Chapter 271: I Have a Plan!

Boom—

A sudden thunderclap exploded without warning, shaking the four directions.

The sky that had been clear just moments before was instantly swallowed by heavy dark clouds, leaving everything between heaven and earth dim.

The wind swept up dust, carrying the suffocating feeling of an approaching mountain rain, weighing heavily on the heart.

Dong Yong sat on the chair by the window, his gaze through the window lattice at the trees being snapped by the gale and the imminent downpour, his lips pressed tight.

The gentle smile that usually hung on his face had vanished without a trace.

An inexplicable palpitation gripped him, as if something were pressing in from all sides, making it hard to breathe.

A clear, ominous premonition spread in his heart, as if…… something major was about to happen.

"Dad! I'm hungry!" The voice of his son Dong He came from the inner room, briefly pulling his scattered thoughts back.

He forced himself to stand, put on a smile, and replied:

"All right, Dad will go make food now."

He habitually raised his voice toward the inner room and asked: "Madam, what would you like to eat today?"

No response.

The place that usually heard a gentle reply had fallen into an eerie silence.

Only the wind outside wailed, and the large raindrops began to patter loudly on the roof and ground, especially grating.

This silence made Dong Yong's heart sink sharply; the ominous premonition rose to its peak.

He immediately turned and strode quickly toward the inner room.

He saw the Seventh Fairy Maiden standing dazedly by the window, gazing at the gloomy, rain‑pouring sky outside; her formerly rosy, lovely face was now deathly pale, her body trembling slightly.

Perhaps hearing Dong Yong's hurried footsteps, she slowly turned her head.

Seeing him, she strained to lift the corners of her mouth, trying to force a reassuring smile, but that smile was soaked in endless sorrow and despair.

"My lord…" Her voice was so soft it seemed about to be drowned by the rain, trembling with a heartbreaking quiver:

"They're here."

The last trace of color drained from Dong Yong's face, his stiff smile freezing at the corner of his mouth.

He had long guessed who was coming, yet still clung to a faint hope, his voice hoarse as he asked:

"……Who has come?"

The Seventh Fairy Maiden looked toward the sky completely shrouded in dark clouds, and uttered two words that weighed a thousand jin:

"From heaven."

"From heaven?" Dong Yong's heart plunged straight into an ice cellar.

Boom——!!!

Another thunderclap, even more deafening, exploded suddenly! It seemed as if the heavens were being torn apart by this bolt of lightning!

Immediately, a strange sight occurred—the dense curtain of rain outside the window, as if an invisible giant hand had instantly hit the pause button, billions of raindrops eerily suspended in mid‑air, utterly still!

The heavy clouds in the sky, like a curtain, were split apart down the middle by an unsurpassable supreme power, revealing a splendid road of myriad golden rays and thousands of auspicious vapors, straight up to the nine heavens!

On both sides of the road, countless heavenly soldiers in gleaming golden armor appeared, their divine might awe‑inspiring, a murderous aura filling heaven and earth.

At the end of the Golden Light Road stood a towering figure, surrounded by endless divine light, his features blurred.

Only his eyes, like ancient unchanging ice, full of coldness and ruthlessness, pierced space, looking down from above, precisely locking onto the mortal world, locking onto the Seventh Fairy Maiden and Dong Yong.

Then came a grand, mighty, indisputable voice, like rolling heavenly thunder, booming down from the nine firmaments, ringing clearly in every corner, striking heavily on the hearts of Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy Maiden:

"Little Seven."

"You have descended to the mortal realm without permission, coupled with a mortal, committing a grave taboo, violating heavenly law."

"Do you know your fault?!"

"Father Emperor, I…" the Seventh Fairy Maiden rose, about to speak and bear the blame, but Dong Yong suddenly stepped forward, resolutely blocking her.

He lifted his head, facing the figure high in the nine heavens, and shouted with all his strength:

"No! It's me! It's me who harbored lustful thoughts, it's me who lured her into the mortal world! All blame is on me, she bears none! If punishment is to be given, punish me, Dong Yong, alone! Please show mercy, do not harm my wife!"

This mortal's defiance, before the majesty of the Heavenly Court, appeared so insignificant and overreaching.

The heavenly immortals and the standing heavenly soldiers heard this and burst into a chorus of cold laughter, like countless icy needles pricking down:

"A mere mortal dares to defy heavenly authority and punishment?"

"Truly ignorant of the heights of heaven and depths of earth, wildly daydreaming!"

The Jade Emperor standing at the end of the Golden Light Road, his countenance still as an ancient well, only in his eyes that looked down on all beings did a faint, hard‑to‑detect complexity flicker.

His mighty voice sounded again, calm yet bearing the authority to end all debate:

"Dong Yong, your conduct over these years has been seen by Me."

"Your union with her, even the bearing of children, I could have let go unpunished."

His tone suddenly turned cold, carrying an irrevocable decision,

"But today you must not harbor any delusions; heavenly law is strict, no profanation allowed."

"—Seize them."

The icy decree fell like a final verdict.

At the moment the words fell, two chains flashing with a cold, eerie light, condensed from law itself, shot out from the heavenly soldiers' ranks like two venomous snakes, ignoring distance, straight toward the Seventh Fairy Maiden!

Dong Yong's pupils shrank; instinctively he turned, clasping the Seventh Fairy Maiden tightly in his arms, trying to use his mortal body as the last barrier.

However——

Those two hooks passed through Dong Yong's flesh as if it were nothing, as if he did not exist!

In the next instant, the chains, as if alive, precisely wound and latched onto the Seventh Fairy Maiden held in Dong Yong's embrace!

An irresistible force surged!

"Ugh!" The Seventh Fairy Maiden groaned, her whole body yanked by the chains away from Dong Yong's embrace, flying backwards at high speed toward the heavens.

"My wife!!" Dong Yong's heart felt torn; he roared as he lunged forward, trying to grasp something, but only seized a sheet of cold air and lingering warmth.

While being swiftly pulled toward the heavens, the Seventh Fairy Maiden turned her head and glanced at him, forcing a comforting smile on her face that was more heartbreaking than tears.

She gently loosened Dong Yong's unconscious grip on her sleeve; her voice drifted away on the wind.

"My lord… take good care of little He… you… must be well…"

"I… am leaving."

Whoosh—!

Her silhouette, as if pulled by an invisible force, retreated at visible speed, turning into a tiny Light Dot that vanished into the Jin Guang Da Dao.

Immediately, the parted dark clouds, like a curtain, thunderously closed, sealing off heaven from the Human World.

The Grand Avenue and the golden-armored heavenly deities—all visions vanished instantly.

Rumble—!

The paused downpour poured forth again, more violent than before, as if to flood the entire world.

But this time, the icy rain didn't just strike his head, face, and body; it felt like countless steel needles piercing his heart.

The sky's dark clouds not only hid the sun and moon, but turned into an impenetrable black ink, completely shrouding and devouring the last glimmer of light in his heart.

Little Dong He didn't yet fully understand what had happened, but he knew his mother had been taken away by those terrifying people, seemingly never to return.

He ran fearfully to the frozen Dong Yong, gripping his father's soaked, icy cuff, his little face reddened as he struggled to hold back his sobs, speaking with a congested nasal tone:

"Daddy, is Mommy not coming back…"

Dong Yong still gave no response.

All his strength seemed to have been drained away with the Seventh Fairy Maiden; his body swayed, and he finally collapsed helplessly into the cold muddy water, letting the rain wash over him, his gaze empty, as if his soul too had departed.

He sat there motionless, not knowing how long had passed—it felt like an instant, yet also like countless years.

Until, a figure approached and rubbed Dong He's head.

Dong He looked up:

"Uncle Yu…"

"I'm here."

Yu Lin stepped forward, stood before Dong Yong, raised an invisible barrier, and suddenly cut off the torrential rain.

He lowered his gaze to the lost and soulless Dong Yong, his voice calm: "Brother Dong,"

"I have a plan."