The rain poured relentlessly, like countless white ropes lashing against the earth. Beyond thirty feet, everything was impossible to make out, let alone distinguish a person’s face or figure.
Rain this heavy would inevitably hinder the manhunt. Zhu Helin stood beneath the eaves, looking at the Embroidered Uniform Guards kneeling in the courtyard to accept punishment for allowing their commander to escape. He had no time to think about how he would punish them.
When Zhu Helin received the secret report that Shen Qi had betrayed them tonight, his first thought was of his royal father, who was staying at Fenghe Villa.
His royal father’s supposed death had been orchestrated by Shen Qi from beginning to end. Shen Qi had even been involved in the subsequent treatment and security arrangements. More than half a month ago, Shen Qi had informed him through Su Yan that suspicious people had been seen around the villa and advised them to stop visiting temporarily to avoid exposing themselves. As a result, they had not seen Emperor Jinglong for quite some time.
A horrifying thought suddenly surfaced in Zhu Helin’s mind:
Could something have happened to Royal Father?
Had Shen Qi leaked the information to the Player or had he simply offered his father’s life as a token of allegiance?
The thought sent a chill through him. He immediately dispatched an elite squad in secret to the villa on the outskirts of the city. All of them had originally served as guards in the Eastern Palace, and they were led by Wei Liangzi. They were people he could trust.
Immediately afterward, he mobilized the Tengxiang Guards and the Firearms Battalion to surround the area west of Qianbu Corridor. At the same time, he dispatched a second squad to secretly surround the Shen residence. The moment Shen Qi left the house, they would break in and search it for evidence.
To lower Shen Qi’s guard, he personally went to the Northern Surveillance Bureau with only a small number of guards, deliberately tempting Shen Qi into walking into the trap. He then forced Shen Qi to attack him, thereby establishing the crime of treason and attempting to assassinate the Emperor.
With so many measures taken simultaneously, Shen Qi should have been captured in one stroke.
If Su Yan had not arrived in time and disrupted both his emotions and his plans, Shen Qi would already have been shackled and thrown into the Imperial Prison, awaiting execution.
But now, all they could do was have the soldiers pursue him through the pouring rain, making the task considerably more difficult.
Amid the sound of the rain came the faint whinny of a horse.
Outside the gates of the Northern Surveillance Bureau, Wei Liangzi dismounted and sprinted through the front courtyard and up the steps. Ignoring the rain streaming down his face, he dropped to his knees and reported, “Your Majesty, I have failed Your Majesty’s trust!”
Zhu Helin was frantic with worry. “Did you search thoroughly?”
“We searched every room, cellar, and hidden chamber. There isn’t a single person there. Not only is… not only is His Majesty not there, but neither are Physician Chen nor the young apprentice. The entire villa is empty!”
It felt as though an icicle had been driven straight through his heart.
Zhu Helin staggered backward two steps, only to be caught by Su Yan, who had rushed out of the main hall upon hearing the news.
Zhu Helin seized his arm and rasped, “If anything happens to Royal Father, I will have Shen Qi cut into a thousand pieces and exterminate his entire clan!”
Su Yan’s face was deathly pale, but he forced his voice to remain calm. “His Majesty will be fine.”
Jing Hongzhui added, “Shen Qi is the kind of person who never makes a move without a sure gain. The old Emperor is the greatest bargaining chip in his hands. He wouldn’t give him away easily. Besides, even if he has betrayed the imperial court, that doesn’t mean he truly intends to join the Player. This man is loyal only to himself.”
Zhu Helin desperately tried to calm his turbulent emotions before ordering Wei Liangzi, “Take more men. Expand the search outward with Fenghe Villa as the center. Keep looking.”
Wei Liangzi accepted the order and left.
“All the entrances and exits have been sealed. Shen Qi cannot escape.” Seeing the grief on Su Yan’s face, Zhu Helin suppressed the unwillingness and resentment in his heart. He took a small medicine bottle from inside his robe and placed it in Su Yan’s hand. “These are calming pills prepared by the Imperial Physicians. The last time you thought Royal Father had died, you took them when you were overwhelmed by grief. They can be used in an emergency. Keep them with you, just in case.”
Su Yan stared at him in stunned silence.
Zhu Helin sighed and gently curled Su Yan’s fingers around the medicine bottle. “I’m going to personally oversee the Tengxiang Guards and the Firearms Battalion in capturing the wanted criminal. As for Shen Qi… he won’t die tonight. I still need to interrogate him and find out Father’s whereabouts.”
He walked down several steps before turning back. “Jing Hongzhui, take good care of Qinghe.”
A guard hurried up the steps with an umbrella for the Emperor. Zhu Helin pushed away the yellow imperial umbrella and strode through the courtyard beneath the rain pouring down like a waterfall.
“Seal the gates of the Northern Surveillance Bureau! Arrest every Embroidered Uniform Guard present and hold them for judgment. The rest of the guards, follow me to Zhengyang Gate!”
Shi Yanshuang, Gao Shuo, and the others knew that allowing Shen Qi to escape tonight was a grave crime. Their faces were ashen as they allowed the imperial guards to bind them, casting pleading looks toward Su Yan through the curtain of rain.
Jinghong Zhui, however, pulled Su Yan back inside. He fastened Su Yan’s cloak and pulled up his hood, saying, “I’ll take you over the back wall. We’ll track Shen Qi.”
Su Yan casually stuffed the medicine bottle into his robes and asked, “The rain is so heavy. Can we still track him?”
“We’ll do our best.”
As he spoke, Jinghong Zhui scooped Su Yan up into his arms, burying Su Yan’s face against his chest to keep him out of the rain. He then used his qinggong to leap out of the room, disappearing into the curtain of rain in the blink of an eye.
***
Thunder and torrential rain battered the capital. Every household had shut its doors, and even the shops whose livelihoods depended on staying open had closed for the night. The streets and alleyways were deserted. The faint glow spilling from countless windows was powerless to illuminate this storm-tossed night.
The area stretching from the western side of Qianbu Corridor in the Imperial City to Xuanwumen Street all belonged to Dashiyong Ward. Within it were government offices such as the Northern Surveillance Bureau, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Justice, as well as residential homes.
At present, every entrance and exit of the entire ward was surrounded by heavily armed troops. Cavalrymen from the Tengxiang Guards carried torches as they rode back and forth through the streets and alleys. With the entire area being searched in a sweeping net, not even a sparrow could have flown out. Once dawn came and the rain stopped, restoring visibility, Shen Qi would be like a turtle trapped in a jar.
Jinghong Zhui stopped inside a pavilion at a street corner and set Su Yan down.
Along the way, he had used his circulating qi to keep the rain from reaching them, so only the hems of their clothes were slightly damp.
Jinghong Zhui bent down and carefully examined the meiren kao, the decorative railing inside the pavilion. He noticed a small, inconspicuous patch of muddy water and said to Su Yan, “He passed through here using qinggong just now. When he paused to catch his breath, he touched the railing with the tip of his foot and left this trace.”
Su Yan looked around. The place seemed vaguely familiar. After thinking hard for a moment, he suddenly remembered.
“I was ambushed by the Blood-Eyed assassins around here once! You remember, Ah Zhui, don’t you? You were hiding at the bottom of the river at the time. You pulled me out with a flying claw. Everyone was frantic that night, searching everywhere for me.”
Jinghong Zhui said remorsefully, “Back then, I had lost my sanity and became one of the Blood-Eyed. I accidentally injured you, my lord. But I have already destroyed my own cultivation of the Seven Killings Camp techniques. I will never fall into demonic madness again.”
Su Yan waved his hand. “I’m not blaming you. I just remembered that there’s an underground hideout belonging to the True Void Sect somewhere around here. The entrance to the secret passage is… there, underneath that opera stage.”
He pointed toward the waterside stage across the river. “I found it when Little Zhu was searching the entire city for me. The secret passage should have been sealed off with stones by now.”
A faint booming sound suddenly came from across the river, mixed with the deafening thunder and almost impossible to distinguish.
Jinghong Zhui frowned. “That was the sound of gunpowder. The explosion doesn’t seem very large. It should have been just enough to blow apart the stones blocking the secret passage.”
Su Yan was startled. He immediately rushed out of the pavilion and ran through the darkness and rain toward the stone arch bridge over the river.
“My lord!” Jinghong Zhui called out. He flew after him, intending to pick him up, but Su Yan refused.
Su Yan slipped on the wet stone steps and fell. He scrambled back up on his hands and feet before continuing to run, finally reaching the top of the bridge.
A flash of lightning illuminated the pitch-black river and the dark figure standing at the head of the bridge.
For the brief second or two that the world was illuminated, Su Yan’s eyes met Shen Qi’s.
When they had first met, Shen Qi had been mounted on horseback beneath the moonlit night at Chengqing Bridge. Looking down at Su Yan from above, he had raised Su Yan’s chin with his riding crop, his expression carrying unmistakable ill intent.
Yet with that single glance, he had somehow looked straight into Su Yan’s heart.
Now, on another stone bridge in another dark night, Su Yan was the one standing above Shen Qi.
But it seemed he could no longer see into Shen Qi’s heart.
His gaze felt as though it had collided with a cold, razor-sharp blade.
“Qilang…” Su Yan managed to call his name, only for rainwater to choke his throat. He gripped the stone railing and coughed painfully for a while before calling out hoarsely again. “Qilang—”
Once, Su Yan had endured every kind of coercion and temptation, alternating between force and persuasion, all simply to have him call “Qilang” just once.
Now, those very words rang in his ears again, yet Shen Qi remained unmoved.
The cold night rain drenched Su Yan to the bone. Holding onto the railing, he slowly made his way down the bridge until he stood directly in front of Shen Qi.
Qilang… I don’t believe you have truly joined the enemy. Whatever hidden circumstances or difficulties there are, why can’t you tell me?
Qilang… Is this truly the choice you made after thinking it through carefully? Are these really the consequences you are willing to bear alone?
Qilang… You once promised me that we would “stay together for the rest of our lives.” Does that promise still count?
Qilang…
Countless questions churned inside Su Yan’s heart. He opened his mouth helplessly, again and again, but not a single sound came out.
Shen Qi raised his hand and brushed a wet strand of hair away from Su Yan’s cheek, tucking it behind his ear. He studied his face carefully.
“This face…” He traced his gaze over Su Yan’s features. “Your brows, your eyes, your mouth, your nose, every part of you was made to fit perfectly within my heart. So the moment I first saw you, I knew a calamity had come.”
Su Yan heard the deep, grave voice of the Guard Commandant.
“Do you know what a calamity is?”
“It is cutting off your path ahead. Twisting your nature. Luring you into throwing your life away fighting and struggling for what you want. Making you give everything you have and still willingly accept it. And in the end, taking away the only hope you have left.”
“That is what a calamity is.”
Su Yan’s heart twisted with unbearable pain. He tightly grasped Shen Qi’s fingers. “Qilang, you know how I feel about you… No one can take this heart from me.”
“If what you say is truly the case, then let go of everything and come with me,” Shen Qi said. “Forget Zhu Jinyong. Stay away from Zhu Helin. Drive Jinghong Zhui away. From now on, let there be only the two of us. If you promise me that, I’ll agree to anything you ask. You want me to become a good person? Then I’ll never spill another drop of blood. You want to protect the Zhu family’s empire? Then I’ll eliminate the Player for you.”
Let go of everything.
Let go of his ambitions, his responsibilities, his vows, and Great Ming with all its internal turmoil and external enemies.
Let go of the sleeping, unconscious Zhu Jinyong.
Let go of Zhu Helin, whose position was not yet secure.
Let go of Ah Zhui, who had shared life and death with him…
Su Yan agonized over it again and again. He struggled with himself again and again.
Finally, with great difficulty, he shook his head.
He did not dare to look into Shen Qi’s eyes. He was afraid he could not bear the regret and disappointment he would find there.
Yet Shen Qi merely said expressionlessly, “Just as I thought. Qinghe, you and I were destined to reach this point eventually. There is simply too much in your heart. But in my heart, there is only you.”
Su Yan shook his head violently, gripping Shen Qi’s fingers as tightly as he could. His face was covered in rain. He could no longer tell whether the water running down his cheeks was tears or rain. All he knew was that the word “eventually” in Shen Qi’s sentence was the sharpest instrument of torture in the world.
It felt as though the affection they had shared throughout all those years was being subjected to lingchi, slow dismemberment, being carved away from his flesh and marrow, inch by agonizing inch.
Shen Qi asked him, “Can’t you bear to let me go?”
Su Yan’s other hand climbed up Shen Qi’s back, stroking the ridges of scars covering it through his soaked clothing. His entire body trembled in the rain.
“If I could live through it all again, I would still endure that punishment for you,” Shen Qi said. He supported the back of Su Yan’s neck with one hand and leaned close to his ear, speaking softly. “I’ll give us one final chance, you may ask me only one question, and I will answer it truthfully. Just this one. What do you want to ask?”
Su Yan could barely breathe. His internal organs seemed to have been torn to pieces by the impossible choice before him. His lips opened and closed several times before he finally asked in a trembling voice:
“…His Majesty isn’t at the villa. Where is he?”
Silence filled the space beside his ear.
Then came a low, breathy sound, a hoarse “heh-heh” between throat and teeth. Like the cry of an owl in the night, it was impossible to tell whether it was laughter or weeping.
“I did not abduct Zhu Jinyong, nor did I sell this information. Of course, whether I sell it later, and to whom, is another matter. So I cannot answer this question right now.”
Shen Qi slowly pulled his fingers one by one from Su Yan’s tightly clenched hand. Then he gripped Su Yan’s chin and fiercely bit down on his lips.
The taste of blood lingered between their teeth, quickly diluted by the rain. Shen Qi viciously deepened the bite, making the pain sink all the way into his bones. Then he shoved Su Yan backward with force, turned around, and flew away without hesitation.
Jinghong Zhui was standing three zhang behind Su Yan. He easily caught him and called out anxiously, “My lord!”
He had not stepped forward earlier because he knew Su Yan wanted to be alone with Shen Qi. But now, seeing Su Yan’s face deathly pale and the blood still seeping from his lips despite the rain washing over them, Jinghong Zhui regretted not kicking Shen Qi straight into the river.
Jinghong Zhui scooped Su Yan up with one arm, holding his sword in his right hand as he used qinggong to pursue Shen Qi. But Su Yan’s hand suddenly clutched tightly at his shoulder.
“Ah Zhui… I’m so cold… I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
Jinghong Zhui immediately changed direction in midair and swept into the pavilion beside the bridge.
The moment Su Yan’s feet touched the ground, he bent forward and spat out a mouthful of blood. Immediately afterward, violent dry heaving wracked his body, each retch accompanied by bloody foam coughed from his throat.
Alarmed, Jinghong Zhui placed his palm against Su Yan’s back and continuously channeled his qi into his lungs and internal organs. He knew this was an injury caused by overwhelming emotional distress. He quickly pulled the medicine bottle from Su Yan’s robes, poured out an calming pill and placed it in Su Yan’s mouth.
He covered Su Yan’s mouth with his hand to prevent him from spitting the pill out.
In his arms, Su Yan trembled violently like a leaf, his upper and lower teeth chattering together. Only after a long while did the trembling gradually subside.
Su Yan let out a long breath, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Ah Zhui… let’s go home…”
***
Shen Qi slipped into the entrance of the tunnel beneath the opera stage. The stones sealing the passage had already been blasted open, leaving a large hole. A middle-aged man dressed as a merchant was sitting casually on the shattered stones, leisurely rolling two iron walnuts in his palm.
Seeing Shen Qi drenched from head to toe, his face pale and ashen, the merchant smiled. “Mr. He told me that Commandant Shen was the most hopelessly lovesick man under heaven. I didn’t believe him in the slightest before, but now I’m completely convinced. What a pity that devotion only brings trouble when it meets ruthlessness. Things in this world rarely go exactly as we wish. It’s better to see things clearly and let go.”
Shen Qi ignored him and bent down to enter the blasted-open tunnel.
The merchant followed behind him, the two iron walnuts clacking rhythmically in his hand as he continued muttering. “There are just two things I don’t understand. First, if Su Twelve were to go with you, would you really kill the Player for him? And second, what exactly were you whispering to each other at the end?”
Shen Qi abruptly stopped. With his right thumb, he pushed open the guard of his Embroidered Spring Blade. “No one ever told you that I’ve killed a gatekeeper?”
His voice was icy. “Because that fellow talked too much and insisted on claiming he wasn’t some insignificant lackey.”
The merchant shuddered under the murderous aura, a chill creeping up his spine.
This Embroidered Uniform Guard surnamed Shen had killed a gatekeeper and even dared to speak disrespectfully to Lord Player. Yet the Lord Player had not taken offense. Instead, he had ordered the merchant to bring Shen Qi back safely, even if it meant sacrificing the last of their hidden agents inside and outside the capital.
For Lord Player to value this man so highly, Shen Qi was clearly no ordinary person.
I must have lost my mind to provoke him.
The merchant hurriedly stuffed the iron walnuts into his robes, clamped his mouth shut, and never said another word.
***
“Ah Zhui… let’s go home…”
Jinghong Zhui carried the weakened Su Yan and flew eastward over layer upon layer of rooftops.
The rain was gradually easing. Jinghong Zhui pushed his qinggong to its utmost speed while lowering his head to speak to the person in his arms. “My lord, hold on just a little longer. We’ll be home soon.”
Through the gap between his hood and Jinghong Zhui’s collar, Su Yan gazed out at the dark night sky. His lips, crusted with dried blood, moved soundlessly.
Qilang.
Qilang, what I actually wanted to ask was… if I had never appeared in this world, would things have been better for all of you?
If meeting means coming to know one another, then perhaps it would have been better never to meet.
If only I could sever our ties completely, so that neither life nor death would leave us yearning for each other.
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