Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 164

Hold Your Hand and Grow Old With You (Last Chapter)

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Three days later, General Xuan Hall.

Xuan Long had bathed and gone to bed early, as tomorrow was the day of his wedding to Yan Yuan.

As they had already been married once before and their child was already so old, they did not intend to make it too grand, simply going through the formalities and renewing their love contract in the presence of Si Shen.

He had nothing to worry about, as Ye Ling Shenjun had taken care of the banquet and the guests, but when he thought that he and Yan Yuan were about to renew their love contract and become an immortal couple, he tossed and turned and could hardly sleep. It was too good to be true, so good that he thought it was just a dream that would last forever.

Perhaps he would wake up in the morning and find himself still lying in that little bamboo building, silent and alone for many years.

As his thoughts wandered into the middle of the night, his body's exhaustion forced him to stop thinking. He was about to drift off to sleep when he felt a cool breeze behind him, followed by the familiar fluctuation of spiritual energy. He came to his senses and braced himself to look, and saw Yan Yuan appearing.

In the faint candlelight, Yan Yuan was wearing a white tunic, with his raven-black hair hanging down to his waist, and his feet were bare.

"Why are you..." Xuan Long was surprised, but before he could finish his sentence, Yan Yuan rushed forward, got under the covers and hugged him. Xuan Long was held tightly in his arms, so tight that it hurt a little. Feeling Yan Yuan's uneasiness, his hand gently climbed up Yan Yuan's back and he asked, "What's wrong?..."

"... I can't sleep, I'm afraid I'm dreaming, I'll feel at ease when I hold you." Yan Yuan said.

The two were in the same state of mind.

There was a custom among the gods that a couple must not see each other the day before the wedding, but they couldn't care less now, they had even disobeyed the Heavenly Way, so there was no need to fear breaking this custom.

Yan Yuan's kiss fell on Xuan Long's forehead, then over the bridge of his nose, the tip of his nose, and finally on his lips. His palm clasped the back of Xuan Long's neck and he kissed him heavily. Xuan Long opened his lips and allowed Yan Yuan to enter, closing his eyes and greeting him with his warm tongue. The tangled breaths of the two men grew heavier.

An hour later, Yan Yuan carried Xuan Long to the bathing pool at the back of the mountain. Xuan Long leaned into his arms, his heart already much calmer.

Dressed in a white robe, Yan Yuan stepped into the bath surrounded by immortal energy. With every step he took, his clothes became transparent inch by inch until they disappeared. He submerged himself in the warm water with Xuan Long in his arms and kissed the corner of his forehead: "Are you tired?"

Xuan Long opened his half-closed eyes and shook his head slightly, "Not yet."

Yan Yuan let out a low laugh, "Then let's do it again?"

Before Xuan Long could respond, he was pressed against the wall of the pool and changed his position to hold on, "Hmmm..."

For fear that Xuan Long had just recovered from his injuries, he did not dare to play too hard. After bathing, Yan Yuan wrapped him in a clean robe and carried him back to General Xuan Hall. He placed Xuan Long on the edge of the bed, conjured up some white silk and wiped his long hair until it was half dry, and then used his spiritual power to finish drying it.

It would have been possible to directly use spiritual energy, but Yan Yuan loved to do what only a mortal couple would do with Xuan Long. They had wasted over a hundred thousand years and were finally reunited, so even if they did something trivial together, their hearts felt filled.

Afterwards, the two of them lay down on the bed, Yan Yuan rested one hand under Xuan Long's neck and the other around Xuan Long's waist, completely encircling the person in his arms. A cold scent surrounded his nose, and Yan Yuan, for an unknown reason, suddenly burst out laughing.

Xuan Long was puzzled and asked him what was wrong.

Yan Yuan's forehead rested against the corner of Xuan Long's forehead, and his warm breath poured into Xuan Long's ear as he spoke, with a smile on his face: "Do you still remember, the night before our wedding last time, I couldn't help but come to you like today, without waiting for the auspicious time to arrive, like a worthless brat."

"En." Xuan Long curled his lips, "I remember."

Yan Yuan: "I don't seem to have grown much over the years, it's been a hundred and eighty thousand years, the children have become adults, and they're still the same."

"You won't laugh at me, will you..."

Xuan Long shook his head, "How could I?"

Yan Yuan's kiss landed on his cheek, and with his lips pressed against his cheek he said, "In the matter of loving you, I never want to grow up, I am only willing to step back and be an ignorant and fearless brave man, never looking back and always going forward."

"A'Po, I love you."

"I love you."

Yan Yuan tightened his arms, as if he wanted to pull Xuan Long into his body. Xuan Long turned around and hugged him back, his face buried against his heart, and his low, muffled voice came over his heart.

"I am the same as you."

"Never looking back and always going forward."

Since he had already broken the rules, Yan Yuan did not intend to sneak back to his chambers like a thief before dawn, as he had done a hundred and eighty thousand years ago. This time, he would take Xuan Long by the hand and walk over at the auspicious time, not wanting to wait a moment longer.

However, once the two of them were dressed in their big red wedding robes, Yan Yuan changed his mind again and picked the man up as he was about to step out of the doorway, holding Xuan Long's hand in his arms.

Xuan Long gasped and instinctively wrapped his arms around Yan Yuan's neck. He caught a glimpse of Ye Ling and Yan Jing waiting outside the door, followed by a group of gods and fairies.

He was too thin-skinned and struggled to get down, but Yan Yuan held him extra tightly and he said in a muffled voice, "What are you doing...?"

Yan Yuan smiled and said in a voice that only two people could hear: "In the mortal world, the groom has to carry his bride to the palanquin for the wedding. Today you are my new bride, and there is no palanquin here, so I will carry you with me. In case I'm walking and I accidentally let go of your hand on the way, I'm silly and won't be able to find you if you mix into the crowd, so this time I'll have to hold on to you, hold you firmly and carry you in my arms so I don't lose you."

Ye Ling and Yan Jing froze at the sight, but quickly returned to normal, their faces beaming with joy. The crowd of gods did the same.

"The auspicious time has arrived, it is the right time to head out." Ye Ling laughed.

Yan Yuan carried the person he cherished most in his life, followed by a crowd of immortal gods in uniform behind him, and walked step by step towards the Temple of Gods.

It had been snowing heavily for several days and the snow outside was quite thick. Yan Yuan walked at a leisurely pace without disturbing the person in his arms at all, and when he arrived outside the Temple of Gods, he put the person in his arms down and said solemnly, "A'Po, we are here."

Beneath the towering sacred tree wrapped in silver, Si Shen, dressed in black fur and holding a wooden book, stood beside the Three Lives Stone and opened the book in his hand, the contents of which were a marriage petition that Yan Yuan had drawn with his heart's blood.

Si Shen announced the start of the ceremony and under the eyes of the gods, he read out the marriage certificate.

"Heavenly Way, today Purple Star Yuan Jun wishes to enter into a love contract with General Xuan Long and become an immortal couple... A couple that has been languishing for more than a hundred and eighty thousand years, punished by Heaven and separated by life and death, but they still have no regrets..."

The marriage petition should have been prepared by Si Shen, but Yan Yuan was afraid that if the Heavenly Way saw that he was not sincere enough, it would withdraw the divine decree. This morning, when Xuan Long was not awake, he took the marriage petition from Si Shen and redrafted the words on it several times with the blood of his heart.

If a couple who are recognised by the Heavenly Way entered into a love contract here, the white Three Lives Stone will emit a soft glow for a few moments after the completion of the contract, signalling that the couple in front of the Three Lives Stone can officially begin the marriage ceremony.

When Yan Yuan and Xuan Long formed their marriage contract here a hundred and eighty thousand years ago, they had made a similar petition, and when the stone did not respond to the reading of the petition, that was the answer from Heaven. But Yan Yuan was still bent on forcing his love contract with Xuan Long.

It was reasonable to say that if the Heavenly Way sent down a divine decree, and Yan Yuan fulfilled it in accordance with the Heavenly Way's will and cultivated a complete soul and body in that iris, and that Xuan Long also withstood the test, and that there was no change of heart, then this marriage ceremony should be no different from the marriage ceremony of those immortal couples who are destined to be together, but after the proclamation, the Three Lives Stone was slow to respond...

The scene from a hundred and eighty thousand years ago was repeated today, and the gods watching the ceremony began to whisper. Si Shen anxiously read out the marriage petition over and over again, and as he reached the ninth time, fine snowflakes suddenly fell from the sky.

Snow is a common occurrence, but Xuan Long tilted his head slightly involuntarily and reached his hand out to catch it. The small flakes fell on his head, cheeks and palm and melted the moment they touched his skin. Instead of feeling cold, he felt very warm, a warmth that flowed into his skin and down his veins to all his limbs, which was so comfortable it made him a little drowsy.

"A'Po... your face..."

Seeing Yan Yuan looking at him with astonishment, Xuan Long looked down and touched his right cheek with his hand, finding that the mask that had been worn there had disappeared at some point, and that the wound that should have been hideous was as smooth as ever, with no trace of having been burned by karmic fire left.

"How could this be..." he murmured.

"It's holy snow!!!"

"The Heavenly Way has sent down holy snow!!!"

There was a sudden roar of excitement amongst the gods, and Xuan Long turned to see that it was an old general who had been so badly injured in the war between the gods and demons a hundred and thirty thousand years ago that his spiritual core was damaged to the point that he could only manage the library in the Nine Heavens afterwards, never to go into battle again.

Xuan Long looked at the person wearing the wedding robe at his side and was puzzled, "A'Yuan, what is holy snow..."

Yan Yuan's lips trembled, he was obviously smiling, but tears streamed down his face, "The Heavenly Way has approved our marriage..."

"If the holy snow falls on the mortal world, it will revive all creatures and resurrect the dead. If it falls on the Heavenly Realm, it will completely restore the health of the gods whose bodies were once traumatised... The Heavenly Way sent down holy snow at this time as a blessing for this marriage ceremony..."

"The Heavenly Way has only sent down holy snow twice, once today and once, tens of millions of years ago, when a divine general fought back the demons with his own strength when they invaded the Heavenly Realm and his life was hanging in the balance. The divine general's lover, in order to save him, cultivated the Nine Heavens Forbidden Technique and gave all of his life to the divine general, just to keep him alive. When the divine general's lover's life was exhausted and he was about to die in the divine general's arms, the Heavenly Way sent down holy snow and saved the divine general's lover..."

The gods who had not heard this story before were listening attentively. At the same time, in the Temple of Gods, unnoticed by all, the half-human high Divine Genealogy floating on a table in the Temple of Gods began to tremble slightly. The Divine Genealogy was made of ancient silver, engraved with uneven and ancient Sanskrit inscriptions, full of signs of age. The pages began to turn and came to a halt in the middle of a page, and two names linked by a red line appeared on the page, one of which was the Purple Star Emperor and the other was the Immortal Monarch Zhiyu.

At that moment, the name belonging to Immortal Monarch Zhiyu gradually faded away, and what appeared in that position were the four characters 'Xuan Long Han Po'...

After that, the Divine Genealogy slowly flipped through a few pages and closed as if nothing had happened, restoring calm as if nothing had happened.

"What happened after that... " Xuan Long asked.

"Afterwards, the divine general and his beloved dropped everything and went into seclusion in a little-known paradise, and they stayed together and lived happily ever after."

To have your beloved person with you forever in an endless life, that was something that Yan Yuan had once never dared to hope for.

The Three Lives Stone in front of them glowed softly as they talked, and in the presence of the gods, Yan Yuan and Xuan Long cut their palms, infusing each other's heart blood into the wound on their own hands, and then slowly pressing their hands against the Three Lives Stone.

With their four eyes facing each other, they looked at each other.

"The Heavenly Way is above."

"The Heavenly Way is above..."

"I wish to be an immortal couple with the person at my side..."

"I wish to, be an immortal couple, with the person at my side..."

"Meeting in life and separating in death, in other words, hold your hand and grow old… A'Po, this one vow, for all eternity, I love you."

"Meeting in life and separating in death, in other words... hold the hand of the son, hold your hand and grow old… this vow, I will not change."

"A'Yuan... I also, love you."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・Main Story End・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

And it's over. What a long, angsty journey. I'm glad the two worked it out in the end and that the Heavenly Way let them be together in the end.

While this is the last main story chapter, there is a bonus chapter that follows, so come back Friday for that!

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 3, 2023