Chapter 114 Chapter 114 Showdown This time, you can't run away...
A hazy dream. The sound of gurgling water, the chirping of birds in the distance, the oars splitting the surface of the water, diving in with a thud, paddling the water with a splashing sound.
The black-sailed boat beneath me was shaking slightly.
She closed her eyes.
Under the nose, a hint of sweetness swirled.
It's blood.
Her eyelashes trembled twice, and she opened her eyes drowsily.
The boat was covered with scattered fallen petals, densely packed on the decking. Some of them had already withered and had yellowed edges.
Inside the awning, the bloodstains that had already dried up were splashed with a bright arc of blood. The blood beads meandered down, flowing down along the arched awning and staining the stacked petals.
Beyond the messy petals and blood beads, a crescent moon hangs high in the sky.
Under the moon, there was a person sitting.
He was wearing a dark black robe, with satin-like black hair cascading down his back. He sat cross-legged, listening to the sound of oars.
"woke up?"
The man at the bow turned his face halfway to the side, his eyes bound.
She closed her eyes and began to sleep.
Now that things have come to this, there is no point in struggling or panicking, so forget it.
Gu Huaijin smiled gently: "My Lady... It's been years since we last met, where are you going now?"
She opened her eyes a little, but knowing that things were no longer under her control, she closed them again.
He can kill me or chop me up, it’s up to him.
There was medicine in that glass of wine. Even if she woke up, she would fall asleep again as soon as she closed her eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, I had been moved to the bow of the boat. The moon was high in the sky, its silver light like water, casting a chill on me.
She shuddered and woke up, only to find herself resting her head on his lap.
He placed one hand on her waist and covered her with his wide sleeves.
In the past, on the Tianshan Mountains, she loved to sleep leaning on his lap. At that time, he often stayed up late at night to review documents, and sometimes he would not be able to leave the bed, so he leaned against the headboard and turned the pages one by one.
She didn't like sleeping alone, so when he got on the bed, she would nap on his lap like a cat.
The last time I took a nap on his lap was five years ago.
"woke up?"
"Um."
After lying in one position for too long, her face became numb and she turned her head to the side.
As she moved, she heard a clinking sound on her wrist. She raised her hand and saw an iron ring, handcuffed to her wrist, connecting it to his hand. Under the moonlight, the metal gleamed coldly.
She didn't bother to care, so she put her hands on the side of her face, lay down more comfortably, and rubbed his knees out of habit.
Gu Huaijin didn't move and let her do it in silence.
The water was shaking, and even those who had difficulty falling asleep were hypnotized and slept all day long.
She didn't expect that even after being kidnapped by Gu Huaijin, she would be so calm.
It's like someone who kills a loved one, yet no one discovers and suffers torture day and night. Finally, on the day he's arrested, the nightmare ends, allowing him to sleep soundly.
In fact, she should have expected it.
It turns out that I feel guilty about running away, and maybe I even want to die.
Tears fell from her eyes, rolled down to the hem of his clothes, and were instantly swallowed up by the dark color.
"Huai Jin." She hadn't uttered these two words in ages. "What have you prepared for me on Wuliang Mountain?"
With his eyes closed, his tone was as comfortable as a dream talk.
Gu Huaijin didn't speak for a long time.
She smiled a little, and her tears wet his clothes, and a warm feeling came through the fabric.
He couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
"The second time I saw you was also on the river." He didn't know why, but he suddenly talked about the past. "Then, the third time, it was at the Buddhist temple. After the Buddhist temple, you followed me to Mount Tianshan."
She laughed, and the moonlight was so bright that she couldn't sleep, so she covered her eyes with her hands.
"Why is it the second time? That was the first time."
Gu Huaijin said nothing, and continued to himself:
"Now, follow me back to Wuliang Mountain, which is also on the river."
She felt sleepy and leaned on his lap, smiling.
Both times we met, we were on the water.
But can she still escape from Wuliang Mountain?
She yawned and said lazily, "Huai Jin, you have to be fair. In the past, I was very fast, just one sword."
"So," she sighed, "if you're going to do it, do it quickly."
He didn't answer. After a long moment, he raised his hand and wiped away the tears that were dotting her chin.
The ends of her eyebrows trembled for a moment, and more tears fell.
"Okay." He bent his index finger and wiped away her fresh tears. "Don't cry."
She said in the same tone she used to coquettishly with him: "Then let me choose a way to die."
He was silent.
She turned her head and looked up at him.
Her Adam's apple, jawline, and kissable lips were all too familiar to her.
He said, "Okay."
The tone was as if he had asked her to choose jewelry in the past.
She found it funny and started laughing, shaking her shoulders. She couldn't control her laughter and had to bite her index finger to stop herself from shaking.
For some reason, he actually held her hand and pried her index finger out from between her teeth.
Slender finger bones, covered with green veins, covered the back of her hand. A thumb, adorned with a jade ring, rubbed back and forth against her skin. A familiar, steady warmth.
She didn't struggle to break free, but held his hand, wanting to sleep a little longer.
When I touched it, I felt a horizontal, raised knife mark on his wrist.
One by one, and again, as dense as the teeth of a comb.
How could she not know where those scars came from? When she was little, in the gate of rebirth, she had cut herself like this a few times when she was depressed.
In the past, he didn't have a single one on his wrist.
She couldn't bear it anymore, and her whole body was trembling as she tried to hold back her tears. She used her other hand to cover her trembling eyelashes.
His knees were soaked by her tears, and the hem of his shirt clung to his skin. Gu Huaijin watched her trembling, calm and unmoved, and said softly, "You're crying like this." With a hint of sarcasm, "Now, are you afraid of me?"
Not afraid.
If she was just afraid, why would she cry so much?
He doesn't understand.
She didn't want to explain. Even if she told him that she felt sorry for him, he would probably just laugh it off.
She whispered softly, "Huaijin, I'm sorry."
Tears wet her eyelashes, rolled down from the bottom of her eyes, formed a small pool on the bridge of her nose, and then meandered down.
Gu Huaijin didn't say anything.
The person who spoke was Wu Dao.
The voice was as cold as a water ghost buried in the water, always looking for a living person to replace him:
"Nan Qiong Shuang?"
Nan Qiong Shuang sneered.
He is still here.
She ignored it. There were some things she had endured for too long and now had to say:
"I couldn't do anything about what happened back then."
Wu Dao was furious: "Nan Qiong Shuang!"
Gu Huaijin asked quietly, "What do you mean there is no way?"
She couldn't say any more. This sentence was absolutely wrong.
Even if she explained everything to Gu Huaijin, the matter was done and there was no turning back.
If we stop here, at least one of the two ends can be saved.
Gu Huaijin suddenly chuckled, his face covered with black silk, and looked towards somewhere in the dark night sky, speaking in a cold and slow tone:
"...Why do I always feel like there's a fly, thinking it's clever, circling around Gu?"
Nan Qiong Shuang suddenly opened her eyes.
Suddenly, he flicked his fingers and a shadow of some unknown object appeared, suddenly flew into the air, drew an arc, and disappeared in a flash.
The wind blew and hit her face, causing a slight pain.
She couldn't believe it.
The Wangsheng Sect's disciples practiced the art of shrinking and concealing their shadows, all of whom had received the true teachings of the once-renowned Fenying Pavilion. She had been assassinating for over a decade, yet no one, from martial saints to mighty generals, had ever been aware of the sect's existence.
He actually noticed it?
She used telepathy to ask urgently, "Mist Blade, Mist Blade?"
There was no sound in my ears.
She struggled to get up and sat up straight with difficulty, "Mist Blade? Are you still there? Mist Blade?"
Unexpectedly, her hands were cuffed with iron rings, which made her feel uncomfortable. Her body was also numb from lying down. She just sat up with her arms supported, and then she fell down.
Throw yourself on him.
Under the moonlight, Gu Huaijin just stood there quietly, letting her lean on him, without saying a word.
He tilted his head, expressionless, and looked down at her.
At such a close distance, she could almost see the texture of his blindfold.
Under the moonlight, the black silk cloth shone with a silky sheen. Beneath the silk ribbon, his forehead and nose remained as straight as ever, his bones were incredibly handsome, and his two beautiful lips were gently pursed.
...Everything was exactly the same as what she saw when she woke up in the middle of the night in Muxue Courtyard, sleeping with her forehead against his.
She opened and closed her lips, and finally held her breath.
She suddenly didn't dare to speak loudly: "...Huai Jin."
Gu Huaijin did not answer.
Suddenly, he opened his lips, tilted his head, and leaned towards her.
It moved another half inch to the side of her lips and just stopped.
She was startled for a moment, panting slightly. It felt like her lips were tingling. The kiss that was supposed to come didn't come, and her body was even more disappointed than she was.
She didn't know how she dared to hope.
His breath brushed against her lips, and the air she exhaled was instantly inhaled into his lungs, but he hung by her lips without moving.
After a long time, she closed her eyes:
"Don't be like this. What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to kill me? Just be quick, okay?"
"Kill you." He repeated with an ambiguous tone, then with a hint of a smile, withdrew from her. "It's not time yet."
However, his hands slowly came up from behind her, wrapped around her waist, tied her to his chest, and hugged her tightly.
She didn't know how to understand this hug, and her tears fell on his shoulders.
"So, when you told Li Xuanbai that you wanted to take Mao Linyan back to the mountain, you were just trying to deceive him. You were afraid that he would help me and interfere."
Gu Huaijin smiled: "Of course."
"In the Forbidden City, you recognized me long ago, but you never attacked me. You wanted to deceive me. You even asked me to take off the emperor's clothes."
He smiled happily: "You know how tolerant I am."
"You didn't cause trouble in the Forbidden City and deliberately tricked me here because Wuliang Mountain is your territory. You can do whatever you want and how you want it."
He smiled: "Yes."
"He asked me to help him undress, and even I was fooled. Then, inexplicably, he took my handkerchief. Because of that handkerchief, you knew it was me right away." She found it a little funny. "Why? Because it smelled like me?"
"Handkerchief?"
Hearing this, he seemed to have heard something humorous, and his smile was filled with a bit of disdain and laziness:
"Do I need a handkerchief to recognize you? You're overestimating yourself. I knew it was you outside the hall that day. But at the time, I wasn't sure. You don't know how many people have heard about our story over the years and sent women who look like you to the mountains, one by one, all plotting to obtain the Infinite Heart Technique."
He laughed: "...I hope that Gu, who is extremely stupid, will fall for the same thing twice."
She listened, unable to reply.
"Later, the Emperor suffered a mad attack—"
He paused, his laughter breaking his sentences, "--Do you know that the tone you use to coax people has never changed over the years?"
She didn't understand: "A coaxing tone?"
"Back then, in Bodhi Pavilion, Li Xuanbai said he wanted to go down the mountain with you. You were afraid I'd have a fit, so you tried to comfort me. That tone of your voice—grabbing my hand, calling his name repeatedly—I knew it was you right away."
"It's just," he said with a calm smile, "it was me who was called before, but now it's someone else."
She lowered her head, not knowing what to say, and pursed her lips.
"Self-righteous, self-righteous." The corners of his lips curled up in a cool and pleasant tone. His voice was coaxing her, but every word was cold: "Be good. If I were you, I would not be so conceited. I would definitely come to me and confess a long time ago."
"But now, it's too late."
He smiled and kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose. With a "tsk" sound, she was startled by the kiss.
He turned his head and looked at the hazy mountains coming towards him in front of the bow:
"You know how many flies and mosquitoes there are around you, without me having to tell you."
"So, let's go back to the mountain and say what needs to be said and settle the accounts that need to be settled."
A layer of hazy night fog rose on the river, feeling cold to the skin, and shrouded the front of the mountain, disguising the mountain as a fangless behemoth.
His voice was very soft: "This time, you can't run away, dear."
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