Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 68

Yǔ's POV

I wonder how many times I'm going to hurt him in one day. The moment I blocked his advances, his whole face morphed into surprise and disappointment. "Don't get me wrong... Although I am immune to the effects of the herbs, that doesn't mean that I didn't just have a large number of raw herbs. Who knows what would happen to you if you ended up consuming it, even if it was indirectly...", I explained, lowering my hand.

"If you know that, then take the damn medicine!!!" he shouted out in worry.

"I told you... My body is immune to its effects; otherwise, I wouldn't be foolish enough to eat them. I'm not seeking death." I smiled, hoping to reassure him. Though I could see that he was a bit doubtful, he let it go. "If there's nothing else???" I say, nodding my head and making an effort to leave, only to be pulled back by him again.

Lì (holding onto me tightly as though to keep me from escaping): Bai Ze, take Yun Yun home... I'll catch up later...

Without waiting for a reply, he entwined his fingers in mine and led me away. He held onto me tightly as he hurriedly made his way through the crowd, ignoring Bai Ze's calls, before pulling me into an alley and pushing me toward the wall. He looked down at me before glancing in the direction we came. "Do you think we gave them the slip???" he murmured almost inaudibly.

I closed my eyes and tried to sense their location using the shadow soldiers residing in their shadows. "Yup. They're not anywhere near here." I confirmed it automatically, opening my eyes and staring up at him.

"How can you tell??" he inquired, looking down at me curiously. It was now that I realized that although I matched my height to 'Percy's', I was still a few centimeters shorter than him.

"I thought you asked because you expected me to be able to tell???" I raised an eyebrow. "From the shadow soldiers I gave you. I'm connected to each of them so I can tell their location by concentrating."

"How many do you have???"

"Over 3000... Are you hungry??? I'm  hungry." I pressed my right palm over my stomach, feeling it rumble by this time, reminding me that I had left before getting lunch. What I would give to have a pancake or pizza right about now...

"3000??? Why do you even need so many???" came his stunned response as he grabbed hold of my hand and led me out of the alley. I gave him a shrug. "Insurance... I have some bad people chasing after me who are stronger than me so I'm keeping them as insurance. But are you sure it's fine to just disappear like that??? Your lady friend seemed very disappointed, back there." I point out, emphasizing the 'lady friend'. Do I sound jealous?

"Two months... We met when I and the soldiers had retreated to a border town where her father was sent to govern for committing a minor offense." He started with a frustrated sigh.

"I didn't ask..." I say casually, pretending not to care, though I did want to know more.

He gave me an 'Are you kidding' look, to which I gave a sheepish smile, before continuing, "I courted her for two months, but even during that time we didn't meet much and after the two months she had to return without giving any notice and since I had to focus on the war, I kinda forgot about her. And after I returned, I met you, and we wound up engaged soon after. What I'm trying to say is that nothing is going on between Yun Yun and me."

He held my hand tightly and led me to a restaurant where the owner knew him and without even being asked, we were led upstairs and given a quiet seat in a corner. I let Lì order since he seemed familiar with the place and stared at him questioningly after the owner left.

"What exactly are you thinking???" I asked as I poured a glass of water for myself. On seeing him stare at me in confusion, I placed my elbows on the table, interlocking my fingers together and placing my chin over them, and clarified, "You just tried to kiss a 'stranger' in front of Bai Ze, Bai Zou, and your lady friend when they all so clearly know that you are engaged.".

Lì (raising an eyebrow): I don't see the big deal since I was trying to kiss my fiancée. Given that she initiated the first two, I thought that I had the right to do the third.

Me (blushing): I have no issue with... with the kiss (my voice reducing to a whisper before going back to normal)... The problem is that you tried to kiss a woman with black hair and sea-green eyes a month after you promised your fiancée that you wouldn't cheat on her. A promise that you made in front of Bai Ze and Bai Zou... So what exactly do you plan on telling them???

Lì (look of realization crossing his face): I did not consider that...

Me (nodding): So I think that it's better for you to just avoid PJ whenever you see her unless you are willing to be punished by Li Yǔ when she finds out about this. And trust me, stuff like this will never stay hidden. And if I were to, I'd put my bet on Bai Ze, letting it slip... (standing up to leave). So on that note, I think I should go...

"Sit down, Persea!" he said in a low voice that made me stop short. Hearing my name from his mouth definitely had a bigger impact than I'd imagined. I couldn't remember the last time someone called me by my real name; it threw me off, making me obediently return to my seat with a sigh.

"I can't just ignore you and walk off when I know that you are Yǔ. And I feel that if I do, I'd be missing the opportunity to learn more about you." He said staring straight at me.

Me (confused): Persea is just a disguise; what do you plan to learn?

Lì (smiling): At first, that was what I thought, and then I realized something. As Li Yǔ, you are restricted and forced to hide your powers and your true personality but when you're in this disguise, it's like you're more real. If that makes sense.

I gulped internally; there was no way he could tell that this was a truer version of me since he'd never met Percy. So why does he think that I'm more real this way???

"You make no effort to suppress your powers; you don't bow down your head to anyone; rather, you act like you're above everyone else, which you truly seem to believe. You have a mischievous twinkle in your eyes and don't use that fake innocent look. You're more authoritative than I've ever seen you... You don't make any effort to hide your knowledge, like with Yun Yun... It's like this is your real self, which I know doesn't make sense because your real self is Li Yǔ but I won't ignore this side of you."

I tried to control my face as Lì continued to spout out why he wouldn't ignore me while I looked like this. I let out a small chuckle, unable to hold back my laughter. To think that he had me figured out to this extent. The reason I chose this look itself is because I felt more like myself and I felt I could freely be me without having to be cautious about keeping an act up. He really knows how to tug at my heartstrings. "Do you want to know why I chose black hair and sea-green eyes???" I asked with a small smile, interrupting his rant.

Lì (stopping and nodding): Is there a special reason???

Me (choosing my wording carefully): The person I considered my father looked this way.

(The real reason is because Percy looked this way but she can't say that so she linked it to Poseidon.)

Lì (taken aback): You're not talking about Minister Li, are you???

"No, I met this person over eleven years ago." I started as I shook my head sadly (when Percy was 12). "He has the same hair, the same eye color, and the same complexion. And I loved and looked up to him a lot. But this eleven-year-long relationship, which I had thought to be as solid as gold, wound up being as fragile as... (stopping to think for a while) Well, I guess you could say snowflakes... Before I knew it, it had disappeared into nothing. He found a new child and cast me aside."

Lì (cautiously): I take it; he's the one who betrayed you.

My lips curled into a small smile while my eyes burned from unshed tears. "One of the many, yes. His betrayal and two others (Annabeth and his mom) had a bigger impact on me than the rest, I guess. The funny thing is, he no longer even remembers me while I... I'm stuck with these memories for the rest of my life, I guess."