98 Like Yesterday Once More (1/2)

From the high point of the King's Tower, one can see the ocean, the river, and the town that spreads out on a rich valley at the foot of the mountains. The palace stood on the foot of a small hill, overlooking all this splendor like an upright gun all cocked and barreled. The moat below streams down a small river.The water was murky and the smell of green moss was quite overpowering.

A voice called out her name from below but An Ning ignored it, her eyes focused on the blue water that shimmered under the sun. It was the bluest water she had ever seen. Even the waters in Yuqui weren't this clear and blue. She wondered if one would be able to see the sand underneath if one were to swim above it. Not only the sand perhaps but a lost city, even a lost underwater treasure overlooked by time and memory.

”I've been looking all over for you,” Nian Zhen's voice was a little breathless from climbing the stairs. He walked to where An Ning was standing and enclosed her warm body in his arms. ”I woke up and you weren't there beside me.”

”I was curious,” An Ning explained. ”I saw the tower from my room and I wanted to climb it and see the view.”

”Gu Sheng is not here,” Nian Zhen said, nuzzling her neck. ”He's in another house close to the palace.”

”Is he alright?”

”You know I wouldn't hurt him,” there was a hurt tone in his voice which An Ning ignored.

”I want to see him.”

”Later,” he said, nibbling on her collarbone.”Much, much later.”

An Ning brushed his hands away and took a step back.

”Now, Richard,” she said, her eyes cold.

Nian Zhen suddenly trapped her body against the wall and leaned down to kiss her lips. He didn't let her off until she was breathless and squirming in his arms.

”I'd like nothing better than to take you here standing up,” he whispered against her neck, rubbing his aroused body against hers. ”Fuck you until you screamed for mercy but I want you thinking of me and not another man while I'm doing it to you.”

He kissed the confusion in her eyes and finally let her go. But even then his arms reached out to clasp her hand in his, their fingers tightly entwined as they went down the stairs and out into the courtyard.

They walked for some time before Richard turned into a house that lay hidden behind a giant willow tree. The tree was standing on the edge of a large pool of water, the green abundant leaves touching the clear surface as if it was quenching its thirst.

Behind the willow tree was a small house with a porch. And on that porch was Gu Sheng, reeling in a fish from a net with a serious expression on his face.

An Ning walked around the tree until she reached the stairs. Gu Sheng looked up, hearing the footsteps and seemed to freeze when he saw her. He dropped the net and in one effortless bound reached her side then his arms opened as he tightly embraced her.

An Ning closed her eyes, her lips trembling with emotion as she held him back. She had missed him. But he was here now and they were together again.

Gu Sheng finally let her go and looked deeply into her eyes. His eyes were swimming with unshed tears, looking like an abandoned little boy who had just lost his mother. It was the first time she remembered him not hiding his emotions from her. Most of the time, he was always embarrassed to let her see him upset or worried. As if he was trying so hard to grow up so she would stop worrying about him.

An Ning caressed his cheek with her knuckle then said, smiling, ”I never thought you'd fall for their tricks. Did they bribe you with candy so you'd walk to the portal?”

”I'm not as dim as that,” he said, turning his nose up at her. ”It was Kang Jun.”

”Kang Jun?” she asked, surprised.

”He said he wanted to talk to me about something and the next thing I knew he pushed me and I fell and when I woke up I was already here,” Gu Sheng said, still feeling resentment at being tricked by somebody he thought was harmless.

”Kang Jun,” An Ning said with a frown.

”He said that Nian Zhen promised to cure his mother.There's a doctor here that knows a lot about depression and mental illness. He came over just after I did.”

”Are you okay?”

”I'm fine. Just very bored.”

”He said he's fine. So, don't worry about him anymore,” Nian Zhen's voice was cold as he grabbed An Ning's hand and pulled her to his side. ”You've seen how he is. He can leave anytime he wants now that you're here.”

An Ning looked at him.

”Then I'm leaving with him,” she said, her voice hard. ”Wherever Gu Sheng goes I go and vice versa.”

”Like a married couple,” Nian Zhen mocked, his eyes simmering with anger as he squeezed An Ning's hand painfully in his. ”Like the Ranger and Toto, huh?”

”I don't care what you think. Doesn't concern me. But if Gu Sheng goes, I go. That's it. No arguments.”

Nian Zhen exhaled sharply.

”Then he's not going,” he said crisply, eyes stormy. ”He's staying here until his brain rots and he learns to live without you.”

An Ning didn't answer just looked at him, her smile mocking.

”You're my wife, An Ning,” Nian Zhen said as if he couldn't help himself. ”Your days as a free woman are over. You're staying here with me and not with that boy.”

”Do you have something to eat? I haven't had breakfast yet and I'm hungry,” An Ning said, turning to Gu Sheng, totally ignoring Nian Zhen's comments as garbage talk.

”We have the fish and I have some eggs inside. We could start with that.”

”That's good enough for me. Come on, show me around,” she said, following behind Gu Sheng who picked up the net before going inside.

Nian Zhen cursed mightily behind them before giving up and following them resentfully inside.

The house was small but very airy. It was designed around the pond and the willow tree so the windows were large and open, the ceiling high, and the furniture simple yet elegant.

An Ning and Gu Sheng worked companionably in the kitchen. Gu Sheng cleaned the fish while An Ning started cooking rice and the eggs. She also chopped some vegetables and sauteed them in fat. When the fish was done and the tea was boiled, Nian Zhen took out the bowls and chopsticks and the three of them sat down to eat in silence.

An Ning rolled her eyes when Nian Zhen insisted on serving her like a maid. He chose the tenderest part of the fish and put it on her bowl; the boiled eggs he cracked and peeled then chopped before laying it on top of her bowl of vegetable.

Gu Sheng stared at them, his eyes troubled.

”You are the Richard that used to be An Ning's husband,” he said after a while. ”But you are in this body now just like An Ning. And you are both away from your world. This An Ning was married to my father. I do not remember her marrying you though.”

Nian Zhen looked at him, surprised.

”He knows?” he asked An Ning.

”Obviously,” she shrugged.

Nian Zhen curled his lips as he met Gu Sheng's eyes.

”She may have been married to your father but she was mine first.And we have kids together!”