Chapter 53 Yunling Tomb: Swing

Cause and effect are linked one after another.

"Although, it may be offensive to say that."

Si Huo sighed softly, and after a moment of deliberation, he slowly spoke: "Although you look no different from an ordinary person, your body has long been turned into a Gu... Your heart is not a heart, your liver is not a liver, and your flesh and blood are all Gu poison. Originally, you should not even have any feelings."

Tang Yu, however, did not feel offended. On the contrary, she was quite interested and asked curiously, "Should it be like those Gu people?"

Without thought, without emotion, it is a monster that only knows how to kill?

Si Huo shook his head: "Those are corpses manipulated by Gu, while you are a Gu that can manipulate Gu. Even if you look indistinguishable from a human, Gu and humans are ultimately different. Although you can still think and act like a normal person, you have no sorrow, no joy, no fear, and you will not be affected by emotions."

The "Moon Dream" sought by the people of Nanyue is neither a person nor a Gu poison, but a "humanoid weapon" that is absolutely rational and absolutely controllable.

Tang Yu felt like she was listening to a story, and didn't think these things had much to do with her.

"So, if I have feelings, does that mean I've mutated?" She curled the corners of her lips.

After all, I can not only cry and laugh, but I can also like others.

Si Huo almost laughed at her, but felt it was inappropriate, so he just coughed lightly: "Because actually, you can't be considered 'Yue Qimeng' yet."

Tang Yu frowned involuntarily, not understanding what she meant.

The God of Calamity asked, "Are you immune to all poisons and repelled by snakes and insects?"

Tang Yu thought for a moment and replied, "I guess so."

"This is because your flesh and blood have long been fused with the poison of ten thousand Gu."

At this point, Si Huo glanced at her, feeling somewhat reluctant.

"Nan Yue's method of refining Gu is undeniably vicious. First, the mother is selected by feeding her Gu poison before pregnancy. Only if a healthy baby is born is she qualified to proceed to the next step. Before the baby reaches one year old, they are baptized in a diluted Gu pool of poison. Only those who survive have the chance to be thrown into the Ten Thousand Gu Blood Pool..."

“Those young children not only have to resist the poison and snakes and insects in the pool, but also have to fight each other to determine the sole survivor. Only when they are ten years old can they be called ‘Moon Dream’.”

Tang Yu frowned deeply after hearing this.

This method of raising venomous insects is enough to make one feel nauseous and disgusted just by hearing about it.

She suddenly recalled the scene at the Beauty Ruins. In an instant, she realized and connected everything that had happened before more clearly.

The women from the southern border who were sent to Shangxu were chosen as the breeding grounds for Yue Qimeng. That's why the girl in the iron cage was poisoned to the point that her body festered.

Women who survived the poisoning were imprisoned in the cliff face until they were ten months pregnant and gave birth.

Of the children who were born alive, perhaps only one in ten survived.

Even if they are alive, if they are defective or deformed, they will still be treated as a lump of rotting flesh and thrown to feed the eagles.

Even more tragically, even if they survive these deadly ordeals, all that awaits them is being thrown into a blood pool to continue being "cultivated" by the bites of Gu worms, gambling on the chance to become the "only one".

Every step was bloody, vicious, and utterly inhumane. Over the years, countless women and children have been harmed because of this.

But all of this was merely to create a "Moonlit Dream".

A tool devoid of sorrow or joy, without complaint or regret.

It would be quite abnormal for someone to remain normal after enduring such torment.

Tang Yu's knuckles turned slightly white as she suppressed the complex emotions in her heart: "So, I'm not in my complete form, am I?"

She thought back to when her parents took her in, she was only eight or nine years old. It seemed that because of the war, she hadn't been able to stay in the pool of blood for long.

Si Huo looked down at the tea swaying in his cup, which had now completely cooled down.

She remained silent for a long time before speaking to herself: "Back then, Nan Yue was attacked by Da Xia at night. The Yue clan closed the Blood Pool passage, and 'Yue Qi Meng' used blood as a catalyst to summon hundreds of Gu to set up a trap, so that the people of Nan Yue tried many times afterward, but all of them never returned. Until... I said I wanted to give it a try."

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

Si Huo lowered his eyes, his face slightly pale, his lips trembling, and he said in a low voice, "It was me. I promised to find the secret method for refining 'Moon Dream' for them."

That's enough to say.

Tang Yu is so smart, she naturally understands everything.

No wonder she felt so guilty.

No wonder she said that she was the cause of Nan Yue's comeback.

However, Tang Yu did not blame her; on the contrary, she understood Si Huo somewhat.

For example, if her parents hadn't rescued her and raised her with great care, how could there have been the subsequent incidents where people from the Southern Frontier repeatedly invaded Sichuan, causing her younger brother to be poisoned and nearly die?

That's why she wanted to do something to remedy the situation. That's why she stole the prescription and went down the mountain alone.

Cause and effect are linked one after another.

In the end, no one blamed her, and no one thought it was her fault.

Only I kept blaming myself.

Tang Yu chuckled lightly, her tone cheerful: "Back then, you risked your life to enter Nanyue for someone important to you. How could you have imagined what would happen afterward?"

"If I were you, I might have made the same choice. So why blame yourself?" This statement is both forgiving of others and forgiving of oneself.

She spoke so casually that even Si Huo was taken aback.

Tang Yu laughed again: "Besides, if you hadn't taken out the Blood Hibiscus, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have encountered the people and events I have now."

As she spoke, she tilted her head back and drank the cold tea in her cup, then put down the cup, revealing a hint of boldness.

"In fact, I should be thanking you."

She was already beautiful, but now, with her eyes crinkling as she smiled, she looked even more radiant.

Si Huo felt that his heart, which had been hanging on the edge of a knife for so long, seemed to have finally settled down for a moment.

It's hard not to like a girl like that.

Si Huo's expression softened slightly, and he said softly, "I won't tell anyone about your identity. As for whether you want to tell your family and friends, that's up to you."

“But…” she sighed, “Now, only you can lead them into the Myriad Gu Blood Pool. The Nan Yue people will not let you go.”

Tang Yu raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on her face: "Then to them, I really am a treasure."

At this point, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration and understood why it was so strange.

If "Moon Dream" is the key, then why did the Gu people they encountered upon entering Shu, and this note, both want her dead?

An inexplicable unease rose in my heart.

Before Tang Yu left, Si Huo hesitated for a long time before finally telling her.

"Three days from now, General Xie's eyes will gradually regain their sight. Perhaps... he will be able to return soon."

Tang Yu was stunned for a moment, but did not answer. She only sighed softly in her heart.

In other words, separation is inevitable.

*

These events did not significantly affect Tang Yu's mood.

She always avoids letting her emotions get the better of her, because overthinking is pointless and life goes on.

It's the Lantern Festival, and the streets and alleys are decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, making it a lively and festive occasion.

Tang Yu even dressed up specially and changed her clothes before going to find Xie Xingzheng.

On the way, she ran into Tang Yiqing and Tang Yang, who were also looking for her to go to the night market together.

But she waved her hand in refusal, feigning mystery, and said she was taking someone to a better place.

Tang Yang pouted, wanting to follow and persuade her sister to join her, but Tang Yiqing stopped her.

Watching his older sister lift her skirt and skip around, her figure as graceful as a butterfly, he asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Tang Yiqing smiled and patted his head: "She went to find her sweetheart."

"Is it really necessary to dress up like this?" Tang Yang grumbled, dissatisfied. "I've never seen her so fond of dressing up since she was little..." His tone was sour, with a hint of a sense of crisis that his older sister was about to be taken away from him.

Tang Yiqing patted Tang Yang's head again and said with a smile, "Oh dear, Yangyang, you're still young. You'll know when you meet someone you like."

*

But they all forgot that Xie Xingzheng is still blind.

Tang Yu's elaborate dressing up was purely for show, like applying makeup to a blind person.

It doesn't matter, she thinks she looks beautiful, and she's content just to be seen in front of the "blind man".

Instead of taking Xie Xingzheng to the night market, Tang Yu led him to a secluded cliffside clearing in Yunling Mountain. There stood a thousand-year-old pine tree there, its branches thicker than the trunks of the small trees beside it.

A cool mountain breeze blew, and the night was deep, but it couldn't dispel the warmth emanating from the person beside them. Occasionally, the two could hear fireworks rising into the sky and then suddenly exploding.

Tang Yu pulled him to sit on the swing set of the old pine tree, which made a slight creaking sound and swayed gently with the two of them.

She leaned close to his ear and said, "This swing was built by my father for Yangyang and me when we were little. It was specially built on the edge of a cliff, so the higher you swing, the closer you are to the sky. If you reach out, it feels like you can pluck the stars."

With that, she pushed off with her feet, and the swing swung into the air before quickly falling back down. The slight feeling of weightlessness, carried by the night breeze, made her heart beat a little faster.

"So you'd better hurry up," Tang Yu said with a smile, her tone tinged with a dangerous excitement. Her hand was pressed tightly against his.

"If we swing too high and accidentally fly off, we'll both fall off this bottomless cliff."

The swing swung higher and higher, so high that people almost flew out and disappeared into the dark night sky.

The wind whistled past their ears, ruffling the stray hairs on their cheeks, and they unknowingly became entangled together.

Just like their magical fate.

Xie Xingzheng couldn't see anything; all he could see was darkness.

He felt both lucky and regretful.

His eyes were fixed on the night sky, as if the starlight and fireworks could pierce the darkness and fall into his pupils.

Just then, a firework exploded in the night sky.

A massive firework, more dazzling than any before, exploded, its golden and silver threads illuminating the entire night sky in an instant.

Just then, the swing reached its highest point.

For a moment, it seemed as if the Milky Way could be reached out and the flowing fire could be touched. Tang Yu actually let go suddenly and reached towards the sky.

His whole body naturally flew forward.

At that moment, Xie Xingzheng's heart almost stopped.

Without even hesitation, he immediately released the rope he should have been holding tightly, and following her direction, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, protecting Tang Yu in his embrace.

Even if he were to fall off a cliff, he would be the first to be shattered to pieces.

The expected weightless fall did not occur.

Instead, Tang Yu carried him and landed lightly on the solid ground.

The wind suddenly stopped.

What rang in my ears was Tang Yu's triumphant laughter.

She looked up and gazed intently at those eyes, clear as jewels even in the darkness, and laughed, "Just kidding! Who would really build a swing on the edge of a cliff?"

Xie Xingzheng was stunned for a moment, then his shoulders relaxed, and a helpless yet gentle smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.

He left behind a sigh of indulgence.

[Author's Note]

I'm working late tomorrow to finish something, so I'm posting this today first, and then the day after tomorrow.