Chapter 359: 134. Wedding Date
“Saint Marriage?!”
Valentina looked at the ancient Northern Region characters on the scroll, her face turning red as she read it repeatedly in disbelief. Only when her astonished gaze seemed ready to see through the scroll did she finally seem to confirm the information it recorded and raised her head.
Companion?
Isn’t that Fisher?!
Blushing, Valentina turned to Fisher beside her, only to suddenly find him looking at her as well. Startled, she quickly averted her gaze, her voice trembling,
“Wait, why would the Moon Princess issue such an order? Did you take the wrong one? The real Moon Princess’s testament would never…”
Daliwu innocently shook his head, looking at Valentina as he said,
“How could that be? I wouldn’t dare take out lesser items of the Moon Princess, but this is her testament. There’s no way I could mistake it, even if I were careless. Moreover, besides the Phoenix bloodline, there’s no one else who can open this scroll. In any case, this is definitely the testament left by the Moon Princess. She must have her reasons for doing this, and we can only follow her command. You can only receive your Troll mark once you’ve completed the Saint Marriage.”
Valentina was so shocked she couldn’t speak. Daliwu had already resignedly crossed his arms, looking as if he was ready to carry out the Moon Princess’s orders.
“Then I…”
She shyly looked at Fisher by her side. He didn’t show any expressions, as if he was deep in thought. Meanwhile, Emhart on Fisher’s shoulder said jokingly,
“Hey, why are you looking at Fisher? Just ask yourself if you can do it! I know this guy well; he’s always up for marriage… woohoo!”
Before Emhart could finish, Fisher gently reached out to silence him, then thought for a moment before addressing Valentina, looking at the unfolded Zhenbing scroll.
“The Phoenixes possess the ability to see into the future, and among them, the outstanding Moon Princess evidently has an even more exceptional capability in this regard. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could see thousands of years into the future. The most important message here is that the Phoenix bloodline she has been waiting for is indeed you, Valentina. Otherwise, even if she forced us into marriage, I wouldn’t be able to ignore your will, right?”
“The key point is that if you brought more than one person here, then the ‘Saint Marriage’ as mentioned by the Moon Princess would be meaningless. She must have been certain that you would come here with me long ago. Thus, she must know the issue you’re facing right now; your human body cannot accommodate the Phoenix blood, and we need a solution. Is there a possibility that this so-called ‘Saint Marriage’ actually designates a type of ceremony we know nothing about, which can help you merge with the Phoenix blood inside you?”
Seeing Fisher seriously analyze the implications of the Moon Princess’s commands, Valentina let out a sigh of relief, yet a faint sense of melancholy rose within her.
The relief was due to the respect Fisher had for her will, which warmed her heart. However, the accompanying melancholy stemmed from the possibility that Fisher might not want to marry her at all. Such contradictory thoughts were quite irrational, but they were merely her unexpressed feelings hidden deep inside.
In any case, she was very conflicted; overall, she did want to marry Fisher.
If she ultimately couldn’t find a way to extend her lifespan from the Parasol Tree, at least they would leave no regrets for both of them.
“Valentina?”
“Ah, I… I’m listening.”
Lost in her thoughts, Valentina was jolted awake by Fisher’s concerned call. She instantly blushed, covering her gradually reddening cheeks.
Fisher looked at her for a second or two before turning to Daliwu to inquire about whether the Moon Princess’s so-called “Saint Marriage” was a kind of ceremony.
Daliwu thought for a moment, suddenly brightening up as she clapped her hands,
“Right, I’ve remembered!”
Valentina covered her face and pressed her lips together, unsure if she wanted Daliwu to say that the “Saint Marriage” was actually some kind of ceremony.
“W-what?”
Unfortunately, the next moment, Daliwu’s excited expression settled back into calm, and she simply stated,
“Saint Marriage is indeed a ceremony, a wedding ceremony. After two people unite, share a bed, and spend the night together, the ceremony is complete. Then you two can take our Troll mark, and I can prepare a teleportation array to take you to my mother, who will guide you to the Parasol Tree. It’s that simple.”
Fisher raised an eyebrow and then turned to look at Valentina, who was lying on the ground, making her turn her crimson face away, muttering,
“What are you looking at me for?”
“I’m considering whether to act according to the Moon Princess’s testament. It’s a bit strange to undergo a Saint Marriage just to reach the Parasol Tree, but if it’s for your sake…”
“For my sake? What about it?”
Valentina turned her head, not even facing Fisher, but her slightly brightened eyes kept glancing at him, as if she was secretly observing his expression and how he gazed at her.
Such subtle movements could not escape Fisher’s keen eyes. His gaze darkened slightly as he glanced at her graceful form hidden beneath her robe and said,
“If it’s for you, for your life, for your cuteness and beauty, I would want to.”
“Don’t say that! Those words… too… too strange.”
Valentina was almost fuming at Fisher’s calm remarks, quickly shaking her hand, clearly unable to withstand such words from him. She didn’t put her shaking hand down but took a few deep breaths, squeezing her fingers through the gap to focus on Fisher, opening her mouth several times before finally whispering,
“Um, then let’s go ahead with the… Saint Marriage. Don’t get the wrong idea, I… I’m also doing this for Fisher.”
Daliwu cupped her face with a “heehee” smile, not knowing if she was reminiscing about the past with Kokoliah. Although the relationships were reversed, such resonance stemmed not from appearances but from a deeper place.
Emhart opened his mouth, thinking how fortunate it was that none of his ex-girlfriends, previous significant others, or their previous significant others got to know about this; otherwise, even the queen of Nali would probably explode on the spot.
Fisher paused slightly, gently grasping Valentina’s hand, which was covering her shy face. Daliwu smiled and stood up, clapping her hands and saying,
“It looks like you both have decided to follow the Moon Princess’s orders. That’s great; the Saint Marriage is extremely important for Phoenixes, for the six tribes, and for other races as well. We need some time to prepare. Coincidentally, while preparing for the Saint Marriage, I can set up the teleportation rite. These were taught to us by those Slimes, and since we haven’t used them in a while, we’ll need to practice a bit.”
“We need to prepare today and tomorrow. The official Saint Marriage will start the night after tomorrow, and by the morning after that, you’ll receive our mark before heading to the Parasol Tree. By the way, there’s a strict process to the Saint Marriage in the Phoenixes’ rituals. I’ll show you later, and we should follow the steps mentioned on it.”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, still somewhat concerned that Erwind would catch up behind them. If he charged in during the Saint Marriage, it would turn the wedding from a joyous occasion into a funeral. He did not believe that this group of Trolls could stop Erwind, who was just a step away from Mythical Rank.
“Will the process take long? We must hurry.”
Valentina understood that Fisher might be facing a formidable enemy, as he had mentioned this issue one night without revealing who it was. She had no objections to speeding up the process, provided there was some form of witness and a bit of ceremony, because the most important thing was Fisher, not these formalities.
“Hey, you are just like me, wanting to rush into marriage, aren’t you? Hehe, kindred spirits.”
Blushing, Valentina shot her a glare and whispered,
“Who is like you?”
However, as she spoke, she secretly glanced at Fisher’s strong body and muscles, quickly averting her gaze before he noticed.
Daliwu stopped her jesting, simply shaking her head with a smile as she said,
“The process of the Saint Marriage is fixed and cannot be changed. This is the marriage ritual left by the Phoenixes. The Moon Princess wants you to hold a ‘Saint Marriage’ rather than a simple human wedding. This might be her habitual wording or her considerations. In any case, let’s conduct it according to her wishes; you won’t be disappointed.”
“If you two are worried about anyone chasing after you or about the curses within the Parasol Tree, you can rest easy. Since you arrived, Kokoliah had already closed the Phoenix Bridge leading here, and our settlement is a place personally found by my mother. It’s wrapped in chaotic space currents, so you won’t feel the curses from within the Parasol Tree.”
She stood up to head toward the entrance of the stone hall, her voice not ceasing,
“Before that, you can learn how the Phoenix Saint Marriage ceremony works. There are also many texts from our tribe to read. Trolls have a longer lifespan compared to other races, even those Slimes don’t live as long on average. Reading our tribe’s books can provide you with quite a bit of knowledge that you wouldn’t know down the mountain, about Phoenixes, the six tribes, that war with the stars, and more. It might help you on your journey into the Parasol Tree. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention.”
Daliwu scratched the back of her head, turned around, and smiled at Fisher and Valentina, saying,
“Congratulations on your wedding!”
Fisher paused slightly, glancing down at the now-flushed Valentina, who looked at him with quivering lips, seemingly wanting to say something but ultimately refrained. She turned her head away, unable to bear looking at him.
Fisher was amused by her cute expression. He gently ruffled Valentina’s hair and lifted her before she could turn around to question him further, following Daliwu outside.
Although he did not believe that the chaotic space currents could completely keep Erwind out, it would at least delay him for a while. Having understood this, he aimed to use this hard-won breathing space to prepare adequately for the impending danger.
“Emhart, let’s go.”
“Oh.”
Reluctantly, Emhart, who was playing dead among the stone carvings, slowly flew to his shoulder, looking down at Valentina, who was leaning against him, before pouting and muttering in a voice only he could hear,
“God, marriage, marriage! This sounds so out of place for Fisher, yet it’s actually happening. This is incredible! I bet the others on the list think the same. Yeah, it must be like that.”
As night deepened, the Sema Mountain was particularly quiet, with only the sound of a chilly breeze brushing against the white snow and buildings. In this biting cold wind, a black gentleman, dressed in leather and wearing a bird-beak mask, appeared by the ruins where Fisher had once arrived for unknown reasons. His slow steps in the heavy snow made him seem to flicker as he quickly reached the desolate ruins at the center.
His bird-beak mask trembled slightly amid the darkness without light as he slowly moved forward. If one observed closely, they would find that each of his steps aligned with the steps Fisher had taken that morning.
Following Fisher’s steps downward, he crossed through the building’s fragmented walls and entered the pitch-black underground space. He traversed the already-cold corpses strewn across the ground, past the slightly raised stone platform in the center of the hall, and arrived at Fisher’s last trace.
However, before him, there was not the deep corridor Fisher had once seen. Only a stone wall blocking his path remained, inscribed in ancient Northern Region language:
[Phoenix Bridge]
Standing before the wall that obstructed his way, Erwind slowly extended a hand to rest against it.
“Boom!”
The next second, with a tremendous rumble, the wall before Erwind, the underground hall, and the crumbling stone above all shattered into pieces as if struck by the gravity magic of thirteen rings, erupting into towering snow columns that soared upward, difficult to disperse in the icy night wind.
Yet, standing amidst the swirling snow and chaos, Erwind remained unmoving, as if he were not the one who had caused that terrifying damage. His bird-beak mask merely tilted slightly as his gaze pierced through the drifting snow dust, looking beyond the shattered wall.
Behind the wall, there was no pathway. In the direction of Fisher’s original forward movement, only a bottomless cliff and the outline of mountains that rose and fell in the mist, without any visible end, were presented before Erwind’s eyes.
The cold wind howled, complementing his silence at that moment.
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(End of this chapter)
