Chapter 115: “Don’t Talk, Kiss Me!”
Lu Miaoyin and Mo Shuiqiu spoke almost in unison. Both of them wanted to play the role of Lin Qi’an’s wife! After they spoke, they instinctively glanced at each other, and sparks seemed to fly between their gazes.
The rest of the crowd wanted to vie for the role as well, but who could compete with two saintesses?
“Miaoyin, leave such trivial matters to me. You are always calm and reserved, so I fear you may not be able to portray the role of a wife convincingly,” Mo Shuiqiu said with a smile.
“That statement may be a bit biased,” Lu Miaoyin replied, shaking her head with a composed expression.
Her flawless features revealed no emotion as she continued, “Shuiqiu, you excel in painting and should stay outside to oversee the bigger picture. If I can’t do it, we can always switch later.”
The crowd was utterly dumbfounded. The Yunmo Saintess and the Qinglian Saintess, who were known to be aloof and untouched by men, had never been swayed by the countless suitors chasing after them. But now, both were vying to play the role of Lin Qi’an’s wife.
It seemed that women who claimed to be indifferent to love simply hadn’t met the right man.
“Step aside, neither of you are fit for this!” Suddenly, Zhao Qingmeng, who had been quietly standing by Lin Qi’an’s side, spoke up.
She wore an elegant frost-colored dress adorned with golden dragons, her appearance regal and striking, with a beauty that could cause the downfall of nations.
“What does the princess mean?” someone asked.
“Naturally, I will play the role myself!” Zhao Qingmeng said with a cold huff, crossing her arms.
Mo Shuiqiu raised an eyebrow. “If I remember correctly, your elder sister, Princess Zhao Yunji, was once betrothed to the Crown Prince. Wouldn’t this be inappropriate?”
“They have already annulled their engagement. What’s inappropriate about it?”
Lu Miaoyin interjected. “The engagement was just dissolved, and now the princess is getting close to the Crown Prince? It might lead to rumors…”
Zhao Qingmeng waved off the concern with a confident smile. “I’m not afraid of gossip. There’s no need to discuss this further!”
Lin Qi’an, observing the escalating situation, thought to himself, ’Are you all done arguing? Can’t you show a little sympathy for the Child of Destiny, who’s still pretending to be a pig?’
In the end, everyone conceded to the princess and allowed her to play the role of his wife.
As they entered the painting together, Lin Qi’an and Zhao Qingmeng walked side by side through the bustling streets, looking as if they truly belonged within the scene. But that alone wasn’t enough. They needed to act like a real couple in order to complete the painting and fully restore it.
Everyone outside the painting watched closely, curious as to how they would manage this.
Inside the painting, the two of them stood face to face. One tall, the other petite.
“Don’t talk, kiss me!” Zhao Qingmeng commanded.
She stood in the middle of the street, her radiant figure becoming the most captivating sight within the painting, as though the entire bustling cityscape existed solely to highlight her presence.
Lin Qi’an’s heart skipped a beat, and just as he lowered his head, Zhao Qingmeng suddenly rose up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him on her own initiative!
“Wow…”
“Is this really happening…?”
“The princess… is kissing the Crown Prince!”
The women watching from outside the painting gasped in shock. No one had expected to witness such a scene.
If word of this spread, who knew what kind of storm it would stir up in the Canglan Dao Domain?
As the kiss deepened, the two grew more and more passionate. Lu Miaoyin’s face flushed a deep red, and she turned her head away, too embarrassed to keep watching.
As for Mo Shuiqiu, though she covered her eyes with her hands, she couldn’t help but peek through the gaps between her fingers…
Meanwhile, Ji Bai, still wallowing in his humiliation while pretending to be a pig, had no idea that Lin Qi’an was savoring the sweetest moment of his life.
The Clear Dream of the Shang River painting was finally complete! Just then, another beam of golden light shot into Lin Qi’an’s forehead.
“It’s another of the Nine-Character Mantra!” someone exclaimed.
“Who would’ve thought the Crown Prince would get it again…”
“I don’t accept this! I worked so hard playing my role, why wasn’t it me?” Ji Bai was practically roaring in frustration.
“Hmph, it was the Crown Prince who suggested entering the painting. You were just along for the ride, so step aside!”
*Dou, Zhe!*
Now, Lin Qi’an had obtained the characters *Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe*. However, only when he had all nine characters would the divine ability be fully realized.
With a sudden shift in the environment, the painting dissolved into nothingness, and another glowing portal appeared before the group. The second trial had been cleared.
“Great, let’s keep going!”
“Onward!”
Lin Qi’an held Zhao Qingmeng’s hand as they followed the others through the portal. The princess’s face was still flushed, as red as a ripe apple.
‘Come on,’ Lin Qi’an thought to himself. ‘You’re the reincarnation of an emperess. We’ve done this plenty of times in the past. What’s there to be shy about?’
The two of them joined the rest of the group as they headed into the next trial.
The third trial awaited them.
This time, the setting was a lotus pond. Hundreds of stone slabs with inscriptions on them floated on the water’s surface. It seemed simple enough—just cross to the other side.
Finally, a trial that was easy to understand.
“I have an idea!”
“These stone slabs all have words on them. Maybe we need to link the words together somehow?”
“Easier said than done! There are countless possible paths, but only one is correct.”
“Hah, what’s the big deal? Just start trying!”
A man dressed in green took the initiative and stepped onto the first stone slab. The word *spring* was inscribed on it. But when he moved to the second slab, there were nearly ten different options to choose from!
Unsure which to pick, he chose one at random and stepped forward. Suddenly, the space around him warped, and in the blink of an eye, the man vanished from sight.
“Wh-where did he go?”
“He must’ve been teleported out of the secret realm…”
“So if you pick the wrong path, you’re sent out immediately? What do we do now?”
“If we have to test each possibility one by one, we’ll all be eliminated before we find the right path!”
As the number of stone slabs increased, so did the choices, branching out like growing tree limbs. Later on, there were almost a hundred stone slabs to choose from!
Finding the one correct path was as difficult as reaching the heavens. And since one wrong step would cause immediate expulsion from the secret realm, no one dared to try recklessly. The group found themselves at an impasse.
“Wait, do you think these words could form a poem if strung together?”
“Whoa, brother, that makes sense!”
“Quick, everyone! Start thinking, see if we can crack this!”
The scholars and talented individuals racked their brains, recalling every poem and piece of literature they knew, but no one could match the scattered words with any poem.
“I don’t care, I’ll give it a shot!”
“Go for it, brother, I’m right behind you!”
About twenty people stepped onto the stone slabs, but unfortunately, all of them were expelled from the realm. However, their failures revealed some of the correct words on the path: spring, wind, again.
“Spring wind again… what comes after?”
“Spring wind comes again? Spring wind leaves again?”
“Ugh, neither feels right!”
The remaining group scratched their heads, drawing lines on the ground as they tried to figure it out, but to no avail. Lu Miaoyin and Mo Shuiqiu were equally stumped, biting their lips in frustration as they struggled to think.
Meanwhile, Ji Bai secretly skimmed through the Wenchu Emperor’s notes but found nothing to help with this puzzle.
“It’s green,” Lin Qi’an’s voice broke the silence, instantly drawing everyone’s attention. Since he had led them through the first two trials, everyone trusted his judgment fully.
“The Crown Prince said green?”
“Quick, try that word!”
“If you’re not going, I will! I trust the Crown Prince!”
Soon enough, a young woman stepped onto the slab with the word green inscribed on it. To everyone’s delight, she wasn’t expelled from the secret realm. The crowd’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“It worked!”
“It’s really green. Amazing, what a clever choice!”
“The Crown Prince is incredible, haha!”
One by one, admiring glances turned to Lin Qi’an. Without him, they wouldn’t have passed any of these trials. The word green was indeed a stroke of literary genius—one that ordinary poets wouldn’t have been able to come up with.
“The next word is river.”
“River, go ahead!”
“Let me try it this time!”
Where once everyone feared taking the lead, they now eagerly vied to step forward, thrilled at the idea of advancing the trial.
“Another success! It’s right again!”
“My god, the Crown Prince is amazing… How does he keep getting it right?”
“The Crown Prince must have read the unpublished works of the Wenchu Emperor. He must have seen this poem before!”
“Thank goodness for the Crown Prince. Without him, we wouldn’t even be in the running for the Wenchu Emperor’s inheritance!”
‘Spring wind again turns the riverbanks green, when will the bright moon shine on me once more?’
This poem was filled with a deep sense of homesickness. The Wenchu Emperor must have left this riddle while thinking of his homeland and family in his final days.
Following Lin Qi’an’s guidance, the group finally crossed to the other side of the pond, completing the third trial. Another beam of golden light shot into Lin Qi’an’s forehead, marking his acquisition of six of the nine-character mantra.
Though the others felt some jealousy, they accepted it and congratulated him sincerely. The group had dwindled to just fifty people—half of what it had been when they first entered.
“Congratulations on passing the third trial,” the Wenchu Emperor’s voice rang out once again. “The path ahead leads to my inheritance. However, it is overrun with demonic creatures, and survival is unlikely.”
“Those of you who wish to leave can do so now, while you still can.”
“But once you pass through this door, there is no turning back!”
The word ‘demonic’ cast a heavy sense of dread over the group, filling their hearts with unease.