Hua Qingwu’s reawakening had laid to rest the ghost which had haunted Chu Xun for years. Even the locks of white hair that hung from the side of his ears had mysteriously vanished.
At any rate, all did end well after all.
Chu Xun said his goodbyes to Emperor Ao and took Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu with him. He wanted to bring Hua Qingwu to Qianlong Mountain.
Hua Qingwu had once given her life to save Chu Xun’s parents and for that, she had fallen into a twenty-year-long coma until today. He knew his parents missed her dearly, although they never managed to voice it out loud.
Chu Xun first returned to the Fire Dragon Palace.
Yan Chong and the others had made good progress. Most of them were now Sixth-grade Human Kings.
Most of them knew Jing Hong, but only Long Ao had met Hua Qingwu before.
He was moved to see her now alive. He had spent time taking care of her before on Chu Xun’s behalf and he was there when Hua Qingwu gave her life for Chu Xun’s parents.
“Grandpa Long,” Hua Qingwu called. Long Ao had saved her life once when he was interim leader for the Purple Bamboo Club. Her powers were now well beyond Long Ao’s but she still called him “Grandpa” as a form of respect.
Yan Chong and the others could have not been any more envious or jealous of Chu Xun for having all the good things.
The first thing Chu Xun did was to issue an order to keep any word about him secret. No one outside yet knew that he was still alive and most of those who knew about his adventures at the ancient ruins of Mount Lu were either dead or dependable enough – Gao Mohan and his fellow human champions – to not parade this fact.
He decided to take the Flame Wrym with him for this trip. Scarlet and her sisters would be first be charged to keep the Fire Dragon Palace for now. With her powers as an Immortal-level champion, no one would dare to attack the Palace in his absence.
With his arrangements done, Chu Xun and his party of four headed for Qianlong Mountain.
The Rock Sect had been relocated at his orders to Qianlong Mountain years ago as a countermeasure against any alien race invasion during his incursion of Nether Mountain.
They arrived at Qianlong Mountain the following day.
“Little Wu!”
Yan Lan was arguably the one person who suffered the most during Hua Qingwu’s two-decade-long slumber. To be able to see her daughter alive once more filled her with surprise and elation. She hugged Hua Qingwu with tears streaming down her face.
“I’m so sorry, Mother,” sobbed Hua Qingwu furiously too.
“It’s all right, my good girl. You’re back, that’s all that matters,” Yan Lan embraced her daughter tightly, afraid that she might lose her again.
“My lady,” Elder Gui managed between chokes and sobs too.
“Uncle Gui,” Hua Qingwu called. Watching her grow up all his life, Elder Gui was more than just a servant to her.
“We owe so much to you, my girl,” Liu Ran’s eyes were scarlet and watery. She would never forget how Hua Qingwu had sacrificed herself for them.
“Please, Auntie and Uncle. Don’t blame yourselves. I’m fine now,” Hua Qingwu cooed, reaching a finger to dab at the tears at the corner of Liu Ran’s eyes.
It was a gathering of joy that Hua Qingwu had finally returned after twenty years, that everyone was so moved by emotions that many could even barely speak.
That one noticed Jing Hong and the Flame Wyrm.
Well, at any rate, no one would fail to notice Jing Hong. Not with that divine beauty of hers.
“Erm… And this is?” Liu Ran gestured towards Jing Hong.
“This is Jing Hong. She’s your daughter-in-law, Mother.”
Chu Xun’s words came like a black hole that suddenly drew away every sound.
Chu Xun expected this. But he understood full well that he owed it to Jing Hong to make things clear and give her the honor and credit that she deserved.
Yan Lan’s face fell.
So did Tang Rou too, whose face turned ashen pale when she comprehended what Chu Xun said.
“What is this, Chu Xun?!” demanded Yan Lan. Her daughter had been in a coma for more than twenty years and now, right as she returned, Chu Xun brought along another woman. How was that not an insult to her and her daughter?!
“I won’t lie to you, Aunt Yan Lan. Jing Hong is my wife and so is Little Wu,” said Chu Xun.
“That’s outrageous!” Yan Lan might have been a soft-spoken lady but she would gladly take on even the most ferocious beast if it’s for her daughter.
“Mum, it’s not like that.”
“Quiet now. How could you speak on his behalf even now?!” snapped Yan Lan angrily before she turned to Jing Hong, “And you, girl, do you know what happened between my daughter and Chu Xun?!”
“I know,” Jing Hong replied placidly.
“Then why are you driving yourself in between them?! Just because you’re beautiful, that gives you the right to wreck their relationship?!” Yan Lan could never tolerate women who goaded men into cheating against their wives. She had been a victim of such women before; when she was sick last time, Hua Qingwu’s father had eloped with another younger and more beautiful woman, leaving Yan Lan to fend for her own.
“Please, Mum, you need to calm down. I’ll explain,” urged Hua Qingwu.
“What else is there to explain?!” Yan Lan spat fiercely, “We’re leaving. I’ll not sit here and allow such insult to come to us both!”
“Please, Yan Lan. Calm down. Little Wu’s only just come back and it’s dangerous out there. Where else can you go? Please, I’ll be sure to make Little Xun make it up to you both.”
“Don’t worry, Aunt Yan Lan. I’ll give you an explanation,” Chu Xun added hastily.
He knew what was going on in Yan Lan’s mind. His own mother would have rushed headlong into a stampede if his life was in danger.
“Mum, please listen. If not for Jing Hong, I’d never have come back.”
Stunned, Yan Lan gasped, “Is that true?!”
Hua Qingwu nodded.
“All right, I’ll listen. You might have saved my daughter, but that’s not enough grounds for you to wreck their relationship.”
“Please give us the room,” Chu Xun said to everyone.
He led his parents and Yan Lan into a room.
Inside a room sat only Chu Xun and his parents, Hua Qingwu and her mother Yan Lan, and Jing Hong.
Chu Xun waved a hand and conjured a magical enchantment to keep their conversation private.
“Father, Mother, and Aunt Yan Lan. What I’m about to tell you, might sound surrealistic and ludicrous. But this is serious.”
Chu Xun compiled a long oratory about what happened, beginning from how he had died during his incarceration, then how he had unwittingly been transported to the World of Cultivation, and how he had managed to return here, not forgetting any key and concise details about Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu.
Chu Tianhe, Liu Ran, Yan Lan were petrified by the seemingly unbelievable story. They might be Cultivators themselves, but what Chu Xun had just recounted to them was like a fairy tale.
“Son, is that true?” Chu Tianhe breathed with disbelief and bewilderment, “Are you sure this is not some cock-and-bull story?”
Chu Xun nodded gravely.
All three elderlies were utterly awestruck. They stared wordlessly at Chu Xun, then they panned to Jing Hong, before swiveling towards Hua Qingwu.
They sat there in a circle with Chu Xun at the center of it, and the latter shifted uneasily in the inquiring and doubtful stares honing in on him.
“So it’s true? You’re from that World of thingamajig?” Yan Lan finally managed to squeak tentatively after what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence.
Jing Hong nodded.
“And you? You came back from there too?” she asked Chu Xun.
Chu Xun nodded as well.
“Little Wu, my dear. So you’re really created from the memories of Ms. Jing Hong here?” Yan Lan pressed on.
“Mum, I was reborn from her memories, not created,” corrected Hua Qingwu.
“Is there even a difference?” mumbled Yan Lan. She peered at Chu Tianhe and Liu Ran, “Can you even comprehend all this?!”
Liu Ran shook her head.
“More or less,” said Chu Tianhe instead.
That was enough to make literally every head in the room – Chu Xun’s, Jing Hong’s, Hua Qingwu’s, Liu Ran’s, and even Yan Ran’s – turn towards him.
Feeling uneasily by the stares, Chu Tianhe feigned a cough and said, “So Little Xun died at the hands of the Lius, then somehow, instead of actually dying, he got transported elsewhere. It’s just like those period dramas in the Qing Dynasty where the female protagonist would be caught in some mishap, then with a whoosh, she found herself in the Qing era.”
Chu Xun could hardly prevent the corners of his lips from twitching. “Whoosh?! Some whoosh! I whooshed away and that got me stranded there for decades!”
“What?” Liu Tianhe barked at his son when he caught the strange look on his face, “Was I wrong?”
“Nope,” Chu Xun shook his head, “It’s correct – or at least the lion’s share of it.”
Chu Tianhe paused a beat and went on, “Little Xun managed to come back unscathed. But he lost his powers during the process, and he had to restart his cultivation of magic all over again. Well, you know the rest of the story so I’ll say no more. While our son came back, Jing Hong missed him. That compelled her to come for him. But she was not powerful enough to make it through so only her memories got through and those recollections eventually turned into the newly-born Little Wu, who later fell in love with Little Xun. Jing Hong would later achieve enough power and she too whooshed her way here as well.”
Chu Tianhe paused a beat and went on, “Little Xun managed to come back unscathed. But he lost his powers during the process, and he had to restart his cultivation of magic all over again. Well, you know the rest of the story so I’ll say no more. While our son came back, Jing Hong missed him. That compelled her to come for him. But she was not powerful enough to make it through so only her memories got through and those recollections eventually turned into the newly-born Little Wu, who later fell in love with Little Xun. Jing Hong would later achieve enough power and she too whooshed her way here as well.”
“Was I right?” Chu Tianhe asked his son.
Chu Xun nodded. “Nearly there. But come on, Father. Your tale sounded like a pre-school fairy tale with that shoddy vocab of yours.”
“Horseshit, I was making it simple so that your mother will understand,” Chu Tianhe glared at his son.
“What are you talking about? Do you take me for a fool!? I knew what he was talking about right from the start!” snarled Liu Ran before she said to her son, “So if you say Little Wu’s a human born from a memory, try making me one?”
Chu Xun nearly spat out the water he was drinking. “What do you take me as, Mother?! A magician?!”
Yan Lan got up from her chair and strode to her daughter and began feeling her daughter’s face, pinching here and there gently as if probing for something.
“What are you doing, Mother?!”
“So, the baby that I had been carrying through the nine months of labor was once Ms. Jing Hong’s memories…” murmured Yan Lan. “No wonder I have always felt you… different.”
“Mum…” Hua Qingwu groaned.
“Don’t worry, my dear. No matter what you are, you’re still my baby girl,” coaxed Yan Lan.
Hua Qingwu did not know what to say.
“Little Wu might be born from the memories I’ve lost, Aunt Yan Lan, but she was born like any other baby from their mother’s womb. That makes her a true human. She’s the same as every one of us. She’s not different,” explained Jing Hong quickly.
Surprised, Yan Lan paused. Then she said, “Right… That’s good… That’s good. Here I was, thinking that I had given birth to… to something different.”
Hua Qingwu was flabbergasted beyond words.
“Son, so if you can travel back through time to go to that World of thingamajig? Can you transport us to the Qing Dynasty palaces?” Liu Ran’s eyes lit up with sudden enthusiasm.
Yan Lan too stared at him expectantly.
“What are you up to?” asked Chu Tianhe.
“I want to see the palaces. Surely with my and Yan Lan’s charms, we can be queens or consorts to the emperor. We’ve been watching so much about life in the imperial palace on TV. It’s time we experience it ourselves.”
“That’s right! It would be exciting! No one would be able to believe that we’ve gone to the palaces for a tour and came back!” Yan Lan quipped.
Jing Hong did not know what palaces they were talking about, but she did not fail to notice the exasperated looks on Chu Xun’s and Hua Qingwu’s faces.
“Heavens be good, can you stop spouting nonsense! This is hardly the time and situation for such fantasies!” scowled Chu Tianhe.
Chu Xu nodded quietly. “Well, at least Father still is sensible.”
Chu Tianhe peered at his son, “Send me back too, son. Perhaps I can try being an emperor for one day. Or maybe a prince, at least?”
Chu Xun stared at him, thinking that his ears were deceiving him.
“It’s doable,” said Jing Hong suddenly.
“Really?!” all three elderlies beamed with exhilaration.
Jing Hong nodded pensively, “All you need to do is to achieve the rank of Immortal Emperor. Then you can go to those Qing-era palaces that you spoke of.”
“Huh…” the three elderlies gave her blank looks.
“You are all in the Qi Refinement Stage, Uncle and Aunties. The foremost stage in the cultivation of your body and magic. You will have to make it to the farthest zenith: the Space Demolishment Stage, which is also known as the Immortal Emperor rank. Then you’ll have enough power to travel through space and time.”
“How long would that take?” blurted Liu Ran.
“That depends on your talent. You’re all gifted enough. So I guess in tens of thousands of years, you might have a one in a billion chance to reach the rank of Immortal Emperor.”
“Tens of thousands of years!? And only a one in a billion chance?!”
The elderlies were utterly nonplussed.
“And even if you’re able to become Immortal Emperor, you’ll have no more chance than a cat in hell without claws to survive the travel through the wormhole.”
A dazed Chu Tianhe was stunned for seconds until he finally managed to croak a burst of dry laughter, “Perhaps Earth is still the best place for me. Qing era palace tours? Nah. All that fantasy about time and world-hopping still seems like a whole lot of baloney to me. I’ll just stay put right here.”
Liu Ran and Yan Lan nodded too, trying to pass what they said off as a joke.
“Please forgive me, Aunt Yan Lan. I love Little Wu, and I love Jing Hong too. Call me unfaithful, but I cannot let either of them go,” Chu Xun said to Yan Lan pensively.
Yan Lan stayed silent.
“Mum, technically, I was the one disrupting their relationship,” said Hua Qingwu.
“Silly child,” said Yan Lan, “If Ms. Jing Hong is Little Xun’s sweetheart at the World of Thingamajig, then you’re his sweetheart here on Earth. None of you disrupted anything. You’re all equally important to him.”
“Damn those Lius! Look at how much agony they’ve put Little Xun through! If only we could destroy them again!” boomed Liu Ran suddenly, banging a fist so furiously into the table that Chu Tianhe jumped with fright.
Chu Xun was astonished. “Heavens, what’s wrong with you, Mother!? What a singular train of thoughts?!”
Chu Xun, Jing Hong, and Hua Qingwu all shared curious thoughts. The same thought flashed through their minds: It would seem that communicating normally with their parents about such a bizarre and outlandish topic would seem impossible.
What started as a grave and serious discussion turned into a tête-à-tête about fantasies of traveling through Time and Space.
“This is a serious matter, Father, Mother. You must not speak of this to anyone else.”
Chu Xun motioned for Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu to first leave. Perhaps it was better if they could leave the matter aside for now. He would need to find other time to talk to his parents in-depth about what happened to him.
The room left only Chu Tianhe, his wife, and Yan Lan.
“What do you think of this, Yan Lan,” asked Liu Ran.
“I’m sure all of us understood right from the start,” she responded.
Chu Tianhe and his wife nodded. Their son was only an ordinary student so many years ago before he mysteriously became a powerful man with god-like powers. Something must have happened to him then. But they did not want to pry since Chu Xun had not spoken about his past to them.
In fact, for a time, they had wondered if Chu Xun was some imposter pretending to be their son. Only after so long did they finally discover what he had gone through before.
“Jing Hong must have suffered much herself,” muttered Yan Lan.
“I’m not wishing to side with Little Xun, Yan Lan,” Liu Ran’s eyes lit up like a wise sage’s, “I think we should leave them younglings be. It is complicated enough without us meddling.”
Yan Lan nodded. “In truth, I should be thanking Jing Hong; if she chose to be mean, I would have lost Little Wu forever.”
“Well, Little Wu’s born from her memories,” said Liu Ran, “They were one and the same person. In some ways, it’s like you’re having another daughter.”
“We should leave the youngsters to their troubles. Chu Xun’s busy enough without us giving him any more trouble.”
Yan Lan and Liu Ran nodded their agreements. Chu Xun’s life was far from a peaceful and easy one with all his battles everywhere.
“Little Xun was left so battered and distraught after what happened to Little Wu. And Jing Hong had willingly plunged herself into the unknown perils of the wormhole all for her love and yearning for Little Xun. I can’t bear to upset that all,” said Yan Lan.
Chu Tianhe and Liu Ran stared at Yan Lan with amazement. Together, they got up to their feet and gave her a deep bow.
“I thank you so much on behalf of my son,” said the father.
“His life hasn’t been easy. I’m sure he has been the one bearing all the pain and sorrow of seeing Little Wu sealed in ice. Every time he comes back, he’ll put up a good face, but I know it’s contrary deep inside. There’s no way I could doubt his love for Little Wu,” smiled Yan Lan, “What’s more, we’re not prehistoric cavemen. I would have long been dead if not for Little Xun, and having a close brush with death often gives you a broader perspective.”
Meanwhile, Chu Xun, Jing Hong, and Hua Qingwu came to the edge of the plaza outside.
“Well, all three of them are adorable,” Jing Hong remarked suddenly.
“What?! Adorable?!”
Chu Xun and Hua Qingwu yelped in unison before they broke into weak chuckles.
“They understood everything the first time you told them,” said Jing Hong.
“What do you mean?” asked Chu Xun.
“They understood everything the moment we told them what happened. They were only pretending to be silly.”
“But why?” Chu Xun said, still very flabbergasted. His parents and Yan Lan certainly seemed to look as if they hardly grasped a word he said.
“Perhaps they have other concerns too.”
“My mum hasn’t been pleasant just now. I’m sorry, Jing Hong, but please don’t mind her,” said Hua Qingwu.
Jing Hong shook her head gently.
Chen Hanlong came scurrying towards them.
“Sir, the meal is ready.”
They adjourned to the dining hall.
To accommodate the growing number of occupants now at Qianlong Mountain, the dining hall had to be enlarged and more tables were in place, all of them laid full with delicious food.
Chu Tianhe rejoined them, accompanied by Yan Lan.
The elderlies occupied one table and they called Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu to join them, although they quickly fended away Chu Xun when he thought of sitting at that table too.
Chu Xun could only share a table with Chen Hanlong and the others.
“Gods in Heaven,” he groaned quietly to himself. And here he was, as puny and insignificant as everyone else on Qianlong Mountain.
Chen Hanlong and Sun Ying exchanged furtive glances.
“It’s so long since you’ve been here, sir. A toast to your return!” said Chen Hanlong.
“You’re trying to make me drunk, aren’t you?” giggled Chu Xun, “All right! But no using of any magic to quell your tipsiness!”
The others could not have wanted anything more. One after another, they each shared toasts with Chu Xun, eager to get him under the table.
Meanwhile, Tang Rou was at another table, watching Chu Xun silently.
Tang Wenyan and his wife did not fail to notice the resentment on their daughter’s face and they could only sigh.
“Come. Eat up, my dear,” said Yan Lan, getting Jing Hong some food.
That astonished Jing Hong. Yan Lan might forgive her, but she did not expect that Hua Qingwu’s mother would warm up to her.
Hua Qingwu was equally surprised herself.
“Oh, stop gawking and eat! I’m not a stubborn old crock. Just as long as you’re all happy, I’m happy,” Yan Lan quipped.
“Thank you so much!” said Jing Hong.
“Come! Come! Have some more! You don’t come here often, so you better eat up!” added Liu Ran, filling Hua Qingwu’s and Jing Hong’s plates with more food.
Such are parents, that they will always worry if their children will have enough to eat when they are away.
The dinner went on with much merry-making and revelry and the three elderlies were the happiest of the throng.
Without using his magic, Chu Xun could hardly consume more alcohol than the average man. After his long bout with Chen Hanlong and the others, Chu Xun could feel his head spinning. Then he turned around and caught Tang Rou leaving the dining hall alone.
