Mu Feng and his men understood the consequences, so they respected Di Fuyi"s decision. Meanwhile, all of the invaders had fled, leaving the Starry Crescent Land in its post-war state. All the citizens took up a role in order to rebuild their homes from scratch.
Gu Xijiu and Di Fuyi then returned to the former residence of the Lord- the Biwu Palace. The four messengers joined them, along with the mussel and Lu Wu. As for Kun Xueyi and his companions, they were all a.s.signed with different tasks and were sent away.
Gu Xijiu wanted to take Di Hao along, but the child was suddenly interested in Yun Yanli and was determined to follow the man.
Di Fuyi knew that everything that the boy chose to do came with a purpose. He asked no further questions and let the boy go. Yun Yanli could not keep the boy away, so he was forced to take him along.
…
Everything in the Biwu Palace was well maintained. It was as if Di Fuyi had never left. The patterns that he painted on the foldable screens and the woodcarvings that he personally created all re-emerged after their long absence. Every little detail was restored.
Gu Xijiu naturally swept her fingers across the surface of the folding screen to feel its texture. It was her favorite landscape painting. She sighed at the sight of the reemergence of the painting and said, "Fuyi, when you were immortalized, even the painting went away with you. When I first escaped the forbidden land, I was the only one who remembered about you, so I needed proof to tell others about your existence, but there was nothing I could find." The tone of her voice was rather mellow as the ghosts of her past had come back to haunt her once more.
Di Fuyi knew how much pain she must have been through all those years, so he took her hand and comforted her, "It is all in the past now. I am here now, and I will never leave again."
He took her to the garden for a walk, away from the unpleasant past. They strolled past an artificial hillock, and she stopped walking all of a sudden. Gu Xijiu"s face turned pale at the sight of the fake mound.
"What is the matter?" Di Fuyi did not quite understand.
"That is where you were immortalized. I saw the messengers soaked in tears over there," Gu Xijiu murmured.
Di Fuyi was quite surprised. He, too, remembered the place, so he knew that she was right. However, he did not understand how she knew about it. Shouldn"t she have been in the forbidden land when the immortalization took place?
"I had a dream when I was still in the forbidden land that you were immortalized. I was frightened to death and could not even run straight. I kept telling myself that it was only a dream and that you would still be there, waiting for my return. I thought you were still waiting for me to bring you the herbs and save your life," Gu Xijiu wanted to chuckle, but she began to choke with tears.
Di Fuyi pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly on the lips. "Let"s not think about it. Let"s forget it all."
"How can I not think about it?" Gu Xijiu protested, "After everything that has happened, I still cannot find the courage to visit this place. I am scared that your existence is still imaginary. Perhaps, everything that happened in the Shura World was only a dream! Maybe none of it actually happened."
She put her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. "I am still terrified."
Like a child that had been burnt before and dreaded fire, she became very insecure about her losses and gains, which was different from her strong, usual self.
Di Fuyi was equally touched and sorrowed by the depths of her love that brought about the insecurities. He pinched her nose and asked, "Can"t you feel my presence right now?"
Gu Xijiu took a long sniff and immersed herself completely in his scent. She knew that she was acting way too insecure. However, her insecurities were not something she could control.
Ever since their reunion in the Starry Crescent Land, she had never left his side. She knew that she would panic in his absence. Even when she was sleeping, she had to hold onto his sleeves just to be sure that he was still around.
There was one time when she woke up without him. In a flurry, she quickly went around everywhere looking for him. If he had not returned in time, the entire place would definitely have been ransacked.
Her melancholic sentiments and insecurities perfectly summed up her current emotions. Gu Xijiu knew that it was not her usual self, but she could not help it. She knew that pregnant women would often get emotional and become anxious, so she thought that the fluctuations must be due to her pregnancy.
Di Fuyi was a knowledgeable man, but not when it came to his wife"s pregnancy issues, so he believed everything she told him. Therefore, he would take her around wherever he went just to make her feel better. He would also avoid going to places that would trigger her flashes of memory about her unhappy past.
He thought that the richness of spiritual energy in the Biwu Palace would help to calm her mind. To his dismay, things were quite the opposite. He took her to the room and lay her onto the bed and said, "Sleep. You are tired."
"You have to stay with me," she insisted while pulling his sleeve.
"All right, I will be here at all times," he rea.s.sured. He lay down by her side and hugged her. "Sleep."
"Will you leave?"
"Of course not. When you wake up, I will still be here."
With the rea.s.surance, Gu Xijiu closed her eyes and slowly dozed off.
Di Fuyi observed her and noticed that she was not sleeping very well. Soon, her face seemed to be drench in sweats. Her hands were reaching out everywhere for him, so Di Fuyi had to grab her hands in a way that she was familiar with so that she could calm down.
The situation had been ongoing for almost a month now. He started to think if it was really normal. Di Fuyi did not find her over-dependence annoying. In fact, he liked that she needed him. It was the change in her character that he found odd.
Di Fuyi regularly examined her pulse. Everything was fine. After a while, he covered her up in the blanket and went outside. "Find me a few midwives who are experienced," he gave an order to Mu Feng, who was there guarding the door.