Chapter 93 [VIP]
The sky gradually darkened.
Xiao Qi's soldiers surrounded Caoqi Mountain so tightly that they couldn't find the Ninth Prince until late at night. However, they did discover two other teams on the other side of the mountain.
One group consisted of unidentified guards who killed many of their men, while the other group comprised non-Han Chinese who were originally there to facilitate trade. The non-Han Chinese had inexplicably clashed with them; their men couldn't understand the non-Han language, and some were injured in the ensuing fight.
“General, the Ninth Prince must still be hiding on the mountain. When the deputy general informed us during the day, our men were guarding the entrance the whole time, and no one came down the mountain! Even our own brothers, even their bodies, are temporarily left at the foot of the mountain and have not been moved.”
Xiao Qi naturally knew this as well. He had personally guarded the area and hadn't noticed anything unusual. He looked at the distant cedar forest. Not to mention not knowing the identities of those guards, they sounded like assassins who would appear from the other side to confuse them, and then commit suicide before they could catch them.
The count revealed that five hundred soldiers had died, including those killed by the Hu people, the elite warriors, and even the Ninth Prince himself. Even with the Ninth Prince's extraordinary strength, it was impossible for him to emerge unscathed.
He stared at the ravens circling near the corpse, his pupils gleaming with a subtle light.
"He must still be on the mountain. Let's check the bodies first... Even if he's dead, I, the general, will find his body no matter what."
"yes!"
The moonlight shone blood-red in the dead of night. A flock of crows flew away, and withered branches intertwined densely. The people killed by the assassins were on another mountain, a journey that would take the soldiers nearly half an hour to reach. Some of the bodies were among piles of boulders, some in graveyards, and some were barely visible, having fallen off cliffs.
One by one, the corpses were unearthed, their faces frozen beyond recognition in the icy snow. Soldiers used boiling water to melt the blood clots and bulging veins. They compared each corpse to a portrait, searching for the Ninth Prince's body. The tokens for each corpse also needed to be collected; those without tokens were moved separately for soldiers who had seen the Ninth Prince to continue identifying them.
They continued like this all night until dawn, when heavy snow blanketed the entire Grass Fin Mountain, making their progress increasingly difficult. The corpses on the mountain were buried deep in the snow in the freezing temperatures, with only faint limbs protruding from beneath the jagged roots of giant trees; the humanoid bodies had become as hard as giant rocks. The task of finding the corpses grew ever more difficult as the snow fell heavier.
“This… even if the Ninth Prince is on the mountain, we’ve checked all the cave dwellings. And he was injured, how could he have survived?”
"Don't be careless... Have you heard of the legend of Lidu? A hundred years ago, when it snowed in Lidu, it was because heaven and earth were moved by the injustice, and a long-standing injustice was redressed in Lidu. Whenever there are unusual celestial phenomena, they are often accompanied by extraordinary events, so don't be careless."
"Whether this snow is falling for us or a sign of the Ninth Prince remains to be seen."
"If he really survives this time, I have a bad feeling."
"If a person has lofty ambitions and is willing to face death to survive, their willpower and perseverance will surely surpass those of ordinary people. Like...like a general. The general always had extraordinary willpower. When surrounded by the enemy, he never panicked and was able to calmly overcome difficulties each time. Overcoming difficulties time and time again...he became a legendary figure."
"Let's see if fate will be on our side."
"How can you say it's up to fate? If we can find the Ninth Prince... then victory will naturally be ours. There seems to be a swamp over there... what's that? Should we go take a look?"
"Fool. Do you know where we are? This is no swamp. Do you see those dense branches? There are many snakes there. That's a cobra's nest. If we wake them up, and you and I get bitten, we'll die on the way down the mountain before we even get back to see the general."
"...Let's go quickly."
"...We must find the Ninth Prince."
Even though they couldn't divine or understand the will of the gods, they now vaguely knew something. If they couldn't find the person this time, perhaps before the day came, their general would have already lost the battle of Grass Fin Mountain. That chosen one, selected by the will of Heaven, would sooner or later become a vengeful ghost and come to take revenge on them.
Inside the city.
"Brother, are you feeling any better?" Lu Xuejin asked.
The stove in the hall was burning brightly, and the heat was oppressive. Xue Yi's originally sickly and pale face was flushed from the heat. After drinking the medicine, his complexion seemed better, and he was more awake than the day before.
The two of them sat on opposite sides of a square coffee table, on which were laid out many candied fruits, warm porridge made with delicate bird's nest, sour meat sauce made with local wild celery and beef, and fish roe and lotus seed paste soup.
Lu Xuejin carefully divided the food, doing so with great patience, which attracted Xue Yi's attention. After noticing the gaze, he slowly pushed the soup bowl towards him.
"I seem to be feeling a bit better today. I should eat well. Food nourishes the body, and a good appetite can gradually make up for what I've neglected," he said.
After he finished speaking, Xue Yi coughed lightly twice, obediently picked up the soup bowl, and quietly said to him, "Originally... looking at these delicacies, I had no appetite no matter how the chef prepared them. Now, seeing Changyou serve them, I don't know why I want to try them. That divine doctor said I was trapped by my thoughts. Sometimes I don't understand, the power of thoughts is so strong... it can make people do things they didn't want to do before."
"History records a great deal. A person's state of mind can change many things, even incurable diseases. If one's mind is clear and lucid, there is a possibility of rebirth. Moreover, there are things that seem impossible in ancient times. Our ancestors still firmly believed in and practiced what seemed impossible, making the impossible possible."
He said to Xue Yi, "So brother, just relax and eat well. After we return to the capital, I will take care of you and make sure you get better."
He spoke gently, his eyelashes slightly lowered as he gazed at Xue Yi, his expression truly tender. It was as if he had seen a beautiful, fragile creature in need of protection; a gentle light shone in his eyes, enveloping Xue Yi like a beam of light.
"..." Xue Yi paused slightly under his gaze, but maintained his composure and said to him, "I am at ease as long as Changyou is willing. Even if it is poison, how could I not drink it?"
Xue Yi drank the soup clean. The imperial physicians who were following him were even happier to see the clean soup bowl than to see gold, seeing that the emperor was willing to eat.
“Brother, are you joking with me?” Lu Xuejin said. “There was no poison, only candied fruit.”
"No wonder...it tastes sweeter than before. My stomach feels much better after eating," Xue Yi said, then added to him, "It's been a long time since I've seen Changyou in red...are you and Wei Ning going to do good deeds again?"
When they were young, they played role-playing games. The three of them would dress up as bodhisattvas in a temple, and whoever lost the game would have to wear red and do a good deed on the streets of Shengjing. Later, some things happened, and he never wore bright red clothes again, but now he has picked them up again.
Lu Xuejin thought of the past and replied, "After arriving in Lidu, I always think about the past. It rained a few times recently, and people always feel a little lost when it rains. Even if people have forgotten about the things that happened in the past after a long time, they will still remember them one day."
“When I remembered the past, I found a red dress, because I must not forget the mission my parents entrusted to me. When I saw that my brother was seriously ill, I knew that I had to go back with him.”
"If my brother sees me, he might remember the happy days of his youth. If so... it would be best if it could cheer him up."
Snow.
Snow.
Snow.
Murong Yue crossed a river, its shimmering blue waters reflecting the emerald sky. Along the riverbank, lotus leaves, battered by wind and frost, stretched as far as the eye could see. The withered roots sank deep into the mud, their reflections swaying gently from time to time, leaving no place for the small fish to hide.
"—Yue'er!!" A female voice suddenly rang in my ears.
The voice calling his name pierced through the entire river, and he belatedly realized that someone was calling him. Then a figure appeared before him: a woman with a beautiful updo, willow-leaf eyebrows, and phoenix eyes. She wore a pink lotus-patterned dress that reached her feet, the skirt swaying gently in the wind like a lotus seedpod.
Murong Qing came to his side and laughed, "I called you earlier but you didn't hear me. Did you get lost again? I saw you here from afar, wandering by the river, so I came to check on you."
“…Eldest sister?” He looked at the woman in front of him and recognized her as his eldest sister. They hadn’t seen each other for quite some time… Had he come here to find his eldest sister?
“I…eldest sister. I’ve come here again.”
“It seems you’ve made a lot of progress this time. You were completely unaware when you came here the previous times. Now that you know why you came here, I can rest assured,” Murong Qing said.
“Look at our Yue’er… She has suffered so much in this world. Even when she is unconscious, she thinks of her parents and family. She is so pitiful and adorable.” Murong Qing smiled gently, her eyes crinkling.
"If you have any troubles, could you talk to your elder sister? Although your elder sister is no longer in this world, she still lives in Yue'er's consciousness. It would be best if she could guide Yue'er in a little way."
Upon hearing this, Murong Yue looked at his palm. Time seemed to slow down here, and his thinking became sluggish. He... he was currently on Grassfin Mountain, having fallen into a cobra's cave and fallen into a coma.
He looked at his palm and could vaguely see bloodstains that stained the lines of his palm, and fresh blood dripped down his wrist.
I remember now... He killed many people.
Those dead soldiers... he killed them all.
“Elder sister. I’ve never had such troubles before. Perhaps it’s because of someone’s influence. I’ve killed a lot of people… They tried to hurt me first. If I didn’t kill them, I would be dead. After I killed them, I saw the blood and felt inexplicably bothered.”
How should I describe my feelings?
“Intellectually, I knew that killing them was the right thing to do, and I was not wrong. But after hearing the soldiers I had hurt crying softly, I wavered. Sometimes I have that illusion... that I am making the right choice, but it is leading me down the wrong path.”
Murong Qing listened attentively, and when the wind blew by, she looked at the lake and pointed it out to him.
"In the struggle between living beings, there is no right or wrong. Yue'er, look at the little fish fighting for food in the water. If they fight, they will inevitably be covered in wounds. If the little fish that bit its own kind feels guilty when it sees the wounds of its kind... then it has more compassion, which is also a good thing. Survival is like this. It is impossible for everything in this world to be balanced, so there will always be all kinds of disputes. The process of struggle is originally a necessary thing for the continuation of life. If our late king had not fought and grabbed, there would be no Murong clan. If it were not for the struggle between the Xie King and his wife, the old troops would not have been left to become Xue Yi's wings."
"You have compassion, which is a very good thing. However, you must not be swayed by external factors when facing life and death. It's not too late to weigh things after you've established your own rules. The incompetent and weak, if they sympathize with others and are driven by emotions, will only find themselves at the mercy of others. Not everyone possesses compassion. You are on the chessboard; the rules of the game have already been established. You only need to adapt to the rules. Only after you win the game can those emotional acts of compassion come into play."
Murong Qing: "Yue'er surely understands these principles perfectly well. Yue'er is so intelligent; setbacks are inevitable. Don't be discouraged, don't doubt, don't belittle yourself. You were on the right path from the start. Not only me, but also Xi'er, your father, and your mother are all behind you. Although the process is arduous, when we reach the end, there will surely be a bright and gentle way to resolve things. Whether it's the fallen soldiers, the slaughtered clansmen, or the suffering people, what we are fighting for now is the power to 'choose.'"
"Even the benefactor who bestowed your compassion, if unable to grow strong, will find that sacred compassion to be nothing more than a greenhouse flower, easily shattered by a gentle breeze in the wind and rain."
...a benefactor.
...a holy heart of compassion.
...But what I saw were gods and Buddhas among the suffering beings.
A figure suddenly appeared in his mind. The young man stood tall, his deep brown, clear eyes fixed on him, his face as white as snow, and his demeanor aloof and otherworldly.
The other person smiled gently at him, then disappeared into the lake after being nibbled at by the small fish.
--Can't.
If the other person's world is a fragile and delicate greenhouse, he will brave the wind and rain, shatter the darkness and ignorance that arise from the shadows, and protect that greenhouse from destruction and unshakability, so that the other person can continue to stay under the bright hope.
He saw his eldest sister's figure, Murong Xi behind her, and his father and mother emerging one after the other. The unwavering belief passed down in their family crossed the river of life and death to reunite with him.
"Whoosh—" A gust of wind blew away the scene before him, and his body was suddenly plunged into extreme cold. He awoke in excruciating pain and touched something hard.
He fell into a cobra's den. The mountains near the capital were teeming with venomous snakes, which had gone into hibernation overnight. He reached out and grabbed a snake; its body was icy cold, and the blood he squeezed out dampened some of the chill. Also falling down were the corpses of the soldiers he had slain.
The soldiers pressed down on him, and as the snowflakes piled up, they felt like a thousand pounds on his body.
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