Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

I know I must be inside a dream, there is no sky in my surroundings, no ground, only whiteness, blurry and hazy. I stand on the spot, unmoving, concentrating on thinking, who am I?

I hear someone call me An Ran.

I turn my head, the long hair girl in [western style] dress comes running towards me, fair face glowing a healthy pink.

“An Ran, you hurry over ah, ho-ho, we have to celebrate our birthday together.” The girl’s voice rings like a bell, the flying skirt like a lily flower in full bloom. She is clearly coming closer and closer to me, yet is still unable to reach my side.

I instinctively take a step back.

I’m An Ran?

I furrow my brows as I watch that girl’s familiar yet unfamiliar face, my subconscious giving rise to feelings of rejection.

I don’t like this girl, I don’t want to be near her, I hate that intimate feeling when she calls my name.

It is truly terrible.

I turn around and walk away without any hesitance, but hear a pleasant-sounding man’s voice call out from behind.

His voice is a little anxious, he says: “An Ran, don’t go, we are all here waiting for you.

My steps come to a stop, my chest feeling like all the air was sucked out of it, so suffocating.

We? Who are we? Who is waiting for me?

“An Ran, don’t go, I miss you, I miss you so much I’m about to go crazy!” The man’s voice carries pleading, as well as heart wrenching pain.

I should feel pity for him, I should feel touched, but why do I only sneer and continue to leave?

I am absolutely puzzled, why is this?

“An Ran, we were wrong, we were wrong, don’t leave us alright? I won’t fight you for Yan You anymore, I’ll give in to you, we won’t get married anymore.” The girl’s voice carries pleading, sound after sound, genuine sincerity.

But why do I only think of one sentence: you don’t fight, because you never had anything you couldn’t get.

I continuously walk, not caring for the words coming from the two people behind, not stopping to think. Just like that, continuously walking ah walking, until before me, there appears a young woman in a body of ancient purple clothing.

The young woman places down the thread and needle when she sees me, spinning around and says to me: “Ah-Lan, look, this is the dress Father Emperor had just made me, is it nice?”

I look at her face that is beautiful like a flower, and instinctively nod, “Looks nice.”

“Kekeke, I shall go show Seventh Brother then.” The young woman happily runs off, crisp laughter spreading amongst the air.

I squat down and write on the ground, two words of ‘Ah-Lan’, I am Ah-Lan?

“Little Fool!” Someone pats my shoulder from behind, then a stunning face appears before me, “Do you want to climb trees with me?”

I look at the youth who is prettier than women, falling into a trance, and who might he be?

“Hey, are you really being foolish ah.” The pretty youth stokes his chin, a pair of narrow and long peach blossom eyes flashing brightly, “Go go go, Seventh Brother will take you to climb trees.”

I evade the hand he stretches towards me, coldly saying: “I have no brother.”

The pretty youth pauses, then reaches out to knock at my head, “You really dare to not acknowledge me – this older brother of yours, how very daring. Go go go, we’re going to climb trees.”

Having said that, he pulls me along, he runs forth, a puddle appears after a while of running. After stepping in the puddle, he appears to melt and slowly melts into the water, disappearing without a trace.

I look at my empty hand with an oncoming wave of confusion, where’s he gone?

“Ah-Lan, leave with me.”

I turn around to see a youth in green clothing suddenly pop up behind me, “And who might you be?”

He happily hooks up his thin lips, naively smiling, “Have you forgotten me, I’m-“

“Ah-Dou! Quickly run!”

Someone loudly yells, and then my arm was grabbed by someone, who frantically bolts forward. I’m unable to free myself from that person’s tight grip, only able to squint my eyes as I shout: “And who might you be?!”

That person finally stops, turns out it is a handsome youth with bronze skin. That youth slightly narrows his eyes, eyes glowing with a slight golden colour, “Ah-Dou, do you not remember me?”

I find it rather funny, Ah-Dou? Who would be called a name like Ah-Dou? Could it be that this person has time travelled from the Three Kingdoms period (famous period of the warring states – Wei, Shu, Wu Kingdoms)? “You’ve recognised the wrong person, I am not Ah-Dou.” (Ah-Dou is the infant name of Liu Shan – Liu Bei’s eldest son and successor – but is also used to call a stupid or incompetent person)

“How could I have recognised wrongly, you are Ah-Dou.” The handsome youth says with firm certainty, his smile bright like the sunlight, “Ah-Dou, I said I would wed you, marry me.”

I forcefully throw away his hand, “I’m not Ah-Dou, I’m……”

I’m confused, I’m An Ran……? I’m Ah-Lan……?!

I lightly smile at him, “I’m Ah-Lan.”

That’s right, I remember now, I’m An Ke Lan.

The handsome youth is rather baffled, then spreads his lips into a smile: “I don’t care what you are called, you are just my Ah-Dou. Ah-Dou, marry me.”

I think to myself, why is this youth so funny? Just a few years old milk child, and he wants to talk about having a wife. I had just wanted to speak up to mock him, but hear a familiar cold voice sound from above: “An Ke Lan, hurry and wake up now.”

I raise my head to look at the sky, from the originally blurred area above, a bright light appears, and that voice is coming from within that light.

I couldn’t refrain from saying, “And you, who might you be?”

That voice coldly harrumphs, that tone neither hurried nor slow as he says: “Who might I be?”

“Yes, who might you be?”

“I am……” That cold voice seems to become a little gentler, yet the next sentence is even more colder than ice-cold, “I am the person that will burn away the grape garden should you still not wake up.”

I’m a little confused by what I hear, what did he say, grape garden?

……grape?

Grapes!

“Yuwen Rui!”

I cry out, then breathlessly find that I have already awakened. That sound of “Yuwen Rui” just now, indeed came from my mouth, but the volume of it was not as loud as I had thought, and was instead weak like a whisper. I blink my eyes, trying to turn my neck to observe my surrounding. But with that one turn, I turned to a pair of ice-cold fox eyes.

“Awake?” Yuwen Rui half narrows his fox eyes as he lightly asks, everything seems to be very normal.

Eh……

I instinctively gulp, sensing an unknown force circulating in the air. I shyly curl up my lips, “Cousin.”

“En.” Yuwen Rui lazily answers, then says: “Recognise who I might be now?”

I continue to smile, “En, Eldest Cousin.”

Yuwen Rui slightly moves his eyes, unable to make out any emotions from his voice: “Are you able to move?”

I reflexively prop up my body with my arms, but in the next second, my arm is struck with a burst of pain, causing cold sweat to ooze out.

He elegantly takes an embroidered handkerchief and helps me wipe away the sweat, “Hurts?”

I grit my teeth, “Not too bad.”

“Not too bad?” Yuwen Rui shallowly hooks up his lips, a friendly smile surfacing in his eyes, “Should I be thanking you for sacrificing your body for the people, saving a number of people within the hall, and also managed to safely retreat yourself?”

I’m a little displeased with the thorn in his words, but have no other choice, I’m a fish on the chopping board right now, about to be slaughtered by someone ah, tragedy. Not to mention, this guy’s gentle smile sure is making my hair rise. And so I tactfully admit wrong, “I was wrong.”

He is greatly interested, “Oh? How were you wrong?”

“Ke-ke.” I dryly cough a few sounds, “I should not have sacrificed my body to save the people, saving a number of people within the hall. And should just mind my own little life, don’t care whether they live or die.”

The between of Yuwen Rui’s eyes turns dark, his tone gloomy sounding: “You think I’m joking with you right now?”

I’m a little surprised, didn’t think he would actually get mad for real. But deep down, I give rise to anger, could it be that I was wrong to learn from the humble and selfless role models and save people?

Heck! The one time I be a nice person and I’m getting lectured for it!

I open my mouth, wanting to rebuke, but see a shadow suddenly loom over me, and the in the next moment, my mouth was fiercely blocked up. The thing plugging my mouth…..mm, is very wet, very soft, very warm.

My heart abruptly misses a beat, then my head reflexively wants to pull back. Just that Yuwen Rui immediately reaches up and hooks his hand around the back of my head and presses me towards him, leading the contact between the two of us to become even more inseparable. I want to reach up and push him in resistance but find my entire body powerless, even the raising of a hand is as difficult as retrieving the Buddhist scriptures from the western paradise. (Reference to Journey to the West)

As I was distractedly thinking of how to break free, Yuwen Rui fiercely bites down on my lip, an iron taste spreading within both our mouths. Yuwen Rui’s long and fine eyes carrying a rarely revealed darkness, handsome face not restoring its usual cold elegance. The trace of fresh red blood still on his lips, against his fair face, it creates the illusion of a slight devilish charm. He dangerously narrows his eyes, coldly saying: “An Ke Lan, you remember, no matter who is dying in front of you, you are not allowed to save people like that.”

His long and slender fingers gently hold my face, gentle and ice cold. His pretty lips lightly curling up, word by word saying: “I, don’t, allow, it.”

I try to rebuke, but before my voice came out, it was once again swallowed down by him. His tongue taking advantage of the moment I parted my mouth to nimbly slip inside, followed by relentless sucking. I try hard to avoid his aggressive invasion, but he prevents my evasion with ease, leading me into a deep struggle of entanglement.

I try hard to inhale some fresh air, but because the one on my lips is kissing me so relentlessly, I cannot make ends meet, and so, both my eyes sees black……

Fainted.

I think to myself, Yuwen Rui – this person – truly doesn’t understand how to show consideration to an ill person.

I’m a patient! Do you understand what a patient is? A patient is when one has fallen ill, and cannot do intense exercises, cannot have intense emotions, cannot use intense means to treat said patient!

Yuwen Rui you damned brat done it all……

I secretly curse whilst unconscious.

Heck.

……

When I wake up again, that handsome and young version of the Civil Judge (a judge in the underworld, in charge of the book of life and death) – Yuwen Rui – is no longer by my side, I lick my lips, si-, the sore area is still hurt.

“Princess, you’re finally awake!” Xi Xi screams out and pounces over to my bedside, eyes slightly reddening, “Princess! You had this servant worried!”

I turn my neck, “Xi Xi, you cried?”

Xi Xi cutely scrunches her nose, “Princess has already been unconscious for seven days! How can this servant not cry?”

Seven days? A week’s gone by just like that?

I furrow my brows, “How is Father Emperor?”

Xi Xi also furrows her brows, “His majesty……his majesty is also yet to wake up.”

“What happened to Father Emperor?”

“When Eldest Gentleman led us to find you and his majesty, his majesty’s entire body was covered in blood, Eldest Gentleman appeared to turn insane as he rushed forward, pushing his majesty out the way to hold Princess, only later did we find that his majesty had also been injured.” Xi Xi quietly says: “His majesty was hit by small arrows, and the arrow were coated with deadly poison……”

Somewhere deep in my heart, something moves, giving rise to an extremely subtle feeling. Did the arrows on Father Emperor’s body…..come from shielding me that time? I then think of that wet feeling on my hand before I had passed out……

I slightly lower my eyes, saying: “Xi Xi, I need to go see Father Emperor.”

Xi Xi shakes her head, “Princess, you’re still unable to walk around with your injury.”

“I need to go.”

“Eldest Gentleman wouldn’t permit this.”

-_-||| don’t even mention this person.

“I need to go, that is my Father Emperor.” I repeat.

Xi Xi is rather troubled, “Princess……”

“Xi Xi, you may leave first.” The door is pushed open, followed by the appearance of Yuwen Rui’s tall and slender figure standing inside the room. He coldly smiles at me, a meaningful look flashing in his long and fine eyes, “Here, you can leave me to take care of it.”