Chapter 558: Chapter 558 : (Extras) The Mausoleum (4)
The maids and servants of Fuxi Palace were very conscientious. Aware of their master’s misgivings over the past incident, they watched over the two little masters like a group of hawks to make sure that they never again set foot in the direction of the mausoleum.
Whenever the twins tried to sneak into the mausoleum, they were carried away by force and could only bawl their eyes out in frustration.
Although the twins were similar to each other in face and build, they exhibited differences in behavior and interests as they grew up.
Xie Junjie, typical of dragons, radiated a sense of calm and serenity, while Zhang Mingrui liked to jump and run around like the tiger he was.
Looking at Xie Junjie was almost like looking at a young Xie Jianyu. As days passed, he resembled his mother even more and more. Gentle, mature, and perceptive. While Zhang Fengxi delighted in seeing a miniature version of Xie Jianyu alive and kicking, he could barely suppress the ache that pervaded his heart.
Just how would Xie Jianyu react if he knew that he had given birth to two carbon copies of himself and his husband? Would he be delighted with Xie Junjie’s passive, subdued nature? Would he try to discipline Zhang Mingrui at every turn?
Sadly, Zhang Fengxi would never know the answer.
The thought was a heavy weight on him, depressing him and nagging at his heart.
Eventually, the mental exhaustion led to a physical breakdown, leaving the supreme general incapacitated on the bed for days. It didn’t help that it was the bed he shared with Xie Jianyu during their short-lived marriage. Head Servant Zhou had very tactfully suggested to redo the entire chamber just to make Zhang Fengxi feel more at ease, but Zhang Fengxi didn’t want to hear it.
This bed chamber was filled with happy memories between him and his wife. This was the place where he took Xie Jianyu as his mate. This was the place where they conceived their sons.
Even if Xie Jianyu was not coming back, Zhang Fengxi didn’t care.
As long as he remembered, as long as he continued longing for his wife, his wife would live forever in his heart.
And that was good enough.
Drip.
Drip, drip.
Slowly, Zhang Fengxi took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
A little boy was sitting by his bedside, looking straight at him with a pair of big almond-shaped eyes.
Zhang Fengxi blinked at one of the twins.
Mingrui? No... this expressive gaze could only be Junjie’s.
"Hey, Baby Junjie."
Zhang Fengxi reached out to caress his youngest son’s cheek.
"What are you doing here, all alone?"
"Mingrui has a stomachache from eating too many sweets," Xie Junjie said. "Daddy, have you been eating a lot of sweets as well?"
Zhang Fengxi chuckled.
"No, of course not."
"But you are sick, aren’t you, Daddy?"
"Only a little bit, but it’s not caused by sweets."
"Oh."
Xie Junjie lowered his gaze and pressed his lips together, a gesture that reminded Zhang Fengxi so much of Xie Jianyu. It was exactly how Xie Jianyu behaved when he was repressing a thought.
Zhang Fengxi reached out and pulled Xie Junjie into his arms.
"What is it, Baby Junjie?" he asked before pressing kisses on top of the boy’s head. "What are you not telling me?"
"I can’t say, Daddy, you are just going to get angry," Xie Junjie finally said.
Zhang Fengxi let out a silent sigh. He was rarely around his children, so how did Xie Junjie develop such a poor impression of his father?
"I won’t," he said. "You can speak your mind in front of your father, remember that."
Xie Junjie hesitated, but he eventually obliged.
"Daddy, I want to see Mommy."
The words were spoken openly and sincerely, but they still stabbed at Zhang Fengxi’s heart. Inadvertently, he recalled the conversation he had with Xie Jianshen in the mausoleum. He couldn’t keep the children away from Xie Jianyu forever, he knew that.
One day, he would have to relent and allow the children to spend some time with their mother, even if their mother was unable to respond properly.
"Alright, Baby Junjie," Zhang Fengxi thus said. "Let me take you to see Mommy."
Zhang Fengxi lifted Xie Junjie to his arms and marched toward the mausoleum, but then the little boy tugged at his lapel and said, "Not this way, Daddy. That way."
The little dragon boy pointed toward the Fuxi Palace gate.
Zhang Fengxi frowned in confusion.
"But Junjie, your mother is in the mausoleum..."
Xie Junjie shook his head and stubbornly said, "Mommy is coming soon, Daddy. If we do not hurry, we are going to miss him!"
"..."
Zhang Fengxi did not know what Xie Junjie was talking about, but something told him that Xie Junjie knew something he didn’t, so he decided to follow Xie Junjie’s direction.
Xiao Huang carried them toward the Human Realm, but rather than descending, they hovered motionless above a sea of clouds, biding their time.
"Aren’t we going somewhere?" Zhang Fengxi asked again and again, but Xie Junjie shook his head.
"No, we just... We just need to stay here," he answered.
And so, they waited and waited.
Suddenly, Xie Junjie gave another instruction.
"Daddy, hold your palm upward," he said.
Zhang Fengxi did as he was told. Before long, raindrops began to fall. One by one, they fall on top of the father and son. Zhang Fengxi moved to shield Xie Junjie under his cloak, but Xie Junjie grabbed his wrist and cried out, "Don’t move, Daddy. Mommy is coming soon!"
"..."
Xie Junjie intently watched as raindrops fell onto Zhang Fengxi’s outstretched palm, one after another. Then, once a particular bead of rain landed, he quickly closed his father’s fingers to protect it.
"It’s Mommy," he said as tears began to gather in his big eyes. "Mommy just came, but now Mommy is gone again."
Pain, like a sudden bolt of lightning, shot through Zhang Fengxi’s chest as Xie Junjie’s words reverberated in his head again and again, almost like a broken record. This kind of thing defied logic, the alpha tiger knew that much. And Xie Junjie was just a little boy. He didn’t even know what the samsara cycle meant, so how could he pinpoint Xie Jianyu’s location accurately? Besides, it was just a drop of rain, that’s all. A drop of rain could neither talk nor feel.
Zhang Fengxi opened his hand slightly to gaze upon the wet spot against his palm. It was almost gone, evaporated by his body heat.
Just like that, Xie Jianyu had come and gone again, refusing to stay even for a second.
But was it really Xie Jianyu? A single drop of rain?
Only heaven knew.
As for Zhang Fengxi, he had to choose whether to believe or not to believe.
"Daddy...?"
Zhang Fengxi blinked, and his tears traced moist paths down his cheeks. Xie Junjie extended his tiny arms and wiped his father’s tears one by one.
"Daddy, don’t cry."
The little boy’s eyes quickly reddened as he fought to contain his own tears.
Zhang Fengxi tried his best to suppress his grief, but the tears wouldn’t stop coming. One by one, they fell, a silent tribute to the lost raindrop.
In the end, he chose to believe.
-------------------------
Author’s note :
Ooooookay.
*gives each reader a basin of water to either drink or wash their face with*
Enough with the somber episode. Let us continue with the last arc >_<
This author has been working hard writing this and that every day to the point of almost losing her mind.
Again for those who like Eastern cultivation story, please do not forget to check out my latest story : Transcending the Seed of Evil <3
