She fetched water and wiped the bloodstains from Xie Hongchen’s face.
His eyes were especially severely injured. That tea needle was forged from some unknown material, incredibly sharp. With injuries like this, his eyes probably wouldn’t recover. Huang Rang stayed by his side and found plain silk to wrap around his eyes.
His blood soaked through the silk. Even in unconsciousness, his entire expression showed endurance of pain.
Si Tianjian, Zhuque Si.
Di Yiqiu sat in his study, with stacks of documents piled on his desk.
Behind him on the wall, close to the ceiling beams, hung an eye socket… yes, an enormous eye socket. Inside was even placed an eyeball-shaped orb. Now, this orb was slowly rotating in the socket, projecting a beam of white light onto the opposite wall.
Fine, smooth snow silk hung on the wall, and the white light fell upon it, displaying a clear image.
If Huang Rang were here, she would be very shocked.
Because in the image, she wore a golden dress and stood in a wheat field. The wheat was nearly ripe, heavy with drooping ears. This expanse of pale gold was as warm and bright as she was. She carefully examined the wheat’s growth, her delicate hands rubbing a grain from an ear—the ripe wheat rolled like pearls in her palm.
She lowered her head to smell it, and thus the entire image could show her exquisite profile.
—The scene stored in this eyeball-like magical treasure was clearly from Xiancha Town many years ago!
Di Yiqiu bent his head reading official documents, occasionally looking up.
In the room, there was only the occasional sound of pages turning.
Just then, a voice shot down like an arrow: “Jianzheng, old friend Xie Yuanshu earnestly requests an audience.”
Di Yiqiu paused slightly, then stood up and took the eyeball from the wall, placing it in the innermost drawer of his desk. Inside was actually a drawer full of such objects.
Outside Zhuque Si, a person wearing a cloak was waiting.
Di Yiqiu recognized him at a glance—wasn’t this Xie Yuanshu?
He had no favorable impression of this person, so his expression was also cold: “So it’s Brother Xie. Coming in the middle of the night—could there be some urgent matter?”
Xie Yuanshu waved his hand and said, “This time, I’ve come to ask Jianzheng for an object.”
Di Yiqiu wasn’t very warm toward him, responding coolly: “Oh?”
Xie Yuanshu moved closer to him and said in a low voice, “A magical treasure that can absorb a person’s cultivation. I know Jianzheng must have a way.”
“Heh.” Di Yiqiu laughed lightly, looking uninterested. “Naturally there are methods. But I’ve always done things according to my mood.”
Xie Yuanshu was clearly prepared and said, “As long as Jianzheng names your price.”
Di Yiqiu normally didn’t want to deal with him, precisely because Xie Yuanshu wasn’t favored by Xie Lingbi. Though he was the eldest young master of Yuhu Xuanzong, he actually had no real power.
But at this moment, for Xie Yuanshu to say such a thing, it must be something major.
Di Yiqiu asked, “Whose power does the eldest young master wish to absorb?”
This, Xie Yuanshu was unwilling to say. He said softly, “I’m paying a great price to purchase a magical artifact from Jianzheng. Why must Jianzheng care who I use it on?”
Fool, it doesn’t matter who you use it on—this seat will be delighted to see it. Best if you kill Xie Lingbi. Di Yiqiu sneered inwardly but held up four fingers, naming a figure. When Xie Yuanshu saw he was willing to name a price, he was immediately overjoyed: “Four million spirit stones, agreed! As long as the artifact is effective!”
Di Yiqiu agreed to this transaction, though he couldn’t help but wonder—with such a hefty price, who was this fool planning to use it against?
Diancu Peak, Yeyun Hall.
Huang Rang’s fingertips gently traced across Xie Hongchen’s brow. Suddenly, her wrist was grasped. Xie Hongchen gripped so hard that the chains on his wrist clanged and rattled.
“You… you…” He tried to speak several times, but blood surged in his throat, causing a fit of choking coughs.
Huang Rang had no choice but to fetch water again to help him rinse his mouth.
Xie Hongchen finally managed to suppress the coughing. He finally asked, “Why?”
At this point, with shock, rage, and confusion in his heart, his words were no longer as cold and distant.
Huang Rang sat beside him. After a long while, she said, “Hongchen, we’ve been husband and wife for a hundred years. No matter how much dislike there was, there’s still a hundred years of affection. If, if one day I were imprisoned in Anlei Peak, would you come looking for me?”
Her fingertip lightly touched his brow as she asked softly, “Would you risk offending Xie Lingbi to come in and search?”
“What are you talking about?” Xie Hongchen didn’t understand at all. The intense pain in his chest made his breathing chaotic. “How would you be imprisoned in Anlei Peak?”
Huang Rang looked around the entire Yeyun Hall. After a long moment she said, “Hongchen, I had a dream. In the dream, I was subjected to the punishment of Soul-Coiling Bone-Setting Needles, imprisoned in the deepest chamber of Anlei Peak. I couldn’t speak or move. I could only call your name day and night, begging you to search for me.”
Xie Hongchen looked bewildered and asked, “Just because of a dream?! You did all this just because of a dream?!”
Huang Rang didn’t answer him, only continued: “Imprisoned with me were many other people. They were all just like me, quiet and still, never making a sound. That place was especially dark, with only the talisman light of magical formations occasionally flickering. Just this tiny bit of light. Rats gnawed at us, centipedes and ants crawled across my face. Their wounds rotted, their noses filled with maggots…”
She calmly described all this, saying, “At first, I still held hope. I recalled our past over and over. I felt that with your temperament, even if a woman you knew went missing, you would at least search for her. Diancu Peak and Anlei Peak are separated by just a short distance. I thought that with your status as sect master, finding me shouldn’t be too difficult no matter what. I used the flickering talisman light to record time—you told me that one flicker of talisman light equals one breath. I counted them like that, not daring to miss even one moment, and a year passed.”
Her tears slid down, dripping onto his hand. Xie Hongchen said almost weakly, “That was just a dream. You’re here alive and well right now, Huang Rang!”
Huang Rang laughed softly and said, “In the second year, I couldn’t keep track of time anymore. When rats ran over my head, I was too frightened and forgot to count. That’s when I gradually knew—you wouldn’t come. Even though we were separated by just one mountain peak, you still wouldn’t come. You wouldn’t offend your master for my sake. Actually, I shouldn’t resent you. You despise me, I know that.”
Her words were painfully sincere. Xie Hongchen couldn’t help but ponder all this. Finally, he asked gravely, “Have you fallen into demonic possession?”
Perhaps only demonic possession could cause one’s consciousness to be affected by illusions to this degree.
Huang Rang’s face carried a smile, but as she gently shook her head, tears fell like rain: “I married you for a hundred years, enjoying the glory of being the sect master’s wife. What I sought, you’ve already given. I told myself I shouldn’t hate you. But I only had you as my husband, serving you wholeheartedly for a hundred years. In the end, I still thought I could depend on you.”
She lay against the bedside, burying her face in Xie Hongchen’s shoulder. Tears flowed like a spring, soaking his shoulder. Xie Hongchen had never been moved by her tender feelings, no matter how sincere or pitiable she seemed.
But at this moment, locked by Kunbahuan, unable to see, in mortal danger, he could only try to stabilize Huang Rang’s emotions. So although he didn’t understand her words, he still said, “That was just a dream. We’re both perfectly fine here, aren’t we? You’re my wife. If you went missing, how could I not search? I would definitely…”
“You’re lying to me!” Huang Rang suddenly stood up and shouted, “You’re still lying to me!”
She cried, “If you had really searched for me, you would have seen what I left in Bailu Pond. You never searched for me! Never searched for me at all…”
After speaking, she held her head in both hands and slid down to sit on the floor beside the bed.
Xie Hongchen couldn’t see. He didn’t know whether Huang Rang was crying.
Even if Huang Rang cried, she wouldn’t wail hysterically. She would cry beautifully, devastatingly, just the right amount.
Xie Hongchen wanted to say something, to at least coax her into removing the Kunbahuan from his body first. But every time he opened his mouth to speak, he couldn’t find appropriate words. Then he suddenly realized—in these hundred years, he had never comforted her.
He worked hard not to be moved by Huang Rang, so at any time, he ignored her emotions. If her behavior didn’t suit his wishes, he would give her the cold shoulder or even leave with a flick of his sleeve.
By the next time he saw her, she would be gentle and considerate again, as if nothing had happened.
She could always control her emotions well and was good at gauging his moods. So previously, Xie Hongchen had never seen Huang Rang angry or furious.
The only time was now.
Xie Hongchen reached out his hand, groping to find Huang Rang leaning against the bedside. She covered her face with both hands, tears flowing without sound.
And Xie Hongchen remained silent, unable to speak a single tender word.
Instead, it was Huang Rang who grasped his hand and spoke first. She took a deep breath, still suppressing all her emotions, and said, “I’m sorry.”
Xie Hongchen was startled and asked, “What?”
Even at this moment, she was the one to apologize.
Huang Rang drew out a handkerchief and dried her tears, her voice gradually returning to calm: “Thinking about it now, my resentment toward you really has no justification. Actually, you had no obligation to search for me.” She sighed deeply, returning to reason: “After all, for a married couple like us—one greedy for fame and profit, the other coveting beauty—we each took what we needed. What feelings could there be? Why would you offend your own master for a woman you despise in your heart?”
She reached out her hand and gently smoothed Xie Hongchen’s temple hair: “Actually, I understand all the logic. It’s just that I was trapped for too long, constantly thinking of you, but you never came. I was disappointed too many times—it’s inevitable I couldn’t see things clearly.”
She pulled over a thin blanket and covered him with it, saying softly, “But how could you come? You were just the distant stars in the sky when I fell to my death from a cliff. The feather drifting past my body when I drowned in deep water. How could you come? Perhaps in these hundred years, I was rather serious about it all, so I hold deep resentment in my heart.”
Her emotions were reined in again, every word gentle and peaceful. Xie Hongchen couldn’t even bring himself to try to deceive her.