Everything had seemed like a dream to them, every single image of their lives, and death had just seemed like an instant. As Su Moye had said, all that would remain of their past would be a sweet dream. From now on, their dreams would be pleasant, and they had each other eternally.
It had been so surreal, when they opened their eyes and saw each other. If they had died in that plane crash when he was 59 and she 54, why were they young all over again?
She looked just like how she had been when she first met him, in the library of the university at N City. Their first encounter. Was everything that had happened in their life just a dream?
They remembered everything clearly, every single moment of love between them, up till their separation and reunion, when they had their kids and finally their sudden death due to the plane crash. After their supposed death, it hadn't taken them long to open their eyes and find each other again.
"Am I dreaming, or we are young again?" she asked. She didn't know if she was Zhi Xun or Aranya right now, since she had regained part of her memory of being Aranya, most particularly her past with Chen Ye, through her dreams.
"Xiao Xun, am I young again?" Tian Yu asked, and she responded with a nod. Their hair were black again, and the wrinkled skin on their faces had smoothened themselves again. They must have been rejuvenated. "I thought we just died, I felt the plane crash so hard. Then the last thing I saw was a beautiful sunset, and we were flying into the sky."
He reached over and drew her into an embrace, before looking around them and down at their clothes. The environment in the room had been misty. Were they back in Aranya's dream, or in Fanyin Valley? Then a naughty thought came to his mind. There was one way to know.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
"You'll know, like you usually do," he teased, laying her down on her back.
He started with a tender kiss, and slowly increased the intensity between them. She felt herself burning with passion for more from him, as her body had seemed to ignite at his touch. She gasped, as he undid her robe and beheld the beauty of her snow-white flesh beneath. If this was a dream, he was claiming her all over again, in the dream. She was even more sensual in the dream, he noticed, as he ran his fingers around her exposed torso and watched her convulse with desire. She pronounced his name, Gao Tian Yu. There was no doubt now that she was his wife, Huo Zhi Xun. He watched how she didn't seem to sweat, and simply got more desirous as his fingers played on her body. Her moaning was more melodious than ever, and slowly and gently, he wetted her below with his fingers. She knew what to expect, and closed her eyes.
She pulled hard on the blanket as he inched himself, bit by bit, inside her. Somehow it didn't feel right to the both of them. Their intercourse had felt so different compared to when it was when they were alive.
"Does it hurt?" he asked. Her eyes looked slightly teary. She nodded.
"Could we be in our next lifetime, since we already died?" she asked. "It feels like you are taking my first time all over again."
"Should I stop? I don't want you to be in pain," he said. She shook her head. "Just continue."
"It just doesn't feel the same," he said, and pushed his way in. She screamed. "You're right, it doesn't feel the same. You're just too big now!" Despite what she had just said, she continued to move her body to admit him deeper inside, until finally they had both climaxed.
"Uh, am I about to get pregnant again?" she asked. He laughed. "We don't even know if we're dead or we're in a dream, and you worry about pregnancy."
"Can ghosts get pregnant?" she asked.
"I don't know," he replied.
After a few minutes, they were ready for intercourse again, as compared to in the past, how they had to rest for some time before they had the energy to continue to the next round. This time, the penetration had been much easier, and he slid into her in an instant. He watched as she moaned uncontrollably as he took her in different positions. Despite that, something about the sex had been unreal.
They had to be in some kind of dreamscape, he thought.
"I'm just glad we're together again," he told her. "We'll face it together, whatever it is. I love you, Xiao Xun. No matter what, I'll be with you, okay?"
She nodded and her lips met his, kissing him sweetly as he held her to his body in a tight embrace. Ten minutes had passed when a sudden knock interrupted their kisses. They quickly hurried to put on their robes and open the door.
A girl in a plain white tee topped with a soft denim jacket greeted them. She looked demure as she gave them her best smile. Zhi Xun felt like she had known this girl before, and yet, she didn't know how to start a conversation with her.
"I'm Jielu, the Queen of the Biyiniao. I suppose you are Zhi Xun and Tian Yu?"
They nodded. "Where are we?" Zhi Xun asked straightforwardly. She was not the type of person to hesitate during conversations.
"You are in the kingdom of Qingqiu," she explained. "It's a long story, but I will try my best. In short, you are the Queen of Qingqiu's guests for the time being, until you are given a position by the Emperor Donghua."
"Can we meet the Queen and Emperor?" Zhi Xun asked. She was trying her best to believe she was not in a dream, but her body had felt so different now that Jielu was leading them across the kingdom. She had no idea why they were there, or why they were alive since they had apparently died hours ago. Perhaps, she thought, this must be the eighth lifetime between them, and somehow they had missed how they had grown up and met. Were they suffering from amnesia? But yet, they had remembered clearly their former lives.
Tian Yu was having problems believing what was before him, too. As much as the sex earlier had been marvelous, they were both finding difficulty in adapting to the different emotions they were going through, the unfamiliarity of their new bodies and the new environment they were in. If they had died in the twenty first century, they had to be reborn in maybe the thirtieth century or something. Maybe this was a futuristic world they were living in.
He held her hand as they scooted around on the speedy flying device that Jielu used to whisk them around Qingqiu. The Queen and Emperor lived in the eastern side of Qingqiu, but only occasionally they were around, as they had a roving schedule in between Qingqiu and the Sky Kingdom, according to Jielu. As Zhi Xun didn't have knowledge of the Sky Kingdom, she assumed it was some kind of metro.
They stopped outside what Jielu identified as the fox den and where the queen lived with her husband. Zhi Xun noticed also how it was yet another structure that was advanced in technology. Jielu pressed on what appeared to look like a doorbell to announce their arrival, and almost immediately, they were teleported inside the structure.
"Greetings, Your Highness Fengjiu," Jielu said, bowing her head slightly with clasped hands. Zhi Xun and Tian Yu followed suit.
"Don't stand on ceremony. I see that you are adapting to your new life," Fengjiu said. Her husband remained indifferent and watched them emotionlessly.
"It's you," Zhi Xun said excitedly. "Did you bring us here?"
"No, my friend Su Moye did," Fengjiu said. "Welcome to Qingqiu."
Zhi Xun looked puzzled. "Su Moye? Is he Su Mo? But I recall that we died.."
"You're now immortal. He gave you two part of his cultivation. But before you can go about your new life, you need to be trained in the ways of the immortal."
"IMMORTAL?" Zhi Xun suddenly sounded frantic. Everything had just been so unbelievable. Had they just got a new chance at life, to live it all over again but in a different body?
"Yes, you have been reborn as immortals. This is your final lifetime, and I must congratulate you. You two are fated eternally, and will never ever separate from each other, ever again."
Zhi Xun danced gleefully. She couldn't believe her ears. Their rebirth in the immortal world meant that it was a fresh new start for the both of them, to be together eternally as immortals, but having to adapt to everything slowly and in a different manner. While it was their happy ending, she didn't hesitate to ask about Aranya's memories.
"I have been having dreams of what I presume was my former lifetime. Do you know anything about it?"
"I suppose you are referring to the memories of Aranya," Fengjiu said with a smile. She looked towards Donghua. "Husband, will you bring us to the Miniature Miaohua Mirror? There is much insight on the truth of what happened to Aranya and Chen Ye."
"I'll be pleased to, my Wife."
The four of them teleported to what appeared to be a cooling waterfall. This, Fengjiu explained, was her husband's creation, the Mirror. Through it, they could see through thousands of lives and anywhere in the realms. As they saw each other's past memories and feelings at that time, they could not help but feel more blessed to be together.
"I suppose that's all you need to see?" Fengjiu said. Age and experience had turned her into a wise immortal.
"I feel my mortal memories aren't all complete," Zhi Xun said.
"That's normal. You two are in a transition phase after all. You have been sleeping for 14 days."
"That long?" Zhi Xun looked towards Tian Yu. "Our kids must be an old man and woman now." And then she turned to ask Fengjiu, "Why do we feel so different? It's like these bodies aren't our own."
"Definitely. When you died, your mortal bodies died with you. Now that you have your new bodies, you have to cultivate, and learn how to harness your power. My friend Su Moye gave you both more than what I gave Qingti in the past. Consider it part as being immortal," Fengjiu explained. "When it's time, and you have adapted to your new lifestyle and learned the immortal ways, then my husband will assign you to your respective roles in the immortal realm. First things first. Jielu will send you back to Qingqiu, and provide you with study materials. You will have to enroll at the immortal academy."
"Jielu. She seems familiar to me. Who is she actually?" Zhi Xun asked.
"She is the niece of your former self, Aranya."
Zhi Xun nodded and observed the surroundings of Qingqiu. Just as they were about to depart on the magic teleportation pad, Tian Yu halted her. "Queen Fengjiu, there is one question I'd like to ask. How can we register our marriage again in the immortal world?"
Fengjiu smiled, and waved her hand. She understood why Aranya, or Zhi Xun, had fell in love all over again with the same person, apart from his good looks. In his heart, there would only be her.
A tablet materialised before them. Fengjiu scanned her thumbprint, and the screen connected to Goddess Nuwa's portal. "Since you both are immortals now, you are considered reborn and do not have surnames. Just 'Zhi Xun' and 'Tian Yu' will do."
They thanked Fengjiu and continued to register their marriage with the tablet, before hitting the submit button at the end. Though they were considered to be reborn, their age had been determined by the amount of cultivation that Su Moye had transferred to their bodies and helped them attain immortality. While everything seemed like a dream to them, it was in fact, a fresh new start, for their love and for the path before them, as immortals.
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