Chapter 94 The One and Only Lover

If you had the chance to see someone who has passed away again, who would be the first person you would want to see?

Ah Liu's words still echo in my ears.

Pipa couldn't help but think blankly: So, what the other person said before was actually true...

But then what does all his tossing and turning over these past five years amount to?

—And what is he anyway?

The ear, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly started ringing noisily.

He raised his hand and pressed on his ear, but it had no effect, so he lowered his hand and let it be.

"You look very tired. How about we go another day..."

As if considering the boy's feelings, Lan Yunzhi offered this suggestion in a gentle voice.

"No."

Pipa refused decisively, her voice soft but exceptionally firm: "I want to see him."

Even if you're like that old saying, you should at least die knowing why, right?

The weather wasn't cold, but his hands felt chilly, as if they had just been pulled out of well water.

Seeing the boy's resolute expression, Lan Yunzhi sighed softly.

“Okay,” he said, taking the loquat’s cool fingertips in his hand again.

The boy let him lead him, like an obedient child following an adult out the door.

Along the way, many men and women dressed in various colors passed by, of different ages and appearances, but they always respectfully stepped aside when they saw Lan Yunzhi.

The scene felt vaguely familiar.

Not only that, even the surrounding flowers, decorations, and buildings seemed familiar to Pipa, but unfortunately his mind was completely blank and he couldn't function properly at the moment.

Finally, they walked through another long corridor and came to a heavy door guarded by soldiers in armor.

Just like the people they had met before, the gatekeeper bowed and saluted Lan Yunzhi.

However, the manners they performed were different from those of the previous people.

The loquat didn't bother to investigate the differences.

Because his attention was completely drawn to the deep darkness revealed behind the opened door.

Just standing at the doorway, one could feel the dark and chilling aura of the underworld, which lapped against his face with each passing breath of the flowing air.

Pipa instinctively took a half step back, almost tripping.

He looked incredulously at Lan Yunzhi, who was supporting him from behind.

"How could this be..."

Pipa couldn't finish her sentence in one breath.

Lan Yunzhi already understood. The young man explained with a sigh, "He has some problems. Releasing him could cause unpredictable dangers. Moreover, ordinary prisons can no longer accommodate him. We had no choice but to resort to this measure."

His tone was sincere, and his demeanor seemed genuine.

Pipa was silent for a moment before asking again, "You said he had some problems, what exactly are they?"

"Well..." Lan Yun paused, "Hearing is believing. Perhaps only by seeing it with your own eyes can you understand. So, do you still want to go? It's not too late to go back now."

The loquat chose to stay.

He was only one step away from the truth, and if he turned back now, he would be unable to eat or sleep properly.

"Oh well."

Lan Yunzhi didn't seem surprised by the boy's persistence.

It seemed that whatever choice the other party made was within Lan Yunzhi's acceptable range. He smiled and raised his hand in a gesture of invitation.

It was quiet all the way, except for the echo of footsteps on the blue brick ground.

Occasionally, a sound like ghosts wailing and wolves howling would come from somewhere. It was too far away for Pipa to tell whether it was a real person's scream or the hum of the wind passing through the hole.

But to appear in such a remote and dark place is enough to make anyone who is there feel a chill down their spine.

Pipa didn't say anything, but subconsciously moved a little closer to Lan Yunzhi.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the other person seemed to tighten their grip on his hand at the same time.

Finally, in this winding underground passage, Pipa followed Lan Yunzhi around another bend. This time, what appeared before them was no longer an endless winding road, but a room that appeared completely closed off from the outside, or rather, a prison cell.

"arrive."

Lan Yunzhi said with a smile.

Pipa stopped beside him and unexpectedly saw a familiar figure.

In front of the tightly closed cell door, besides the two uniformed jailers, there was a tall figure dressed in black, with black hair and black eyes, which made his snow-white face even more strikingly beautiful, like a ghost.

It is a profound charm that I could not find anywhere before.

So this is where he came from.

When Shen Yun saw that the visitors included not only Lan Yunzhi but also Pipa, she was clearly surprised.

He then regained his usual composure and calmness.

Seeing him walk over slowly, Pipa thought that he would bow to Lan Yunzhi like the others before him, but in reality, Shen Yun just nodded.

Lan Yunzhi responded with a slight nod.

"Then please trouble you, Lord Shen, to open the door."

"Yes, ma'am."

As Shen Yun spoke, her gaze swept over the young man beside Lan Yunzhi, and she hesitated for a moment: "Is this one also going in?"

He was asking about loquats.

Lan Yunzhi simply smiled upon hearing this: "Instead, it would be more accurate to say that this is the very purpose of our trip."

“But…” Shen Yun seemed to hesitate.

This was the first time Pipa had ever seen such a hesitant and profound expression.

"Is there a problem?" Lan Yunzhi asked.

Shen Yun nodded: "The situation doesn't seem optimistic. I'm worried—"

"It's alright, I'm here." Lan Yunzhi gently interrupted the other person and smiled. "I will protect him."

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but even though the words were spoken with a smile, they seemed to carry a hint of provocation.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yun paused for a moment, but did not try to stop her.

"Since Your Majesty has said so, then please proceed."

He said he would step aside, but his gaze remained fixed on the loquat.

Until the two of them walked into that dark room together.

My first impression of entering the dark cell was not as gloomy or cramped as I had imagined.

On the contrary, the space inside is actually quite spacious, and there is no damp, musty smell like you would find in a typical basement, it's just a bit cold.

As the oil lamps on the wall were lit one by one.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

Pipa immediately noticed the person's long, light gray hair, which, perhaps due to its lack of sunlight, appeared almost silvery-white under the dim light.

The person seemed startled by the sudden bright light and abruptly shrank into the corner.

As he moved, the sound of chains rattling filled the air.

Pipa then noticed that the other person's wrists, ankles, and even neck were wrapped in heavy chains.

The dark chains wrapped around the pale, thin youth, who looked like a phantom, were particularly eye-catching.

Pipa could hardly recognize the arrogant young man from this figure anymore.

He unconsciously held his breath, his heart pounding with each beat.

Pipa slowly approached the person huddled in the corner.

Lan Yunzhi, standing beside him, did not speak to stop him, but simply watched quietly as the young man approached step by step.

Pipa bent down and looked for a long time, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly and softly called out, "Li Xiao..."

Upon hearing this soft call, the figure in the corner shuddered as if waking from a dream.

Then she suddenly raised her head, and the next moment, an extremely pale face suddenly came into view, and Pipa was stunned.

It wasn't because the face before him was so pale and haggard, nor because this person was the Li Xiao he believed to be dead, but because of those eyes—

Instead of another shade of the same emerald green, what adorns the familiar emerald green is a dull gray, beautiful and clean, but utterly lifeless.

This is not...

The loquat felt a pain like its heart was losing weight, as if it had suddenly stepped into a pit and fallen from a great height.

—Thump thump thump!

Thump thump thump!

In the instant that loquat was stunned, the owner of those eyes, like a dog that had suddenly spotted its prey, burst forth with indescribable excitement and exhilaration, along with some complex emotions that were hard to define.

Then Pipa heard it, and from between those opening and closing lips, a somewhat dry and hoarse voice clearly uttered three words, one by one.

That is—

“Metaphor, light, boat”.

These three words are like an invisible hand, crushing and stuffing the loquat's heart, along with its soul, which had been thrown high into the air, back into its cavity.

"..."

Seeing that Pipa did not reply for a long time, the young man looked somewhat bewildered, as if he did not understand why the other party would not agree to him. He opened his mouth and tentatively called out "Master Yu" again.

This time, the expression was more fluent.

It also reached the loquat's ear, which was not deaf, more clearly.

"I heard it..."

He said his voice was light and airy, like he was sleepwalking.

Li Xiao, however, seemed oblivious to his odd behavior, feeling that having received an answer was enough to confirm his feelings.

He immediately sat up with bright eyes, wanting to get closer to the boy, but the chains on his hands and feet got tangled in the rush, so he had to stretch his neck and try to touch the boy's drooping hand with his cheek.

Li Xiao's mind wasn't quite clear at the moment.

But his intuition told him that if he did that, the hand should respond with a gentle caress.

However, as soon as he touched the boy's hand, the boy recoiled as if he had been electrocuted, and then took several steps back, standing in a place that Li Xiao could not reach at all.

"Why……"

Li Xiao was puzzled as to why they were standing so far away from him.

I've been waiting for so long.

He finally got to see the person he was waiting for, but the other person stood there looking at him like he was a snake or a scorpion.

Why why why...

Why why why why why...

It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this...

Li Xiao's mind was in a chaotic mess, as if it were about to explode.

Sometimes he is the tall and upright figure of a young man in white standing with his sword under the blood moon, and sometimes he is a little boy holding her hand as they walk together through the drizzling streets on the night of the Lantern Festival.

Sometimes he was a young man struggling to walk up the snow-covered stone steps, his body hunched over; other times he was a half-grown child whom he had pulled down with him in the snowy courtyard, and together they were covered in snow.

These events, one by one, surged through my mind.

Li Xiao felt a splitting headache, but no matter what, he knew that the person he had been waiting for and wanted to see was the one in front of him.

But that person seemed to be getting further and further away from him.

Especially that resolute turn, so familiar it seemed to have played out countless times in his mind.

【sorry--】

A young man's voice, seemingly coming from nowhere, drifted over from afar.

Li Xiao vaguely remembered that back then, he was also bound hand and foot and unable to move, just like he is now.

[It is a karmic debt I owe, and I will repay it personally. My master divined my fate; it is uncertain what my future holds, my life or death is unknown, and this journey may be my last.]

—Then, then don't go!

At that time, I tried my best to shout in my heart, but unfortunately, I couldn't utter a single word.

There was nothing that could be done but let the other party continue talking.

This was originally my natal sword, which had already absorbed your demonic power. Now that it has recognized its new master, it is yours. I originally intended to give it to you as a birthday gift, but unfortunately, it's a bit late. I hope you won't mind.

Li Xiao thought that saying something stupid like "it's not strange" at a time like this was something only this blockhead would do.

He wanted to say that he didn't want any birthday gifts, and he didn't want his demonic power back.

He wanted to say that all he wanted was for the other person to be by his side.

Unfortunately, in the end he was unable to say anything and could only watch helplessly as that tall figure walked further and further away.

He... he was really—so unwilling to accept it!

The black chain dug deep into the pale skin, quickly leaving obvious bloody marks.

The red color climbed along the veins and spread all the way to the back of the eye.

Red liquid suddenly welled up from the socket of the prosthetic eye, quickly sliding down her pale cheek and turning into a line of bloody tears...

Meanwhile, in a secret underground chamber somewhere in the heart of the imperial city.

Beneath the ice coffin where the red-clad youth lay asleep, a longsword, also tightly bound by chains and runes, began to hum as if summoned by some unseen force.

However, the commotion quickly subsided, and the area returned to its previous quiet state.

At the same time, Li Xiao also fell into a coma because his body could not withstand the impact of the intense emotions in his mind.

Soon someone came in and cleaned up the blood and mess on the floor.

Unlike the boy who fled in panic, Lan Yun stayed where she was and watched with her own eyes the whole process of Li Xiao going crazy and almost strangling himself to death, until half of his face was covered in blood and he finally fell into a coma.

"What a waste, so much blood."

Lan Yunzhi looked thoughtfully at Li Xiao, who had dripped blood everywhere, and murmured to herself.

Then he added, "Well, it won't be long anyway."

The time will come soon.

He will then be able to personally welcome back the person who once abandoned him without a second thought.

"Yu Qingzhou".

The name uttered with a light touch of lips sounded more like a tender and poignant love poem.

What in this world could cause him more heartache and sleepless nights than that name?

His teacher...

His redemption...

His betrothed wife...

His most beloved and most hated person in this life... his one and only lover.