CHAPTER 25: MEMORIES OR DREAMS?

Inside the Memorial room, Cecilia observed the area. The interior was small and didn’t have much-only a huge altar in front, on top was a wooden name tablet, burned incenses, and food for the decease; and on the ground were three cushions. As she got closer to the altar, the name on the tablet became visible to read.

“Goddess Wu Li Ling…” she muttered.

“She was my mother,” said Wu Jian and stood next to her. “She passed away when I was four years old.”

Surprised of the relationship, she glanced at him and saw his gloomed face. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” he tightened his smile.

They heard a female’s voice talking to Guo Jing and Jian Tao and turned around. Cecilia saw an elegant woman wore red and gold robe. Her floral outfit was made out of fine silk embroidery from her bust to the bottom of her dress. She had a gold phoenix hair piece on top of her hair bun, and on each side were gold hair sticks with hanging beads.

“Come, let me introduce you to my step queen mother,” said Wu Jian and both walked toward the others.

The closer Cecilia got to Li Hua, the more she saw Li Hua’s physical beauty and youth-skin was porcelain and flawless to perfection, and her eyes were amber like Guo Jing’s. Wu Jian introduced Cecilia to his step mother and Cecilia bowed to greet her. Li Hua nodded to acknowledge her greeting.

She then turned to Jian Tao, “My King, is Miss Xiao the woman that our Wu warriors were trying to search for?”

Jian Tao nodded. “Yes.”

She glanced at Cecilia, “I’m relieved that you were unharmed.”

“Thank you,” said Cecilia.

Jian Tao turned to Li Hua, “Miss Xiao needs to be healed by Immortal Tears.”

Knowing that Cecilia and Guo Jing were outsiders, Li Hua grew concerned. “Oh?”

“Step Queen mother, she’s been poisoned by Black Death Palm,” said Wu Jian.

She looked at Cecilia up and down, then Guo Jing. “Are they worthy to be trusted of our sacred place?”

“Since they are Wei-er’s benefactor and friends, I grant them access.” Jian Tao turned to Cecilia and Guo Jing, “Immortal Tears is Wu tribe’s sacred place and only a few trustworthy outsiders have been to it.”

Jian Tao walked and stood in front of his late wife’s wooden name tablet. “When my late queen was still an immortal goddess, she created Immortal Tears by using her own tears and blood. It was her gift to the Wu tribe.” He turned around and looked at Cecilia and Guo Jing. “Miss Xiao, Physician Guo…Chu Kingdom will soon is Wu tribe’s ally. When the flood gates of Wu tribe open for the Chu’s, some will seek for the sacred place only to steal a drop of it. For the sake of my people, the location of the sacred place shall remain a secret after you leave Wu tribe. Can I have your words on that?”

Cecilia and Guo Jing bowed, “Yes Your Majesty.”

“Very well. Let’s proceed then.”

Jian Tao stood in front of the altar and kneeled down to kowtow to his late queen. Then he waved his right hand sideways and the altar started to move itself to the right. Cecilia and Guo Jing glanced at each other, dumbstruck by the secret hidden door. The altar came into a complete halt, and they gathered at the foot of the dark entrance. Cecilia saw faint stairs made out of stones that led down to the unknown. A cold draft brushed against them, Cecilia shivered and rubbed her arms to warm herself. Jian Tao took the first step to go down the stairs; all of a sudden the torches on both sides ignited themselves, lighting the dark path for them to see. As they made their way down down, Cecilia heard the door to the entrance closed. They finally reached the ground floor and walked further into the cold and damp tunnel. Droplets of water and their shuffling footsteps echoed and Cecilia wondered how far this sacred place was. They made a right turned and reached an open entrance, and stopped. A breeze of floral scent came rushing out from the entrance to greet them, and Cecilia recognized it.

“Am I dreaming? Is it really here?”

Jian Tao turned to Cecilia, “Miss Xiao, inside is Immortal Tears. The Queen will assist you while we wait outside.”

“Thank you Your Majesty.”

Li Hua and Cecilia entered in and Cecilia’s eyes widened in amazement. In front were the jelly-like flowers swaying back and forth. It reminded her of the magical place where Xing Fu proposed to her, they made out, and where he laid to rest. She started to get emotional. Her tears fell to her cheeks and she wiped them.

“I can’t believe these flowers are really here,” she muttered.

Li Hua glanced at her and saw her watery eyes. “You’ve seen these Immortal Gems before?”

Cecilia pondered, “So they are called Immortal Gems…” and answered sadly, “Yes…back home…”

Li Hua was stunned to hear that Immortal Gems existed outside of their perimeter and needed to inform Jian Tao about it afterwards.

She smiled warmly. “These Immortal Gems must mean a lot to you.”

Cecilia nodded and wiped her falling tears, “It does…”

“Are you sure you’re ready to get heal with the state you’re in?”

Cecilia faintly smiled and sniffed. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Li Hua directed her hand toward a small pond, covered with thick white fog. “This is Immortal Tears. All you will need to do is soak your body in it. Relax your body and mind and let the Immortal Tears do its work. You will experience burning sensation and sharp pain in your wounds, but don’t be afraid; it is only healing it.”

“Immortal Tears is that incredible?”

“Yes it is. That is why outsiders want to steal it. Now, get undress.”

As Cecilia undressed herself, Li Hua saw her wound and was stunned by its massive shape. A black hand print embedded into Cecilia’s chest and her veins were black, sprouted out like roots in all directions. It stopped to her shoulder and down to her breast. Cecilia noticed her facial reaction and felt embarrassed.

“I know it looks horrible…”

Li Hua faintly smiled. “Don’t worry. After healing, it will disappear.”

She nodded and thanked Li Hua. She dipped her toe into the water and felt a light electrical shock. It startled her and she quickly pulled it out.

“It shocked me.”

“Don’t worry, it’s only trying to recognize its patient,” said Li Hua.

Cecilia shut her eyes and took a deep breath before entering in. She then bravely dipped her naked body into Immortal Tears, ignored the electrical shock, and sat down to relax her body and mind. Glowing dots of lights from the flowers and foliage began to rise up to the surface and surrounded the women. Cecilia felt a burning sensation inside of her chest and knew Immortal Tears was slowly healing her wound. Her black veins started to disappear, then the handprint, until her hidden ivory skin was revealed. Upon healing success, Immortal Tears found another wound and traveled up to her brain. During the process, she started to have dream-like visions.

Cecilia walked into an unfamiliar territory wearing the yellow robe dress that Xing Fu had given her. The garden was full of red and pink roses, and next to it was a massive building. It wasn’t like the ones that she saw back in Chu kingdom that were made out of stones and mud clays. This one was made out of red bricks and had long rectangular glass windows. It was about six stories high and on the wall, next to the glass door, were the words, “God’s Children.” She was puzzled by the wondrous architectural building and wondered where she was. Then she heard a little girl’s laughter behind her and turned around. A little girl, about three years old, wore a white fluffy dress with small pig tails, giggled with other small children as they play tag. Nuns were nearby to supervise the children and at the same time, were being entertained also.

A little girl with bangs shouted out, laughing, “Cici, you can’t catch me!”

Little Cecilia replied back, “I will too!” and giggled.

A boy made elephant ears with his hands and stuck his tongue out at little Cecilia. One of the nuns saw him and scolded.

“Zhang Aiguo! Behave or else no more play time for you!”

The boy sneered at the nun and continued to run with the children.

Little Cecilia tripped on the edge of the grass and cement and fell, scraping her knee. She cried as one of the older nuns, Annie Tang, quickly rushed to her aid.

“Auntie Annie…I got an owie…”

Annie Tang smiled and whispered softly, “Cecilia, don’t worry. It will disappear by the end of the day. Come, I’ll put a Band-Aid on your owie ok?”

Little Cecilia stopped crying and nodded.

The scene in front of her transitioned to a playground setting. Little Cecilia was six years old and saw a skinny little boy sitting alone by himself on the bench. His body slouched forward and head was tilted down. She approached him and stood in front, stared curiously at him. The little boy noticed a shadow on his shirt and glanced up. He was surprised to see her.

She waved at him, “Hi, my name is Cecilia Lin. What is your name?” and gave him a friendly smile.

He didn’t reply back. Then a group of kids around her age came and surrounded them.

One of the boys pointed at the boy, “He’s a mute!”

Another one shouted, “He’s dumb!”

The poor little boy felt sad and tilted his head down as the children continued to mock and laugh at him. Little Cecilia got upset. She turned around, crossed her tiny arms in front, and glared at them. When they saw her blazing eyes, they immediately stopped laughing. They were afraid of her since she was the nuns’ favorite child. Little Cecilia turned back to the boy and saw him staring at her in awe.

“Can you talk?” she asked curiously.

He shook his head.

“Do you know your name?”

He shook his head again.

She smiled, “Then I call you Nameless.”

His face lit up and nodded.

She extended her hand to him. “Come Nameless, let’s go play.”

He grabbed her tiny hand and got up. One of the children wanted to play with them also and little Cecilia agreed. Then all of the children wanted to play with them and she let them.

The little girl reminded of herself-brave and tough. Cecilia then questioned herself, why is she seeing this ‘Cecilia’ person’s childhood life?

The scene changed again, and this time, Cecilia was on a rooftop with little Cecilia and Nameless. They had stolen some candies in the staff lounge and came up to the rooftop to eat. A bully appeared and he stole their candies from their hands. Then he pushed little Cecilia on the ground and Nameless came to defend her. During the boys’ tussled, the bully pushed Nameless hard and he staggered backwards. Nameless fell off the rooftop and little Cecilia was shocked.

“NAMELESS!!!” She cried out.

She got up and ran to the edge where he fell. While sobbing, she looked down and saw Nameless drifting further away from her until she heard a “thump”. His lifeless body lay on the ground and blood secretly seeped under from his body onto the cement floor. Her cry immediately turned into fume of hatred and hurt. The celtic diamond-shaped mark appeared on the nape of her neck and shot out beams of green lights. She turned around and faced the bully. Her hazel eyes turned grass green and glared at him. The bully became petrified and couldn’t move.  

She let out a high shriek, forcing out a huge wave of qi from her little body toward him. The strong qi blew his body off the ground and hit the brick wall. His body stuck sideways by the qi force pushing against him that the brick walls began to crack. The bully felt his insides being crushed. He tried to scream for help but couldn’t due to excessive pressure on his body. Then little Cecilia heard a familiar female voice calling her name and the mark on her neck disappeared. Her greenish eyes turned back to hazel, and the bully’s body dropped to the ground. Cecilia saw the bully lied motionless and knew what she just did. She collapsed onto the ground in tears and wrapped herself into a ball, trembling and sobbing, until the woman came to her aid.

“Cecilia!”

Little Cecilia turned and saw the Annie Tang. “Aunty Annie…” she sobbed.

Annie Tang ran and embraced her in her arms.

“I’m scared…” sobbed little Cecilia.

“Shhh…Don’t cry sweetie. Everything will be alright…”

Moments later, other nuns rushed to them and the bully’s side.

One of the nuns checked the bully’s pulse, it was faint. “Call the ambulance!”

Cecilia was speechless of everything she just saw. The little girl reminded her of the time when she fought with the killers during her and Xing Fu’s wedding. Something happened on that day that made her had extreme unknown powers. She pondered about the connections between her and the ‘Cecilia’ person.

The scene changed again. This time, she stood in a white room and across from her was a woman. Her back figure was toward Cecilia. The woman’s black and silky hair was armpit length and wore an ivory satin nightgown.

Curious of whom she might be, Cecilia called out, “Hello?”

The woman turned around. Cecilia gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. The woman was herself and she smiled widely at her.

“Why…why do you look like me?”

The woman walked toward her and spoke, “You are me,” and stopped in front of her.

“Me?”

The woman smirked, “You are Cecilia Lin.”

Cecilia remembered during her wedding when Tsui Man called her ‘Cecilia Lin’. She shook her head in denial and started to panic.

“No…I’m Xiao Xing…I’M NOT CECILIA LIN!”

“Yes you are. Look around you…” The woman raised her arms up to her side and the white background transition to ‘Her World’, full of modern buildings, transportations, and people dressed in modern clothing. “This is your world that you were raised in.”

“N…No…That’s not true…”

Upset, the woman’s eyes bulged out and shouted at her, “Open your eyes Cecilia!”

Images of her relationship with the faceless man flooded her mind and his name, ‘Kai’, was called repeatedly by her and Tsui Man in the background. The faceless man started to reveal himself to her and Cecilia fought it. She clasped her hands over her head; her eyes shut tightly, and screamed at the top of her lungs, “NO…I’M XIAO XING!!! I’M XIAO XING!!!”

A strong wave of qi came out of her and blew the woman away. The woman and ‘Her World’ vanished into thin air. There was only silent. She opened her eyes and saw everything around her was gone except for the white room.

Relieved that she won, she muttered, “I’m Xiao Xing…”

Cecilia’s battle with herself inside her mind had caused her body to feel painful poundings in her head. She couldn’t handle it anymore and let out a scream of excruciating pain that the celtic diamond-shaped mark made itself known. It shined brightly that Li Hua had to cover her eyes with her long sleeves. The men rushed into Immortal Cave and saw the light coming out from Cecilia’s nape of the neck. Jian Tao and Guo Jing both saw beneath her flowing hair, the mark and froze in disbelief.

“The Celestial Mark!” exclaimed Guo Jing and Jian Tao in unison.

Both glanced at each other, surprised that the other one knew about the mark.

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At the Eastern Pavilion Manor where the Elders and the Taoist students stayed, they felt a strange energy coming from within the Palace walls. Elder Tao quickly tapped his finger tips with his thumb to find the problem.

“Something’s happening in Immortal Tears. Quick, let’s go,” said Elder Tao.

They rushed out of the place and head to the Memorial Room.

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The Celestial Mark suddenly disappeared. Cecilia began to lose consciousness and slipped underneath the water.

“Xiao Xing!” shouted Guo Jing.

Wu Jian quickly took out off his cloak and dove into the water before Cecilia’s face sank underneath. He covered her naked body with the cloak, picked her up, and flew out of the water. He landed, holding onto her unconscious body in front of him. He sat her on the ground and placed her head on his shoulder. She was paled and Wu Jian grew concerned.

He lightly tapped her cheeks with his hand. “Xiao Xing! Wake up…Xiao Xing!”

Jian Tao, Li Hua, and Guo Jing gathered around in hope that she regained conscious. Wu Jian tapped her cheeks a couple more times and finally, she opened her eyes. She heard her name calling and slowly glanced up. She saw Wu Jian’s face transitioned to Xing Fu and her heart started to ache. She missed him dearly and had dreamed of longing to meet him every night. Today, her dream finally came true and she started to cry. She raised her hand and touched Wu Jian’s cheek. His face was warm to her touch and couldn’t believe it was really him.

Everyone, especially Wu Jian, was stunned by her behavior. His heart skipped a beat when she touched his cheek and his face flushed red.

“Xing Fu…” she cried.

Wu Jian felt his heart sank. Inside, he laughed, feeling stupid that she would like him. He should have known that her heart was still with Xing Fu.  

Then she fainted.

“Son, take Miss Xiao to the Eastern Pavilion Manor,” said Jian Tao.

“Alright King father.”

Back at the Memorial Room, they met the Elders and the Taoist students. The Elders and the Taoists students greeted the Royals. Elder Tao recognized Guo Jing and folded his hands in front.

“Chen Guo Jing, it’s great to see you again.”

Jian Tao raised a brow, “Oh? You two know each other?”

Guo Jing and Elder Tao glanced at each other. Elder Tao could tell from Guo Jing’s silent pleading that he didn’t want his demon identity to be known to Jian Tao.

“Your Majesty, he’s an old friend of Ma Guo Wei,” smiled Elder Tao.

Jian Tao chuckled and joked, “I see. It’s great to know old Guo Wei has friends.”

Guo Jing slightly smiled with a nod at Elder Tao to thank him silently. Elder Tao saw and acknowledged him.

“We felt a strange energy and came to find out what it was,” said Elder Shi.

Wu Jian and the others glanced at each other. They knew that the strange energy came from Cecilia.

Elder Tao glanced down at Cecilia. “Who is she?”

“She’s a friend of mine, Xiao Xing, and she is the reason of the strange energy.” explained Guo Jing.