Flames shot up into the sky, illuminating this small village surrounded by layers of mountains in the dark night. The screams and fighting were chilling to the ears, and the wails of the villagers filled the ears, as if one was in hell.
Before he could understand what was happening, the village old woman threw him into a water tank and told him not to make any sound. Knowing that he was a good swimmer, they wanted to see how long he could hold his breath.
In the past, as long as he was obedient, the old lady would give him the meat scraps from the dishes to eat, until he could no longer hear the sounds outside, only the "crackling" sound of burning. He slowly floated to the surface and looked outside. All that was left was the unburned wooden frame and people lying or crawling on the ground.
He crawled out, soaking wet, and stood stupidly among the wreckage until his vision went black and he passed out.
When he woke up again, he found out that he was picked up by a man. He and a group of children of his age called him the leader of the hall, and he was carefully trained to be a killer.
Although he was a little disappointing and often slacked off, the other children were making rapid progress in each battle and task.
Every time they go out on a mission, no one wants to be in the same group with him. Only Lingchen doesn't dislike him. Apart from having a blank expression and ignoring people, Lingchen doesn't have to do anything when going on a mission with him. Lingchen can do it alone, and he is responsible for hunting and roasting game for him to eat.
After that, he was always in the same group with Lingchen. When the mission was successful, they would receive the reward together. When the mission failed, Lingchen would always secretly take the punishment for him without telling him.
He didn't know when, but he realized that Ling Chen seemed to have different feelings for him. Although he couldn't learn martial arts or killing well, he had high emotional intelligence since he was a child. He was especially good at reading people's faces and could know what others meant at the first time. That's why the hall master spared his life and let him live until now.
Another mission failed, and he took the punishment before dawn. His back was covered in wounds and looked terrible. When Lingchen came to apply medicine on him, he realized how much Lingchen had silently suffered for him.
The injury on his back prevented him from going to eat, so Ling Chen prepared meals and brought them to him every day, and also changed his dressings. One day, he deliberately tested Ling Chen by pretending to sleep before he pushed the door open.
He closed his eyes tightly and heard familiar footsteps pushing the door open. He stood by the couch for a long time, gently put down the tray, then walked over hesitantly and squatted beside him. His hot breath blended with his light breathing, and the smell of dry soapberries on his body filled his nostrils.
He held his breath for a moment, then fearing he would be discovered pretending to be asleep, he smacked his lips twice as if he were fast asleep to slow down his breathing.
The gaze she gave him was somewhat intense, as if she was suppressing something, which was somewhat different from her usual calm demeanor.
He quietly waited for him to leave, and suddenly felt a soft and moist place on his dry and cracked lips. He was so shocked that he forgot to breathe. His lips and teeth were easily pried open, and the place went straight in without allowing him to resist. He could no longer remain calm and pretend to be asleep. He opened his eyes and struggled, but a big hand fixed the back of his head, stopping his struggle.
"Um... um... Ling... Chen..." His weak protest came out from between his lips and teeth. His mind was blank and he didn't even have time to think about why Ling Chen kissed him. He couldn't feel the pain in the injury on his back. All his senses were focused on his lips and tongue, and his face turned red from holding it in.
Later, he still didn't dare to ask why. Lingchen silently changed the medicine for him and left. Later, when his injuries were almost healed, he avoided Lingchen intentionally or unintentionally. When he went on a mission, he subconsciously avoided his sight and even stopped joking and playing with him. He always felt a little awkward, but couldn't tell what was strange.
Ling Chen seemed to have noticed that he was avoiding him, and he looked lonely. He came and went alone and no longer took him on missions. However, he would still give him half of the reward, and secretly put it in his room every time. This made Ling Chen at a loss. He was unwilling to accept it, but reluctant to leave, and his heart was extremely conflicted.
The winter jujube tree at the back door was full of fruits, and he often secretly climbed up the tree to pick the fruits to eat. This day was no exception, but the price was quite high. He had just climbed up the tree and picked a few fruits when he heard the guards beside the hall master and a veiled woman dressed in Wusun costume talking under the tree, about joining forces to rebel with tiger talismans. The winter jujubes in his pocket accidentally fell and were discovered by the guards under the tree. His martial arts skills were poor, so he was caught almost instantly.
The guards tied him up and handed him over to Hall Master Yin, the man who had picked him up when he was a child. He looked at him with undisguised murderous intent and said, "You're a fish that slipped through the net, and your death is not a pity. I shouldn't have picked you up when we surrounded and suppressed that village."
Only then did he realize that the hatred that had been buried in his heart was caused by this person, and he almost recognized the thief as his father.
He was no stranger to the dark and damp dungeon, where many hostages captured during their missions were held. Specialized people were responsible for the executions, including bone removal, eye gouging, tongue cutting, and piercing. There were hundreds of ways to torture people, and he would definitely not die easily after being locked up in there.
Unexpectedly, Ling Chen would break into the dungeon alone to rescue him. Those who had trained with him in the past showed no mercy to them and killed them all, forcing them to jump into the river to escape. However, Ling Chen blocked most of the fighting to save him and was seriously injured. In addition, the wound was infected by water, and the situation was not optimistic. After getting ashore, he had a high fever and was in a daze. They also did not forget to tell him to quickly escape to the border and find someone to shelter him.
She slept in the open and hid all the way. In the early morning when she was unconscious, she said a lot of words intermittently. When she was a little sober, she said nothing and just stared at him, with many hidden emotions in her eyes.
"Lingyun, hide behind me."
"Lingyun, don't leave me."
"Lingyun, run."
“Ling Yun…”
After more than ten years of being together day and night, he can no longer distinguish his feelings towards Ling Chen. Now his life or death is uncertain, and only Xue Lingzhi can save his life. Therefore, even though he knows it is a dead end, he has to go.
I even felt a little regretful. If I had known it would be like this, he would not have been hiding from Ling Chen some time ago. It's just a matter of being together, so what's the big deal if I agreed to him?
Picking snow ganoderma was more difficult than he had imagined. The mountain top was covered with snow and was steep and difficult to climb. He and the other two guards who followed him tried various methods, but none of them worked.
Seeing that time was running out, he took out a letter he had written before leaving from his pocket and asked them to give it to Ling Chen on his behalf. Then he grabbed a piece of ice protruding from the top of the mountain and slid down to pick the snow ganoderma.
His feet were dangling over the edge of the cliff. Two guards tried to come over and grab him, but as they got closer, cracks began to appear on the entire protruding rock and ice.
After holding on for a whole night, his fingers and body had lost all feeling, probably because they were frozen to death. He gave a bitter smile and threw the snow fungus in his hand up. At the same time, the protruding rocks on the edge could not bear the weight and completely cracked, falling down the cliff with him.
The blowing cold wind broke his eardrums, and he seemed to hear the early morning calling him.
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