Three Lives Three Worlds
Pillow Book of Samsara:
三生三世 枕上书之梦回洪荒远古时
Feng Jiu rubbed her eyes as she sat up. Feeling a little awkward whilst sitting up, she looked down and realised that she was in her primal fox form. It had been a long time since she had fallen asleep as a fox, so she felt odd as she shook her body, transforming to her human form. She got off the bed, shuffled into her shoes and walked to the window.
In the eastern sky, the full moon hung high. Under the full moon, a purple fog shrouded the immortal mountains, scale like waves growing from the Jade Sea. This was the familiar scenery of the Heavenly Jade Sea.
Earlier in the day, when the two little immortal children fed her the mind clearing elixirs, they had negligently fed her some strong wine instead of water to accompany the medication. The wine interacted with the medicine, and she fell into an unusually deep slumber.
At this moment, her mind was still hazy after just waking up. Hence, she had completely forgotten that she had gone along with Zu Ti’s magical ward, travelling back through time and space in search of her son, Bai Gun Gun. She had assumed that this was just their family’s regular stay at the Heavenly Jade Sea.
Using the illumination of the moonlight, Feng Jiu sized up the interior of the bedchamber for a moment, and recognised it as the side bedchamber.
Why was she sleeping in the side bedchamber?
Another drowsy wave enveloped her, and she yawned, so she didn’t bother to ponder on this question. Shuffling past the two little immortal children who were sleeping like dead logs, she went in the familiar direction towards Di Jun’s bedchamber.
When the door to Sui Han chamber was pushed open, Di Jun was awakened. The cool night wind drifted in through the door, lifting the muslin curtains, wafting the delicate scent of a woman through.
Di Jun was distracted.
Having strange women climbing into his bed in the middle of the night whilst he was sleeping was something he had not experienced for many thousands of years.
Some tens of thousands of years ago, he had once moved to the southern realm to live for a time for the sake of using the demon race’s blood essence to nurture his Cang He sword. The girls of the demon race were daring and unrestrained, and often climbed into his bed offering themselves to him, making it difficult and vexing to defend against.
At that time, the reason the daring demon girls were able to break the restriction ward around his residence and climb into his bed was because he had casually set the ward up — if the ward was too robust, the blood essence could not pass through into his bamboo residence and his Cang He sword could not be nurtured. That was why it wasn’t strange that those demon women had been able to break into his bamboo residence.
But now, he was at the Heavenly Jade Sea, and the restriction ward was no laughing matter. How was it possible for any female immortal, monster or demon to break into his bedchamber in the middle of the night?
At this juncture, Di Jun was suddenly stumped.
Er, there was one person that could.
The person he settled into the side bedchamber — Bai Gun Gun’s mother.
Under the hazy moonlight, with the muslin curtain in between, he was only able to see the delicately beautiful figure of a woman in red clothing taking a few steps into the bedchamber. She was elegant and graceful despite a casual posture.
If this had happened in the past, he would have acted on it and formed a physical barrier to keep the woman outside. But this time, he did absolutely nothing and only silently watched her gradually approaching figure.
He kind of wanted to know what she looked like.
It wasn’t long before the woman arrived in front of his bed. Just as she was about to pull the muslin curtain aside, she suddenly made a small ‘ah’ sound. It appeared as if she had suddenly remembered something, “Ah, I need to change into my night clothes.” As she said those words, she moved with familiarity around the jade bed, and walked towards the wardrobe inside his chamber.
Then her soft voice rang out, “ Huh? Where are all my night clothes? Why are they all Di Jun’s? This wardrobe is definitely the right one. Ah, never mind, I’m sleepy, I’ll just wear his night clothes first.” The swishing sound of clothing being changed followed.
Di Jun sat up, flicking his hand, and the clamshell at the end of the bed slowly opened, revealing an egg sized pearl emitting a gentle fluorescence. The light was weak, but it was enough to brighten the muslin curtain.
The sound of footsteps were soon audible, and in the next moment, the muslin curtains were parted. The woman’s face was completely revealed by the glimmer of the pearl. Di Jun raised his head, and their eyes met in midair.
It was an intensely exquisite face, delicate with a slight child-like air. It was clear to see that she was still a young maiden. Her cloud-like hair cascading down her back, her dark brows were slender and long, her large apricot eyes glossy, the bridge of her nose straight and upright, a small delicate mouth, and lips the colour of cherries.
Di Jun who had never placed beauty in his mind’s eye, had to admit that this face was so exceedingly beautiful that he found it moving. The floral pattern adorning her forehead, whether it was artfully painted or a natural birthmark, had tiny specks of beautiful vermilion red; just like a closed phoenix plume, adding two more points of glamour to her beauty like a finishing touch.
Di Jun felt that his future self 260,000 years into the future still had a really good eye, but this age gap …
The young maiden did not seem to realise that Di Jun was examining her closely. The way she looked at him was clearly very natural, just like how she was wearing his nightclothes, standing by the bed, and looking at each other. It was as if it was something she had done countless times as a daily habit. She mindlessly raised her hand to cover her little cherry mouth as she yawned, “Di Jun, you haven’t gone to sleep yet, were you waiting for me?”
Di Jun was considering how to answer her question and how to politely request that she leave his bedchamber. But before he could finish thinking, she had already kicked off her shoes and climbed into his bed, naturally squeezing herself against his chest, muttering to herself, “Ah, so sleepy.” Less than three counts later, her breathing steadied, and she was fast asleep.
Di Jun wasn’t sure what to say, but at the same time, he was very rarely unsure of what to do. Yet he still did not push her out of his bedchamber.
The pure, sweet breath of the young maiden gradually filled the muslin curtain.
After the duration of one incense stick, Di Jun realised that he had a question.
When she was a little fox in the day, he had not felt it. But now that she had transformed into her human form, and was lying closely against him wrapped in his embrace, her breathing was clear and could easily be discerned. Aside from the floral scent that usually adorned her body, what had shocked him was the fact that her body, hair and the depths of her blood vessels carried the essence of his breath.
The faint smell of sandalwood, an essence that was rooted and grown within his body over thousands of years and had to be nurtured by his unique crimson gold blood. She must have drunk a fair amount of his blood.
Her fair, delicately slender hands held his collar lightly. Around her forefinger rested a ring he could not possibly ignore. The body of the azure stone ring was blood red, and on the face of the ring rose a pair of phoenix plumes, modeled exactly like the birthmark on her forehead. The scarlet colour carried a hint of gold within, appearing like the resplendent morning clouds at sunrise. He could almost tell at a glance that this was a magical protective artifact carrying the essence of his breath.
This was no ordinary magical artifact; it was certainly constructed using a part of his flesh and blood for it to possess such boundless amounts of his majestic immortal beneficence, as well as such a clear manifestation of his breath essence.
He had no idea what frame of mind he had been in 260,000 years in the future to compel him to preciously protect this beautiful young maiden by his side. A young maiden he had cherished to such an extent that anyone could tell that she was a part of him at a glance. He could also finally understand why this young maiden could pass unhindered into the Heavenly Jade Sea.
Her entire body was steeped in his breath essence, whatever he had was naturally hers. As long as it was a ward set up by him, even the highest level of wards, the starlight ward, might not be able to stop her.
He thought through and came to an understanding of these events. Other than feeling a bit surprised at the start, he did not feel particularly alarmed, and only felt the situation was inconceivable and was a little at a loss.
“Ah, it’s warm.” the young maiden lying closely against him suddenly turned her body, moving a little further away from him, semi-consciously pulling at her collar. His night clothes were already too large for her body. When she pulled at her collar, the cross collar precariously covering her soft bosom, exposed her naked collarbone, and a large portion of snow white skin. Di Jun took a glance before averting his gaze.
As she slept by his side, she would move into a horizontal position for a while, and move again to a splayed position for another while, and finally, she would always end up rolling into his embrace. Her night clothes were in complete disarray after all the rolling around, so Di Jun shut his eyes and helped her close the lapel of her robe on her behalf.
Just after he had tightly gathered her robe together, her right leg guilelessly found its way onto his waist. After watching her walk with such elegance and grace, her sleeping postures were truly an eye-opener.
Although Di Jun had no interest in women, he still did not have the notion of propriety and guard that typically exists between a man and a woman, so he grabbed her leg and moved it off his body. But the satiny feel of her leg distracted him for a moment, stopping him for two breaths before his hands left her leg. As if she had sensed his touch, she moved a little, and retracted her leg on her own. She was well-behaved for a mere twinkle of an eye before both her arms looped around him.
Di Jun remained silent for a moment, then he pushed her awake, “Sleep properly, stop flailing about.”
The young maiden who was pushed awake was bleary eyed, and still in a daze, “But it’s not comfortable.”
“Where is it uncomfortable?”
“The bed is a little hard.”
She did not sleep comfortably, and was quite picky, so this might have been the right time to get her to sleep in the side chamber. But at that moment, Di Jun had forgotten about that option, and instead, did his utmost to help her solve the difficult problem of a hard bed. It was as if acceding to her every plea was the solution to this problem.
He raised his hand, and several layers of cloud quilts appeared on the bed. He sat her up and squeezed the quilts under her. She laid down to try them out, blinking her eyes as she remarked, “It seems to be too soft.”
He nodded his head, and got her up, removing two layers of cloud quilts. Then he let her lie down again to try them out, “Is that better now”?”
She rolled on the quilts twice, “It seems to be ok, but I would need to try it for a while.” She rolled right back into his embrace again as she spoke.
He was stumped for a while, “Didn’t you feel warm?”
Her small head was nestled into the side of his neck, “No.”
“Is it cold again?”
She yawned a little, turning sullen, “Can’t I hug you if it’s not cold?” She raised her head and looked at him suspiciously, “Is it because you don’t like me anymore?”
Di Jun, who was rarely stumped, could not answer this question.
She wasn’t sure how it happened, but her tears began falling immediately.
Di Jun who had never encountered such a situation stiffened, “You ... Don’t cry.”
She looked at him through tear streaked hazy eyes for a while when she suddenly giggled, “I was bluffing you.”
She sat up and smugly raised her small chin, “Di Jun, has my fake crying been raised to the point of perfection that you actually fell for it? I have been practicing for a long time!”
He also sat up. She had lied to him, and yet he did not feel the need to be angry with her. Instead, he felt that her eyes and brows became lively, bright and beautiful, “Why do you practice such things?”
“Because I wasn’t able to fool you before?” She feigned a glare at him, enlarging her apricot eyes till they were round, “You are such an awful person. When I pretended to cry, you would not feel sorry for me. Instead, you would let me cry louder and say that you love to make people cry.”
Fake crying to hoodwink others, and if others don’t feel sorry or pamper her, she would get angry. This was just being deliberately provocative without reason. However, as she said those words, the young maiden’s eyes became limpid and innocent, which made her truly endearing and moving to him.
She gazed at him, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
He raised his eyebrows, “Since you were pretending to cry, why should I feel sorry for you?”
She stiffened her posture and glared at him once again, lightly hammering him with her fist once, “You still refuse to repent!” She thought for a bit, “I was not as skillful in the past, and you would always see through it. Let’s just assume that I was no good, but now, I have relied on my real ability to hoodwink you into feeling sorry for me. Don’t you think I am awesome?”
He did not answer her childish question, and asked her a question in return, “You said I was awful just now, so don’t I treat you well?
“Ah … about this, “ she suddenly turned shy, and lowered her head, mumbling to herself for a moment before softly speaking, “No, you are good, when I said you were awful, I did not really mean that. It’s just because you were always so annoying and frequently teased me, but you have always been very good to me.”
When she finished saying those words, her demeanour remained shy. But she summoned a little bit of courage, reaching out to hold his hand. Then she placed his hand onto the side of her face just like the move that foxes make when they wanted to get close to someone.
Afterwards, she placed her cherry red lips intimately onto the back of his hand, an action that was uncharacteristic of a little fox. His hand shivered, the skin on the back of his hand felt like it had instantly caught fire.
She did not notice the change in him, and moved to encircle his neck. When she raised her hands, the wide sleeves slid down, her silky arms tight and snug against the base of his neck, her breath like the scent of orchids by his ears. Her voice was soft like it had been cleansed by a fog, her tone lowering coquettishly at him, “Let’s not talk anymore, I am sleepy.”
“Then just go to sleep.” A long time later, he heard his own soft voice replying to her. His voice sounded quite calm on listening, but once it entered his ears, it felt unreal. This night had felt like an unfathomable surreality to him.
Di Jun laid down on the cloud bed to accompany the young maiden by his side once again. He was only able to calm his soul a long time later.
It seemed that he had definitely married this girl willingly. Their relationship was also very good. She was a beautiful, sly and a little muddle headed girl who loved to act coquettishly.
There were stars in her eyes and an expression filled with reverence whenever she looked at him. She carried his breath essence all over her body, and had crashed unbridled through his wards regardless of his own wishes.
She had familiarly gotten close to him, hugged him, said those coquettish words to him, and had placed her face against his hands…. He raised his hand and pressed it over his heart, then he felt his heart skip a beat.
When Feng Jiu woke up, she saw the sleeping face of Di Jun close by, and wanted to kiss him out of habit. As she moved her head closer to him, she thought about the fact that Di Jun was supposed to be in seclusion, and that she was the one who had personally sent him to Yang Shu chamber.
Just as she was about to reach the young man’s lips, she suddenly reacted to her thoughts like a quiver and immediately got up, pulling herself into a proper sitting position.
Yes, she had definitely sent Di Jun to Yang Shu chamber for his seclusion. After that, she had left Tai Chen Palace to look for Gun Gun, preparing to take him back to Qing Qiu. As it turned out, the steward of Yuan Ji Palace, Fairy Tian Bu had hurried to meet her, saying that His Highness, Lian San, had some urgent business to request of her.
She followed Tian Bu to Yuan Ji Palace. It was only after she got there that she found out Gun Gun had accidentally collided into Goddess Zu Ti’s seclusion ward, and had been sent 260,000 years back to the Age of Chaos.
Goddess Zu Ti had consoled her by saying that fortunately this wasn’t a big matter. Based on the traces left behind by the lightwave that sent Gun Gun back to the past, she was able to calculate that Gun Gun would be able to return 449 days later. Goddess Zu Ti had seen a great many major situations and felt that this wasn’t a big issue. But Feng Jiu did not dare to think so, and anxiously pleaded with Zu Ti to send her back as well.
The spell was a success, and she had travelled here. But she remembered that the ward had sent her to the banks of the Golden Mirror Lake, so why was she currently on Di Jun’s bed?
Her mind was like a patch of glue, the events of the night before flashing through her mind in several segments, making her mushy brain feel even more chaotic. Right at this moment, the young man awoke, and sat up, quietly watching her.
The only thing Feng Jiu knew was that this Di Jun was from 260,000 years before, so he would not know her.
She stuttered as she tried to explain, “If I told … told you this, you might not possibly believe me, but I am your Empress. I have time travelled from two hundred and sixty thousand years in the future to this time. I have come mainly to search for my son, and … and also your son. He had accidentally collided with Goddess Zu Ti’s ward and had been sent here. If you don’t believe me,” she steeled herself, “I can tell you that your lower back has a …”
“I believe you.” Di Jun interrupted, “The Gun Gun you are looking for is also here in the stone palace.”
Feng Jiu heaved a sigh of relief after knowing Gun Gun was safe, but at the same time she was surprised, “You believe me just like that?” She was a little dazed, “How could you believe me so easily?”
Di Jun calmly replied, “I do indeed have a mole on my lower back, after all.”
Feng Jiu felt that he really had no sense of vigilance, “What if I had seen it by secretly watching you bathe?”
Di Jun was very patient, “I don’t believe you could have watched me bathe in secret and leave entirely intact..”
Feng Jiu gave it a thought and concluded that this was true. “This is also true.” She said, “But I could possibly have …”
Di Jun cut her short, “Do you want me to believe you or not?”
Feng Jiu was caught for a moment, “Of ... of course I want you to believe me.”
Di Jun nodded, and got off the bed, “I believe you, I’ll take you to see Bai Gun Gun now.” He paused momentarily, his mood not apparent and appeared to merely ask in passing, “Then you will immediately take him back, right?
Feng Jiu shook her head, “Goddess Zu Ti has said that we will probably need to stay here for over four hundred days to wait for a destined opportunity. Only when that happens, will we be able to return."
“Oh,” Di Jun adjusted his sleeves, “so you still need to stay for over four hundred days.” He glanced at her, “What are you both planning to do over the next four hundred odd days?”
In the process of talking to Di Jun, last night’s fragmented memories finally pieced themselves together.
Feng Jiu made a quiet ‘Ah’ sound. The Di Jun standing before her, appeared to be cold and indifferent, just like the snow at the peak of a mountain, where one can hope but not get close to. But on recalling last night’s memories, this seemingly unapproachable young man didn’t appear to be that difficult to get close to.
Was it because he had already known that she was his future wife that he tolerated not only sleeping with her on the same bed, but also taking great pains to ensure that she slept more comfortably and steadily?
Hmm, Di Jun had always been perceptive, so this was a possibility.
But forget it, these were not important. What was more important was the fact that he still indulged her even though he wasn’t familiar with her. This was enough to make her feel satisfied, so she was very happy.
This was something she would never have had the opportunity to see; a young Di Jun, 260,000 years in the past. Happiness and excitement began to grow from the bottom of her heart. On hearing Di Jun asking her what she had planned to do in the next 400 odd days, she couldn’t hold back the little devil inside her heart.
What was she planning to do?
Heh Heh.
She suddenly jumped up and stood by the edge of the bed, and lightly leaped onto Di Jun’s body, wrapping both arms around his neck, and both legs around his waist.
Di Jun appeared to be in a daze, but he still instinctively extended his arms, embracing her waist to prevent her from falling.
She raised her eyebrows, and gave a crinkly smile to the gorgeous silver haired young man before her, “What do I have in mind? Of course I intend to eat Di Jun’s food, wear Di Jun’s clothes and live in Di Jun’s palace. After that, I shall use myself to repay the debt, and very sweetly spend the next four hundred odd days with Di Jun!”
Di Jun stiffened, his expression blank, and he remained quiet for a very long time.
Di Jun used to be the one who teased her in the past. Since when did she have the chance to tease him with such success, so she was just extremely pleased with herself. Her desire to take advantage of the situation was aroused as she kissed him again to watch his reaction. It was only when she pouted her lips that she realised something was wrong.
Casting her eyes downwards, she couldn’t help but let out a string of curses.
Di Jun had actually turned her back into her primal fox form.
At the breakfast table of the Heavenly Jade Sea, Gun Gun was very happy to see his mother, so he ate an extra bowl of food. But Jiu Jiu did not seem to have a good appetite.
Gun Gun couldn’t help worrying, and showed his concern by inquiring after her, “ Jiu Jiu, why aren’t you happy? Is it because the food is too bland?” Gun Gun nodded his head in earnest, “ I know you love food with a stronger flavour.”
Feng Jiu shook her head, “It’s not because of that,” appearing level headed as she had always done in front of Gun Gun, “it’s just that when I wanted to kiss your Father Lord this morning, he ended up turning me into a little fox. Wouldn’t you say he was too much?”
“Wow.” Gun Gun was shocked, and forcefully swallowed the bun in his mouth, “I heard Cheng Yu say, no, I heard Goddess Zu Ti say that this sort of thing is called being unromantic, “ he looked at his Father Lord meaningfully, “Goddess Zu Ti also said that unromantic men were destined to lead a lonely life, and would not be able to find a wife in three lives three worlds!”
Di Jun raised his eyes, “If I wasn’t able to find a wife, where do you think you came from?”
Gun Gun was stumped for a while. Feng Jiu who was by his side stabbing at a bun, backed Gun Gun softly, “Even if you did manage to get me, then you will also lose me very quickly!”
Di Jun looked her in the eye indifferently, “I have had you for less than a day, and have not had the time to get used to it. Losing you wouldn’t count for much.”
Feng Jiu, “ … ”
Gun Gun, “ ... “
Mother and son looked at each other, unsure of how they should respond to come out on top of the situation, so they could only have their meal in companionable silence.
After breakfast, Feng Jiu brought Gun Gun to the immortal mountains to fly his kite.
Gun Gun was an immortal child born in the mortal realms. For two hundred years after his birth, he had never seen his Father Lord. It wasn’t until Jiu Jiu brought him back to Nine Heavens two hundred years later that he returned to Tai Chen Palace to pay homage to his ancestry. That was also the first time he had met his Father Lord. But since his first meeting with his Father Lord, his Father Lord had been doing his utmost in cherishing his mother in every way.
But this morning at the breakfast table, his Father Lord had said it wasn’t a loss to him if he didn’t have Jiu Jiu. This caused Gun Gun to worry, so he couldn’t help asking Feng Jiu privately, “Was the Father Lord before I was born this difficult to deal with?”
Feng Jiu, who was lying on the grassy underbrush chewing on the root of a reed pipe, softly sighed, “Yes, he was especially difficult to handle.” She even flaunted her achievement to him, “But I, your mother, did manage to settle him. Wouldn’t you say your mother is awesome?”
Gun Gun nodded his head in reverence, but he still felt worried for her, “But the Father Lord of this time has treated Jiu Jiu a little coldly. If he doesn’t want to be nice to you, what are you going to do, Jiu Jiu?”
Feng Jiu remained calm, ”There’s nothing to be done, he only needs to take care of our food and lodging.” She smiled, “I want to see what your Father Lord was like in his youth, so I am not concerned if he currently treats me well or not. It’s because I have already obtained the best Di Jun at the right time anyway!”
Gun Gun could not really understand her words, so Feng Jiu smiled and stroked his head.
But what Feng Jiu did not comprehend at this moment was, there was no such thing as the right time to have the best Di Jun. This was because the Di Jun of any time has always been the best one.
However, she would comprehend this very soon.
Glossary for Chapter Four
Heavenly Jade Sea of the Sacred Spirit 碧海苍灵 Bi Hai Cang Ling
(Shortened to Heavenly Jade Sea for
general use)
Emperor Lord 帝君 Di Jun
Golden Mirror Lake 金镜湖 Jin Jing Hu
Feng Jiu 凤九 Feng Jiu
Notes
1. We used Di Jun instead of Emperor Lord in most of the story as this word is repeated many times in the book since Feng Jiu tends to refer to her husband as Di Jun, instead of using his first name, and the shorter Di Jun is better utilised in the outtake as it's a lot shorter, making it easier to read.
Credits
Header Pictures: Tencent, Eternal Love of Dream
Story: 唐七 | Tang Qi
Book Title: 三生三世 枕上书之梦回洪荒远古时 | Pillow Book of Samsara: Back to Chaos in a Dream
Copyright Statement
The above translation is translated by our translation team from Chinese author, Tang Qi’s original work, Back to Chaos in a Dream Part 4, an outtake of her book, Three Lives Three Worlds, Pillow Book of Samsara. All copyright belongs to Tang Qi.
以上的英语翻译都是本翻译师从唐七原作， 三生三世枕上书番外， 梦回洪荒元古时第四段所翻译的。版权都是作者唐七所拥有。
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