They stayed at a small hut outskirt of the capital; it was Master Li's old hermit hut. The one he used to avoid YuanMing, although it was useless. The place was cleaned, and they stayed there. "Who grave is that?" asked Ah Hua as she saw the grave outside.

"It was my wife, Su Zhen."

"And my friend."

He smiled, "Yes. She did mention you once or twice."

"That little. We were best friends. We shared almost everything together."

The man carried a sad expression on his face, "When I meet her, she was already an old woman. The doctor told me that she was suffering from dementia. She can't remember much about the past but strangely she remembered about me."

"What did she remember?"

"About the time when we first met, and how I courted her. She knew that I dislike animals and used them to scare me off, but I followed her persistently until she finally said yes, and she became my wife."

"Did she remember about the war?"

"No, she didn't even remember that I died. When I appeared in front of her, she just thought that I came back from a simple errand and scolded me for not bringing any eggs back with me. However, she often had nightmare at nights, waking up and walking around in the dead of night as if she saw ghosts haunting her."

"Just like YuanMing. The heavens above pitied her, allowing her to forget about all her painful memories, but have us hanging around her like ghosts to remind her of the things of the past. Just because you forget doesn't mean it doesn't exist. No matter how much we want to move forward, she would be held back by us."

"Maybe the heavens just want to give us a chance too, to tell her the truth. All the reincarnations we had with her, we never told her about anything, hoping that she would live quietly but she would never live past the age of eighteen but now," he poured Ah Hua a cup of tea.

"Now, we are free, so is she. We will no longer be bound by the past that had plague us for the longest of time," said the woman as she drank the tea. It was bitter but in bitterness there was a fragrant flavour that couldn't be tasted elsewhere.

Loud voices were heard close by. Master Li stood up and said, "We will be getting busy every day."

She gave out a little laughter, "Yes."

They welcomed a lot of young children into their abode. They were all children from the middle or lower class in capital. The were all his students. Master Li set up his abode as a school as well to teach them, "I can't let my dream of being a teacher be forgotten because of my past mistakes. Furthermore, I have talent as a teacher. I had two outstanding students. I have to teach, to nurture more talent for the benefit at large."

"And I will support you," stated Ah Hua as she prepared the books and notebooks for the children.

"I always wonder, why didn't you follow princess?"

Ah Hua replied, "I should start living my own life now. I have served her for many lifetimes, I think it's time to let her go and let her live the life she wanted without us crippling her."

Faraway, a girl carrying a heavy bag, was travelling across the dense forest floor. It was an arduous journey but when she emerged through the thick forest, she was met with a splendid view. There was a village down below, the sun was setting as she watched the sunset. The time between, as the purple-coloured curtains fell and the shadow darkens, twilight, she felt the magic that warmth her sun-tanned skin.

She was glad to be alive. However, a tear fell from the corners of her eyes, the one who should watch this was not her. "YanPing, did you enjoy the view?" It had already been seven years since his death. She stared at his grave. She cleaned the stray leaves that fell upon his tombstone. His death bought about a release from their curse, but it also separated them from their bond. "Will we meet again?" she thought to herself.

Suddenly someone tapped her from behind.

"Sister why are you crying?"

YuanMing turned around to find a small child.

"You are here again, Ah Ya," said YuanMing to the little village boy. She knew him when the little boy stumbled upon her when she was visiting the grave.

"Yes, my mother asked me to gather some herbs for her to sell. You are crying again?" the little boy asked. Every time he saw her, she would be crying, and it was very sad.

"No, some dust just went into my eye."

"This is what my mother did for me?" said the young boy. The child grabbed her head and began blowing. into her face. His aim wasn't the best. It made her laugh as she felt his saliva was flying around, breath all over her face. She thanked him and asked, "Why are you here alone?"

My big brother asked me to wait him here. He told me every year they would be a beautiful girl standing here on this day. "There he is now," said the little boy as he ran towards a young man.

YuanMing was speechless. He was standing there, in front of her just too far away.

She rushed to his side.

"YanPing," cried YuanMing in joy. She hugged him tightly. "You are alive."

"I am," said the young man.

"But how?"

"Does it matter?"

She shook her head. "As long as you are alive."

"YuanMing, I want to tell you. I didn't last time but I want to say... that I love you. Very much. Are you willing to be my wife?"

"If you don't mind having a fugitive as your wife," said the girl tearfully.

They laughed and he held her high and spun YuanMing in the sky, finally landing on the soft grass.

"Wife," he called out to her.

"Husband," she replied.

They stared at the night sky with its starry stars, blinking in reply.

Beside YanPing's tombstone, there was another tombstone erected. On it, it wrote, YuanMing, wife of YanPing. Someone touched the tombstone and placed a bunch of wildflowers that he had picked up on his way here. It was Ah Ya, the boy from the village. He had grown into a fine young man. Before she died, he had found YuanMing and it was her last wish to be buried next to him. He remembered how she was in a daze and was muttering about something being, 'YanPing's wife'.

It was a life of journey; Ah Ya knew because she would tell her about her journeys, the mountains, the rivers, and the seas that she would vividly describe to him. It was a great deal to a young boy that never ventured away from the village.

"I always wondered about you but till the end I never knew the reason which you cried, but I believed that you have touched many others just like you had for mine," stated the young boy from that time.

He paid his respects to tombstone, took his own bag and set off on a journey of his own.

End