Chapter 340 - Awake

The Emperor looked down at the reddened bruise on his c.h.e.s.t and slightly snorted. It seemed his little Xing er' had a bit more strength than he presumed.

"What's funny?" Lei Xing asked, looking at him with a disgruntled frown, "Do you know - understand how horrifying that experience was?" 

The Emperor innocently blinked at her as she continued her tirade, "You were dead - Okay, maybe not dead, dead for obvious reasons, BUT you were definitely - Okay, maybe not definitely -" She paused letting out an exasperated breath with a pout, "Look, I don't take to pounding people for fun, you know." She finished, folding her arms, irritated with the whole affair. She had seen the looks the Imperial doctors and servants had been giving her and now he was laughing at her too.

Naturally, it was upsetting and the Emperor's amused expression was not helping. She glared at him and added, "I'm not crazy."

"Of course not." The Emperor said with a smile, wrapping his arms around her, "I am sorry for worrying you and I wasn't laughing, I was simply re-evaluating my opinion of your strength. You're a lot stronger than you look~"

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him and he smiled even more "reassuringly". Lei Xing raised her chin and went, "Hmph. I told you the time with your mother was a fluke. I can take her and probably take you too... soon enough." She finished, lightly poking the bruise on his c.h.e.s.t.

The Emperor burst out laughing with that and grabbed her finger, "Of course, I wouldn't stand a chance...soon enough~" He said, giving her a quick kiss but Lei Xing held his face and deepened the kiss. A few moments ago, she had thought he was gone and that she would never have this again. She was still greatly rattled and unnerved by this experience. The Emperor never being able to turn her affection away, naturally indulged her.

When Lei Xing finally eased away, she rested her forehead against his, still holding onto his face and lightly c.a.r.e.s.sing it as she very quietly said, "I was so scared..." 

"It's alright... I'm alright." The Emperor said, bringing up his hands to hold and c.a.r.e.s.s her face. Lei Xing turned her face into one of his palms and kissed it then she straightened up, moving her hands to his shoulders as she seriously asked, "What was wrong with you?... You must have felt something wrong...right?" 

The Emperor shook his head, "No, as far as I know, I was simply asleep but..." He stopped and knit his brows, feeling something odd, as if he was forgetting something.

"What? What is it?" Lei Xing asked with concern.

The Emperor shook his head again, "Nothing, I just think I had a dream...about you!" He said the last bit a bit too excitedly for the current situation. It was just that his mind was hazy, so he was happy to recall that tidbit.

Lei Xing, on the other hand, was less enthused. She frowned and sarcastically asked, "So dreaming about me stopped your heart...?"

The Emperor smirked at her, "Well, you do sometimes have that effect~"

"I'm not playing here." Lei Xing said narrowing her eyes at him.

The Emperor sighed and seriously said, "I know... But I honestly don't know. I just remember falling asleep, might have dreamt of you, but then again, I could be mistaken, I dream about you a lot." He could not help confessing with another flirtatious smirk. Before Lei Xing could scold him again, he quickly got back on track, "... Then I woke up to you and all this..."

Lei Xing knit her brows in thought for a bit and then scratched her forehead, "Alright then... Well, it is possible that I might have...overreacted... a bit. It's good as long as you're fine. But are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should get a full-body exam or something, hm?"

"I feel fine... But if it really bothers you then I'll have the head physician do a check-up tomorrow." When Lei Xing's knit eyebrows tightened, he raised his eyebrows, a bit amused as he added, "Or tonight? Alright then, I'll send for the hea -"

"No... Let him sleep, the old man probably hates me by now, I think." Lei Xing grumbled with a pout. Even she would be beyond pissed off if someone woke her up in the middle of the night for supposedly "nothing" twice!

The Emperor chuckled and pat her head, "I'm sure he appreciates your diligence..." He then let out a breath and seriously said, "It won't happen again... I promise." He finished hugging her to his c.h.e.s.t. Lei Xing sighed and hugged him back, putting her ear to his c.h.e.s.t, comforting herself with the sound of his beating heart.

{... Haha...ha... I think I might actually be going crazy little by little >_<)...}

***

Doctor Lou opened his eyes and they promptly swept across the expanse of the crystal cave over and over again. After confirming and reconfirming that he was alone with no strange presences lingering around, he stretched his arms with a loud and wide yawn, "Can't feel my legs..." He grumbled as he bent forward and used his hands to massage his lower back with a frown, eyes closed. He was currently sitting on a patch of grass in the middle of the crystal-wielding flowers in the same colorfully lit crystal cave from the Emperor's forgotten dream.

"Hmmm...so that was today? I had almost forgotten about it..." Doctor Lou said as he bent his waist from side to side. Stretching exercises were necessary after a long nap, not nap, training, meditation...Important stuff. 

"Forgotten about what?" A familiar voice asked and Doctor Lou immediately opened his eyes and turned his body a bit too quickly, causing him to hold his back and groan as he glared at his sister who was standing at the entranceway.

"When did you - What are you doing here?" Doctor Lou asked with a pout, still holding his back.

"I live here, remember." Qi Yin glumly reminded.

"I remember." Doctor Lou responded, narrowing his eyes at her, "What I mean is shouldn't you have gone back into isolation?... It's bad to be wandering around in your condition." 

"Same goes for you, so you're not one to offer anyone advice..." She retorted with a mocking smile. 

"Hmph!", Doctor Lou went, shifting in his position to stretch his stiff legs out as he continued his stretching exercises, "You and I are different..."

Qi Yin scoffed, "Of course."

Doctor Lou realizing he had made an error, stopped and turned to her, "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that you should watch your health. Unlike you, I don't have any responsibilities hanging on my neck so I have plenty of time to rest every day. It's not too late for you to reconsider your life choices~ I can show you the ropes!" He finished with a brilliant smile.

Qi Yintscrutinized him with a blank expression for a while, making Doctor Lou feel uneasy and he averted his gaze to the flowers on the ground with a little pout. Finally, she sighed and asked, "How is your hand?"

"Huh?" Doctor Lou went, blinking up at her in confusion.

"Your hand?" She repeated with knit eyebrows.

"Oh! Oh - Perfectly fine!" Doctor Lou swiftly responded, raising both hands up high above his head and flipping them over with a playful smile so she could see, "But nothing was wrong with them in the first place~"

"Alright then." Qi Yin simply said and turned to leave.

Apparently taken aback, Doctor Lou exclaimed, "That's all?" With wide eyes.

Qi Yin stopped and turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, "Is there something else we need to address?" 

Doctor Lou blinked at her for a second and then shook his head, "Nope! Nothing at all! All's perfectly fine. Good." He finished with a resolute nod, pulling on his long beard.

Qi Yin scrutinized him for a bit and then said, "Since I've confirmed that you have unfortunately not gotten yourself killed yet, I'll be leaving then." 

Doctor Lou nodded, waving her away, "You go live long too~" And with no more words, his sister disappeared down the pathway and Doctor Lou promptly let out a sigh of relief. 

He was surprised that his sister had no words of reproach for him, not even questions. There was no way she would not have heard about what he was doing... It felt really odd that she had nothing to say. Her silence made him curious, but it was best not to go looking for trouble. If she said nothing, then he would have nothing to say either.

He glanced about the crystal cave room again and then let out a sigh, massaging his aching head. Things and well, people did not always go according to expectations.

Take this current situation, for example, he had thought the whole thing through from start to finish. But yet, troubles keep sprouting up left and right, complicating things. Even after he had taken such careful notes from that bizarre experience with whatever that Jun Kai thing was, things still got messed up. 

He was still not exactly certain how it was possible for Jun Kai to have been here all those many years back, long before he could have come into existence. 

While Doctor Lou knew a great deal more than most - if not all people, at least those still alive, there were still a few minor things here and there that eluded him but then again, elusions were necessary to keep things interesting. After all, what's the fun in knowing everything about everything?

Although he did have a working theory, he had been too "busy" to bother about the logistics of how Jun Kai - or at least the person he now knew to be Jun Kai, had been able to show up to him in the past.

Doctor Lou scanned the empty cave room again and sighed, "I really should have asked better questions..."