Staring at the young, handsome man appearing in the mirror, Zhao Renshu and Guo Baiyu were taken aback, a profound sense of familiarity washing over them, as they had both dreamed of him before. The striking face, the bright smile, the warm, caring, deep blue eyes, and the unique tree house—it all resonated with their subconscious.
Ping'an stared intently at the treehouse in the mirror, and she, too, realized with a jolt that she had been there more than once. In her dreams, a male voice had once woken her up when she and her kidnapper, Lu Duyi were chased by the mischievous fox fairy sisters.
Coming to the astonishing realization that Ping'an was the reincarnation of Syaoran sent chills down the lovers' spines. They stared at each other, then back at the image of Syaoran and his two companions as it gradually disappeared from the mirror's surface.
Jiutian Xuannü, her voice laced with ancient fury, declared, "That is the story of the three of you. I was consumed with anger and decided to set your forbidden love as an example."
This time, the magic mirror showed a different setting: the three lovers, now clearly Syaoran, CháHuā, and HéHuā, knelt side by side before Jiutian Xuannü.
"Your punishment is death," Jiutian Xuannü pronounced, her voice cold and unyielding. "The two of you will be burned to dirt, and your souls will be lost forever." She pointed her finger directly at Syaoran. "As for you, you will be reincarnated as a human being. You will suffer illness and death."
Her anger was so fierce that when she spoke, no one dared to look at her except Syaoran, his gaze unwavering.
"Now, call your heart back," Jiutian Xuannü commanded angrily.
Syaoran smiled gently at his two lovers and held their hands tightly, a silent promise passing between them.
"I don't need what I have given," Syaoran replied, his eyes challenging Jiutian Xuannü's authority. "I will always be theirs, and they will always be mine."
His defiance angered Jiutian Xuannü even more.
"How dare you?!" Jiutian Xuannü roared, her voice echoing with divine wrath. "Because you love each other so deeply, and you refuse to call back your heart, I will fulfill this wish for you! You three will be reincarnated into human beings, and in every single lifetime, as long as you reincarnate, you—" Jiutian Xuannü pointed her finger at Syaoran "—shall be born a woman. The two of you shall be born as men. That will never change!" Jiutian Xuannü looked at the lovers, her eyes blazing with furious contempt. "Any last words?"
CháHuā took out her hairpin. She drew a deep, deliberate line on the palm of her left hand. As blood welled and dripped, she looked at her lovers, her eyes shining with fierce devotion. "I use this blood to assure you that no matter how many lifetimes, even if you are a woman and I am a man... I will love you unconditionally." She then looked at HéHuā, a tender smile on her face. "My dear sister, I will never fight you for his love, because I know you and I, we are his heart."
HéHuā also smiled. She took the same hairpin, drew a deep cut on the palm of her right hand, and smiled at her lovers, her gaze equally resolute. She said, "From the very beginning we have been together. Without you, we would die. You gave us life. You gave us love. I promise with this blood that I will always love you and will never compete with my sister for your love."
Syaoran cut his palms with the same hairpin, which HéHuā was still holding. Syaoran laughed, a dark, bitter sound. He was filled with hatred, and his eyes blazed with furious flames. He said hatefully, his voice echoing with power, "With all the good merits I have accumulated over thousands of years, with this blood, I curse... as long as Nuwa still loves the human race, there is still water flowing to the sea, and the mountains are still full of green trees, nothing or no one can separate us apart! Our love will continue to exist!" He held the hands of his two lovers tightly, their palms bleeding together, and challenged Jiutian Xuannü, his eyes defiant. "Come on, burn us with the flames of the phoenix!"
Consumed by anger, Jiutian Xuannü commanded her phoenix. The large phoenix creature took flight, its majestic wings beating the air, and blew fire from its mouth, incinerating the lovers. When the Phoenix landed beside Jiutian Xuannü, only a pile of ashes on the floor remained of the defiant lovers.
Jiutian Xuannü sighed, a chilling finality in her voice. "That is that." She called her magic mirror back into her hand. "The three of you were burned to ashes and put into the reincarnation cycle. I instructed Wang Yanluo to let you reincarnate first, so that you would never be able to live with them in your life. Even if you met them, you would be old while they were still young. You would die, they would live, you would be reborn, they would die; this would be an eternal cycle. It is impossible for the three of you to meet in any lifetime." She paused for a moment, her voice softening slightly in retrospect. "One day, Yuelao visited me. He told me that the three of you were born in the same year. Somehow, one of Wang Yanluo's men made a mistake. They sent the three of you to reincarnate together. Yuelao also told me, the love strings between the three of you were reconnected. Yuelao and I have tried many ways to cut the strings, but failed. This must be the will of heaven."
The two men, Zhao Renshu and Guo Baiyu, looked at each other and smiled. When their eyes met, they silently agreed that they were destined to be her husbands.
Jiutian Xuannü then turned her attention to Ping'an. "You have no heart, Ping'an. You gave it to them. You were created to live among gods. They were created by you. I came with an offer."
"What is it?" Ping'an asked, her voice tinged with wariness.
"I can restore you to your original form as a God," Jiutian Xuannü offered. "You will be immortal. You only need to agree to catch the criminals whom you helped escape five hundred years ago, and call your heart back."
"And them?" Ping'an asked, her gaze sweeping to Zhao Renshu and Guo Baiyu.
"They will live this life with you until nature takes over," Jiutian Xuannü replied. "After that, they will turn to their original form."
"No reincarnation?" Ping'an asked, her voice quiet.
Jiutian Xuannü shook her head. "No, not this time. They are made of clay. Once your heart returns to you, the reincarnation is over. This means that you accept your fate and continue to defend the northern fortress. You will live forever among the gods and goddesses again."
Guo Baiyu gently held Ping'an's hand. "This is not a bad proposal," he murmured, his voice thoughtful.
Ping'an looked at Zhao Renshu. He nodded with a smile, a silent encouragement. It seemed that the two men had already decided her fate for her.
"What I have given, I don't want it back," Ping'an said, her voice firm, as she smiled at her lovers. "I don't want the two of you to just vanish and leave only memories for me. I am not afraid to cross the Naihe Bridge, drink Meng Po's porridge, and find you two in the next life. Even if in the next lifetime I am old and you are young, as long as I get a chance to meet you once and look in your eyes once every lifetime, it is enough."
The two men were speechless, deeply moved. Apart from giving her a soft smile, there was nothing they could say to express how they truly felt about her. Her words made their eyes redden. Tears slowly flowed down their chins, and they tenderly wiped her tears away.
"I'm sorry," Ping'an continued, her voice soft but resolute. "I can't accept your kindness. I don't remember any other life, but I remember that in this lifetime, right now, the best thing that ever happened to me is meeting them. I am happy to live and cherish this lifetime together with them. As for my mistake five hundred years ago, I will do my best to capture these seven souls and bring them back to you."
"What would you like in return?" Jiutian Xuannü asked, her expression unreadable.
"If you can't grant us a wish to live and die together," Ping'an proposed, her gaze unwavering, "then throw us back into the reincarnation cycle and let us live a natural life together."
"I will return the sword to you," Jiutian Xuannü conceded, a small, intricate sword materializing in her hand and floating towards Ping'an. "When you are in danger, your sword will help you. You would not be able to make full use of the power of the sword because you were not your real form. You must remember that you were mortal. You could be killed."
"I understand," Ping'an acknowledged, reaching for the sword.
"If you choose to live this lifetime with them," Jiutian Xuannü continued, her voice stern, "you will never conceive. This is one of your punishments."
"Hey, it's too much!" Zhao Renshu interjected angrily, stepping forward. "You punish us because we love each other! You must be jealous! Regardless of your retrieving souls shit, do it yourself! I will never allow our wife to go fetch some souls that will put her life in danger!"
"Our wife..." Ping'an murmured softly, a tender smile blossoming on her face despite the tension.
Zhao Renshu looked at Guo Baiyu with a proud smile. "Yes... Our wife."
Guo Baiyu acknowledged Zhao Renshu with a smile and a nod, a silent agreement.
"Five hundred years of punishing us is not enough?!" Guo Baiyu said calmly, his voice rising in righteous indignation. "Thank you for your kind offer, but we will not accept it!"
"Heaven is always kind," Jiutian Xuannü replied, her voice impassive, "and doing good deeds may punish you less. The choice is yours."
"Let us do it," Ping'an said, her voice firm, a new resolve in her eyes. She smiled at her lovers, a challenge in her gaze. "Who knows, maybe our punishment may be less. If I have the opportunity to see you again in my next life, I am willing to do something about it. Moreover, we always talk about journeying far and wide to help those who need our help and make lifelong friends. Well, here is our opportunity... so, what do you two say?"
The two men looked at each other and smiled, a shared understanding passing between them. She knew they could not refuse her request. They both shook their heads, smiling in resignation.
"When do you want us to leave?" Ping'an asked, her enthusiasm growing. "How do we recognize the seven souls?"
"The seven souls are created by humans," Jiutian Xuannü explained. "We as gods and goddesses have no right to interfere. Human seven sins are Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, and Sloth. When you meet them, you will know."
"Where do we begin?" Ping'an asked.
"That's the secret of heaven," Jiutian Xuannü replied, a faint, knowing smile touching her lips. "I can't tell you."
"If you don't tell us, how can we find them?" Zhao Renshu protested, frustrated.
Jiutian Xuannü took out three little swords, each the size of a hairpin, and handed them to Ping'an. "When you need help, your sword will help you. If you are in serious danger, please recite the 'Buda Manual,' and if necessary, I will help. I can only say, go back to where it began." Then, the goddess vanished as swiftly as she had appeared.
The confused Zhao Renshu muttered, "Does this mean we have to go back to our mother's womb?"
Guo Baiyu shook his head, a weary sigh escaping him. "Ridiculous."