Jiang Wan'er stared fixedly at Liu Bufan just like that.
Even with the mindset of someone who had lived for thousands of years, Liu Bufan had no idea what to do at this moment, remaining frozen in the middle of a sit-up—neither able to complete it nor able to lie back down.
The two stared at each other for a full dozen seconds.
Jiang Wan'er muttered to herself:
"Is this dream still not over yet? But being able to see that you're still alive in a dream is already enough to make me content."
With that, she reached out her hand to touch Liu Bufan's face, but then pulled it back like lightning.
Because she felt the warmth on Liu Bufan's face, yet saw the crystal-clear tears in the corners of his eyes, along with a tenderness on his face that hadn't appeared in many years.
The silly girl mustered up her courage again and reached out her hand.
Liu Bufan directly grabbed that small hand and gently placed it against his own face.
In an instant, Jiang Wan'er stiffened all over.
"I'm back, wife."
Liu Bufan said tenderly.
Wife.
This word made Jiang Wan'er's heart tremble.
Tears immediately burst through the dam of her eyes.
She buried her head in Liu Bufan's arms and wept bitterly.
Liu Bufan held the beloved woman he had yearned for for over 8,000 years, gently patting her back with his hand, while tears unconsciously streamed down his face.
Jiang Wan'er in his arms seemed to suddenly realize something:
"Bufan,
y-y-you... can you speak?"
Ever since Liu Bufan had one of his legs broken, his dantian crippled, and was forced to swallow mute-inducing medicine, there had been no verbal communication between them during the two years of their marriage.
"Call me husband."
"H-husband, y-you... you can speak?"
Then she remembered something.
With red eyes, she said:
"B-but, we've already gotten a divorce."
At this moment, Liu Bufan saw the bruise on Jiang Wan'er's right arm, stood up from the bed, and slowly walked over.
The latter stood there rigidly, feeling a bit at a loss.
In a daze, she felt herself pulled into a warm embrace by a pair of strong hands.
Before she could recover her wits, she heard a gentle voice:
"Wife, this apology is more than 8,000 years late."
Hearing this, Jiang Wan'er's mind went completely blank, and she foolishly replied, "Huh?"
Looking at the bewildered little face of his beloved in his arms, Liu Bufan could no longer hold back and kissed her straight on the lips.
Jiang Wan'er's brain instantly crashed, and she mechanically responded.
After a long while, Jiang Wan'er, with her flushed little face, asked like a rapid-fire volley:
"Husband, how come you can speak?
What was that about 8,000-plus years?
And weren't you supposed to die tonight?"
Feeling that the last sentence was inappropriate and wanting to correct it, she was cut off as Liu Bufan covered her mouth:
"Wife, drive me to the mountains outside the city, and I'll tell you everything that happened."
Though doubtful, Jiang Wan'er still nodded; nothing could make her happier than her beloved coming back from the dead.
Immediately, the two went downstairs together, got into the car, and drove toward the outskirts of the city.
At this moment, a figure in the darkness picked up a phone, said a few words, and then vanished back into the night.
...
In the car, Liu Bufan sat in the passenger seat and stared fixedly at Jiang Wan'er the entire time.
This caused Wan'er's little face to stay flushed, the color refusing to fade.
Driving to an open space in the mountains, Liu Bufan got out of the car and said to Jiang Wan'er:
"Wife, drive the car 300 meters away first and wait for me there. It'll be safer that way."
Although Jiang Wan'er had no idea why Liu Bufan wanted her to do this, she still obediently nodded.
The scene that followed was utterly beyond Jiang Wan'er's comprehension and left her deeply shocked!
In Jiang Wan'er's eyes, Liu Bufan was now just a small black dot.
Yet this small black dot slowly lifted off the ground, hovering about 50 meters in the air.
Suddenly, the clear, starry night sky churned with rolling dark clouds, accompanied by flash after flash of purple lightning.
Far away across the ocean at the American Space Research Institute, the large screen displayed real-time video footage transmitted from a newly launched spy satellite.
Visible near this satellite, which was specially tasked with monitoring Huaxia, the Void was suddenly ripped apart.
A remarkably majestic man flashed out from within.
Then, suddenly accelerating to an extreme speed, he smashed the satellite to pieces and flew onward into the atmosphere.
Dead silence filled the entire monitoring hall.
...
Just as Jiang Wan'er thought the shocking events had come to an end, a purple shadow plummeted from the sky toward Liu Bufan in the distance.
Disregarding the danger, Jiang Wan'er subconsciously rushed forward at once.
Yet before she had taken a few steps, a wave of air blew her over, and she landed hard on her bottom.
She let out an "Ouch."
Just as she wanted to scramble back up, she saw that Liu Bufan in the distance was now exuding a dazzling light.
Her small mouth gaped open wide without her realizing it.
Who knew how much time had passed?
A figure leaped swiftly toward her from afar, clearing nearly 300 meters in a single bound—a sight that left Jiang Wan'er's mind completely blank.
That figure landed about 10 meters in front of her.
Liu Bufan walked toward her with a heroic and spirited bearing, showing not the slightest trace of a limp.
The scar on his face was also gone. Full of vigor and vitality, he looked precisely like the young man she had first come to know.
While Jiang Wan'er stood there in a daze, the gentle voice sounded once again.
"Wife, I'm back."
Looking into Liu Bufan's warm and affectionate eyes, along with that powerful aura that looked down upon all things in the world, Jiang Wan'er threw herself into Liu Bufan's arms like a madwoman.
Liu Bufan hugged his beloved in his arms, feeling the mighty power of the Wuji Sacred Body, even though only his physical avatar had fused with it.
Yet if Liu Bufan wished, a single gentle punch would give the Earth a middle-part hairstyle.
"Wife, hold on tight."
Jiang Wan'er instinctively tightened her embrace, feeling only that she was rising slowly into the sky along with Liu Bufan.
The two stood upon a cloud, enveloped by a transparent protective barrier.
The beauty nestled obediently against the man's chest and suddenly saw a flash of light at Liu Bufan's fingertips.
Following that, Jiang Wan'er felt a wave of coolness; the bruise on her arm vanished in an instant, and her whole body seemed much more spirited as well.
Although she was puzzled by what on earth had happened to her beloved, Jiang Wan'er only knew that at this moment, her young lord had finally returned.
Above the clouds, Liu Bufan and Jiang Wan'er spoke to one another with deep affection.
Liu Bufan briefly recounted the process of how he had crossed over to another world called the Canglan Continent, cultivated for over 8,000 years, and ultimately attained the position of Immortal Emperor.
Especially when hearing Liu Bufan speak of the several life-and-death moments he faced on the Canglan Continent, Jiang Wan'er would anxiously grip Liu Bufan's hand, as if she had experienced them herself.
Finally, when she heard Liu Bufan say that in order to come back and find her, he had fought a great battle with the Demon Emperor, seized the secret manual, and returned with resolute determination despite the danger of getting lost in the Sea of Time and Space, Jiang Wan'er threw modesty to the wind and kissed him directly.
Yet Liu Bufan suddenly gently covered Jiang Wan'er's lower abdomen with his hand; the connection between two bloodlines was so clear.
Confused, Jiang Wan'er looked at him perplexedly.
She saw the smile on Liu Bufan's face grow brighter and brighter.
He scooped Jiang Wan'er up and spun her around in a circle.
This left Jiang Wan'er even more bewildered. In the two years after their marriage, even when her body had recuperated enough for normal daily life, she had never seen him smile so happily.
She only heard Liu Bufan say affectionately:
"Wife, we're going to have a baby, almost a month along now!"
(Timeline: |--Met in 2014--Hospitalized for a year of wooing--Missing for a year--Rescued, healed, two years of marriage--Struck by a car--Crossed over--Returned to one hour after the car crash--Present--|)