I opened the door to Yanwang’s palace. Surprisingly, I didn’t hear the sound of his snoring. Instead, on a small table beside Yanwang’s enormous desk, I saw the magistrate, buried in a pile of cases. He was busily writing. He didn’t even look up when I came in and simply threw out a few words: “Do you have some business here? Say it.”
“Eh…I’m here again.”
The magistrate finally lifted his head from the table and glanced at me. Then, he buried his head and continued to work.
“En, I see.”
I totally didn’t expect such cold treatment. After standing there for awhile, I figured that the short term pain of disrupting him would be better than the long term pain of indefinite waiting, so I asked, “Where is Yanwang? I have come to receive my punishment.”
The magistrate coldly replied, “Went on a business trip to Heaven. Not back yet.”
My eyes lit up. “Then can I just go reincarnate without bothering about him?”
The magistrate gave me another cold look that clearly spelt out “don’t even think about it.”
“Wait quietly in the Netherworld.”
I sighed. “Then how long do I have to wait?”
“One day in Heaven is one year in the mortal realm. Yanwang has been almost gone for a year. He will be in Heaven for about two, three days more.”
This means two, three years here, ah! Having an endless immortal life, waiting for a couple of years was not too long in the grand scheme of things. But I had just finished living as a mortal, so I also began to care about time.
Two, three years…that would be enough time for Chu Kong to defeat Wei Country.
I found my good mood and perked up. But before I managed to walk out of Yanwang’s palace to take advantage of this two, three years free time, the magistrate coldly stopped me. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to take a two-year-long vacation traveling the Netherworld.”
“Long vacation?”
After the magistrate heard those two words, his eyes flashed green. He fiercely threw all the files on the table onto the ground and stood up.
“You dare to mention a long vacation in front of me! The Netherworld lacks people, so there isn’t one ghost who gets a free year, you know?! Working through the night won’t earn us overtime pay, you know! Even working when you’re sick is very normal, you know! You actually dare to go on a pleasure trip around the Netherworld?! Very good, very good. I see; you immortals coming down to reincarnate is just meant to torment us. Very good, very good. I understand. When Yanwang comes back, I’ll make sure he makes you lick our shoes to taste our hardworking sweat and tears…”
I rubbed my temples and waved. “I understand, I understand. You want me to help, I’ll help.”
The magistrate sat down again. While writing, he said, “First, help me pick up the files and put them in order. Second, there are many documents on Yanwang’s desk that need to be stamped. Stamp the files on the left. Cross the files on the right. This job should be simple enough for you to do.”
By the time I finished, it was lunchtime. I slid down in Yanwang’s seat. Under the table, I spied a bunch of documents that still needed to be done. I was instantly dumbfounded. “This…why does this Yanwang never look busy?”
The magistrate expressionlessly replied: “Because he leaves everything to me when he goes on a business trip. If I don’t clean them up, they’ll sit there forever.”
I said, “If that’s so, you can just pretend you didn’t clean the office, so you didn’t see anything.”
The magistrate gave me a look. Cowed, I sat up again and began to work, but the fact of the matter was that neither I nor Yanwang were the type to do desk work.
I had worked for less than seven days, but I was already growing restless. It was really hard to concentrate. I was beginning to understand why Yanwang would have that ecstatic kind of look on his face whenever he saw Chu Kong and I come down to the Netherworld. He would only expose such an elated expression because life in the Netherworld was really just too boring. It was difficult to find something fun around here…
I climbed onto Yanwang’s desk. There was a hard container blocking my face. I curiously removed the hard thing. Inside it was a mirror. This mirror felt a little familiar. I asked the the magistrate: “What is this?”
The magistrate’s gaze swept over me.
“The mirror of the past. You have to work.”
I ignored the other half of what he said and asked, “What do you use it for?”
“To see the past life of the one whom your heart wants to see. I said you have to work!”
I nodded and ignored the other half of what he said again. Then I looked into the mirror, eyes wide open. I suddenly remembered...didn’t Yanwang use this thing to let me see Lu Hai Kong? At the time, I didn’t have the heart to watch. Now…I still couldn’t bear to watch.
Even filled with reluctance as I was, the mirror reacted. It began to quake, and finally, within its reflection I saw a familiar face. It was General Kong. He was wearing heavy armor, riding a warhorse. The aura he was emitting matched well with the position of a general. I actually couldn’t believe that the man I saw in the mirror was the same prideful and foul-mouthed Chu Kong.
So, when I couldn’t watch him, Chu Kong could also have this expression. He looked like Lu Hai Kong, who was burdened with hatred but still had a soft heart…
At least, this was what I saw.
“Kill!”
He raised the long sword and charged straight ahead. The noise of the battlefield and the numerous people screaming echoed in my ears. His murderous aura seemed to flow right through the mirror, and I shuddered at the feeling. I put the mirror down. I didn’t want to keep watching.
Unexpectedly, over the next few days, I bunkered down and focused with a serious heart. I repeatedly crossed and stamped, performing my duties without interruption.
Maybe my focus wasn’t actually attributed to a serious heart, but an absent-minded one.
One day, I hesitated to stamp, the seal in my hand hovering above the paper. I asked the magistrate: “Say...does Chu Kong still remember the details of Lu Hai Kong from that lifetime?”
The magistrate glanced at me. “Do you still remember the lifetime when you drank the Soup of Oblivion?”
I nodded.
The magistrate humphed coldly. “Then isn’t it solved?”
“But…I mean.”
I struggled to parse my thoughts into a language. “Do the feelings of that lifetime also stay?”
In my opinion what silly Xiang left for me from that lifetime was only two things: reliance on Chu Kong, and an inexplicable trust in him.
Well, the silly Xiang from that lifetime was entrusted to an immortal. Chu Kong still had his memories. It would’ve been sillier if she hadn’t trusted him.
Faced with my question, the magistrate, as straightforward as he was in work and manner, said, “If you’re asking about Celestial Star Chu Kong, I only have one answer.”
I looked at him, eyes wide and expectant. The magistrate’s answer was thus:
“Are you blind? Can’t you see that he’s always liked you?”
Like’... Although it was a running joke between Chu Kong and I, suddenly hearing it from another person’s mouth was different. My face turned red.
“Is-is-is…is it like that, ah? So it was true, ah. I always just joked about it…So it’s true…he truly li…likes me, ah. Really…really hateful! I’m so shy!”
The magistrate’s mouth twitched. “Don’t pretend to be innocent. This isn’t like you!”
Dissatisfied, I said, “You just let me pretend for a little while. I’m still a woman, so suddenly hearing these things will make me shy. Give my feelings a chance to express themselves!”
“Fine. Carry on.”
I turned away. My cheeks were burning. I thought that perhaps…perhaps this was also one of the feelings that silly Xiang left for me.
I sat there for awhile, just thinking, and then I took out the Mirror of the Past. Who knew what my heart was thinking; I certainly didn’t have the time to guess before the mirror began to move. I could see General Kong’s face. He was sitting on an arm chair, legs angled. It was totally different from a few days ago, when I saw him on the battlefield. This time, he stood in front of a woman, who was bound and lying on the floor. I squinted and realized that it was actually Xinyun.
Chu Kong and Xinyun…
“Tell me, what do you like?”
Chu Kong sipped his tea as his eyes fell on Xinyun. Even while she was under such circumstances, in front of Chu Kong, Xinyun didn’t forget to smile. “Doesn’t General already know what this concubine likes?”
The implication was that she liked the general. I pouted. If it was me still inside the general’s body, I would’ve urinated on her, and then asked her whether she still liked me now. I’d definitely ruin the perfect image of the general that she kept in her heart.
Chu Kong listened to her words and nodded. “To be honest, I did carefully investigate the things that you like. Luomei hairpins, rosewood beads, blue and white velvet robes… If I remembered correctly, these are all things that I gave to you.”
Xinyun shyly nodded. Chu Kong narrowed his eyes and smiled.
If I remembered correctly, this smile of his meant that he was up to no good.
“You left in hurry the last time we saw each other, and all your belongings had been left at my other mansion in the capital. In the past few days, I have ordered people to bring them here for you. Take a look. Are these your most favorite things?”
Xinyun didn’t dare to look at Chu Kong directly. With dazed eyes and liquid warmth, she said, “General…”
I sighed. Lady, you’re too serious. How can you take Chu Kong so seriously? He is poison, ah. That’s something toxic you’re playing with!
“Are you sure that this is everything?”
“En, that’s right.”
The gentleness in Xinyun’s eyes turned into a mass of light.
“Very good,” Chu Kong nodded.
His voice changed and he said, “Smash them. Those that are made of cloth, burn them.”
Xinyun’s eyes turned blank. She could only watch as some rough man smashed her favorite things into pieces.
She looked at Chu Kong with a blank stare and asked, “Why? Chu Qinghui, are you taking revenge on me because I killed princess Qingling?”
She couldn’t conceal the hatred within her heart. Her expression turned crazy. It was the same way she had looked at “me” then.
“Do you want to take revenge on me so much?! For that bitch! You gave everything to her! Status, wealth, and a child! You gave her everything! Even during our only night together, you called her name! What’s so bad about me?! What is so bad about me?!”
Chu Kong stared quietly at her. “There’s nothing good about you. Voice too high, talk too much nonsense, heart too malicious. The worst thing about you is that your hands are too shrewd. You played with my toy and broke it. Xiaoye is in a bad mood. I also want to play a little and break you. Go on, keep talking; what more do you like? What more do you still care about? I will ruin them here for your viewing pleasure.”
“Hehe, you want to take revenge, then take it!”
I felt deep inside my bones that the difference between their dialogues was like the sky and the sea...not on the same level at all.
Full of hate, Xinyun spat, “Before, you two were separated by the affairs of the court. You couldn’t be together. Now, you can’t be together even more! You will never see each other again! In this life, Chu Qinghui, you won’t be able to live all nice and comfortable anymore!”
If these words fell on the real general’s ears, it might have been able to cause some harm.
Chu Kong frowned and dug around in his ear with a finger. “Gag her. Her shrewd mouth is too noisy.”
He circled around Xinyun and said, “Listen up. Xiaoye only wants to deal with you because you need to be dealt with. I will not use my hands against a woman.”
My heart silently said: “Liar.”
Chu Kong continued. “…So, after this life of yours ends, don’t reincarnate or appear in front of me. Otherwise, I’ll deal with you every time I see you.”
Chu Kong ordered some people to drag her out. He sat alone, drinking his tea in his armchair. Now faced with an empty hall, he sighed and then murmured, “She must not have kissed him yet, right?”
I was stunned to hear this nonsense sentence from him. Like a fool, I sat there and giggled in front of the mirror.
The magistrate beside me hit me on the head with a stack of files. “Work hard!”
In quite a good mood now, I put down the Mirror of the Past. Whenever I couldn’t see Chu Kong, he was so honest and cute, ah! He really was a child who says one thing but means the other.
If I couldn’t see Chu Kong, I would probably also miss him…right?
That being said, I seemingly also…like him…right?
I buried my head among the stacks of files. Suddenly, I was a little worried that the temperature of my face would set the whole room on fire. There was a lot of flammable material here, after all.
The days in the Netherworld passed with me taking a peek in the Mirror of the Past from time to time. In the blink of an eye, I had stayed in the Netherworld for more than two years.
In the Mirror of the Past, most of these two years had been of Chu Kong leading the army and reconquering the lands occupied by Wei Country. He also conquered five additional lands. The citizens of Wei Country who were living there handed down a decree declaring their surrender. Chu Kong tore down the decree, let them pay the damages, and demanded Wei Country promise to be under Qi Country’s control for fifty years. Wei Country’s monarch struggled a lot, so Chu Kong ate three more cities…and, well.
Finally, Wei Country’s monarch accepted Chu Kong’s conditions.
Under the summons of Qi Country’s emperor, Chu Kong triumphantly returned to the capital with his troops. This time around, there weren’t any bad rumors floating around about him.
The day he triumphantly returned to the capital, the ground was full of snow. Riding high on the horse, looking at the sky, he stopped for a long time and didn’t take a step forward. His figure made me feel desolate and lonely. Perhaps Chu Kong and this thing called snow simply didn’t go together.
After he won with such a success, he should’ve been able to enjoy his time and rest at least ten more years in the mortal realm. Then, he and I would really miss each other in the next lifetime…
After having such a thought, my days became listless. Whenever I could be lazy, I’d try my hardest to be lazy. I was only waiting for Yanwang to come back, receive my punishment from him, and then I could go.
In the Netherworld, where work is all year round without rest, I formed some habits. I would stroll around the bridge before going to Yanwang’s palace to work. When I strolled by the road to the Netherworld, I thought I saw a familiar figure. I stared at him and rubbed my eyes in disbelief. He saw me and his pace came to a halt.
Through the miasma of the Netherworld, we stared at each other for a long time. No one spoke. Eventually, he lifted his feet and walked towards me. He stood a mere three paces away. I stared at him for a moment. Suddenly seeing Chu Kong in person after two years of mirror-watching, all kinds of complicated feelings came to the surface. I had an impulse to run to him and hug him. This impulse surprised me. So instead, I restrained my feelings and just smiled at him.
In a blink of eye, I saw his hands curl into fists at his side. Tighten, then loosen; tighten, then loosen again. It looked like he was also restraining himself from acting on an impulse. Could it be…he also wanted to hug me?
The smile on my face turned even more brilliant. “Yo! Long time no see. You did pretty well in the human world…”
I hadn’t finished yet when a ghost suddenly came running into me. I staggered. Then a second ghost bumped into me. I staggered a step further. A third ghost bumped into me. I staggered again. My body couldn’t hold up and went straight in Chu Kong’s embrace.
The ghosts who bumped into me one after another bolted to the other side of the road. Not even their shadows were left, leaving me all embarrassed in Chu Kong’s embrace.
I felt his arms wrap around and hug me tightly…
Really, hugging, ah!
My face felt somewhat hot, but I didn’t break away from him. I let him hug me. Surprisingly, he also didn’t speak, didn’t let go, just kept holding me as tight as he could.
This…scene felt really loving, ah...
“Chu Kong,” I said after staying quiet as long as I possibly could. I hid my face and asked, “What do you mean...with this?”
Above my head, Chu Kong was also silent for a long time. Then, in his classically cold voice, he said, “Xiaoye…xiaoye’s hands got cramps. I temporarily can’t move them. Don’t think too much.”
“I…my legs are also cramping up. I’m just temporarily relying on you. Don’t think too much of it.”
Comment:
Their excuses…….