Chapter 139

When Su Jingmo woke up, his surroundings were so dark that he was unable to see anything. By moving his stiff fingers, Su Jingmo felt a cold stone surface, and realized that he was still inside a coffin.

His body felt heavy, and his breathing was somewhat ragged. Both sensations were something Su Jingmo had not felt in a long time…..

But it was not only that…. Su Jingmo realized that he hadn’t forgotten about that person…..

Su Jingmo felt overjoyed, especially when he heard noises coming from above. He couldn’t wait to see that special person.

However, knowing that in his current situation he shouldn’t waste his energy, Su Jingmo closed his eyes and remained silent, listening as the distant sound gradually drew closer.

Perhaps because of the treasure Master Xuyun bestowed upon Su Jingmo in the past, that despite waiting for a few days, Su Jingmo barely felt anything. He was only just slightly tired.

Although he didn’t know how much time had passed, when Su Jingmo heard the sound of someone desperately scraping the earth on top of the coffin, accompanied by his agitated breathing, Su Jingmo suddenly felt a little nervous. ‘ Maybe I could tease this fool a little and tell him that I don’t remember him at all? ’

When the lid of the coffin slowly opened, and the faint morning light fell on his face, Su Jigmo was unable to resist smiling.

As he opened his eyes, Su Jingmo was met with Qin Cheng’s face, who was looking down at him in bewilderment. Although Su Jingmo furrowed his eyebrows and wanted to say “Who are you?” teasingly, these words stopped in his throat as soon as he noticed the blue tinted dark circles under Qin Cheng’s eyes.

After a brief pause, Su Jingmo’s breath was cut off and his heart began to ache. Although what he wanted to do at first was nothing more than a joke, Su Jingmo couldn’t bear to hurt Qin Cheng in the slightest.

“How could you make me wait so long….?”

With a sigh, Su Jingmo felt as if he had been hiding for 1600 years. After having to wait for 1600 years, Su Jingmo found himself unable to stop the tears that fell from his eyes, sliding down his cheeks and wetting them.

As Su Jingmo had just awakened as a living person, his body was weak, and after having only uttered a few words, he began to pant heavily. Qin Cheng hurried to take Su Jingmo out of the coffin. As hot water had already been prepared in the old house, Qin Cheng fetched a cup of water mixed with salt and sugar for Su Jingmo to drink. When Su Jingmo’s breathing stabilized a little, Qin Cheng felt worried, as he was uncertain as to where to take him.

Qin Cheng had no place to stay in Xi’an, and the bedding in the old house was moldy. Although Qin Cheng didn’t mind having to sleep there, he didn’t want Su Jingmo to suffer.

“Let’s go to my house first, there’s no one there and it’s more convenient. Besides, I drove here with my car and he seems to be in poor health. My house is right next to the hospital, so we can take him to get a check-up.” Zhang Jun suggested, and after thinking about it, Qin Cheng agreed.

After being carried by Qin Cheng to the car and being seated in the back, Su Jingmo looked out the window, watching the scenery pass by as the car drove away at full speed. Feeling curious about this strange metal box, Su Jingmo frowned and asked: “What is this?”

“Well…. this is the ‘automobile’ I told you about. It can travel at least two hundred li ¹ per hour.”

“Oh?” Su Jingmo raised an eyebrow and asked: “This little box can travel that fast without oxen or horses?”

When Qin Cheng noticed Zhang Jun constantly looking at them through the rearview mirror, Qin Cheng cleared his throat and simply replied: “Yes.”

Su Jingmo knew that this wasn’t the right time to speak, given that Qin Cheng’s friend was present. Moreover, adding the fact that he had just woken up as a living person, Su Jingmo felt exceptionally tired. Therefore, Su Jingmo leaned on Qin Cheng and let him embrace him, as he fell into a deep sleep.

Upon seeing Su Jingmo fall asleep, Qin Cheng carefully took the Imperial Crown from Su Jingmo’s head and leaned on his side so that Su Jingmo would feel more comfortable in his arms.

Zhang Jun drove only for an hour until they reached the parking lot of his residential complex. Seeing that Su Jingmo was sleeping soundly, Qin Cheng carefully carried him out of the car.

Fortunately, although Su Jingmo’s attire was unusual, this was a quiet Saturday morning with few people around the complex, so no one noticed. When they arrived at Zhang Jun’s house, Qin Cheng gently placed Su Jingmo on the soft bed and gazed at his peaceful sleeping face. When he heard Su Jingmo’s steady breathing, Qin Cheng sighed lightly and dumbly stared at him. Catching Su Jingmo’s scent, Qin Cheng almost felt as if he was suffocating with happiness.

After planting a kiss on his lover’s forehead, Qin Cheng whispered: “This is wonderful.”

With those words, Qin Cheng quietly closed the door and withdrew from the guest room. At the same time the door closed, Su Jingmo opened his eyes.

…

When they saw Qin Cheng walking out of the room, Zhang Jun and Wu Hai hurriedly pretended to be engrossed in the books and newspapers on the coffee table, even going so far as to ‘discuss’ current events with a great amount of seriousness. Qin Cheng, unable to guess what these two had been doing just now, walked up to them and snatched the newspaper from Zhang Jun’s hands. Looking at the newspaper, Qin Cheng said with a wry smile on his face: “Come on, discussing politics with a newspaper about archaeology? Stop pretending, I’m here to solve your doubts.”

After considering it for a moment, Qin Cheng sat down on the sofa next to his two friends and said: “He’s Su Jingmo. I think I’ve mentioned his name to you before.”

“Su Jingmo?!” Wu Hai exclaimed, surprised. “You mean the Emperor, owner of the tomb in Ninghua Village?”

Seeing his two friends completely bewildered, Qin Cheng nodded: “That’s right, the one and only. You should also be able to guess by now what kind of relationship I have with him.”

Zhang Jun was no fool, and by now, how could he not understand that the ‘female ghost’ Qin Cheng was in love with was this person? However, what surprised Zhang Jun the most was to find out that this ghost turned out not to be a woman….?

Zhang Jun, who had been silent all this time, couldn’t help, but raise his head and cautiously ask: “Qin Cheng, you…. is that man really the Emperor of the Xu Dynasty? Is he a human or a ghost?”

“Of course he is human.”

“Then how can a person from thousands of years ago, still be alive?” As he remembered the big tomb they had visited many times before, Zhang Jun felt even more confused: “Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be a ghost? How come he’s alive now?”

“Besides, wasn’t his corpse supposed to have decomposed a long time ago?” Wu Hai added. While looking at Qin Cheng, Wu Hai felt that there was more to this story than it seemed. ‘ For a dead person to come back to life, especially someone from thousands of years ago, unbelievable….. ’

Qin Cheng wasn’t sure where to start explaining either. After a moment of contemplation, Qin Cheng slowly said: “Although his soul was indeed located in Tomb No.1 in Ninghua Village, that tomb was only a ceremonial tomb without a corpse inside. His real body was hidden in the ‘Empress’ Mausoleum….”

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“As for how he came back to life, well….” Actually, when it came to this topic, Qin Cheng didn’t want to say it. So he simply changed the subject: “That’s not important now. What really matters is that he is my lover, now and in the years to come, so I hope that you two can accept that….”

Since Qin Cheng was unwilling to say anything else, Zhang Jun also had no desire to investigate any further. After all, when it came to the unknown, it was often better not to know too much, and forcing his friend to reveal everything was also useless for them. Zhang Jun looked at Qin Cheng with a frown on his face, and sighed before saying: “So, he’s the reason why you rejected Xia Tong, right?”

“Yes,” Qin Cheng didn’t hesitate: “I love him.”

The corners of Qin Cheng’s mouth turned up slightly into a smile, and Zhang Jun couldn’t help, but notice the obvious happiness present in the depths of Qin Cheng’s eyes. ‘T o be honest, I’ve never seen such an expression on Qin Cheng’s face…. it’s as if Qin Cheng has given his whole heart to that Emperor…. ’

‘ Being an onlooker, I don’t have much to say about other people’s feelings, especially when it comes to Qin Cheng. ’

Then, the three friends talked about other matters, until Wu Hai asked: “What about your plans to study abroad? You can’t take him with you, can you?”

Qin Cheng shook his head: “I’m not going abroad to study. Tomorrow I will go to rent a place and settle here, where I’ll work with the local archaeological team.”

“You won’t go?” Although Zhang Jun understood Qin Cheng’s reasons, he nevertheless said: “This is a great opportunity for you.”

Qin Cheng shook his head again: “Actually, it has never been my intention to go abroad to get a PhD. It’s just that, as I had lost my memory back then, accompanied by the daily nightmares, all I wanted was to escape from this place. Now that I have recovered all my memories, I don’t want to leave anymore.” Saying this, Qin Cheng smiled and added: “Besides, I want to reveal the secret of the Xu Dynasty.”

Zhang Jun and Wu Hai looked at Qin Cheng, then smiled, bumping their fists with his: “That’s also a good choice.”

Knowing that Qin Cheng had not been resting properly for a long time, the two friends didn’t push him any further. They suggested for Qin Cheng to go and get some rest. Qin Cheng didn’t refuse, and after taking a shower, he returned to the guest room.

While using a towel to dry his hair with one hand, Qin Cheng used the other to quietly open the door of the room. As he opened the door, Qin Cheng found Su Jingmo sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at him with a smile on his face. Qin Cheng froze for a second, but soon recovered from his stupor, smiled back, and hurriedly walked over to Su Jingmo. Once in front of his lover, Qin Cheng knelt before Su Jingmo, took his hands, and asked: “You woke up?”

“Hmm.” However, Su Jingmo didn’t mention that he hadn’t been able to sleep. He simply smiled, touched Qin Cheng’s damp hair, and said: “It’s kind of hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place.”

“Tomorrow I will go and look for a place where we can move into. That will be our home, and then, when I save enough money, I will buy a house….”

“There’s no hurry.” Su Jingmo shook his head as he used his fingers to massage the dark circles under Qin Cheng’s eyes: “You should rest first.”

With that said, Su Jingmo grabbed Qin Cheng’s chin, arched an eyebrow, and teasingly asked: “I’m sleepy, do you want to hug and sleep with me?”

Qin Cheng enthusiastically nodded his head. After drying his hair as well as he could, Qin Cheng got into the bed. As he wrapped his arms around Su Jingmo’s body, Qin Cheng felt that his lover’s skin was no longer icy. On the contrary, it emanated some warmth. Qin Cheng could even feel Su Jingmo’s slightly warm breath as he exhaled, as well as the steady beating of his heart….

‘ He really has come back to life… ’

Suddenly, tears welled up in Qin Cheng’s eyes: “Jingmo…..”

Leaning towards Qin Cheng, Su Jingmo kissed his cheek and smiled: “Why are you crying now?”

Qin Cheng hugged his lover tightly and shook his head: “I don’t know. I just feel that all this is too good to be real….”

“Too good?”

“Yes.”

“Qin Cheng, did you know that when I was alive…” Upon saying this, Su Jingmo paused suddenly and couldn’t help, but lowered his head with a smile on his face. After all, Su Jingmo had become so used to his existence as a ghost, that being alive again was somewhat strange to him. “Zhen ² used to be an Emperor.”

Hearing this, Qin Cheng was taken aback and couldn’t help, but break away from Su Jingmo a little so that he could look at him: “I know.”

“Zhen would eat mountain delicacies ³ , and drink exquisite wines….”

“….” Qin Cheng was dumbfounded.

“Zhen only drank pre-Qingming tea ⁴ with Longjing’s tea leaves ⁵ ….”

“Mmm….”

“All of Zhen’s clothes were confectioned with mulberry silk weavings ⁶ and decorated with Suzhou embroidery ⁷ .”

Qin Cheng touched his nose, knowing that he was just a poor guy….

“Zhen spent his days surrounded by beauties.”

“I know that too…..”

Observing Qin Cheng’s worried appearance, Su Jingmo’s ink-colored eyes filled with smiles: “However, I can easily give up all those luxuries. I just need you to answer me one thing.”

Qin Cheng, who had intended to say that he would work hard and earn a lot of money, was stunned at Su Jingmo’s words: “What thing?”

Looking Qin Cheng in the eyes, Su Jingmo took a deep breath, wrapped his arms around Qin Cheng’s neck, and smiled slightly. Quite earnestly, Su Jingmo said: “Tell me that for all the lifetimes to come, you will love only me.”

Su Jingmo didn’t rush him for an answer, and simply stared at Qin Cheng.

Qin Cheng suddenly came back to his senses and hugged Su Jingmo tightly. With a trembling voice, Qin Cheng resolutely replied: “I swear. I swear that for all my lives to come, I will love only you.”

“No one else.”

“There’s never been anyone else, but you.”

Suddenly, a light breeze came through the window, slightly lifting the transparent curtains and sending a slight chill across their skin. Slowly, the hot summer was coming to an end….

“Autumn is coming….” Qin Cheng said. “Would you like to go with me to see the red maples and Ginkgo trees on the outskirts of Xi’an?”

“Sure.” Su Jingmo replied. When he smelled the scent emanating from Qin Cheng’s body, a smile formed on his face.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE:

Aaaahhhhh next chapter is the end!!!!! Can’t believe it’s actually going to end, i’ve had so much fun translating this. I have such a soft spot for this novel, but I’m also happy that I was able to finish ithdfghjkljkash

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Footnotes

<ol><b>二百里</b> <b>èr bǎi lǐ</b> ; 200 Li = 100 Km/62.1 miles. Here Su Jingmo changes “I/me” ( <b>我</b> <b>wǒ</b> ) to I/me (Imperial) or Zhen ( <b>朕</b> <b>zhèn</b> ), which could only be used by the Emperor to refer to oneself. <b>山珍</b> <b>shān zhēn</b> ; It refers to various types of rare, valuable food items or ingredients that are typically sourced from mountainous regions and are considered delicacies in Chinese cuisine. These may include rare mushrooms, wild herbs, exotic fruits, as well as other natural products that are highly prized for their unique flavors and nutritional benefits. These delicacies are often used in traditional Chinese dishes, which can be quite expensive due to their limited availability along with special characteristics, so they’re seen especially in dishes prepared for special occasions or as a symbol of luxury and abundance. <b>明前茶</b> <b>míng qián chá</b> ; It refers to tea leaves harvested before the Qingming Festival ( <b>清明节</b> <b>qīng míng jié</b> ) as they’re less susceptible to insect damage, with delicate young buds and leaves, a vibrant green color, a subtle, fragrant aroma, along with a rich and beautiful flavor, making it a premium tea. Additionally, because the temperature before Qingming is generally lower and the number of sprouts is limited, the growth rate is slower, resulting in very low yields meeting the harvesting standards. Therefore, it is often said that “Pre-Qingming tea is as precious as gold.” <b>龙井茶</b> <b>lóng jǐng chá</b> ; It’s a variety of pan-roasted green tea from the area of Longjing Village in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Longjing tea is often celebrated for its unique taste and aroma, produced mostly by hand and renowned for its high quality. <b>桑蚕丝</b> <b>sāng cán sī</b> ; Mulberry silk is a type of silk produced by silkworms (Bombyx mori) that primarily feed on mulberry leaves. It’s known for its softness, sheen, as well as its luxurious texture, making it highly prized for textiles and clothing. Mulberry silk is widely used in the production of high-quality silk fabric and various silk products due to its superior quality compared to other types of silk. <b>苏绣</b> <b>sū xiù</b> ; A traditional style of Chinese embroidery that originates from Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu province. Suzhou embroidery is known for its intricate, delicate needlework, exquisite craftsmanship, and fine details; often featuring depictions of landscapes, birds, flowers, and various other traditional Chinese motifs. The embroidery is done on fine silk fabric with silk threads, and it can take a long time to create even a small piece due to the intricate nature of the work.</ol>