HXC Chapter70

A fiery fire with the aid of the night wind instantly swept through the entire military camp. Fortunately, the Jiang family’s army was well-trained, and after a moment of panicked chaos, they all found a way to retreat.

 

Ji Zhen was pushed back two steps by the incoming flames as a soldier grabbed him. “Young Master Qin, come with us!”

 

He stretched his neck, and in the red glow, all he saw were fleeing armored figures. Shrill screams filled his ears and his feet would not move at all.

 

The fire seemed to have burned its way from the direction of Shen Yanqing’s tent. The flames weakened considerably by the time they reached his dwelling. Further ahead were the tents of Jiang Yunyu and Ji Jue, so he presumed his elder brother and the others were safe.

 

But what about Shen Yanqing?

 

A soldier engulfed by flames was screaming in agony and rolling on the ground. The soldiers, powerless to help, could only watch in grief as their comrade was burned alive before them.

 

Ji Zhen’s every breath was filled with choking smoke. He covered his mouth and nose and pushed away the soldier’s hand and instinctively took two steps forward.

 

Fleeing soldiers rushed past him. A rocket zipped by Ji Zhen’s ear. His body stiffened, yet he kept moving forward.

 

“Young Master Qin, Young Master Qin…”

 

Ji Zhen ignored him as he weaved through the flickering flames and nearly broke into a run. A fire caught his clothes and in his fear, he smothered it with his hand and scorched his palm. The fire was out, but his hands were red and blistered. He didn’t seem to feel the pain at all; however, as he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Shen Yanqing!” The one who responded was his elder brother calling from behind, “Zhen Zhen.”

 

At the same time, from within the spreading fire, he finally saw a familiar figure. Shen Yanqing was helping the injured Divine Physician Sai through the sparks. His white robe was torn and a few strands of hair hung on his forehead. Across the vast flames, his eyes met with Ji Zhen’s watery ones.

 

A look of joy appeared on Ji Zhen’s face and he was about to go to Shen Yanqing when a nearby tent that was crushed by the fire collapsed with a bang. He was forced back a few steps and just as he steadied himself, Ji Jue grabbed his arm.

 

He said anxiously, “Gege, Shen Yanqing hasn’t escaped yet.”

 

The collapsed tent blocked Ji Zhen’s path. All he could do was fret and shout, “Shen Yanqing, hurry—”

 

The temperature was rising and the flames on his skin felt as if they were going to roast him alive. The roaring fire was about to engulf everything ahead.

 

Because there was an obstacle, only one person could pass. Shen Yanqing first pushed the wounded Divine Physician Sai out so a soldier could catch him. But just as he was about to climb over the tent, the other tents, unable to withstand the flames, collapsed with a series of roars.

 

Shen Yanqing used his hand to shield himself from the black smoke rushing at his face. When he opened his eyes again, all he saw was an immense fire, like a sea of flames, separating him from Ji Zhen.

 

Seeing that Shen Yanqing couldn’t escape, Ji Zhen’s eyes widened open in shock. With a desperate struggle, he broke free from Ji Jue’s grasp and charged forward recklessly.

 

This was just the way he is: no matter how many times he promised his elder brother, when it came to Shen Yanqing, he would toss his already limited sense of reason to the wind.

 

The blazing fire distorted the air. Ji Zhen, who was running toward Shen Yanqing, also seemed to be pulled and warped. Shen Yanqing closed his eyes tightly as wnother tent collapsed in front of him.

 

He was completely trapped in the sea of fire.

 

“No—” Ji Zhen shrieked. The intense heat licked at his fingertips. “Shen Yanqing!”

 

Shen Yanqing looked at the blurry figure behind the roaring flames and suddenly regretted not listening to Ji Zhen’s advice to leave the military camp earlier.

 

He had gone to so much trouble and even used his own life as a bargaining chip in a gamble of uncertain outcome.

 

Heaven showed favor, his gamble had paid off. Ji Zhen stole the command token to help him escape…

 

Ji Jue was right, he was a master of psychological warfare. If he died, he wanted Ji Zhen to remember him. If he lived, he was certain Ji Zhen would not be able to bear seeing him in such a miserable state.

 

Yet, just as he was about to rekindle his relationship with Ji Zhen after all his painstaking efforts, a sudden fire burned away all his plans.

 

No matter how much he calculated, he could never outsmart fate.

 

Ji Zhen was getting closer. For a moment, Shen Yanqing even thought that if they couldn’t be together in this life, it would be better to die and live together in the underworld as a pair of immortal ghost lovebirds.

 

But he realized that when you truly love someone, you can’t bear to let them die with you.

 

Ji Zhen stared at Shen Yanqing who was not far away and suddenly tried to rush into the fiery abyss. But Ji Jue hugged him from behind and pulled him away from the rolling smoke with all his might.

 

Shen Yanqing gazed deeply at the tear-stained Ji Zhen, took a step back, and called out, “Lord Ji, I’ll have to trouble you.”

 

Even Ji Jue couldn’t bear to look away.

 

Shen Yanqing turned around resolutely, and his figure was instantly swallowed by the flickering flames, never to be seen again.

 

Ji Zhen’s heart-wrenching scream echoed through the sky, “Shen Yanqing—”

 

“Zhen Zhen, there’s always a way out. Shen Yanqing might be able to escape. We’ll come back after the fire is out…”

 

But Ji Zhen, who had just watched Shen Yanqing get buried in the sea of fire, couldn’t hear a single word. He went crazy and tried to rush into the raging fire.

 

Ji Jue had no choice. He had to harden his heart and deliver a sharp chop to the back of Ji Zhen’s neck and carried the unconscious boy away from the thick smoke.

 

—

 

No one expected that Li Muhui, knowing that the Great Heng army had no way of surviving, would resort to such a tragic and destructive tactic.

 

The Jiang family’s army suffered heavy losses. The soldiers were filled with fury and as soon as dawn broke, they regrouped and stormed the imperial city.

 

The Third Prince, Li Muhui, swore he would rather die than surrender. After a fierce battle, he was captured and imprisoned by Jiang Yunyu.

 

Jiang Yunyu stood with his soldiers in front of the Chengqian Hall, where the deposed Crown Prince, Li Muwei, was imprisoned. He knelt on one knee and loudly welcomed the new emperor of the Great Heng Empire.

 

Li Muwei walked out of the prison that had held him for over two years and saw the morning light once more.

 

The winner becomes king, and the loser is condemned. History books recorded this rebellion, which began in late autumn and ended in early spring with only a few words.

 

The old emperor was overthrown in a coup for harming loyal officials and filial sons. The new emperor was benevolent and treated him with the same generosity as Emperor Huang Taiji, though he was not permitted to leave the imperial temple. The Third Prince, Li Muhui, was demoted to a commoner and placed under house arrest for life at Youming Terrace.

 

After ascending the throne, the new emperor bestowed the posthumous title of “Virtuous Recluse of Enduring Merit” upon his mentor, Grand Tutor Zhang. He restored Ji Jue to his position as Vice Minister of Personnel and changed Jiang Yunyu’s title to General Zhenguo.

 

Two months later, he posthumously rehabilitated Shen Yanqing, who had died on his way back to the capital after assassinating the Khitan king. He was granted a propitious burial ground and a cenotaph with the epitaph—What is there to say about death? My body shall rest together with the mountains and hills.

 

The new emperor, Li Muwei, was benevolent and loved by the people.

 

From all corners of the world, people came to pay homage to the holy master; from Mount Emei, the immortals followed his court.

 

—

 

The great fire from two months ago burned for an entire night, leaving a wasteland in its wake.

 

A dazed figure walked through the ruins. Surrounding him were soldiers arranging the corpses. One charred and unrecognizable body after another, smelling of burnt flesh and blood, was carried past Ji Zhen. The smell was nauseating.

 

Ji Zhen, who normally couldn’t stand the sight of blood, was fearlessly checking the newly uncovered corpses.

 

Not him, not him; none of them was him.

 

No matter how many bodies were brought before him, whether they were completely burned or a bloody mess, he insisted they were not Shen Yanqing.

 

Ever since he woke up, Ji Zhen had been wandering around the ruins and refused to leave while searching tirelessly without eating or drinking. He was clearly out of his mind, yet he seemed to be extremely lucid. He didn’t cry. His eyes were just filled with bloodshot veins and his expression was desolate.

 

Another body with skin torn and flesh exposed was brought over.

 

Ji Zhen tremblingly leaned in to look. The man’s skin had long been cooked to reveal tender, crimson flesh. He suppressed the foul odor and examined it carefully while gritting his teeth and said, “Not him.”

 

The soldiers pushed the cart away. Ji Zhen’s stomach immediately churned and he rushed to the side to vomiting.

 

Ji An, who was accompanying him, couldn’t bear it anymore. “Young Master, let’s rest for a while…”

 

Ji Zhen wiped the filth from his lips, brushed away Ji An’s hand, and stumbled toward the distance again.

 

For five hours, from dawn to dusk, Ji Zhen lost count of how many bodies he had seen. When the last bloody corpse was brought before him, he fell to the ground, his expression heartbroken but with a forced smile, he said, “It’s not him. It’s not him… I knew he wasn’t dead.”

 

Seeing him behave like a fool, the soldiers looked at each other silently.

 

There were hundreds of bodies and few were recognizable. Yet Ji Zhen was so certain, which, to them, was nothing but self-deception.

 

A soldier muttered, “Ai, has he gone mad…?”

 

Ji An heard him and said angrily, “What are you talking about? My Young Master is perfectly fine. You’re the one who’s mad!”

 

The soldier awkwardly shut up but as he walked away, he couldn’t help but mutter, “What else could it be but madness when he’s crying and laughing at the same time?”

 

But when Ji An looked down, Ji Zhen did indeed have a vacant, foolish expression. He was horrified. He whispered, “Young Master, let’s go back, alright?”

 

Ji Zhen sat on the ground and mumbled happily, “I’m not going back. I’m with Shen Yanqing.”

 

Ji An’s spine immediately chilled. Looking at the corpses all over the ground, he stammered, “Where is Lord Shen?”

 

Ji Zhen slowly smiled and pointed to the empty space in front of him, then speak word by word, “Shen Yanqing.”

 

Ji An’s face turned pale with fear. He realized the soldier hadn’t been talking nonsense. Without Shen Yanqing, Ji Zhen had truly lost his soul with only an empty shell remained.

 

Divine Physician Sai retracted his hand after taking the pulse and sighed, “When the heartstring breaks, a person naturally becomes confused.” He continued with a pained expression, “Commonly known as hysterical insanity.”

 

Ji Jue looked at the unconscious Ji Zhen on the bed with heartache.

 

Last night, to protect Ji Zhen, he knocked him out and had him sent back. He stayed by his side all night, not daring to leave at all. When Ji Zhen woke up this morning, he cried and begged to go to the military camp.

 

As the saying goes, “If alive, I must see the person; if dead, I must see the corpse.” Ji Zhen was still somewhat clear-headed, and after considering it, Ji Jue could not refuse. He ordered Ji An to accompany him and sent several soldiers to guard him by strictly instructing them to keep Ji Zhen safe.

 

As soon as dawn broke, Jiang Yunyu waved his flag and advanced on the imperial city while Ji Jue stayed behind in Jinzhou to handle the aftermath.

 

When night fell, a scout brought back good news. Before Ji Jue could even breathe a sigh of relief, he received the terrible news that Ji Zhen had lost his mind.

 

The two events with one of extreme joy and the other of extreme sorrow arrived at the same time, leaving Ji Jue with mixed emotions.

 

He steeled himself and asked, “Is there a way to cure this?”

 

“Master Qin, I can prescribe some sedative medicine for Young Master Qin to take, but a sickness of the heart requires a medicine for the heart…”

 

Thinking of Shen Yanqing, Divine Physician Sai was also filled with emotion. “If I hadn’t been injured and unable to move, he wouldn’t have missed his chance to escape the sea of fire while saving me. I am guilty.”

 

After Divine Physician Sai left, Ji Jue re-bandaged Ji Zhen’s hands.

 

Ji Zhen’s palms had been burned until raw and bloody. Though the wounds were treated, a day of searching worsened them, leaving the flesh blistered.

 

Ji Jue silently applied medicine to Ji Zhen’s wounds and suddenly remembered Shen Yanqing’s phrase: “My heart is not a stone.”

 

My heart is not stone, yet it cannot be swayed. Was this not the same for Ji Zhen?

 

If Shen Yanqing was truly no longer in this world, would Ji Zhen just live out the rest of his life in a daze?

 

He ordered Ji An to watch over Ji Zhen, and went outside, he whispered, “Pass on my order, search for Shen Yanqing’s whereabouts in the Jinzhou area. If he’s alive, I want to see the person…”

 

Ji Jue looked toward the brightly lit room, but he didn’t say the last four words.

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T/N: Not gonna lie, I questioned all my life choices back when I got to this part and had to recheck if there’s a BE tag😂but it’s happy ending, don’t worry.