Twenty

The fictional world of Samsara where Altria and Lyrid exist in is a tropical third-world country in a present-day setting equivalent to 2020.

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Twenty-two days after Fengjiu had fallen down the Immortal Punishment Platform, Dijun travelled to the mortal realm with Siming. Unseen by the mortals, they entered a hospital where a patient lay on a bed, attached to a life support machine by lots of cables. This man had been in a persistent vegetative state following a coma, for almost two years. According to the Star Lord, this would be the day written in the mortal Lyrid Dong Shaoyang's fate book, that his life would end due to multiple organ failure.

"What are the circumstances of me using my correction spell to replace the image of him with that of mine, in everyone's minds?" Dijun asked Siming.

"Judging by the amount of cultivation you have, it will not kill you if you need to do it," Siming answered truthfully. "With your power, and doing the math, you have an 80% chance of the magic not backfiring, and some pain is inevitable."

"So be it," the god said coldly, and cast the spell. It succeeded, but part of the spell backfired and the pain was endurable. He preserved the body of the actual Lyrid in a magical container, which he decided to return in the future after Fengjiu's time in the mortal realm was up. Most mortals did not normally live past 100 in these days, but a mortal had a finite lifespan and since Fengjiu's mortal self's fate book was surprisingly empty, nobody knew how long she would come to live for.

For one year he faked a gradual recovery, appearing to be a miracle in the views of the medical practitioners that attended to him. He had started with moving a single finger, slowly giving other hints of consciousness, until it was believed by all that he had miraculously awakened and recovered. In that one year, he was able to gain some insight on the mortal world he was in, which was strangely more advanced from a technological perspective, than the immortal realm. This was due to the fact that it was located worlds apart from the immortal realm, at a distance which was extremely far off in the universe. That had hence been one of the reasons why it had taken so long to track Fengjiu's primordial spirit.

A YEAR LATER

While she was taking a nap during her lunch break, she had dreamed about the purple-robed god again. It was the same dream where she was walking in the air and across rooftops with the god. But apart from the recurrent images of the dream playing back in her mind every time she woke up, she had no apparent memory of it ever happening in her life.

The smooth label on the laboratory coat read in big thick capitals, "Altria Xu Ziyu". Now a twenty-four year old aspiring individual working in the Samsara Archives Laboratory, Ziyu removed her lab coat and placed it together with a note to her co-workers on her desk to remind them that she would not be around for several days as her vacation leave had been approved by her superiors. In the changing room, she changed into a set of casual outdoor clothes that she had prepared in a duffel bag. As she left her workplace, she bade goodbye to some of her co-workers who were still around.

She was excited that she would be going on a five-days trip out of town. Instead of bulky luggage, she had merely prepared five days of clothes and necessities that she placed in a hiking bag. Altria was told was to pack light for the trip, and she hoped that the items that she brought would be sufficient as it was her first time traveling.

Altria's older female cousin, Astrid Yang was awaiting her in a taxi outside the laboratory. For a few years, the twenty-five year old social welfare employee Astrid had been persuading Altria to join her and her boyfriend on a group trip. Altria had been reluctant to join the trip previously due to having to self-fund her own expenses for the trip. Proceeds from the trip would go to a good cause towards the poorer indigenous groups. They were grouped into a small team headed by Astrid's boyfriend Ceries Ma, a volunteer. Their trip involved some volunteering work and also hiking in the mountains, followed by a trip in the mountains to visit some indigenous groups. Ceries, being of indigenous ethnicity himself, had dreamed of showing the capabilities of the indigenous communities to the world in spite of their uniqueness and aid the indigenous people who were suffering from poverty. Due to his big heart, it was a small wonder that Astrid had fallen for him.

The team consisted of twelve people and one tour guide: Altria, Astrid, Ceries, Lyrid, Lyrid's cousin Dong Yun, a doctor, two nurses and four other individuals. They assembled at a café, where nine of them had already arrived and they were waiting for the remaining teammates. Ceries started with a briefing to allow the newcomers to understand what was involved in the trip. They had two vans arranged on a rental basis to accommodate the twelve of them as well as items they had bought with the proceeds of the trip to give to the locals.

The honk of a van greeted them, and Ceries was glad to recognise the familiar vehicles from the Dong Group. Ceries worked with Lyrid at Dong Group. Inside the second van, Lyrid was seated in it with his cousin. It was a private-owned modernised van that included an entertainment room and a mini-kitchen. The second van also held the donations from Dong Group.

Though Lyrid's grandfather owned companies under the group, Lyrid and Dong Yun would often dress modestly and act like they were from a middle-income family. Word had it that in the past, Lyrid had womanising habits and was popular among the girls, but after encountering an accident and recovering from being in a vegetative state for almost two years, he had totally changed his personality and perspective of life.

The trip was estimated to take about 14 hours by car (in this case, van) and up to one and a half hour of trekking. They would stop momentarily for short breaks during the road trip to eat and use the restrooms. Due to the condition of the roads and the zigzag route they were traveling in, it would not be a smooth trip. There was also a possibility of landslides in the area. In addition, there was null phone signal coverage, and the villagers would only be able to signal using radio frequency in emergency situations to hospitals and government facilities in the nearest town for help. Fortunately most villagers were provided with modern clothing, although some would still dress in native wear. Electricity and water supply was available. The indigenous tribes allowed taking photographs, but uploading of the photographs taken on social media online was not allowed due to a non-disclosure agreement signed earlier by the team. Thanks to Ceries, they were able to secure permission to enter the area as the head of the villagers were familiar with him and furthermore, he was a descendant of another indigenous tribe.

On the third stopover, it was already 8:30 in the morning. Everyone was fatigued but amazed by the natural beauty of the rice terraces before them. Ceries announced that they would be losing their phone signals in a few minutes and urged them to make calls to their loved ones and family, or to quickly check their phones for any messages. It would be three days of living in a secluded area with no contact with the outside world.

They took group photographs for memory, and were joined by the two teammates in the second van. The two men were tall and suave, with a tanned complexion. They appeared to be fit and muscular, with an apparent interest in sports activities. At the same time, they were equipped with a full set of photographing equipment, and seemed to be excellent photographers. Lyrid had stood behind Altria in one of the group photographs, looking tall compared to her height. Altria had found him familiar but was unable to recall where she had seen him.

Upon proceeding further in their journey uphill, the road started to narrow. One wrong move and the van would plunge dangerously down the cliff into the ravine below, with slim chances of survival. With the fingers of the passengers of the first van crossed, both vans reached the end of the road. Altria was relieved. They had arrived at the village safely!

They alighted and began unloading the gifts, assisted by the kind villagers. As for the luggages, everyone carried their own, walking in a sloppy narrow alley. Every morning, dew from the cold weather would render the soil of the ground moist and muddy, and prone to cause someone to slip. Altria groaned as her previously white sport shoes were now slightly brown from the mud.

They walked until they reached the slope where they would continue their trek. Altria was one of the seven individuals in the group who were not used to such tedious activity, but yet she opted to join them. After an hour or so, she felt that she was suffering and being punished by having to contribute towards the trip, which was not cheap considering the distance that she had travelled so far, and she was struggling so hard to carry the heavy weight of her bag that her first thought that came to mind was to turn back and consider all her contribution so far as a hefty donation to the poor.

As she squatted down on a nearby log to catch her breath, she was aware of a man standing behind her offering her some water. He said that as her bag seemed to be heavy, he offered to carry her sling bag for her. She recognised the man as Lyrid from the photographs they had taken together earlier. She was amazed that despite all the sweat embedded on her face causing her to look horrible as if she was dying, the man's face had just a little sweat and was unaffected by the harshness of the trek earlier. A smug look was spread across his face and his dangerously cold eyes devoid of affection. Perhaps, he was so fit that a little trekking hadn't bothered him? Altria thought silently.