The General Loves to Collect Little Red Flowers

Edited by Qiuxue and Noks

The first time Le Yao had felt that Xu Yao was different from ordinary people, he had asked Uncle Ming if there had been any strange phenomena during his time of birth. At that time, Uncle Ming had stated that when Xu Yao was born, dawn had been delayed, with the night being unusually lengthy.

He had thought it strange at that time, because as far as he knew, such an occurrence would only happen when a God descended to the mortal world.

Now, he believed it was true.

The Shenjun seal was something only the Gods of Heaven could possess.

“Who are you?” Le Yao asked.

“Xu Yao.” He smiled and continued, “The youngest son of Emperor Tiandi.”

Hearing this answer, Le Yao's hand suddenly felt itchy with the urge to slap him!

Speaking of which, when he and Xu Yao had met in the Underworld, they had met at a place named 'Pusheng Lake'. At first glance, the name 'Pusheng Lake' would suggest that it was a lake, which it definitely was.

However, it was not only just a lake, it was also the most difficult 'prison' to escape from in the Underworld, so it was also called 'Prison Lake'.

The lake had no physical obstructions, but the souls imprisoned there did not have the power to escape on their own. If they wanted to leave, the only way to do that was to purify their resentment.

Pusheng Lake was a bit like the Fu Ta Yuan of Tarot. The difference was that the Blessing Tree on Fu Ta Yuan could indiscriminately purify the souls of all kinds of undead. Meanwhile, in Pusheng Lake, those who wanted to purify their grievances had to solely depend on their own study and cultivation to do so.

Moreover, those who were 'imprisoned' here were not ordinary people, or rather, not ordinary ghosts, and Xu Yao had been the biggest thorn among all these unusual ghosts.

He was Fengdu Mountain's Ghost King, with strong spiritual power, who could control thousands of ghosts, and had a wild nature.

Le Yao also did not understand why his former father, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, would allow him to try and influence such a jerk. But at that time, he didn’t understand or have much affection, and he also never doubted his father’s orders.

He simply took the scriptures, went to Pusheng Lake, and began a daily life of reading.

The Prince read the scriptures and influenced all the living beings. As for the ghosts, they had to be present to listen to his lessons. Nonetheless, even when all the other ghosts came, the 'busy Xu Yao' was always absent from class.

Le Yao's main goal of reading the scriptures everyday was to influence the Ghost King. Affecting the other ghosts was only incidental and it hardly mattered even if they did not come; it was only the Ghost King who was required to be present. But evidently, he did not consider it necessary to give the Prince any face.

For the first two days, Le Yao didn’t even change his expression. Countless ghosts came to listen to him. But from the third day on, he didn’t want to work in vain, so he caught Xu Yao and forcibly brought him to the lecture site.

At that time, Le Yao's spiritual power had been very strong. Although it was only later that he realised that Xu Yao deliberately didn't resist and just wanted to see how many times he would catch him. It could be said that this man had been very arrogant at that time.

The class was held at an open space by the lake. The Underworld had no light, and only darkness had a constant presence.

It was only that one place which was brightened by a trace of light, ever since Le Yao came. Gradually, the number of ghosts who came to listen to the class increased. Only Xu Yao, this 'advanced' student's attendance would depend on Teacher Le's effort to catch him again and again.

But even so, Le Yao never gave up chasing and dragging him to class. It continued until the day he suddenly discovered that those ghosts who had been actively listening to his lectures had decreased, and Xu Yao, his laziest student, had started to arrive at class on time, and even seemed to have become the best student.

“Why are you the only one who came today?” Le Yao had casually asked at that time. He knew that everyone in Pusheng Lake liked to listen to him very much, so why was it that those ghosts didn't come anymore?

“Because I suddenly realised that I didn’t like them looking at you,” Xu Yao said as he sat on a chair in a crouched manner, with his legs raised, his elbows on his knees, and his head tilted to the side.

“All of them come to listen to the scriptures I read, what does it have to do with seeing me?”

Le Yao frowned and rather felt disgruntled. “Can’t you just sit upright?”

Standing as if you're sitting and sitting as if you're lying down, can you even sit properly?

“No.” Xu Yao smiled. “Prince, what are you so stubborn about? You’re not stupid. Can’t you see that I don’t intend to be influenced by you at all?”

“Then what do you mean by coming here every day?”

“To see you, of course. I didn’t pay attention at the beginning, but the more I looked, the more I noticed that you look rather attractive. I feel happy all day by just taking a glance of you, and feel so sad whenever I can’t see you.”

“Having to look at you for a second makes me feel terrible all day!” Le Yao glared and reprimanded, “Do you want to leave this place or not?”

“From the very beginning, I didn’t state whether I wanted to leave Pusheng Lake or not. Isn’t it you who took the initiative to try and influence me?”

“You!”

Le Yao abruptly turned around to leave.

However, Xu Yao suddenly grabbed his robe. “Wait!”

He said with a smile, “Well, if you accompany me to a certain place, I promise you that I will listen to your lectures very attentively in the future.”

Not wanting to waste any more time with him, Le Yao quickly agreed. He thought it might be a terrible place, but instead, it turned out to be a forest—a small forest with countless fireflies.

Although he had grown up here, he had never known that there was such a dreamlike place in the Underworld.

Then, Xu Yao took out a bottle of fireflies for him. This firefly was a spirit and wouldn't die even after eight or ten years in a bottle.

“Do you like it?” Xu Yao asked.

“…”

Hearing the inquiry, Le Yao just couldn’t bring himself to say that he didn’t like it, because he did like it very much. It was only that he didn't have the nerve to tell Xu Yao that it was the first time since his birth that he had received such a gift.

A bottle of fireflies that would never disappear…

“Huh? You smiled.” Xu Yao said, “You should smile more. You are naturally good-looking, and a smile makes it even better.”

“Too glib!“ The Prince glared at him, turned around and left.

“Hey! Wait for me!”

“No!”

Later, the Prince lectured more seriously, and Xu Yao became more attentive.

For the first time, the two of them were in harmony. Le Yao didn’t have to struggle to catch Xu Yao, and Xu Yao didn’t deliberately bother Le Yao any more. They would be together for at least three or four hours a day, and their relationship became more and more familiar.

Xu Yao's resentment was diminishing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Le Yao's feelings for him were also unconsciously changing.

He didn't notice when he had lowered his guard, but by the time he realized it, everything was different from the beginning. Le Yao had become more cheerful and would talk more. He was like a child who had only just learned to play games. Upon seeing Xu Yao do things which were completely new to him, he also wanted to follow.

And Xu Yao, for the first time in his life, favored a person.

If it wasn’t that their feelings were later discovered, maybe the both of them would have had a happy end…

However, the matter of Le Yao becoming fond of laughing and his diligence in going to Pusheng Lake, was witnessed by his father, the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

At that time, such a thing was undoubtedly forbidden…

—

“After that, he branded you with that bloodthirsty curse on your leg? And your limp in the last life was because of that?” Xu Yao squatted down in front of Le Yao and held his ankle. Although the ferocious curse had been eliminated by him, the thought of it made Le Yao sad for a long time, and it was still painful from time to time.

“It's because… I wanted to see you.” Le Yao bowed his head. Even after the passing of so many years, the sadness he felt had not decreased at all.

“We… have other children?”

“Un. My father was very angry when he found out about our relationship and always prevented me from finding you. He just locked me in my room and restricted me from going out. But later—”

Thinking of the situation at that time, Le Yao could not help but shiver. “But later, he found out that I had given you 90% of my spiritual power to help you leave Pusheng Lake without his permission, and he also found out about our child, so…”

“So, he sealed your memory and drove you out to the mortal world immediately.” Xu Yao directly stated his guess, and felt that his heart had been pulled apart. He held Le Yao in his arms tightly.

“Before… why didn’t you come?” Le Yao asked.

There was no complaint, but he just wanted an answer. When he had been locked up, he had endlessly been waiting for him to come and rescue him during all that time. He had given 90% of his spiritual power to Xu Yao, and with this amount, he should have been able to leave the lake easily.

But in the end, Xu Yao had never appeared, and he ended up having already been reborn as a human…

“I couldn’t go.” Xu Yao’s voice was muffled, and he never felt that it could be so hard to speak. “Do you know why I was originally imprisoned in the Pusheng Lake?”

Le Yao frowned slightly but shook his head.

He had also asked this question to his father, but the answer was always:

Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask!

His father was very strict. He could find out about lots of things, but he still hadn't managed to figure out Xu Yao's identity. He only knew Xu Yao as the Ghost King of Fengdu Mountain, and didn't know about his origins.

He felt strange when his father ordered him to lecture Xu Yao. He, as the Prince, had never given any special treatment to any ghost, but Xu Yao received it. And when he wanted to find out Xu Yao's identity, no one would tell him clearly.

“Every ghost confined in the Pusheng Lake comes from the realm of Heaven.” Xu Yao adjusted to a more comfortable posture so as to better embrace Le Yao and continued, “You were still young at that time, so you shouldn't have heard of it. The youngest son of the Jade Emperor was a bit… naughty.”

“Are you talking about yourself?” Le Yao asked.

“En. Your husband, I, was a prickly child when I was young, and I was kicked out by Father Emperor to reflect in the Underworld.

“But you also know what kind of a temper I have. If I think I’m right, it’s useless for anyone to say that I'm wrong. So I was sent to Pusheng Lake, but I never thought of purifying myself and returning to Heaven.

“If it wasn't for you, I really did think that the lake was a good place to stay. At least I would be free there and no one would dare to talk about what I should and shouldn't do.

"But you were there. And for the first time in my life, I wanted to leave. I wanted to take the child who never left the Underworld to see more beautiful places. I wanted to be nice to him, and I wanted him to see the other side of me. But, just like the Great Emperor of Fengdu knew that you had a relationship with me, my Father Emperor also found out that I had developed feelings for you. He thought that, if I was with you, I wouldn't go back to Heaven.”

“And then?” Le Yao asked.

“And then?” Xu Yao’s eyes suddenly turned cold, but his hand slowly rubbed Le Yao’s glands. “And then he used your life to threaten me into not leaving Pusheng Lake by even half a step before returning to Heaven. He sealed me up in Pusheng Lake and I stayed there for a very long time, not being able to leave until the last great catastrophe.”

He had accumulated more and more resentment against the Jade Emperor, so it was no wonder that he wasn't able to go out!

“Were you very anxious at that time?” Le Yao reached out to hug Xu Yao tighter.

“I don’t know why he knew that I wasn't able to let go and resolve my grievances, but there was no other way to leave Pusheng Lake at that time. I…” Xu Yao paused as he struggled to form the words in his mouth.

“Later, during the catastrophe, the realms of both Heaven and the Underworld tried their best to control the situation. All the gods and spirits were scattered, and I was the only one to remain.I think I should be their last hope. Also, thanks to the spiritual power you gave me, your father also chose to release me at the last moment. Maybe he also hoped that I would be able to find you…”

Le Yao was silent.

Although he had a long memory, his feelings for his father were still very complicated.

“Then you came to this era after the disaster. What about me? How did I get here after my previous life ended?” Le Yao asked in confusion.

“It should be due to the awakening of your spiritual power in my body. It's like a call to the Master.”

“Ah, that's right.” Le Yao reached out his hand and said, “Then, please return my spiritual power!”

“Didn't I return it already?”

“When?!”

“When I was plowing the land yesterday.” Xu Yao smiled, “But it’s not over yet. Let’s continue it tonight.”

Le Yao: “…”

He could only be speechless when faced with this kind of person, who was full of ideas from yellow-colored books. But, it was still better to talk about such things openly than for them to be repressed in the heart.

He poked the man that he was reluctant to let go of and said, “You still have many things to deal with, right? You’d better go and do your work.”

In the end, it was during a bright unblemished day that darkness had suddenly shrouded the skies, followed along with echoes of thunder; it had been anything but a normal day. He had better give an official statement.

Xu Yao said, “You promised me that you wouldn't be angry before I left, okay? I swear, I won’t ever let anyone take our children away.”

Le Yao hummed in affirmation.

“Also, what do you mean by steal? Look here.” Le Yao pointed to the little birthmark on their eldest son’s hand and said with a smile, “He is still here…”

After a moment of silence, Xu Yao finally understood what Le Yao meant and immediately became ecstatic. “You mean…”

Le Yao nodded. “Yes. He has the same soul as our child from that time. Father… he's not as bad as I thought.”

Maybe his father hadn't really wanted to confine him or take away his child. It might have been that he just couldn't oppose the Jade Emperor's order, so he could only send him to the Mortal realm. As for the child’s soul, he should have found a way to retain it.

Xu Yao couldn’t help but kiss Le Yao’s forehead heavily. “Great, it’s really great.”

“Yeah. Go, go. I'm going to take a good look at them.”

Xu Yao smiled and patted the incubator gently.

“Then Dad will head out first. I’ll see you in the evening.” He turned around and just when he was about to pass through the door, he said, “Baby, want to eat eggplant tonight?”

Le Yao nodded and laughed.

…

Frozenmirage: What's this, I just start feeling the sadness and then you suddenly stuffed me with dog foods… dog food everywhere (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Noks: The star-crossed lovers, separated by their families, reuniting after eons have passed… ah <3

The main story will be end on chapter 105, so,

5 more chapters to go