Lou Ben rested and laid with Qi Shuang; it was another night where he felt as if the world had given him a chance to be happy after letting his last life fall through his fingers.
He looked at the curvy and bare figure of Qi Shuang and ran his fingers up and down tracing her skin and then placing his palm on her head as she rested on his chest.
"Oh, Qi Shuang, I feel my heart at ease now that I walk forward on the path to become a dao master. I feel my heart longing to see the day I teach our youth to read and do what I am being taught."
Lou Ben started to dream of what the future might entail and thought of having children in such an easy going place and putting himself in the shoes of Steward Wen Guoliang.
As he thought of these peaceful images, a shadow inched itself closer, first as a cloud far off in the horizon, then a tornado approaching fast.
Lou Ben woke up, but the thoughts were not of the tornado that woke him from his dream, but it was about the happiness he felt.
Lou Ben woke up but instead of the warm feeling in his heart, a new feeling lingered, he felt a sense of uncertainty looming over him.
He looked up and wondered "I spoke the truth to Qi Shuang, but I don't think I can only live my life like that. I want to give to the future, but I died in my last life saddened that I was not selfish. I want to be selfish, what that means, only the future can tell…"
Lou Ben got out of bed and put on his 'dao apprentice' robes that also embroidered 'xiao clan' and smiles as the lingering feeling began to dissipate.
"Just walk towards the sun step by step, I might not know what is over the horizon, but I do know that I won't get far if I don't take this step."
Lou Ben walked out of his room and decided to head towards the library to spend time with Qi Shuang and practice Gravity Hands on something small first.
"Oh, Xiao Lou Ben, my beloved, how did you sleep?" Qi Shuang looked up from the reception desk and asked as Lou Ben entered the library.
"I rested, but rest is not what I need, I decided to come here and start my practice on something small like a few pebbles. I hope there would be no problem, I won't leave any mess for my beloved." Lou Ben pulled a couple of pebbles out of his pocket and put them down on the study desk behind Qi Shuang.
He wanted to enjoy the few moments he had with Qi Shuang, he noticed that life is better if there is a beauty in his life. This beauty, Qi Shuang, was already promised to him, it made him much happier.
Lou Ben thought of the new technique and tried following the words that Steward Wen Guoliang left for him to follow along.
He envisioned the glyphs; he felt the energy of heaven flowing from his mind and willed it towards the pebble in front of him.
"Space technique – Gravity hands" Lou Ben raised his hands towards the pebble and slowly lowered it.
The pebble shook under the pressure, Lou Ben continued to lower his hand. The pebble shook harder, again he lowered his hand.
The pebble cracked, and finally he lowered his hand again.
The pebble scattered under the pressure of gravity.
"Good, good, this is only the beginning. I must be able to crush a boulder. It might take a few weeks at most." Lou Ben smiled and looked at the dust on top of the study table.
Qi Shuang turned her head and smiled at Lou Ben as she watched him nod his head in approval of his hard work.
Lou Ben continued to practice through out the day, sometimes taking a break to think of the bright star inside his mind, sometimes thinking about the technique space sleeve and sometimes thinking about Qi Shuang.
She has been on his mind a lot more recently. Ever since he felt his heart yearn to get close to her and felt the lingering cloud over his head, he thought of her more.
He didn't think much about the possibilities of what this meant, he first thought it might mean he was nervous to love again, after all, he was once married and had children before.
He didn't feel as if he was doing his first wife wrong, he was no longer his old self.
He felt that he didn't want to let Qi Shuang down and hold himself from loving her.
Lou Ben crushed many pebbles and as time went on, collected larger rocks, no longer being able to practice inside the library, he went around the gardens of Xiao palace.
He used Gravity Hands on middle-sized rocks, large sized rocks, and finally working his way up to mid-sized boulders. By the time he was able to use Gravity Hands on a large boulder, he took a break and decided to spend some more time with Qi Shuang.
There was no rush, Qi Shuang would have to wait months again before having to see him, he knew this was his chance to see her again and let his lingering feelings from his past life go.
He felt obligated to love Qi Shuang and get rid of the last shred of feelings he had for his other family.
It was not that he didn't want to see them again, but he already lived his life, he already let go of what happened on earth before.
This time he wanted to live for himself, and he felt that his first step to do this was to encourage himself to not hold back on loving Qi Shuang.
"Oh, Qi Shuang, I am almost done with my task. Will you spend these next few nights telling me about love?"
"Qi Shuang, I know love, but I do not know the love we have without speaking it."
"Ah, Lou Ben…" Qi Shuang blushed.
Lou Ben was not holding back on embracing this chance with her.