Her head was splitting.
"Ugh!"
With a soft groan, Sang Luo’s eyes flew open. She gasped for breath, her gaze lost on the ceiling above. A tallic, sweet taste filled her throat. "Cough, cough..."
Traveling back through ti so many tis had taken a heavy toll on her body.
"Luo’er!"
Fei Yuan, who had been in his study reviewing morials, heard the stirring from the inner bedchamber. He shot to his feet, strode over, and swept aside the curtain. He pulled her into his arms, inhaling her scent deeply, soothing the anxiety that had plagued him for so long.
"I’m not dreaming, am I?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
But it was Sang Luo who felt more as if she were in a dream.
She stared blankly at the decor of the Phoenix Palace. Wrapping her arms around Fei Yuan’s waist, she buried her face in his chest. "...I’m not dreaming, am I?"
Fei Yuan felt a dampness spreading on his chest. He quickly let go and lifted her face, finding it streaked with tears. Her almond-shaped eyes were red, a heart-wrenching sight.
He was at a loss, frantically using his wide sleeve to wipe her tears away. "Who bullied my precious Luo’er?" he coaxed softly. "Why are you crying? Your face is all smudged, like a little kitten’s..."
"Alright, don’t cry. If you keep crying, my heart will break."
But Sang Luo’s tears wouldn’t stop.
Fei Yuan was truly at his wit’s end, so he summoned their two Little Phoenixes.
The two Little Phoenixes had grown quite a bit. The two little balls of fluff were beginning to show the majesty of a true Phoenix. Their forms were long and elegant, their red plumage growing ever more vibrant and dazzling. If not for the fact that they deliberately suppressed their Divine Power, each of those seemingly soft feathers could have easily sliced through flesh and bone.
"Mommy, don’t cry! Let Big Brother show you how he can jump through a fiery hoop!"
Little Lucky Star spat out ten fiery hoops in a single breath, each one smaller than the last. She then turned and gave her brother a look. Little Fatty Ball squeezed his eyes shut and, like a circus-trained Little Phoenix, zipped neatly through the hoops one by one without even singeing the tips of his wings.
"Mommy, how was that? I’m amazing, right?" Little Fatty Ball puffed out his chest with pride.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first ti the siblings had played this ga.
Sang Luo finally smiled through her tears. "Yes! That was amazing!"
From an angle the two little ones couldn’t see, Fei Yuan leaned in and kissed the corner of her eye, licking away the last of the moisture. "If Little Luoruo keeps crying, not even the children will be able to help. Then I’ll have to do... *other things* to cheer you up."
’...’ ’It’s been so long, and he’s still the sa!’
Sang Luo pushed him away in mock disgust. "You’re a father now. Act a little more dignified!"
Fei Yuan put on a wounded expression. "Just a mont ago, you were holding and crying so beautifully. With such a look of deep affection in your eyes, I thought Little Luoruo had missed so much it had made her sick at heart. It seems I was just flattering myself."
"I thought... I’d never see you again." Once her emotions had settled, Sang Luo hugged Fei Yuan again and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I’m so glad you’re still here."
Fei Yuan wrapped his arms around her waist and gently patted her back. "I’ll always be here."
’...’ ’Liar!’
’The last ti I went back, he was gone.’
Sang Luo rembered sothing and quickly looked down at her stomach. Her nose tingled again... These were tears of joy. The little fox cub was still there!
"What about the other children?"
Fei Yuan replied, "The children are all doing well. It’s just a bit of bad timing that you woke up now. They’re all staying with their respective Beast Fathers. You can summon them to the Phoenix Palace if you want."
"There’s no need. I’ll go see the children. Let them stay with their fathers for now." Then Sang Luo asked, "What about Cangcang? Is he alright?"
She held her breath, a knot of anxiety in her chest.
Fei Yuan smiled. "He’s doing just fine, too. The three Wolf Pups have grown quite a bit. You should go back and see them when you have ti. Spend so more ti with them."
"I will!"
At that mont, Sang Luo finally felt a wave of relief wash over her. ’This is wonderful. Everything is back on its proper course, just as I rember it.’
"How long was I gone this ti?"
Fei Yuan paused, then replied, "Over five hundred years."
’She recalled how spending one day a hundred thousand years in the past had equaled ten years in the present. This ti, over five hundred years had passed, which ant she had been gone for nearly two months. Doing the math, that perfectly matched the ti between when I made my third trip to the past and when I left it. It seems the ti from my second trip has been erased... or perhaps, absorbed by another tiline.’
"I’m sorry for making you all wait so long," Sang Luo promised. "This ti, I’m not leaving again."
Fei Yuan pinched her cheek. "Really?"
"Yes. I owe all of you so many years. I need to make it up to you properly."
He chuckled. "In that case, Little Luoruo will have to make it up to ** very well. I’ve been dying of loneliness all these years, so pent-up I thought I’d go insane. If you hadn’t co back..."
"Hmm? If I hadn’t co back, then what?" Sang Luo narrowed her eyes, giving him a dangerous look. "Were you planning to find soone else?"
’Hmph! If this restless, horny bird dared to go around fooling with other females, there wouldn’t be enough washboards in the world for him to kneel on!’
A shiver went down Fei Yuan’s spine. "I would never dare!"
"That’s more like it."
Fei Yuan glanced at their children. Little Lucky Star and Little Fatty Ball, receiving their Imperial Father’s silent "this doesn’t concern you" ssage, were perceptive enough to take the hint. They flapped their wings and scurried away. The two of them had been in the middle of an obstacle course race to see who could reach the finish line first, so they had been rather confused when their father suddenly summoned them. Still, they were overjoyed that their mother was finally awake.
Fei Yuan pulled Sang Luo back into his arms and nuzzled his nose against hers, a faint smile gracing his handso, bewitching face. "Mmm, has my Little Luoruo thought of how she’s going to make it up to yet? Tonight, let’s play a little..."
Fearing he was about to say sothing X-rated, Sang Luo quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.
The man’s gorgeous, soul-stealing phoenix eyes crinkled with even more mirth.
Sang Luo’s cheeks puffed out in exasperation. It was a much more animated look than her tearful sadness from before.
"Oh, right. I got the Refining Materials. I need to make a trip back to the Sea Palace in a bit." Sang Luo retrieved the materials from her Space-Ti Domain. Not a single piece was missing.
"Can’t you go tomorrow? Stay with tonight." Fei Yuan truly missed her. He was incredibly clingy, but he very rarely pleaded with her to stay.
’She’d been delayed for so long already; one more night wouldn’t make a difference.’ Sang Luo agreed. "How is Little Treasure?"
"Still in a deep sleep. He hasn’t woken up at all. It’s driven Quan Jin to his wit’s end. He probably hasn’t had a single peaceful night’s sleep in all these centuries."
"...That must have been so hard on him."
’In any case, she had found all the Artifact Refining Materials. As long as Lou Xianyue finished repairing the Creation Furnace, they could remove the Exquisite Heart from Little Treasure’s body, allowing him to wake up and recover.’
Sang Luo knew she should be happy, but a thread of lancholy continued to linger in her heart.
Having been with her for so long, how could Fei Yuan not notice? His gaze deepened. "Little Luoruo, if sothing is troubling you, you can tell ."
"...This ti, when I went back... I saw Yan."
Fei Yuan was taken aback.
"On this trip, I got what I wanted and found the answers I was looking for. There shouldn’t be any regrets left." Sang Luo clutched at her chest, a dull ache within.
"But whenever I think of him, my heart still aches."
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