In this life, her name was Kong Li.
The name had not been given to her by any parent. The moment she crawled out of a great cracked eggshell, it surfaced in her mind unbidden—clear and vivid, the characters Kong Li etched into her consciousness with such force that any passing thought of choosing another name was immediately overwritten.
After emerging from the shell, she followed instinct and ate it. Then she curled up in a nest of grass and slept. When she woke, she found she had grown.
Of all the lives she'd lived, she could never have imagined she would become a peacock.
At first she assumed she was some kind of bird or beast—it wasn't until she went to a riverbank to drink and caught her own reflection in the water that she saw: a peacock, beautiful, draped in golden feathers.
That was right. She was a peacock, but her feathers were unlike any other—golden, rare, noble-looking, utterly unlike the common peacocks around her. Perhaps because of that difference, every bird and beast in the area kept their distance, visibly nervous in her presence.
Kong Li was no fool. If anything, the fact that her own name had simply appeared in her mind told her that the awakening of all her memories couldn't be far off. She had a growing suspicion: perhaps Kong Li had always been her name. But then again—please don't tell her she'd also been a golden-feathered peacock in some past life.
She also caught a glimpse of this world's will. She found that the poor wretch had apparently followed here too. And of course, wherever the poor wretch appeared, that insufferable Dragon Prince was never far behind. Those two seemed genuinely incapable of existing apart.
In this life, the Dragon Prince's name was Ao Yunxiu—a jiaolong who lived in the river directly across from her own roosting cliff. Word was he devoted himself entirely to cultivation, intent on ascending to a true dragon as soon as possible. But the moment he ran into the poor wretch, he seemed to forget his ambitions entirely, fixating instead on dragging her into his underwater cave and forcing her to be his woman.
In this world, the poor wretch's name was Bai Xiaoqiao—a mountain sparrow spirit, named Bai for her snow-white plumage, Xiaoqiao for her small, finch-like form.
Bai Xiaoqiao had always been captivated by the fish she saw gliding so freely in the river. She was a mountain sparrow; she couldn't possibly swim. But she'd always wondered what it would feel like to dive in and try. The moment she cultivated enough to take human form, she leapt into the water without hesitation.
She had no idea that this moment was witnessed by Ao Yunxiu, cultivating at the bottom of the river below. He was immediately smitten by the little mountain sparrow, and from that point on kept shifting into his true dragon form to startle her—basically making a game of terrifying Bai Xiaoqiao until she panicked and floundered helplessly through the water in her bird form.
Ao Yunxiu found this endlessly entertaining. He pestered her every day. Bai Xiaoqiao lived in constant dread, too intimidated by his power to fight back. The only upside: when he'd had his fun, he'd always bring her something good to eat. But more often than not, she simply feared him—and feared him deeply.
Once, Ao Yunxiu had been tormenting her and she'd been flailing in the water for quite a while when he got so absorbed in his daily cultivation schedule that he completely forgot about her. She kept thrashing there alone—she couldn't drown, but she was frightened nearly out of her wits.
As luck would have it, an eagle happened to be passing overhead. It swooped down and plucked Bai Xiaoqiao clean out of the water. The eagle's original intention had been to eat her—but then Bai Xiaoqiao looked up at him with such a pitiful, grateful expression and thanked him so sincerely that he abandoned the idea. Such a tiny little sparrow spirit—not even enough to get between his teeth.
Besides, a mountain sparrow spirit with white plumage was genuinely rare. And when Bai Xiaoqiao was set back down on solid ground and shifted into human form—a soaking-wet little girl, pitiable and adorable at once—the eagle decided definitively not to eat her.
The two became familiar, then friends. Bai Xiaoqiao was deeply grateful to the eagle for saving her life, and every time he came to visit, she had a pile of mountain fruits ready for him. Never mind that he was a flesh-eater—she kept telling him that fruit was perfectly good eating too.
Whether it was Bai Xiaoqiao's powers of description or something else entirely, the eagle actually started eating vegetarian. He began coming to visit her regularly.
It was Bai Xiaoqiao who realized it first: she had developed feelings for this eagle—this gentle, attentive creature who looked fierce on the outside but treated her with such care.
So she was the one who confessed first.
The eagle hadn't expected a little mountain sparrow to confess to him. Caught completely off guard and not yet sure of his own heart, he startled into the air and flew away. He meant to go home and think it over properly—but by the time he'd sorted through his feelings and returned, Bai Xiaoqiao was gone.
He later learned she'd been taken by Ao Yunxiu and dragged into his underwater cave.
Ao Yunxiu had discovered that his beloved little plaything had fallen for an eagle. He was furious. He was a jiaolong—in what way was he inferior to some rotten eagle? If he also had feelings for the mountain sparrow, naturally he was going to take her back.
And so the two rivals fought for Bai Xiaoqiao. A jiaolong was, of course, far more powerful than an eagle. In the end, the eagle was gravely wounded. Just as Ao Yunxiu was preparing to deliver the killing blow, Bai Xiaoqiao came out of nowhere and threw herself in front of the eagle, taking the full force of the strike. She nearly lost her life.
Ao Yunxiu was deeply regretful—and furious in equal measure. He killed the eagle on the spot, then carried Bai Xiaoqiao back to his cave. Later, he sought out what it would take to save her.
Kong Li recalled all of this with a peculiar smile. She genuinely didn't understand how these two could manage to drag her into every situation they found themselves in.
The answer, it turned out: Ao Yunxiu had heard that a golden peacock lived in the mountains across the river. If he could obtain the golden peacock's inner core and have Bai Xiaoqiao consume it, it would save her life. Legend had it the golden peacock was suffused with immense divine power, giving the core the ability to bring someone back from the brink of death.
Kong Li: "…"
"You want my inner core? Good luck with that."
Thinking about what lay ahead, Kong Li was thoroughly unamused. Ao Yunxiu loved tormenting the poor wretch—fine. Then she would simply protect the poor wretch and be done with it. They'd shared ties across so many lifetimes; saving her once was saving her, and saving her several times was still just saving her.
In this life, she wouldn't just help the poor wretch—she was going to give Ao Yunxiu an absolutely thorough beating. And she was going to serve as Bai Xiaoqiao's witness at her wedding, so the poor wretch could walk joyfully into married life with her eagle and live out her days in happiness. Just imagining the look on Ao Yunxiu's face, Kong Li's heart lifted considerably.
Before any of that, though, she needed to cultivate. Hard. Ao Yunxiu's cultivation level was nothing to dismiss.
By her estimate, Bai Xiaoqiao still had a few hundred years before she hatched.
Plenty of time.
There was just one thing. In this world, there was no A-Xin. Kong Li's expression dimmed. Then again—maybe A-Xin would come later?
She rallied her spirits, entered closed cultivation, and sealed herself off from all outside distraction.
A few hundred years later, Kong Li's cultivation had reached the very pinnacle of this world. In her free time she would drift through the sky at leisure—and once Bai Xiaoqiao finally hatched from her shell, Kong Li kept her divine sense locked on her at all times.
She watched Bai Xiaoqiao grow up. She watched her grow curious about the water. She watched her, the very day she finally cultivated into human form, jump straight into the river without hesitation.
Kong Li snorted in amusement. "Such a scatterbrain. No wonder a little worm gets to push her around. If a peacock as noble and magnanimous as I hadn't taken an interest, Bai Xiaoqiao, your future would be bleak indeed."
Bai Xiaoqiao had no idea that behind her, a peacock had been watching over her all along.
In the times when Ao Yunxiu wasn't tormenting her, Kong Li sometimes couldn't stand watching and would make small, quiet trouble—disturbing the currents of the river, causing Ao Yunxiu's underwater cave to collapse. Because of her presence, Bai Xiaoqiao's days were somewhat easier. As for Ao Yunxiu's cave—because Kong Li despised him so thoroughly, within any given month it collapsed at least a dozen times.
Occasionally, too, a rain of bird droppings would fall from the sky with uncanny precision, landing squarely on Ao Yunxiu's face. Once, when he was laughing particularly broadly, Kong Li managed to deposit a fresh heap directly into his open mouth.
If this had followed the world's original trajectory, he would have been coming to dig out her inner core. Eating a little bird dropping wasn't going to kill him. She'd already been remarkably merciful.
Though Bai Xiaoqiao suffered greatly at Ao Yunxiu's constant harassment, she had to admit: every time she watched him get a faceful of bird droppings, there was a deeply satisfying feeling in her chest.
When Kong Li judged the timing to be right, she stepped back and let events unfold. Bai Xiaoqiao successfully encountered the eagle. As the two of them drew closer, Kong Li had no intention of interfering. She could see it plainly enough—the eagle genuinely liked Bai Xiaoqiao. Every time he flew her up to a higher part of the sky, he held her close, grip careful and firm, as though terrified of letting her fall or come to harm.
The sight made Kong Li think of A-Xin. Whenever A-Xin was there, she never got hurt. No matter where they were, A-Xin always kept her safe.
She crouched behind a great tree and watched with a wistfulness she didn't try to suppress as the eagle—wearing the most expressionless face imaginable—silently gathered a towering pile of mountain fruit and placed it all in front of Bai Xiaoqiao.
If A-Xin were here, she'd pile all the best things in front of me too.
Bai Xiaoqiao carefully washed all the wild mountain fruit and placed it back in front of the eagle. He was plainly reluctant—but he ate it anyway.
Kong Li: Of all the things she'd expected from this life, she hadn't expected to witness quite this much of someone else's sweetness.
Eventually, Bai Xiaoqiao confessed. The eagle was caught completely off guard, his ears going faintly red at the tips, and he spread his wings and flew off. This was witnessed by Ao Yunxiu.
Not long after, Bai Xiaoqiao was seized and dragged into his cave.
Several days passed. Then the eagle returned, shifted into human form, a rare smile on his face. His gaze swept the area as if searching for someone.
He didn't find Bai Xiaoqiao—but in the shade of a distant tree, he spotted a golden peacock dozing in the sun.
He walked toward Kong Li. His features were sharp, but his manner was perfectly courteous. "Miss Kong Li?" he asked. "Am I right?"
"You know me?" Kong Li cracked open one eye and yawned. "How do you know who I am?"
"There are very few people in this area who don't know Miss Kong Li." The eagle was visibly tense. "Miss Kong Li—do you know Bai Xiaoqiao? I haven't been here in several days. She may have grown angry with me."
"Ao Yunxiu took her. He lives in that river over there." Kong Li pointed at the water in the distance. "That pest—he's been making Bai Xiaoqiao's life miserable for years. Go rescue her."
The eagle's expression changed immediately. He made to charge straight over.
"You won't win against that pest."
The eagle paused at Kong Li's words, but his voice was firm. "Whatever the outcome, I'm bringing Xiaoqiao back."
"Then you'd just be throwing your life away, wouldn't you?" Kong Li was in high spirits now. "Young man—when you run into trouble, don't fight head-on. If you're going to brawl, you need backup."
"I've always been on my own," the eagle said. "I've no one close besides Xiaoqiao. I have no backup to call on."
"What about me?" Kong Li shifted into human form. In one hand she held a wooden staff she had clearly prepared well in advance—she privately called it her pest-beating stick. "I'll be your backup. What do you say?"
The eagle understood at once. He bowed his thanks immediately. "Then I'm most grateful for your help, Miss Kong Li."