2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

290 This Psychopathic Demon Is Psychic (42)

Song Jia's eyes widened.

To her knowledge, there were only two people who ever called her with that form of endearment.

One was the woman who gave birth to her and made her heart turn bitter and cold.

The other person was...

The scum man who made her lose her precious six months of salary.

Song Jia felt her mind become blank. She instinctively resisted the idea that formed in her mind because of its impossibility.

Her lips opened and closed, but the name that still came out was, "Xu...Jinhai?"

The man staring at her did not speak. He didn't dare to.

He knew that his voice must be very hoarse and embarrassing this time, because of the hot and joyful emotions that were overflowing his whole body.

His movements, his gaze, his breathing, his heartbeat, his temperature...

Everything must be exposing him right now.

He couldn't hide it, and he couldn't suppress it.

His dark eyelashes drooped down, slightly trembling. His hands tightened around her wrists, feeling the warmth of her body.

Finally, finally...

He found her.

His eyes were red and his throat was sore as he fought to hold back his tears.

He buried his face in her neck as he said in a trembling voice, "Yes...it's me."

He couldn't say it.

She should not be able to remember their past life now.

Their time with each other, the letters they exchanged, the conversations they shared...

None of this would leave a trace, all washed away by the Min Hun Tang. [1]

If this was only a few years ago, he would be devastated.

But now...now, he was glad that she couldn't remember him.

"Xu Jinhai." The name felt awkward in Song Jia's mouth, like it was a lie. "Can you let me go first? I want to sit up."

His arms tightened around her for a moment, the muscles clenching with an unbearable tension. Then he slowly got up and let go of her.

Song Jia breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes glanced up at his face.

This man...he wasn't Xu Jinhai.

Song Jia remembered Nova's second part of the deal. She had been wondering what he meant, but now she finally knew.

Aside from making Xu Jinhai give up all of his power, Nova had also given her a second condition.

He had told her, "Make Xu Jinhai reveal his other self."

Song Jia didn't know what he meant. She had seen some of Xu Jinhai's memories, and he didn't seem to be hiding anything from her. It was true that he was ruthless to other people yet behaved like a little milk dog in front of her.

But he hadn't kept this a secret, so it was likely that Nova wasn't referring to that.

It was only now that Song Jia finally realized what Nova was referring to.

There was another person that dwelled inside Xu Jinhai. But even more shocking than this...was that Song Jia knew who this person was.

Song Jia felt as if her head was about to split into half.

Why was it him?

When did he become part of Xu Jinhai?

And most importantly...how could he appear here, in this place, with all of his memories intact?

All reincarnated souls forget their past lives. Although vengeful reincarnators were an exception to this, it was only because their name 'reincarnator' was a misnomer. A more appropriate term to call them would be a regressor, a person who went back in time.

But because of various things and different people misusing the term, the term 'reincarnator' became an umbrella term for all sorts of different things.

Even transmigration could often be mistaken as reincarnation. This was made evident by unprofessional transmigrators who accidentally transmigrated into another world, wrote a biography, and titled it, "I Reincarnated Into Another World as an XXX!", coming up with all sorts of dog blood titles.

If you were truly reincarnated, all memories of your past lives would be swept into oblivion, turning you into a clean slate.

So it was obvious to Song Jia that she had missed something important. If Xu Jinhai was truly Zhao Cheng's reincarnation, how did he retain his memories of his past life?

It shouldn't be possible.

Song Jia pursed her lips.

Since she had completed her second part of the deal, Nova should also uphold his. It didn't matter if she couldn't figure it out now. Nova had promised to answer any question that she would ask him.

By then, everything would become clear.

"Jia'er...Jia."

The soft and hesitant voice pulled Song Jia out of her thoughts. She looked at the man in front of her, whose gaze was fully focused on her. No matter what she did, he didn't even blink. It was as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he slightly closed his eyes.

"Can I..." Zhao Cheng swallowed nervously. He could feel the feverish dryness of his throat, the loud beating of his heart. It was as if there was an earthquake inside him, slowly spreading outwards, until even the tips of his fingers began to shake.

"Can I hug you again?"

Song Jia paused. She bit her lip, but after a brief moment of hesitation, she nodded.

"Okay."

And as soon as she was back inside his arms, everything suddenly became quiet and still. His whole body stopped trembling, as if someone had hit the 'pause' button and froze time.

There were so many things he wanted to tell her. His regrets, his mistakes, his guilt, his love, the thousands of years he had waited for her, and the mixture of pain and sorrow that never seemed to diminish even with the unrelenting passage of time.

He wanted to tell her, he finally knew. That even if he forced himself to become blind, even if he picked a woman that was the most similar to her in appearance, none of them would ever come close to her existence inside his heart.

Some would say that it was impossible to recognize another person instantly, without judging by their appearance. But after thinking about the same person everyday for thousands of years, remembering her smile and her gaze, even if she hid herself in so many different kind of forms, Zhao Cheng knew that he would be able to recognize her.

He was no longer the same foolish seventeen-year old boy that he was back then. That boy thought he understood love, he even thought that the two of them were close. But in fact, even though they were husband and wife in name, their hearts were far apart as if separated by the Chu River and Han Jie [2].

And when he lost her, he couldn't handle the aftermath, wanting to believe that there was a chance that he could return to her side again. He had not wanted the throne, he didn't want the power, he had not wanted anything, he did not even want to continue being alive...what he only wanted was for her to return back to him.

A foolish and laughable thought, since in the first place, she had never been his to lose.

[1] Meng Po's soup of forgetfulness
[2] Ch. idiom that means a broad boundary separating two people