A Bitter Heart (Part 1)

The moment he saw the two of them meet in this lifetime, Wei Ming knew it was time for him to wake up.

To withdraw from memories was a difficult thing, especially when he was immersed in them, having even become a player in the drama himself, with all the joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness so vivid. It made it even harder to distinguish between illusion and reality.

But he had already made Chi Lian wait for too long. If he delayed any longer, he was afraid Chi Lian would do something irreversible again.

Wei Ming struggled to open his eyelids and was nearly blinded by a bright light before him. He subconsciously raised a hand to shield his eyes, but the bright light, as if sentient, fell into his hand. It was heavy and cool to the touch—a palm-sized silver mirror.

By the faint light emanating from the mirror, Wei Ming finally saw their current predicament clearly: he and Chi Lian seemed to have been swallowed whole by a sea clam. They were surrounded by sticky, fishy, and cold soft flesh that was constantly writhing, secreting a thick pearl liquid. They had been asleep for so long that more than half of their bodies were already completely encased in a layer of nacre. If they didn't leave soon, they would become the largest and most dazzling pearl in the West Sea.

Chi Lian lay on his side opposite him, the two of them huddled together like a pair of mandarin ducks with intertwined necks. Moreover, Wei Ming discovered that whenever Chi Lian was close to him, he had a habit of curling up, wishing he could bury his entire face in his chest. It was a posture of complete trust, bordering on attachment.

Clearly, he was the one who had hurt Chi Lian the most. He had died so casually without a word of warning, forcing Chi Lian to choose the most tragic way to save him. Yet, after his resurrection, he had forgotten everything. For over a hundred years, he had been oblivious, and had even once mocked his “fated connection from a past life,” resentful that he was being treated as a substitute.

Wei Ming gazed at his serene, sleeping face, and for a moment, his throat felt tight, his heart filled with a sour tenderness. He couldn't help but lower his head and gently kiss his forehead, pressing his cheek against Chi Lian's cool one.

“I’m sorry.”

“It was my fault. I should have recognized you the moment I saw you. It’s all my fault.”

“Wake up. Let’s go home together.”

Startled by the sound of his voice, Chi Lian’s eyelashes trembled.

As the master of the memories, he had watched his own life experiences from beginning to end like a revolving lantern show. Not only did he not find it magnificent, but he was repeatedly so exasperated by his own foolishness that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

In the past, he had clung to the Emperor unconsciously. Later, as his feelings grew, he knew he should keep his distance, but he couldn't resist how the Emperor always indulged him, so his bad habits never changed. When the Emperor died, he didn't even want to live anymore and became even more reckless. So, before falling into his deep slumber, he threw all caution to the wind and audaciously offended the Emperor.

When he finally woke up, he recognized Wei Ming's face at first glance, but his mind hadn't caught up yet, and he blurted out, "Emperor..."

Wei Ming leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips.

Chi Lian was abruptly stunned.

He leaned back in alarm, "His Highness?"

Wei Ming cupped the back of his head with one hand, pulled him back, and pecked him again, saying nonchalantly, "It's fine, call me whatever you want."

From his actions and familiar tone, Chi Lian realized a certain dreadful possibility and asked, stunned, "You saw... everything?"

Wei Ming: "Yes. I saw."

Chi Lian was about to cry from his own foolishness. For the first time, he felt that Gui Heng hadn't been wrong to say he had a bad temper and poor character. He also fretted anxiously, his presumptuous fantasies laid bare before the Emperor's eyes. For a moment, he didn't know how Wei Ming would judge him.

Then he heard Wei Ming sigh from the bottom of his heart, "You were so cute when you were little."

"..." Chi Lian tactfully reminded him, "I wasn't little."

Wei Ming amended, "It has nothing to do with age, you were just very cute."

With every sentence, Wei Ming would lower his head to kiss him, not out of any desire, but simply out of affection and fondness. The two of them were nestled in the sunless depths of the sea, with only a small source of light on their chests illuminating each other, creating a warmth and affection as thick as honey.

They were not some mighty celestial gods or immortal lords who could command the wind and rain, but just two grains of sand tightly embracing in the boundless expanse. The soft white pearl was like another form of amber, freezing this moment in time forever.

Kissed into submission, Chi Lian helplessly said, "How much does the Emperor remember? Or did you only see my memories?"

"Only saw yours," Wei Ming said, "but it's enough."

Chi Lian: "Hm?"

Wei Ming said in all seriousness, "You kissed me."

Chi Lian: "..."

"You said you liked me."

Chi Lian: "When did I..."

"You even asked me to pledge myself to you."

Chi Lian: "I was just kidding!"

"I like you too."

Wei Ming said earnestly, "In my past life, it was probably a love that grew over time. You can ask me again when I remember. But in this life, it was definitely love at first sight."

"Don't worry about the Great Dao. You can treat me as a complete and utter mortal. At worst, you can take away all my memories from this life before I die. But if you want me to give up this love now because you're afraid I'll regret it, I can't do it."

"Chi Lian, I'll only regret it if I don't love you."

Chi Lian finally fell silent. He lowered his eyelids in compromise, but his chin was slightly raised. Wei Ming, understanding tacitly, supported his back while leaning in slightly, and the two exchanged a long, soft kiss.

He found it hard to describe the complex feeling. It was mellow and tender, fervent within its lightness, both gently comforting and exceptionally precious. It reminded him of the taste of that flask of Yuxiao Wine from a thousand years ago.

In a daze, Chi Lian felt a cool streak slide across his face, followed by the warm pad of a finger wiping under his eye. Wei Ming, with a hint of helpless amusement in his smile, wiped his tears. "How come you're crying? There now, it's alright... Good boy, don't cry."

It was strange. When Chi Lian was raised by the Emperor's side, he would cry. He had shed tears when they argued or when he hid away to sulk. But when the Emperor died, he did not shed a single tear from beginning to end. Later, even after enduring unimaginable pain, he remained completely indifferent, knowing neither pain nor sorrow, as if the process of bleeding had completely replaced the instinct to "cry."

However, as soon as he was back by the Emperor's side, even though the current Wei Ming had not yet fully recovered his memories, his tears naturally separated from his blood, and he knew how to cry again.

"I'm not crying..."

Wei Ming teased him intentionally, "Compared to 'being kissed breathless by a mortal and crying involuntarily,' being moved to tears by my profound confession is less embarrassing, wouldn't you agree, Grand Preceptor?"

Chi Lian: "..."

It was truly not a good place to start a fight. He bumped Wei Ming with his head, looked at the source of light in his hand, and asked, "What is this?"

"A mirror." Wei Ming shook the silver mirror. "I have a feeling the immense power of that clam spirit and that bizarre-looking dragon is inextricably linked to this thing. It must have also been its doing that we were pulled into your memories. To be able to forcibly enter the memories of an immortal, this thing must be at least an immortal artifact."

Chi Lian took it and examined it carefully. He didn't find any inscription or mark, but he did discover a broken section. "It looks like it fell off another spiritual treasure. Speaking of reviewing past memories, there is the Heart-Questioning Platform managed by Heavenly Emperor Weiyang in the Jade Purity Palace, and the Pagoda of Rebirth in the Qingming Palace... I'm not too clear on others. Let's ask those two spirits after we get out. If that doesn't work, we'll have Gui Heng take it back to the Heavenly Court to find its owner."

There was no telling what trouble an immortal artifact like this could cause if left to wander the Mortal Realm. It was safest to let an immortal take it away. Wei Ming nodded, put the silver mirror away, and finally gave Chi Lian one last kiss before saying, "Let's get out of here then."

Chi Lian was already numb from being kissed. He silently summoned Dianjiang, and as if slicing melons and vegetables, he split open the shell of hardened pearl on them. He pulled Wei Ming to his feet, then gripped his sword with a normal grip and thrust forcefully upward. The clam's flesh recoiled sharply in pain, and with a "pssh" sound, it sprayed out a large gush of pale green blood, drenching the two of them. Wei Ming accidentally drank a mouthful and spat for a long time, suspecting that the Grand Preceptor was lashing out in retaliation for his embarrassment.

Chi Lian pulled out his sword without any hesitation and continued to stab upwards from a different angle. After three or five strikes, the sea clam finally couldn't bear the pain anymore. It began to roll over with earth-shattering force, its shell opened a crack, and it spat them both out with a "pfft" as if spitting sand.

Seeing the two escape, the silver dragon quickly turned to pursue them, about to use its long snout to suck them in again. This time, however, Chi Lian did not dodge or evade. He held his sword with both hands and leaped into the air, slashing straight down. A wave over ten feet high instantly erupted from the sea's surface!

This time, he didn't touch the silver dragon's reverse scale as Gui Heng had. The water current and sword energy shattered the immortal barrier around the silver dragon. It opened its mouth and spat out a glittering green pearl stained with dragon's blood.

Wei Ming swam over and caught the pearl. With their physical forms broken, the silver dragon and the sea clam transformed into a white-robed boy and a black-robed old man. Chi Lian bound them with a spell and dragged them all up to the sea surface.

Gui Heng had paced back and forth on the boat eight hundred times, nearly making Fang Tianchong dizzy. Just as he was getting anxious, he suddenly heard a huge splash. He whipped his head around to see a three-foot-high giant wave suddenly rise from the sea not far away. Chi Lian, supporting Wei Ming with one hand and holding a sword in the other, walked on water as if he were the Sea God. Before he reached the boat, he threw two heaps of something at him, making Gui Heng stumble.

Their fragile brotherly bond couldn't possibly withstand this blow. Gui Heng instantly flew into a rage, "Chi Lian! You bastard!"

Chi Lian landed silently on the deck as if on flat ground and sneered, "Useless."

Wei Ming raised an eyebrow and, before the two could start fighting, pressed a hand on each of them, warning, "Both of you, speak nicely. If you want to fight, save it for when you get home. No infighting on the boat."

Chi Lian sulkily said, "Oh." Wei Ming found it amusing and squeezed his palm under the cover of his sleeve. Gui Heng, however, had an almost animal-like intuition and keenly sensed that Wei Ming's aura seemed to have undergone a subtle change.

Before, he had merely resembled the Emperor. When Gui Heng first saw him, his immediate suspicion was that he was a substitute, not the man himself. But at this moment, as he stood there, he didn't have to do a thing to seem exactly like the living Emperor Cangze. If the same scene were to happen again, Gui Heng probably wouldn't have shouted, but would have knelt down on the spot, grabbed his legs, and started wailing.

"...His Highness?" he asked tentatively.

"Hm?" Wei Ming met his gaze calmly. "What is it?"

Gui Heng felt like he was really about to start wailing.

But before his tears could well up, the two heaps that had knocked him over suddenly rushed forward from his left and right, hugged his legs, and wailed in unison, "His Highness!"

Everyone: ?

The white-robed boy cried tearfully, "Your Highness, we've had such a hard time looking for you!"

The black-robed old man trembled, "Your Highness, it's all our fault for not serving you well, making you suffer such grievances!"

Wei Ming whispered to Chi Lian, "Are they from Chu Continent?"

"Chu Continent doesn't have such weird-looking seafood!" Gui Heng heard and retorted loudly, utterly bewildered. "What are you talking about, who's your Highness... I don't know you two!"

As he struggled, they inevitably scuffled, and a round rattan ball fell out of his sleeve pocket. It rolled to a corner of the deck, and in the next moment, the white-robed boy and the black-robed old man immediately changed direction, pounced on the rattan ball, held it up, and shouted in unison, "Your Highness!!!"

Everyone: ...

Wei Ming asked woodenly, "What is that?"

Gui Heng scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, "When I went back to the Capital to deliver the letter, I dropped by the Prince's Manor. I fought with... no, played with the Chestnut Tiger for a while. I might have accidentally pocketed its toy and brought it with me..."