But Cang Lan merely gave her a calm nod as if he didn’t recognise her at all.
‘That’s not right! I look pretty much the same as I did in the Mortal Realm, and my name’s the same too. Even if Cang Lan was an idiot, he should’ve been able to guess…
So what’s with that aloof expression that says “I don’t know you. Oh, but let me just give a polite greeting”???
I(bbb) suddenly find myself very confused…’
“Highgod Qing Guan, please sit.” Two immortals in the form of children appeared before Shi Sheng and respectfully invited her forward.
The two immortal children led her over to the remaining empty seat beside the Queen Mother. There were a total of four Highgods, including her, with two of them currently not present. They were either in closed door cultivation or not in the Heavenly Realm at all.
The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother weren’t Highgods themselves, so they made sure to be very careful around them.
Highgods held no authority, but they had strength.
The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother had no personal strength, but they had authority.
So the two sides functioned as a check and balance to one another.
“Congratulations, Highgod Qing Guan,” the Jade Emperor broke the ice.
“I deserved it.”
Qing Guan had diligently worked towards this goal for such a long time; it was only to be expected that she reach the position of Highgod. Hence, Shi Sheng very shamelessly accepted the congratulations.
On the other hand, the Jade Emperor felt very awkward. ‘What am I supposed to say to your reply?’
The Queen Mother smiled as she broke the silence, “Highgod Qing Guan, I see you’ve retained your cheekiness!”
“Indeed! You were just a small toddler back then…” The Jade Emperor continued along the line the Queen Mother had offered, “And now you’re a Highgod! Time sure does fly.”
“It was only 30,000 years. Over in a couple of sessions of closed-door cultivation. It’s not that long,” Shi Sheng continued showing off.
The Jade Emperor, “…” ‘What am I supposed to say to that?’
The Queen Mother, “…” ‘Are you boasting about the fact that you became a Highgod at only 30,000 years of age?’
The two exchanged glances. ‘Yep! No way to converse with her! Let’s just get straight to the point then!’
The ceremony proceeded according to plan. It was both elaborate and complicated. While it was happening, the immortals in the crowd below chatted merrily. Cang Lan remained silent, his mind clearly elsewhere. The rest of the dignitaries however, were left feeling rather awkward.
This Highgod was too tough to deal with.
Speaking with her put one at risk of being angered to death.
The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother managed to hold out until the celebration ended with much effort on their part. Once it ended though, the two immediately disappeared. They had no intention of trying to communicate with this Highgod anymore.
Several of the more courageous immortals still tried to strike up a conversation with her, but they’d always be left at a loss for words after a couple of lines.
If you congratulated her, she’d accept it without a shred of humility—and to make it worse, she’d even praise herself after you finished complimenting her.
If you asked her whether the Mortal Realm was any fun? She’d tell you to go see for yourself.
Basically, it was just really awkward to chat with Shi Sheng. Very few people were capable of holding a conversation beyond five lines with her.
“Highgod Cang Lan! Sorry, I was delayed! Is the celebration already over?” A young woman in a red dress ran into the hall from outside and directly sprinted over to Cang Lan. There was a flush on her face that made her look especially adorable.
“En,” Cang Lan faintly nodded. “Let’s return.”
The girl seemed to feel it was a shame she’d come late. She’d been planning to personally verify whether or not the rumours that Highgod Qing Guan was ugly were true.
“Who knows what kind of luck allowed that Yue Yao to gain Highgod Cang Lan’s goodwill?”
“But why did he take a liking to her? She doesn’t have the best figure nor the best face. Just how is she so lucky?”
“And the Jade Emperor too! Even after she made several large blunders, he still didn’t strip her of her position!”
“Who told her to be so fortunate…”
Shi Sheng’s gaze travelled over to the person currently being discussed by the other female immortals.
A young woman in a red dress energetically followed at Cang Lan’s side. Their red and white figures slowly walked over.
After a while, Shi Sheng deduced what had happened after listening to the discussions around her.
Incredibly, it turned out that Cang Lan had amnesia. He did remember Yue Yao, but his memories somehow appeared to have been altered.
After he returned to the Heavenly Realm, its inhabitants discovered that the once distant Highgod Cang Lan surprisingly allowed Yue Yao to remain at his side.
Shi Sheng wanted to facepalm. ‘Plot-sama, you’re asking for a beating, y’know? Really! Getting the leads together even after all that!’
When Yue Yao first entered, she hadn’t been able to see Shi Sheng as the crowd had been blocking her view. Now, however, she could see her clearly. The moment Yue Yao laid eyes on Shi Sheng, she halted and stared at her blankly.
“It’s you!”
She had been wondering why the name Qing Guan had sounded so familiar! It turned out that it was the Highlord Qing Guan, who rumours claimed was too ugly to show her face in public.
This rumour was the reason why Yue Yao had never connected the Qing Guan she met in the human realm with Highlord Qing Guan.
The discussions died down as countless eyes swivelled to fix themselves on the three of them. Everyone pretty much had ‘there’s gossip, come watch’ written all over their faces.
Yue Yao’s suspicion only grew the more she thought. ‘With how much she was targeting me…did she already know who I was?’
“So you did those things on purpose?!” Yue Yao had an impulsive character, so it was no surprise she blurted this out the moment it occurred to her.
“Eh? Are Yue Yao and Highgod Qing Guan acquainted?” The gossipmongers were getting worked up.
“I don’t think they were? Highgod Qing Guan never even left Verdant Palace, so how would she be acquainted with Yue Yao?”
The crowd waited to watch the drama unfold. ‘This’ll be interesting…’
Shi Sheng’s lips raised. ‘This idiot. Without the ML to help you, not even Plot-sama can save your IQ.’
“What did I do to you?”
The discussions amongst the surrounding crowd had brought Yue Yao back to her senses. But it was too late; she’d already spoken the words—she couldn’t possibly swallow them now.
“Let’s talk somewhere else,” Yue Yao lowered her voice.
“Who do you think you are?” Shi Sheng abruptly raised her voice, “What right do you have to make me talk with you somewhere else?”
A hint of panic flashed across Yue Yao’s face. ‘Why is this woman so detestable?’
“Highgod Cang Lan!” Yue Yao suddenly hid behind Cang Lan.
Shi Sheng seemed to hear a voice in her head saying, “Congratulations to the female lead for awakening the white lotus skill.”
She stared at Cang Lan somewhat grumpily. ‘ML-sama, please don’t. Just don’t. If you decide to be unreasonable too, I(bbb) don’t know if I(bbb) can stop myself from activating massacre mode…’
But it was quite clear that Cang Lan hadn’t heard her thoughts, because he immediately drew Yue Yao behind him protectively. “Yue Yao only wanted to talk with you. Why must you be so aggressive?”
Shi Sheng scoffed, “She wanted to talk with me? About what? About how she hadn’t meant to pull the wrong string? That she hadn’t meant to make me nearly fail in my tribulation?”
“Well you didn’t fail it, did you?” Yue Yao retorted again, clearly not willing to admit defeat.
“Oh, so that’s my fault too?”
‘Are you going to blame the food for not being cooked enough if you starve to death? FL-sama, this mindset of yours is very dangerous ah!’
Yue Yao paled. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I didn’t have the time to look for you to settle scores before, but here you are today: delivering yourself to me. Well, let’s settle our scores once and for all, shall we?”
Yue Yao was in a real panic now. She regretted her impulsiveness from the bottom of her heart.
Although Cang Lan had lost his memories, his IQ was still intact. Noticing that Yue Yao’s reaction was somewhat off, he asked, “Yue Yao, what happened?”
“I…” Yue Yao didn’t know how she had pulled the red strings of Highgod Qing Guan and Cang Lan together.
Shi Sheng scoffed coldly, “If you can’t say it, I’ll help you. As the Moon Elder, you are in charge of the romantic lives of everyone in the three realms. Yet, you were careless and made a mistake while drunk. Because of your mistake, I very nearly failed my ascension to Highgod.”