Chapter 44: Remembered

                      

While Miaomiao went to pawn her belongings, Meng Ruji thoughtfully walked over to Mu Sui's side.

The rabbit glared at Meng Ruji, feigning belligerence as he put his hands on his hips, full of wariness and hostility. Meng Ruji only glanced at the rabbit once, then said to Mu Sui, "I have something to discuss. Make him get lost first."

The rabbit took a breath, about to curse.

Mu Sui: "Get lost."

The rabbit's eyes immediately filled with tears. "City Lord big brother?"

Didn't you say her emotions weren't worth attention!?

Of course, he didn't dare ask, nor dare to linger. He could only turn away pitifully. He walked to the other side of the street, hugged his legs, and crouched in the corner—a big lump.

With people coming and going on the street, only the two of them remained by the roadside. In a trance, it was like when they first came to the Land of No Return, standing by the street, thinking about how to perform for money.

Although the current situation wasn't much different, Meng Ruji still felt somewhat emotional.

"I have to say, you were cuter before." Meng Ruji glanced at Mu Sui's cold, hard profile. "Before I exposed you, you still put on an act. Now you can't even be bothered to pretend. This face is harder than the stone slabs on the ground."

Mu Sui, with his arm hanging, didn't look at Meng Ruji. "If you have something to say, say it."

Meng Ruji pursed her lips. "Found work—escorting Miaomiao to Zhuliu City."

Mu Sui raised an eyebrow. "Why does she want to go to Zhuliu City?"

"To see the Marriage Tree with our names carved on it bloom."

This sentence from Meng Ruji left Mu Sui silent for a moment. Meng Ruji also glanced at Mu Sui irritably. "What are you guarding against with a young girl like Miaomiao? Can she swindle money from your Zhuliu City?"

Mu Sui sneered coldly, repeating meaningfully, "Young girl..."

Meng Ruji keenly sensed the implication in his words. "I'm not a young girl anymore. I'm your wife now. When I go to Zhuliu City, it's not to swindle your money. I'm just following the rules of your Land of No Return to celebrate my husband's achievements."

Mu Sui turned his head away, not wanting to look at her at all.

Meng Ruji continued, "There are five of us. Miaomiao will provide meals for four people. Your rabbit can go eat grass by itself. You'll eat one person's portion, and if you're not full, I'll figure something out for you. I won't take your Zhuliu City money for nothing either. Before we go back, I'll support you. How's that?"

When she said "I'll support you," she spoke confidently and loudly. Mu Sui sneered again. "Such capability, wife. This husband should thank you."

"You flatter me, husband. We husband and wife are of one heart—it's only proper." Meng Ruji replied expressionlessly, perfunctorily, then continued, "Also... there's one more thing I want to ask you."

Mu Sui waited for her to speak. After waiting for a long time, he finally couldn't help but look at Meng Ruji, unexpectedly seeing her gaze slightly lowered, concealing her thoughts.

"Ask."

"In the Land of No Return, do people go to rebirth for no reason at all?"

"Yes."

"Have you seen people who could predict their rebirth date?"

Mu Sui looked indifferently at the people coming and going on the street. "Yes, many."

"Why is this so? All things grow according to patterns. The Land of No Return seems like a place beyond this world, but we must have come here for a reason, and leaving should be the same. How can one go to rebirth without cause?"

"There are reasons, naturally."

Mu Sui looked at the people coming and going on the street. It was a small market where not everyone was wealthy. Their clothes, though not as tattered as Meng Ruji and Mu Sui's, were mostly worn and patched. Everyone's expressions were different, but ordinary.

In a trance, this place seemed like somewhere in the mortal world, where everyone wasn't half-dead but ordinary people making a living.

"We come here because we died in the mortal world yet didn't truly die—either our physical bodies still exist, or our consciousness remains, or... we still live in others' memories."

"Living in others' memories..." Meng Ruji suddenly understood. "So if consciousness dissipates, the physical body perishes, and we're no longer in others' memories, we in this Land of No Return will... disappear?"

"The cause and effect summarized by Zhuliu City is exactly this."

Meng Ruji was silent for a long time. She looked down at her palms—the lines were no different from before, and the temperature was the same as always. "When you put it that way, coming to the Land of No Return seems like heaven's mercy, giving us people a second life."

Mu Sui looked down at Meng Ruji. His gaze also fell on her palm. For some reason, Mu Sui's mind suddenly flashed to the scene in that previous illusion when Meng Ruji pressed this hand against his dantian.

The warmth of this palm—his body still remembered it.

Mu Sui forcibly turned his head away, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, he had cleared the emotions from his eyes.

But Meng Ruji was still immersed in the shock this revelation brought.

"So, regardless of whether the body still exists or consciousness remains, as long as I'm still here, it proves someone in the mortal world still remembers me."

"Didn't that Ye fellow say so? Your Five Guardians always remember you."

Hearing this, Meng Ruji's expression softened slightly. She hummed softly with some nostalgic meaning.

Mu Sui glanced at her sideways, catching sight of the smile at the corner of Meng Ruji's mouth. For some reason, the cold hardness in his eyes also melted slightly. "Moreover, as the former 'Demon Lord,' many people in the mortal world should remember you. Your life is still long—no need to worry."

"Thank you for the auspicious words. So..." Meng Ruji looked at Mu Sui. "What about you?"

Their eyes met, but Meng Ruji saw the warmth in Mu Sui's eyes retreat strand by strand.

She didn't know which of his sensitive spots this question had touched.

Seeing his emotional fluctuation, Meng Ruji not only didn't retreat but became interested. "You've been in the Land of No Return for so many years, and now it's your second time here. Someone in the mortal world still remembers you... I'm curious, what kind of people remember you?"

Mu Sui looked away toward the crowd ahead, his voice cold as iron in snow. "Everyone."

Three words seemed to hide Mu Sui's past that he'd never mentioned.

"Everyone?" Meng Ruji was puzzled. "Everyone in the mortal world remembers you?"

Stopping there, Mu Sui said no more.

But Meng Ruji found it somewhat amusing. "Qianshan Jun is probably being a bit arrogant. In the mortal world, even kings and generals aren't remembered by everyone."

Mu Sui didn't answer and began removing the "bandage" Meng Ruji had used to bind his arm.

Seeing he didn't seem to be bragging, Meng Ruji became more curious. "What exactly did you do before coming to the Land of No Return?"

"My past has nothing to do with you. Knowing too much won't benefit you."

"Is that so? But when you left the Land of No Return before, you stole my Inner Core." Meng Ruji pointed at Mu Sui's abdomen. "What were you originally going to use it for?"

Mu Sui smiled coldly and turned to stare into Meng Ruji's eyes. "To kill people."

Meng Ruji was stunned, then joked, "You're not planning to kill everyone too, are you?"

Mu Sui handed the removed "bandage" to Meng Ruji, replying incongruously, "The injury's healed. Don't need it anymore."

Meng Ruji didn't take it, so Mu Sui simply let go. The "bandage" that had once been part of Meng Ruji's clothing fell to the ground as Mu Sui walked toward the rabbit.

"Hey." Meng Ruji called after him. "I asked you about rebirth today because Miaomiao is about to be forgotten by the mortal world."

Hearing this, Mu Sui's expression remained indifferent, without any fluctuation.

Meng Ruji turned and saw Miaomiao returning from pawning her things at the other end of the street.

Seeing Meng Ruji and Mu Sui from afar, she waved at Meng Ruji, calling her over.

Meng Ruji raised her hand in response, then told Mu Sui, "Escorting someone on their final journey while they provide our meals—on the road ahead, you and your rabbit better focus on traveling and cause less trouble. Save me some worry."

"I won't delay the journey home. Instead of warning me, you should warn the sleeping one and the door-carving one."

"I can manage them." Meng Ruji said. "After all, what they want to do has already been stated openly. Only you—I can't figure out what you want to do."

"What can I do?" Mu Sui also learned from Meng Ruji, curving his mouth in a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Aren't I just taking you home, wife?"

Mu Sui dropped these words and walked off to call the rabbit from across the street.

Meng Ruji rolled her eyes at his retreating figure. "What a sarcastic person."

Such an intimate couple (not).

Previous/Next