A Love Beyond Time

Chapter 20-The Lunar New Year's Eve Dinner

2,000 years ago-The Celestial Kingdom, Hall of Eastern Light

The evening was clear and calm; no cloud would have dared to mar the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner celebration. The Hall of Eastern Light—the venue of the feast—had no ceiling and thus provided a breathtaking view of the starlit sky. Its white stone walls were streaked with veins of pure gold, while the floor was paved with jade tiles carved into flowers. Glowing crystal pillars illuminated the room, as did the hundreds of silk lanterns strung between them in fiery shades of crimson and vermilion. The fragrance of rare blossoms perfumed the air, mingling with the aromas of incense placed at strategic corners around the room. Coveted Immortal Peaches were stacked high on silver platters to be distributed at the discretion of the Celestial Goddess. One of these peaches, creamy ivory with a divine blush, could strengthen an immortal's life force or prolong a mortal's life. Even in the Celestial Kingdom, such decadence was rare. The richly dressed guests greeted each other effusively, flushed with excitement and wine.

A small, raised dais stood in the middle of the dining room. It was empty, sans a small cherrywood qin table, atop a five-stringed ancient zither with a curved tail.

Shi-Yuan stood in the shadows, regal and handsome in his magenta robes embroidered with silvery soaring cranes, their wings spread elegantly in mid-flight. His long, bright silver hair was carefully tied with a purple satin ribbon in a top knot and secured with a lavender-green jadeite hairpin intricately carved with delicate filigreed patterns. A jadeite ring of the same vivid color and design encircled his left thumb.

If one were to examine the ornaments carefully, one would realize that the filigrees were abstract depictions of a nine-tail fox surrounded by plum blossoms.

The young advisor sighed and raised a hand to adjust his silver mask. He was exceedingly bored as he watched the guests. Shi-Yuan estimated that there must be tens of thousands of them, seeing that all the invitees were present. Residents from the eight immortal lands, the ancient immortals (those who had accepted the Jade Emperor's generous offer to live in the new Celestial Kingdom), and all the leaders of the prominent cultivation and religious sects of the Mortal Realm. The latter group was a regular fixture at the event since they were first invited 3 years ago, for the annual Lunar New Year Eve dinner was their only opportunity to rub shoulders with the immortals and, perhaps, feast on the immortal peaches.

Everyone who received the invitation was here. Except for one, though he had promised Shi-Yuan that he would attend.

Regretful uneasiness cramped Shi-Yuan's insides as he recalled what had happened earlier that morning. Things had initially gone well. He and Yu-Hu were basking in some couple time, until the Fox was seemingly pulled into some nostalgic reminiscence after he questioned the latter about the dragon-motif items he owned. Yu-Hu's melancholic, bittersweet expression had roused intense jealousy and possessiveness in him; he had believed that the Fox was thinking of someone else, someone whom he had held dear. And he inadvertently snapped and did something truly terrible.

He had forced himself on Yu-Hu, right up against his dressing table. Rutting him savagely and thoughtlessly. It was not an act of love or passion, not even lust, but rather, an act of dominance and possession. Yu-Hu had struggled and snarled, baring his extended canines, but he did not bite. And when everything was over, he had callously dressed and left, leaving the older immortal lying there, curled into a ball like an infant: bruised, bleeding, and eyes closed.

Shi-Yuan cringed in utter self-loathe at the recollection. He could not imagine that he was capable of committing such a heinous act, nor could he recognize that jealous, proprietorial creature as himself. It felt as though he was possessed by some external force of demonic darkness at that time. That crazed monster who had hurt Yu-Hu so severely, where did he come from?