Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Military Base

Qiwan strolled casually through the practice grounds. Among all the soldiers present, some of whom were marching, others practising their martial arts and some were busy shooting arrows, the woman disguised as a man was sitting listlessly on the grass.

“How long has it been?”

Only she could see Qiwan. The girl was her exact mirror image, only with the absence of a significant beauty mole below Qiwan’s right eye.

“In the army?” The girl was enamoured by Qiwan’s resemblance to herself.

“No, that you’ve been chasing the man.”

“Fang Yiqi? Six months.”

Mortal Realm 400 wasn’t one of the worlds where time passed very quickly, so even if a few years had passed in the immortal realms and Qiwan had went back in time to a few years ago, that meant it was at the same time frame where Qiwan was from. Hence, she was still able to witness the two star-crossed lovers.

“Has he ever looked your way?” Qiwan looked hopeful. Perhaps her efforts were all not in vain, after all. If Xinran successfully made Fang Yiqi fall in love with her, even if she died in his arms, that meant she had not failed in her task, after all.

Xinran pouted. “He does! But he said he hates me a lot and asked me to stop bugging him! And he found out that I am a woman!”

Qiwan smiled sweetly as she observed how the maiden was blushing. Just through their connection, she witnessed the girl’s memories of how Fang Yiqi had unintentionally walked into the bathroom when the girl was bathing and it had turned out messy with them. Originally, she had enlisted with the army due to her own curiosity, but when she had seen him for the first time, she was enticed by him.

It would all work out, Qiwan told herself. She had once thought herself selfish for creating a replica of herself just because she couldn’t be with Fang Yiqi; an immortal who pursued a relationship with a mortal would be punished severely. But seeing how happy Xinran was even when her love wasn’t reciprocated, made her think twice. She had breathed in her immortal energy and placed it inside the clay statue and given her life.

Since she was indirectly Xinran’s mother, it was only right that Xinran deserved love. Even though the destinies of Xinran and Fang Yiqi had been set in stone and Siming had told her of their tragic end, it wouldn’t be the end of their wholesome fate. As humans, they would have another chance at life and be reborn again, although it meant restarting life over and over again. Again, here, Deity Siming reigned. She would be the controller of their fate.

“Ran-er, one day, even if not in this life, you will end with the love you deserve.”

Her bright eyes lit up excitedly.

“Really?”

“Yes, Ran-er.”

“Just who are you, if I may ask?” Xinran finally found the urge to question.

“I’m your goddess. Your protector, Qiwan.”

“Goddess?”

Qiwan knew it would be years to come, after she and Di Qing successfully passed their mortal trial together, before she could be called a goddess, but she allowed Xinran to believe in this untruth. Mortals needed something to believe in, thus they created religions.

“My goddess, will I ever see you again?”

“Definitely. This won’t be the last time we meet. Remember, be strong, Ran-er.”

She got up to leave, seeing Di Qing approaching from the other side. As she was with the soldiers earlier, Di Qing was invisible to them, and as Qiwan joined him, she vanished from Xinran’s sight as well.

“Xiaoqi, you spent three days following them around and eventually got to speak to the girl who looks like you. Was anything fruitful?”

Di Qing wasn’t particularly good with words, he either said words that made no sense or intruded too much in her personal affairs. Still, they were husband and wife, even if the love she had for Yingshang still ran deep inside her. She needed Di Qing just as he needed her. While Xinran still had a chance with Fang Yiqi in their next and subsequent lives, Qiwan had none.

Yingshang was still in exile all this while. Stroking her unnoticeable bump, Qiwan linked her arm with Di Qing and headed on together to their next destination: the West Lake, a lovers’ dating spot, known for its beauty.

In years to come, she would come to know that her husband and future child would be her consolation. Di Qing, who was in love once before attaining immortality, was in the same boat as her.

Once, she had been a silly young immortal who believed love would conquer everything. She had foolishly thought that being with the God of Mischief was what she wanted. Until, everything changed.

Still, it was a love for eternity.

…………………………………………………………………………...

Nine Heavens

Yingshang

The memories are coming back to me slowly. I remember a girl, in a pastel robe, who wanted to err. She broke all the rules for me.

It all started from a mortal trial she didn’t understand about. She was too ignorant to know that when she was in that mortal trial, she shouldn’t be roaming around and to cultivate instead. That’s when I decided to adopt the mortal’s appearance to have some fun with her. But she pulled the reins on my lusty self, and we committed the deed while she was in her mortal form.

Later, for some reason, my Lord Father found out my misdeeds. I was compelled to return to the immortal realm and report to him. The last I heard was, she had run into some sage in the mortal world and drank half of an amnesia potion. I don’t know why. My guess was that she failed her test. I salvaged our items then from the mortal realm.

I placed all our memories in a memory container. The day I returned to the immortal realm as the God of War, a role that made even my father look upon me highly, I retrieved the box containing all my remembrance of her.

I had lived out each life in the wheel of reincarnation they had me on. Yet, I was looking forward to seeing her again. But her house was empty and her father refused to see me despite my promotion. He said I would never find her. She would be far from me, in a place I couldn’t find her. He didn’t know when she would be coming back. My heart shattered to know she had married someone else.

I thought that by changing for her, giving up everything I hold dear, I would have her for eternity.

But no, I was so wrong. In the end, it was the cold breezes in the Fool’s Chase that kept me company. I would love her for eternity, but I would never gain her heart and body.