Chapter 61: Not Abandoned

  What was originally just a short distance apart may turn out to be as far away as opposite ends of the earth.

  The temperature around dropped incredibly, from the original scorching heat to icy cold in an instant. A faint candle flame was carefully lit, and under the dim light, even a thin white mist could be seen.

  Extreme heat and extreme cold two heavy heavens, actually appear simultaneously in this huge strange underground imperial mausoleum.

  The man in the darkness had his eyebrows tightly furrowed, his complexion was deathly pale, and under his sallow skin, even the tiny blood vessels could be seen. His clothes had been almost completely burned by the great fire, the hem was uneven, and his long coat had long since turned to ashes. At this moment, he lay in a cold ice room, seemingly completely frozen stiff, his breathing was light and almost intermittent, without any signs of life.

  "The flames of Qin..."

  A faint sound echoed in the air, trembling with a hint of despair. Qing Xia knelt on the ground, looking at Qin Zhiyan's tightly closed eyes with some panic. In his usually firm eyes, a rare sense of panic was visible. She slowly reached out her hand and gently shook Qin Zhiyan's shoulder, softly calling: "Qin Zhiyan, wake up."

  However, the people on the ground did not react at all, their pale lips were like ice, revealing a chilling coldness. Qing Xia's whole body was wet, her vermilion lips were pale and trembling, her breathing became more and more urgent, she trembled with fear and said: "Qin Zhiyan, don't die, you can't die."

  The man lying on the ground made no sound at all.

  Qing Xia took a deep breath, finally half-kneeling up, and quickly pulled off Qin Zhiyan's wet outer garment. He propped up his body against his own leg, then swiftly rubbed his shoulders, arms, chest, and cheeks with both hands. While rubbing, he kept exhaling rapidly and anxiously said: "Wake up, wake up..."

  Warm tears slowly flowed down, falling on Qin Zhiyan's cheek. The unconscious man's eyebrows slightly furrowed, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, like autumn maple leaves, drawing a gentle arc. His calm eyes gradually cleared up, and he finally saw the woman in front of him with misty eyes.

  "...no..." The voice was low and hoarse, barely audible.

  "You... you're awake!" Qing Xia exclaimed excitedly, seeing his lips trembling, she hastily leaned forward and whispered beside his mouth: "What do you want to say?"

  "Wait..." Qin Zhiyan's voice was hoarse and fragmented, unable to form a complete sentence, only managing to utter one word, as a few strands of blood appeared at the corner of his lips.

  "Don't say anything else." Qing Xia bit her lower lip and said hastily, "You rest well, we'll definitely escape, don't say anything else."

  "Harm... fear... don't harm... fear..." Qin Zhiyan's soft mouth corners, faintly pulled out a smile.

  Qing Xia's eyes stung, and big tears burst out in an instant. In this underground imperial tomb isolated from the world, her disguise, her endurance, and those must-be-strong pretenses suddenly vanished into thin air. Qing Xia tightly hugged Qin Zhiyan's body, as if trying to extract a thread of warmth from his icy body, and choked with sobs: "I'm not afraid, how could I be afraid, you fool..."

  Those ice blocks that have condensed for countless years emit a faint cold aura, as if quietly staring at something.

  Qing Xia wiped away the tears on her face, and her eyes shot out with strong confidence. She hugged Qin Zhiyan's weak body and said firmly: "Qin Zhiyan, we must escape, you hold on, don't sleep."

  "Tang... young lady..." Qin Zhiyan's voice was distant and faint, sounding as if it came from another world, "I've dragged you down with me..."

  "What a bother," Qing Xia forced a smile and said with a laugh: "It's you who saved my life, besides I came here myself, it's not like you caught me."

  Qin's lips curved softly, and he lightly pulled out a smile. The smile was distant and faint, like the misty trees in the vast wilderness.

  "Qin Zhiyan, don't sleep, okay?" Qing Xia's voice was soft and small. The red mist in the Flame Temple earlier was clearly poisonous, and she had been close to it, so after being poisoned, she couldn't move for a short time. Qin Zhiyan seemed to be doing better, but he must have also suffered serious injuries. Moreover, he originally had an illness and was afraid of the cold, and now he was at his last gasp. Qing Xia knew that if he fell asleep now, he might never wake up again.

  "Okay..." Qin Zhiyan's voice was barely audible, but he still nodded slowly in response, "I won't sleep."

  "Good," Qing Xia was overjoyed and hastily nodded, saying: "We'll definitely be able to escape this place, as long as we get out of this ice room, you'll be saved."

  "Good." Qin Zhiyan's voice was weak, but at this moment, it sounded like celestial music to Qing Xia. She stood up and lifted his body, taking off her own shirt and wrapping it tightly around him.

  "Qin Zhiyan, let's go." Slowly helping Qin Zhiyan up, carefully putting him on his back, Qing Xia took a deep breath and then struggled to stand upright. Compared to Chu Li, Qin Zhiyan's sick body was much lighter, although he had become like this, but it did not damage the good fragrance of orchids on his body at all.

  The Southern Flame Temple's magma eruption caused the Northern Ice Temple's ice and snow to melt into a large amount of snow water, which temporarily relieved the urgent situation. However, it also caused half of the Southern Temple to collapse. At this moment, inside the extremely cold Ice Temple, the ground was covered with thick, hard ice. Qing Xia's boots had been burned away when she rushed into the sea of flames to save Qin Yi, and now she only had a pair of white cloth socks left, which felt like stepping on knife edges, the coldness piercing her bones.

  "Qin Zhiyan, are you asleep?" Qing Xia suddenly asked in a low voice. Qin Zhiyan remained silent, and Qing Xia immediately became flustered, just as she was about to turn her head back, a low, panting sound slowly emerged.

  "No."

  "Qin Zhiyan, let's talk, it won't be so cold if we talk."

  After a brief silence, the man behind him said softly: "Good."

  "Qin Zhiyan, this is my first time seeing a volcanic eruption, what about you?"

  "Ah, first... for the first time."

  "We were so close to the volcano and managed to escape, it's truly a blessing. The old saying goes that if you survive great difficulties, you will have good fortune afterwards, we two must be able to turn bad luck into good." Qing Xia carefully took one step at a time on the icy surface, afraid of slipping and falling.

  Qin Zhiyan's breathing was weak, but he could still feel the faint breath on the back of his neck. The huge ice stone chamber was quiet and vast, with a long corridor outside. Qing Xia walked slowly step by step, saying in a low voice: "Qin Zhiyan, what is the first thing you want to do after escaping?"

  "What's the first thing?" Qin Zhiyan lightly exhaled: "I don't know."

  "No way, we have to think it through." Qing Xia said stubbornly: "We barely escaped with our lives, when we go out, there's one thing that must be done above all else."

  "Oh," Qin Zhiyan sighed softly, seeming to think for a moment before saying in a low voice: "Gather the men, seal it, seal the imperial mausoleum."

  "Ah?" Despite being in such an environment, Qing Xia's eyes still widened in surprise, and she couldn't help but laugh, "You really hold grudges, if you seal up your ancestors' tombs, the Qin State would have expelled you from the Qin family."

  "Hmm..." Warm breath sprayed on Qing Xia's neck, Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly, his voice was mellow and pleasant, like the water of a lake in March, rippling with shallow waves.

  "Tang girl, go out first... the first thing, what do you want to do?" Qin Zhiyan seemed to have recovered a bit, speaking in a still stuttering tone, but was able to say complete sentences.

  Qing Xia's heart skipped a beat with joy, and she said happily: "There is one thing that is most important, you must do it as soon as you go out."

  Qin's flames slightly stunned, his voice weak but with a hint of curiosity, "What's going on?"

  "I'm going out to eat a big meal." Qing Xia said loudly: "My stomach is almost starving, now I just want to eat. Qin Zhiyan, you've been in the imperial mausoleum for a month, what are you referring to?"

  The breathing behind her suddenly stagnated, and she even felt Qin Zhiyan's body stiffen. Qing Xia was slightly frightened, and she quickly turned her head around, only to see Qin Zhiyan's pale face pressed against her shoulder, his eyes tightly closed, and the corners of his lips were covered with large patches of fresh blood, splattered on her cyan-colored long gown.

  "Qin's fire!" Qing Xia was startled and hastily called out: "How are you?"

  The power of life was slowly draining from the man's body, his weakness had already made him unable to open his eyes, only the corners of his lips were lightly moving, but he could no longer hear what he was saying.

  "Qin Zhiyan, don't die." Qing Xia suddenly pursed her lips tightly, took a deep breath, and turned her head to walk firmly towards the distant corridor. "Qin Zhiyan, I don't want to watch you slowly rot away to death in this damned imperial tomb."

  A huge sorrow rose from Qing Xia's eyes, and many familiar scenes emerged from her mind. In the dark dungeon, there were corpses rotting everywhere, and she shrank beside her mother, with large patches of thick blood in front of her.

  She is a Han Chinese, her father was one of the educated youth who went to the countryside in those years, from a distant northern city, came to Xinjiang, and became a doctor at the village clinic, after marrying her mother gave birth to her. Before the age of five, she was an ordinary child, living a dull but affluent life. Until separatist elements surrounded the government's small clinic, imprisoning them in the basement, the difficult years of her memory truly arrived.

  She could no longer recall that difficult year, didn't know how many days had passed, didn't know how many sleepless nights had passed, didn't know how many dark and endless days had passed. She drank the hot broth her parents occasionally handed her, ate raw meat, leaned against her mother's side, listening to her father repeatedly comfort her: "Don't be afraid, someone will come to rescue us, we'll definitely escape."

  But in the end, no one came to rescue them, and even those who had imprisoned them seemed to have forgotten that an innocent family was still locked in the basement. The father's voice grew weaker and weaker, and he could no longer comfort himself or his mother with false promises of rescue. The stench of rot filled the entire basement, and in the darkness, she couldn't see anything except for a small spark of despair in her heart that perhaps, maybe, or possibly, her father was already gone.

  The mother's mournful voice in the empty and dead house was so frightening, she was hungry and thirsty, and cried out in fear. Finally, once again, she drank that hot and nauseating **, and ate that meat that couldn't be chewed. But it was with these things that she lived on day after day, in the dark underground room, living in despair, as the days slowly passed, until even her mother's crying voice could no longer be heard. She curled up alone in a corner, loudly wailing, but there was no one to respond to her cries.

  Do you know the taste of your parents' corpses slowly rotting beside you?

  Do you know that when a person's body gradually rots and becomes foul-smelling, there will also be sounds?

  Do you know what it's like to fight for food with countless huge black rats?

  Do you know what it tastes like when gnawing on a rotting and stinking corpse?

  So, Qin Zhiyan, please, don't die!

  Don't make me guard your corpse alone in this desolate place, waiting for death's arrival.

  I am not afraid of death; I just fear the process of waiting for it.

  So, Qin's flame, accompanied me, even if no one comes to rescue us, we can still escape this evil place.

  Qing Xia carried Qin Yi's body on her back, walking slowly step by step along the long corridor.

  "Cough..."

  A low, muffled cough suddenly echoed through the dead silence, Qing Xia's firm footsteps faltered for a moment, and the breathing behind her slowed down once again, weak but unmistakably real.

  Qing Xia's eyes were wide open, her eye sockets red, and finally, a big tear rolled down her pale cheek and landed on Qin Zhiyan's thin arm, making a crisp sound.

  "Tang... cough... cough..." Before he could finish his sentence, Qin Zhiyan started coughing violently again.

  Qing Xia's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and she walked forward in silence. Ahead of her was a vast expanse of darkness like thick ink, beneath her feet was a sheet of solid ice that had been frozen for thousands of years, behind her was the ruins of a collapsed and broken fire pit, and on her back was Qin Zhiyan, who had repeatedly saved her. Qing Xia suddenly felt that even in such a desperate situation with no way out, she could still walk forward resolutely.

  "Tan..." Qin's voice was weak and had a dying ember-like weakness, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

  "I... didn't sleep." Qin Zhiyan said with difficulty: "Troubled... you... too..."

  "It's okay," Qing Xia said softly, shaking her head slowly. "As long as you're with me, that's enough."

  "Qin Zhiyan, we will definitely get out of here, hold on." Qing Xia said firmly.

  "En." Qin Zhiyan's mellow and thick voice rose low, like the warm waves of the ocean rolling over the golden sand on the beach, "I won't die... I'll stay with you..."

  "Qin Zhiyan, you're a prince and a rich man, when you go out, you must treat me to a good meal." A bright female voice sounded in the darkness, with a hint of forced laughter.

  On Qin's pale face, a flush of abnormal redness appeared, and he nodded in a daze: "Good."

  "I still don't have a place to live, considering I saved your life, you should buy me a big mansion."

  "Okay."

  "I still want a lot of money, I don't want to live a life of running around anymore, I want to start my own business and make a fortune."

  "Good."

  "You be my backer, I'll be a swindling merchant who specializes in bullying the weak and innocent, making a fortune from national disasters."

  "Good."

  ……