After the Gentle Immortal Lord's Crematorium

Ming Cui transmigrated.

Dragging around a frail, sickly body, she nearly ended up sold into a brothel, but luckily, she met a kindhearted man.

Rong Xueyi was the exalted sect master of an immortal sect, yet he was approachable and compassionate.

People called him an immortal banished from the heavens, whose robes remained untouched by worldly dust. He was a gentle immortal lord known as a living Bodhisattva, beloved by all.

He would spend half a month at a time in the pharmacy, braving the waves of heat that stung his eyes as he devoted himself to researching medicine to nourish her body.

When he returned from giving alms beneath the rising full moon, he would bring her the freshest, loveliest bouquet of lilies.

In the leisurely hours of the afternoon, he would guide her hand as she copied complicated talismans, teaching her how to use talisman arts to protect herself in the cultivation world.

He treated her wonderfully, caring for her with such thoughtfulness that nothing was ever overlooked.

For Ming Cui, falling in love with Rong Xueyi was as easy as a butterfly falling for spring blossoms.

She had never met anyone who treated her better than he did.

So when Rong Xueyi asked for her hand in marriage, Ming Cui happily said yes. But on their wedding day, what awaited her was a three-foot sword pressed against her throat.

Rong Xueyi wore the same gentle smile she knew so well. He bent down and held her tenderly. "Cuicui, it won't hurt..."

Her wedding robes grew even redder with blood. Only as Ming Cui's breath grew faint did she learn that he had wanted only her Bodhi body.

A Bodhi body could heal every illness, injury, and misfortune in the world.

Everything that had happened between them had been nothing but an act, a sham of false affection.

He had never liked her, let alone loved her.

When she opened her eyes again, Ming Cui quietly accepted that she had been given another life.

She bought a little courtyard, grew crops and raised chickens, basked in the sun, and treated people's ailments. Her days were peaceful and carefree.

Only now and then did she hear people say that the gentle immortal lord once praised by everyone had fallen into a feared fallen immortal, striking terror across the Eight Wastes. He climbed the Nine Heavens, entered the Demon Abyss, and stormed the City of Fengdu, doing every mad thing imaginable in a desperate bid to bring his beloved back to life.

In the depths of winter, snow piled on the roof until the green tiles collapsed. Ming Cui took a candle, wrapped a coat around herself, and stepped outside.

There she met him again.

Beneath the cool moonlight, the jade-like immortal lord stood with frost-white hair, carrying a coffin carved all over with lilies. A vermilion mark sat between his brows.

He stared fixedly at her silhouette, his hand hanging at his side trembling uncontrollably. "Cuicui..."

*

Rong Xueyi was born with a heart of stone, without feeling.

He had never imagined he would fall in love with anyone.

And yet he was the one who finally humbled himself, unwilling to let go, begging Cuicui to look at him just one more time.

[Reader's Guide]

1. One-on-one romance, happy ending.

2. A gentle, delicate, sickly beauty vs. an aloof immortal lord who follows the emotionless path. The male lead seems gentle on the surface, but is dark and twisted underneath, with an overpowering need for control. He looks down from on high in the early story, then later suffers from loving someone he cannot have.

3. My own take on cultivation, with lots of original worldbuilding. Every plot point serves the romance. An outrageously melodramatic hodgepodge, with a powerful man and a weak woman, a very old-school flavor, and a groveling-chase-after-the-wife arc. If any of that is a dealbreaker, hit the X and run for your life! If you're fine with all of it, welcome to the feast, keh keh keh!

Theme: Love life