(eleven)
The final scene freezes on the boy falling into a pool of blood after plunging the dagger into his chest. Thick black mist rises around him, enveloping him, but then an old man appears. Although the old man's figure is unsteady, he can disperse the black mist with a single palm strike.
Then, the old man bent down and picked up the boy, and when he looked up again, he stared intently at Zhou Ziqiu, who was off-screen.
“I know who you are,” the old man said, seemingly addressing Zhou Ziqiu. “Your brother entrusted something to the Wen family a thousand years ago, and now it’s your turn to take it back.”
After he finished speaking, the scene completely disappeared, and at the same time, the plaque above their heads fell down.
After Zhou Ziqiu laid Wen Suping on the ground, he walked to the plaque and saw something unexpected next to it—the wooden boat that he had once given to Xie Xingzhou!
Unlike the one he had given to Xie Xingzhou, this wooden boat was covered with many runes carved on it. The original brown wood on the hull had turned blood red, whether from paint or real blood, it was hard to tell. A familiar yet strange aura emanated from it.
Zhou Ziqiu could no longer support his body and knelt down in front of the wooden boat with a thud. His hands trembled as he tried to pick up the boat, but he was afraid of seeing the scene from the past again.
"Sailing..."
For many years, Zhou Ziqiu had not shed a tear. After experiencing pain, he always felt that nothing could compare to the pain he had felt before, but there was always something that could surpass the pain he had felt before.
Not only was Zhou Ziqiu shedding tears, but Zhou Qinghe was also shedding tears.
All he wanted was for everyone to live well; that was all he wanted.
His trembling fingertips touched the wooden boat, the rough surface providing a friction sensation just like the moment a thousand years ago when he personally buried Xie Xingzhou's body.
"What...are you doing?"
Zhou Qinghe was drinking tea and admiring the flowers in the garden with Xie Xingzhou when Zhou Gushan happened to pass by and sat down with him in the pavilion. However, he was summoned by his mother. When he finally finished dealing with his mother and returned to the garden, he saw his elder brother killing Xie Xingzhou with his sword.
He was instantly stunned.
A moment later, he belatedly realized what was happening and rushed to Xie Xingzhou's side. He angrily pushed Zhou Gushan away and supported Xie Xingzhou's body, pressing his hand against Xie Xingzhou's chest while shouting, "Imperial physician! Quickly, summon the imperial physician! Hurry!"
"Let's see who dares!"
A loud shout startled Zhou Qinghe, who looked at Zhou Gushan in disbelief: "Brother, what are you saying? Are you crazy? Look carefully, he's Xingzhou!"
Suddenly, Xie Xingzhou grabbed Zhou Qinghe's hand. Zhou Qinghe turned to look at Xie Xingzhou, tears streaming down his face. He hurriedly tore off his clothes to try and bandage Xie Xingzhou's wound, but Xie Xingzhou held him tightly.
"Xingzhou, let me bandage you up, let me bandage you up, okay? Don't die, Xingzhou."
Zhou Qinghe shook his head, crying, his usually cheerful face now covered in tears.
In his dying, blurred vision, Xie Xingzhou clearly saw the little prince he had always protected so well crying. He wanted to reach out and wipe away his tears, but he was too weak to do anything but grab his sleeve and tell him, "Run!"
Zhou Qinghe didn't understand Xie Xingzhou's meaning, but he certainly couldn't abandon Xie Xingzhou now. He struggled to carry Xie Xingzhou, but his body, which wasn't used to much exercise, staggered after only a few steps.
At the same time, a voice like a devil's whisper sounded from behind: "Guards, the Second Prince has gone mad, take him away."
Zhou Qinghe turned around in disbelief, seemingly unable to understand why his beloved elder brother, who had doted on him, had suddenly become like this. Xie Xingzhou, who was on his body, was taken away by the surrounding servants, and he himself was also held by the guards with knives. The swords held to his neck even cut his neck, drawing blood.
"You're the one who's crazy! You're crazy! Zhou Gushan, you're the one who's crazy!" Zhou Qinghe screamed at the top of his lungs, but after a few shouts he started coughing violently. He was usually in poor health and would get out of breath after walking a few steps, and now he was coughing so hard he was about to faint. But at this moment he had something more important than breathing, "Let me go! Xie Xingzhou! Let me go! I order you to let me go!"
......
The scene shifts to Zhou Qinghe, disheveled and filthy, sitting in his cell. His body, unable to withstand the cold, is now as pale as paper, and he coughs up blood when he coughs. His once dignified appearance is gone, and beneath his dusty prison uniform is his emaciated body. Rats scurry around his feet and crawl onto his untouched, spoiled rice.
But Zhou Qinghe didn't care about any of that. He climbed to the prison gate, stopped a passing jailer, and asked earnestly, "Brother, brother, how is General Xie?" As he spoke, he handed the gold lock around his neck to the jailer, hoping to hear news of Xie Xingzhou.
He had never seen Xie Xingzhou since he was taken away that day.
After taking the golden lock, the jailer sized up Zhou Qinghe, sighed inwardly that the imperial family was the most ruthless, and then said, "Xie Xingzhou is dead, just thrown into a mass grave."
"W-what?" Zhou Qinghe exclaimed incredulously. "Where is General Xie? Hasn't General Xie returned yet?"
The jailer scoffed, "Xie Tuo committed suicide a few days ago."
Zhou Qinghe's body suddenly fell to the ground, but the jailer was still not satisfied and said, "Not only that, the Xie family's entire clan has been exterminated."
"Why...why..."
"You have no idea what happened after you were imprisoned here. The palace changed completely. The emperor died suddenly, the empress committed suicide, and the crown prince hastily ascended the throne."
"What...what..." Anyone with eyes could see that there was something fishy about the emperor's sudden death. How could someone who was always healthy suddenly die? Zhou Qinghe gripped his sleeve. "Zhou Gushan, you've really gone mad."
But then he remembered something and got up from the ground again: "Brother, could you please make an exception? I've been friends with General Xie since childhood. Please let me go out to bury his body. I'll come back on my own. Please, brother."
It wasn't that difficult. The palace was in chaos, and no one would care about an abandoned prince. He could simply help out and even get something in return. The jailer's eyes darted around, and he grinned wickedly. "Of course," he said.
As he spoke, the jailer opened the cell door. Zhou Qinghe stepped forward to leave the cell but was stopped. He asked in confusion, "Brother...?"
"Of course you can go out, but you have to give me some more benefits." The jailer's gaze fell on Zhou Qinghe's body exposed under his prison clothes. He had heard that this prince had been pampered since childhood, and his skin looked as smooth as brocade.
Zhou Qinghe couldn't understand the jailer's meaning. He shook his head and said, "I don't have anything else on me. You can pawn that gold lock for a lot of money."
The jailer shook his head, pushed Zhou Qinghe to the ground, and with a sinister grin, took off his clothes and grabbed Zhou Qinghe by the neck. The boy's neck was slender and warm to the touch, with an excellent feel. Coupled with the boy's handsome appearance, the jailer's evil thoughts were aroused: "No need for that, this will do."
"What are you doing! Let go!" Zhou Qinghe was having trouble breathing, his face was flushed red, and his weak body could not stop the jailer's outstretched hand.
"No...don't..."
The boy's cries gradually grew hoarse, and his fingers drew blood on the ground, but the blood flowed even more from below.
A moment later, the jailer stood up, pulled up his trousers, spat at the boy, and left the cell. He didn't close the door, seemingly not believing that the boy, who was no longer moving and whose breathing was more labored than exhaled, could stand up again. As he left, he was cursing and swearing, using all sorts of filthy words.
The last glimmer of starlight in Zhou Qinghe's eyes went out.
Why......
...
......
Some time later, the "corpse" lying on the ground stirred.
His five fingers curled up on the ground as he suddenly grabbed the cell door beside him. He lifted his face from the ground and used his other hand to support his body. After a moment, he leaned against the cell door and stood up, trembling.
He stood up and walked out of the cell with difficulty.
With every step he took, drops of blood fell to the ground.
But as if tacitly approved, no one stepped forward to stop him.
Fortunately, the mass grave was very close to the prison, since the mass grave was where people who died in prison were thrown in.
Crows, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, stood on the ground pecking at the corpses. In the distance, there were the howling and whimpering of wild dogs, and even faint rustling sounds, the origin of which was unknown.
It wasn't difficult for him to find Xie Xingzhou. Xie Xingzhou had been dumped here a few days ago. When he found Xie Xingzhou, his body hadn't decomposed much. The boy had his eyes closed, as if he had just fallen asleep. He would open them again in a moment and happily call out to him, "Ahe."
"Sailing by boat".
His hoarse voice was almost tearing as he reached out and brushed the dirt off Xie Xingzhou's face, laid him flat on the ground, and then dug into the ground with his hands, one stroke at a time.
The sun set in the west and rose again. Finally, a pit as long as a person was dug out. His hands were covered in blood, but he didn't care. He reached out and dragged Xie Xingzhou into the pit, burying Xie Xingzhou with the excavated soil.
Until the soil completely covered Xie Xingzhou.
"You passed away in autumn."
"May we never meet again in the next life."
...
Zhou Ziqiu's eyes widened, but they were lifeless.
A heart-wrenching pain spread throughout his body, as if his whole body was about to split open. The most painful part was his head, as if someone was trying to tear his head apart alive.
But he didn't utter a sound; he simply kept pointing at the wooden boat with his fingers.
Suddenly, a person appeared and picked up the wooden boat.
18:57:58
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