Cherish the Person Before You

"How far along are you and Yu Xian?" Looking straight into Zhang Buyao's eyes, Nora suddenly asked in a low voice. "We're just ordinary friends! You're his wife—don't talk nonsense." Zhang Buyao's face flushed crimson. Feeling as though she had been caught red-handed by the rightful wife, she hurriedly defended herself. Applying a gentle burst of force, Nora pressed her sword against Zhang Buyao's, pushing them apart before resuming their spar with standard swordplay. Swinging her longsword while watching Zhang Buyao, Nora smiled. "As expected of a child who grew up in the human world. We are Transcendents; our lifespans are countless times longer than those of mere ants. What they call a long life is really just a century or so—in fact, most never even make it to a hundred years. "Compared to mayflies that are born in the morning and die by dusk, our lives are far too long. "Why should we abide by their rules, their worldview, and their narrow-minded notions? "Did you know? I've been a vampire since childhood, and my father was a vampire too. Across his long life, he had many, many wives. My mother was merely one among them. "That's why I've never minded Salty Fish having more and more partners. Staring at only one person for a thousand years, ten thousand years, or hundreds of millions of years would simply be too boring." "Don't you ever get jealous?" Zhang Buyao asked, visibly taken aback. Nora looked puzzled. "Why would I be jealous? In fact, several years ago I already thought about finding someone to take my place, because I needed more time to cultivate. Salty Fish once told me that emotions are finite, desires are finite, and naturally, love is finite as well. "I don't want the love between Salty Fish and me to burn out too quickly. Perhaps he can love me for ten years, or a hundred years, but it's entirely impossible for him to love me for a million years or ten million years. The longer two people stay together, the more they need to grant each other space and time. So I hope someone can look after him and keep him company when I'm not around. That, too, is an expression of my love for him." "Then the two of you could just work hard to manage the relationship together! My parents—" Just as Zhang Buyao was about to rebut her, she suddenly recalled that her own parents rarely appeared together either. Seeing her abrupt silence, Nora smiled gently. "Aren't I managing it right now? I think you're a great fit for Salty Fish, so I want to play matchmaker. I hope the two of you can find happiness." "Nora, you're being way too weird," Zhang Buyao couldn't help but complain. Nora shook her head. "No, this is simply how a Transcendent ought to think. If one cannot even accept this much, then even if they become a Transcendent, they will never live a long life. That is what people mean when they say intense passion burns itself out." In truth, Nora and Yu Xian had even gone through a cold-war phase. Over the course of their long marriage of more than a decade, being apart for too long had dulled the sensation of love. Yu Xian had only been able to faintly rekindle the feeling of when they first fell in love by eating Love-Flavored Candy. When Zhang Shou was going through his divorce, he had asked Yu Xian whether he still loved Nora. Back then, Yu Xian had only dared to say he loved her after eating the candy. It was not until he entered the Zhen Realm—reliving weakness, separation, and reunion—that they truly rediscovered their love for each other. "Don't let the thinking and prejudices of mayflies and ants trouble you. If you feel like a third party and that makes you uncomfortable, I can refrain from seeing Salty Fish for a hundred years. That way, you'll effectively have spent a whole lifetime with him—even if... it is only the lifetime of a mayfly." Nora parried Zhang Buyao's strike with her blade, then created distance between them, smiling as she spoke. Nora, too, had once yearned for a human's idea of a lifetime together. But she quickly realized that a hundred years was far too fleeting, both for herself and for Yu Xian. Back when she cultivated briefly in the God Vault Space, a full year slipped by in a flash. Throughout that entire year, she was absent from Yu Xian's life, and he was absent from hers. Assuming she could not be by Yu Xian's side for one year out of every ten, that meant ten years in a century, a hundred years in a millennium, and a thousand years across ten thousand years. A stretch of time that long was enough for mortals to produce over thirty generations of offspring. When the timeline stretched toward infinity, Nora came to a realization: Yu Xian needed her, but he also needed more wives, because she could not stay by his side forever. She needed others who could step in for her and look after him. …… Yu Xian watched the battle between Nora and Zhang Buyao from start to finish, but their whispered conversation was far too quiet for him to hear a single word. Yet after a round of sparring, Nora took the initiative to concede, handing the victory to Zhang Buyao. "Phew." Seeing this, Yu Xian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, they hadn't really fought for real. Still, he suddenly found himself missing Nora a little, wondering what she was up to right now. While he was thinking of her, several hundred kilometers away, gunshots rang out relentlessly. A massive arsenal of firearms hovered around Nora, spraying wild barrages into the surrounding monsters. Competing during the day had delayed her leveling. So at night, she had to work even harder to make up for the experience points she had missed out on. Only after slaughtering every monster in the vicinity did she finally relax a little. While waiting for the spawns to refresh, she pulled up the forums and began watching recordings of Yu Xian's battles. The moment monsters re-emerged, she paused the video, unleashing her full firepower an instant later as gunfire reverberated across the pitch-black sky. …… Inside Zhang Buyao's room. At that moment, Zhang Buyao lay on her bed, pondering what Nora had told her. A mortal lifetime... People called it an eternity, but in truth, it was merely a century or so. That truly did seem to be the case. If the span of time stretched to ten thousand years, would humans still speak of 'a lifetime'? Would they? Perhaps someone who had never been in love, someone harboring romantic fantasies, would answer yes. Yet for those who had genuinely experienced marriage, perhaps... Even seven years felt like too much. Even so, whenever Zhang Buyao thought of Nora's support and blessings, a little spark of joy danced in her heart. She understood all too well what that implied. Yet remembering Nora's words, she felt there was no rush. Remaining in this state of 'more than friends, less than lovers' was already wonderful as it was. Love truly might be finite, bound to run dry one day. But at the very least, before it was depleted, one should cherish it! …… Nothing more occurred that night. At eight o'clock the following morning. Yu Xian and Zhang Buyao sat eating noodles in a breakfast shop not far from the inn. "Yaoyao, you really aren't going to wager your skills? If you keep this up, the gap between you and the top experts is only going to widen." Having finished his bowl of noodles, Yu Xian asked out of curiosity. He had noticed yesterday that Zhang Buyao still refused to wager anything in her matches. "Forget it. If I lost, I'd definitely be angry to death," Zhang Buyao replied. Yu Xian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The thing is, your odds of winning are much higher. Even if you lose once in every nine matches, you'd only lose one skill while gaining eight more." "No way. I'm quite satisfied with the skills I have right now. What if that 'one time' happens?" Zhang Buyao refused. Helpless, Yu Xian had no choice but to respect her decision. Besides... at the end of the day, this was merely a game. Zhang Buyao could play it however she liked; there was no need for him to interfere too much.