Grief comes in like waves in the ocean, at first, it was so intense as if you are swept away beyond your control, hitting you at random moments with old memory later replacing all those normal feelings with familiar tears. But as time goes on the grief lessens bit by bit though it is never forgotten, and sometimes happy memories flood in that allow waves of smiles and warmth, funny or sweet things to be said.
In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed and life is back to normal, though not completely.
People still talk about what happened back then, they talk about the demon king who came to destroy the world to punish the humans but they were defeated by Long Ming and his wife but there are also those who accuse Long Ming's wife who actually summoned a demon but she was defeated by Long Ming or how Long Ming support his wife but got killed by the demon instead, of course, such rumors didn't last long because anyone who spread bad news or slandered Lory or Zhao Li Xin's name would face the wrath of many influential groups from various continent that will cause them to be ostracized by many cultivators who scared to provoke the anger from all those influential groups, especially Hei Shen sects.
Moreover, another unprecedented incident occurred, namely the close friendly relations between the Chang Lan, Jiang Wei, Liang Zu, and Yun Mo Kingdoms, and the tribal kingdoms of the Zhuang Dong continent which also included several large sects such as the Hei Shen, Ji Yun, Sword saint. sects and more as a result, the strife in the world of cultivators was greatly reduced which led to the recovery after the Lazarus attack progressing more quickly which obviously helped a lot of people in the world to start their lives over.
Somewhere in Liang Zhu's kingdom, Ming Yue Yin was resting in the main Imperial garden after attending a long court with officials, soon after she heard an announcement that madam Li of the Jiu Yun sect arrived. Ming Yue Yin raised her brows while Yang Xi Ying arrived with a bulging belly meanwhile her maidservant held her arms worriedly.
Ming Yue Yin seemed to give Xi Ying a disapproving look before she scolded her, "Your stomach is already that big why are you still going out, why don't you just rest at home?"
Su Fei put a pillow on the chair before the maid helped Yang Xi Ying to sit down, after she sat down Yang Xi Ying waved her hand casually, "I'm fine, besides if anything happens instead of your palace there are dozens of physicians and alchemist there also hundreds of maids so why am I need to be afraid?" Yang Xi Ying roll her eyes.
"At least tell me Li Mo Zhen is here too" Ming Yue Yin sighed resignedly she knows she could never win from her even though she is the empress of this kingdom.
"He is here, he wanted to meet Emperor Yuan about something boring, so stop worrying about me your majesty, this is my fifth pregnancy after all" Yang Xi Ying laughed.
"Don't you dare call me Your majesty!" he glared even more which reply by Yang Xi Ying playful grinned, "By the way you have to start thinking about using contraceptives, you've been pregnant so many times it's not good for your health!" Ming Yue Yin said worriedly.
"I quit when I had a daughter!" Yang Xi Ying balled her fist against the air.
Ming Yue Yin shake her head, but that doesn't mean she didn't understand Yang Xi Ying's obsession with having daughters the truth is she was actually the same but thankfully her first child was a girl and after that, she gave birth to two sons and then she decided to stop having children.
However, Yang Xi Ying continued to give birth to sons during these ten years, which made Li Mo Zhen stressed cause she keeps insisted to have a daughter, on the other hand, the entire Jiu Yun sect rejoiced to see the Li clan flourish once again which also lifted Yang Xi Ying position even more than Li Mo Zhen the master himself.
"Oh yes, I just remembered, Jin Hua has given birth and the child is a boy." Yang Xi Ying cheerfully gave the happy news.
"Ooh great, I'll send a gift later" Ming Yue Yin was also happy to hear the good news.
"Aah, it feels like not everyone is married and has children, except for the Mong brothers," complained Yang Xi Ying.
"Lory would be mad if he found out about it" Ming Yue Yin smiled slightly.
"Of course you do" Yang Xi Ying joined in the laughter.
Many things happened since the disappearance of Lory and Zhao Li Xin, not only did the four palace kings finally marry and had children, even Shin Jiu became the King of the fifth King's Palace called the purple firefly palace and Guan Yi Jue became his right-hand man. But the name of the new palace has raised many questions amongst the people as they don't understand why the powerful Hei Shen palace would use a name of something so weak and delicate like a firefly but no one cares to explain cause we all know what that purple firefly represents.
"I heard Shin Jiu also wearing a golden mask like Lord Long Ming so everyone starts to compare him with Lord Long Ming but he answers that comment with One cannot paint yellow at the rock and called it gold' Yang Xi Ying's eyes lit up in amusement.
The words mean just because he wears something like Zhao Li Xin he could never match Zhao Li Xin. Ming Yue Yin sips her tea then blow her cheeks and smiles broadly "That boy only wants to preserve the memory of Lory and Zhao Li Xin isn't he?"
Yang Xi Ying nods "Yes, people tend to easy to forgot after all"
Oh, I also heard that Tao bing Wen has become a world-famous figure ever since he took over the Holy Sword Sect, in his hands the Holy Sword Sect's strength has multiplied as well as their strength has increased far from the sect ever was therefore they have become the only sect that still has great influence to the cultivator world from the Hwang Wu continent since the other sects have declined after what happened at that time, oh, I also heard that he provided great assistance to the Chang Lan empire to built the kingdom back because of it the emperor bestowed the title of Marquis for his services, I heard he gain many praised from a lot of people they even say that he has exceeded his predecessor's expectations as the master of the sword saint sect" Ming Yue Yin did not hide her satisfaction at Tao Bing Wen's achievement, but then she clicked her tongue appear dissatisfaction "But I heard he still failed to court his future wife"
"Oh my, I also heard the rumors from brother Li!" Yang Xi Ying's face lit up as they start gossiping.
"Did you hear that too? I heard that the woman he courted was quite violent, I heard she's been fighting with the other sect members over a small matter like food, don't you think that woman is too short-tempered? what would happen to him if he marry that kinda woman, she might beat him to a pulp! that stupid brat should find another woman!" Ming Yue Yin scoffed in dissatisfaction.
"Really, I heard she has quite a foul mouth too despite her appearance looks like a gentle and demured noble lady, what a disappointment, she better find better wife material, this one is no good?!" Yang Xi Ying shook her head feeling worried for the stupid boy Tao Bing Wen.
However, all the maids secretly exchanged meaningful glances, as they were all thinking the same thing 'Why does that lady's attitude sound so similar to their mistress?'
Su Yi and Su Feng replaced the old tea after Su Yi brewed another cup of tea, he served the hot tea on the table and then took a few steps back to give his master some privacy. Ming Yue Yin lifted the teacup while looking at the white clouds moving slowly in the blue sky and her gaze turned sad and melancholy.
"Are you still dreaming about him?"
Yang Xi Ying knew who Ming Yue Yin was referring to and a small smile appeared on her face, "Every day..." she answered slowly.
"Me too..." Ming Yue Yin took a deep breath and then took a sip of tea, "They say time will make memories cloud so naturally your pain will decrease but why does my memory become clearer sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between dream and reality.. ."
"I see what you mean" Yang Xi Yin smiled gently, "You know the thing I dream of the most is the time we spend on the black ship..."
"Good time..." Ming Yue Yin said thinly.
"That's right" to which Xi Ying replied "In my dreams I always find him leaning on the deck of a ship while setting his eyes on the vast ocean then he notices me and turns to look at me and then he smiles he says 'good morning Xi Ying' and I open my eyes... she wasn't there..." Yang Xi Ying took a sharp breath before taking a sip of her tea.
Ming Yue Yin raised her head in a certain way so that her tears didn't fall because she didn't want to cry even though she was surprised she was still crying after all these years, fortunately, she still had Yuan Shao and her children, otherwise she didn't know how she would continue his life.
"Yue Yin, when do you think this grief will disappear? I wasn't even this sad when my father died, but why..." tears finally find a way to escape from her eyes.
Ming Yue Yin sighed then took out a handkerchief to wipe Yang Xi Ying's tears "I don't know, maybe the only way to escape this grief is by forgetting her at all but I don't want to, I don't want to forget a single thing about her..."
"I don't want either...I just miss Lory so bad" Yang Xi Ying sniffled while taking Ming Yue Yin's handkerchief to wipe her cheeks.
"Me too, I even miss Zhao Li Xin too" Ming Yue Yin's lips twitch.
Hearing Zhao Li Xin's name Yang Xi Ying can't hold her giggles, "Yes I also remember him a lot recently, despite all the things he has done I think he is the best man for Lory, brother Li also said maybe the ending of the battle would be different if the man with Lory is not Zhao Li Xin"
"Yes, they're truly a match made of heaven" Ming Yue Yin agree readily.
Yang Xi Ying takes another sip to calm herself down then lets out a long sigh. "In the end, the only solace we have is knowing wherever lory is she will not be alone with Lord girsha and Zhao Li Xin with her, who knows they might be in a midst of bickering right now"
"I can't be more agree with that" Ming Yue Yin raised her teacup "But I'm sure they'll both lose to Lory again"
Soon laughs broke out between Ming Yue Yin and Yang Xi Ying when they remembered how Girsha and Zhao Li Xin always lost fights with Lory even though their statements made more sense than Lory's but in the end, they complied with Lory's wishes.
And so the days passed for Ming Yue Yin and Yang Xi Ying, they would meet each other then they would tell each other about their friends then reminisce about Lory and Zhao Li Xin then they would cry for a while but then they would laugh then accept that loss was a normal part of their life.
People come and people go is a natural thing in life and how wonderful it is that one day everything will end up being a beautiful memory that will be remembered forever.
And that's how life should be.
Not long after Yuan Shao and Li Mo Zhen arrived at the garden together, they were still deep in conversation as they walked towards them.
Ming Yue Yin watched the two men with a gentle expression 'Time flies doesn't it, Lory'
Yuan Shao and Li Mo Zhen only stopped talking as they got closer to their wives and bright smiles appeared on their faces.
Ming Yue Yin teases Li Mo Zhen about Yang Xi Ying's pot belly and he can only accept with a helpless smile, and Yuan Shao joins in teasing Li Mo Zhen as well soon after laughter breaks out between them.
but suddenly a small light appeared from their chest and they exchanged shocked glances, Li Mo Zhen opened his collar then realized that it was the affinity gem necklace that Lory gave them as protection from the dark power, but the necklace never reacted since Lory gone away but they still wear it in memory of Lory and Zhao Li Xin.
"The...the necklace, how could this be...." Yang Xi Ying stuttered.
"Lory?" Ming Yue Yin eyes agape.
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