Chapter 3 — Resurrecting a Millennium of Love

Sui Jing did not reply. Instead, his gaze traced every single contour of my face as if he were painting a portrait. Then, his arm slid gently around the back of my neck, pulling me close—our lips met. My sleeve brushed against the low table, sending a calligraphy brush rolling off to the edge, where it came to rest beside a few freshly fallen plum blossoms. The scene dissolved and shifted—blushing crimson like a surging wave. Sweat blurred my vision. I wrapped my arms tightly around Sui Jing’s bare back, biting down hard on my lower lip to keep from crying out. Sui Jing pressed a kiss to my forehead, our ten fingers interlaced. "Ah Nhan, say my name. I want to hear you say it." I could no longer hold back, and I bit down sharply onto his shoulder. After that... I woke up. I let out a scorching breath, pulled my legs inward, and curled my entire body tightly, tossing and turning in restlessness. What on earth was this?! Could it possibly be that I liked Sui Jing to such an absurd degree? Even in my dreams, I imagined myself as the person cherished in his heart?! Yet the sheer, intoxicating joy within the dream—even down to the skin-to-skin intimacy—felt terrifyingly real. It was as though... Thwack! I slapped myself right across the face. What on earth was I thinking?! Had I been possessed by a ghost or something? Sui Jing frowned, set his book aside, and walked over toward me. "Why did you suddenly hit yourself?" I forced out a couple of dry laughs. "It's nothing... I was just swatting a mosquito. Go back to reading your book." I rolled over onto my stomach, but ten minutes passed and I still couldn't put out the "fire" burning inside me. In the end, with a burning red face and a deeply bizarre posture, I got up... and dragged myself into the bathroom.

Lately, Sui Jing had been adapting to modern society at an astonishing speed, practically grasping everything in no time. But as for me... I was an absolute wreck. Every single day was filled with vexation, my mind constantly churning with unmentionable thoughts, dyed in lurid shades of yellow like a garbage dump. It wasn't for any other reason, except that... every single night, I dreamed I was that formidable general. I would climb through the window of Sui Jing's room, carrying the finest wine from the Drunken Spring Pavilion, wait until he finished a cup, and then flash a mischievous smile before kissing his lips to taste the lingering traces of the vintage. I would lean against him to read stories, tossing and turning the neatly stacked piles of books into a chaotic mess, only to finally fall fast asleep on his lap out of sheer exhaustion. I would even bring him to the military camp, letting him witness the loyal brothers who had shared life and death with me drilling with fierce dedication. But every single dream always ended in the exact same manner... Fire was close to dry straw, and there was plenty of straw to go around. On the bed, on the table, and even out in the open air... The emotions would rise to such a fever pitch that we only wanted to melt our very bones and flesh into one another, leaving no boundaries between us. The problem was... right in the middle of it all, the dream would invariably end. Consequently, every single morning I would wake up in a state that... made me utterly unfit to be seen by anyone. It was pure psychological torture. Was I really that desperately deprived?!

That day, just like usual, as I stepped out after taking a cold shower, I found Sui Jing staring blankly at an iPad, his eyes glued firmly to the screen without a single flicker of movement. "Why are you suddenly zoning out? What are you looking at?" I asked as I dried my hair, walking over to him. Sui Jing turned the screen toward me. Displayed upon it was information regarding an upcoming auction, and the item slated to be put on the block was a set of delicate chain mail—if I looked closely, it was unmistakably the exact armor I had worn in my dreams. "Can we go to this auction?" I drew in a sharp breath and immediately shook my head like a rattle-drum. "No way! Absolutely not! Our household has no money!" Sui Jing asked, "Do you strictly need money to be able to go?" I nodded vigorously. "Yes! Even if you sold me off, it wouldn't be enough to cover it!" Sui Jing fell silent. Silent for a very long time. Finally, he merely nodded gently, pulled the device back, and said with an air of absolute nonchalance, "It doesn't matter." While inside my mind, I was screaming: (Don't you dare pull off any weird stunts! I may be truly poor, but I have no desire to become your living... protective amulet!)

"Once we go inside in a little bit, we are just going to quietly observe and not do a single thing, understand? We are attending under someone else's name, so absolutely do not raise the bidding paddle, is that clear?" I reminded him for the tenth time, and when Sui Jing gave his tenth "Mn," I finally took a deep breath, straightened my posture, puffed out my chest, and held my head high as I stepped into the auction house. Ahead of me, Chu Yan paused to wait for me, laughing as he clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Guo Nhan, relax a bit, why are you so tense? The two of you were brought in by me, so by now you're practically part of the Chu family circle. Nobody is going to say a word." Chu Yan was my university classmate, hailing from a prestigious and influential family with genuine weight in society. Initially, I had merely asked him if he could help me secure an admission slot, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect him to wave his hand grandly... and bring both Sui Jing and me along with him. I forced out a stiff, awkward smile. "Mm... I'll try my best..." No kidding, if I accidentally offended anyone in a place like this, I probably wouldn't be able to bear the consequences for the rest of my life. Trembling, I took my seat as the surrounding lights gradually dimmed, a bright spotlight casting its beam straight onto the stage—the auction was underway. I knew nothing about antiques, nor did I have any grasp of their value. But when I witnessed with my own eyes someone casually dropping fifty million just to purchase a small box... my heart felt as though it wanted to leap right out of my chest. Chu Yan maintained the effortless demeanor of a young master, leisurely raising his bidding paddle a few times purely for amusement. The pace of the auction was quite brisk, and within a mere half hour, it finally reached the turn of that set of chain mail. Quite a few people raised their paddles, and I glanced sideways at Sui Jing. His back was rigidly straight, his gaze locked immovably onto the armor encased beneath the glass on the stage, holding only a single thing within his eyes—a steadfast, unwavering focus. He... must have wanted it desperately. After all, that was an item that belonged to the person he had once loved. I wasn't entirely sure what kind of emotion was churning within my own chest, feeling a faint sense of emptiness, so I turned my head away once more. The price continued to be driven upward in relentless waves. "Seventy million, going once!" "Seventy million, going twice!" "Seventy million, thrice!" The auctioneer struck the brass gong standing nearby. "Congratulations to bidder number 1205, for successfully winning the Yunwen chain mail at the price of seventy million!" I secretly counted on my fingers. Seventy million... They were truly obscenely wealthy. Even if I worked for several lifetimes, I might not necessarily earn that kind of money. Wait a minute... 1205? I whipped my head around as if struck by lightning. I only saw Sui Jing lowering the hand that had just held up the bidding paddle, upon which the number was clearly printed: 1205. I felt as though I had been struck by a heavenly bolt of retribution, my entire body stiffening as I sat frozen in place, utterly paralyzed. ...I was doomed. I couldn't go on living anymore. Should I... just run for my life, leaving all my possessions behind, and pretend I never even knew this guy?!

I... was not dead yet, and miraculously still breathing! Right at the moment when I thought I was about to be dragged behind the scenes of the auction house to serve as a... slave to pay off my debts, the living Buddha Chu Yan extended a helping hand, settling this astronomical debt for me in its entirety. To express his gratitude, Sui Jing presented him with a piece of jade pendant, which instantly caused the surrounding antique experts to swarm over in a "swoosh," crowding around them and eagerly demanding to know where Sui Jing had managed to unearth such a national treasure. Where else could he have gotten it from? From... inside his own tomb, of course! Had I known this earlier, I would have told him to dig up a few more trinkets on his way out, sell them for cash to cover our rent, water, and electricity bills all in one go. Shivering from head to toe, I exercised the utmost care as I carried the box containing the chain mail back home. Then, with great solemnity, I placed it upon the highest spot in the room as if worshipping a Buddhist deity, lacking only three sticks of incense to complete the full ritual. I pressed my palms together before my chest, closed my eyes, and bowed in reverence. "Amitabha Buddha, this humble maiden failed to receive you with proper hospitality, please forgive me, please forgive me..." Without my noticing when he arrived, Sui Jing was already standing beside me, speaking up in a low voice. "Ah Nhan, would you... be willing to try wearing it?" My eyes instantly widened in utter disbelief as I pointed a finger at my own face. "Me?" Then I pointed toward the box perched high above. "Wear... it?!" Sui Jing nodded. "Haha..." I forced out two dry laughs, deliberately exaggerating my tone. "No way in hell! Keep dreaming!" That set of chain mail was worth seventy million! And he wanted me to wear seventy million on my body?! Why didn't you just tell me to go die already?!

"...There, are you happy now?" In the end, I still put on that set of chain mail. It wasn't for any other reason, but rather because of Sui Jing's gaze—it was simply too scorching, too yearning. It was entirely impossible to refuse. To be completely honest, wearing this armor turned out to be an unexpected, perfect fit for my frame, looking precisely as it had in my dreams, as though it had been custom-made exclusively for me. From the moment I finished putting on the armor, Sui Jing's gaze never once left my body, harboring deep, intensely heavy emotions within the depths of his eyes that were so potent they almost spilled over his eyelids—a fierce, uncontainable romantic fervor. It was as if... through me, he was gazing back across a millennium at the young military general from the past. I silently slapped myself in my mind. Guo Nhan, Oh Guo Nhan, you really are entirely willing to willingly play the role of a substitute, aren't you... Where on earth did your self-respect go? "...You've finished looking, so I'll take it off now, alright?" I asked tentatively, testing the waters. Sui Jing didn't utter a single word, merely nodding gently. I let out a heavy sigh of relief, extremely carefully removing the millennium-old cultural relic and returning it to its original spot with the utmost reverence, treating it like a divine deity for fear of causing any damage. Just as I took a single step backward, I was abruptly shoved fiercely against the wall by a powerful force. Before I could clearly see anything other than a few strands of long hair swirling around, my lips were completely sealed.

This was the second time Sui Jing had kissed me. Unlike the previous time, his kiss this time was exceptionally deep, overwhelmingly fierce. It felt as though through this kiss, he wanted to pour out three thousand years of lovesick yearning and deep affection all at once. I was forced to tilt my head back, responding to him amidst the chaos. The blood rushed violently in my eardrums, my heart thundered with deafening beats, and my head spun in a dizzying whirl. Amidst the interwoven sounds of that fierce, consuming kiss, I struggled to gather a shred of reason, hastily pushing against his chest. "W-wait a minute!" I gasped for breath, my voice raspy and hoarse from the prolonged entanglement. "That... although you're very much my type, and I genuinely like you..." "But you already have someone beloved in your heart! I have my principles! I won't be a substitute, nor will I be a mistress!" I still had a tiny bit of backbone left! Sui Jing froze for a moment, then burst into an exceedingly gentle laughter, his fingertip brushing lightly across my lips. "What substitute nonsense... the person beloved in my heart has always been, and will always be, you." Me: ? "Is your heart made of durian? Does every single thorn have a different person standing on it?"