It was a beautiful day ,The sun sparkled through thin white clouds and the mountains were lively with animals looking towards the new day.
Taohua spread the last of the clothes and put his hands on his waist.
It wasn't easy to remove the blood stains from the wedding robes , he had to hurry before his Shifu comes to see them.
"Taohua …"
Taohua raised his head and looked at the person standing in front of him. The person seem familiar but he can't place where. He blinked slowly and stared at the person.
"Huh ? Who are you ?"
The person voice was soft " Taohua , your memory have come to an end "
"Memory ?" Taohua rubbed his forehead and laughed "What memory? You must be those soothsayers walking around the neighborhood"
He smiled and ushered the person inside "Please come in , I will go get you something to drink"
Taohua hummed as he poured cool water into a bowl and dropped it on the table. He and Hong Jin had moved here after they had gotten married, it wasn't easy finding this place in the mountains but they did it.
He was proud to show off the place.
Taohua sat down close to the window and started to stitch clothes, his fingers were full of needle stabs but there was a bright smile on his face.
The person stared at him " Taohua …"
"Yes ?"
Their lips pressed into a thin line "Where is your husband? "
Taohua fingers trembled slightly before he nod his head " My Hong Jin is a bit ill , so he's sleeping at the moment "
"Can I see him?"
Taohua had the urge to scream no , but he didn't know why he nod his head slowly and guided the man into the dark room. A faint smell lingered in the air.
Taohua climbed on the bed and wrapped Hong Jin in his arms , Hong Jin was sleeping quite deeply, he didn't even notice the new person in the room.
He rubbed Hong Jin hair before kissing his forehead " You can see he's asleep, Can you wait till evening? He will be awake by then"
The person stared at him , their eyes were strange almost like it was filled with…pity.
Tears brimmed in Taohua eyes and he hugged Hong Jin tighter, his voice cracked " He will be awake in the evening I promise"
The sounds of Guapins started to ring in his ears , calling his divinity. Taohua buried his face into Hong Jin body. The smell of peach blossom scented decay rushed into his nose but he refused to raise his head up.
His voice broke into sobs " You all should leave me alone! I don't want to ascend I don't want anything, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"
The figure standing before him frowned, their presence growing heavier. Demon God.
" Taohua, Snap out of it "
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME AND MY HUSBAND!"
Taohua grabbed a lamp and threw it at Demon God , the lamp hit their forehead and blood flowed down in tricking amounts, as if startled, he rubbed his face against Hong Jin own and kissed him repeatedly " Hong Jin i am sorry, i forgot you don't like the noise … "
Demon God sighed and rubbed their forehead.
"I thought Shu hua was crazy for insisting on not having your coronation at that time, She was really adamant, going against Jade Queen. I couldn't have guessed it in a million years — Until now "
Taohua's heart raced " How do you know my Shifu?"
Demon God's patience snapped. They stood up and yanked Hong Jin from Taohua. Taohua let out a scream before attempting to attack demon god.
PA PA PA !!!!
The three slaps echoed around the palace and blood steeped down the side of Taohua lips. He rubbed his lips and glared at the intruder.
"Give.him.back"
"The heavens are starting to get suspicious, Taohua! look at the skies !" Demon God pointed outside, their voice cracked in urgency " YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!"
"Give Hong Jin back to me !!!" Taohua screamed and tried to grab his husband again, Demon god easily dodged him and stayed a distance. Like a child whose favorite toy have been stolen, Taohua broke down in tears and fell down on his knees " Give him back to me "
"HE'S DEAD!"
"HE'S NOT DEAD , HE'S ONLY ASLEEP!"
The sky was starting to turn dark. Demon god frowned and run outside with the body. Taohua followed after them , his eyes concentrated on the body.
They really have passed the time limit for them to continue staying in the memory lane , the gods are aware that they have left the heavens. If Jade Queen discovered that they are gone, it won't just stop at deducting their merits , She will probably lock them up for at least a dozen of years.
" You really believed that he killed his mortal side and became a full demon ? He lied to you. All those while, he lied to you and to the demons and mortals. He awoken his demon side too early, he had the illusion of nine tails…. "
" SHUT UP!!!"
Demon God pressed on "Yet he only had one life. He knew that but he kept it a secret in order to keep control of his subordinates. From the start otill the end of it ,he only had one life "
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
" He is dead "
Demon God let go. Hong Jin's body tumbled forward, and Taohua caught him before he could hit the ground.
"This is nonsense," Demon God muttered.
They shouldn't have felt angry. But they did.
Perhaps because Taohua selfishness had led to the destruction of so many lives even till now. From the military courts which would have become stable if Taohua had completed his mission diligently to Shu hua losing everyone to support her disciple.
Everyone had to drop something they loved. Shu hua had to kill her beloved, Jade Queen had to leave her home, Fuxin had to give up on Dalia lao and marry Jade Queen.
Even they had to use their hands to push their little baby into the cold lakes of guan Jun and watch him drown in order to ascend into immortality.
They cried about it , they mourned about it but it's the fact of life , immortality was sacrificial.
Tears gathered in their eyes "He's just a mortal , You will get over it , stop making everyone suffer "
Taohua whispered , his face buried in the rotting corpse.
"I don't care about ascension anymore, I don't care about becoming the god of war anymore, I just want to go back to the times Hong Jin was alive " his voice broke into a sob " I don't want immortality"
"You can't…it's in your blood, it's in your veins , it's the dao running in your body. You're a demigod ,you can never escape your destiny"
Taohua knelt on the floor, sobs racking through his body.
The sky have finally settled down , Demon God held their chest as they sat on the ground. The heavens have finally came down, nothing will alert Jade empress now. They had almost gotten into trouble because of Taohua grief.
They looked at the sobbing Taohua before letting out a sigh and gathering him into their arms. This time Taohua didn't fight them.
The once cheerful and spoiled demigod was lying on their chest, his eyes dead to the world and his body chilled to the bone , demon God couldn't find it in their heart to be angry anymore.
"Taohua, you can't change the past " They rubbed Taohua hair gently and started to rock them " But you can change the future "
Taohua raised his blotched eyes " Future?"
Demon God smiled " Bei Shang…you have to wake up now "
Taohua blinked slowly. He had a future? What future? Bei Shang ? That name seems familiar…
Mom , it's almost time for morning court
Mitch mom , you almost missed morning court
I wished you will smile at me , everytime
He could see a familiar but different looking Hong Jin , his blue eyes filled with light and his red lips in a full smile, his long white hair moving with the wind.
" Bei Shang…do you remember who you are now?"
Ah yes , he have to get home to Nick and Mitch before they throw a tantrum.
He closed his eyes and opened it again. They were back in the peach blossom lake. Everything was gone as if it has been a dream.
He rubbed his eyes. Midway, he had somehow merged with Taohua, the familiarity in the body and the constant scare of his hung po might have been a major cause.
He searched his body internally.
His dao was still flawed, the small hole stared back at him taunting Hong Jin sacrifice. He was sure that when Hong Jin died , the hole had left but now it's back again.
Bei Shang swallowed and rubbed his forearms. He knows that there's something more to the new hole but he didn't want to remember it, hell he doesn't want to think about it.
"Bei Shang…"
Bei Shang snapped his head up before bowing in apology to demon god.
"Demon God , I am so sorry for attacking you in my subconsciousness"
They nod their head in amicable respect " Hmmm it happens to the best of us ..so now you have your memories back, you know what you must do right?"
Bei Shang lowered his eyes , it was like he wasn't aware of whatever they were saying.
"Taohua "
Bei Shang turned and started to walk away , demon God lips twitched and they followed behind him " Are you ignoring me?"
"I am not … I …I need to get home first, once I get home, I promise that I will call Shifu and talk to her …"
"Taohua!!!"
Bei Shang increased his footsteps before starting to run. He mumbled words of apologies as he entered the dark area of his subconscious mind " Jie Jie , I won't forget your kindness towards me , collect a generous amount of merits from my Shifu "
"…Taohua stop there !!!"
"Also hurry back before the heaven suspects you are gone ?"
"You little - "
Bei Shang closed his eyes and let his spirit float. After demon god have done it so many times, he have finally gotten a hang of the spell.
"Take me home"
His spirit was suddenly pulled upwards before knocking down like it was thrown into a body.
Bei Shang opened his eyes and swallowed air onto his starved lungs. He felt someone touch his face before touching his shoulders and his torso.
Awake…
Call queen spring ….
Prince Windfall should be informed first…
Bei Shang looked around. The images was blurry , the colors merged and separated from one another before lines gathered and settled into various shapes.
He gathered strength into his throat
"N…Nick "
She's speaking, she's asking for the general…
Treat her first before we tell her what happened…
Huh ? What happened?
A cool towel touched his face and rubbed it gently, Bei Shang struggled to move his face and called out.
"N..Nick …Mi..Mitch "
She's asking for prince windfall.
Okay let's get him …the poor boy needs his mom.
His heart started to beat fast and his throat turned dry. He didn't like the discussions happening, they seem to be hiding something, they even have pity in their voices.
He felt the bed dip before a familiar vanilla scent came through.
"Mom…" he felt soft kisses on his face before a wet face glued on his own " Mom, What took you so long? It's been 2 years"
He didn't know what to say , he only allowed Mitch to pour out his grievances.
"Where…Where "
"Do you want to ask about dad ? " Mitch grabbed a cool towel and started to scrub his face , his voice was teary " Dad isn't home right now , he haven't been home in a year "
'A year?!'
Mitch continued to sob "Grand pa is sick , he can't even get down the bed , aunty Kate is extremely injured and she can't move , she's recovering in the weapon room for 3 months now " he sniffed loudly " Uncle Khalid was taken by a big sister, A man came last time to tell us Uncle summer is missing but he left immediately, there's no adult at home mom , they told me I can't disturb you until you wake up"
"U…Up "
"Okay " Mitch helped his upper body up and placed a pillow behind his back, he dropped the towel and started to rub his eyes " Mom , I am scared"
"H..Hug "
Mitch didn't hesitate jumping into his arms and wailing. Bei Shang rubbed his back with difficulty and started to piece together what happened.
Something bad probably happened for Nick to leave the palace for over a year and the issue have escalated to reach the inner palace.