Entangled Threads *ON HOLD*

Chapter 6

         "Young lady, would you like your fortune told? First time, free of charge!" The street vendor advertises loudly. Jiali politely shakes her head no and proceeds on walking. The vendor tries again with the next pedestrian.

        "I have to think of a plan. How am I supposed to continue living like this? It's nerve-racking every day." JiaLi mumbles as she walks deep in thought.

        "You seem like someone seeking love." A young boy states suddenly, standing right in front of JiaLi. She turns, looking around her to see if he was referring to anyone else.

        "Are you talking to me?" Her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

        "You're seeking love yet you're also actively avoiding it. There's only so much that red thread can do, the rest is up to you."

        "What? Who are you? Are you okay?"

        "Who am I? I'm a matchmaker." The boy smiled ever so slightly. JiaLi looks at him like he was crazy.

        "Oh, you must be with that fortune-teller. Sorry, little boy, I'm not interested." She smiles politely and goes around him to continue walking.

         "Morals always ask for divine guidance, but when they do receive it, our advice is so easily brushed aside." yue xia lao ren("old man beneath the moon") could only sigh.

        "What do you think you're doing?" Siming asks with her arms crossed, coming from seemingly nowhere.

        "Relax Siming, I was only trying to help." A sudden gust of wind passes through and in the place of the little boy stood an old man with a crafty grin.

        "Yue Lao, don't complicate things. I already know about their red thread." Siming warns.

        "I'm not, honestly. Just because of our old rivalry doesn't mean I'll endanger your daughter. I watched her grow up and witnessed her tragedy, I also want her to recover."

        "That would be a tricky task." Siming sighs. The fate of JiaLi and YiYu has long been entangled beyond this life.

Flashback

        "For you, I will conquer the lands. For you, I will bring peace to the country. For you, I will give you the world."

        But you never did. For all of your lifetimes, you said that everything was for me, yet you chose to leave me. I only asked for one lifetime together but you denied me 3 times. It's over. I'm tired. Goodbye

        I met you in the mountains. I ran away from my parents. I ran away from the Heavenly realm. I wanted to live an ordinary life. I found you wounded and frail, trying to hide from any pursuers. You looked like a rabbit to me, small and weak. Pitting you, I brought you back. That was my mistake. I shouldn't have interfered with the fates of mortals. Our meeting was never meant to happen, but it did.

        I raised you from a child to an adult. I'm sure you must have found it strange how I never aged, yet you always refrained from asking me why. Eventually, I found that your feelings towards me had changed. With your sweet words, you won me over. I shouldn't have. It was forbidden.

        I broke the heavenly law. My mother found a way out. For 3 lifetimes, your devotion towards me was tested. For 3 lifetimes, all I felt was disappointment. Your fate was always meant for the world. You were the dragon that soared upon the imperial throne, and I was left behind, time after time for the so-called 'world'. Only one was enough yet you denied me our one chance. I rather fade from existence than to suffer more of your betrayal.

        "I'm sorry, mother. Daughter is too weak. I do not deserve the honor of divinity." I leaped off the edge, into the pool of mortality. With this, I am but human now. Perhaps this way, my grief will wash away along with my immortality.

        Siming watches the scenes play out before her for the 1000th time. Her daughter could not pass her love trial and ascend to become a high immortal. Instead, she threw it all away.

         I had decided to give them one more lifetime. I hoped that this time, the results would be different. Maybe I had expected it, but she fell in love with him yet again. Even though her soul is mortal, it is still my daughter's soul in the end.

        I had him born into the descendants of their child together. This time, the possibility to desire more is in reach for him. I had sought for a special status for my grandchild and further descendants, thus allowing them to even become immortal if they worked for it. This time, the trial is for YiYu. If he can overcome his love trial, she would finally pass hers. My daughter, JiaLi. I am still a mother before I am a god. I knew that the moment you chose to jump into the pool of mortality, you were willing to let him go, but you were unable to forgive your own weakness. I only hope for a different outcome this time.

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It's been so long! How's everyone's quarantine going? I've been so bored. ┐('-｀)┌

Even with my finals coming up, I've decided to write a new chapter! (Not because I was procrastinating or anything) ⚫꒳⚫