CALID Chapter 104

Ending

Duan Xu, however, seemed to have regained some energy, a few traces of vitality colouring his tired face. He patted the spot beside the bed and said to Feng Yi, “Your Majesty, why not sit down and chat for a while?”

Feng Yi looked at Duan Xu warily, then reluctantly sat down by his bedside.

For over a year, He Simu had always been by Duan Xu’s side. Though she wouldn’t sleep at night, she wouldn’t leave either. Recently, with the calmness of the war, Duan Xu became curious about what He Simu did while he slept. After feigning sleep for a few days, he discovered that she would start writing in a diary once he fell asleep.

She used the stationary from three hundred years ago that Feng Yi had mentioned to him. At some point, she had started recording trivial matters of life again, just like before, carefully depicting every detail of “Duan Xu” in between the lines.

“She wants to remember me,” Duan Xu said to Feng Yi, slightly furrowing his brows. He confessed, “I know my health is not good, and I can’t go anywhere. In the future, I will probably have to rest in bed every day. If that’s the case, what could she remember every day? I hope there will be more beautiful memories in that diary. This world is a gift to me, and I want to pass this gift on to her.”

Feng Yi looked silently at Duan Xu, thinking to himself that he was truly a restless soul until the summit of death.

If he weren’t such a person, how could he have stirred up the stagnant days of the ancestors like a storm?

“You don’t have much time left. If you really exchange all five senses for Simu at once, it might just last for an hour. After that, whether you can make it through a day is uncertain,” Feng Yi said straightforwardly.

Duan Xu nodded as if he had expected this, saying, “I know.”

“We can do this, but we must get the ancestors’ approval. General Duan, you may have no regrets even if you die, but I still have to live,” Feng Yi said bluntly, spreading his hands.

Duan Xu smiled, with a hint of cunning in his eyes, “Okay, I’ll persuade Simu. She has been indulging me more and more lately. She will agree.”

Feng Yi squinted at Duan Xu. Back when they were in the Southern Capital, Duan Xu was the one who loved but couldn’t have, but now he had seen through the ancestors thoroughly.

“Duan Shunxi, you are about to die and leave the ancestor. Aren’t you sad?” Feng Yi asked.

Duan Xu’s eyes flashed, his smile fading slightly as he replied, “In my entire life, from falling in love to dying, I have only loved one girl. I consider myself very fortunate. Now, I don’t want the last days to be sad.”

“But perhaps when I die, I will still cry while holding her,” he added.

The rain fell gently, and Duan Xu seemed like a flower about to be blown away by the wind and rain. Even in such moments, he remained the carefree and smiling youth.

Feng Yi closed the door and looked at Zi Ji, who was standing quietly outside with an umbrella. When she saw him coming out, she raised her ink-black, deep eyes and silently walked towards him, then opened the umbrella.

Feng Yi walked down the steps and entered the courtyard where the spring rain drizzled. Zi Ji’s umbrella was steady over his head.

His cane made crisp tapping sounds on the ground, like absent-minded heartbeats. Suddenly, Feng Yi turned to look at Zi Ji beside him.

“When I die, will you be sad? Will you cry for me?” he asked.

Zi Ji hesitated, lightly biting her lip, seemingly unwilling to respond.

He Jia Feng Yi sneered. After all these years, she still avoided discussing his impending death, which he found absurd.

“What are you avoiding? Wasn’t it your people who planned the short lifespan and doomed fate of the Yinghuo clan?”

After a pause, he added, “Oh great deity.”

Zi Ji’s steps faltered.

The Yinghuo clan, born rebellious and extraordinarily talented, had always been different. In his youth, He Jia Feng Yi was particularly defiant. Tormented by illness and haunted by prophecies of an early death, at fifteen, he used his clan’s bloodline and ancestral methods to open the heavenly gate and see the deities.

He had cursed those gods, accusing them of being unfit to govern the human world as they knew nothing of human suffering. He had gone with the intention of dying, but to his surprise, a voice from the blinding white light offered to descend with him to experience human life.

Now, as He Jia Feng Yi looked at the quiet beauty with eyes as deep as the night sky, he seemed to see her as she had appeared on that day, emerging from the light.

“Do you think you were wrong?” he asked.

Zi Ji stepped over the threshold and held Feng Yi’s hand. She looked up at him and said, “Deities don’t make mistakes. The concept of ‘right and wrong’ in the human world was created by the deities.”

Feng Yi also crossed the threshold, laughing lightly. “Yes, how convenient. But what was the original purpose of creating this order?”

“For the stable operation of the world and the happiness of the majority.”

“So you exploit our kindness? Zi Ji, we maintain the happiness of the majority but are forced to suffer for it. Don’t you think it’s arrogant to torment us under such a noble pretext?”

Zi Ji looked at him seriously and said calmly, “That is why I am here.”

He Jia Feng Yi stared at her for a moment, then smiled noncommittally. “If you never thought you were wrong, why don’t you go back? Honestly, Zi Ji, I’m tired of this game.”

Suddenly, he walked out from under the umbrella into the drizzling rain. His hair and clothes quickly became soaked, clinging to his chronically ill, thin body, making him look even more frail.

Zi Ji’s calm expression turned to panic. “You’ll get sick like this!”

She took a few steps forward, but He Jia Feng Yi stopped her with a raised hand. He smiled, stepping back toward the edge of a cliff.

“Zi Ji, you arranged for me to die young, for me to be tormented by illness all my life, with no escape. If I die today, falling off this cliff shouldn’t be too painful.”

He stood at the cliff’s edge, the ground slick with moss. He staggered, and Zi Ji immediately dropped the umbrella and tried to rush to him.

“Zi Ji!” He Jia Feng Yi shouted, stopping her. His eyes burned as he pointed at her. “You are a deity, the divine overseer of a millennium, responsible for human affairs. Think carefully. If you intervene now, you admit you were wrong.”

Zi Ji’s steps halted. She stood still, angrily saying, “He Jia Feng Yi, stop this nonsense!”

He Jia Feng Yi laughed, looking at her expression. “Oh, Divine Overseer, you can get angry too. I thought you immortals lost all human feelings once you ascended.”

“But I am human, Divine Overseer. I’m not your order. I breathe, I have a heartbeat, I feel joy and sorrow. I’m alive, can’t you see that?”

He Jia Feng Yi took another half step back, almost dangling over the edge. His hand, pointing at Zi Ji, slowly relaxed, palm up, as if reaching for her to pull him back.

“After ten years together, today, Divine Overseer, will you save me?”

Zi Ji stood still, clenched her fists. The rain soaked her beautiful features along with her clothes. In a mist of moisture, she whispered, “Stop it.”

Almost as if pleading.

Feng Yi laughed and said, “Would you also be unwilling to part with a trivial nail in your perfect order, Zi Ji?”

He saw Zi Ji’s pupils contract at the mention of her name. Feng Yi laughed, closed his eyes, and leaned backward, feeling the rain falling on his face. He felt his body uncontrollably falling, the freedom of finally escaping from a life trapped in the cage of illness and the prophecy of an early death.

Then his hand was grabbed.

The hand that grabbed his was trembling, gripping very tightly. In just an instant, his body was pulled back, crashing into a pair of arms carrying the scent of lilacs. That person held the back of his head and said angrily, “Feng Yi! Don’t… don’t force me.”

Feng Yi lifted his head, rain entering his eyes, but he stared at Zi Ji without blinking, saying, “But you’ve already grabbed me.”

Zi Ji’s lips trembled. She might not have experienced such tumultuous emotions for too long, so she couldn’t express herself. She said, “The one who grabbed you is… is Zi Ji.”

It was the humanity she gradually picked up, the humanity she had before becoming a god.

Feng Yi caressed her cheek and said calmly, “Isn’t Zi Ji the Overseer?”

Zi Ji blinked, rain streaming down her cheeks.

Finally, she lowered her head and admitted, “Yes… it’s Zi Ji first, and then, the gods.”

As for the matter of exchanging five senses, there was quite a commotion caused by Duan Xu and He Simu. Feng Yi could probably guess the situation from listening to the discussions of his disciples. However, seven days later, He Simu still agreed.

Feng Yi thought to himself, this young general indeed had never experienced defeat in his life.

On the day they exchanged their five senses, at Duan Xu’s request, He Simu took him to the Southern Capital. They sat close together on the top of the Jade Tower, He Simu wrapping Duan Xu in a thick cloak. Duan Xu held her hand, their fingers intertwined like this.

The sun rose from the edge of the sky, and in that moment, the whole world came alive in He Simu’s eyes.

She saw the colour of the sun, that orange-red hue, like a flame that wouldn’t burn, warm and bright. Everything was bathed in its light, as if gently covered in golden fuzz, even the pavilions and towers seemed to breathe.

The person beside her was very warm; the fur of the cloak brushed against her face, slightly warm and itchy. The tiles beneath her were hard and cold, gradually warming up from her rising body temperature.

From the Jade Tower came the bustling sounds of guests, crisp like falling pearls, and melodious like fine wine, mingling together in lively harmony.

“What’s that sound?” He Simu asked.

“In the morning, it’s usually the pipa, guzheng, and flute. Just wait a moment, Qiu Chi is about to come out and sing,” Duan Xu leaned against her shoulder and said with a smile.

Sure enough, a melodious and gentle female voice drifted up from below, singing a tune with indistinct lyrics, soft and charming as if it could dissolve everything.

The aroma of food wafted up, and He Simu slowly distinguished which belonged to Dongpo pork, which belonged to lamb soup, which belonged to drunken chicken. Countless wonderful smells intertwined in the air, perhaps smelling them could also satisfy her hunger.

“Do you want to drink?” Duan Xu took out a jug of wine from his arms. His fingers were pale and slender, with dark bruises, tinted golden by the sunlight.

He Simu took the wine from his hand, took a sip, and the spicy and fragrant aroma filled her lungs.

This was the world of the living.

Their every day must be so wonderful and unique. Such days, even after a hundred years, would still be blissful.

He Simu’s eyes trembled as she slowly turned her head to look at Duan Xu.

Her Little General Duan, her Duan Fox, with the most beautiful skull in the world, features like a painting, especially those eyes, clean and clear like a piece of jade, always with a smile.

The sunlight shone on the side of his face, casting shadows along his nose. He kissed her slowly. It was a very gentle and warm kiss. She tasted the bitterness in his mouth but didn’t find it unpleasant.

The perception she gained from him was that even bitterness was precious.

“Simu, how do you feel about this world?” he asked.

He Simu rubbed his forehead affectionately and said, “It’s wonderful, like home.”

Even in her youth, she considered the whole world her home, but after entering the realm of ghosts, she no longer talked about home. Yet, at this moment, when such a splendid and grand world appeared before her, she suddenly felt like a person who had been away from home for many years, suddenly seeing home again.

“Duan Xu, Duan Shunxi, please… don’t go.”

She finally said it out loud.

Such a ridiculous and illogical thing to say. Having lived for four hundred years, accustomed to the cycle of life and death as a ghost king, she could still say something like that.

But Duan Xu didn’t answer. He leaned against her shoulder and fell asleep deeply, not knowing if he would wake up again.

She held onto Duan Xu’s shoulder, burying her head in his neck, trembling slightly.

“Duan Xu… Duan Xu… Duan Shunxi… Duan Shunxi… Duan Shunxi!” He Simu held his shoulder, calling out his name, from hesitation to fear, to anger and sorrow.

In her whole life, she had never cried out loud, never shouted someone’s name, until she was hoarse. She didn’t know how to hold onto something, or what she could hold onto. She had never been able to hold onto anything.

“… He Simu.”

Duan Xu’s voice rang in her ears, and He Simu was stunned. She raised her head and met a pair of bright eyes.

As if it were her illusion, he didn’t seem as pale, and his face regained some colour, as if it were before.

Duan Xu widened his eyes. He reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers, murmuring, “He Simu, you… you’re crying.”

He Simu finally noticed that her face was full of tears. She had actually cried.

The evil spirits never shed tears, so why was she crying?

“You’re… warm. I can feel it…” Duan Xu caressed her face and said in astonishment.

The scent of lilac wafted over, and a purple figure appeared beside them. He Simu turned to look and unexpectedly saw the usually silent and mysterious Zi Ji.

Zi Ji waved at He Simu, and the ghost lamp around her waist flew into Zi Ji’s hand. Amidst the flickering blue flames, He Simu’s soul separated from the lamp and returned to her body.

This was something that not even any evil spirit, including He Simu, could easily accomplish. Yet Zi Ji did it effortlessly.

“From now on, you are no longer the Ghost King, but a mortal,” Zi Ji said to He Simu, then turned to Duan Xu and calmly stated, “Your time of death is not today.”

She put away the ghost lamp, then looked at them with lowered eyes and said slowly, “In the name of the gods, I bestow upon you a new fate. Take care of yourselves.”

He Simu was stunned. Her gaze passed Zi Ji and fell on the distant figure behind her. The man was wearing a blue court robe embroidered with exquisite images of the twenty-eight constellations, smiling brightly and waving at her.

Just like when he was a child and she went to the Star Court to pick him up. Back then, he often asked her, “Grand ancestor, why do you have to die so lonely? Can’t we have a new fate?”

On that rainy day, after Zi Ji grabbed Feng Yi’s hand, they had a long conversation.

—Zi Ji, look at the pairs in this world. They must be neat and tidy. When one side of the city gate is higher than the other, they tear down bricks from the eastern wall to mend the western wall, don’t they?

—What are you trying to say?

—Turn He Simu into a human, shorten her long life, and share it with Duan Xu. Let them stay together as mortals. Isn’t it fitting for the order of the gods to have compassion for those who sacrifice themselves for the world?

In the end, He Simu remained in the world.

Duan Xu became the first person she held onto in her life.

Two years later.

“Duan Shunxi! Duan Xu!”

Shouts echoed in the summer forest, but looking around, all that could be seen was the greenery of the trees, with the source of the voice nowhere to be found—because the person had fallen into a hole in the ground.

He Simu stood at the bottom of the hole, looking up at the high opening, trying to jump a few times but failing. She frowned and crossed her arms.

Although she had become very accustomed to the life of a mortal over the past two years, she still missed her magical powers at times like this. If her powers were still intact, getting out of this hole would be effortless—she wouldn’t have fallen in the first place.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Duan Xu’s figure appeared at the edge of the hole, squatting down to check on He Simu. He had now regained his agility and robust health, dressed in a blue round-necked robe, looking much like the young general she first met in Liangzhou Prefecture.

He Simu reached out her hand. “Quick, pull me up.”

Seeing that the hole wasn’t too deep and there was straw at the bottom, Duan Xu knew He Simu probably wasn’t seriously injured.

When she was an evil spirit, she often possessed people and was quite familiar with earthly matters, but she was completely oblivious to injuries. She thought she was invincible, but ended up covered in scars, sometimes too proud to admit it.

Seeing that she was unharmed, Duan Xu smiled and squatted at the edge of the hole. “If you want me to pull you up, you have to call me husband first and see how it sounds.”

He Simu raised an eyebrow, withdrew her hand, and smiled. “What did you say?”

Resting his arms on his knees, Duan Xu sighed. “You promised to make me the son-in-law of the He family, but now there’s been no matchmaker, no betrothal gifts, no bridal sedan chair, no wedding procession. It’s almost our tenth year together, can’t we have a proper status?”

As he spoke, he seemed a bit aggrieved.

He Simu chuckled. “You seem to want a lot. Unfortunately, I’m no longer the Ghost King, so I don’t have that much wealth anymore.”

“But the Ghost Realm is still your family, your aunt is the regent, and your younger brother is the heir. How can you say you have no wealth?” Duan Xu grinned. “Besides, just one of your paintings is worth a fortune. As long as you accept me, that’s enough. Do you really want to accept someone else besides me?”

“The famous Jade-Faced Yama, the former General Duan, is offering such a cheap price?”

“It depends on the person. For others, my price is sky-high. But for Simu, I can give a discount.” Duan Xu smiled slightly, reaching out his hand to her.

“The timing waits for no one. If you grab my hand, consider it a deal.”

He Simu looked at him for a moment, the sunlight pouring down from behind him, vibrant and warm. She chuckled lightly, reaching out to grasp his hand, and said, “Deal, husband.”

“Alright, wife.”

She was pulled out of the hole by these warm and strong hands. When the sunlight hit her face, she remembered many, many years ago, on a New Year’s Eve, when she pulled him up from the ground.

Now she could finally tell him, “I love you.”

“I will love you forever, and I will spend my life loving you, never forgetting.”