"I'm not throwing myself at him, I'm being honest about my feelings and it feels great." Mao Lu replied whilst he continued to hug Chàng Bo.

"We still don't know how he's connected to the key, he may be a large threat. He may have ulterior motives. I know that you like him but this…this is too rushed. You don't even know if you can trust him. What if he betrays you?" Gates said, "You should have been more calm when you told him about the fate Companions.h.i.+p, now you sound like you're hopelessly in love with him. You're making yourself seem weak and easy to manipulate. You know I'm right."

"I know. I know that I'm being rash. I know that by confessing my feelings I'm coming across as weak." Mao Lu's expression hardened, "But you should know that I'm not weak, and that I won't be easily manipulated."

Mao Lu pulled away from Chàng Bo and said, "I'm not expecting a response to my feelings. And I'm not expecting you to act in any way towards me. I'm sorry if I've inconvenienced you. But I feel great, being honest and straightforward about my feelings is very relieving."

He stood up and smiled at Chàng Bo, "So do you want to do some shopping, and there's so much of Beijing I want to show you."

He stretched his hand out to Chàng Bo, "Let's go."

Chàng Bo stared at Mao Lu in confusion. "He confesses his love to me but he doesn't want a response or an answer. He's doing all of this for me, even willing to become my fate companion even though our feelings aren't mutual. Does he really not want me to act in a certain way around him? Or is he just saying that? This man is very confusing. But regardless I will be the one winning at the end of this, having a Gatekeeper as a Fate Companion, I'm so lucky. Even when he finds out later about my intentions, the only person he has to blame is himself."

Chàng Bo thought all this as he took Mao Lu's hand and stood up. "Well then I should be straightforward as well. I don't mind becoming your fate companion. It will benefit me greatly. About your feelings… I won't respond to them just yet."

Mao Lu nodded, "That's perfectly fine."

"So when is our Fate Companions.h.i.+p exactly? Chàng Bo asked as they walked out of the snack streets and back to the main Qianmen street.

"I'm not sure myself. The first ranked Gatekeeper, Argenti, told me that she'd make the arrangements and inform me when the preparations were all done. She hasn't contacted me back yet." Mao Lu said casually.

"The Gatekeepers are arranging the ceremony!" Chàng Bo exclaimed.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Mao Lu was surprised.

"A fate companions.h.i.+p is where two people's fates are combined eternally. Our souls become inseparable. If I died you would die, our life spans also become the same. It's a very big commitment, in the past it was more popular but these days many don't do it and many marriages aren't through fate companions.h.i.+p but through legal agreements.

Such a ceremony is usually very private because a fate companions.h.i.+p is such a personal matter. Only held between the two individuals. But the Gatekeepers controlling the ceremony means this will become a very public affair…it makes sense since Gatekeepers rarely had fate companions.h.i.+ps, even in the past, and they usually did it with each other. They want to publicise the event, probably to make themselves look better and relatable to the people."

"What do you mean? How will our relations.h.i.+p make Gatekeepers more relatable?" Mao Lu inquired.

"You're a new Gatekeeper right, and you live in a mortal Realm so I'm not surprised that you don't know, but Gatekeepers generally have a bad relations.h.i.+p with pract.i.tioners. I mean you have such mysterious powers and secrets, this obviously leads to a lot of distrust. And there are many evil Gatekeepers that have killed pract.i.tioners in their realms and treated them like toys.

In many Realms there are various uprisings and revolts against the Gatekeepers. Movements that have been growing stronger everyday. I believe that they'll use our fate companions.h.i.+p as a symbol. We'll represent that Gatekeepers aren't just evil dictators but also capable of emotions and relations.h.i.+ps just like regular people.

I doubt that our union will stop any riots or prevent the growing movement against the Gatekeepers, but it will help them improve their image, and may even give hope to other pract.i.tioners."

"Hope? How will it give them hope?" Mao Lu turned to Chàng Bo.

"Haven't you ever dreamed of marrying rich or into power before you became a Gatekeeper. You can only dream about these things because it's happened to someone else, someone of a low status married to royalty, or someone poor married rich. Because of that you begin to think, 'if that person can do it, why can't I?" The same thing will apply to us. 'If Chàng Bo can marry a Gatekeeper, why can't I?" you know what I mean right?" Chàng Bo explained

Mao Lu nodded, he understood. So their fate companions.h.i.+p would be used as some huge PR campaign to improve the image of the Gatekeepers and in affect calm down the pract.i.tioners that are against them. No wonder the other Gatekeepers had agreed to his proposal so easily, it wasn't just because becoming Chàng Bo's fate companion would give them the answers about the key that they were looking for, but because it would also help them out politically.

They were glad that Mao Lu had offered himself as a sacrificial lamb.

"Probably by now, the news of our fate companions.h.i.+p is spreading across the realms." Chàng Bo continued. Not knowing how right he was, in fact at this moment across the four-hundred realms, huge news was spreading quickly.

____________________________

STAR REALM, REALM 348

Chàng Bo's father, Chàng Xing, was drinking blue spirit tea with Lee Èmó.

"Again I am very sorry for your loss Èmó and I am glad you have smartly chosen to stop pursuing my son."

"Well what could I do, you gave me all the evidence that he didn't do it. To think one of her guards killed her out of heartbreak, my poor daughter. I made sure that that man's entire family and relatives were all killed for his actions, I apologise for my followers framing your son and spreading such unfounded rumours Xing. I should have disciplined my followers more and made them investigate properly before they spread such harmful lies." Lee Èmó said apologetically.

Chàng Xing smiled at him but his smile didn't reach his eyes, his gaze was cold. "Your daughter goes to visit my star Realm with only one guard and she is stabbed by him and then he also stabs himself in the throat. It was such an obvious murder. I'm surprised that you didn't notice this straight away Èmó."

"I was so blinded by grieving, I wasn't thinking straight and I got the wrong people to investigate." Lee Èmó said with a fake smile, his pale face and sharp teeth showing through his scraggy black beard.

"Really. So you're telling me that you didn't arrange for this guard to kill your daughter, and that you didn't use this opportunity to frame my son so that you could make out that my Star Realm violated our peace treaty, giving you an excuse to invade and start another war?" Chàng Xing said coldly, his voice caused the temperature to drop lower and lower.

Lee Èmó simply smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about Xing, why would I do such a thing to my only daughter just so I can start another war with you."

"I'm also wondering why you would sacrifice your only daughter. Or maybe you weren't antic.i.p.ating her death and you truly didn't arrange it, but when you realised she died in my Star Realm you thought to yourself, 'I'm not going to let her death be in vain, I'm going to use it to create a war.' perhaps." Chàng Xing said, his face unchanging.

"Well regardless I'm sure you're very angry right now because not only have you lost your daughter, but you can no longer frame my son nor start a war. How does it feel being a loser again Èmó? Do you feel bitter and helpless?"

Lee Èmó's expression froze, his eyes burned in anger but he continued to smile, "Don't worry Chàng Xing, I will have the last laugh. And I hear your son is still being chased by Ju Juan's followers, I'm sure you must be stressed by it all."

Chàng Xing smiled wider, "Stressed, not at all."

He went to take another sip of his tea but realised it had frozen over.

He put the cup down, "Actually I'm more curious than stressed, I want to know who you're working with?"

Lee Èmó raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, who coerced you into framing my son? It's probably the same person that stole Ju Juan's artefact and planted it in my son's room. And if you didn't organise your daughters death yourself, then this person probably was the one that coerced your daughters guard to kill her in the first place. And I'm sure you can point me towards that person." Chàng Xing said icily, his black star speckled eyes gleamed viciously.

"I don't know what you're talking about Chàng Xing. There is no such person." he stood up, "Well I better get going, the Gatekeeper pa.s.s I used to come here was only for a one day visit, so I need to leave now. Thank you for the tea."

As he headed to the door of the large room Chàng Xing called out, "From all the centuries I've known you Èmó, I never thought you were the type to be used by another so easily. I guess I was wrong, even you can become someone's b.i.t.c.h. I hope you can break free from them soon."

Lee Èmó clenched his fists, but he didn't turn back or reply, he just exited through the door.

"Who could be behind this that they even have Lee Èmó wrapped around their little finger." Chàng Xing mumbled, his brow creased in worry.

Just as he thought this, furious knocking came at the door.

"Come in."

"Uncle!!!!" exclaimed a youth. He was dressed head to toe in a golden robe with star essences across it. He had silky blonde hair wrapped up in a bun, his eyes were black and speckled with stars, and he had n.o.ble and handsome features. He was Chàng Zihe, Chàng Bo's cousin, and Chàng Xing's nephew.

When he entered the room Chàng Xing's hard gaze softened a bit. "What are you doing here Zihe, did your father send you here? What for?"

"Uncle! Some crazy news just broke out, like just now. The Gatekeepers made an announcement." Chàng Zihe gasped, trying to catch his breath, he'd flown here in less than five minutes all the way from his family's castle. "Dad told me to ask you if you knew about this!"

Chàng Xing's brows creased in confusion, "Know about what?"

"You don't know, did you not hear?"

"I was just having a private meeting and I told all the servants to stay away. So if there has been any new news in the last hour I haven't heard a thing. So stop beating around the bush already and tell me what's going on Zihe." he said in a commanding voice.

Zihe shook, he was only twenty eight this year, and had only average talent. So he was still at the Life stage, for cultivators/martial artists this was the stage above Awakening. So just hearing his Uncle's slightly raised voice made him dizzy and very obedient.

He rummaged around his robes and pulled out a newspaper article. "This was on the front of today's Realm Paper, and Gatekeeper Zither made an announcement through the soundscape that confirmed the story. Chàng Bo's getting hitched!"

Chàng Xing's eyes bulged as he stared at the at the front page. The headline read, "CHÀNG BO TO BECOME THE COMPANION OF A GATEKEEPER."

On the front page was a photo of his son.

The article read, "History has been made today as a Fate Companions.h.i.+p date has been set, and this isn't just any fate Companions.h.i.+p, this is a marriage between a Gatekeeper and a Pract.i.tioner. Something historians are saying hasn't happened in billions of years.

The pract.i.tioner in question is Chàng Bo, the son of the Supreme Lord of Stars, Chàng Xing of the Star Realm, Realm 348. Chàng Bo is known to many as the Absolute Heavenly Genius. He achieved immortality before the age of 40 and reached the Dao stage recently at the age of a 100. We've seen him in a lot of headlines lately due to his involvement with Lee Jingyi's death, which turned out to be false and he was proven innocent of that crime. We have also seen him in headlines since he allegedly stole Ju Juan's static artefact.

Many thought Chàng Bo was going to be in hiding and laying low until the drama died down, however it seems we were wrong. Since Chàng Bo has been apparently having a romance with a Gatekeeper. And they've now set the date for their fate Companions.h.i.+p. Which will be happening at the beginning of next year. The date the Gatekeepers have told us, is the first solar day of the calendar.

The Gatekeeper he is to be hitched with has yet to be revealed. But the Gatekeepers have promised us that they will reveal this information soon."

Chàng Xing's eyebrows twitched, "WHAT!?"