Chapter 29: Her Lover, the Deceiver Part 3

Zhen Yan couldn’t help but laugh. “We already have the certificate. What’s the point of asking?”

Jia Hua laughed along. “Didn’t you want a proposal?”

Zhen Yan cast her a sideways glance. “I wanted one?”

Jia Hua immediately shook her head, grinning. “No, I wanted to give one.”

Zhen Yan touched the flowers with her fingers and nodded with satisfaction.

Ever since differentiating into an Omega, Zhen Yan’s personality had become a bit livelier. Or rather, in front of Jia Hua, she could act coquettishly.

“Pfft, pfft—” Sounds came from the kitchen.

“Oh no! I was making congee and forgot to turn off the heat!” Jia Hua rushed frantically toward the kitchen.

Seeing this, Zhen Yan laughed heartily.

Mm, marriage was nice. Marrying Jia Hua… was especially nice.

—

Three years later, Jia Hua and Zhen Yan successfully graduated from the Imperial Fourth Military Academy and directly entered the Fourth Legion as nominal Major Generals.

Their job was simple: whenever the Empire’s Emperor and Empress visited other imperial federations, the two simply had to stand behind them.

Not as bodyguards, but as a form of deterrence.

The existence of these two was itself a deterrent against other empires and federations.

Even when the Emperor and Empress sat, the two also had seats. When the state visit ended and the royal couple returned to the Empire, the two could even stay behind in the other empires and federations for publicly-funded tourism.

“Hey, hey, Wife, Wife—come quick! This place is so beautiful!”

Beneath a hanging tower in some empire, they made a heart shape with their hands for a photo, their smiles sweet and radiant.

“Wow, this dessert is way too delicious! You try it too!” Jia Hua scooped a spoonful of ice cream for Zhen Yan to taste, then snapped a picture and saved it in her album.

After their day’s sightseeing ended, they returned to the hotel. Casually editing the day’s best photos, they uploaded them to their StarNet accounts.

【Sharing a wave of delicious food and beautiful scenery~~ (pic pic pic)】

Netizens opened the post as a matter of routine, then closed it with a smile.

Was this really delicious food and beautiful scenery? This was sharing dog food.

This side hereby expressed: Already full. No more, thanks.

On StarNet’s ranking of Sweetest Couples, the Real and Fake CP firmly occupied the top spot. Entirely organic support, no fabrication.

When it came to CP fans, none were happier than the Truth CP’s followers. What could be better to ship than a real CP who loved sharing their life?

Netizens: This pair is tied down tight! I’ve swallowed the key! Everyone else, do as you please.

Time passed, year after year. During this time, Zhen Yan and Jia Hua helped resolve quite a few high-risk, socially significant cases. They also handled situations like foreign terrorists attempting self-detonation in bustling areas, causing public panic. But both, with their superhuman abilities, turned the tide, resolving crises and safeguarding the Imperial people.

Every year, their ranks were offered promotion. Every year, they refused. The higher the rank, the greater the responsibility. And the greater the responsibility, the more love they’d have to spread to others.

Both believed themselves to be selfish, with small hearts and little love. Their hearts could only hold one person. Their love could only be given to one person.

Many people didn’t understand, but they were all moved by the sincere affection between the two.

Under the witness of the Imperial people, their hair went from jet black to streaked with gray and white. Their ages increased day by day. The only constant: they still stood resolutely, side by side, behind successive generations of Emperors and Empresses.

Their standing was the Empire’s standing.

Influenced by the two, more and more people devoted themselves to the military. The talented entered military academies; those with average talent started as Soldiers. The Empire’s military scale expanded continuously. Its international standing rose ever higher. Its voice grew increasingly weighty.

But the years were unkind. First, Zhen Yan’s body gradually weakened. At first, she couldn’t stand for long. Eventually, she was confined to a Wheelchair. Yet, unlike her, Jia Hua’s body remained robust. Though her hair had turned white, there were few wrinkles on her face. Her posture was upright. Dressed a bit youthfully, she’d easily pass as a middle-aged beauty who’d simply dyed her hair silver-gray.

Inside the hotel’s presidential suite, Jia Hua lifted Zhen Yan from her wheelchair onto the bed. Then, she wrung out a towel in hot water and wiped her body.

This was something Jia Hua had once said: she didn’t want to spend her old age in a Nursing Home. Instead, she wanted to live in hotels, enjoying different cuisines every day. And so, in their old age, they lived in presidential suites.

Looking at her gentle lover, tears welled up in Zhen Yan’s eyes. She raised her age-loosened hand, wanting to touch Jia Hua’s face. But before she could reach it, she felt tired. Her hand started to droop.

But just as it fell, Jia Hua caught it firmly and pressed it against her cheek.

“Darling, what’s wrong? Mesmerized by my beauty?” Jia Hua joked deliberately.

Zhen Yan nodded seriously. “You’ve always been beautiful. Every time I look back, I’m stunned by you.”

Jia Hua smiled, lifting Zhen Yan’s hand to her lips and kissing it. “You too. Utterly beautiful.”

Lying on the bed, Zhen Yan wept and smiled. “Jia Hua, it seems… I can only accompany you this far.”

Zhen Yan using her full name made Jia Hua’s heart tremble. She blinked her wide eyes, pursed her lips into a smile, and asked softly, “Roughly when will you go?”

Tears continuously slid from the corners of Zhen Yan’s eyes. “Tonight. I feel I won’t see tomorrow morning’s sun.”

“Ah, is that so?” Jia Hua looked up at the chandelier, struggling to keep the tears pooling in her eyes from falling. She then lowered her head, glanced at her watch, and smiled. “It’s still early. Let me push you out to see An City’s nightscape.”

“Alright,” Zhen Yan nodded.

After they retired from the Fourth Legion, they had returned to An City. Returned to this ancient and somewhat backward small city.

This was their root. The place where they’d grown. The place where they’d met, known each other, and fallen in love.

Falling leaves return to the root. They had come back here, in the end.

The dim yellow streetlights shone on the pedestrian path. An autumn breeze gently blew. Jia Hua stopped her steps, moved in front of Zhen Yan, and tucked the blanket around her.

“The wind is a bit chilly tonight. Don’t catch cold.”

Zhen Yan rested her head against the back of the wheelchair, smiling wordlessly.

Jia Hua pushed Zhen Yan slowly along, talking about the contrasts between An City now and then as they walked.

One spoke, the other listened, walking along that quiet pedestrian walkway.

Suddenly, a gust of autumn wind swept by, blowing the blanket off Zhen Yan’s lap. Jia Hua hurriedly stopped to chase after it. When she retrieved it, patted it clean, and placed it back on Zhen Yan’s lap, she found that Zhen Yan’s hand, which had been resting there, had slipped to the side, hanging limply down.

Trembling, Jia Hua lifted her head. She found that Zhen Yan, at some unknown moment, had closed her eyes—permanently closed her eyes. Yet the corners of her mouth were still curved upward, still smiling.

The tears Jia Hua had been suppressing for so long finally burst forth. She collapsed onto the leaf-strewn path, resting her head on Zhen Yan’s lap, weeping inconsolably.

—

Zhen Yan’s funeral was very simple. Only Jia Hua attended. The two had no descendants, even in death.

Zhen Yan’s body had difficulty conceiving. After they got together, Zhen Yan had also thought about bringing a crystallization of their love into the world. But her body wouldn’t allow it. She had even secretly sought treatments everywhere behind Jia Hua’s back. During this time, Jia Hua caught her drinking some so-called folk remedy and, under intense questioning, Zhen Yan revealed the truth.

This made Jia Hua both furious and heartbroken.

After Jia Hua repeatedly guaranteed that her life plan for the future had never included children—only her—Zhen Yan gradually let go of this hang-up. From then on, her eyes and heart only held her lover.

Thus, in death, their closest kin, the only one left alive, was each other.

In the dead of night, Jia Hua sat in the mourning hall, silently waiting for the arrival of the Black and White Impermanence.

At midnight’s third watch, when the night was at its coldest, the Black and White Impermanence manifested in the hall.

“You’ve come,” Jia Hua, who had been sitting with closed eyes, suddenly opened them and smiled at them.

“Elder Sis Hua,” Bai Wuchang, Xie Bi’an, spoke hesitatingly. “Fan Wujiu and I… are here to guide two souls.”

The implication: Jia Hua would also die tonight. Her lifespan was exhausted.

Jia Hua nodded. “Mm, I know.”

She instructed the two: “Soon, Bi’an will go guide Zhen Yan’s soul. Wujiu will guide mine. Bi’an, remember to reel in your long tongue, don’t frighten her. She has done many good deeds in life, should be qualified enough for the Pleasure Group in the Main God Space. When you get there, please help me tell the Head of the Pleasure Group, Chief Joy, to pick the most comfortable, easiest, and most carefree world for her.”

The Black and White Impermanence exchanged a glance and nodded. “Alright.”

Just as their words fell, Jia Hua leaned against the coffin and closed her eyes. The sands of life ran out. Her life had reached its end.

Bai Wuchang, Xie Bi’an, coiled up his long tongue. After chanting a Soul-Guiding Spell, Zhen Yan’s soul rose from the coffin. Following that, she opened her eyes. In her soul form, she appeared as she had in her youth, wearing her school uniform.

“You must be Zhen Yan. Please follow me.” There were no chains or manacles, only the respectful word “please.”

Floating, Zhen Yan reached out to touch Jia Hua, who was leaning against the coffin in eternal sleep. But her hand passed right through.

“Time waits for no one. Do not delay the cycle of Reincarnation,” Bai Wuchang reminded.

Zhen Yan slowly nodded. She cast one last, longing look at Jia Hua, then followed Bai Wuchang, drifting toward the King Yama Palace.

Once Bai Wuchang had guided Zhen Yan’s soul away, Hei Wuchang, Fan Wujiu, finally guided Jia Hua’s soul out. “Let’s go.”

Jia Hua nodded and followed, her movements practiced and familiar.

With Jia Hua’s Retirement World ending, so ended her lengthy journey of atonement. This time, she could finally drink Meng Po Soup and reincarnate without memories.

Head bowed, she followed Hei Wuchang along Yellow Springs Road. Suddenly, she heard Hei Wuchang exclaim in surprise, “Eh? Why are they also on Yellow Springs Road?”

Jia Hua instantly looked up. Ahead was Bai Wuchang in his white robes, and beside him, Zhen Yan in her An City No. 2 High School uniform.

The moment Zhen Yan saw her, she ran flying towards her. A couple who had spent decades together in life embraced tightly on Yellow Springs Road.

“Jia Hua, I’ve come to find you!” Zhen Yan cried, clinging tightly to Jia Hua’s ear.

Jia Hua kissed Zhen Yan’s cheek incessantly. “Yes, you came to find me! You found me!”

The Black and White Impermanence stood silently to the side. Finally, unable to watch anymore, they said, “Elder Sis Hua, you have ten minutes. In ten minutes, you must find Meng Po and drink the Meng Po Soup. Otherwise, it will delay your paths to Reincarnation!”

With that, the Black and White Impermanence vanished.

On their way to guide the next souls, Hei Wuchang asked Bai Wuchang, “Weren’t you taking her to the Pleasure Group? Why bring her onto Yellow Springs Road?”

Bai Wuchang shrugged. “The moment she heard that Elder Sis Hua also died and could only undergo reincarnation, she immediately demanded to go with her. Wouldn’t even go to the Pleasure Group anymore. Tsk tsk, truly intoxicated by love, losing all reason.”

Hei Wuchang rolled his eyes. “Their love is so sweet. You’re just sour grapes, calling them sour.”

Bai Wuchang: “…”

In front of Meng Po’s table stood two women, hand in hand.

Meng Po flipped open her roster and called out the names, “Jia Hua? Zhen Yan?”

Both nodded.

Meng Po placed two bowls of pitch-black soup before them. “Drink. Once you drink, you will forget all your past worldly affairs and begin a new journey in life.”

The two exchanged a glance, fingers interlocked tightly, and drank the Meng Po Soup.

Watching them step onto the Naihe Bridge, Meng Po shook her head. She looked at the small red thread on her table. Gently, she flicked it. The tiny red thread shot rapidly toward the two—who, having forgotten their past and all memories, were loosening their grips on each other—and tightly bound itself around their little fingers.

The Little Red Thread would forever be tied to their little fingers.

This was something the Head of the Atonement Group, Chief Sin, had begged to obtain for them.

That was a Red Thread of Fate. The two people bound by it would be lovers in their next life.

For two people to love each other faithfully from beginning to end, in this life… that, too, was a blessing.