Chapter 94 Accepting Fate "In fact, the rise and fall of dynasties are all foreshadowed by celestial signs..."
The sharp spear pierced the swaddling clothes of the infant, held high in the air, abruptly silencing its cries, and blood slowly flowed down the spear.
Heart-wrenching cries filled the air as soldiers, burning, killing, and looting, brandished their blades and indiscriminately slaughtered the innocent, even infants. The sounds of battle were deafening.
The soldiers who were robbing and killing broke down rows of houses. In nine out of ten houses, women, children and young girls were hanging from the beams. They did not want to be humiliated, so they all hanged themselves!
Whether by jumping into a well or self-immolation, a charred body twisted and crawled out of the raging inferno. Her flesh and blood were not completely burned away, and the flames on her body could not be extinguished. Her mouth made gurgling noises, and her throat, scorched by smoke and fire, could no longer speak, as if she was crying out, "Save me, save me," and then she grabbed the boy's leg...
Li Liuyun suddenly opened his eyes, jolted awake from a nightmare filled with carnage. He stared at the rather simple roof beams, breathing rapidly, covered in cold sweat, unable to calm down for a long time.
Li Liuyun felt ice-cold all over, as if he were standing in a freezing pool.
The nightmare lingered, and the image of "Li Xiang" remained vivid in his mind, as if he had personally experienced the Battle of Puzhou. Li Liuyun trembled with fear: Master, I have witnessed the disaster you spoke of.
As a dynasty gradually crumbles, the cruelty of chaos is unimaginable; the Puzhou before him is merely the tip of the iceberg. To restore order and pacify the land, war must be waged to end war, and this means even more bloodshed and sacrifice—how many have returned from ancient battles?
"What did you dream about?" Bai Yuan washed the blood off his hands, wiped his fingers clean one by one with a handkerchief, and glanced at the still-shaken Li Liuyun. "So frightened?"
This boy is too preoccupied; he can't even sleep soundly.
Li Liuyun turned his head, his eyes tinged with a scarlet hue. He opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to have been scorched by smoke and fire, and he could not utter a sound.
He wiped Bai Yuan clean, folded the handkerchief, placed it on the table, and casually tossed out a vial of wound medicine: "Your inner demons cause nightmares. You're so young, what could you possibly be so upset about?"
Li Liuyun caught it in a daze, his eyes still somewhat unfocused.
"Hmm, he looks like he's still in shock and hasn't recovered yet," Bai Yuan said. "Or are you still frightened by that massacre?"
Li Liuyun stared blankly at Bai Yuan, then suddenly spoke out of the blue: "In fact, the rise and fall of dynasties are all omens of the stars."
Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow: "So?"
"Although the world is ever-changing... throughout history, the universe has its own destiny, just as the seasons change, all things follow their cycle of life, and the rise and fall of dynasties also follow a pattern." As the saying goes, what is united for a long time will inevitably divide, and what is divided for a long time will inevitably unite. The chaos of division and war brings turmoil to the world, and the people suffer. Li Liuyun's gaze gradually lost focus, as if the rise and fall of dynasties throughout history were flowing endlessly before his eyes. "'The deer perished in Qin, the snake rose in Han,' rise and fall, order and chaos, cycle endlessly. Throughout history, the longest a dynasty has lasted is no more than a few hundred years."
Bai Yuan hadn't expected this kid to be concerned about the fate of the nation: "So what nightmare were you having? The Great Duan Dynasty has fallen?"
“I…” The color drained from Li Liuyun’s face, and even his lips turned white. He dreamt of a chaotic world of war, plunder, and slaughter, with countless soldiers and civilians killed or wounded.
He heard his master's long sigh. He had once led him to look up and down at the sky, observing the omens of the stars all night, and then, with concern for the country and its people, he led him into the Tao.
At that time, Li Liuyun was still young. Celestial Master Jingzong called him "Little Prince". The Little Prince was the eldest son of the royal family. He was diligent and studious from a young age, with great talent and foresight. He was a great talent for enlightenment and cultivation.
On the eve of Li Liuyun's journey to Taihang with the Celestial Master Jingzong, the Hanlin Academy had already drafted an edict—granting Li Liuyun the imperial seal and establishing him as the Crown Prince, placing him in the Eastern Palace, so as to ensure the dynasty's longevity and unite the hearts of the people.
Just then, the heavens revealed auspicious signs. Celestial Master Jingzong showed the young prince a divination of the stars, accepting the mandate of heaven upon him and entrusting him with important responsibilities. He then "coaxed" the still young Li Liuyun to go up to the Taihang Mountains.
In truth, whether he is the Crown Prince or the successor of the Celestial Master, it is just a matter of status. For Li Liuyun, there is no difference; he will both bear the burden of the nation's troubles.
If he hadn't been still shaken after waking up from the dream, he probably wouldn't have told Bai Yuan all this. Li Liuyun held the wound medicine, stood up and straightened his crooked robe: "I'm going to the county government office."
He didn't leave immediately. He looked around at his fellow disciples who were fast asleep and said, "The Jingguan has collapsed, and the dead bones are filthy. The ancient battlefield still has lingering effects that can affect the living. The yamen runners alone can't handle it. When they wake up in a while, I'll trouble you to tell them to come and help."
"good."
Li Liuyun turned and opened the door, but Bai Yuan suddenly called out to him, "Wait a minute."
Li Liuyun turned his head and waited for her to speak.
Bai Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "Let Liang Youyi's remains be properly buried."
Li Liuyun nodded, opened the door, and went out of the house.
The four boys slept until nightfall, only to be woken up by hunger. They opened their eyes groggily, unable to tell which way was which, until Bai Yuan reminded them, that they realized what had happened.
The group quickly got up, first filled their stomachs, then booked two more guest rooms to clean and bandage their wounds, and finally rushed to the Jingguan (a type of ancient Chinese structure) to clean up the mess.
Once the room fell silent, Bai Yuan could vaguely hear a few mutterings.
The person on the bed was completely delirious with fever, their cheeks flushed with a sickly redness. Zhou Yaren had been running a fever since arriving at Yuan Village, and it had remained high ever since.
The moment Bai Yuan's hand touched his forehead, his burning cheeks instinctively pressed against her palm, like a burning fireball.
Zhou Yaren's initiative to get close to her seemed to please her. Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow as she stared at the "fireball" in her hand. This person was completely unsuspecting, just brazenly offering herself up to her.
Bai Yuan was well aware that this was a fever caused by the combination of old and new injuries, and that he was in a period of unbearable suffering. If he did not intervene in time to cool him down, he would most likely suffer brain damage and become an idiot.
Bai Yuan's fingertips traced Zhou Yaren's narrow eyebrows and eyes as she lowered her gaze to admire her face. She didn't particularly like fools, even beautiful fools; they were rather uninteresting.
Bai Yuan had twice considered keeping the man by her side, but she never had the time to think about it. Now, as she intently examined the face, it was hard not to combine the man's looks with her own, creating a one-in-a-million male beauty. As a result, the thought of keeping the man by her side resurfaced. Bai Yuan couldn't help but ponder it, even if Zhou Yaren was scheming against her, she could tolerate it.
Since Bai Yuan had decided to keep the person, he naturally had the magnanimity to tolerate them. The other party's scheming was no different from their petty temper.
However, to Zhou Yaren, she was an evil spirit, and he might not necessarily be willing to submit.
Bai Yuan's cool fingertips slowly traced his cheek, and he couldn't help but recall the experience of a certain wrongfully killed person. In his previous life, he had been forcibly taken and kept by a spoiled young master. Although he lived a life of luxury and extravagance, he was always depressed and made a scene, causing chaos and unrest.
If Zhou Yaren were to make a scene with her... Bai Yuanguang thought that he might not be able to handle such a fierce situation.
Besides, she wasn't some spoiled brat, and she didn't have a penchant for forcing others to comply.
She just felt... Bai Yuan was unusually lost in thought for a moment, and the hot person under her hand seemed not satisfied with the slight coolness on his fingertips, and frowned as he rubbed his hand into her palm again.
Feeling drowsy, Zhou Yaren felt as if he were being roasted over a campfire. The flames beneath him were only getting bigger, making his muscles and bones feel unbearably hot and swollen, causing him to involuntarily seek coolness from the outside.
The scorching breath sprayed onto his hand. Bai Yuan patiently watched him for a moment, then withdrew his hand and gently touched his brow with his fingertips, covering it with a thin layer of frost to help cool him down. The brows that were furrowed due to discomfort slowly relaxed.
Zhou Yaren unconsciously grabbed Bai Yuanliang's wrist, her palm burning hot as if she were burning herself, and held on tightly as if she wanted to cool off.
Bai Yuan didn't break free, letting him hold her to cool her down. With his other hand, he placed his wrist on her pulse, and strands of ice thread probed into her sleeve along Zhou Yaren's swollen veins, spreading throughout her body.
Cool, icy silk wrapped around Zhou Yaren's bare skin and tendons, and when it touched her burning wounds, it actually had a pain-relieving effect.
Bai Yuan lowered his eyelids, realizing for the first time that ice silk could be used in this way.
Seeing Zhou Yaren gradually relax, Bai Yuan whispered, "Feeling better now?"
They thought the person was asleep and couldn't hear them, but to their surprise, Zhou Yaren responded indistinctly.
Bai Yuan checked his wrist pulse: "Awake?"
This time, Zhou Yaren didn't respond. Under the soothing effect of the ice silk, his pain gradually subsided. He no longer had to endure the burning pain of the blazing fire even when he was unconscious. His swollen veins gradually cooled down, and his breathing gradually became more stable.
Bai Yuan sat before the bed, maintaining the ice silk so that it wouldn't melt when heated, but he had to be careful not to overdo it, because his body was too weak and the flow of cold energy should not be too strong, otherwise it would be counterproductive and he would easily catch a cold.
This was the first time Bai Yuan had handled something so gently; it wasn't until late at night that Zhou Yaren's fever subsided.
He briefly lifted his eyelids in a blur and vaguely saw a slender fingertip covered with a thin layer of ice, the coolness seeping into his wrist veins.
"Innocent," he murmured to himself, and then drifted off to sleep in a daze.
Bai Yuan was unaware that he was holding her hand tightly. She checked his forehead temperature and was about to get up when his hand was still firmly in her grasp.
Bai Yuan frowned: "The fever's gone down, why aren't you letting go?"
Zhou Yaren, who was unconscious, naturally did not react at all; he had just fallen into a deep sleep.
Bai Yuan pulled his hand away by twisting his wrist, and subconsciously glanced at the purplish-blue mark on the back of his hand where a poisonous insect had stung him. It was covered with a layer of frozen frost and had not spread—it must have been some kind of poisonous corpse worm. The Gu Yin was something made from pregnant corpses, and it was extremely harmful. Liang Youyi and his daughter died one after another at the hands of that Gu Master, but she escaped.
Bai Yuan's gaze darkened. Not only had the Gu Master run away, but he had even taken advantage of her misfortune to snatch Yin Sui right under her nose.
What is the purpose of the Gu Master going to such lengths?
Bai Yuan had a bad feeling about this. No matter what heinous scheme the other party was plotting, she had to find and kill them as soon as possible.
Since the Gu Master had stayed in Puzhou, he couldn't have left no trace. Although it's difficult to catch a cowardly rat hiding his head and tail, it's not like there's no way to catch him.
Bai Yuan silently stepped out of the room, closed the door, and vanished from the inn like a ghost.
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