Even the Gods Refuse Overtime

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My upcoming novel, As the Green Mountains Are, is currently being serialized. Please add it to your reading list!

The Gods Refuse to Work Overtime

As one of the children of the gods and an heir to one of the five great families of the Xuan Sect, Shang Tingyu refuses to work overtime.

He's already been working overtime for ages to maintain world peace and the stability of the universe.

But just as he was about to finish his current mission and head home for some rest, another complication arose.

Yet another chuuni Demon King wanted to destroy the world.

Luckily, Heaven was kind enough to send Shang Tingyu an ancient god.

This god was named Jiyu. He was handsome, gentle, powerful, fair-faced, black-hearted, and full of schemes.

Shang Tingyu: Heaven's not so bad, I guess. What are you the god of?

Jiyu: I'm Heaven.

Shang Tingyu: ...

Shang Tingyu: How about a deal? Go back to sleep.

Jiyu: Why? I can help share your workload.

Shang Tingyu: But you're the reason I have to work overtime.

Jiyu: Then you may never get rid of me for the rest of your life.

Some time later:

Jiyu: Want to go on a blind date, Tingyu? My family is pressuring me to get married. I hope yours is too.

Shang Tingyu: Haven't we been together for ages already?

Jiyu: Then could you take some wedding leave so we can find time to register our marriage?

Shang Tingyu: If you defeat the Demon King who's kept me working overtime all this time, I'll hire five hundred construction crews on the spot to build you an immortal palace as our wedding home. And on our wedding day, I'll have the lion spirit perform a lion dance and the suona spirit play the music.

Five minutes later, Jiyu returned with the Demon King by the scruff of his neck. "Your betrothal gift."

A sly, gentle, unruffled top (Jiyu) x a stoic, sharp-tongued, witty beauty of a bottom (Shang Tingyu).

Currently serializing: As the Green Mountains Are

The Immortal Lord Xiyun is admired by the Three Realms. He's beautiful, aloof, and powerful. Aside from the faction of the Heavenly Emperor, who fears his achievements might overshadow their own, everyone loves him.

Countless people pursue him, but Xiyun remains as unmoving as an iceberg. Just as everyone assumes he'll spend his life alone, the Demon Lord Canghan drops from the sky and carries him off home.

In the ghost city, vengeful spirits howl and blood fills the air. Yet Canghan seems to stand amid peach blossoms, fingers interlaced with Xiyun's, smiling warmly as he says:

"Three hundred years ago, the Immortal Lord and I hit it off at first sight and traveled together. Then we became enemies and crossed swords. After three hundred years of secluded cultivation, cut off from the world, has your heart finally found peace?"

Xiyun gazes back quietly. The prophecy of his fate wells up once more, and countless nightmares descend upon him.

"In this life, I will never speak of love with the Demon Lord."

Then heaven and earth turn upside down, and calamity engulfs the Three Realms. Xiyun breaks his promise, and Canghan gets his wish. Their fates foretell a painful parting, but even if their souls are scattered, they insist on going together, wherever that may lead.

Later, when all is calm and the two have retired from the world, someone asks Canghan how he managed to melt the ice into spring water and make snow give way to flowers. Canghan only smiles. "You need thick skin, a deep understanding of what they want, and the courage to follow your heart. Your beloved also has to be soft-hearted."

I find the green mountains so enchanting; surely the green mountains see me the same way.

He and he, 1v1.

A carefree, outwardly irreverent but inwardly scheming troublemaker of a Demon Lord who acts like a green tea fox x a cool and reserved Immortal Lord, aloof on the outside but deeply affectionate and kind-hearted within, with the world in his heart (Canghan x Xiyun).

Content warning: angst, misunderstandings, melodrama, and twists. If any of this makes you uncomfortable, please consider whether you want to continue reading.

Theme: Braving the wind and waves, charging forward without hesitation.