The results on Qin Yuanzheng’s medical report showed that there was indeed nothing wrong with him.
And yet, he was still having nightmares about his past life, which Qiao Lanshu found difficult to understand.
Qiao Lanshu set down the report, which she had read carefully several times, and sat by the bed, lost in thought.
Looking at her, Qin Yuanzheng asked in a low voice, “You still haven’t told me how you knew what I dreamed about. Could it be that you’ve been having the same nightmares too?”
At the thought, Qin Yuanzheng immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
It was one thing for him to have nightmares continuously for over a month, but if Qiao Lanshu was having the same nightmares, then…
Qin Yuanzheng grew nervous, even feeling the hairs on his body stand on end.
It really was frightening.
He leaned closer and looked at Qiao Lanshu’s face. In a low voice, he asked, “When did you start having these nightmares?”
Qiao Lanshu was silent for a while as she organized her thoughts. Only then did she say, “This dream is actually very long, and incredibly real. In it, there’s another life that belongs to the two of us. It’s a long story. Do you want to hear it?”
Qin Yuanzheng nodded and held her as they lay down on the bed. Neither of them was in the mood to sleep anymore, so Qiao Lanshu carefully began telling him about her past life.
In a low voice, Qiao Lanshu said, “If this really is a dream, then I had it much, much earlier than you. I was eighteen, on a train from Yangcheng to Longcheng…”
If only it really was a dream.
That was what Qiao Lanshu was thinking.
If everything from her past life had merely been an unusually realistic dream, then none of it had actually happened. Just thinking about that made her feel incredibly happy.
She told Qin Yuanzheng about the events of her past life as if they had been nothing more than a dream.
Naturally, she had much more to tell him than he did.
Qin Yuanzheng had only dreamed about the moment of his death.
Qiao Lanshu, however, had experienced everything from the moment she arrived in Longcheng—being abandoned by her fiancé, being kidnapped, eventually staying in Longcheng to work, and later meeting Qin Yuanzheng through an introduction.
In their previous lives, they had ultimately met and fallen in love, but by the time they met, both of them were already covered in wounds.
After listening to everything, Qin Yuanzheng’s eyes reddened, and he silently held Qiao Lanshu tighter.
Only then did Qin Yuanzheng remember that during the early days of their marriage, Qiao Lanshu would often tell him that she had been having nightmares.
At the time, he had felt sorry for her. But after hearing what she had just told him, he could not help beginning to believe in past and present lives.
The two of them held each other in silence for a long time. They did not sleep all night. Only when the morning light illuminated the windows did Qin Yuanzheng realize that dawn had already broken.
Qiao Lanshu, however, had fallen asleep at some point.
She had never stayed up all night before, and was completely exhausted.
Qin Yuanzheng did not wake her. He slept for a short while, then got up to pack.
He planned to take Qiao Lanshu to Mount Wutai to burn incense and pray.
Mount Wutai was not close, and they might have to stay there for one night, so they would need to request leave.
As for whether they should bring the children, the answer was obviously no. The children still had school to attend.
Han Ye had only just returned and was still recovering in the hospital. Ordinarily, Qin Yuanzheng and Qiao Lanshu should not have left home at a time like this.
But Qin Yuanzheng felt that this matter could not wait.
Although he did not know what had caused him and Qiao Lanshu to share such a past life, it had to be because of some extraordinary bond that Heaven had given them the chance to live their lives over again.
So he wanted to take Qiao Lanshu to a temple to burn incense and fulfill their vow.
Since Qiao Lanshu had not slept the night before, she woke up later than usual. By then, both children had already gone to school, and she was almost late herself.
She hurriedly got out of bed, changed clothes, washed up, and rushed out of the room.
Just as she came out, she saw Qin Yuanzheng organizing a backpack. She froze for a moment and asked, “Why are you packing? Do you have a sudden assignment?”
The two of them had just discussed their past lives the night before, and Qiao Lanshu was feeling complicated emotions. She had actually wanted to spend more time with Qin Yuanzheng and talk with him.
She had not expected him to be leaving again so soon.
Qin Yuanzheng did not have much to pack for himself. Most of what he put in the bag was for Qiao Lanshu.
Although they only planned to spend one night away, Qiao Lanshu liked to keep clean, so he packed her a change of clothes and socks, along with toiletries, dry food, water, and other necessities.
As he packed, Qin Yuanzheng said, “I want to take you to Mount Wutai. Are you busy with work lately? Can you take some time off?”
Qiao Lanshu: “…”
She was taken aback. “Huh? So suddenly?”
Qin Yuanzheng nodded. “Go to the school this morning and ask for leave. I’ll wait for you at home.”
Qin Yuanzheng still had many days of annual leave unused, and work had not been particularly busy lately, so it would be easy for him to take time off.
He was only worried that Qiao Lanshu’s work at the school might be too demanding for her to get leave easily.
After all, Qiao Lanshu was now a team leader, and she had quite a heavy workload.
Qiao Lanshu thought it over, then nodded without much hesitation. “All right. I’ll go to the school now and ask for leave. We’ll set out after lunch.”
The only children they had were Qin Qiao’an and Qin Qiaoxia. They were no longer little kids—one was in high school and the other in middle school—and they could get to and from school on their own and even cook for themselves.
Qiao Lanshu was quite confident in their ability to take care of themselves.
So, after the couple arranged matters at work and settled things with the children, they drove off toward Mount Wutai.
It took Qin Yuanzheng about six hours to drive there. They stopped along the way for half an hour to rest.
By the time they reached the area around Mount Wutai, it was already dark. They found a nearby hotel and spent the night there. Early the next morning, the couple climbed the mountain to offer incense at the temple.
They burned incense, worshiped Buddha, donated money for incense, and ate vegetarian meals. The couple spent the entire day at Mount Wutai.
Before leaving, Qiao Lanshu even went to request a protective talisman for Qin Yuanzheng.
Everything went smoothly and peacefully.
As they came down from the mountain, Qiao Lanshu looked back at the magnificent peaks and asked Qin Yuanzheng, “Is that all? Are we just going home now?”
Qin Yuanzheng was not entirely sure either. “If not, should we visit some other temples and burn more incense?”
Qiao Lanshu thought for a moment, then placed the protective talisman they had obtained into Qin Yuanzheng’s pocket. “That should be enough. Let’s go home.”
Qin Yuanzheng held Qiao Lanshu’s hand, and the two of them slowly made their way out of the mountains. Then they began the six-hour drive home.
Qin Yuanzheng had always believed that he and Qiao Lanshu were destined to be together.
If not for fate, how could a woman from Yangcheng and a man more than two thousand kilometers away ever have ended up together?
But he did not know that in their previous life, the bond between him and Qiao Lanshu had already run its course.
He had originally been destined to have no children.
Yet it was precisely because he had repeatedly risked his life, carried out countless missions, and saved countless people from danger that he accumulated immense blessings. Those blessings had given him the happy and complete life he had now.
On the way back, Qin Yuanzheng slipped the protective talisman Qiao Lanshu had obtained for him back into her pocket.
He said to Qiao Lanshu, “It’s enough for the Buddha to protect you. As long as you’re safe, I’ll be fine too.”
Qiao Lanshu was his entire world. As long as she was well, nothing else mattered.
—End of Main Story—
Next will be several extra chapters about the children, focusing on their romantic futures. I may write another twenty or thirty thousand words. Thank you, dears, for making it this far. I’m truly grateful.
