Chapter 70
But the excruciating pain in his chest was unbearable; the sharp, tearing sensation shattered all his self-deception. Pei Yun tried desperately to suppress the agonizing feeling, and even more so to grip the hand of the person beside him tightly. However, the pain far exceeded his limits. He groaned, his body bending over uncontrollably, a stinging, bright red blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, Xi Xiao abruptly pulled her hand away. She lifted the red veil, revealing a completely expressionless face. She knelt on the ground not far from him, her gaze never lingering on him, only subtly gesturing to Yunwu and Hesong opposite her.
The two immediately understood. Yunwu pushed the wheelchair carrying Xi Yu to the front of Pei Yun, while Hesong stepped behind Pei Yun. The long sword in his hand, still dripping blood, flashed coldly and was already held against Pei Yun's neck. The sharp blade was close to the skin, bringing the aura of death.
Seeing this perfectly coordinated scene, a broken, bitter laugh escaped his throat, his voice hoarse and barely audible: "When...did you...regain your memories?"
Upon hearing this, Xi Xiao was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting that this was the question he cared about most at the moment. She did not answer immediately, but instead took out an antique wooden box from the wide sleeve of her wedding dress.
Inside the box were seven ancient copper coins with strange patterns, neatly arranged. Without hesitation, she cut her arm with a dagger, blood gushing out, which she then carefully and evenly smeared onto each coin. After doing this, she slowly placed the seven bloodstained coins, one by one, at an eerie angle in front of the unconscious Xi Yu.
“I haven’t lost my memory.” She finally raised her head to look at Pei Yun, her eyes devoid of hatred or resentment, only filled with a sense of detachment and indifference that came from seeing through everything. “The Forget-Me-Not Gu… is utterly useless to me.” She lowered her eyes, her gaze returning to Xi Yu’s pale and serene face, her soft voice ringing out again, “Besides, Senior Brother… has always called me ‘Xiao Xiao.’ You were wrong from the very beginning…”
"So...that's how it is." Pei Yun managed a bitter smile that was more like a grimace, the pain in his chest intensifying with the truth, feeling like a thousand ants gnawing at him, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
He lowered his head helplessly, his broken voice faltering, yet he stubbornly pressed on, "But...why?" He raised his eyes, staring intently at her, "Why did you go to such lengths to orchestrate this? Why did you pretend to marry me? All these days of tenderness and intimacy, spending every day together, wasn't...not a single thing you did truly from the heart?"
"No." Xi Xiao seemed to be able to see through his plea. She raised her eyes and met his gaze with a calm and unwavering expression. Her eyes were devoid of joy or sorrow, so empty that it chilled one to the bone, as if she were simply stating a fact that had nothing to do with her.
“The secret records of the Witch Clan contain a forbidden technique called the Life-Swapping Technique.” Her gaze returned to the seven copper coins, her voice as steady as if she were reciting an ancient text. “This technique defies the heavens, is extremely dangerous, and… has a very low success rate. The Witch Clan member who performs the technique must not only give up half of their remaining lifespan as a catalyst, but will also suffer the most violent backlash of the forbidden technique. Almost… the moment the technique is completed, their life force will be cut off, and they will die instantly.”
Before she finished speaking, the seven copper coins on the ground seemed to come alive, their blood-red light growing stronger and stronger, faintly emitting a low hum, as if a soaring evil aura was about to burst forth from the earth!
Pei Yun finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground. His legs curled up from the extreme pain, and his body convulsed uncontrollably. But his gaze remained stubbornly fixed on Xi Xiao's direction.
Xi Xiao glanced at him indifferently and continued to explain, "These costs are not important. The key is that even if the surgery is successful by chance, the person whose life is swapped will lose all emotions and independent thinking. He will be like an ignorant and unconscious puppet, living a muddled life, and... he could die at any time from any slight shock. If I die then, no one in this world will be able to save him."
Pei Yun trembled and reached out with all his might to touch her skirt, but before his fingertips could touch it, an even more intense pain struck him, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. The blood was dark red and seemed to carry some kind of ominous power.
This mouthful of blood seemed to act as a catalyst! The seven buzzing copper coins surrounding Xi Yu suddenly trembled, shot into the air, and began to spin rapidly around Pei Yun and Xi Xiao, one circle after another! The resulting eerie wind howled, causing the broken wedding candles to flicker and nearly go out, adding an even more sinister atmosphere to the entire wedding hall!
“I have no choice but to plant a Gu.” Xi Xiao remained seated, letting the blood flow freely from her arm, converging towards the rotating copper coin array in the center. She seemed to have lost all feeling of pain, her eyes staring blankly ahead. “If we first plant a special ‘symbiotic Gu’ in the body of the dying, this Gu can become the medium. However, this Gu is extremely special; it must be nurtured in the soil of a living person’s abundant and vibrant ‘seven emotions and six desires’ to become a true ‘living Gu.’ Then, we can plant this living Gu into the body of the dead and finally perform a forbidden life-swapping technique… perhaps… we can gain a real chance of survival.”
Pei Yun let his hands fall limply, tears mingling with blood as they streamed down his face. Veins bulged on his forehead, and he was drenched in cold sweat, yet with sheer willpower, he dragged his aching body toward Xi Xiao, leaving a gruesome trail of blood on the ground.
However, he had barely moved an inch when Hesong kicked him in the side without any mercy, sending him crashing back to his original position!
Out of the corner of her eye, Xi Xiao caught a glimpse of something throbbing violently beneath his robes, as if it were about to burst forth. Her eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, and she forced a smile, her voice icy: "Stop struggling. From the moment you stepped out of the palace, you were destined to die."
The blood in Pei Yun's mouth was unstoppable. He tried to wipe it away with the back of his hand in vain, but the more he wiped, the more blood flowed. He chuckled self-deprecatingly, his voice broken: "The secret letter with Ling Zhouling... was just a pretext... In reality, you and Yin Huaisi..." He was halfway through his sentence when the tearing pain in his chest suddenly intensified, and he vomited a mouthful of blood, silencing his unfinished words.
Xi Xiao slowly shook her head, her face appearing even paler in the blood-red light: "My communication with him was through the 'Heart-Sharing Gu Worms' cultivated by the Southern Frontier royal family. Even if you were all-powerful and intercepted them, you wouldn't be able to decipher their true meaning. The former Regent, Ling Zhouli, once had a strategist who was originally a remnant of the Southern Frontier but later defected. Back then, they used this method to communicate with their former subordinates in the Southern Frontier. Your Majesty... you should know more about this matter than I do." Her words unveiled that bloody past.
Memories surged like a tidal wave over his already collapsing consciousness. Pei Yun stared fixedly at Xi Xiao, his voice trembling violently with extreme pain and agitation. Each word he uttered was like a tear of blood: "That day... the bewitching powder you used on me... was merely a test. If I had died on the spot, it would have been none of your mother's business, and these grudges would have been forgotten! If I hadn't died... I would have been consumed by nightmares and inner demons day and night, my spirit gradually collapsing! Later... Yao Yanfu mistakenly killed Xi Yu... and then... you harbored the intention to make me... pay with my life!"
He struggled to prop himself up on his arms, trying to ignore the excruciating pain that was slowly gnawing at his internal organs and devouring his life. His eyes were bloodshot as he continued to hiss, “You pretended to come to the palace with me… just to… better control the Gu worm within me! You spread rumors, stirred up the court, made my temperament increasingly erratic, and alienated everyone… all just to… allow this Gu worm to better absorb the intense fluctuations of emotion and accelerate its maturation! Later, when the court was in chaos, Ling Zhouling seized the opportunity to enter and take control of everything that belonged to the emperor… all so that you could act… without any worries!”
He sat bolt upright, looking up at the seven copper coins spinning faster and faster above him, their blood-red light almost solidifying. His gaze turned to Xi Xiao with difficulty, forcing a terribly pale smile: "Later... you pretended to have amnesia, and the 'warmth' you shared with me in this Medicine Valley... was only for... to wait until this moment... to save him!"
Xi Xiao's face was as pale as paper, and her lips had lost all color. She seemed unable to hear what Pei Yun was saying, her eyes grew increasingly empty and unfocused, and her aura was rapidly weakening.
Yunwu was the first to notice something was wrong with her. She rushed over from behind Xi Yu's wheelchair, grabbed Xi Xiao's swaying shoulders, and cried out in a panicked voice, "Miss! Miss! What's wrong?! Wake up!"
There was no response. He Song's expression also changed drastically. He looked sharply at Xi Yu in the wheelchair, where a faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of energy could be felt!
"Cough... Hahaha..." Upon seeing this, Pei Yun burst into maniacal laughter, blood gushing from his mouth, staining the ground beneath him a dark red, like a pool of blood. "The offspring Gu is about to leave the body... the mother Gu has lost its connection... and will eventually die! Xi Xiao! You will ultimately... go to the Yellow Springs with me! Hahahaha! To die with you... in life and death... we will be together!"
Over there, Yunwu was crying her heart out, desperately shaking Xi Xiao, whose consciousness was fading. Meanwhile, the copper coins swirling above their heads were emitting a sharp, piercing clang!
"puff--"
"puff--"
"puff--"
Almost simultaneously, the three of them coughed up a mouthful of blood! The seven copper coins fell to the ground, the surrounding cold wind dissipated, and the hall was filled with peace.
Xi Xiao opened her eyes, stunned by the sudden turn of events, and her expression changed drastically! She didn't know where she got the strength, but she stumbled and lunged at Xi Yu in his wheelchair! She trembled as she reached out to his neck.
What I felt at my fingertips was a deathly, icy silence.
Tears welled up in her eyes and burst forth. Her face was filled with extreme panic and confusion. She called out again and again, "Senior Brother..." When no one responded, she subconsciously hugged the increasingly cold body in her arms tighter and tighter, as if trying to transfer her body heat to him.
She raised her tear-filled eyes and looked helplessly at his lifeless, handsome face, her voice filled with desperate pleading: "Senior brother? What... happened to you?"
Yunwu collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Looking at Xi Xiao's utterly terrified state, she stammered, "Miss...Young Master...Young Master has already..."
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