Chapter 89 Concealing the truth: "I just want her to live."
Mingying burst into tears as she got up from him, her body and hands covered in his blood. Gazing at the large patches of sticky, scarlet blood, her vision blurred and went black.
"Ziming, Ziming." She was finally able to call out his name.
She thought he would successfully deliver the items for her and then be safely returned to Langzhou by Pei Xiaoyun's men. All she wanted was for him to live a good life.
Why did it turn out this way, beyond her expectations?
She was already prepared to die, either at the hands of the Wuhuan people or by taking the opportunity to commit suicide... She resented that it wasn't her lying here.
Looking into his still gentle and warm eyes, she knew that he had remembered everything.
Fate is unpredictable. He recalled the past, only to be met with separation by death.
"It's me, Aying." Lin Xian vaguely heard her calling his name. He reached out to rub her red eyes, but his hand was too weak to support itself.
Mingying grabbed his hand and pressed it against her face.
Lin Xian could still feel her cheek being touched. After being satisfied, she smiled slightly, and her pupils gradually became unfocused and lifeless.
Mingying gripped his hand tightly, overwhelming fear gradually consuming her mind. "Ziming, no..."
Gradually, Lin Xian could no longer see her face clearly, only hear her crying. His lips parted slightly: "Don't cry, I did protect you once."
He couldn't protect the woman he loved, and time and time again he watched her being imprisoned, yet he was powerless to do anything about it.
Fortunately, this time, he protected her from harm.
In his next life, he won't be a scholar.
He wanted to go to the vast northwestern grasslands to ride horses and practice swordsmanship, honing his martial arts skills. If he could meet her again, he would cherish her like a treasure and not let anyone touch her.
"No, no..." Mingying whispered in his ear, word by word, trying to bring him back to his senses.
She still remembers how, after he fell off the cliff, she was filled with fear and grief, living in guilt and sorrow every day, and how happy she was when she heard that he was still alive.
She owed him so much, and the only way she could make it up to him was to let him stay in the Northwest, live a good life, and spend the rest of his life in peace.
But she didn't give him any of these things...
The moment of separation by death feels like an eternity.
This moment passed too slowly, so slowly that Mingying felt as if she were being subjected to the torture of slow slicing, as if a knife was cutting away pieces of her heart.
Ning Yimu, clutching her bleeding wound, was furious and ordered the archers on the city wall to raise their bows and arrows.
Shen Mingshu's expression changed drastically. As he spurred his horse forward, an arrow flew out. His eyes widened in horror as he watched the arrow hurtling through the air.
With a "whoosh," Pei Xiaoyun was a step ahead of him, drawing her sword and blocking in front of Ming Ying, smoothly deflecting the incoming arrow.
"Break through the city gates and take the bandit's head!"
With his command, the army surged forward with earth-shaking force, their hooves flying and dust billowing like snow, all rushing into the city gate.
He took Mingying with him and ordered his men to take Lin Xian and retreat away from the battlefield.
Mingying was like a lost soul, being led around in a daze, still calling out Lin Xian's name.
Seeing that she had been safely taken away by Pei Xiaoyun from afar, Shen Mingshu was temporarily relieved and focused all his efforts on leading his troops to meet the enemy.
A desolate moonlight shone across the northwestern land.
Ten miles away, flames blazed like dragons and fish, soldiers stood in formation, and the sounds of battle shook the heavens.
Once they reached the safe camp, Mingying squatted down in front of the stretcher where Lin Xian lay, holding his hand. Knowing that his hand was gradually getting cold, she rubbed it repeatedly, as if she could transfer her body heat to him in this way.
Pei Xiaoyun stood behind her and saw her looking so sad and disheveled because of Lin Xian. Her heart ached, so she looked away and had the military doctor come over instead.
He pointed and said, "Go and take a look at him quickly."
Of course, he could tell that the person was already dead, but the atmosphere was delicate, and he absolutely could not say it himself; he had to let her hear what another person was saying.
Lin Xian's sudden appearance and stabbing of Ning Yimu was indeed unexpected.
His troops were lurking in the shadows, and he was confident that he could rescue Mingying safely once she came down from the city wall.
Lin Xian had no reason to die.
He had nothing, nothing at all. The only thing he had to protect her was his life, but now he was actually risking his own.
Pei Xiaoyun glanced at the person on the stretcher again.
He disliked Lin Xian, but once a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; he couldn't quite explain his opinion of the man, a foolish and stubborn pedantic scholar.
The military doctor took only one step closer, without even taking his pulse or examining him closely, before shaking his head heavily: "It's no use, Your Majesty."
Mingying felt a chill run through her body and gasped for breath.
What do you mean he's not going to make it? She really felt as if she had just received the news that he was still alive.
What do you mean it can't be done?!
She looked at the army doctor, slowly stood up, and stammered excitedly, "Is there any way to save him? Is there any way...?"
Pei Xiaoyun beckoned the military doctor to step back, then supported her swaying figure from behind, his deep voice ringing in her ear: "Aying, he's gone. The dead cannot be brought back to life."
Mingying's tears fell onto the back of his hand, his breath was cold, his vision was all black, and even the sounds he heard were faint and indistinct.
"Let me go..." The last bit of resistance made her slap his hand away. "Let me go, I want to take him back to Langzhou and find Doctor He to save him. Let me go."
The tighter Pei Xiaoyun held her, the more fiercely she struggled.
"Ah Ying!"
With a forceful pull, he turned her over, looked her in the eye, and placed his palm on her face, touching her cold tears.
Even if a god descended to earth, he couldn't be saved.
"You lied to me, you lied to me!" Mingying pushed against his chest, her voice becoming weak and powerless.
She hadn't anticipated any of this.
She hadn't expected Lin Xian to lie before her like this, nor had she expected Pei Xiaoyun to remember her again.
"I won't lie to you." Pei Xiaoyun forcefully pulled her into his arms. For Lin Xian, he had completely lost her. But for him, she was a treasure he had lost and then regained.
He hugged her tightly, feeling incredibly grateful that they weren't the ones separated by death.
Therefore, he cherished her even more. This deep and passionate love enabled him to break free from the shackles of his memory and recall everything.
"I will avenge him."
His chest heaved, his hand pressed against the back of her head, touching her soft hair, as he comforted her: "With me here, none of these accidents will happen."
The deep voice reached Mingying's ears intermittently. She couldn't hear it clearly, her breath caught in her throat, and she collapsed onto his shoulder.
Pei Xiaoyun's hand rested on her back, his wrist trembling slightly, his eyes bloodshot, a hint of gentleness softening his piercing gaze.
—
Pei Xiaoyun wasn't in a hurry to go into the city to fight; he was waiting for someone to come.
Mingying was already weak. She had been traveling a long distance to deliver a message, and then Ning Yimu forced her to take the medicine. She was also overwhelmed with grief and anger over Lin Xian's death, and finally collapsed.
She lay in the military tent for three days, and during those three days, the person she was waiting for finally arrived.
"Your Majesty, Physician He is outside the tent."
Pei Xiaoyun sat beside Mingying's couch, gazing intently at her serene yet pale face. Only when he heard the announcement from outside did he release her hand, hastily bandage his own wounded wrists with gauze, and then lift the curtain to go out.
He was startled when he saw He Lianqing.
The person who came was dressed in a plain gray robe, and looked haggard and dejected, having lost a lot of weight.
He had heard about Xingwei's death; she had died at the hands of the Wuhuan people. Considering how many years she had served him and how loyal she had been to him, he felt a pang of regret.
He turned a blind eye to the private affairs between the two of them; he wasn't unaware of them.
He was about to tell He Lianqing about Xingwei's burial when the other party spoke first.
"I want to ask you for a favor." He Lianqing's eyes were as dry as a parched well as she uttered these words in a daze.
He ultimately failed to bring Xingwei down the mountain that day; her body temperature slowly faded away in his arms.
Controlled by a Gu poison, she killed his master, but in the end, she also died saving him.
He hated that fate was playing such a cruel trick on him.
After descending the mountain, he devoted himself to studying medical books and researching ways to cure the Devouring Thought Gu, as if she were still alive and that finding a way to cure the Gu would save her.
But the truth is, the Devouring Thought Gu is indeed incurable in this world.
She's really gone, no longer in this world...
He would never again see her with her cold expression, drawing her sword at him.
He was in a daze for several days, unable to eat or drink, and his living quarters were filled with scattered medical books.
It was only after Pei Xiaoyun sent someone back to summon him, explaining that Ying was in trouble and that the wounded needed to be treated at the front lines, that he mustered his spirits and rushed here with the others.
"Speak," Pei Xiaoyun gestured for him to speak freely.
A glimmer of life finally appeared in He Lianqing's eyes: "Send someone to bury Xingwei back in the Northwest. Tell me the location of the burial."
She felt guilty and, on her deathbed, only told him that if he could just leave her anywhere in the Northwest, her soul could return to her hometown.
Yes, she clearly killed his most respected teacher, yet he still refused her request.
But it seems he can't do it.
He wanted to give her a peaceful home after her death, to know where she should be buried, and to visit her grave occasionally.
He would also personally go to the graves of his superiors to kowtow and admit his mistakes, telling them to blame him, who was still alive, and not the dead.
We are both pitiful people.
Pei Xiaoyun paused for a few moments before replying, "I promise you, I will first send someone back to Langzhou to have her buried in the Northwest."
He Lianqing pursed her lips and nodded.
"Did you bring the things?" Pei Xiaoyun asked.
The question, of course, is for the cure for "twins".
The antidote for this kind of poison is easy to prepare; the most difficult part is simply finding the right ingredient.
It's not that difficult. There are rumors that two people who have been afflicted by this curse have taken each other's blood as a medicinal ingredient. If they are ruthless enough, they might become no different from normal people and live to be a hundred years old.
But he would never do that; he would never hurt her in the slightest.
He was about to go to the front lines to fight in person. He was afraid that after Mingying woke up, he would not know when the "twins" would flare up. Before He Lianqing came, he had taken blood and left it for him to make medicine, just in case.
He looked weak, staring at the gauze on his wrist, his eyes flickering slightly.
“I’ve already prepared the antidote, I just need the catalyst.” He Lianqing’s gaze fell on his injured wrist, and she knew what he had done. Her expression was complicated. “And what about you?”
He would never want to harm Mingying. But what will he do when Mingying's poison takes effect and everything is ready?
If you try to tough it out, you'll suffer a severe blow to your vitality and shorten your lifespan.
He had already been poisoned before, and if both poisons took effect at the same time, he didn't know if he could come back alive from the battlefield.
Pei Xiaoyun immediately said, "Don't worry about me."
Even if it meant his death, he couldn't hurt her.
Besides, he wouldn't die. He had already seen it; Lin Xian lay coldly before her, forever separated from her.
He would never do that; he will come back alive.
Another battle report arrived, stating that the battle at the front was in full swing. The letter said that Shen Mingshu was wounded and two generals had been killed in action, and the situation was not as optimistic as expected.
He waved his hand, ordering the letter to be taken down. A fire burned in his eyes; as long as he was the emperor, there was always much to be done.
He turned his head slightly, and through the curtain, he seemed to see her face.
He was relieved that she was safe.
Before mounting his horse, he once again instructed He Lianqing: "Also, don't let her know about the medicinal ingredient."
She might still harbor resentment towards him; if she knew, she probably wouldn't be willing...
He Lianqing guessed as much and said to him, "But what if she herself is unwilling?"
He also knew Mingying's personality well; she wouldn't be willing to use his blood as a medicinal ingredient, nor would she want him to save her.
Pei Xiaoyun mounted his horse, his armor reflecting a dazzling white light in the afterglow, and said firmly, "I just want her to live."
He Lianqing watched his figure disappear into the distance on horseback, her thoughts filled with countless emotions.
He and Pei Xiaoyun had been entangled for so many years, but even though they were old friends who couldn't get along in any way, he still hoped that this person could return safely this time.
In that instant, he thought of many things and many people.
Looking back, I was shocked to realize that many years have passed since then, and the people of today are gradually fading away.
Yes, the dead are dead, and those who are still alive should live well, no matter what.
On a bleak autumn evening, before Mingying had even woken up, Pei Xiaoyun left.
-----------------------
Author's note: It's almost finished!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
