106 Two Men and A Bone (1/2)

The room was quiet. The soft humming of the computer monitors the only sound penetrating the silence.

Nian Zhen sat on a chair, his eyes on the monitor, which showed a blotch of blue and pink and nothing else. The outline of the time tunnel he had memorized while on his trips was encoded in a program he himself designed but it wasn't showing him anything but the shaded grey for fog, the blue for air. Nothing about a human body moving about during a search.

Nian Zhen ran a weary hand down his face. He was very tired and he was worried about An Ning more than he would admit. Was she okay? Was she lost in that vast complex which was the time tunnel? Did...did she miss him?As he misses her and longs for her and...He shouldn't have allowed her to go out there alone.He should have insisted that he go with her.He...

He got up and search for something to do to while the time away, to ease the worry in his heart. His glance suddenly fixed on the tunnel with its yawning mouth staring at him like the giant maw of a hideous monster.

He was afraid.Afraid actually of what awaited him when the tunnel finally disgorged its contents. What could have been a joyous occasion will now be uncomfortable for everyone concerned.An Ning, her parents and grandparents, and the twins, who were certain to accompany their elders in search of their mother.

He was the outsider. The unknown entity. The uninvited and unexpected. The nobody. Did the kids even know that Richard was their dad? How would he introduce himself to them? As their father or their mother's lover? Would they like him? Would An Ning even tell them his true identity?

These questions run through his mind like a list, programmed to repeat itself every five or ten minutes.Nian Zhen was on tenterhooks. He had never felt such a profound fear as he was feeling now. He will never allow An Ning to leave him ever again. He made mistakes and god knows he had suffered because of them but he'll be damned if that includes leaving An Ning just because his kids hated his guts.

That will never happen.Not again.Not as long as he has breath in his body. An Ning will stay by his side, even if it means he has to put up with his children's contempt.Even their hatred was better than An Ning leaving him.

The door opened and Gu Sheng entered.

He stopped when he saw Nian Zhen's expression.The other man was looking at the tunnel like he had just seen a ghost.His face was pale; a thin film of sweat on his brow and cheeks.His tense body shivering as if he was cold.

Gu Sheng frowned and walked towards him.

”You look very distressed, prince,” Gu Sheng said. ”Has something happened?”

Nian Zhen didn't answer, his eyes still focused on the yawning entrance to the tunnel.

”It's close to 24 hours now,” Gu Sheng continued. ”You'd better go and rest.I'll take over from here.”

Nian Zhen didn't even acknowledge his presence. Didn't even blink. Or look at him.

Gu Sheng was getting slightly annoyed with his silence so he took a seat and did what Nian Zhen was doing, wait and look at the tunnel, waiting for An Ning and those other people to walk out from the other side.

The silence lengthened.The hours went by.It was now close to midnight.A day had already passed since An Ning left and entered the tunnel.

”Did you know that An Ning and I grew up together?” Nian Zhen suddenly asked, turning to look at Gu Sheng. ”Our parents were friends.An Ning and I went to school together, the uni together, and I guess it was expected that both she and I will eventually get married.”

”She told me you are the reincarnation of her husband but about growing up with you, no,” Gu Sheng said.

”She was the scrawniest girl,” Nian Zhen laughed softly, his eyes looking far into the distance. ”She loved to climb trees, and flowers, and even then she liked eating sweets.But she was always scrawny and never put on weight.”

Gu Sheng did not answer.His eyes were not looking at Nian Zhen but at the watery entrance to the tunnel.

”It was only when I was about to die that I realized that the scrawny girl was gone and I'm looking at a very beautiful woman whom I loved with all my heart,” continued Nian Zhen. ”Can you imagine that? I fell in love with my own wife when I lay dying by her side.”Nian Zhen's laughter was bitter.”Karma was always a bitch, no?”

”Why are you telling me this?” Gu Sheng asked, looking at him with cool eyes.

”I don't know,”Nian Zhen shrugged.”Maybe because I think you understand since you feel the same way about her.”

”I don't love An Ning like that. She loved my father.I know you think she doesn't remember her life as my father's wife but she does.She doesn't consider it as living the life of another woman even with the soul change.She remembered my father.She loved him. She stayed with me all this time because my father asked her.”

”But it wasn't her, was she? That An Ning was not her.”

”Where are you going with this, prince? Why this jealousy of a man who can't hurt your relationship with my stepmother anymore?”

Nian Zhen didn't answer, just resumed watching the tunnel with brooding eyes.

The two of them sat far apart.The physical divide was deliberate, as if they refused to acknowledge that each of them was claiming a right to An Ning, a right she may not necessarily feel they deserve. But each of them wanted to fight for that right, for whatever reason, they wanted to own a piece of An Ning neither of them will ever have.

”Did she tell you if she was ever coming back to Yuqui?” Gu Sheng asked after a while, a frown on his handsome face.

”Why would I tell you if she did?”

”She didn't then,” Gu Sheng nodded, satisfied.”So, you're not as sure of her as you might think.”

”Listen here, you punk...”

”No, you listen.I am staying because An Ning is here.If she leaves then I will leave. With her. There's nothing you can do or say that will succeed in driving me away.I don't even care about Yuqui.It can rot to hell for all I care but I'm not leaving without An Ning.End of discussion,” Gu Sheng's voice was harsh.The expression of resentment and anger on his young face very disconcerting.

It seemed to shock Nian Zhen because he looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time.Gu Sheng was tall yet gangly.Maturity had yet to catch up with him but even at fifteen he was already showing signs of the kind of monarch he will grow into in the future: decisive, intelligent, benevolent. He was not overly ambitious.The ruthless and domineering type who would wish to incinerate the world so he could have power and have his name etched in some kind of glorious history. Gu Sheng was the man Gu Fang was becoming to be after he fell in love and married Li An Ning. And his son was as fearless and brave meeting an enemy as Gu Sheng was now with Nian Zhen.

”What would it take for you to leave Chengdi?” Nian Zhen asked pointblank.

”Even if you give me Chengdi, the answer is no,” Gu Sheng said calmly.