Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 342 : The Yellow Springs (5)

Chapter 342: Chapter 342 : The Yellow Springs (5)

"Wait, what you are saying is..."

[You will meet again,] the Goddess said with a touch of irritation. [Goodness, all souls start their journey in the Human Realm with zero karmic value. The Crown Prince is an astounding individual, it will take no time before he returns to the Heavenly Realm.]

Xie Jianyu’s lips parted in a silent gasp of astonishment, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"So if I keep his corpse intact, can his soul return to his body?" Zhang Fengxi quickly asked after he processed the Goddess’ words.

The Goddess pinned the alpha tiger with a cold stare.

[Do I need to answer that stupid query?]

"Oh, Goddess, you..."

Overcome with a surge of unbridled joy, Zhang Fengxi lunged toward the Goddess of Fate and Destiny. In a moment of unrestrained elation, he swept her off her feet and twirled her like a child in the air.

The Goddess, caught off guard by this unexpected display of exuberance, let out a startled cry. Her voice, usually imbued with an air of serenity, now echoed with a hint of fear and bewilderment.

[What are you doing??? Impudent! Let me go at once!]

"You are the best goddess in the entire realm! I wish I could kiss you!"

Thankfully, he did not. Otherwise, the Goddess might have to beat him up.

With renewed vigour, Zhang Fengxi swiftly made his way back to Xie Jianyu’s side.

"Baby, I will be waiting," the general said, his eyes glistening with happy tears. "I will keep your body safe, and I will be waiting for you my entire life. Please return to me as soon as possible."

Unable to go against the unyielding rift that separated the living from the dead, Xie Jianyu and Zhang Fengxi held their hands awkwardly against each other in the air.

"Un," Xie Jianyu’s smile quivered on the edge of tears. "I will return to you. I will come back as soon as possible."

"I love you, Jianbao."

Zhang Fengxi closed his eyes, leaned over, and opened his mouth slightly.

The Goddess rolled her eyes in exasperation as Xie Jianyu’s ethereal form pressed its lips against Zhang Fengxi’s living, breathing existence.

They opened their eyes at the same time, and then Xie Jianyu whispered, "I love you more than words can tell. Take good care of our children, Husband."

[The sooner you leave, the sooner you can return,] the Goddess remarked with a flat expression. [Please go now, Your Majesty. I wish you a pleasant journey and a swift return.]

With a lingering gaze fixed upon Zhang Fengxi, Xie Jianyu’s ethereal form gracefully moved away from his husband.

"Thank you for everything, Goddess," he said with a respectful nod toward the Goddess. "See you again soon, Fengxi..."

With those final words echoing in the air, Xie Jianyu’s ethereal form turned and glided towards the distant horizon, his translucent figure blending into the procession of souls bound for reincarnation.

Zhang Fengxi’s tears flowed freely one last time.

His eyes trailed the procession of souls until Xie Jianyu’s ethereal form dissolved into the swirling mists, leaving behind a void as vast as the afterlife itself. With a solemn thud, the Gates of Hell clanged shut, marking the end of one passage and the beginning of another.

The Naihe Bridge stood silent and sentinel-like, its stone surface bearing the weight of countless journeys, awaiting the next wave of souls who sought for solace and rebirth.

Zhang Fengxi turned to look at the Goddess of Fate and Destiny with a question in his mind.

"My Jianbao, is he going to suffer in the Human Realm...?"

The Goddess’ head whipped upward to squint at him.

[I am not willing to impart anymore knowledge on the two of you. Do what you need to do, and wait patiently until heaven brings him back to you.]

Zhang Fengxi wiped the remaining tears off his face.

"Yes," he said. "I will wait."

And then, he opened his mouth and called out, "Caihong."

The Goddess shot him an irritated look. [I am not Caihong.]

"I know," Zhang Fengxi said with a hollow chuckle. "But you had been around him and me in that form. Thank you for all you have done for us. Thank you for taking care of Jianbao."

The Goddess snorted.

[I am doing it for the better good,] she insisted, but Zhang Fengxi knew better than that. The Goddess of Fate and Destiny must have taken a liking on the both of them, if not on Xie Jianyu alone.

The return journey to the Heavenly Realm seemed to unfold with an accelerated pace, the celestial expanse shrinking in a way that mirrored the compression of time within Zhang Fengxi’s heart.

As he alighted upon the resplendent and despondent Fuxi Palace, his footsteps echoed through the grand halls. The entire palace assembly turned to gaze upon him, their eyes wide with disbelief as if they had just witnessed the return of a specter from the realm beyond.

Then, amidst the stunned silence, a figure broke free from the crowd and rushed towards him, her arms outstretched in a gesture of unbridled relief. Lady Song, her face aglow with a mixture of joy and disbelief, enveloped him in a warm embrace.

In the past few days, she had mourned the loss of her beloved son-in-law, Xie Jianyu.

Yesterday, the news of her own son’s passing had descended upon her, and her tears mingled with the sorrow that had already taken hold.

"Fengxi, huhuhu... thank heavens you are still here... Huhuhu, I knew that the others were just trying to scare me when they said that they found your bloody armors at the edge of the spring..."

Zhang Zhiyuan followed soon afterward. Eyes red with unspoken sorrow, he pulled both his wife and son into a tight embrace.

"Don’t you dare do that again," he said with a hoarse voice. "Promise me."

"I won’t," Zhang Fengxi put his arms around his two parents.

The past seven days had been a relentless onslaught of mental and physical anguish, leaving him yearning for solace and recovery. Yet, he knew he had a critical mission to accomplish, a task that demanded his attention, no matter how drained he felt.

"Father, Mother, where are my children?" he asked.