Divorce By Agreement - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 I Want to Eat Spicy Food!

September 21st, 2022

Hello, everyone! This my first personal translation project. I really like this novel a lot so I want to try translating it to share it with everyone. Chinese isn’t my first language, and it’s my first time here so I hope I’ll have your understanding. Enjoy!

Xie Zhuo and I fought on Mount Buzhou. When the mountain looked like it was on the brink of collapse, the Queen Mother of the West finally agreed to let me divorce him.

“I’m so fucking sick of him! I! Can’t! Do! It! Anymore!”

When Meng Meng, my good friend, asked me why Xie Zhuo and I fought to this extent, I could no longer hold back and said, “I want my fucking food to be spicy!”

Meng Meng looked at me in confusion with slightly furrowed brows. It was as though she was looking at an idiot. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally said, “Ah? That’s it?”

“That’s it?!” I said indignantly, “What do you mean by ‘that’s it’? For 500 years, if I was with him, I wasn’t allowed to eat spicy food at all! Just because he didn’t drink, I couldn’t even have a sip of wine! The dishes we ate every day were so bland! I might as well not eat! 500 years! I endured him for 500 years! I just want to eat spicy food in front of him! Is that too much to ask?”

Meng Meng looked at me with a complicated expression as she said, “You’re already an immortal, why are you so fussy about food? Moreover, if you really want to eat spicy food, you can do it without him knowing.”

I glanced at Meng Meng from the corners of my eyes as I asked, “Do you not know Xie Zhuo?”

Meng Meng fell silent.

The man in question was Xie Zhuo. His courtesy name was Xuanqing. He was not a human being, and he was not an immortal; he was a demon. Legend had it that he was a powerful demon on the other side of the northern sea.

Although we were married for 500 years, I knew nothing about him. What I knew was that when I wanted to marry him, all the immortals on Kunlun strongly disagreed with my decision. At that time, when everyone met me, they would ask, “Do you know who he is?”

I did not know, and no one from Kunlun knew. However, everyone knew he was dangerous. His demonic power and the sense of mystery surrounding him even made the Queen Mother of the West a little wary.

However, I now knew the answer to that question!

“He’s a prison guard! A nightmare! He’s a puppet master!” I continued to rant, “And I’m his prisoner and his puppet! Over the years, when he wasn’t around, I’d secretly have a few sips of wine. However, when he came back three or five days later, he’d still find out as soon as he came home! His nose is even more powerful than the heavens! Every time I was caught by him, he would lecture me and scold me. I’m an immortal after all. Couldn’t he spare me some dignity?!”

Meng Meng did not dare to say anything. She just looked at me silently.

“It’s not just about food and drinking! As long as he’s around, what I wear, where I go, who I meet, and so on have to have his consent! I didn’t only endure it for 100 or 200 years! I endured it for 500 years! Am I supposed to live like that for tens of thousands of years?!”

Meng Meng nodded. “Indeed, you can’t live like that…”

“The most excessive thing is that when I was inspecting the army camp, he would visit three to five times a day! Last month, I was in the camp so I sparred with a new recruit. Coincidentally, he arrived at that time. Let me tell you, he almost knocked out all of the recruit’s teeth! After that, he even had the audacity to say that he was helping me to train the soldiers! In the end, the seniors made fun of me, and all the new recruits avoided me! How am I going to work like that?!”

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

“He’s a control freak! I have to divorce him! I have to divorce him no matter what!”

As soon as my voice fell, Meng Meng, who was eating a piece of fruit, looked behind me. Her mouth was agape, and the remaining fruits in her hand fell to the ground.

Upon seeing this, I turned around and followed the direction of her gaze.

Xie Zhuo, the very person I was complaining about, stood behind me. He was dressed in his usual black robes, and he was staring at me with his cold and indifferent eyes. When he called my name, he used my full name. “Fu Jiuxia.”

I maintained my aura from before and imitated his indifference as I asked, “What?”

He said slowly, “Yuelao Hall. Divorce.”

He was as taciturn as usual.

‘Very good! This is exactly what I want!’ I thought to myself.

Both of us walked to Yuelao Hall silently.

Yuelao hid from us and sent a little boy, who was as frightened as a bird, to attend to us.

The boy held a tray with a pair of green scissors. He stammered, “T-this… This pair of green scissors will cut off the bond of your marriage. O-once, once you cut it off, the bond will be irreparable. You… Do you want to think about it again?”

I stepped forward and reached out for the green scissors. As soon as my fingers touched it, the red marriage cord that tied our wrists together slowly appeared.

I looked at Xie Zhuo. He was also looking at me. His dark eyes were calm, but they seemed darker than usual. My figure that was reflected in his eyes seemed to be trembling slightly.

The wind blew against the towering Acacia tree, causing the leaves to rustle.

Our red marriage cord seemed to sway slightly in the wind as well.

500 years ago, we stood at the same place. We pricked our palms before joining our palms together, letting our blood mix to form our marriage cord. When the marriage cord formed and wrapped around our wrists, it signified that we would be together forever from now on, never to be separated.

But now…

I looked at Xie Zhuo for a long time before I finally said, “All I want is to eat spicy food.”

Xie Zhuo replied quickly, “You’re not allowed to eat spicy food.”

I pursed my lips, suppressing the familiar rising anger. Finally, I raised my hand and cut the red cord that tied our wrists together as I said, “You can’t control me anymore.”

The wind blew again, and the red cord that had been tied to our wrists for the past 500 years slowly disappeared.

Xie Zhuo lowered his gaze and looked at my wrist.  His face was expressionless, and his thick and long eyelashes hid his eyes. They cast triangular shadows under his eyes, making him look a little lonely and sad.

I thought that he should feel a little unhappy.

For 500 years, what I had seen most was his expressionless face as he coldly told me not to do this and not to do that. He controlled every aspect of my life and was very strict about me adhering to his rules.

Now that I was no longer under his control and cut our marriage cord, he was naturally a little unhappy. He could no longer control me, and I also could no longer, and had no wish to, control him. From now on, we would travel on different paths and do what we each liked. How he felt now had nothing to do with me, and I no longer needed to be angry with him.

I placed the green scissors back on the tray the boy was holding, tidied my robe, turned around, and left. I did not look at Xie Zhuo again.

…

Someone would come and clean our house. It had nothing to do with me whether Xie Zhuo chose to stay in Kunlun or not. I had already decided to move out of that house. Before my new house was settled, I stayed with Meng Meng.

However, when I told Meng Meng I wanted to sleep with her, she said, slightly afraid, “No, no, no. Did you forget that time when we camped outside and shared the same tent? When Xie Zhuo found out about it, he lectured me and told me to prepare a separate tent for you next time. I, I’m afraid…”

‘Look at Xie Zhuo! Look at what kind of psychological trauma he left on my friend! She’s just a girl!’

I straightened my back and said, “We’re divorced now! What are you afraid of? Let’s sleep together!”

Meng Meng scratched her head. “Oh… I forgot.”

Then, Meng Meng lay down next to me before she asked curiously, “Jiuxia, now that you’re divorced, do you think you’ll be able to get used to it?”

I smirked and retorted, “Why not?”

Meng Meng yawned. “500 years ago, all of the immortals in Kunlun were against your marriage. At that time, you were willing to face the world’s condemnation to be with him. Whether alive or dead, you wanted to be with him. At that time, I thought that this was what people meant when they said that some people were destined to be together. I really didn’t expect that… Even a marriage like yours couldn’t last forever…”

Meng Meng fell asleep after saying that.

My eyes were wide open as I lay in bed. Meng Meng’s words were echoing in my mind.

Indeed, marriages did not mean forever.

In fact, there was no right or wrong. There was no deep hatred or blood feud. It started with small disagreements and contradictions. After being fermented in time, they became huge problems that could not be ignored.

Time could kill everything in the world. As such, how could marriages be spared?

…

It took me a long time to fall asleep. I did not want to delve into the reason why. However, I did not sleep for long before I was soon jolted awake by the earth shaking. Most alarmingly, I sensed demonic qi.

Meng Meng sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Meng Meng was an immortal who grew flowers and grass. I naturally could not let her go out. I comforted her and said, “Go to sleep. I’ll go and have a look.”

As soon as I left the bedroom, I suddenly realized the words that I said to Meng Meng earlier sounded very familiar. After thinking about it for a brief moment, I realized that was what Xie Zhuo used to say to me.

In any case, I did not have time to dwell on this matter. I stepped outside.

At the top of Mount Kunlun that towered into the clouds, there was a huge black hole that seemed like it was going to devour the entire sky. The bright moon and the stars in the sky seemed to be in danger of getting pulled into the black hole.

‘What is that?!’ I was shocked.

Many immortals flew past me, and I heard a panicked voice saying, “Xie Xuanqing touched Pangu’s Ax! Stop him!”

I was even more shocked.

Pangu’s Ax contained the power to split heaven and earth. It was kept at the peak of Kunlun Mountain, and it kept demons from approaching. It had been guarding Kunlun for many, many years.

‘Is Xie Zhuo crazy?! Has he forgotten that he’s a demon? How dare he touched Pangu’s Ax? Isn’t he afraid of being injured by Pangu’s Ax’s power and bleeding to his death from his seven orifices?’

When I finally recovered my senses, I hurriedly waved my sleeves and flew up Mount Kunlun, passing many immortals. When I was dozens of miles away from the top of Mount Kunlun, I saw many immortals being blocked by a barrier.

The immortals brought out all kinds of magic weapons, attacking the barrier. Alas, it was useless. All their attacks were absorbed by the barrier.

This was Xie Zhuo’s barrier. I had seen it before. I knew the attacks would only make it stronger. I quickly cried out, “Stop it!”

Everyone turned to look at me in unison. After a moment of silence, they began to question and scold me.

“Is Xie Xuanqing crazy?!”

“Who allowed you to get a divorce?!”

“If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have allowed you to marry him back then!”

It was so noisy that I felt my head ache. I did not have time to explain to them as I recalled the past carefully. After a moment, I recalled the way to break the barrier. I stepped forward, intending to break the barrier just like how Xie Zhuo taught me in the past. However, as soon as my palm touched the barrier, an opening appeared immediately. I was stunned.

‘Xie Zhuo… Are you letting me in?’

At this moment, an anxious immortal standing near me saw the opening and rushed to enter. Alas, as soon as he drew close, the opening disappeared immediately. He could not get in.

I touched the barrier again. Just like before, an opening appeared. I did not hesitate anymore and entered the barrier. As soon as I entered, the opening closed behind me.

I looked up.

The sky above Mount Kunlun was dark.

“Xie Zhuo!” I called out.

A bolt of light flashed in the dark.

I quickly moved in the direction of the light, passing the dark swirling mist. After wandering a long time, I was about to panic when I bumped into an invisible wall.

A gust of wind blew past, bringing down the invisible wall.

Xie Zhuo was still dressed in his black robe. He sat on the ground, and he held Pangu’s Ax in his hands as though he was holding a toy.

From what I know, in Kunlun, the only immortal capable of picking up Pangu’s Ax was the Queen Mother of the West.

With this thought in mind, my back broke out in cold sweat immediately. I knew Xie Zhuo was powerful, but I did not know it was to this extent. Scenes of our fights over the years appeared unbidden in my mind. I thought it was a fight, but as it turned out, I had overestimated myself. In hindsight, I could see now how bold and ignorant I was to be dancing with death over and over again.

After a moment, I suppressed my fear and scolded him, “What are you trying to do? Put the ax down. Let’s settle the matter between us ourselves. Don’t touch the ax.”

With just a gentle wave, Pangu’s Ax could split Kunlun in half.

Xie Zhuo continued to play with Pangu’s Ax as he said, “Fu Jiuxia, you can’t control me anymore.”

After he said that, he looked up at me with his dark eyes. His eyes were like black holes that could devour everything. Then, he waved his hand.

I exclaimed in shock.

It looked as though the gate of heaven had opened up in the night sky as the wind began to surge.

The rocks on the ground began to rise into the air, pulled into the hole.

My and Xie Zhuo’s hair and robes fluttered wildly in the wind.

“Xie Zhuo! What are you trying to do?”

“I’m going to make up for my mistake,” Xie Zhuo said icily as he rose to his feet, “When I come back, I’ll be able to kill you.”

I was shocked. What kind of words were these?!

I suddenly felt like our marriage of 500 years was fake. Who was the person in front of me? The Xie Zhuo in front of me was like a stranger.

The hole in the sky devoured everything, and it was generating more power.

Xie Zhou flew toward the hole with Pangu’s Ax in hand.

Pangu’s Ax concerned Kunlun’s safety. No matter what, I could not let Kunlun lose Pangu’s Ax and suffer a disaster because of my and Xie Zhuo’s private matter.

After a beat, I steeled my heart, gritted my teeth, and flew up into the air.

Xie Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at me. As soon as he raised his hand and flicked it slightly, I felt a strong gust of wind along with countless stones hitting me.

I could tell he was not trying to kill me and that he just wanted to stop me. I rushed past the rocks toward him as I said, “Whether you kill me or not, let’s talk about that later. For now, put down the ax!”

Xie Zhuo frowned. He probably did not expect me to be so brave. He was about to raise his hand again when I leaped forward and grabbed Pangu’s ax.

As soon as I touched Pangu’s Ax, I felt a chill on my back. Following that, dark qi surged out of the hole and swirled around me.

Xie Zhuo’s frown deepened. “Let go.”

“Put Pangu’s Ax back where it belongs,” I said through gritted teeth.

Xie Zhuo said in a low voice, “Let go.”

As soon as Xie Zhuo’s voice fell, my vision turned dark. It was as though the black mist had wrapped itself around my head. The strong wind suddenly died down. There was no Xie Zhuo or Kunlun; there was only silence and darkness.

“Xie Zhuo…”

I had just spoken when a severe pain assaulted the inside of my body. It felt like my body was being torn apart by countless hands, dragging me down to the dark abyss. It was like they were trying to drag me down from the peak of Mount Kunlun to the 18th level of hell.