Even after thousands of years, left untouched for all those years by immortals, and overrun by demons, the Shangqing Realm was still a sight to behold.
Cang Jiumin stood on a bridge overlooking the realm. This was the very bridge that Ming Ye once stood on as he kept a watchful eye over the immortal realm. The paths, the structures, the statues, everything was almost as it was in the Bo're Life Dream that the ancient flood dragon pulled him and Ye Xiwu in five hundred years ago. They had entered a dream, but looking at the realm right now, and actually standing on the very place that Ming Ye once stood on, that dream felt more real than when he had experienced it through Ming Ye's eyes.
Cang Jiumin wondered what his fellow disciples were now doing. After taking their leave to explore the realm on his own, despite their protests that he, the most capable of all of them, was leaving them to fend for themselves, he hadn't seen them anymore. But then, the realm was vast, and they were more than capable of fighting off the demons that were scattered throughout the realm, maybe even capture enough demons to win the immortal competition. They'll be all right.
He found himself wandering through familiar paths, paths that Ming Ye took in the dream. He even walked underneath the stump of the once majestic Hongnai Tree, where Sang Jiu once offered Ming Ye one of its fruits. He smiled at the new shoots growing out of the roots of the tree.
Fortunate for you to be given another chance at life.
Cang Jiumin walked past the tree, and soon his footsteps eventually led him to Yuqing Palace, Ming Ye's former residence. He pushed the door open.
Ming Ye's apartment was as spartan as its previous owner. A desk and chair, a few bookshelves filled with scrolls, and a lonely bed were the only furniture inside. However, on one corner, Ming Ye's weapons and his silver armor hung on stands, displayed neatly but with reverence. Cang Jiumin approached the armor, and trailed his fingers on the steel breastplate, hovering over the area where the arrow from the God-Slaying Crossbow pierced Ming Ye, causing him to fall into the Mohe River and thus starting the tragedy that was his love story with Sang Jiu. He looked down, and saw among the scaled mail a small bare spot, from which a scale had fallen, and become one of Sang Jiu's precious treasures.
Cang Jiumin remembered the moment that Ming Ye found his scale among Sang Jiu's belongings. It was wrapped in a fine red silk, similar to the silk that her wedding dress was made of, and placed inside a pouch lined with small pearls. Ming Ye had always seen this small pouch tied around Sang Jiu's wrist, but never thought that it contained a piece of him that she had cherished carefully. The tears that fell from his eyes spoke of painful regrets, and devastating longing.
Looking away from the armor, Cang Jiumin cast a long glance at the bed, before walking out the door and closing it behind him.
All the memories that came rushing in suddenly became too much, and Cang Jiumin lingered for a few minutes in front of the door, before heaving a deep sigh and walking away.
He looked up at the grand hall of the palace, where Ming Ye received the gods, commanded the divine armies, and where he and Sang Jiu declared their marriage in front of all the gods and immortals in the realm.
Ye Xiwu. Do you remember?
Sang Jiu looked up at Ming Ye and smiled as she placed her hands in his. Her eyes lit up, hopeful and ecstatic.
Ye Xiwu took the Demon God's mask away from his face, her eyes sparkling behind her golden mask as she gazed into his eyes.
Two memories colliding, two feelings merging into one. Cang Jiumin clutched the chest where his heart was beating fast. He breathed deep to steady his heartbeat.
He wasn't only here to indulge in memories. He had to find Li Susu, and ask for a drop of her blood, to help end his endless longing for that person in his memories.
"I'm sorry, Brother Jiumin," Yue Ya, the girl who pretended to be Li Susu, said apologetically. "Senior Sister Li wanted to walk around Shangqing Realm freely, so I pretended to be her to protect her from any trouble from the male disciples who are pestering her."
Cang Jiumin lowered his head, to hide from her the disappointment in his eyes. "There is no problem, Sister Yue," he said. He smiled at her. "It is admirable that you are ready to take on the dangers for your Senior Sister, but you have to take care too. I might not be able to save you from lecherous men like Cen Mi next time."
"I'll bear that in mind, Brother Jiumin," the girl said.
Cang Jiumin wondered where Li Susu was. He glanced up again at the grand hall. A strange feeling in his heart pulled him towards it, and he found himself walking towards it…
…walking towards a figure standing beside Ming Ye's great desk, looking up at the God of War's emblem above it. The figure looked achingly familiar…
"Who is there?" Cang Jiumin couldn't help but call out. The figure turned towards him, and…
His heart leapt to his throat.
Her face… her beloved face was looking at him, first with surprise, those red lips parting slightly, the dark eyes widening a little as they stared into his yearning eyes.
"Ye Xiwu…" he whispered, not daring to make his voice louder for fear of breaking this fragile dream. "Is it you?"
The figure trembled, but her face changed into a stoic expression. "I… am not that person, brother," she replied, in a voice so achingly similar. "I don't know who you are talking about." She stepped down from the platform, and started to walk past him.
Cang Jiumin instinctively held her arm and stopped her from leaving. She finally glanced his way, and her eyes…
How can they be so similar?
The woman in front of him was similar, yet not so similar. They had the same shape of face, the same bearing when they stood, the same figure, and yet, while Ye Xiwu was beautiful, this woman exuded elegance and a true divine appearance.
But how can this person elicit from him the same longing that Ye Xiwu constantly made me feel?
Is she the real Ye Xiwu, or another fake Xiao Lin?
Cang Jiumin realized he had been holding on to her too long, and he let go. "I apologize, Sister, it is my mistake," he said, stepping back a little. He bowed and made the greeting gesture to introduce himself. "I am Cang Jiumin, from Xiaoyao Sect. May I know your name, please?"
The woman bowed and gestured in return. "I am Li Susu, a disciple of Hengyang Sect."
Li Susu… the Goddess Yuling whose drop of blood I need for Ye Xiwu.
"If there is nothing else, Brother, I am going," Li Susu said, and turned to go.
Cang Jiumin called her back. "Sect Sister is mentioned by Senior Brother Gongye Jiwu so often that I was curious as to how she looked," he said, even when Li Susu didn't turn to him as he spoke. "I feel lucky to meet you."
Li Susu didn't respond, so Cang Jiumin persisted. "Why isn't Senior Brother with you, Sister Li?" he asked.
"He has other duties to perform, so I came alone," was her answer, with her back still turned away from him.
"Let me accompany Sister to explore the realm in place of Senior Brother," Cang Jiumin said, and carefully picked his next words. "Maybe we can pick some Immortal Tree fruits along the way."
He watched Li Susu breathe deeply, then finally turned to him with a bright smile. "That would be a wonderful idea," she said, a little too enthusiastically. "It's my first time to come to Shangqing Realm. We can enjoy those fruits while we explore."
Cang Jiumin smiled slightly. "If you are interested about the realm," he said, watching closely for Li Susu's reaction, "I heard a story about it. Ten thousand years ago, the God of War lived here. His name was Ming Ye. In this very hall, right where we are standing now, he married Sang Jiu, a smart and beautiful Clam Tribe Princess."
Li Susu's face showed no other emotion other than polite interest. What Cang Jiumin didn't see was the hand that clenched into a fist inside her sleeves.
Cang Jiumin walked out of the hall, gesturing for Li Susu to follow him. "At the beginning of the marriage, he felt resentment because the Clam King forced their marriage on him," he said, listening to Li Susu's footsteps behind him. "He was cold to her, and there were times when they didn't speak to each other. But one lucky day, Sang Jiu showed him the sweetness of the Immortal Tree fruits, and his heart slowly opened up to her bright enthusiasm for life."
He led her to a balcony that overlooked the whole of Shangqing Realm. "But he was the God of War, and war was coming. The Ancient Demon God threatened to destroy everything in the world, and the gods had to stand up against him.
"With the threat of war coming, Ming Ye knew he might not make it out alive. Though he learned to love Sang Jiu, he simply didn't have enough time to show her just how much, and in the end, she mistakenly thought he didn't love her, and she left."
"Since he regretted so much, why didn't he go after her?" Cang Jiumin heard Li Susu say, with a tinge of mockery in her tone.
"How do you know he didn't?" Cang Jiumin shot back in anger. "If he could have, he would. But the war between gods and devils happened, and even the Heavenly Pillar was almost destroyed. He knew Sang Jiu would be devastated if she heard he died in the war, and he didn't want her to be sad and alone. So he decided he'd rather let her hate him so she could live on in peace. As long as she was happy and safe, he'd be okay with anything."
Sang Jiu, forget me.
Ming Ye thought as he watched Sang Jiu walk away from him at the grand hall. Forget me, and live your life in peace and happiness.
He clenched his fist. I will fight the Devil God, and make sure that you can live your life in peace and happiness, at the cost of my life.
He heard Li Susu sigh behind him.
"All right," Cang Jiumin finally said. "That is the story." He steeled himself and threw one last shot at fate. "Let's go find Xiao Lin."
"All right," Li Susu answered, and turned away.
Cang Jiumin turned around abruptly, stunned at Li Susu's response. "Ye Xiwu!" he cried out, certain beyond any doubt that the woman called Li Susu was the same person as the soul he had spent 500 hundred years searching for. "It's you…"
Li Susu trembled openly this time. "I don't know what you're talking about," she repeated, this time in a shaky voice, unlike the confident one from earlier. "You're mistaking me again."
Before he could reach out to hold her again, Li Susu waved her hands and teleported out of his reach, leaving Cang Jiumin to clutch at thin air.
He followed with his eyes the streak of golden light that flew away from him. "Ye Xiwu…" he whispered, tears flowing down his face. "You're here…" He laughed while crying, out of gratefulness, out of relief that finally… finally, the one that he had been searching for all these years was now here, within his reach, in his sights, in the same realm as him…
…alive.
And that's beyond anything he had ever hoped for.
Cang Jiumin turned to the skies. Thank you, Ming Ye, for helping me find my Sang Jiu.