For those of you who read my Princess Agents translation, you know the drill. I don’t attempt to translate the novel word by word so expect lots of omissions (especially on parts that don’t involve our leads directly), and some summaries at parts. In short, I really only translate stuff that interests me.

Character Names:
Hua Qiangu: The last remaining god of the world. Born with a unique scent of flowers that attracts demons to her, Qiangu (The bones of flowers) gets her name because her birth caused all the flowers around her to wilt. Joining the heavenly sect Changliu (Head by immortals who feel it is their duty to protect the world.), our heroine who had grown up being feared and shunned by everyone finally gets the family and friendship she dreamed of. Overjoyed to become the only disciple of the great immortal Bai Zi Hua, our heroine grows up idolizing her master…until fate and the shame of falling in love with her own master destroy everything she loved.
Bai Zihua: The head of Changliu sect, our hero is the protector of the six realms (the whole world) and will continue to be as long as he follows his master’s dying warning to kill off his “fated calamity”. Mindful of his master’s dying warning, Bai Zihua had fully intended to kill Qiangu who turns out to be his fated calamity but ended up changing his mind once he meets her and realizes that she is a just a little girl with a kind heart. At first assuming that he would never see Qiangu ever again, Bai Zihua was mildly surprised to see her again at Changliu. Confident that he who has cleansed himself of all unwanted emotions could ever be shaken by our heroine, Bai Zihua takes Qiangu on as his one and only disciple.
Mo Yan: Hero’s senior who believes that nothing should be allowed to stay in the way of their duty of protecting the six realms. Mindful of his master’s prediction that our hero is THE one to guarantee the peace of the world, Mo Yan is very protective of Zihua and hates anything (namely our heroine) that would endanger our hero.
Zhu Ran: Mo Yan’s disciple who was kicked out of Changliu. Zhu Ran is actually Mo Yan’s son and joined Changliu to seek revenge against his father who killed his mother once he found out she belonged to Qi Sha Dian.
Sha Qianmo: The leader of Qi Sha Dian, the demon sect. Because of his beauty, little Qiangu mistakenly thought he was a she, so the most feared villain of the land became our heroine’s Sister Sha. Very protective of Qiangu, Sha Qianmo was hurt while trying to protect our heroine and ended up being put into a ice block in order to keep him alive.

The drama’s ending was pretty rushed and skipped over some I thought was pretty important stuff so I am going to backtrack a bit to cover some of that.

Some clarification about the big catalyst that transformed our heroine into the evil goddess. (This would be episode 48 in the show.) In the show Qiangu was imprisoned (after she watched several people close to her killed right in front of her eyes.) by our hero in some sort of manor but in the novel she was actually imprisoned in the depth of the sea for 16 years. Quite content to just spend the rest of her life imprisoned in the depth of sea so no one can’t hurt her and she can’t hurt anyone else, Qiangu’s peace comes to an abrupt stop when Tang Bo (the cute silk worm in the show that called her mama) tried to rescue her and was killed by Ni Mantian (heroine’s nemesis from Changliu).

The pain of losing Tang Bo was the last straw for our heroine that led to her transformation into the evil goddess. In the show, Luo Shiyi (a gentle senior at Changliu who loved Tang Bo and had promised our heroine to take care of her) died accidentally from the impact of Qiangu’s transformation but in the novel he was actually killed personally by our heroine.
“Luo Shiyi.” Her hollow voice reverberated with a coldness that belies the ethereal beauty that doesn’t belong on this earth, Qiangu’s softly asks “Tang Bo hates being alone. She would be lonely if someone is not there to take care of her. Since she loves you so much then would you go and keep her company?”
Nodding with a smile, Luo Shiyi closes his eyes serenely as a small flower flies out from Qiangu’s fingertip and dissolves his body in a million green tiny flowers the moment it touches his body.

In the show, Zihua was just severely hurt because our heroine had broken off the seal he had placed on her to keep her imprisoned but in the novel he was actually hurt so badly that he lost his body of immortality and became human.

His heart breaking as Qiangu leaves without a backward glance after declaring that she is severing all ties between them, Zihua yells with a shaking voice “Xia Gu!” Yes, it is his fault for failing to protect Tang Bo. It is his fault for letting her suffer so much. But is she really going to cut off everyone after all these death and betrayal? Reaching out a desperate hand to hold onto her but Zihua could do nothing as blood continues to escape from his mouth. The whole world had abandoned her so she is going to abandon everyone. This world no longer has anything worth cherishing for her. Her heart has turned to ash along with Tang Bo’s death. He is deeply aware of everything she had done for him. She cooked for him. She fed him her blood. She stole the heavenly weapon to save him. She meekly accepted punishment and was exiled for him. She suffered indescribable pain for him. And at last…she said that the temple bell (the symbol of her being his disciple) is destroyed and they have nothing to do with one another.
“Xi Gu…don’t…” Don’t leave me.
He had thought everything he did was right, but they were all terrible mistakes! He had pushed Qiangu to become the evil goddess and he had destroyed what was between them.
He had imprisoned her for 16 years so he too had stayed imprisoned along with her. He couldn’t tell if it was to atone himself or was it just for being able to watch her from afar. He had thought they would stay like this forever and ever. But now, it is too late…

Time jump to a year later.

  • Desperate to hold onto any hope that she could still resurrect Tang Bo somehow, Qiangu becomes the head of Qi Sha Dian after Zhu Ran tells her that he has a way to make her wish come true. The method Zhu Ran suggested is actually very cruel since it requires killing a thousand people but by this point, Qiangu cares for nothing but to bring Tang Bo back. (Of course the writer didn’t quite go that far with our heroine.The thousand people can’t be just normal human beings so Zhu Ran will have to teach a thousand children to become really tough demons before their sacrifice will be of any use which will take a long long time. I think deep down, Qiangu doesn’t really believe Zhu Ran’s method would work so it was something to fool herself for the time being.)
  • Thanks to having an all powerful goddess as his boss, Zhu Ran wrecks havoc on the six realms with the goal that in the not too distant future, the demons will control the whole world. Uncaring of the pain and suffering Zhu Ran is creating, Qiangu shows little interest in Zhu Ran grand revenge plan as long as he keeps his end of the bargain with her.
  • Despite knowing how powerful Qiangu is, it doesn’t stop the endless wave of assassination attempts on our heroine’s life since her death seems to be the only way the world will have peace again. However, our heroine as the evil goddess is truly unbeatable since she can create (including her own body) and destroy anything at will.
  • Being all powerful, Qiangu could’ve healed and wakened Sha Qianmo at will but she chose not to. Too ashamed to show her precious Sister Sha what a monster she became, Qiangu just couldn’t bring herself to face the disappointment that she might see in Sha Qianmo’s eyes. “Older sister, keep sleeping on. Just think of it as having a nice long dream where I will still be that innocent child to you. I promise I will wake you up…on the day I die…”

I am picking up from the scene in episode 49 where Zihua voluntarily goes to Qi Sha Dian, ends up being tied to a post, and has a conversation with our heroine after she wakes up from her nap. (By the way, in the show it always comes off like Zhu Ran had some sinister plan by bringing Zihua to Qiangu but that’s not the case in the novel. Zhu Ran is perhaps the person that understands Qiangu the most because his own heart has turned to stone just like hers. Zhu Ran remembers the kind innocent Qiangu he used to know so while he is determined to keep going on his path of self destruction, he wants a different ending for our heroine. Zhu Ran is by no mean a good guy but he is the only one who understands our heroine right now and knows the right way to help her.)

“Leave now, while I still haven’t changed my mind and decide to kill you instead.”
Promptly shaking his head, Zihua knew that compare to standing by and watching her kill he would rather die by her hand if that could ease even a tiny particle of her pain.
Grabbing his shirt with her fist, Qiangu demands “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare to kill you? Or…that I couldn’t bear to?”
With a laugh of self derision, Zihua thought “What wouldn’t she dare to do now that she has all power? He is here because he still believes that no matter how she changed, in the end she is still that innocent and kind child. It might be foolishness but he wants to believe that she is just too angry with him and is throwing a tantrum. He wants to believe that everything could still go back to the way it was if he just soothes away her anger.”
Attempting to reason with his pupil, Zihua says “You can’t change who you are. You hate killing. If you force yourself to kill, you are just making yourself suffer. Now that you have the power to control everything, then why don’t you let the past go?”
With a sneer, Qiangu replies “Who was it that kept telling me that no matter what the reason is, a mistake is a mistake? Am I just going to forget Tang Bo and everyone else’s death? I should just let bygones be bygones? Bai Zihua, are you here to atone yourself? Or are you here to redeem me? If it is to atone, then there is no need. I told you already that you don’t owe me anything. I deserved it. If you are here to redeem me, then that’s laughable. Did you think there is a chance I could still go back at this point? However…”

Taking a sudden step towards Zihua until her face is almost touching his and her deep violet eyes are seemingly staring right into his soul, Qiangu mutter suggestively “Unless you want to stay and be my toy, then I don’t mind that at all.”
Almost suffocating from the intensity of the flower fragrance that overwhelmed him, Zihua has no place to retreat even as her low hypnotizing murmur sends tingles through his body.
Feeling a flash of anger when Zihua simply looks back at her with calm fearless eyes and replies “You won’t.” Qiangu promptly ripes open the front of his shirt, exposing his skin to the cold freezing air.
“Bai Zihua, you know of my feelings for you so don’t challenge my limit. I have no patience for you anymore so don’t push me.” Don’t force me to hurt you, not when I still have a sliver of conscience left.

Disgusted by Zihua’s answering silence and expression of pity, Qiangu grabs his chin with one hand while her other hand slowly reaches through the torn fabric to trace from his perfect collarbone and makes its way downward.
Standing perfectly still, Zihua finally couldn’t help himself but closes his eyes to hide the emotions in them as that familiar yet foreign feeling hand slowly rests on his chest. With a long sigh, Zihua says “You still haven’t grown up.”
Strangely comforted by her outburst of anger that chased away the scary deathly coldness in her, Zihua is content with the proof that she still cares about him.
With a raise of an eyebrow, Qiangu slowly pulls her hand away. Without his immortal body, Bai Zihua’s heart is nonetheless still as hard as ice. To him, his physical body is nothing but a temporal existence that will fade away with time. Trying to rattle him physically is meaningless and will only agitate herself.
Without another word, Qiangu walks away, leaving Zihua alone in the big empty room.

In the show, Zihua looked disgusted and shocked by Qiangu’s behavior but in the novel that’s not the case because even at this point, our dense hero still has no clue that he is in love with our heroine but instead sees her as a child trying to vent her anger. So, while he is a bit uncomfortable in this scene but to Zihua, Qiangu is more like a child trying to act all grown up. The show rushed to the ending which was a real shame because the next bit is where our hero finally figures out his own feelings and also give reasons why our hero was so clueless. I know some of you might be eager to read the epilogue, but I feel the next couple chapters are vital to understanding our hero (especially since it sometimes feel like our heroine should choose ANYONE else rather than our hero) and get a more clear picture of what our heroine is feeling at this point. 

———————————————————————–4/18/2018———————————————————

After a rather upsetting conversation with Zhu Ran where he reminds her that Dong Fang obviously had his own secret agenda when he approached her, Qiangu cries as she stares at the drawing of herself with Dong Fang and Tang Bo as she tries to convince herself that it doesn’t matter what Dong Fang’s true agenda was as long as he loved her. (Dong Fang is the second male lead, the all knowing mysterious man who gave Tang Bo to our heroine. He died while protecting Qiangu. Dong Fang retains his memory through each reincarnation but the price is that he can’t live past the age of 25 in each of his lives. Dong Fang had approached our heroine with the intention of using her to bring about Zihua’s downfall but he ends up falling in love with her.)  
Dazed as he opens his eyes to find a blanket on himself, Zihua looks up at Qiangu and could tell right away by the unusual vibration in the air that her emotions are in turmoil.
“Xia Gu.”
Swallowing the rest of his words when an expressionless Qiangu slowly walks over to him, wraps one hand around his waist while the other hand dances across his chest, our somewhat flustered hero asks “Xia Gu, what’s wrong?”
Without replying, Qiangu traces her lips across Zihua’s collarbone sending numbing sensations through his body. Before he can react, Zihua feels a sharp pain on his neck as the aroma of blood fills the air. Frowning slightly but making no move to struggle, Zihua leans his head back as he feels the dizziness that comes with blood leaving his body and thought “Ah, is that how Xia Gu felt when I was drinking her blood to live? This is…karma I suppose.”

Greedily drinking in the blood that tastes like heavenly dew, Qiangu tightens her arms around Zihua and thought “Is this what it tasted like? No wonder he couldn’t resist my blood back then.” Losing all track of time as she swallows with abandonment, Qiangu finally raises her head when she feels Zihua slumping, losing strength to the point of passing out. Reaching out her hand to instantly stop the bleeding so the only thing left is two little teeth marks, a still unsatisfied Qiangu leans forward and laps up the blood that had dripped down Zihua’s chest with her tongue. Frowning slightly when Zihua suddenly falls forward, Qiangu catches him, laid him down on the bed, and transfers some of her energy force to him.

Waking up to see Qiangu sitting on the bed looking at him with a complex expression, Zihua lets out a long sigh and closes his eyes.
“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?”
A bowl of steaming hot peach blossom porridge appearing instantaneously in her hand, Qiangu slowly helps Zihua sits up on the bed. Opening her mouth to say something…anything, but Qiangu finally gives up with the realization that there is nothing to be said and just silently feeds Zihua.
Used to her unpredictable mood swings by now, Zihua takes a sip of the porridge and swallow it along with the bitter longing for what used to be.
Noticing the slight shaking of Zihua’s body, Qiangu knows that he must be hurting after losing so much blood and considered briefly about restoring his immortal body but then quickly dismissed the idea.

Zhu Ran’s voice suddenly sounds “Goddess, we have captured three hundred people who were attempting to rescue our prisoners (Ni Mantian and Mo Yan).”
Raising an eyebrow, Qiangu wonders what Zhu Ran is up to since he has always taken care of things like this on his own. Left to her usual self, she would’ve impatiently tell Zhu Ran to figure it out himself but this time, she simply said “Kill.”
Grabbing Qiangu’s hand in a flash, Zihua growls “Don’t kill anymore!”
Anger mixed in with a hint of bitterness rising in her heart as she stares at the man who somehow managed to make a plea sound like an order while looking so pure, Qiangu lets out a laugh that sends a chill down Zihua’s back.
With a hollow voice mixed in with a hint of teasing, Qiangu asks “What if I let go of one person for each night you sleep with me?”
In the eerie silence that followed, Zihua stares into Qiangu’s eyes seemingly trying to figure out if she is joking. Giving up when Qiangu just stares back at him with a fake smile, Zihua replies “Alright. I agree. Don’t kill anymore.”
An expression of mockery flashing through Qiangu’s eyes. If it wasn’t for the fact that she knows Zihua so well and she knows his real purpose for coming, she would really have thought he was here on a mission for someone.
“Don’t push it. I have already said that I will only let one person go for each night.”

Eavesdropping right outside the door, Zhu Ran shakes his head with a laugh. On the surface, it looks like Bai Zihua is the one at a disadvantage but when has the great Bai Zihua ever lost? In front of him, Hua Ziangu is forever a child. He really can’t understand why women are always so vulnerable in front of love. Oh, well. Qiangu needs something to entertain herself during the seemingly endless wait for Tang Bo to come back. As for himself…he just needs to focus all of his energy on conquering the six realms.

——————————————————————-

There are a lot of guards placed around Cloud Palace (where Qiangu lives) but there are always the fearless ones that dream of becoming a hero and comes on the suicidal mission to kill our heroine. However, within the inner chamber of the palace where Qiangu spends most of her day is a vast space of emptiness without a single guard. As a god, Qiangu’s five senses is thousand times better than everyone else around her so she is bothered by the slightest sound.

Unwilling to remember the past and without any fervor in the endless tomorrows that awaits her, Qiangu can’t find anything that interests her even if she can accomplish anything and everything. With a body that can’t be killed and can heal itself instantly no matter how badly it is hurt, Qiangu doesn’t even bother to guard against the never ending assassination attempts. Qiangu had wondered if she should end her zombie like existence by letting herself fall into a deep frozen sleep like Sha Qian Mo until the time Tang Bo is resurrected but she doesn’t dare to risk the chance that something could go wrong (her plan of bringing Tang Bo back) while she is in a slumber.

In truth, she really doesn’t hate this world nor resent it. She just doesn’t care anymore. She is no saint and she is not noble like Bai Zihua. After so much loss and hurt, the only thing she could make her despairing self stronger is to close off her heart. Or perhaps unconsciously, deep within her heart there is hatred against the fact that Bai Zihua would again and again for the sake of the world push her to the point of no return. But, in the end, she still hasn’t learned how to hit back nor is she in any mood to start learning so she just ignored her body and her heart until they are numb like a dead sea.

With the arrival of Bai Zihua things around Cloud Palace did change a little. In the beginning, she wondered at herself for allowing Bai Zihua to stay by her side when she knows very well that she has no plan to seek revenge or harm him. Does she love him too much and is unable to let go? Is she too lonely and miss his warmth? Or is she too aware of her own filthiness that she craves his purity? Eventually, she subconsciously understood that she was just curious how exactly he is going to kill her. She is so tired of living without any feelings or emotions. If there is an end to this tiring existence, then she is only willing to die by his hand.

Slightly panicked by the all knowing self derision he sees in her eyes and pained by the waves of hopelessness hidden in them, Zihua wonders what she sees in the future. She is a god so she can see all things but none of it matters to her anymore. When he was still an immortal, Zihua rarely tried to see into his or someone else’ fate. He had always thought everything was within his control…but now, he wants to know what the end is going to be. Even if nothing will change his mind or what he believes to be the right thing to do, he still wants to be certain that he really won’t regret it.

Sitting on the bed early next morning, Zihua is not surprised that Qiangu never came the night before even if she had said the shocking thing of letting a person go for each night he spends with her. If Mo Yan (hero’s senior) had heard what Qiangu had said he would’ve been furious. But Zihua knew Qiangu too well. Or perhaps he trusts her too much. This child has always been such a softie yet stubborn at the same time. He truly would’ve preferred if she took her revenge against him. Perhaps that would’ve made him feel just a tad bit at ease but instead, even to this day, she has never uttered one single word of complaint.

Stepping outside of his room, Zihua walks out to a freezing temperature even though it should be the middle of a hot summer. Ever since the seal on the demon goddess was broken, this world has been torn apart by war and natural disasters. The mortal realm is littered with dead bodies everywhere…

He has no choice at all.

 

I am only going to put two translation posts in one (it gets too bogged down otherwise), so next week’s translation will be a new post. 

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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