Chapter 68: Destruction

  "The flames of Qin..."

  A low, muffled breathing sound suddenly appeared beside her ear, and Qing Xia, who had always been a light sleeper, immediately woke up. She tilted her head to listen for a while before softly calling out in a gentle voice.

  The direction of the long table, the intentionally suppressed breathing sound clearly echoed in the room, like a wild beast trapped in a predicament, emitting a heavy low cry at the moment of life and death.

  The cold wind outside blew in, the clear and elegant green bamboo under the moonlight had a mottled and fragmented shadow. In the swaying light and shadow, Qing Xia sat up, her eyebrows tightly furrowed, softly calling out Qin Zhiyan's name in a low voice. However, there was no response.

  Qing Xia got out of bed barefoot, the moon outside the window was bright and clear, its cool light shining faintly on the slender man who was bent over his desk. His hair fell to one side, his blue robe had a pale glow in the moonlight. He lay motionless on the desk, not making a sound, Qing Xia thought for a moment that she must have misheard, or that he was just sleeping.

  But the next moment, a low and heavy voice came out again. The sound was so low, so deep, and so small, but Qing Xia still heard it. Her eyes suddenly opened wide, and she took a step forward, saying in a low voice: "Qin Zhiyan, what's wrong?"

  Qin Zhiyan's back was icy cold, and when Qing Xia's hand touched it, he could even feel him trembling slightly. She suddenly felt a hint of panic, gently pushing Qin Zhiyan's shoulder, and asked in a low voice: "Qin Zhiyan, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

  She reached out to lift his head, but as soon as she touched the desk, she felt a warm and sticky sensation. This feeling was not unfamiliar to Qing Xia, whether in her past life or this one. Her heart seemed to have been punched heavily, her eyes wide open, and she quickly lifted Qin Zhiyan's body up, covering her mouth in terror and forcing herself not to scream.

  On the tea-colored desk, there were large patches of fresh blood, flowing down along the desk and dripping onto Qin Zhiyan's chest, where his light green collar had already turned slightly dark red. His face looked even paler in the moonlight, with the blood on his lips having congealed, his eyebrows tightly furrowed, and immense pain was revealed without any concealment.

  "What...what's going on?" Qing Xia was at a loss, covering her mouth as she felt her mind go blank. The scene from the Flame Temple that day flashed before her eyes again, and great worry and fear rose up from the bottom of her heart. She knelt down, lifted Qin Zhiyan's head, trying to wipe away the fresh blood on his face. But just as she reached out her hand, another mouthful of fresh blood spurted out.

  "Ah!" Qing Xia cried out in terror, her voice trembling as she hugged Qin Zhiyan's head, frantically calling out: "What's wrong, what's wrong....."

  It seemed that the weak man had heard Qing Xia's voice, and he slowly opened his eyes. After a brief daze, his eyes suddenly became clear. His face was as pale as paper, but his eyebrows gradually relaxed, and the fresh blood on the corner of his mouth twisted across his slender neck. He smiled faintly at Qing Xia and said, "I woke you up."

  His voice was already hoarse, but it was still warm like the ocean. Qing Xia's tears suddenly fell one by one, and a deep sense of powerlessness rose from her heart. She grabbed Qin Zhiyan's shoulders, which were unable to stand up straight, and asked in terror: "What happened? Why is this?"

  "Ah……" Qin Zhiyan's mouth corners softened as he gazed at Qing Xia's tearful eyes, slowly extending his hand to seemingly wipe away her tears, but it fell back down halfway.

  "Don't worry," Qin Zhiyan said with a faint smile, the warmth in his eyes like the warm sunshine of June. "It's okay."

  "Don't move," Qing Xia wiped away the tears on her face, stood up, and put Qin Zhiyan's arm over her shoulder, choking with sobs as she said: "Go to bed and rest."

  Qin Zhiyan didn't refuse, and it seemed he had no strength to refuse either. Qing Xia carefully placed him on the bed, covered him with a quilt, took out a clean towel, and gently wiped his face and mouth corners. Qin Zhiyan seemed to be in great pain, his eyebrows were tightly knotted together, the veins on his forehead bulged, his hands clenched into fists by his side, his body was slightly trembling, and big drops of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his cheeks. But he didn't make a sound, lying quietly on the bed without any noise.

  Qing Xia knelt on the ground, leaning against the bamboo bed beside Qin Zhiyan's expression. The sourness in her heart surged slowly, but she couldn't do anything, and could only sit quietly by his side, staring at his pain with wide eyes.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second, but Qin Zhiyan's face grew paler and paler, his body cold and eerie, like a dead man.

  Qing Xia slowly stretched out her hand and tightly grasped Qin Zhiyan's hand.

  No words were spoken, no language was used, they just held each other tightly.

  There was a person who suddenly appeared in life, and then just like that, he walked in with dignity. By the time the host realized it, he had already taken root.

  Qing Xia pursed her lips tightly, and with a trembling hand, she reached out to touch Qin Zhiyan's forehead, saying softly: "I will definitely help you."

  I will definitely take you out. At some point in the past, someone said this to themselves, now she grasped that person's hand and said softly but firmly, I will definitely help you.

  Outside the window, the wind was blowing gently. Qing Xia wore a moon-white long dress with faint bloodstains on the hem. She held Qin Zhiyan's hand and slowly leaned her head against his body. Tears gradually moistened the quilt. She pursed her lips tightly, and after a long time, her shoulders shook slightly.

  A slender man closed his eyes, seemingly asleep, and the air was filled with silence.

  After a long time, the woman seemed to have fallen asleep.

  "Emma..."

  A low voice echoed in the room, so faint it was almost imperceptible, yet still clearly audible: "Sorry..."

  The moon slowly slides down the treetops, and a long night is about to pass.

  When she woke up in the morning, it was Qin Zhiyan who gently pushed Qingxia's shoulder. She opened her eyes with a daze and saw Qin Zhiyan's warm smile.

  His complexion was still pale, but it was no longer as dull and lifeless as it had been the night before. His eyes shone with a warm light, and his lips had regained some color. He sat on the bed, looking at Qing Xia who had her head resting on his leg, and smiled faintly: "You're awake."

  Qing Xia slowly raised her head, slightly stunned for a moment before lightly smiling, "I'm awake."

  Just as she was about to get up, her foot suddenly slipped and she almost fell to the ground. Her legs had gone numb from kneeling for a whole night. Qin Zhiyan quickly supported Qing Xia's body with his swift hands, hurriedly got down from the bed, and helped Qing Xia sit on the edge of the bed. He squatted in front of her, gently massaging her legs, and softly asked: "Is your leg numb?"

  "Oh... yeah." Qing Xia was stunned for a while before reacting and hastily responding.

  Qin Zhiyan gently patted Qing Xia's leg, again and again, with his head slightly lowered. The bright sunlight shone through the window onto his face, casting a golden glow around him. For a moment, Qing Xia was dazed, staring blankly at Qin Zhiyan until he slowly lifted his head, looked at her and smiled, saying "Feeling better?"

  It was as if everything from last night had been just a nightmare in the green summer. But the dark red bloodstains on her clothes were such a reminder that everything had happened so truly.

  A thread of sorrowful emotions crept onto Qing Xia's heart, she nodded slightly, without saying a word.

  The two of them had a tacit understanding, neither mentioning the events of that evening. As they closed the green bamboo door, a gentle breeze blew in from afar, lifting the hem of Qing Xia's white skirt. She tilted her head back, gazing at the strange glow and beautiful birds in the sky, feeling as though something inside her had also been shut behind that door, locking away so many memories and the tender emotions that had just begun to sprout.

  Petals scattered everywhere with the gentle breeze, dancing in the air, in front of the lush bamboo forest, a woman in white clothes with clear and beautiful eyebrows and eyes, as if an immortal fairy.

  "Yima'er, let's go."

  Crossing through a dense bamboo forest, passing by steaming hot springs, and crossing over a clear small river, is a mountain ridge covered with blooming yellow flowers.

  Everything here is so magical, the sky is so close, as if it's within reach, and it seems like you can grab the sunlight with your hands. But when you stand on the mountain ridge, you realize that what you thought was near is still far away, gazing at you from a distance.

  This is the Cypress Beams Temple of Emperor Qin's Mausoleum, not some paradise on earth. Over a thousand years ago, there was a woman who stood guard here alone until her death. Now they want to leave this place, outside there may be wind and rain, but also more important truth and hope.

  Qing Xia stood on the mountain ridge, turned around, and saw that Qin Zhiyan was wearing a long green shirt, with a distant and gentle smile, his black hair tied up, swaying gently in the breeze.

  "Qin Zhiyan, after we break up, can we still be friends?"

  Qin's flames smiled faintly, as if in his memory, he always smiled so lightly and carelessly, without any other expression.

  "It's okay."

  "En," Qing Xia nodded heavily and then resolutely turned around.

  It seemed that in the vast expanse of heaven and earth, a gigantic cyan gate that could almost hold up the sky stood towering there, its height piercing through the clouds. Qing Xia stood beneath it, looking like an insignificant ant.

  On the door, there were ancient patterns and strange birds and beasts. Large pieces of fiery red clouds floated in mid-air, with colors that were extremely gorgeous. The faint scent of wood gently lingered in the air. Qing Xia stretched out his hand, the wound on it still not healed, wrapped layer by layer with white cloth, only revealing a small section of fair finger tip. He felt the thick and ancient patterns on top, a sense of thousands of years of vicissitudes suddenly surging up to his heart.

  A thousand years ago, wasn't there also a woman like this, wearing a simple white moon-colored dress, standing gently outside the door, lightly feeling her way?

  A loud "boom" suddenly rang out, and Qing Xia was slightly stunned. She felt that on the other side of the door, someone seemed to be violently pounding against it. After a moment's thought, she slowly turned her head around, staring straight at Qin Zhiyan standing behind her.

  The man's gaze also swept over, he looked at Qing Xia, his face calm and unruffled, without a ripple, but still with a hint of warmth flowing from the corners of his eyes.

  "Qin Zhiyan, will you forget me?"

  Another loud rumble, the dust on the giant gate flew down, Qin Zhiyan stretched out his hand to block the dust in front of Qing Xia, then shook his head: "Won't work."

  "That's good," Qing Xia smiled slightly: "I won't either."

  "Emma!"

  Just as he was about to reach out, Qin Zhiyan suddenly stopped Qing Xia. Qing Xia was stunned, but didn't turn around, only listening to the man behind him say faintly: "In this world, many people are born with some mission and responsibility on their shoulders. I am no exception."

  She nodded slightly, Qing Xia took a deep breath, stretched out her hand to push gently, the heavy wooden door suddenly rumbled, emitting a mighty roar that had been accumulated for thousands of years. Then, under Qing Xia's gentle push, it slowly opened.

  The massive gate that no one else could open despite their great efforts was flung wide open with a loud crash at the light touch of Qing Xia.

  The magnificent golden palace slowly appeared before her eyes, but Qing Xia no longer had any appreciation for it. At the moment the palace doors opened, she also saw thousands of black-clad light armor soldiers, their anxious eyes passing directly through Qing Xia and projecting onto something behind her, gradually turning into a frenzy of excitement.

  "Your Highness!" The deafening sound rose simultaneously, and all the soldiers knelt down in unison, their faces filled with joy as they looked up at the man clad in a green long shirt that still exuded sharp edges under the sunlight.

  "Get up." A low voice sounded from behind, and the man walked forward from behind Qing Xia, stepped over Qing Xia, with firm footsteps, without a hint of weakness or fatigue, like a general commanding thousands of troops, with a heavy sense of oppression and momentum.

  "Your Highness, are you alright?" Zhong Bo's surprised voice rang out in the crowd, and the old man with a joyful face rushed forward, then suddenly saw Qing Xia behind Qin Zhiyan and exclaimed strangely: "Tang young lady?"

  Yes, after going out of that big gate, Qin Zhiyan originally became San Dianxia, and Yima also became Tang Niang.

  It was as if Pangu's giant axe had suddenly cleaved a huge chasm between the two of them.

  She stands on this side and can't get through. And he absolutely won't come over either.

  "Your Highness! The Northern Xiongnu troops raided Fengya Castle, and General Mu completely defeated them. The Flame Character Camp has already occupied Fengya, do you want to further occupy the northern border territories?"

  "Your Highness! The two great families of Feng and Li were robbed by the Northern Xiongnu, and many young masters died in the chaos. Thanks to General Mu's timely arrival, the civilians did not suffer any casualties."

  "Your Highness! The Northern Frontier Camp has been taken over by the Flame Character Camp. When the Feng Family's Imperial Guard crossed the Cangwu River, the river burst its banks and they all drowned."

  "Your Highness! The southern barbarians and Southern Chu have split apart, Eastern Qi has declared war on Chu, and Western Shu is supplying grain to Southern Chu. Should we join the battle?"

  "Your Highness..."

  The chaotic voices kept echoing in Qing Xia's ears, she looked at the distant figure that was slender but still upright, and felt a wave of desperate dizziness. She suddenly couldn't help but want to turn her head back, take one last look at the brocade mountains and rivers behind the green wooden gate, but finally restrained herself. She slowly backed out of the crowd, step by step, walking out of the most sacred Qin Imperial Palace in Qin State.

  In front of it was a brightly lit main hall thoroughfare leading to the cold but real world outside.

  Behind them were a large number of high-ranking military officials from the Qin state, who surrounded Qin Zhiyan inside, forming a cold and stern human wall that even blocked his line of sight.

  "Qin's flames, after going out what is the first thing you want to do?" "Gather people, seal off the imperial mausoleum."

  "Qin Zhiyan, the two of us walking out from here, doesn't that also mean we've got a whiff of copper on us?" "What we're doing isn't called getting a whiff of copper, what we're doing is treating wealth like dirt."

  "Qin's flame, I'm called Yimaer, it means long life." "Yimaer, what kind of chicken is a pecking chicken? I'll definitely catch one for you in the future."

  "Qin's flames, I was abandoned by my country, all my friends and comrades don't want me anymore." "Aima, they don't want you, but I do."

  "Qin's flames, I've long wanted to take a break. I want to go to college, fall in love, and originally didn't want to do this job anyway." "Alright, follow me back to Daqin, I'll take you to the study room to read books."

  "Qin's flame, I thought you were dead, I thought they had eaten you, I thought only I was left, I thought...""Fool, I'm still alive, listen to it, it's still jumping, I'm still alive."

  "Qin Zhiyan, we're still friends, right?"

  "...calculate..."

  Qin Zhiyan, we won't be friends again, will we? Never again.

  From the moment I walked out of Qingmu Hall, it wasn't the same anymore.

  You are not the gentle man in Qingmu Dadian after all. Once you walked out of that place, you became the King of Qin who manipulated the situation and pointed at the mountains and rivers.

  That night's darkness couldn't make her mistake him.

  In the bright and spacious hall, so many people were kneeling. There were scouts who had gone to explore the way for General Feng, there were boatmen from the Jialing River, there were soldiers in black clothes and armor who had been mistaken for enemy reinforcements that night, and even the man in black who had been tied up by himself for a whole night.

  She suddenly realized that she was indeed a fool, the huge irony in the sky screamed wildly, tearing her heart into countless fragments, and throwing them to the top of the snowy mountain, where they were pecked at by vultures.

  When heartache reaches an unbearable level, the pain becomes numb. But she didn't become numb; she just felt a faint sadness and another shattered hope.

  This is just a game, both sides have already made their moves, waiting for the other to make the first strike. And I'm just an unwitting pawn who stumbled into this game of chess, thinking I'm a savior, but in reality, I'm just a foolish piece being manipulated by others.

  In vain, she shed tears that wouldn't fall for years.

  In vain, she almost exhausted her reborn life.

  In vain, she almost lost her own heart.

  In vain, she thought she had control over her own and others' lives, struggling hard, wrestling with heaven, but unknowingly, she was just singing someone else's scripted lines, playing a role in a play without knowing the plot.

  It's all just a ridiculous one-man show, futile and pointless. Now it should be time for the curtain to fall.

  Qing Xia walked alone in the long corridor of the main hall, her footsteps firm as she headed outwards. One step, then another, and finally, she caught a whiff of fresh air, she slightly lifted her head, holding back the tears at the corners of her eyes, letting the cool breeze blow against her cheeks, a sharp pain like a knife, yet somehow it felt strangely refreshing.

  From now on, let's go our separate ways.

  They were two unrelated people after all, and in the end they still had to return to their own orbits and walk their own paths.

  In this world, it's never that when someone is gone, others can't live on.

  Behind her, a pair of quiet eyes had been staring at the brightly lit corridor, staring until the small white figure completely disappeared before he withdrew his gaze.

  At some point in the past, that wasn't a person's shadow. Beside her, there was also a man in green clothes, the girl looked up at him with a faint smile, pointing to the white long ribbon on their wrists and said: "If we tie it like this, even if we get lost, we can find our way back by following the thread."

  Now he doesn't know whether that line was broken under the thousand-foot snake pit or cut off by his own hands.

  A scene in the Temple of Four Gods, like a grand dream, now that it's time to wake up from the dream, he suddenly realizes that he is still lingering on everything in the dream.

  The girl's crisp voice suddenly echoed in her ears again: Yimaer, it means longevity...

  He knew his longevity had been lost forever.

  Although, in a not-so-distant past, he had been so close, even just a little bit further and he could have grasped it forever.

  A cold wind blew across the empty grand hall, stirring up a cloud of dust. A man in a green robe stood in the center of the hall, his face gaunt and his eyes dull.

  He calculated everything under heaven, but he didn't calculate that one day he would also be moved.

  In the end, he still lost this battle.

  It wasn't that he lost to Nan Chu, nor was it that he lost to Dong Qi, and even less so that he lost to his big brother, that good-for-nothing. He had lost to himself, and at the same time, he had also lost to her.

  Bamboo grows unintentionally, yet branches sprout outside of nodes.

  Yima'er, was it I who made a mistake, or was it time that made a mistake?