Song Jia's eyelashes trembled, before lowering over her eyes.
She didn't know how to respond him. She had watched what happened to the ending of her first mission, so even if she wanted to deny his feelings for her, she couldn't.
But there was also no way for Song Jia to be able to return his feelings.
The great poet Oscar Wilde had once said, "Love begins with self-deception, and always ends by deceiving others. This is the so-called romance."
If her past had taught her one thing, it was this.
Stripped of its beautiful shell and dragged out of the reals of dreams and fantasy, love was actually just an ugly thing.
Love was a result of manipulation, of psychological tricks, of biological needs.
It was a parasite that fed on loneliness, seeking attention and validation while simultaneously turning their host into a rotten shell.
That was why Song Jia had vowed that the feeling of love would never blind her. Her mother had taught this lesson to her several times.
Since it wasn't true, why bother seeking comfort in a lie?
She would rather invest her efforts in much worthier things, like her salary.
At least in this way, she could check for herself the visible rewards of her own efforts.
She took a step back, retreating away from Zhao Cheng's touch.
"We should focus more on why we're here. Even though you said only souls could pass through the Naihe bridge, my status is that of the Great Demon Queen. Even this court is under my territory. It should be fine to meet Meng Po."
Since Nova told her to go to the tenth court, it wouldn't be good if she didn't explore it more and find out why he sent her here.
Zhao Cheng froze for a beat when she retreated from him, but then he smiled. He didn't force her. This kind of thing, since he had already waited for so long, naturally his patience couldn't be compared to ordinary people.
If it couldn't take a single lifetime, then just continue to the next, and if that still wasn't enough, continue into the third lifetime...
As long as he continued to stay beside her, anything and everything else can wait.
"I'll go first. To be safe, Jia'er should follow after me."
"My status..."
Zhao Cheng held her hand, halting the rest of Song Jia's words.
"I know you're more powerful than me. But still, let me protect you."
One of his greatest fears was that she would protect him. That kind of protection, he didn't want and didn't need. Experiencing her 'protection' once was enough.
The Naihe bridge was long and narrow, which made it hard to traverse. Song Jia thought it would have three layers like what was written in myths and legends, but maybe some things had already changed since then.
They finally came across Wang Xiang Tai, the viewing pavilion where souls would bid goodbye to their relatives in the world of the living. The pavilion was strangely constructed, where it was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. It was also very steep, and there were many sword trees blocking the stone path that led towards it.
Next to this pavilion was a busy section, where an old lady continuously served soup...
This was the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Mi Hung Tang, the legendary guardian of reincarnation, Meng Po.
In front of her was a long serpentine line of people, waiting for their turn to drink the soup. Zhao Cheng didn't hesitate to stride forward, pulling Song Jia behind him.
"Hey, there's a line...!"
"Zeze, don't worry about them, they'll soon be escorted by Ox-head and Horse-face back to the end."
"Young people are really rude these days, ah..."
Complaints from souls that were waiting for their turn exploded behind them, but Zhao Cheng and Song Jia turned a deaf ear to all of them. Just as they were about to reach Meng Po, there was a rumble, and a cloud of dust came charging straight towards them.
Song Jia tensed. She had heard about Ox-head and Horse-face, these two guardians of the underworld. Even though they couldn't do any harm to her, it was a different story for Zhao Cheng.
The dust quickly resolved itself into two figures, both of them wearing heavy armor. Song Jia saw their shiny weapons and secretly gathered power to strike them at a critical moment. But Zhao Cheng seemed to know what she was planning to do and gave a reassuring squeeze to her hand.
Two loud and booming voices rang simultaneously in the air.
"Friend, you're back!"
"Haha, whose body did you steal? Even though you're much more handsome now, your soul still can't fool me!"
Song Jia blinked.
Friend?
Horse-face clapped Zhao Cheng in the back, while Ox-head crossed his arms in front of his chest and laughed.
"It's been a while since I last saw you! Did you find the lady you were looking for?"
Horse-face nudged his partner. "Wait until Meng Po catches sight of him. That old lady will grow another gray hair again!"
A stern voice came from behind the two guardians, her tone sharp.
"Which old lady did you say will grow another gray hair?"
When Ox-head and Horse-face nervously stepped aside, a tall woman with gray hair and a thin, gaunt face appeared between them.
The old woman was Meng Po.
Meng Po clicked her tongue as soon as her gaze fell on Zhao Cheng.
"When I didn't see you appear in the river for the first time, I thought that you already wisened up and managed to move on. Why did you go back here for?"
Just as Zhao Cheng was about to speak, Meng Po waved her hand towards him.
"Never mind. You're just right in time. Come, I'll teach you another lesson. Maybe this time, it will finally go through that thick skull of yours."
Song Jia was curious and silently urged Zhao Cheng to follow Meng Po. It seemed that everyone in the tenth court was familiar and had a close relationship with him. They didn't even notice her standing behind him.
Meng Po led them back to her station, where a woman was crying very sadly while holding a bowl of soup. The crying woman was muttering with a distressed voice, "Why, why didn't he recognize me..."
"You see that woman there? She was the wife of a man who had died sixty years ago." Meng Po's voice was calm and smooth. "That man, when he first came to me, he was also crying bitterly just like her. He told me, "I don't want to reincarnate, I want to go back and find my wife, she is still waiting for me at home."
"I didn't say anything and told him to drink the soup. He told me, "People will forget their emotions after reincarnation, but I won't forget it. After reincarnation, I will go to find my wife." Then he drank the soup. I was curious about his wife, so I looked back to the world of the living, and his wife was also very sad after his death. She even wanted to commit suicide several times.
"Finally, his family convinced her to become a widow for life instead. After twenty years, the man was finally reborn and lived in the village where he used to live in his past life."
Meng Po heavily paused, then continued.
"When the man passed by a certain house, he felt strange. He looked at the window and locked gazes with an old woman living there. Even though his appearance and his temperament had changed, the woman still recognized him. Tears flowed in her eyes and she walked towards him, saying, "You finally came back to me." Her heart was filled with love and happiness.
"But the reborn husband was scared after being talked like this by a strange old woman and hurriedly left. The woman fell ill and finally died, and when she came here asking for her husband, I told her about what the man had said before. The woman told me that she would not drink the soup and wait for him. I was very impressed with their love for each other, and told her that I will let her wait for him, so they could drink the soup together. But while waiting for him, she would have to stand in the Wangchuan River, being slowly bitten by ghosts and demons.
"The woman was willing to endure this test. When the man finally came, the woman grabbed his arm and said, "Do you remember me?" But the man only glanced at her and drank the soup."
Meng Po stared deeply at Zhao Cheng.
"You see, what is love? Just a bowl of water can make it disappear. In this life and the next, memories and feelings can be erased without traces. Even if you remember but the other forgets, what's left is only torture and pain, not love."
She flicked her sleeves. "I admit that you're the only one who had lasted for so long, waited for more than a thousand years, but it's time to put those feelings to rest. I've taught you several lessons, but all of them went into one ear and out of the other. Since you came back here, maybe you're finally willing to listen and drink my bowl of soup?"