Returning from the Immortal World

In the living room, Su Lingyun and Gu Xiaoxue had stopped chatting. Both of them had quite a remarkable cultivation level, so they could clearly hear the conversation in the corridor outside. Gu Xiaoxue herself was even able to distinguish the two familiar voices belonging to Kuwako and Viviani.

Creak…

The door was gently knocked twice before it was pushed open from the outside. As Kuwako and Viviani appeared at the door, Su Lingyun got up with a bright smile on her gorgeous face. The two females then came to her and she smilingly said, “I overheard you. You both are good girls, and none of you is worse than the rest of them. I myself am very happy for Xiu’er since he got the love from you both.”

“Auntie…”

Kuwako opened her mouth but was unable to say anything due to shyness.

While holding their hands, Su Lingyun smilingly said, “You don’t need to say more. I already know what you have been harboring in mind. Later on, you both should also call me Mother just like the rest.”

“This…”

Kuwako and Viviani looked at each other and eventually called Mother intimately.

With a beaming, happy face, Su Lingyun said, “You both are also my daughters-in-law since you called me Mother. I won’t discriminate any of you based on your nationality or race. From now on, you both are the mothers of the Great Tang Empire as well.”

Having said that, she loosened her grip on their hands, took the register and then wrote their names.

After a while, the two females left with happy faces.

Su Lingyun watched their backs as they left and closed the door. Afterward, she turned to Gu Xiaoxue and smilingly said, “Xiaoxue, Xiu’er is really blessed in this life as he can get the love from outstanding girls like you. Relax. Mom will definitely teach him well if he bullies you in the future.”

Finding herself a formidable backer all of a sudden, Gu Xiaoxue chuckled and grinningly said, “I’ll also treat Tang Xiu well, Mother.”

The moment after, Su Lingyun and Gu Xiaoxue stayed in the living room for three hours more before they left since no one else came.

In a forested hill under the moonlight.

Kang Xia was sitting and leaning on a tree with her arms hugging her legs. A faint smile painted her face while Tang Xiu sat cross-legged next to her on a big bluestone wearing a complex expression.

“Why the long face?” asked Kang Xia as she took back her vision from the palace and turned to Tang Xiu.

“You think I should be happy with how things are happening?” Tang Xiu forced a wry smile and said, “I owe so many sentiments and love. I dunno how I should repay these debts in the future. And Mom makes it worse, making me more depressed with her mischievous stunts. Why would she open such registration, and what makes it different from those Emperors of ancient times?”

“You tell me.” Kang Xia grinningly teased. “The founding of the Great Empire itself and with you as the Sovereign, which one is any different from those Emperors in ancient times?”

Tang Xiu rolled his eyes in response and snappily said, “Of course it’s different. Big time, actually. Those ancient feudalists regarded women as a second-class group, while some men with unremarkable capital can still have a larger number of wives and concubines, following their emperors, who housed their wives and concubines in three palaces and six chambers. What age we’re living now and why should we retain such an idea? Marrying so many women will definitely make me die twisted and exhausted, no?”

“Pfft… hehehe.”

Kang Xia mockingly grinned and laughed at it in response. “You know, you really got it cheap and convenient for you, right?”

“Be that as it may, I still really don’t want to have such convenience,” Tang Xiu reluctantly said.

Kang Xiu’s smile receded and she seriously said, “Don’t tell me you don’t get why Mother is solving your love life problems? She understands how big the endeavor you’re going to shoulder is, so she’s making a quick cut to clear up the mess with your love life. She is willing to help you give a status to the women who like and care about you into your harem. She even went so far as to help you directly exclude some other women who don’t deserve it.”

As a smart man, it wasn’t like Tang Xiu was unable to understand the situation. It was also the reason he gave his consent to his mother to solve this matter and just took a wait-and-see stance.

And yet, how come Andy, Tang An, Gong Wan’er, Viviani, and Kuwako were also included? Even Gu Xiaoxue must also be included on the list. Isn’t that the same as pulling out some mischievous stunts?

Suddenly, he turned to look at Kang Xia and asked, “Don’t tell me you’re not disturbed by this all?”

“I’ll be lying if I say I don’t feel anything.” Kang Xia shook her head and went on, “Everyone has some degree of selfishness, especially when it comes to partners. But I’m perfectly aware of how brilliant and dazzling you are. You’re too brilliant, it’s impossible to have you for my own. But no matter how unwilling, bitter, and painful it is for me, I can only suppress such feelings and hold back. I don’t want to lose you. I can only hope there’s a place for me in your heart—what I’m sure they have in mind as well.”

Tang Xiu gently raised his hand as a wisp of energy wrapped Kang Xia, who didn’t resist, and pulled her into his arms. He raised her arms and stroked her soft beautiful hair gently and said with an apologetic, guilty face, “I’m sorry for everything.”

“You don’t need to be sorry to me or anyone else.” Kang Xia shook her head and said, “It’s a choice all of us made and has nothing to do with you. However, I admit that aside from being your woman, I also want to become a medicine for you.”

“What do you mean?” Tang Xiu’s hand stopped and a bewildered look appeared on his handsome face.

Leaning gently on Tang Xiu’s chest, Kang Xia softly said, “I’ve long been aware that you’ve been wounded deep inside, so I want to turn myself into a medicine that can heal your broken heart. If… I mean… if you still can’t let it go, you can still go look for her. I know how deep she has been engraved in your heart that even a dozen of us added up won’t be enough to compare to her position in your heart.”

Tang Xiu’s complexion turned frosty and he shook his head. “Kang Xia, I’ve already cleared up my mind on this matter. The love I had for her was gone the moment she ambushed me, and what’s left is regret… and hatred. I’ve already cut a line between me and her from the moment I told her that I’ll walk on my own as does she on her own path. We’ll never go back and never have any intersection anymore.”

Kang Xia looked up, and her bright eyes stared at Tang Xiu fixedly and emphasized each and every word as she spoke, “Then from where that hate comes from if you don’t love her anymore? You have too soft of a heart, especially when you face your former love. You just simply can’t let it go. You wouldn’t have been thinking about revenge, forming a force, and returning to the Immortal World otherwise. Besides, do you know what I like most about you?”

“What?” Tang Xiu deeply frowned but didn’t argue.

“It’s your kindness, though it’s most likely due to your tender and soft heart,” Kang Xia said. “You would have stabbed her heart with your sword already the moment you figured out all the reasons. You would’ve definitely scattered her soul and made her forever vanish from your heart.”

Is this… what it really turns out to be?

Tang Xiu spaced out and looked blank. A complicated look appeared in his eyes and grew more intense the longer this thought filled his mind. It was something he was reluctant to admit, yet he was perfectly aware of how true it was as this was truly the genuine portrayal harbored in his heart. There was… indeed a part of his heart that could… never let her go…

The affection that had lasted for millenniums and all the good things that had happened between them was something that seemed to have been branded deep inside his heart. All those memories had become the lasting marks in his heart which he could never able to erase no matter how hard he tried.

“I’m going back to China after some time,” Tang Xiu suddenly said.

“Do you want me to accompany you?” asked Kang Xia.

“No.” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “I’m not just taking a break during my return to the mainland this time, but I also need to see the progress of the base being built by the Chinese authority. If anything, I may not be able to do much, but at least before I leave, I hope I can see that humanity on Earth has the ability to protect themselves when facing enemies in the future, no matter how minuscule it is.”

“I’m also updated with this base in China,” Kang Xia replied. “Duanmu Lin is presiding over the site and the progress is great since authorities have been mobilizing all the state apparatus for the operation and continuously transporting a large number of materials there. Our Magnificent Tang Corporation just provided 10 billion US dollars last year to aid the country. If my guess is correct, the first starship should be built soon.”

“What about confidentiality?” Tang Xiu asked.

“The secrecy measures have been perfected and each group from the army has assigned an elite force to establish Shadow Guards to be stationed in nearly every corner of the country.” Kang Xia went on, “Other than that, our intel department has been secretly monitoring the situation and providing assistance in the dark. No country has noticed this base in China, though the rivalries between China and various countries all over the world have been growing more intense for the last three years. Especially after the Aeroglider was sold on the market, various countries began eyeing the high-tech technology of the Magnificent Tang Corporation.”

“I’ve long expected such a situation, though,” Tang Xiu said.

“Well, even though the struggles between China and other countries in the world have been intensifying, the cultivation forces in other countries became very wary of Chinese practitioners, especially after our Tang Sect destroyed the Celestial Wizard Clan and made them rather afraid. Hence, it caused the intel operatives infiltrated in China to stay very low-key and reduced in strength.”

“As the adage says, it’s difficult for a mountain to accommodate two tigers or more,” Tang Xiu said. “Earth is so small yet it has 200 countries, give or take. The number of countries is just ridiculous and against the natural law of survival for higher civilizations, to begin with. What I can do is make China formidable and become the most powerful country in the world and able to control the fate of mankind on Earth in the future. If in the future those who hold the power in China are far-sighted, broad-minded, and are able to disregard the division in nationality and races, mankind could finally form a new system of power that can unite the entire humanity on Earth and completely integrate to form a new and solid higher civilization system.”

Kang Xia hesitated and asked, “Are we… really not coming back here in the future?”

“We will be able to come back, though it won’t be doable so soon,” Tang Xiu said. “Maybe it will take us centuries, several millenniums, or tens of thousands of years. No one knows what the future holds.”