Waking up to a familiar room, Chu Nuan stretched lazily as she poured herself a cup of tea. Sitting near an opened window, she closed her eyes to listen to the gentle drumming of rainfall. Feeling the cool rain occasionally splash against her through the opened window, she tilts her body a little closer. One arm rests against the small table while her other hand brings the cup to her lips.
"Have you heard? When it rains, it means the Heavens are crying." Chu Nuan said, glancing briefly at the figure staring at her in silence.
"No wonder I feel strangely excited whenever it rains." Blackie saunters out from the shadows, placing himself next to Chu Nuan's feet. "Those old men from Heaven must have remembered the time we flipped over their whole domain. Makes me smile whenever I think back." He said with a smirk.
"Really? I wish I could have seen it." Chu Nuan replied lighty.
Silence descended between the two, only the sound of pattering rain continued to accompany them.
Staring unfocused into the darkness, Blackie opened his mouth. "Fu Xi offered me a deal."
"Oh?" Chu Nuan hummed, continuing to sip on her cup.
Seeing her with such a carefree expression, he suddenly doesn't know what to say… "Are you not curious?" Don't people normally ask about what comes after next?
"I am." She said in fake excitement. "What does he want? It wouldn't be my life by any chance?"
Shocked by such words, Blackie immediately stood up on his hind legs. Looking at her in anger, he roared, "He dare!"
Chuckling in amusement, Chu Nuan pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Calm down, I'm just guessing. He hasn't done anything to me, yet."
Sitting back down in a huff, Blackie continued with his tail swinging in annoyance. "He offered me freedom in exchange for a chance to enter the archives in Hell."
"He cannot enter with his identity as a human." Saying so, Chu Nuan took out a black tablet, smooth black jade shining mysteriously with an indigo light. "Are you going to steal this for him?"
Pouting with a glare, Blackie turned away from Chu Nuan's gaze. "You know this Your Honor. The only thing within three thousand worlds we won't do is betray you. That fool, Fu Xi believed me to be your captive. Pretending to know everything when in fact, he is only a frog inside a well." Scoffing with disdain, he started to scratch his ear with his front paws. "What would you like me to do, Your Honor. I told him to give me some time to decide before answering. If you don't like him, I can….." The light in his eyes turned sharp, a bloodthirsty smile slowly appeared on his lips.
"Behave." Chu Nuan scolded, contemplating for a moment while tracing the patterns on the jade, she started to laugh lightly. "If he wants it, then he can have it."
"You mean….."
"Come closer." She signaled with her fingers.
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"Let's go find your wife." Chu Nuan suddenly stated.
Freezing in mid-bite, Feng Ling's eyes shined brightly with her words. "Really? Your Honor, you know where she is?"
Nodding in reply, Chu Nuan took a sip of rice porridge. "I do, we'll go find her after breakfast."
Minutes later....
"This...."
Staring at the strange yet familiar scenery, Feng Ling stood dazed in the middle of the dilapidated courtyard. Those bundle of herbs, that wooden box, and the small hut with billowing clothes hanging on the doorway and windows.....
"Your Honor…...what is this…it can't be…." Feng Ling mumbled in astonishment. "How can this place still be here?" The place where he and Cui Lian first met, the start of three lifetimes. To think that, just by following Her Honor wandering for around half an hour in the same forest as the cabin from yesterday, would let him witness this scene.
"This is a dreamscape." Chu Nuan said. Someone trapped her in here, making her relive a part of her past life."
Body starting to tremble, he asked in a shaky voice, "Then, Cui Lian…?"
"Take a look up front." Chu Nuan pointed to the hut in front.
At the same moment, a young woman holding a basket of herbs came out. Smiling dazzlingly at the rising sun, Cui Lian sang out in happiness. "Today is a great day!" Walking with a skip in her steps, she continued her everyday job. Sorting, drying, caring, and packing the herbs into separate packages before laying them inside wooden boxes.
At this time, a woman from the nearby village came for a visit. "Cui Lian! How are you today?" The woman said with a friendly smile, "today I came to buy some herbs for my son."
"Hi Aunty Zhao, is something wrong with him?" She asked curiously.
With a slightly upset voice, Aunty Zhao replied, "that troublemaking son of mine fell into the river yesterday, now he caught a cold. So I came to buy some cold medicine for him to take."
Smiling lightly, "since it's like that, please hold on for a moment." Entering inside her abode, Cui Lian rummaged through her collection. After a moment, she came out with a yellow paper bag of herbs. "Boil this with two bowls of water until it becomes one. Remember to drink it while it's hot."
Receiving the packet with gratefulness, Aunty Zhao handed Chu Lian a basket in return.
"Aunty Zhao, this is..."
"Good child, it's going to be your birthday in a few days, Aunty Zhao boiled some red eggs for your birthday. I heard your father will be celebrating with you this year, share it with him when he comes back."
Hearing the kindness in her words, Cui Lian's heart warmed up considerably as she hugged the basket close to her chest. "En, thank you Aunty Zhao."
In the distance, Feng Ling stared at the silhouette in silence, muttering under his breath, "I've never seen her smile so brightly before in that lifetime…."
Contrary to Feng Ling's complicated feelings, Chu Nuan stood a few feet away from him. Taking out a folding chair and a bag of her favorite five spice melon seeds, she commenced her drama watching.
Suddenly, a wave of white mist appeared, shrouding their sight. Alarmed, Feng Ling wanted to move forward when he suddenly realized that he was unable to do so. Panicking, he stared into the mist, towards the last location he was looking at. "Cui Lian!" He shouted desperately before receiving a melon shell to his head.
"Calm down." Chu Nuan said lightly. "The mist is dispersing."
Even before the mist fully scattered, the wretched cry of a woman echoed across the area. Like an arrow that carries pain, grieve, and hate, it penetrates the hearts of every listener. At this time, the voices of other people rang out.
"Ah, how unfortunate."
"What a pitiful child, on her birthday no less.
"I heard physician Cui wanted to hurry back in time for his daughter's birthday. So he specifically went through a forest path. Who would have thought…..haa."
"That path is usually very safe, to think there would be a fox demon hunting there."
The whispers of the villagers floating through Feng Ling's ears, shocking him endlessly. His widened eyes locked onto the figure hunched over a motionless body. Tears streaming continuously down her pale cheeks.
In a blink of an eye, the scenery changed again. The same house and courtyard, but a layer of solemness seems to cover the place. Snow gently fell onto the figure in green, leaving wet markings on her winter dress. Cui Lian stared motionlessly at the falling snow, one hand holding a basket, and the other holding a small shovel to pick herbs. Sighing gently, she whispered, "so cold…."
The setting changed again, this time, near the bottom of a cliff. An injured fox, whimpered pitifully in half covered snow. Blood staining a stunning red on the white ground.
Cui Lian stood at the same spot for around five minutes, eyes never leaving the fainted fox and his three tails for even a second. Chewing on her lips unconsciously, she finally made a move when the taste of iron awoken her from her reverie. Clenching her teeth, she gently carried the fox home.
A warm house, and warm bed. Without knowing anything, the fox lay peacefully asleep on the bed. While Cui Lian approached with a small knife in hand. Clutching the cold metal tightly, her eyes harden with a murderous light. Time seems to stand still along with her motionless body until she twitched. With that motion, her body seemed to come alive again, hiding away the dagger, she silently treated the injured fox.
"How could this be..." Feng Ling muttered with trembling lips. Sinking onto his knees, his mind flashes back to the day he wandered around a forest. The smell of blood, sweat, and herbs…...a body lying lifelessly in a pool of blood.
He killed Cui Lian's father...….