Emperor, the five elements are now stabilized—there's no need to move the Star Disc. One wrong step leads to more wrong steps, Emperor! Emperor, remember what happened with the Jade Rabbit three years ago!"
Xingyi said, "Quiet."
He lowered his head to gaze at a certain speck of dust in the Star Disc that hadn't moved in ten thousand years, and said softly, "You old fellows have been dead long enough. You probably don't know what I've done. If you're not convinced, come find me for a fight."
With an almost tender motion, he touched that clump of dust. At the same time, the first drop of blood broke through from his fingertip, rolling down his elbow.
Qisha's foundation wasn't good—he fainted directly. But Tanlang still struggled to hold on, desperately clenching his teeth.
Xingyi looked back, and his eyes emitted an almost demonic radiance—at the same time, Tanlang felt his whole body lighten as an overwhelming power took over their barrier.
His eyes widened in shock.
From ancient times to now, all the arts recorded in scrolls, whether of gods, demons, monsters, or ghosts, required talismans, incantations, or spiritual mediums to cast. Never had he heard of anyone who could, with just their gaze, perform magic powerful enough to reverse heaven and earth!
Just what kind of terrifying power did Xingyi possess?
The blood gathering at Xingyi's elbow was increasing more and more. At the same time, his body was repairing his wounds at a visible rate—breaking open then healing, healing then breaking open again. It wasn't until Xingyi completely extracted that clump of dead dust that the Star Disc's disturbance stopped, and the last drop of blood coagulated at his fingertip, staining red the nebula in his hand.
He squeezed this nebula into a ball with his hand, then pinched and kneaded it into a round, rolling sphere. Then he pinched out the shapes of little paws, a beak, wing tips, and an ahoge on top, remarkably lifelike. Looking closely, it was a vivid little phoenix.
Xingyi said calmly, "That little fellow isn't in the known Star Disc, so I'll create a divine position for him and incorporate it into the Star Disc's operation. With this star position, the vital essence he lacked in the egg will slowly recover as the Star Disc operates. When it's fully recovered, he'll be able to transform."
As for after transformation, whether to keep him, what identity he'd have—he didn't care.
Because it all made no difference.
He placed this bird-shaped star into the Star Disc, looked up at it for a moment, then said, "Done. You two go back and recuperate. You don't need to come to court for the next few days."
Tanlang supported Qisha, bowed to him, then turned to leave.
Xingyi turned back and called over the celestial maiden who usually took care of Little Phoenix. "When Little Phoenix returns, have him come to me. I have something to tell him."
The maiden had just agreed when a large white mass suddenly swooped down from the sky, tumbling to the ground with a crash. "This is terrible, Emperor, terrible!"
Taking a closer look, it was that golden-winged bird from before, though for some reason, several more patches of feathers had fallen out.
The golden-winged bird cried. "My boss went to the bottom of the mountain to run laps for his diet, and was seen by a group of passing demon children. Those brats heard that boss was your bird, so they plotted together to steal him, using immortal-binding rope to tie up boss and take him home. Boss and I couldn't beat them. Emperor, please hurry and save boss!"
