The Lotus Lantern: The Sun Will Never Set

[Haoze, the aloof and noble Little Golden Crow × Gu Yangsheng, a beautiful and kind disciple of the Chan Sect | Some angst]

Gu Yangsheng is the precious love of the Little Golden Crow’s life, cherished and tenderly protected by him.

The two pledged themselves to each other on a mountain in the mortal realm, where flowers bloomed across the slopes.

Their days were radiant, until one day the heavens were dyed red with blood.

Like a sky swallowed by dark clouds, tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers came to capture them.

“Why? Why? Eldest Brother, Ninth Brother, I’m the one who broke the heavenly laws! Why kill Shengsheng? I hate you!”

The Little Golden Crow dropped to his knees in despair, his beloved growing cold in his arms.

His eyes blazed red with surging hatred.

He looked up at his two elder brothers, seated high above him. Overcome with rage, he spat up a mouthful of blood and collapsed unconscious.

-

When they meet again,

Gu Yangsheng looks no older than a seven- or eight-year-old child from the mortal realm.

The little girl sits on his lap, looking utterly aggrieved.

“I missed you so much.”

He wraps his arms around his beloved, his eyes glistening, and comforts her again and again.

“Don’t cry, Shengsheng. Don’t cry. I’m here.”

Whether it is the Ruoshui River running rampant through the mortal world or the Great Cataclysm of the Investiture of the Gods sweeping across the land,

for her, he is willing to fall a thousand, ten thousand times over.

Whatever she wants to do, he will do it by her side, clearing the road ahead for her.

And so, once everything is settled, he marries her in a grand wedding procession, with all the proper rites.

With all their friends and family there to witness, he marries the woman he loves.

“I want to hold your hand, with all the gods and Buddhas in heaven as witnesses. You are the only wife I will ever have.”

[Heavenly laws cannot kill true love, nor can they stop love from flourishing.]