Chapter 98, the grand finale: Chu Yueyuan had never faced anything like this in her entire life…
Inside the carriage, Chu Yueyuan leaned against the carriage wall, closing her eyes to rest.
"Cough cough...cough cough..."
His intermittent coughs betrayed his exhaustion.
Chu Yueyuan opened her eyes and looked at Xie Nianzhi's bloodless face.
The woman's face was usually pale, but for some reason, it looked even paler today. Especially when contrasted with the bright red chalcedony pendant on her chest, her face appeared lifeless, like a cold porcelain beauty that had lost its glaze.
"Princess, the medicine is ready." Xia Lian brought over a bowl of thick, dark medicine.
Chu Yueyuan's eyes flickered slightly. She detected the aromas of angelica and donkey-hide gelatin in the bitter medicinal smell, both of which are used to replenish qi and blood.
Xie Nianzhi picked up the bowl and drank the medicine.
Watching from the side, Chu Yueyuan felt a strange unease creep into her heart. She tentatively asked, "I heard from the Great Khan that the Princess personally raised these two love-longing Gu. Gu insects are prevalent in the Southern Frontier. The Princess used to live in Jingzhou, which is hundreds of miles away. How did the Princess learn... this art of raising Gu?"
Xie Nianzhi raised his eyes, staring expressionlessly at the woman with a rosy complexion, feeling as if the bitter taste of medicine in his mouth had seeped into his heart.
She spoke softly, "If Your Highness ever wishes to kill a man many times stronger than yourself, you will spare no effort to find every method that can kill: poison, poisonous herbs, venomous insects, witchcraft, and even tree sap that kills on contact with blood..."
"Does Your Highness know how my husband died?"
A strange smile appeared on her lips: "I endured him until he finished venting on me, and then, while he was fast asleep, I quietly placed a poisonous snake in his boot..."
Looking at the woman with the chilling smile, Chu Yueyuan felt a mix of emotions, as if she were seeing a kind-faced bodhisattva with the head of a demon.
If Xie Nianzhi had stopped after murdering her husband, Chu Yueyuan would not have thought she was vicious; on the contrary, she would have thought she was brave and resourceful.
Since we cannot wait for the dawn to arrive, it is not wrong to carve out a piece of heaven and earth with our own hands.
Her mistake was using the praise and empty fame of the world to cover up her scars. Although the reconstructed golden body was perfect, it depended on the continuous incense offerings. Once the praises faded and the incense offerings stopped, it would be reduced to its original form.
Xie Nianzhi looked out the window at the people and horses, her voice ethereal as smoke: "I truly envy Your Highness. Even if you fall into the mire, there will always be someone trying to pull you out. Imperial Physician Zhao is willing to give his life for you, Princess Feng is willing to go through fire and water for you, and there is him..."
She gave a self-deprecating smirk: "And me? I've always been alone, struggling and crawling miserably out of the filthy mire, with no one to pull me out... never..."
Chu Yueyuan paused, her unease growing stronger. She feigned ignorance, frowning slightly. "Why do you say that, Princess? Princess Feng hates me to the core; why would she help me?"
Xie Nianzhi turned around, his clear, cold eyes gleaming with a chilling light as they fell upon the woman's forced composure. He suddenly smiled softly and said, "Your Highness, do you know that people's mouths can lie, but their eyes never do? I am all too familiar with the despair in your eyes after Physician Zhao's death, but ever since he appeared, your eyes have regained their luster."
Having said that, she looked out the window again, a slow smile playing on her lips, her tone icy: "However, even if he comes, it won't change anything..."
Chu Yueyuan's expression suddenly changed.
Just then, Feng Qi's angry and startled shout rang out from outside the carriage:
"Irkha, how dare you betray our promise!"
———
At the end of the valley is a steep cliff that drops abruptly. The wind howls at the cliff's edge, dispersing the white mist that swirls in the valley and revealing the scenery below.
Hundreds of large cowhide tents are scattered across the vast plains, with wisps of smoke rising and drifting into the blue sky and white clouds. Several herdsmen ride on horseback, occasionally cracking their long whips to drive herds of cattle and sheep across the grassy slopes.
When Erhe saw the familiar tribe, a look of delight appeared on his face.
He took out a bone whistle from his pocket and held it to his lips. A wolf-like howl pierced the silent grassland, as if announcing the return of the master of this land.
Before long, countless people and horses would come upon hearing the commotion to welcome him back to the tribe.
Erkh turned to look at his men behind him, a fierce glint in his eyes, and coldly gave the order:
"Let's do it!"
As soon as they finished speaking, the Canglang generals immediately raised their scimitars and approached the Xixia female soldiers who were surrounded in the center with ill intent.
Upon seeing this, Feng Qi immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "Erhe! You go back on your word! You dare to call yourself the overlord of the grasslands? You're nothing but a weasel that digs holes everywhere!"
Upon hearing this, Erhe showed no anger. He glanced sideways at Feng Qi, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"If Princess Feng came to the grasslands as a guest with sincere intentions, I, the Khan, would naturally have treated her with the utmost hospitality. However, the princess's actions are not upright, and she has hidden people among her troops whom I do not welcome. Even so, how can you blame me for breaking my promise?"
The two wolf-men could not contain themselves and swung their scimitars at the unarmed Xixia female soldiers.
In a flash, a tall figure appeared, swiftly snatched the curved blade, and slashed it with his backhand. A line of blood bloomed from the throat of the wolf-man. The other wolf-man had not yet recovered when he felt a chill in his abdomen. He looked down blankly and saw his intestines gushing out mixed with blood.
The man's moves were swift and decisive, without any hesitation; every move was a testament to his years of experience on the battlefield, a mastery of killing techniques.
Erkh's face suddenly darkened. He stared coldly at the man and forced out a few words through his teeth:
"It really is you!"
Pei Muwei reached out and removed the mask from her face, revealing a pair of phoenix eyes that exuded an innate nobility and majesty, radiating an air of authority without anger.
Erkh's face was grim, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly: "I underestimated you. You dared to come alone. Should I say you are incredibly audacious, or... overestimating your own abilities?"
He gazed at the vast army approaching from the grasslands and felt a surge of confidence. He smiled and said, "Or are you planning to sneak into the tribe like you did with my father last time, and quietly take my head?"
Pei Muwei's eyes were deep and his voice was cold and hard as he casually said, "Khan, you're overthinking it. I don't intend to let you die so easily."
The smile on Erhe's lips vanished instantly.
Damn it! He was the one who saw through the man's trick first. The foot of the mountain was all his territory, but the man was calm and composed. His cold eyes exuded a condescending pressure, as if he were the one destined to lose.
Erkh sneered: "Kill him, and I, the Khan, will reward you with gold coins, beauties, and countless cattle and sheep!"
Encouraged by the generous reward, the soldiers of Canglang were no longer afraid and rushed to slash at the man.
Feng Qi drew her long whip and lashed it through the air, her voice clear and bright: "Soldiers, if we have no weapons, we'll use our whips to lash those wolf cubs until their skin is torn and their flesh is ripped!"
"Here you go!"
In an instant, the two sides were locked in a fierce battle, raising clouds of yellow dust and shouts of battle echoing through the valley.
Despite the desperate fighting of the Xixia women's army, they were ultimately outnumbered and were gradually pushed to the edge of the cliff by the Canglang enemy. The ruthless Canglang people roared and continued to approach, about to knock them into the abyss.
At that moment, the situation suddenly reversed.
The frenzied wolfmen suddenly stopped, dropping their scimitars one after another, collapsing to the ground like shadow puppets whose strings had been suddenly snapped. They were then whipped mercilessly by the increasingly fierce Xixia female warriors, who made them scream in agony.
Upon seeing this, Erhe's expression changed drastically, and he roared angrily, "A bunch of useless trash! Have you not eaten enough? How come you can't even hold a knife properly!"
As soon as the cursing ended, he suddenly felt a strange sensation on his body. He felt dizzy, his hands and feet were numb and weak, and he didn't even have the strength to hold the reins. He fell off the horse.
"how so?"
Erhe was stunned, unable to understand when he and his men had fallen into a trap. They had been on high alert and cautious at every step, so why did they suddenly become weak and lose all their fighting ability?
Feng Qi laughed heartily, "Just now, didn't the Great Khan find this road unfamiliar, something he'd never seen before in the Miao Kingdom? That's because this isn't the Miao Kingdom at all! Look carefully, this is the Western Xia Realm, my territory!"
What is the most fearsome barrier in Xixia?
It is miasma, colorless and odorless, permeating the valleys and harming people invisibly.
Upon hearing the truth, Erhe was so enraged that he almost ground his teeth to powder. He struggled to get up and kill Feng Qi, but a sharp pain shot through his chest, and the light in his eyes was completely blocked by a tall figure.
A black boot slammed heavily onto his chest. The man lowered his eyes and looked down, his cold face as if covered in frost. A few drops of blood splattered between his brows, and a bloodstain was slowly flowing down his brow bone, adding a touch of bloodthirstiness and ruthlessness to his handsome face.
He parted his thin lips slightly, his tone icy: "Hand over the mother Gu, and I will spare your life."
Compared to the physical pain, what Erkh could not bear was that his dignity had been completely trampled on by the man in front of him.
His green eyes blazed with fire as he hissed, "You won't find out!"
Pei Muwei said no more. A cold light flashed in his palm, and with a swift movement, he chopped off one of his opponent's fingers.
"ah--"
Erkh was in so much pain that he almost fainted. He clenched his teeth tightly and glared fiercely at the man: "The Gu is on me. If you kill me, she will die too."
"I will not let you die."
Pei Muwei's expression was cold and stern. He moved the blade in front of Erhe, and drops of blood dripped from the tip of the knife onto Erhe's trembling eyelids. The sticky, warm blood stimulated Erhe's eyes, causing them to twitch uncontrollably.
The man's gaze was cold and condescending, and his voice was even more indifferent: "I will make you wish you were dead. I will gouge out your eyes, cut out your tongue, sever the tendons in your hands and feet, and then send you back to the Canglang tribe. The Great Khan should know better than anyone how a wolf king without claws and teeth will be devoured by those wolf cubs."
Erkh's face turned deathly pale.
He knew perfectly well how, after the old Khan died, he had gradually harmed his brothers, plundered their wives and daughters, and slaughtered their confidants; those brutal methods were still vivid in his mind.
He would rather die a quick death than fall from his high position and be at the mercy of others.
Pei Muwei gave him no time to think. He raised the blade, a flash of cold light, and it was about to pierce his eyes.
Erhe's mental defenses completely collapsed, and he hurriedly shouted hoarsely, "The mother Gu isn't on me! It's with the princess!!!"
Pei Muwei's usually calm and composed face suddenly showed signs of distress.
He sheathed his sword, turned to look at the carriage, his brows furrowed, and his dark eyes revealed a rare hint of anxiety.
The car door slowly opened, and a woman dressed in a plain white brocade dress stepped out. The carnelian pendant hanging on her chest shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight.
"I didn't expect my cousin to arrive so quickly..."
A smile appeared on the woman's pale face, beautiful but devoid of warmth, like a carefully painted mask. She said softly, "Indeed, even if I hide a fool like my cousin to the ends of the earth, you will eventually find him."
Pei Muwei's expression was solemn: "Nianyi, your constitution is weak. Using your own blood essence to feed the Gu worm is overdrawing your life. If you hand over the mother Gu now, it's not too late."
"Is my cousin concerned about me, or is he worried about her?"
Xie Nianzhi took off the carnelian pendant and placed it in her palm. Under the sunlight, the bright carnelian suddenly came to life. First, a subtle and eerie wriggling appeared on its surface. Then, a trickle of blood slowly seeped from her palm, and the carnelian revealed its true form.
It was a crimson Gu worm, greedily sucking the blood from Xie Nianzhi's palm.
"My cousin is knowledgeable and experienced; he should know that if the mother Gu of this Love-Sickness Gu dies, the offspring Gu will go berserk within the host's body..."
Xie Nianzhi stared intently at the man's tense face, as if wanting him to hear every cruel detail clearly, deliberately slowing her speech: "At that time, the person afflicted by the Gu will suffer the pain of ten thousand insects gnawing at their heart, their internal organs will feel like they are being burned by raging fire, black blood will slowly seep from their seven orifices, and they will ultimately die a painful death in endless torment..."
Inside the carriage, Chu Yueyuan gasped, clearly horrified by the scene Xie Nianzhi described.
Pei Muwei stared intently at the carriage, his face devoid of any emotion, and said calmly, "State your conditions."
"Leave the antidote behind, and all Xixia troops, including my cousin and Princess Fengqi, shall immediately withdraw from the valley."
Pei Muwei lowered his eyelashes slightly, his voice deepening: "And what about her?"
Xie Nianzhi said calmly, "The offspring Gu and the mother Gu cannot be separated by a hundred feet. Once the Great Khan and I arrive at the Canglang Tribe, he will send someone to return them to Your Highness."
Feng Qi, however, did not believe her words and hurriedly advised, "Pei Jun, please think it over! If Empress Dowager Chu goes to the Canglang Tribe with them, it will be like throwing a meat bun to a dog—she will never return!"
"Won't!"
Sweat beaded on Erhe's forehead as he forced back his words, enduring the excruciating pain: "I swear by the spirit of the Azure Wolf that when I return to the tribe, I will safely escort Empress Dowager Chu back. If I break this oath, I am willing to bear the wrath of the shaman, the calamity of the heavens, and the decline of the tribe's fortunes, never to be restored!"
He thought darkly to himself: he would surely bring the young empress dowager back "unharmed," but before that, he would make the woman experience the humiliation he had suffered, make her tremble and weep beneath him, and beg in a charming and seductive manner.
All of this will become an indelible mark of shame on the pride of that arrogant man, and not only that, he also ordered people to spread the news throughout the Great Qi.
When that time comes, he will see how this perfect couple will still be able to play music together in harmony and live in perfect accord.
A moment later, the Gu worm in Xie Nianzhi's palm had absorbed enough blood, and its body gradually became transparent and stiff, eventually becoming a lifeless dead object, quietly lying in her blood-stained palm.
A faint smile played on her lips as she awaited the man's decision.
That's human nature; the more you care, the easier it is to give in.
Pei Muwei's gaze was serious, and he finally agreed to her conditions. Perhaps his previous oversight still made him wary, and he said firmly, "Before I let you leave, I must confirm with my own eyes that the person in the car is her."
Xie Nianzhi agreed, and the woman's life was in her hands. Therefore, she was not worried that the other party would act rashly.
Unless, of course, he wanted the woman to die faster and more horribly.
Xie Nianzhi called out to Xia Lian, and the carriage curtain was lifted from the inside, revealing the woman's tear-streaked face, like a hibiscus flower soaked by spring rain. The woman's eyes were glistening with tears, and the tip of her nose was slightly red, making her look pitiful.
Pei Muwei strode forward, his slender fingers reaching through the car window to gently stroke the woman's cheek, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes. His voice was deep: "Your Highness, rest assured. If Erhe dares to break his promise, I will personally lead 100,000 iron cavalry to flatten the grasslands and bring you back."
Upon hearing this, Erkh's eyes twitched involuntarily. He stared at the severed little finger on the ground with a sinister look in his eyes, clenching his back teeth tightly.
Chu Yueyuan looked at the man's calm face, her red lips slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
The Gu worm was no longer on her body.
Last night, Pei Muwei sneaked into the tent and learned that Chu Yueyuan had not been infected with the Gu for long, so he transferred the Gu into his own body.
Throughout the journey, Pei Muwei secretly followed Erhe, waiting for an opportunity to capture him when he was off guard and force him to hand over the mother Gu. However, both he and Chu Yueyuan misjudged one thing: the person raising the mother Gu was not Erhe, but Xie Nianzhi.
Chu Yueyuan didn't understand why Pei Muwei would agree to Xie Nianzhi's conditions.
If she returns to the Canglang tribe with Erhe, the Gu worms in his body will immediately take effect.
Pei Muwei looked at the woman's teary dark eyes, reached out and stroked her dark hair, his voice low and firm: "Your Highness, do you still remember the night we met? I said that I would never fail Your Highness's trust and would protect you for the rest of my life."
Chu Yueyuan felt the fingers slipping through her hair. Her eyes flickered slightly, and after a moment of stunned silence, she nodded firmly: "I believe in Minister Pei."
On the other side, Erhe took the antidote, and his hands and feet quickly regained some sensation.
He glanced coldly at the reluctant couple, a shadow passing over his eyes, and urged, "Your Highness, you should first return to the tribe with me, let the shaman remove the Gu worms from your body, and then come back to be with your lover."
The road down the mountain was rugged and uneven, so we had to abandon the carriage and ride horses.
Erhe and Chu Yueyuan rode together on one horse, while Xie Nianzhi followed closely behind on his own.
Erhe tightened his grip, trapping Chu Yueyuan in his arms. Before departing, he reined in his horse, turning back to cast a dismissive glance at Pei Muwei, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
"It will take three to five days to cure the curse, so I hope you will be patient, Lord Pei. It is a rare privilege for Your Highness to be a guest on my grasslands, and I, the Khan, should certainly extend this hospitality to you..."
His gaze swept over the trembling beauty in his arms, and his smile deepened: "I will take good care of her inside and out, and after I've had my fill... I'll return her 'intact'."
Pei Muwei's eyes churned with dark emotions, his knuckles tightened inch by inch, cracking as he stared at Erhe's arrogant face, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a dying man.
Erkh laughed triumphantly, gripped the horse's belly tightly with his long legs, and spurred the horse forward.
Unexpectedly, the usually docile and obedient Akhal-Teke suddenly went berserk, whipped its head, let out a long neigh, and then reared up on its front hooves as if to throw the two people on its back off!
Chu Yueyuan was prepared and immediately lowered her body, gripping the reins tightly with both hands. On the other hand, Erhe, confident in his riding skills, did not hold the reins. In addition, he was still sluggish due to the miasma in his body and lost his balance in the sudden jolt, and was violently thrown off.
Erkh fell heavily to the ground, and as dust billowed up, he looked up sharply and saw a gold hairpin deeply embedded under the saddle, its tip reflecting a blinding light in the blazing sun.
He felt a chill run down his spine, only then remembering that when Pei Muwei was talking to Chu Yueyuan earlier, his hand had seemingly casually brushed against her hair.
Those two cunning bastards!
Erkh cursed inwardly, but had no choice but to roll around awkwardly to avoid the wildly falling hooves.
The horse Xie Nianzhi was riding was also startled and immediately began to stamp its hooves restlessly. She was not good at riding, and after a series of bumps and swaying on the horse's back, she lost her balance, and the red carnelian pendant on her chest swung violently.
Chu Yueyuan's eyes narrowed, and just as the pendant swung in front of her, she reached out and grabbed it.
Xie Nianzhi's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shrank back to protect himself, but it was a moment too late, and Chu Yueyuan's fingertips had already hooked the chain.
In a flash, the two pulled and tugged with great force, and the silver chain suddenly snapped. The mother Gu hanging on the chain was immediately thrown away, streaking across the air in a faint light, and then rolled several times down the steep slope before plunging into the deep valley.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that no one could react.
Even though the offspring Gu had already been removed from Chu Yueyuan's body, when she witnessed the mother Gu falling into the cliff, her heart still felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand, and she felt a tearing pain.
She hurriedly turned her head and saw that the man's once upright body was now like a slowly collapsing jade mountain, his straight back bending inch by inch, each collapse accompanied by the pain of enduring to the extreme.
Chu Yueyuan leaped off her horse and rushed towards him without hesitation. Before the man collapsed completely, she stretched out her arms and caught his falling body in her embrace.
The man pressed down like a mountain, causing her to stumble a few steps, and the two of them tumbled to the ground, entangled together.
"Pei Qing... Pei Qing... Pei Muwei! Can you hear me?"
Chu Yueyuan was so terrified that she forgot to shed tears, her hands trembling as she cupped his face: "No...you promised me you would live, that you wouldn't let me be a widow again..."
The man was pale and his eyes were closed. No matter how anxiously she called out to him, he did not respond in the slightest.
In the end, Chu Yueyuan became incoherent, repeatedly and desperately repeating, "Bastard, bastard, bastard, you can't break your promise..."
Not far away, Erhe struggled to his feet from the frantically trampling hooves. Seeing that the mother Gu was gone, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. Without hesitation, he pulled Xie Nianzhi off the horse, jumped on himself, and without looking back at the chaotic scene behind him or listening to his subordinates' calls, he rode away.
Xie Nianzhi sat on the ground with her hair disheveled. She watched Erhe's figure disappear into the rolling yellow dust, her face showing no disappointment, only a stagnant calm.
She had long been accustomed to being abandoned, time and time again.
Feng Qi squatted down beside Chu Yueyuan, frowned and explained softly, "This poison is extremely domineering. When it takes effect, it's like ten thousand insects gnawing at your heart. The tearing pain will cause you to faint instantly, but you won't die immediately. This torment will last for seven days. Even if you take anesthetic, it won't help. It will only be when the poison worms have completely devoured the host's heart meridian that he will die."
Tears welled up in Chu Yueyuan's eyes instantly.
That bastard didn't mention any of this to her when he tricked her into switching the poison.
Feng Qi's tone was tinged with reluctance: "Even if he occasionally regains consciousness, he won't be fully conscious... At that point, he'll be neither human nor demon, appearing completely deranged, which will only cause even more heartache to those who care about him. Young Master Pei previously instructed me that if the plan fails, then..."
The rest of her words caught in her throat; she couldn't bear to continue, and silently revealed the dagger gleaming coldly in her palm.
Chu Yueyuan felt a sharp pain in her heart, but she knew that this pain was far less than one ten-thousandth of what the man was enduring.
How could someone as proud as him be willing to show his disheveled state to others, especially to her?
She didn't take the dagger from Feng Qi's hand. Instead, she gently laid Pei Muwei flat on the ground, her fingertips brushing against his furrowed brows. She whispered, "He won't die. Evil lives on... A villain like him who killed his brother and took his sister-in-law deserves to live for tens of thousands of years!"
"Please look after him for me for a moment, Your Highness."
After saying this, Chu Yueyuan wiped away her tears and walked quickly toward the woman who was slumped in a daze.
Xie Nianzhi raised his eyes to look at the woman standing in front of him and sneered: "I should have thought of that. He would do anything for His Highness."
Even if it's my life, I'd be willing to give it up.
Chu Yueyuan squatted down, her eyes glistening with tears, and said earnestly, "You went to great lengths to kidnap me to the Canglang tribe, hoping that I would give birth to Erhe's offspring so that you could gain a foothold on the grasslands. Even so, you would never allow me to die on the way. You must have the antidote on you."
"Hand over the antidote, and you will still be a noble princess of the Great Qi. I can pretend that nothing ever happened and forgive and forget, and you can start over."
Xie Nianzhi gazed at the woman with a sincere expression, a hint of envy in his eyes.
Lucky people are even favored by the sunlight, as if a warm halo always surrounds them, and their eyes shimmer with an inextinguishable light.
Xie Nianzhi smiled slightly: "Your Highness is right, I do have the antidote on me."
After speaking, she took out two porcelain bottles from her purse.
Just as a glimmer of hope flashed in Chu Yueyuan's eyes, she heard her say softly, "Of these two bottles, one is the antidote for the Lovesick Gu, and the other is a deadly poison that will cause your intestines to rot."
Her cold gaze fell on the woman's face, with a hint of mockery: "If His Highness chooses correctly, he will live; if he chooses incorrectly, you will be the one to end his life."
Xie Nianzhi wanted to see how long this divinely favored fortune could protect the woman.
Two porcelain bottles, one black and one white, are almost identical in shape and size except for their color. One contains a life-saving antidote, while the other contains a deadly poison.
In her entire life, Chu Yueyuan had never faced such a difficult choice.
She knew in her heart that Xie Nianzhi was torturing her. Perhaps both bottles were poison, and the woman wanted to see her personally destroy the person she loved, so that she would live the rest of her life in endless regret.
Love may transfer, hate may fade, but regret, like a malignant tumor, gnaws at the bones and blood over the long years until it completely devours a person.
But she had no other choice at the moment.
Chu Yueyuan stared intently at the two porcelain vases, her palms sweating with nervousness, and her lips unconsciously bleeding from being bitten.
She reached out her hand tremblingly, her fingertips slowly moving towards the white porcelain bottle, but just before touching it, she recoiled as if burned by fire, turning her gaze to the black bottle, her eyes revealing doubt and struggle.
Xie Nianzhi slowly curled her lips into a cruel smile. She greedily admired every subtle expression on the woman's face before she collapsed, enjoying the pleasure of manipulating the fate of others.
"Nianyi!"
Just as Chu Yueyuan's heartstrings were about to snap, a voice filled with pain rang out from behind the two of them.
Xie Yu stumbled out, his face full of disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that the woman with the ferocious face was the sister he had watched grow up.
"Nianyi, I'm sorry..."
He staggered forward and knelt heavily before Xie Nianzhi with a thud. His face showed no anger, no rebuke, and not even a trace of resentment.
Only tears of regret remain.
"It's my fault, brother... If I had had the courage and ability to stop those things from happening, you wouldn't be like this now..."
"Brother, I'm so sorry. It's me. I owe you so much... so much..."
The smile on Xie Nianzhi's lips suddenly froze, and his indifferent eyes flickered slightly before finally fading into a deathly silence.
Her voice was icy, devoid of any emotion: "Brother, it's too late for you to say these things now..."
Looking at his sister's almost numb face, Xie Yu felt as if his heart was being torn apart. His lips trembled slightly, and his voice carried a humble plea:
“Nianyi, your brother knows you are kind-hearted by nature. It is those unbearable past events that have forced you to become the way you are now. But no matter what you become, you will always be my sister. Your brother cannot stand by and watch you make one mistake after another…”
“Nianyi, I beg you, brother, hand over the antidote. Since His Highness has promised to forgive and forget, he will never break his promise. I will take you back to the capital and never force you to marry again. I am willing to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”
Seeing that she remained unmoved, Xie Yu's tone became even more earnest: "If you are unwilling to stay in the capital, I will resign from my official post and take you, Zhu Niang, and A Hu with me to find a beautiful place to live in seclusion, far away from all the strife..."
"Nianyi, please give your brother a chance to make amends. I beg you..."
Xie Nianzhi looked at his tearful brother expressionlessly, his tone cold: "Make amends? What can you use to make amends, brother? What has happened is like water spilled out. Even if you try your best to bring it back, it will become murky and will never be as clear as before."
"Brother, forget about Nianyi from before. She died in the Chen family long ago."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yu shuddered, the last glimmer of light in his eyes went out, leaving only a look of utter dejection.
Xie Nianzhi turned to Chu Yueyuan, a cold smile playing on her lips: "Once the Gu worm takes effect, it will first gnaw at the heart, then travel along the meridians, gnawing away inch by inch, and finally invade the brain marrow with the bloodstream. If the Gu worm enters the brain, even if Your Highness chooses the right antidote, when he wakes up, he will only be an ignorant and unconscious idiot, living a life worse than death..."
Her words were urgent: "Your Highness, time is running out."
Chu Yueyuan's pupils suddenly contracted, her gaze shifting back and forth between the black and white porcelain bottles. Finally, she steeled herself and pointed directly at the white porcelain bottle.
Just then, Xie Yu snatched the white porcelain bottle away first, and he roared in anguish:
“You’re right. No matter what I do, I can’t undo the hurt that decision caused you back then. But I was the one who made that decision! Nianyi, you shouldn’t drag innocent people into this hatred. You can blame me, you can blame me…”
"Since it's my fault, I'll pay for it with my life..."
After saying that, he uncorked the bottle and raised his hand to drink it.
Chu Yueyuan's heart tightened, and she quickly reached out to stop him. She was afraid that Xie Yu had drunk poison, but she was also worried that he had drunk the only antidote.
A flicker of panic suddenly appeared on Xie Nianzhi's cold face, as if the mask she had suppressed for many years had finally shattered, and the deep-seated resentment burst forth. She shouted, "I hate you! I've always hated that you chose your clan instead of me back then!"
"Brother, I hate you! I hate you every single moment!"
Just as Chu Yueyuan and Xie Yu were struggling, she suddenly picked up the black porcelain bottle in front of her and drank what was inside.
Xie Yu was horrified and hurriedly snatched the porcelain bottle, his voice trembling with fear: "Nianyi, what did you drink? What did you do?"
Xie Nianzhi slumped weakly into her brother's arms, her snow-white face ashen, exuding an aura of dying wood, yet a faint smile played on her lips:
"Brother, you guessed it after all, didn't you?"
Just like when they were little, when her older brother would ask her for candy, she would always deliberately hide her hands behind her back and make him guess which hand had the candy.
But actually, she had candy hidden in both of her hands; she just hoped her brother could guess it correctly every time.
She wanted to see her brother smile and be his beloved sister for the rest of her life.
Xie Yu held his dying sister tightly in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
With her last bit of strength, Xie Nianzhi slowly raised her hand, removed the carnelian earring from her earlobe, and placed it in Chu Yueyuan's palm.
“Crush it...the real antidote is inside…”
Her breath was weak, and a faint, almost resigned, bitter smile appeared on her lips: "It seems that fate... is ultimately more on your side..."
She raised her hand again, trembling, and gently touched her brother's tear-streaked face. Finally, she shed all pretense and uttered the words buried deep in her heart:
"Brother... I understand your predicament... but I... still can't... forgive you..."
The woman's snow-white arm suddenly fell down, like a kite with a broken string in the sky.
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Author's Note: Tomorrow is the final chapter, and I'll be holding a giveaway to thank all the readers who have been following along.
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