Ch 70: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

Under the distant Milky Way, the clear and cold moonlight fell on the empty palace.

The Weaver Girl lay slumped over her loom, her eyelashes fluttering slightly before she slowly opened her eyes.

Her gaze was filled with confusion. She stared blankly for a while before suddenly realizing something and rushed out of the palace.

What met her eyes was the silver ribbon-like Heavenly River, flowing from an unknown source to an unknown destination, with stars twinkling on either side.

There was no magpie bridge, and no Cowherd.

It was as if she had just woken from a dream.

The Weaver Girl looked down at her reflection in the water.

Though she was the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor, of noble status, she wore no ornaments in her hair, no makeup on her face, and was dressed in plain, drab clothing.

Yet, it was she who could weave the radiant clouds in the sky and the magnificent heavenly garments with her hands.

She had always believed this was her duty and loved weaving, her nature cold and aloof, preferring to sit alone in the great hall.

But it was laughable that her esteemed father, who ruled over the central heavens, had forgotten about this daughter of his for thousands of years. When he occasionally saw her during his inspections of the heavens, he thought only that she looked unkempt and brought shame to the heavenly court.

Acting on his own accord, he decided that his daughter was too lonely living alone by the Heavenly River, so he found her a husband—a cowherd from the west side of the Heavenly River.

The princess of the heavenly court, married to a cowherd who didn’t even have a divine title.

Her esteemed father thought this was a kindness to his daughter.

The Weaver Girl was not one to fight or argue. She knew she couldn’t resist her father’s will, so she married.

She thought she had been obedient enough, but it wasn’t enough for her father:

“Weaver Girl, it’s not right for you to neglect your weaving after marriage.”

The Heavenly Emperor had her forcibly brought back to the solitary hall, setting up a barrier over the Milky Way so that the Weaver Girl couldn’t cross and the Cowherd couldn’t come. The two of them could only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

This way, the Weaver Girl wouldn’t be distracted from her weaving.

The Weaver Girl found this laughable.

For the first time, the usually docile girl felt a desire to rebel and tried to escape.

—Of course, she was quickly caught and brought back.

The Heavenly Emperor believed that the Weaver Girl’s rebellion was due to her romantic entanglement with the Cowherd, so he kept an even stricter watch over the two of them.

But the Weaver Girl knew in her heart that she had only married because of the Emperor’s command; she had no real feelings for the gentle Cowherd.

Her rebellion was simply because she was tired of living like a puppet.

She refused to weave anymore and was confined in the hall to reflect, where she eventually drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, everything was different.

It was as if those past events had been nothing but a dream.

She was once again the cold and distant Weaver Girl by the Heavenly River, with no presence, forgotten by everyone in the heavenly court.

But the Weaver Girl laughed.

No matter the reason, she had been fortunate enough to receive the favor of fate, to awaken from a long dream and return to the past before all that absurdity had taken place. That was enough to make her happy.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached.

The Weaver Girl was startled. This place was in an extremely remote part of the Heavenly River, where she hadn’t seen a single immortal for hundreds of years, so how could there be footsteps?

She looked in the direction of the sound—

A figure dressed in green was walking slowly along the Heavenly River toward her.

The cold moonlight draped a layer of gauze over him, making his jade-like features appear even more ethereal and flawless. Even the celestial winds seemed to be captivated by his grace, lingering at the edges of his robes, swirling around him with elegance.

All the expectations mortals had of immortals could probably be realized in him.

The Weaver Girl used to think so too.

But now, just one look at this face made her feel disgusted.

Jiang Lin was also surprised.

Compared to the previous worlds he had traversed, he felt like he was ascending to more and more elite realms.

In the last world, it was one thing to be the son of some deity from an unknown myth, but at least he was still on earth.

Now, it was even more absurd—he had directly crossed into the heavenly court.

This world seemed to be one of those ancient mythological worlds where the Five Heavenly Emperors governed the heavens and the earth.

Among them, the most prominent and flamboyant was the Central Heavenly Court.

Jiang Lin’s identity in this world was that of a willow tree born at the highest point of the Nine Heavens, at the source of the Heavenly River. Born with an immortal essence, upon taking human form, he became a Daluo Golden Immortal, a title so revered that even ordinary immortals had to address him as “Immortal Lord.”

When he first learned this, he was puzzled. What did this have to do with being a malevolent monster?

The system swiftly delivered the complete storyline to him.

After reading it, Jiang Lin: …

Only then did he realize that this was the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

After finishing the story, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Weaver Girl.

A princess of the Heavenly Emperor, not only did she have to weave fabric all year round without a break, but she was also betrothed to a mere cowherd, a lowly immortal.

The Weaver Girl had been obedient enough—when told to marry, she married. But just when she hadn’t even enjoyed a couple of days of peace, the Heavenly Emperor dragged her back to continue weaving.

Even the daughters of ordinary families didn’t have it this hard. The Heavenly Emperor was truly absurd.

As a man with a daughter himself, Jiang Lin briefly imagined the situation with Qingluo in mind.

His expression immediately darkened, and he couldn’t help but curse, “The Heavenly Emperor is really no kind of man! A perfectly good daughter, and he doesn’t take proper care of her—what’s the point of having children then? Even beasts know to protect their offspring.”

As soon as these words left his mouth, a thunderclap boomed overhead.

The system quickly warned, “Host, watch your words! The Heavenly Emperor of this world is not someone you can insult lightly.”

Jiang Lin fell silent but continued cursing in his mind.

So why was this body, which should have had nothing to do with the story, getting involved?

It turned out that the original owner, Immortal Lord Liu, had an unsociable personality and often liked to stroll alone by the Heavenly River, where he had crossed paths with the Weaver Girl a few times.

Both were quiet by nature, and over time, they became familiar with each other and formed a bit of a bond.

When the Heavenly Emperor ordered the Weaver Girl to marry the Cowherd, she didn’t comply without resistance.

Her way of resisting was—hiding.

She didn’t have many friends and wasn’t close to her sisters, so after thinking it over, the only person she could turn to was Immortal Lord Liu.

Immortal Lord Liu’s residence was in an extremely secluded area of the Nine Heavens, and he was known for being unsociable, so no one would think to look for her there.

But who would have thought that this cold and aloof Immortal Lord Liu would end up betraying the Weaver Girl?

She was found and forced to marry the Cowherd.

As a result of this, Immortal Lord Liu was granted the privilege of unrestricted access to the Celestial Treasury.

The Weaver Girl’s disdain for him stemmed from this very incident.

But why was he considered a “malicious demon”?

Because later, Immortal Lord Liu became so engrossed in studying the celestial records in the treasury that he accidentally broke a glass lamp, which ignited a celestial fire, destroying many of the treasures within. In his fury, the Heavenly Emperor stripped him of his immortal bones and banished him to the mortal realm, where he was condemned as a demon.

Once in the mortal realm, filled with resentment, he gathered a group of demons, occupied a mountain, and did everything one would expect of a malicious demon.

Jiang Lin: “…Is that even possible?”

The system responded, “Why wouldn’t it be? Look at Journey to the West—Sha Seng just broke a lamp and suffered a terrible fate. You burned down more than half of Langhuan Library’s precious records. I think stripping you of your immortal bones and sentencing you to a hundred lifetimes of penance wouldn’t even align with the strict, rigid nature of this Central Heavenly Court.”

Jiang Lin sensed something odd in the system’s tone, as if it was quite familiar with this Central Heavenly Court.

However, as usual, the system logged off after speaking, never giving the host a chance to ask questions.

Jiang Lin snapped back to reality and noticed the way the Weaver Girl was looking at him.

He was puzzled: According to the timeline, the story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl hadn’t begun yet, and he and the Weaver Girl were still on good terms.

Why was she looking at him like that?

Jiang Lin kept his doubts to himself and greeted her with a smile, “Weaver Girl, I’m surprised to see you outside today. Have you finished weaving your cloud brocade?”

The Weaver Girl looked at him coldly. “That’s none of your concern.”

Jiang Lin: “?”

Something was off with this girl!

He wasn’t the type to get upset over such a remark, especially since she was a pitiful girl. He simply asked curiously, “Did I offend you recently?”

The Weaver Girl looked at him coldly, “Just because there’s nothing now doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future.”

That statement carried a lot of weight.

Jiang Lin scrutinized the Weaver Girl closely, noticing her indifferent expression and the deep, worldly weariness in her eyes.

This wasn’t the look of someone who had spent years solely focused on weaving.

Perhaps because he had experienced so many crossings between worlds, Jiang Lin’s thinking was bolder. A suspicion immediately arose in his mind: Could this Weaver Girl have been reborn?

As he thought this, he simply expressed his surprise, “In the future? Then I guess I’ll be caught in a disaster for no reason.”

As he said this, he seemingly mentioned in passing, “I just passed by the west side of the Heavenly River and saw a little immortal tending to some cows…”

He paused, watching as the Weaver Girl’s expression changed.

She looked at him coldly, “What cowherd?”

Jiang Lin displayed just the right amount of surprise, “Just a little immortal tending to cows, nothing particularly remarkable about him, so I didn’t pay much attention. Do you know him?”

The Weaver Girl, who had been tense, relaxed slightly and said firmly, “No, I don’t!”

With that reaction, Jiang Lin was almost certain that the Weaver Girl had indeed been reborn.

And from the way she reacted to the mention of the Cowherd, it was clear she had little affection for him.

It seemed that this unfortunate princess of the heavenly court held some resentment toward her fate.

That was understandable—after all, the Weaver Girl was an immortal, not a saint. How could she not harbor some bitterness after going through such experiences?

Jiang Lin sighed inwardly, empathizing with her current state of mind.

He smiled and said, “It’s rare to see you outside. Why aren’t you weaving?”

The Weaver Girl glanced at him, thinking that he was unusually talkative today, much more approachable than usual.

In the past, they had never pried into each other’s affairs.

But having just been reborn, she felt a well of unresolved anger within her, making it difficult to remain calm.

With a hint of sarcasm in her tone, she replied, “Weaving? Weave what? Clouds to amaze mortals with their beauty? Heavenly garments for others to wear? What’s in it for me?”

“Then why don’t you weave yourself a beautiful outfit?” Jiang Lin countered.

The Weaver Girl was taken aback.

Jiang Lin looked at her with a calm gaze, “You are the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor, of noble birth, and your beauty is no less than any other immortal. Why not weave yourself a stunning dress?”