Fanfiction3: A-Li's Three Lives, Three Worlds - Chapter 57 (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花)
Chapter 57
written by LigayaCroftedited by Panda & Kakashi
When A-Li was but 300 years old, his Father Lord died at Ruo River, was buried in Wuwang Sea and after three years woke up looking none the worse for wear. A-Li had often wondered where his Father Lord’s spirit went those three years that he was gone, but the Heavenly Emperor Ye Hua had never really talked about it to anyone.
Having escaped the clutches of death himself, A-Li woke up that afternoon with the knowledge that he had gone nowhere. He did feel better, as if he had just had the most restful sleep. And very much like his Father Lord all those years ago, based on the stories he had heard time and again from Lian Song and Cheng Yu, A-Li shot up from his sick bed looking for the love of his life.
Considering he had gone down to The Underworld, Hùndùn and back for her— he figured he might as well start calling her that.
He spotted Lu Dongbin meditating under a tree inside a cloud of incense smoke. A silvery half-orb acted as his shield against intruders. At first, A-Li hesitated to disturb the old man but since he had looked for Huo Zheng all over and was beginning to feel impatient, he touched the shield.
It decimated on contact.
Alarmed, he pulled his hand back.
His touch was not supposed to do that.
Lu Dongbin’s chanting ceased. With his back still to A-Li, the old man drew himself up to full height then turned around.
The flesh under his baggy, bloodshot eyes was dark and he was trembling. He had barely turned to face A-Li before he was back on his knees again, forehead to the ground.
A-Li’s heart dropped at the same time as Lu Dongbin’s body did. The realization that Huo Zheng was nowhere to be found, the knowledge that this man before him was a renowned alchemist— what had he done?
“Lu Dongbin, where is my… where is Huo Zheng?”
“Dìanxìa, if I may speak so candidly, I do not think it is wise to seek her out anymore.”
Did I miss a spot? A-Li’s eyes did the reverse and searched the property more desperately.
“Why not?”
“Your powers, Dìanxìa…”
“What about it?”
“On the Heavenly Emperor’s honor, I swear that I am above court intrigue. But I do not think the Celestial Purists will take it lightly if they find out their First Prince possesses powers never seen in the Celestial realms before.”
A-Li felt the skin between his brows furrow. Had his secret been exposed while he was unconscious? Had he inadvertently hurt Huo Zheng with his rogue demon powers?
“I have spent too much time in the Demon Realms and have learned a trick or two,” he said offhandedly. “Whatever it was, should not be a cause for alarm. Lu Dongbin, why are you shaking your head?”
Despite his question, the old man kept quiet, increasing the anxiety in A-Li’s chest.
“I did not mean to offend but you have to be more specific, Dìanxìa.”
More specific? He had left Huo Zheng and his injured body to this man’s care. He had awakened in the most refreshed state he had ever been, and Huo Zheng was gone. His memory harkened back to that winter when he found out that Xue Jiaolong was abducted and he had no clue yet as to whoever took her. The cold dread kept on thrumming a dull, incessant beat in his chest, so loud his ears could pick it up.
“Where is Huo Zheng?”
“D-Dìanxìa, if you please… p-please tone down your spiritual pressure.”
Only then did A-Li notice that the air around them crackled with the sounds of thin ice snapping in a frozen lake. Scanning his eyes across the area, he had to take a sharp inhale as he realized that the water particles in the air had all frozen into ice, in the form of multitudes of tiny multi-dimensional stars with spokes that extended outwards in all directions.
This… was… new.
He reached out to touch one star. It felt solid and the tips were needlepoint sharp. Purely out of curiosity, with his mind he commanded it to fly to a tree trunk a little to the west. The star hit the tree with a deafening crack before it splintered, leaving a smoking hole in the wood.
A water-based power. Even as the son of The Dragon, the water affinity had always skipped him, much to the disappointment of his old teachers who had instilled in him the expectation that he should have at least one, like all of his siblings. How great their disappointment had been! Throughout his developmental years, he had heard countless of times how much of a failure he was compared to his prodigy of a Father until he couldn’t care less that he didn’t have any. It had helped that Lian Song championed developing one’s strengths and he had many that didn’t have to do with water.
But now…
Turning to Lu Dongbin, who shivered with his face pressed to the frosted ground, A-Li reflected inward and for the first time since waking up recognized layers of foreign cultivation that coursed through him. It had seamlessly combined with his which was why he didn't recognize it right away. But it was there, moving slowly like a river of lava underneath his own cultivation, melting and melding with it. It was heavy as it was sneaky, as frightening as it was exhilarating.
“Lu Dongbin,” He asked again, sure now that this new development and whatever had caused Huo Zheng to disappear were related. “What have you done to me?”
With a shaky voice, Lu Dongbin replied as soon as A-Li minimized some of his spiritual pressure.
The information both stunned and angered A-Li.
“Cǎibǔ? You helped her perform Cǎibǔ on me?”
Lu Dongbin’s body jerked deeper to the ground because of the huge amount of spiritual pressure that came along with his shout. A-Li frowned, splaying his hands out wide to stretch, relaxing them, but failing. That he had to consciously control the power leaking out of him was bothersome and concerning, much like the time he had first found out that he could cancel magick over a large area of effect.
With a wave of his hand, he removed his pressure to tolerable levels. “My mother’s tribe has stopped doing that several millennia ago for reasons already known to you, Lu Dongbin. After the First Demon War, it was outlawed for any immortal to leech cultivation off of humans.”
“But Dìanxìa,” Lu Dongbin panted as he tried to get his upper body up by leaning on the flat palm of his hands. “You should know by now that Huo Zheng is no ordinary human.”
These mystics and their gray areas! A-Li’s hands scrunched up his face and then released, trying to regain his calm. Words flowed through his teeth with forced restraint. “You endangered her life! Did you even think beforehand that I could kill her and not know about it?”
“She was aware of the risks.”
She was willing to die for me? The knowledge left A-Li reeling with both hope and anger. As a mother, how could she have been so reckless to throw away her own life just like that?
But hadn't he asked that same question before?
How could my Father Lord ever think of leaving me behind, Shūshu? Didn't he love me enough?, he had asked when he, Mei Lin and Gun Gun were finally told of what Lian Song had labeled “the true-to-life precautionary tales of lovers who lost their minds when they lost their love” featuring their own sets of parents.
Lian Song had offered a deep sigh and a thoughtful expression then said, I hope the same affliction never strikes any of the three of you. I will be very disappointed with myself if so.
Back to present, A-Li straightened and looked around. “When did she leave?”
“A little after the ritual was finished. About a month ago.”
“Was she well enough to walk?”
“Barely. Please forgive me Dìanxìa but when I found out that she had left, I wanted to go after her but I could not leave you behind considering the weakened state you were in.”
A month. Barely walking. A-Li gritted his teeth. Would she still be alive?
“Never mind. I’ll find her myself.”
***
A-Li lost no time at all. He lifted the Veil and willed the particles to take him to the edges of Bailòng Glacier, right about where he had felt his power return the last time. In a fortuitous stroke of luck, he arrived as a merchant caravan was leaving, one which he recognized as those who traveled every couple of months to bring salt and spices.
“Good day to you, Xiansheng!” He greeted as he split into a jog after the merchant riding on one of the oxen-pulled wagons. “By any chance, have you recently come from Huicūn?”
The man’s face brightened in recognition. “Huo Mao’s son-in-law! Where did you come from and where is your wife, Huo Zheng? I was told you had both left for the Duke of Chángyíng’s estate. We are headed there now.”
A-Li’s heart dropped as the man gave him the answer that he was seeking, despite being an unfavorable one.
“She made a stop with one of her patients but I will be going back to fetch her in a couple of days. Thank you, Xiansheng. I wish you and your men a safe journey ahead.”
“I admit I was both surprised and delighted when Huo Mao told me of your marriage. I’ve never known of a more beautiful and perfectly paired couple. My best wishes to your marriage too, Bai Li. Kindly extend my regards to Huo Zheng.”
A-Li bowed to let the caravan pass as his mind raced on other possibilities where Huo Zheng could be at the moment. If she had left on foot the very night after the Cǎibǔ ritual, she would have been heavily injured— only the Heavens only knew what he had done to her while his mind was possessed by his animal form. Could she have gotten into trouble with wild animals? Bandit groups? Was she still alive? A-Li’s hands curled into fists as he thought of her in danger. Unacceptable. He would kill any bastard who would dare lay a hand on her — be it human or animal. She had to be alive. She had to.
Helpless, A-Li did the only thing he could do at this point. He lifted the Veil, stepped into Hùndùn, and immediately searched for his Shifu.
She was easy to find. He found her meditating under a bodhi tree in one of the Uncreated worlds she so favored, her body encased inside her golden aura. Her eyes opened as he appeared in front of her, and she stood up in one swift, graceful movement.
A-Li bowed but no longer cut corners in stating his purpose for being there.
“Shifu, I know I have been an unfilial student but please punish me later. Right now I need your help.”
“You seek the mortal.”
“Yes, Shifu.”
“Except, as you know by now because her spirit’s power courses through you — in conjunction with mine which you have obtained while I was trying to heal you — she is no ordinary mortal.”
“Shifu, I have no care for who she was,” he replied even though his heart was already at his throat. Had he spoken too boldly? Lian Song had always encouraged them to speak their minds but because of the way his Shifu glared at him, A-Li threw himself to the ground. “Shifu, I just need to find her. You have taught me to travel through the Veil. Please teach me how to search for a person among worlds as well.”
She regarded him with narrowed eyes. “She is accursed. Death will come for her soon enough and when it does, you won’t be able to protect her. Either way, she was right to leave. Your new powers are troublesome enough. You need to learn how to conceal them from Celestial eyes. I should teach you.”
“Shifu, with all due respect, I do not have enough time right now. I need to find her.”
“You are indeed your Father’s child,” she sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. “I should have tied him down for longer but he left the first chance he got.”
A-Li got back up on his knees. “You have met my Father Lord, Shifu?”
“So headstrong,” she rambled on, seemingly lost in thought. “And so eager to go back home to his wife and child.”
A-Li wanted to ask more but he was pressed for time. He moved closer and respectfully took a deeper bow.
“Shifu, please, teach me how to find Huo Zheng.”
“A-Li, I warn you to know more about her before you decide to have her.”
“I have already decided to have her. Now I just need to find her.”
“She’s a dangerous immortal. I don't think the Celestial Tribunal will appreciate if they learned you have chosen a criminal as your wife.”
A criminal? A-Li’s brows raised, thoughts scrambling to understand how somebody as kind and selfless as Huo Zheng could have been a criminal.
But did it change anything?
The answer was clear to A-Li. Whatever Huo Zheng had done during her past as an immortal no longer mattered. If her current life was proof of her true character then A-Li was willing to believe something had gone wrong with her sentencing.
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
“She is not for you to love. She has—”
“Again with all due respect, that is for her and I to decide, Shifu.”
“There are more things to be done and you are here looking for a woman. Tell me, A-Li, how far are you willing to go for this cursed creature?”
“As far as I can.” Remembering the Duke of Chángyíng’s actions, he added, “I’d give up my immortality for—”
“I don’t understand why like your Father, you cannot be reasoned with regarding women!”
“Shifu,” A-Li’s voice dropped at the outburst. While there was regret at his hasty declaration as he thought of the family he was turning his back on, there was no shame he felt because he knew his Father would understand.
“Remember when I told you how your test was coming up? You are failing miserably, child. Nobody challenges fate like this and wins.”
“I would still like to try.”
She studied him with a probing gaze before with a huff, she turned on her heel and left.
“Shifu,” A-Li ran after her, his quest still incomplete. “Please, I need—”
“Since your heart leads over your mind so much, you might as well let it guide you like stars have done for mortals for many a millennia. You can mostly find anyone as long as you want it hard enough, especially if that person is a yuánfèn [1] of yours.”
“T-thank you, Shifu.”
A-Li remained bowed until his Shifu and her grumbling was out of earshot and eyesight. Then he moved out of the world he was in back toward the one Huo Zheng was in.
Maybe it was the Cǎibǔ ritual that she had performed on him, but knowing now what to do and having a part of her soul essence made it easy for him to track her.
“There you are,” he whispered as he saw the glimmer of her life in the distance. Without further ado, he lifted the Veil and willed the particles to take him to Huo Zheng’s direction.
To his surprise, he found her asleep and hunched to her knees between the crack inside a boulder. Her bow and makeshift arrows were to her side while a stack of tied-up firewood were to her feet. She wore one of the peasant clothes he had had in his possession and her long hair was up in a bun on top of her head, to make her appear a man.
A-Li looked up and estimated she was about four days’ ride on horseback from Huicūn and about a week from Lu Dongbin’s area. It was strange. Considering she was somebody who used to take weekly trips to Nanking, that A-Li had always assumed that she was good with directions. How could she possibly get lost?
Movement.
A-Li shrouded himself with invisibility just as Huo Zheng opened her eyes. His heart jumped upon seeing her wide-awake beauty once more.
Your test… You are failing miserably, child.
She’s a dangerous immortal. I don't think the Celestial Tribunal will appreciate if they learned you have chosen a criminal as your wife.
Who was she, except for a lookalike of somebody who had died many, many mortal years in the past? And was that the test? That he would be distracted by somebody who had Xue Jiaolong’s face so he would overlook the fact that she could be somebody who was wanted by the Celestial Tribunal?
How?
How could somebody like Huo Zheng be a criminal? She was strong and decisive, protective and compassionate. Although looking at her now as she stood up to her feet facing the forest, she looked weak, just like she did before he left for Dìyù.
Vulnerable.
She had lost a lot of weight. Despite that, A-Li was thankful she looked unharmed. He had been afraid that when his Beast Power took over his reasoning, he might have mauled her.
She was also still fully mortal. If her goddess form was ever released by the Cǎibǔ ritual, there was no sign of it. He wondered if she was able to remember her past life as a goddess, because if not, then why did she flee?
He walked beside her, thankful to be near her, to watch her take one belabored mortal breath after another as she stepped up the incline toward the forest.
She loved him. She had to, else why put her own life on the line for his? She just didn't know it yet. Or if she already did, she was doing her best to hide it. Either way, A-Li was determined to make her face it.
And what of her status as a criminal? His Shūshu Lian Song always believed rules were meant to be broken every now and then else what would tribunals be for? There were ways around the Celestial rules. They would find a way.
He would find a way.
Suddenly, she turned and started calling out his name. The action dragged A-Li back to that time when Xue Jiaolong had done the same. Could it be? But no, it was impossible. He had quite settled how much more different the two women were than they were the same. And yet…
Please don’t turn out to be like your father, Zhízi. He was exasperatingly annoying in the days after Susu’s death, Lian Song had pleaded a little after they came back from Dìyù and had confirmed Xue Jiaolong’s death. And don't be as fatalistic as your Uncle either. He was even more annoying. My first sojourn to the Demon Realm was not as enjoyable as I hoped it would be thanks to him and your Aunt. You have to move forward, learn to see the present with your eyes, child, else you will surely go mad.
Again convincing himself to stop being distracted by futile hopes, he removed his invisibility spell and appeared in front of Huo Zheng.
Could it be because they were irrefutably bonded now— his life for hers, her cultivation to repair his— that Huo Zheng had never looked more beautiful in his eyes than she did at the moment?
It almost made the scowl fall off his face.
“How did you know I was here?” he asked because he wanted her to talk before she shut him out.
“Woman’s intuition. Plus, I now know you're a god. How did you find me?”
“Like you said,” he shrugged. “I am a god.”
She glared at him. “That is cheating.”
“Why did you run away after saving my life?”
“Am I tied to you in any way that would make running away impermissible?”
She turned and resumed walking so fast that A-Li jogged to keep apace. “I just wanted to be able to thank you, Xiăohŭ.”
“Your gratitude is accepted. Now, please leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that. I owe you now.”
“You saved me first. We don't owe each other anymore.”
Running out of patience, A-Li held on to her hand and stopped walking, causing her to jerkily halt as well.
“Xiăohŭ,” he sighed, keeping his tone calm and his face soft. “I know.”
The fire died in her eyes. “How much do you know?” she asked, searching his face.
“Only that you are a goddess on a punishment cycle. I know how these things work. I'm telling you it doesn't matter to me at all.”
Her shoulders fell. “I am a terrible person.”
“Was. Whatever you have done, this life that I've seen you live has paid for it many times over.”
“Is that how it works? That I had to live so many mortal lives, sometimes even as a man, in recompense? I don't even know who I really am!”
Her shudder told A-Li the weight of her guilt.
“We cannot be sure but Xiăohŭ, I am not entirely without power nor influence. We can get to the bottom of this. I can go to my Father Lord now and—” A-Li’s argument was cut off because Huo Zheng suddenly pulled at his hand.
“Don’t. Don’t leave me.”
A-Li gathered her into his arms. She smelled like sunshine and white flowers and everything that was good and desirable in his world.
“If you didn't want me to leave, why did you run away?” He whispered against her hair and he got a hearty pinch on the side as his reward. “You need to make up your mind, Xiăohŭ.”
“Not now.”
“So stubborn.”
“Mmm—” she murmured against his chest and A-Li would be lying if he said he did not want her when she was pressed so softly against him. Her hands snaked to cup his face and A-Li found himself staring into her dark eyes. “Are you feeling better now?”
He nodded, mouthing a thank you. There was no need to further scare her by telling her that whatever she had done to him had given him more than what he had had before. That now, he felt like a stranger to his own body, like a container straining to adapt to the new, wild energy current that flowed within.
“Did you get to remember who you were? Lu Dongbin has mentioned you told him you didn't but if so, why did you run away?”
She bit her lower lip and shook her head. “No name, only that I know what I was being punished for. I destroyed a world, I believe. Living creatures… people… died.”
“It is common for gods to be punished for a myriad of different reasons,” he stroked her hair and back and guided her to sit on top of his thighs after he sat on the stump of a felled tree. “The punishment comes to an end on its own, or after you have fulfill the preconditions of your curse.”
She buried her face against the crook of his neck, rocking slightly. “A-Li, what if I am one of those you are not supposed to even be friends with?”
“Because I am not worthy?” He asked, again keeping his thoughts to himself. That she had destroyed a mortal world— A-Li only knew of one other God who had done that before: his Uncle, MoYuan, the God of War, who had been punished lightly. Not only that but Mo Yuan had still retained his status and immortal stature.
Could the lighter punishment for the God of War have been because he was Celestial Royalty while Huo Zheng was not? But how could one explain her power that now coursed through his veins? Mysterious. Heady. Dangerous. There was no use denying that whoever she was used to be very powerful. She could at the very least be a High Immortal. If so, who? And from which tribe did she come from?
“No. Because I’m not.” She straightened her back so they could see eye to eye. Stunning. Even more stunning than how he last remembered her right before he had fallen into deep sleep. Had she changed? Or had he? “A-Li, you are the First Prince of your Kingdom. If the immortal realms are anything like it is here, I would not be surprised if you told me your family had already chosen another woman for you to marry. Somebody who comes from a royal line, or someone who can help solidify your Father’s political alliances.”
A-Li had a fair inkling where this was leading to. His breath caught when she jumped out of his lap.
“I want to go home. I… I kept on getting lost. Maybe you can lead me home and then you can go back home to wherever you came from. You can take Gun Gun and Mei Lin with you when you leave.”
Hadn’t she just told him not to go and now she was telling him to leave after he dropped her off?
Women’s logic, Lian Song would often sigh every time he would get into a misunderstanding with Cheng Yu. They say one thing and mean another. Find yourself One whom you are crazy enough for and you will never need a harem in your life. It’s too much of a trouble to maintain more than one.
“A while ago you didn't want me to leave and now you want me to. Xiăohŭ, you have yet to ask me what I want to do.”
Her head tilted to one side. “What do you want to do?”
“Let’s see. How long was I away?”
She considered his question then answered, “Too long.”
A-Li smiled. “Then you will understand when I tell you I missed you, Xiăohŭ. Come here so I can kiss you.”
He watched with fascination as the push and pull of emotions played on her face. To help her hasten her decision, he held out one hand which beckoned for her, like he had seen his Father Lord do to his Mother so many times.
And he won.
Or not.
“You can't just order me around,” she clarified as she stood between his legs. Her hands wrapped around his nape and pressed to motion his face upwards. “I am going to kiss you, not the other way around.”
A-Li couldn't help but grin at how controlling she had always been. So this was winning by losing, as the men he had looked up to all his life were in a habit to do with their headstrong wives.
“Then I am but your servant. Do with me as you please.”
She straddled his lap and lowered herself until they were face to face. A-Li protectively wrapped his arms around her waist. His hand ran along her spine.
“Did I hurt you? During the ritual?”
Her eyes rolled skywards. “I was about to kiss you and you just had to ruin the moment.”
“I’m sorry,” he still apologized, running the juncture of his top lip against the tip of her nose before he went for a light nip at her lower lip.
“You were not yourself. I knew what I was getting into. Lu Dongbin has been very upfront about what to expect. Besides, I was out of it for most of the time.”
“I will make it up to you, Xiăohŭ,” he whispered as he nibbled against the skin of her neck, inhaling her white floral scent, tasting the light saltiness of her skin. “Even if it’s the last thing I do. I—”
Her hand wrapped around his hair and tugged forcefully so his sight was once again ensnared in hers.
“Don't say the words.”
A-Li swallowed.
“Don't make me say them either,” she added, the intensity in her eyes indicating she meant business.
So she knew but just didn't want to admit it. A-Li’s stomach clenched as his desire for this beautiful, difficult woman rose tenfold.
“Maybe not today,” he negotiated, his fingers already untying her tunic top. “Tomorrow, I'll try again.”
For some reason, his words did the reverse of what he hoped. Instead a slow, sad smile drew on her face that didn't match the softness that was in her eyes.
“What if there is no more tomorrow? What if all we have is today?”
What was she talking about? There were tomorrows, many of them in fact. An infinite number. He’d pick them all up like sand particles on a beach to give to her.
“Cover me, A-Li. I don't want the heavens to see me.”
He stood up, lifting her, kissing her with everything he had. Then he pulled a concealment spell far stronger than any he had ever produced before. In the blink of an eye, a shallow cave formed over them where they stayed dry, while outside, a fantastic storm of wind, rain and lightning swelled. The cave was a deliberate choice, given the last time they were both inside one, she was at the mercy of his Beast Power. Today, he will make it up to her by taking his time, consciously giving her pleasure.
With one tug of her fingers, the inner tie holding her tunic together parted, revealing her tied-up chest. The flattened globes beckoned for A-Li to free them, which he did, as she quietly watched between rapid breaths. When the long strip of cloth gave way under his ministrations, she did a light shimmy that caused it to slide down her body and fall over her hips.
“Xiăohŭ,” he whispered raggedly as for the first time, he saw the fading bruises and bite marks all over her bared chest. One rosy nipple even had a healing scab around half the circumference where the skin connected to her areola. “Oh, Xiăohŭ.”
Rip!
With one forceful tug, she ripped apart a long strip of cloth from her discarded tunic. With a look that begged him to trust her, she lifted the cloth over his eyes and securely tied it behind him, shrouding his vision.
“My body is still healing, yes, but I do not want you to be distracted by it. I want you to lie with me using your four other senses. Is that too much to ask?”
“I can heal your body,” he volunteered, the thumb of his right hand tentatively rubbing her injured nipple.
He heard her sharp intake of breath, but the sound was not from pain only. He felt a shudder course through her body in the tailwind of the sigh that followed.
“Leave it alone. I like my scars, especially the ones I am forming. I want this aging body to have mementos of the time I was able to wrench you from Death.”
A hand cupped his chin and her sweet breath was upon him moments before her soft lips did, coaxing, seeking entry. It was all the distraction that A-Li needed as he opened his mouth and claimed her tongue with his.
The cloth was for him but what she was asking for was for them, to heal them from the brutality of the Cǎibǔ ritual. A-Li quit trying to see past the cloth and closed his eyes, letting his other senses and his memory of her body guide him.
She held nothing back either.
So today, he resolved to take it slow. To introduce her to the kind of pleasure that made one’s knees weak even at its mere memory.
With his mouth, he prayed to her skin. With his hands, he showed her the way. And with his body, he covered her and possessed her.
His.
She belonged to him.
But hers?
Ah, how he wished he belonged to her, too.
Many moments later, as the storm subsided into light rain and they lay on top of their mass of discarded clothing on the grass-carpeted floor, A-Li took off his blindfold and pulled the sleeping Huo Zheng tight against his body.
Contrary to what she had declared before in Chángyíng, this time she cuddled against him— almost branding him, pressing her breasts against his chest, tucking one leg between his and his leg between hers, that it was impossible not to want her again.
She needed to rest a bit more so he focused on making plans instead.
She was marrying him although she didn't know it yet.
He would eventually bring her to the immortal realms where they would work on returning her former status as an immortal.
And then they would live the rest of their long lives together, forever.
Forever.
He liked that word now.
Forever.
Chapter 58
* * *
Endnotes
1. (缘分) a relationship written in the stars. Yuan (缘) describes the “serendipity” by which people are brought together, considered even rarer in a sprawling land of 1.3 billion people, whereas fen (分) refers to the “binding force” that keeps the connection alive and thriving,