It is the first half-demon since time immemorial, more beautiful than the flowers of the other shore, with a face like an ancient flower goddess. It appoints itself the Underworld Judge of the human realm, guiding the pitiful souls with cold bones and wicked flesh:
Human! Let me hold you!
You poor, hateful human. I want you to die in my arms.
On the northern bank of the Chang River, the Baixi army faces the Wujing army.
The half-demon joins the army in his father's place and faces a great general clad in Star-Yoking Radiance Armor.
The general drops his sword and breaks his armor, then swings his iron helmet, hammering the enemy general's iron face guard until the half-demon's flowerlike face is smashed into a red-meat pie beneath the metal.
The general of the southern kingdom is undefeated in battle, yet loyal to his beautiful, foolish young emperor:
"Surrender! Surrender! By order of Crown Prince Jin Mu, open the city gates! Surrender!"
The city falls, and the kingdom is destroyed.
Yet even death cannot make the general surrender.
The general crawls out of his grave, wearing ruined iron armor and carrying a sword without a scabbard at his waist. Alone, he heads east. Along the way, he unexpectedly rescues a beautiful young gentleman.
Later, the general wanders into a licentious shrine, where he is forced to wear a red gauze veil and confined in a flower house to await his many suitors. The young gentleman he saved comes to repay the favor and steal him away, even invoking his imperial surname.
The enemy kingdom's young royal grandson: "That's right, my surname is Li. The Chancellor of Jiangbei is my father. My family calls me Chacha, or sometimes Rotten Tea Leaves."
The unkillable great general: "My name is Chu Yang. I was born in a sheep pen."
Proud breastplate · flirts without realizing it · won't fall in love · general bottom
Demon flower without a heart · innocent yet wicked · god of love from the Yellow Springs · beauty top
An elaborate, vine-like "entanglement" of an avoidant type and an iron-wall defense
The demon plays at being human, pretending to be the Crown Prince, and asks the master of the Star-Yoking Radiance Armor:
"General, is the person you truly love me?"
The vines snicker in secret. Li Ming is confident that it will strip off the general's stubborn iron armor, hold Chu Yang's battered body close, and tell him:
"Don't be afraid. This is love. It won't hurt."
Don't fear that the waters of the Yellow Springs are too cold. They will wash away your life of bloodshed. You will be cleansed anew, like a newborn babe, and return with a smile to the eternal embrace of Houtu, the Mother Goddess...
Chu Yang finally understands: "You pretended to love me just so you could kill me?"
Chu Yang leaves and never looks back, taking with him the little flower they raised together...
Invisible vines follow the trail of Chu Yang's solitary departure. The roots belong to the earth, and every rooted, living thing upon it knows all:
I saw every muddy step you took on your way here. I saw the secret pain in your dreams. I saw your breathtaking eyes beneath that blood-red veil. I saw every part of you, and so I cannot remain unmoved. I absolutely cannot watch you die.
The half-demon takes the form of General Sheep and fights a peerless, vicious hound:
"That isn't death. It's love!"
The dog, who knows love better than anyone in the world, opens its hungry jaws:
"Swallow the moon, swallow the world, and swallow ourselves together!"
The false general clad in vine armor is torn to shreds by the starving hound.
Chu Yang returns, and that one flower is still growing in the flesh of his arm.
Chu Yang looks down coldly at the ignorant little demon:
"Do you want to sacrifice yourself for love and die a glorious death, too?"
"I don't. I won't remember you."
General Chu Yang pushes everyone away with scorn. He draws the divine-slaying sword, grips the Dragon-Moon Blood-Sky Halberd, dons the Star-Yoking Radiance Armor, and covers his face with a blood-red bridal veil, leaving only a pair of eyes so beautiful they defy the world...
"If the river of love had a color, it would be blood-red, just like the River of the Underworld."
The departed flow on like water, and the river of love runs forever. We journey together, kissing like fish.
Readers, rest assured, this has a happy ending.
Theme: Try the iron armor on like a wedding gown, and love all living beings as your own
