Chapter 1259 First Conversation
w.a.n.g Wei looked at her, the woman he had spent the past few billion years and more thinking about it. The one that forced him to dream just so he could remember her touch. She was as beautiful as he remembered, maybe even more so since this one differed from the one he married.
This Wu Hong was colder and lonelier, and she did not hide her power or commanding presence. It was apparent to him that this one had a wall surrounding her regarding their relations.h.i.+p. However, a smile crept in the corner of his mouth after seeing her hair color.
"Sorry about that — it was just instinct," w.a.n.g Wei finally said before sitting down again in the water.
"I understand your situation is weird, but be mindful that I am not her," Wu Hong calmly stated.
"So, she did leave you her memory?"
"She did, but I sealed most of them," Wu Hong nodded.
"Why?"
"She"s biased, and I don"t know how she came to be."
w.a.n.g Wei nodded. When it came to the time shenanigans that his future self was involved in, his response was usually to begrudgingly go along with it, putting some level of trust in himself and his future. However, it seems that Wu Hong"s approach is to be on guard and show no trust whatsoever, which is a fair response.
The dimension suddenly became awkwardly quiet, with the sound of water the only thing echoing in the surroundings.
"Why are you suddenly so quiet? From the memories I kept, you"re a very chatty person, especially when you"re around her," Wu Hong said.
w.a.n.g Wei sighed. "You must give me some grace, as the situation is quite disheartening. I"ve lived two lives, and it seems my love life might be ill-fated."
"How so?"
"In my first life, my family constantly pressured me to start a family. They even wanted to force me into a political marriage. I died young and without anyone to call a partner.
"Then, in my second life, I finally found a woman that made my heart beat, a woman I want to spend eternity with, but what happened? Well, it turned out she"s a clone of a powerful cultivator, and not only is she a clone, but the clone of the future self of that cultivator — a clone that she has no memories or knowledge of making.
"So, the situation turns into the fact that I may lose the love of my life if I don"t play my cards correctly. If it isn"t ill-fated, I don"t know what it is."
"Stating it out loud does put everything into a strange perspective," Wu Hong nodded. She knew the situation was messed up, but it truly dawned on her until he explained it in these words.
"I want to ask you something," w.a.n.g Wei continued. "Do I have a chance?"
Wu Hong played with her hair, "I think I"ve already given you the answer to this question."
"But it"s different if I hear it directly from you."
"You should understand that most women do not communicate directly."
"But you"re not any woman, are you?" w.a.n.g Wei reb.u.t.ted.
"Fair point," Wu Hong nodded. "The answer is yes, but I want you to understand something clearly: fate has no bearing on whether we end up together. No one is ent.i.tled to me — not even Grand Dao."
"That"s understandable. I promise to leave you alone if you ask me to."
"Giving up so easily?" she smirked. w.a.n.g Wei"s heart skipped a beat. She was indeed different, but once in a while, he could detect a sliver of his Wu Hong.
"I believe that"s called respective boundaries," he replied with a more confident smile.
Wu Hong calmly raised her right leg to wash it.
"I have lived a long life, well, at least compared to you. In my long cultivation journey, things have become dull — a fog of continuous gray. But I must admit that the memories of my supposedly other self brought some shade of colors to my life."
She looked him in the eyes.
"Can you be the one to accompany me throughout this journey, or will my life continue as it were before? I"m fine with either outcome."
w.a.n.g Wei nodded as he now understood her mindset. The cultivation path is long and arduous, so people have Dao Companions to accompany them. However, someone like Wu Hong, who has already traveled so far, is alright with finding someone to accompany her from now on or continue doing what she"s been doing. However, that someone cannot be just anyone else.
"In that case, let"s start from the basics," w.a.n.g Wei said, deciding to take a regular approach to a truly complex situation.
"Hi, my name is w.a.n.g Wei. It"s nice to meet you."
Wu Hong looked at him strangely before a soft smile appeared in the corner of her mouth: "Wu Hong and the pleasure is also mine."
"Favorite color?"
"Red and white."
w.a.n.g Wei nodded. His Wu Hong"s favorite colors were black and red, but it"s normal for people"s colors to change over time, especially with cultivators" long lifespans.
"Mine is purple and gray," he added. "I"m 1.95 meters tall. You?"
"The same."
"My favorite tea is Longjue tea. Yours?"
"Snow-Trail Tea."
"This answer was also different as this tea was her third favorite," w.a.n.g Wei thought. "Favorite food?"
"That would be Dragon Heart, Phoenix Liver, with a side of Dream Rice," Wu Hong answered. "And it cannot just be any dragons. It"s the Water Dragon from the Dragon Blessing World. The Phoenix also has to be prepared with Five Elements Materials. Otherwise, its flame Dao will reduce the taste by a lot."
"A food connoisseur, heh?" w.a.n.g Wei stated. His Wu Hong was into food, but she never showed him it was to this extent. However, she always said he had never tasted genuinely delicious food.
"What made the dragon from that world so delicious?"
They are the protagonist of their world, so that blessing adds to their taste," Wu Hong explained. "Additionally, the Water Dragons in that world receive a lot of wors.h.i.+p due to their control of rivers, oceans, and rains — the incense further elevated the taste. "And as you know, water is the soft element, which makes the dragon"s meat incredibly tender," Wu Hong explained. "One time, I hunted three simultaneously and transferred all the taste into a single dish — it was truly sublime. Oh, how I wish I could taste it again."
"You can look forward to it once you return to your full strength."
Wu Hong sighed. "It"s not that simple. I"m pretty sure one of those d.a.m.n dragons acquired a transcendent method. Given how much I hunted them down back then, I must be on some kind of list in that world."
"That"s a shame, but one day, we"ll also reach that level, and we can hunt those dragons together," w.a.n.g Wei said, and Wu Hong noticed the "we" he secretly put in that sentence but did not mention it.
"What about the Phoenix Liver and Dream Rice?"
"The liver corresponds to Wood in the five elements, so after cooking, it basically turns into a vegetable dish," Wu Hong explained. "As for the Dream rice, that"s something I got from another Paragon who also loves food. He made everyone in his Grandmist Wheel dream about good food and turn that energy into nourishment to cultivate a rice field.
"I added my specialty to the Six Emotions Seven Desire Spices — and it elevates the rice to another level."
"Wouldn"t the negative emotions ruin the taste?"
"I can separate them, but even with them, it doesn"t," Wu Hong explained. "Using them gives the sensation when you"re eating something so good, but you know it"s terrible for your body."
"That sounds heavenly." w.a.n.g Wei almost drooled thinking about it.
"It is," Wu Hong nodded. "But enough about me. What"s your favorite food?"
"I was going to say braised beef, specifically, the one you made for me by infusing the essence of 12 Tier 9 Demon Bulls into it, but I feel a sense of inferiority after what you just said."
"As you should," Wu Hong said. "That is a pathetic choice."
"And who is to blame?" he stared at her. "Yourself, of course," she replied. "You could have hunted a few demon Empyreans and learned to make excellent meals with those materials. From what I remember, you had many unique ideas on the culinary arts. So, it"s your fault for not pursuing this path and relying on me, I mean, her, to dictate your standard of food."
"Is this a challenge?" w.a.n.g Wei asked.
"I"m just stating the truth. It"s not my fault if that hurts you."
"Okay, you"ve done it — you"ve successfully struck my pride," w.a.n.g Wei sneered. "I want you to remember this day. One day, I"ll make a meal way better than your favorite or most outstanding culinary achievements. I hope when that day comes, your pride won"t get in the way of admitting it is better."
"No need to worry about that," Wu Hong chuckled, her smile brightening the room. "Since that day will never come."