Madness
A deafening clamor filled the air. Even before the dust of Ban Tianyue's execution had settled, the familiar, cold, murderous aura of my father, Ouyang Feiying, enveloped them. As expected, he appeared, his calculated scheme to profit from his own misfortune and his undisguised murderous intent. Bai Tong, Shangguan Yan, and Sima Changfeng were engaged in a confrontation with Ban Tianyue. Sima Lingfeng slowly advanced.
Then, my sister Ouyang Yingying stood on the edge of the city wall as planned, cried out in grief, and jumped down!
"Yingying!" My father's roar was filled with panic and brokenness that I had never heard before.
The next moment, he transformed this overwhelming grief into a deadly attack on Stinky Tofu. Without any time to think, my wheelchair sped out, leaving Jin Xian with no time to react. He could only use this shattered body, once so discarded, to block Stinky Tofu.
The moment the excruciating pain struck, I didn't see my father's hideous face, but Zi Ling's paling face. Between life and death, the only thing I couldn't let go of was my wife. Would she cry heartbreakingly, just like she did in the tomb? What would our child be like when he grew up?
"Tomorrow——!" It was Zi Ling's heart-wrenching cry, penetrating all the noise.
I collapsed, my consciousness a flickering candle in the wind. Before plunging into complete darkness, I vaguely saw my father rushing towards me, heard his cries like a trapped animal, and saw his world, built on power and ambition, crumble under the double blow of his daughter's "tragic death" and his son's "murder" by his own hands. His mind flashed back to the baby he had abandoned in the snow so many years ago... This time, he was completely mad. In the most cruel way, he finally, through his madness, revealed a trace of pure, paternal pain and regret.
Endless darkness and icy cold enveloped me, as if dragging me once again into the abyss of oblivion. But this time, unlike the last time I was infected with the Forget Worry Gu, I clearly felt a faint yet incredibly tenacious vitality, like the thinnest yet strongest thread, firmly binding my heart. It was... Ying'er, and our unborn child. We were connected by our fates, and their lives became my only beacon and anchor as I teetered on the brink of death.
I don't know how long it took before I awoke to the familiar scent of medicine and excruciating pain. The first thing I saw was her face, haggard yet formidable. She had used such a dangerous method, using a deadly poison to reshape my meridians, forcibly snatching my nearly shattered soul from the clutches of Hades.
"Ying'er..." I started, my voice hoarse, holding her hand tightly, as if she would disappear if I let go. "I... I'm really afraid that I will never see you again."
All my pride, all my calculations, seemed so pale and ridiculous after this life-or-death ordeal. I looked at her, tears streaming down my face without warning. The words that had lingered in my heart for so long finally poured out without reservation: "For you, I'd abandon my master. For you, I'd give up everything... But there's only one thing I can't let go of: my pride... I'll change, I'll change everything! I only ask you not to leave me again!" I stared into her eyes, determined to expose the most unbearable truth. "I once wanted the dragon goddess's admiration to prove I could conquer everything, but without her, I'm left with nothing but resignation. And without you, I'm finished."
This is enlightenment, and also begging.
As she listened, tears welled up in her eyes, and she finally leaned over and hugged me tightly. Having walked through the brink of life and death, we both fully understood that each other was the other's inseparable half of life.
After I recovered from my injuries, I looked at the twins, Ouyang An and Ouyang Ning, who were safely born by Ying'er. I looked at their healthy and rosy little faces. I looked at Lang'er touching his younger siblings' hands curiously. I looked at my mother Madam Yuzhu and Ying'er with satisfied and peaceful smiles on their faces... An unprecedented, heavy sense of satisfaction filled my chest.
Thinking about my previous pursuit of the dragon goddess, it was so absurd and ridiculous.
He was just a man, crippled in both body and mind, desperately trying to prove to the world, to his father, to himself—"See, even though I'm confined to a wheelchair, I can still conquer the flower of the highest mountain. I, Ouyang Mingri, am not useless!" It was a mad obsession mingled with inferiority and vanity, and had nothing to do with love. Shangguan Yan, she was more like a tool I used to prove my worth, a beautiful illusion.
Now, the illusion has faded, and true happiness is in my arms. I don't need to prove anything to anyone anymore.
Later, we retired to Yunnan with our mother. With Yingying's assistance, Chou Doufu became a wise leader, Shangguan Yan and Sima Changfeng found their responsibilities and peace, and even Sima Lingfeng, my confidant who had once made me jealous, resumed our correspondence after marrying and having children, discussing medicine and divination as before.
Sometimes, under the moonlight in Yunnan, I think of that foolish father who spent his entire life chasing power, yet only in his madness did he reveal a moment of pure, unadulterated fatherly love. Isn't this a kind of perfection?
I lowered my head and looked at Ying'er who was snuggling beside me.
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