Chapter 33 The Fourteenth Prison Break!
Chapter 33
On the other side.
Finally free, Ye Xiren breathed a sigh of relief, then asked in confusion:
Why are you here?
She delayed Chi Zhanlan Ce, hoping to buy time to transfer General Yan. Unexpectedly, she ended up in danger herself, and General Yan came to her rescue in time.
If Yan Danqing hadn't arrived, given Chi Zhanlan Ce's insane and suicidal behavior, she would have undoubtedly died this time as well.
“Since you didn’t come to see me today, I came out to look for you,” Yan Danqing replied. He wanted to see Ye Xiren, and since she wouldn’t come, he came out.
While those imprisoned in the imperial prison were trapped and unable to escape, those in the Dali Temple had a chance to get out during the transfer process.
Thank goodness you came.
But when she thought about how Yan Danqing had kept it a secret from her in the dungeon, she swallowed her words and felt inexplicably wronged.
How could this person be like this!
She stopped talking.
"Second Miss Ye?" Yan Danqing softened her voice and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Ye Xiren kept her head down and remained silent.
She didn't know why she felt wronged. Just like last night, her family was with her, and she felt bitter, sad, and wronged, and wanted to cry.
When Chi Zhanlan Ce was about to kill her, she didn't want to cry, but when she thought of Yan Danqing, who was clearly in the loop, watching her die again and again to save him, yet refusing to tell her the truth, her eyes welled up with tears.
They weren't actually close at all.
Ye Xiren told herself in her heart, tugged at the corners of her mouth, and shook her head: "I'm fine, thank you General Yan for saving me today."
Yan Danqing immediately tightened the reins, and the horse stopped.
He looked down at Ye Xiren and saw only the dust on her hair. He gently patted it off and said in a voice so soft it seemed to disappear in the wind, "You saved me. It's alright now. I'll stay with you from now on."
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiren bit her lip and subconsciously pushed his hand away in anger.
Yan Danqing deliberately gasped loudly, as if in great pain.
Ye Xiren was stunned and quickly grabbed his hand, only to find that his sleeves were soaked in blood, and the places where he had been restrained by shackles were covered in blood and were mangled.
Looking closer at his body, many areas were darker in color, clearly soaked with blood!
No wonder he specially changed into black clothes. This was to avoid Chi Zhanlan Ce seeing the wounds on his body and falling into a state of exhaustion. He had clearly come with a lot of injuries in that battle just now, but he pretended to be calm and composed to put people at ease.
"Why don't you just bleed him out completely?" Ye Xiren glared at him, jumped off the black horse, and said, "Come on, I'll apply the medicine for you!"
The grievances and sadness I felt at the time have long since vanished.
-
As darkness fell, the Imperial Guards searched the city thoroughly. Ye Xiren and Yan Danqing stayed in the woods outside the city, lit a fire, and gazed at the moat and the Southern Capital.
Ye Xiren bowed her head to apply medicine to Yan Danqing.
His injuries were severe, with old wounds piled on top of new ones, especially on his hands and feet, which were covered in blood and flesh. No one was applying medicine to the wounds, and they were starting to fester. Today's battle had further aggravated the wounds, causing them to tear open.
She heated the dagger over the fire, pursed her lips, and carefully removed the festering sores before applying the medicine.
Amidst the flickering firelight, her brows were furrowed deeply.
The person receiving the medicine remained silent. The person applying the medicine had sweaty palms and was struggling to keep her hands from shaking... This person was really something, coming to save someone with such a serious injury without uttering a sound.
"Does it hurt?" she asked softly.
Yan Danqing watched her intently as she boiled water, heated the dagger, applied medicine, and carefully wrapped the wound with clean strips of cloth. Her brows were furrowed, and in the firelight, she lowered her head, her eyelashes casting two small shadows on her face, trembling slightly.
She had been running around for too long today and even fell on the ground. Her face was covered in dust, and a strand of hair stuck up in front of her forehead, swaying back and forth with her. It was quite adorable.
He raised his hand and smoothed the strand of hair.
Ye Xiren: "?"
She looked up blankly.
Yan Danqing asked softly, "Aren't you angry anymore?"
Ye Xiren: "..."
She shook her head and said honestly, "I was a little angry before, but I'm not angry anymore. Luckily, I have you."
Yan Danqing's heart skipped a beat at the last four words.
Knowing that Ye Xiren had no ulterior motives and was simply grateful for his timely arrival, she felt her heart race uncontrollably upon hearing this, as if she were floating on clouds for a moment.
The surroundings fell silent instantly.
Ye Xiren didn't notice. She was looking down, wrapping the bandage around her wound. This person was really something. He didn't even flinch when the dagger was cutting into his flesh. How could he have gasped so obviously just now because she touched his wound?
It's clearly an act!
Ye Xiren finished wrapping the cloth strips and tied a neat knot, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally done. If you had confronted Chi Zhanlan Ce any longer, you would have bled to death by now."
But then I realized he was worried about me, which is why he rushed over without even applying the medicine...
Upon hearing this, Yan Danqing glanced at the pretty knot, her brows relaxed, and she shook her head. "Ying Changping is right behind me. In a little while, Prefect Zheng Wenjue of Nandu should also be here. I've timed it perfectly."
Fortunately, he arrived in time without delay. Unexpectedly, the assassination had not yet begun. Inside Nandu City, Chi Zhan Lan Ce was still going to make a move against Ye Xiren!
Ye Xiren had the same thought, her face darkening with disbelief: "What's wrong with him?"
Thinking about it now, I still feel scared.
Yan Danqing pursed her lips, her beautiful eyes fixed on Ye Xiren, and earnestly advised, "Chizhan Lance is an exceptionally perceptive person. He has already set his sights on you, Miss Ye. Stay away from him next time and do not have any contact with him."
Ye Xiren lowered her head and sighed deeply.
She still wanted to kill Chi Zhanlan Ce, but if she spotted him the moment they met, how could she kill him?
"My name is Ye Xiren, and my nickname is Xixi." Her gaze fell on the protective river. The sky was not yet completely dark, and she could vaguely see the protective river winding through the southern capital, nourishing this land. "Just call me Xixi."
I introduced myself before, but I didn't say which two characters it was. Now that I know Yan Danqing's courtesy name is "Chunzhou" and we are both in the cycle, we will inevitably be companions in the future, so there is no need to be overly polite by calling me "Miss".
Being in the same cycle, we are naturally inclined to be close.
"Don't ask if the 'people of today are like the people of the past'?" Yan Danqing wondered.
Ye Xiren shook her head: "It's the 'cherish' in 'cherish'."
As the city of Nandu gradually lit up, the myriad lights of homes shone brightly, making the moat glow faintly, creating a serene and beautiful scene. There are many things in this world worth cherishing.
Yan Danqing stared at her profile, his heart pounding. He opened his mouth, but after a long while, he regained his composure and finally uttered a sound:
“Xixi.”
Ye Xiren turned around, feeling a bit of a headache. "Chi Zhan Lan Ce is clearly not in the cycle, so why does he think I look familiar and want to kill me?"
She doesn't understand!
I used to think I was the only one stuck in this loop, but now that Yan Danqing has come in, what about Chi Zhanlan Ce?
Thinking of this, she frowned deeply. "When did you enter the loop?"
"Why 'cycle'?" Yan Danqing asked first.
“My father said that the seasons and the cycle of the sun and moon are what make our cycle so. We start over again and again, experiencing the same time repeatedly,” Ye Xiren replied.
“That’s quite fitting.” Yan Danqing nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, it should be with you; this is the fourteenth cycle.”
He then comforted Ye Xiren:
"Don't worry about Chi Zhanlan Ce. It seems that he hasn't entered the cycle yet. If he senses anything amiss, it's probably because time is reversing again and again, and things that have already happened are happening again. It's possible that he'll leave some traces."
Ye Xiren was increasingly troubled. Why were there no other traces, but instead it was Chi Zhanlan Ce who had them?
This is troublesome!
She shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it. Remembering Yan Danqing's words, she sat up straight, grabbed a branch, and asked with a serious expression, "This is also your fourteenth time? What happened to you before that?"
After she finished speaking, she started drawing on the ground:
"Let me start by telling you about myself..."
She recounted her first seven cycles in detail, "...The eighth time time reopened on the third day of the third month. I thought it was the last time, so I went to the dungeon to see you. You should know what happened after that. What about you?"
Yan Danqing nodded, thought for a moment, and replied:
"Nothing happened. When you died, everything went black, and I went back to the morning of the first day of the third month with you. After that, it was always the third day of the third month."
Ye Xiren: "??"
She was a little indignant and complained, "How come you're so free? Nothing happened, but God is only torturing me?"
"I'm trapped in the dungeon, nothing can happen." Yan Danqing smiled, his eyebrows relaxed, and in the firelight, his somewhat cold face looked very gentle and exceptionally handsome. He laughed and said, "I can only be buried with Xixi."
Ye Xiren's ears suddenly turned red, she moved her hands and feet, and her face felt a little hot.
"Xixi, what exactly happened on the third day of the third lunar month?"
Yan Danqing lowered her eyes and murmured:
"I thought you would survive."
Just as Ye Xiren was about to answer, a thought flashed through her mind. She grabbed it, her pupils contracted, and she instinctively leaned forward, staring intently into Yan Danqing's eyes, incredulous:
"So, in the last cycle you anticipated that you might die, but with the experience of the seventh cycle, you died while I survived. Therefore, you didn't tell me you were in the cycle?"
She doesn't know, so she won't care too much.
Yan Danqing remained silent, while Ye Xiren stared at him stubbornly, demanding an answer.
“Before you entered the dungeon, I tried to struggle. The prison was full of Lu Qian’s men. Only one jailer had some sympathy for me. On the first day of the third month, I spoke to him and asked him to help me send a message out. That afternoon, he was hanged on the opposite side of the dungeon.”
Yan Danqing looked at her and said softly:
“I don’t know what other tricks Chi Zhanlan Ce has up his sleeve, nor do I know the court’s final judgment on me, but I’ve calculated that there was only a 50% chance of escaping the last cycle, and that 50% was something you gave me by sacrificing several lives.”
Trapped in the dungeon, they are trapped in a cycle of life and death, completely bewildered. Their attempts to save themselves only result in taking another life. Day after day, they repeat this cycle, trapped and dying in the dungeon.
He wondered if it was divine punishment.
Later, Ye Xiren appeared in the dungeon carrying a lantern, looking flustered. The moment he saw her, all his doubts, confusion, and pain vanished, and he understood.
This is not punishment, but a blessing from God.
How could he deliberately hide it from her? The moment they met, she was the person he trusted most in the world.
His life and death both belonged to her.
If Ye Xiren lives, he can live; if Ye Xiren dies, he will die with her.
In the previous cycle, if he could get out, he would fight alongside her; if he couldn't, Ye Xiren was still alive, and as long as she was alive, that was enough.
Yan Danqing foresaw the inescapable death. His encounter with Ye Xiren was purely by chance. The less she knew about him, the less burden she would feel when he died, and the more peacefully she could live on...
Death after death is torturous enough. If it could end here and let Ye Xiren walk away, that would be the best outcome.
Ye Xiren's eyes suddenly reddened.
In the blink of an eye, a few tears fell uncontrollably. Her voice choked with sobs as she gritted her teeth: "What's the use? If you don't survive, I won't see the sun on the fourth day of the third lunar month. Once the third day of the third lunar month is over, we'll just reopen!"
Is there anything else you don't understand?
Ye Pei's analysis of the change in the "circular subject" clearly refers to Yan Danqing, who is also in the cycle!
Yan Danqing died in the seventh cycle, so the restart was no longer on the first day of the third month, but on the third day of the third month.
In the thirteenth cycle, Yan Danqing died again. She is still alive, but she can only live for one day. When the time comes, the third day of the third lunar month will start again. They are both the main bodies of the cycle. She controls Yan Danqing's life and death, and Yan Danqing also controls her cycle.
Yan Danqing reached out and wiped away her tears with his wounded hand, gently comforting her:
"Yes, so when I opened my eyes today, I sensed something was wrong. The moment I saw your father, I understood half of it and couldn't wait to come out and see you."
And now, I finally understand my other half.
Ye Xiren took a deep breath, smiled at him, her dimples appearing shallow, "Then you must live, live together. It's so good, there's still someone to cycle through with me."
She had never heard of such a strange thing as "cycle," and she had searched through all the books but found no record of it. She suppressed her fear and struggled alone, feeling both scared and angry. She had thought she was the only one, but now there was finally another person.
Although it was somewhat unethical, Ye Xiren was genuinely happy.
Her mother was right. It's so good to have a companion. She doesn't have to explain herself again and again or prove what happened to her. Just having him here makes her believe that this world is real.
The forest is real, the campfire is real, the river flowing down the mountain is real, the dazzling lights of thousands of homes are real, and she... is also real.
As if knowing what she was thinking, Yan Danqing restrained himself and touched her with the back of his hand, transferring his warmth to her.
He withdrew his hand, his voice unwavering:
“We are all alive, Xixi. You will definitely be able to break free from the cycle and live a long and peaceful life with your family.”
Ye Xiren raised her head, her face serious: "And you too."
The flickering firelight reflected in her eyes, a cycle of death upon death, yet she remained so full of life, far more comforting than the bonfire beside her.
Yan Danqing slowly smiled, her lips curving upwards and her eyes crinkling: "Okay, I'll stay with you, we'll live on together."
Ye Xiren's eyes welled up with tears, and he returned her the brightest smile, completely dispelling the fear that had lingered deep in her heart for so long.
She was no longer trapped in death alone. She had family, family who cared for and supported her even though they didn't know what had happened to her. She also had a companion, the renowned General Yan of the Great Liang Dynasty.
Their eyes met.
The fire crackled and sparks danced nearby, the crescent moon slowly appeared, and the moat flowed quietly. The bustling city of Nandu made the silence between the two seem all the more poignant, yet this silence made their hearts race and their ears turn red simultaneously, creating an odd atmosphere.
wrong!
Ye Xiren's pupils contracted, and she tilted her head back, suddenly breaking the silence: "Wait, how did you get out?"
Yan Danqing was taken aback for a moment, then answered honestly, "Prison break."
Ye Xiren: "???"
She immediately let out a scream, looking utterly devastated, almost rolling on the ground in despair.
ah!
Help! Protect the heads of her entire family!
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Author's Note: Yan Danqing: My heart is fluttering.
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