2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

293 This Psychopathic Demon Is Psychic (45)

The Naihe bridge, or the Bridge of Helplessness.

The great classic Journey to the West had described it to be: 'The bridge is many miles long, / And only three fingers wide,' with no railings to guard those crossing from a drop of a hundred feet into the foul-smelling river of blood below.

This was the bridge that only good people can pass through, while the bad ones would be chased into the Wangchuan River by evil demons in the form of copper snakes or iron dogs. Once they fell, they would never be able to reincarnate.

The Naihe bridge was also a one-way path, that is, you will no longer have any choice but to move forward. It was because once you crossed this bridge, you will meet Meng Po, the Goddess of Forgetfulness, an old woman who was in charge of leading every person to reincarnation.

Song Jia's voice rang in the air, breaking the quiet and gloomy atmosphere.

"According to legend, Meng Po [1] was born in the Western Han dynasty. She studied Confucian books when she was a child. When she grew up, she began to recite Buddhist scriptures. While alive, she never recalled the past and didn't want the future. She only knew her surname Meng, so people called her 'Granny Meng.'"

Song Jia stood in front of the Naihe bridge, the hem of her skirt fluttering to reveal her white ankles. Her eyes were bright with excitement, overflowing with curiosity and anticipation.

To accept that she had transmigrated into a world of angels and demons was one thing. To realize that a place only mentioned in myths and legends was right in front of her...

Song Jia knew that she couldn't possibly be in the famous 'underworld,' but her heart still couldn't help but skip a beat.

"I wonder what her soup would taste like?"

Song Jia took a step forward, wanting to explore, but a warm hand grabbed her wrist and stopped any further movement.

"Jia'er..." Zhao Cheng sighed in helplessness. "Only souls about to reincarnate can cross that bridge. There are people unwilling to drink the soul beguiling soup, but you actually want to try tasting it?"

Song Jia stared at him. "Why would anyone choose not to drink the soup?"

For Song Jia, forgetting was a happy thing. Some memories were too heavy, and better to let go of; while others need to be forgotten just for the happiness of experiencing it once more.

Zhao Cheng's hand momentarily tightened on her wrist.

"Because some people...are unwilling to forget." His gaze looked into the distance. "Because in this life, there will always be someone who has loved and didn't want to let go."

Song Jia paused.

"Then, what would happen to those who didn't want to let go?"

"Meng Po would tell him that all the tears he had shed in his life would be boiled into this bowl of soup. Drinking it means...drinking his love for her. If that person believed Meng Po and drank it, their last memory would be that of the person they love. After drinking the soup, that figure in their eyes would slowly fade, and their eyes would become as clear as a newborn baby."

Zhao Cheng clenched his fist. "Of course, if a person still refuses to drink it, they would only be given a single choice. They would have to jump into the Wangchuan River and wait for a thousand years. After a thousand years, the person you had been waiting for might pass here, but they couldn't hear you and couldn't see you, so your waiting would become meaningless."

The generation of human life is endless; year after year, the moon of the river would still appear the same. Seeing the same moon, but can't see each other, one can only wish to follow the moon to shine on their beloved. [2]

"Then most people would probably drink the soup than become a ghost, right?" Song Jia pursed her lips. "Even if you found the person you are waiting for, they won't even be able to notice your existence. Isn't it ridiculous to persist for a thousand years just for that short few years that you've known them?"

"Ridiculous..." Zhao Cheng's expression turned strange before his eyes lit up, joy flickering for a moment in his eyes. "Jia'er, you've never been in love, have you?"

Song Jia became speechless.

First there was Nova, now there was this scum. This grandma had experienced having several ex-boyfriends, okay? She was a mature and experienced old driver!

Zhao Cheng laughed. There was disappointment in his heart, but what tiny bitterness there had been overshadowed by an intense feeling of relief.

She hadn't fallen in love yet...

It was good.

He already knew that she didn't love him.

"Jia'er, if you really love someone, you will feel that time is limited even if you've loved them your whole life. There are no rules, no calculations of profits or losses. It's a constant free fall, one that you'll never see the bottom of."

Calculating time and effort, thinking of games and schemes, wondering about the cost and the benefits...none of these mattered. He loved Jia'er, and he hoped that she would also love him, but he had never been angry at her lack of response.

In fact, their relationship was very fragile, filled with doubts and uncertainties, secrets and hidden pain, that even a slight push can tear her away from him.

But this feeling inside his heart can no longer be stopped, and it could never be stopped.

As long as she can stay beside him, he was even willing to descend into insanity like this.

Zhao Cheng searched her face, his gaze like a caress. He took her face between his hands, his thumbs stroking her cheekbones before his lips dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Jia'er, if it was confined and limited to logic and reason, without a touch of madness, can those feelings ever be called love at all?"

That's why, over a thousand years of waiting by the Wangchuan River in exchange for a brief moment of seeing her...it might be called ridiculous in the eyes of rational people, but for him, it was only natural and to be expected.

[1] Mèng Pó 孟婆. Meng is her surname, while 'Po' means 'lady.' And yes, that legend about her is true. Another story for her origins is that she was the grief-stricken soul of Lady Meng Jiang (孟姜女 Mèng Jiāng Nǚ), a wife who saw her husband off as a conscript to the Great Wall and later arrived there to discover that he had died, her emotions causing part of the wall to collapse, revealing the bones of her unfortunate spouse. Still in the Han Dynasty though.

[2] From the poem Spring Blossoms on the Moonlit River by Zhang Ruo Xu, which is considered by many to be the most beautiful poem. This poem also inspired a famous classical song, you can find it in YouTube as 'Blossoms on a Moonlit River in Spring,' this music was also used in the opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.