Chapter 28
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Let’s go to the next world.
Chu Xie sighed deeply, and the rim of the cup pressed against his lips, the scent of the wine stinging his eyes. The door was forcefully thrown open, and a few drops of wine were spilled.
He only saw the Crown Prince’s feet creating a gust of wind, his figure flickering in front of his eyes. A strong wind swept past the tip of his nose – the poisoned wine in his hand knocked away by a palm
There was a clatter as the wine splashed across the floor, and the wine glass rolled a long way away.
Chu Xie stared at his empty palm.
Suddenly, he couldn’t help but think that Jiang Yanchi was really a star of ill fortune in his life.
Zhao Xuan was held down and suppressed outside the door, and Jiang Yanchi didn’t let him in. Instead, he asked a few questions, and Chu Xie immediately heard something like “take him away.” His temples throbbed suddenly.
Zhao Xuan, Duke Yue’s, will become the Grand Imperial Censor twenty years from now. After Duke Yue’s passing, he was framed and did not inherit the title. He climbed the ranks through his own effort, taking the imperial examinations step by step… He is an important up-and-coming talent, and he couldn’t afford to let Jiang Yanchi’s confusion and carelessness here lead to his death
Well, there was no way to salvage the character value anyway.
Who cared about how the storyline would turn out?
Chu Xie felt frustrated and couldn’t understand why, as a villain, he had to worry about all this.
He heard Zhao Xuan’s frightened cry from outside, and Chu Xie suddenly thought of his youthful appearance when he was full of spirit. If not for him arriving in time in Zhao Prison, he might have died at Jiang Yanchi’s hands.
Zhao Xuan was not a bad person.
The door creaked open, a gust of wind blew in, and Chu Xie’s scattered hair rustled. “Let him go.”
“You…”
Chu Xie silently moved his hand that was pressing on Zhao Xuan, helping him up from the ground. He brushed off the dust from the man without much emotion. “Go back.”
“Chu…”
“Let him go.”
Chu Xie, dressed in a light-colored long robe, swayed gently with the breeze in the corridor. He appeared even more slender, his chin sharp as a knife’s edge. His eyes were dark underneath, and he seemed lifeless.
Zhao Xuan would have preferred to see him in his arrogant state.
Jiang Yanchi was furious and suddenly pulled him closer. “Do you know what’s in this wine?”
His tone was cold. “Yes, it’s poisoned wine.”
Chu Xie’s voice sounded like a fish out of water, with a touch of hoarseness.
“Zhao Xuan wanted to kill me, I know that.”
Duke Yue and Zhangyin were inseparable in the past ten years, frequently interacting. Why would he suddenly come to kill Chu Xie now?
“And you…”
“Didn’t you also want to kill me, Your Highness?”
This “Your Highness” sounded just like Ah Mu.
What entered Jiang Yanchi’s sight was a pair of autumn eyes, as Chu Xie silently stared at him. It felt as if an immense weight was pressing on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.
Chu Xie even had a faint smile at the corner of his mouth before finally averting his gaze. “In the capital city, among every ten people, nine want me dead. Since there’s strength in numbers, let Zhao Shizi go.”
Good.
The character value had almost completely collapsed.
Let it be like this.
Chu Xie secretly touched the small knife hidden in his sleeve and opened his character value but found that it hadn’t decreased.
This world was too harsh and cruel, with numerous supporting characters and complicated plotlines. There were even two completely broken character arcs. It was truly too difficult.
Let’s change the map.
With a firm decision in his heart, it was as if he had finally let out a sigh of relief.
Chu Xie began to speak a few heartfelt words, not constrained by any character, truly wanting to say these words to this young prince.
“Jiang Yanchi, I know you were forced into this position. But in this world, how many people have no choice, how many people are pushed into an abyss against their will, living their lives on the edge of a precipice, as if walking on thin ice? The glory you didn’t want has become your shackles, and the power you disdain has become new chains.”
“But that’s your fate.”
Chu Xie coughed twice. “You’re still young, and life is long. It was I who supported you to become the Crown Prince, but I didn’t teach you more. Now, given the current situation, the path ahead can only be walked by you alone.”
“Ah… Mu, Chu Xie…” Jiang Yanchi took a couple of confused steps forward, suddenly feeling a hollow panic in his heart. “Don’t worry, I will cure your illness. I… I won’t let you…”
“Your Highness, I told you before, you will eventually rule over the world. I will hand the entire kingdom into your hands… but I don’t want you to become a person worn out by endless struggles. Once someone holds power they can’t bear, there are only two outcomes.”
“Either they are controlled by power, or they control power themselves.”
Jiang Yanchi’s nose tingled, and he stumbled forward a few steps.
“Jiang Fengyu.”
Chu Xie gripped the blade in his hand tightly, feeling the rough patterns on the hilt with his fingertip.
“Choose to be the latter.”
“Chu Xie!” Jiang Yanchi suddenly circled around to face him. Chu Xie had to temporarily put down the knife. His eyes showed a sense of detachment.
“Why? I want to know why… why are you Ah Mu? Why did you help me? I don’t understand. Tell me…”
The young crown prince’s eyes were like a red hue in clear water, a shallow red that spread out in circles.
You don’t understand, and I don’t understand either.
One moment killing, another moment saving.
Like someone with a mental disorder.
Hmm?
Chu Xie suddenly had a flash of insight.
Mental, disorder.
Oh my god, oh my god!
Right, why couldn’t Chu Xie be a mental patient!
Let’s try a split personality!
It seems like he had grasped the last lifeline. Chu Xie opened the system and accessed the character settings, taking a deep breath while staring at those values. After pondering the lines in his heart for a while, he began to perform the final act.
Taking a gamble.
Whether he could blend the Mary Sue character setting with his own in a reasonable way, making the character values return to normal.
Even if it’s just for a brief moment.”
“Do you think I’m strange?” Chu Xie’s back looked somewhat desolate. “I and him, don’t seem to be alike at all.”
“Him?”
“Chu Xie. The one you often see, that Chu Xie.”
The blood seemed to freeze in his veins, and he felt a chilling sensation spreading from the inside out.
“In fact, I’ve never liked him.”
“Because he’s always doing bad things, and even kills people.”
Jiang Yanchi looked at the person turning around, the gentle smile on his lips carried a trace of helplessness and resignation. “But hating him means I hate myself.”
“I don’t know when these days will end, or maybe there’s no end at all. When you asked me if I was afraid of his revenge when I handed over the evidence to you at Jinhuan Gambling House, you didn’t know how ruthless and cruel he could be. But I am the only person in this world that he can’t kill or harm.”
Chu Xie circled his arms around himself, leaning against the wall in a relaxed posture, his slender figure appearing so lonely in the night breeze.
Clouds parted, revealing the moon.
The moonlight poured into the window pavilion, casting a frosty glow on his temples.
“Jiang Yanchi, my existence is a secret known to no one, the biggest secret hidden within Chu Xie.”
The moonlight was again obscured by a wisp of clouds, creating a brilliant and picturesque night sky, a beauty like never before.
“He has a severe heart condition.”
“That illness is me.”
Jiang Yanchi’s fingertips trembled, the congealed flesh seemed to have turned into fragments again, rushing through his bloodstream, creating tiny wounds under his skin, and causing a fine and suffocating pain to burst from his chest.
Ah Mu.
It was Chu Xie’s heart condition.
Duan Sen, young and frail, once suffered from illness, and at a tender age, Jiang Yanchi had secretly acquired many medical books to try to treat her.
He also knew that there were cases where someone with a severe heart condition might appear to be two different people… but that was all from ancient texts. Does such an illness truly exist?
One person.
How could they be completely split into two people?
This was simply…
Too absurd.
Jiang Yanchi stumbled back a few steps, but Chu Xie turned around, placed his left hand on the window sill, and the moonlight shone on his figure, making him appear spotlessly white.
Chu Xie gently pulled out the knife, step by step, and Jiang Yanchi was so stunned that he didn’t even hear the faint sound.
49%… 51%… 54%…
Chu Xie stared at the numerical value without blinking, shifted his body to the side, and placed the knife against his chest. The system had silently activated the maximum pain relief BUFF for him and he held his breath, waiting for the value to increase further.
56%… 58%…
Stopped.
Huh?
Chu Xie glanced at Jiang Yanchi beside him. He saw that Jiang Yanchi was just standing there, completely motionless, like a straw-stuffed scarecrow stuck in place.
The knife was put back in his sleeve.
Chu Xie turned his head to the side, and his nose was slightly red. “Your Highness doesn’t believe it? Then… let me show you him.”
Jiang Yanchi’s breathing stopped.
He watched in disbelief as Chu Xie closed his eyes, found a chair, and sat down, leaning back slowly. His head drooped down as if he had fallen asleep.
After a while, those eyes opened again.
Jiang Yanchi was shocked to find that the look in those eyes had completely changed.
It was Chu Xie’s gaze, completely different from Ah Mu’s.
It was icy, arrogant, and just making eye contact sent shivers down one’s spine.
“Jiang Yanchi.”
Chu Xie glanced around, then suddenly saw the moonlight outside, as if he had remembered something. His complexion suddenly turned very bad. “It’s nighttime, and you…”
His words choked in his throat without coming out.
He seemed to be observing Jiang Yanchi’s expression.
“How could I be here?”
Jiang Yanchi’s hands and feet turned completely cold.
“Did you kill Chen Lianzhou?” Jiang Yanchi’s voice trembled. “Why did you kill him?”
Chu Xie sneered as if he had heard a ridiculous question.
“I wanted to kill him, so I did.”
“And what about my elder brother? Why did you have to kill him too?”
“And, my mother… Why, why did it have to be you…”
Chu Xie squinted slightly and once again noticed the bright moonlight outside. Suddenly, he turned his gaze. “Could it be that you…”
He stood with his hands behind his back, and with every step he took, Jiang Yanchi retreated half a step.
The color on Jiang Yanchi’s face gradually faded, leaving him deathly pale.
The intent to kill in his eyes was so obvious! His imposing aura was terrifying, as if he was about to attack at any moment.
But his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He seemed to be in some pain, clutching his head and pressing against the wall, shrinking into a corner of the window pavilion.
“Ah…”
Jiang Yanchi opened his mouth but didn’t know what to call him, and then stammered, “Chu…”
His heart was in chaos.
59%… 60%…
Chu Xie seemed exhausted. The wind ruffled his disheveled hair, making it look like willow catkins floating in the breeze. “Because it’s late at night now, I can… barely have some control… If he finds out that you know his secret, he will definitely… not spare you…”
61%… 63%…
It exceeded the threshold.
Chu Xie took out the blade and slowly pushed it into his chest, suppressing the impending groan. His entire body trembled.
On the side that Jiang Yanchi couldn’t see, fresh blood slowly oozed out, staining his palm red.
Trickling down his clothes.
The smell of that blood made him momentarily lose his senses, whether due to blood loss or something else, the suffocating feeling overwhelmed him once again.
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
