Snowflakes kept falling softly. More and more “snowmen” appeared on the wasteland as people hugged their arms tightly from the cold, yet no one dared to disturb the two of them. Not even the couple who didn’t know them at all.

They were newly married, and perhaps understood these two the best, because tonight they also thought they would be forever separated from the one they loved.

 

…

The wife rested her head on her husband’s shoulder, and he immediately wrapped his arms tightly around her. Together, they watched the two people embracing in the distance. Although they felt happy—after all, no one had died—for some reason, looking at them like this, they could only wear an expression that was on the verge of tears.

 

*

 

Qu Yunmie finally let go of Xiao Rong. The night was deep, and dark clouds covered the moonlight. Even standing this close, Xiao Rong couldn’t see whether there were traces of moisture on Qu Yunmie’s face. Qu Yunmie silently raised his hand and brushed away the snow that had begun to gather on Xiao Rong. He didn’t use much force, but his movements were stiff, as if he were holding something in.

Xiao Rong let him, until that palm—mottled black and red—passed before his eyes, then he suddenly grabbed it.

The skin had peeled off, the flesh was burned and blurred, and no blood flowed out. This was because the blood vessels had already been scorched black.

Lowering his head, Xiao Rong stared fixedly at the bloody and horrifying wound. Suddenly, he crouched down, grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, and stuffed it into Qu Yunmie’s palm. At some point, Qu Yunmie had hidden his other hand behind his back, but Xiao Rong seized his upper arm and made him lift it as well. He repeated the same action, and soon both of Qu Yunmie’s palms were filled with snow.

The snow slowly melted, and water dripped from between Qu Yunmie’s fingers. When it fell to the ground, it turned a faint pink.

Xiao Rong didn’t look at the ground. He tugged on Qu Yunmie’s arm and led him forward. “Let’s go back.”

Qu Yunmie followed obediently—perhaps because he wasn’t thinking at all. After taking two or three steps, he suddenly stopped. “Was that person Yuan Baifu?”

Xiao Rong turned his head and looked at Yuan Baifu’s body lying there, treated no better than garbage.

A faint unpleasant smell lingered across the snowy plain, probably coming from the corpse. After smoldering inside for so long, Yuan Baifu’s exterior had been carbonized, while the inside had been cooked.

People always had an instinctive aversion to the corpses of their own kind. Xiao Rong was no exception. He frowned slightly and said, “It’s him.”

Qu Yunmie said, “Bring him along.”

Xiao Rong looked at his expression, stunned for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.”

 

…………

 

After that, they set out on the return journey. When they came, this group had almost driven their horses to death, on the way back, everyone was tired, so they slowed down a bit. Xiao Rong and Qu Yunmie rode the same horse. Qu Yunmie wanted to take off his cloak and give it to him, then let him mount, but Xiao Rong shook his head. He got on first, then patted the space behind him. Qu Yunmie didn’t understand, but he still climbed up along the horse’s body.

Xiao Rong had told him to hold snow to relieve the pain, but he had already thrown the snow away, as if he didn’t care about that bit of pain at all.

Watching him press his palm without changing expression, Xiao Rong turned his head as if he couldn’t bear to look any longer.

After Qu Yunmie settled himself, Xiao Rong said to him, “Come closer to me.”

Qu Yunmie pursed his lips and moved forward a little.

Xiao Rong turned his head slightly and said again, “Closer.”

Qu Yunmie hesitated a bit, but still shifted forward a little more.

If he moved any further, the two of them would be pressed together—truly chest to back. Without even turning around, Xiao Rong knew he was still leaving a gap. Lowering his eyes, Xiao Rong said nothing more and simply slid backward with force.

At most, Qu Yunmie had left a gap the width of a fingernail. With that movement, Xiao Rong essentially knocked himself into Qu Yunmie’s arms. Catching Xiao Rong was as easy for Qu Yunmie as catching a snowflake. He was only a little stunned, then reflexively reached out and held Xiao Rong’s arms.

Xiao Rong took a light breath and spoke again. “Now use your cloak to cover me. Once it’s properly covered, put your hands down and don’t touch anything else. I’ll ride the horse.”

Xiao Rong looked ahead. No reply came, and just as he couldn’t help frowning and was about to turn back, warm black fabric wrapped around him. Qu Yunmie extended his hands in front of Xiao Rong’s abdomen. Lowering his head, Xiao Rong watched those deformed palms carefully check every gap. Only after confirming that no wind could leak through did those hands withdraw.

Dongfang Jin had been beside them the whole time. Seeing this, he didn’t speak. Only after a while did he quietly call out to Xiao Rong. “Master Xiao?”

Hearing the call, Xiao Rong steadied himself. “Let’s set off.”

The horses began to move, then broke into a trot. After Xiao Rong gave a shout, their speed gradually increased. The group sped across the snowy plain. The wind they stirred changed the direction of the falling snow. In the turbulent air, the snowflakes danced, drifting away from these people eager to return.

Xiao Rong stared ahead. No one knew what he was thinking. Qu Yunmie stared at Xiao Rong—more precisely, at the roots of his hair.

There was nothing. Not a single injury.

……

*

This was the border between Yizhou and Ningzhou. A hundred years ago, it had been part of Wenshan Commandery. Now it had become a lawless area under no one’s control, sparsely populated and inconvenient in transportation. Since it held little strategic value, no forces had come to fight over it.

Around chen hour, Xiao Rong and the others finally returned to Zitong Commandery. Ten hours had passed, and the situation in Zitong had settled. During the day, the city had been a scene of slaughter—people raised blades against anyone. After Qu Yunmie received Wang Xinyong’s report, he immediately gave chase. Without him there to command, the remaining forces could only follow Wang Xinyong’s lead.

The problem was that Wang Xinyong himself had been seriously injured. He had the will but not the strength. Only with great difficulty did he gather the rear troops, who had been on the verge of madness, and reorganize the central army that Qu Yunmie had left behind. Only then did the North Army return to order. Meanwhile, Shen Yangrui had already taken advantage of the chaos to escape.

Wang Xinyong: “…”

Damn it! He had thought his luck had finally turned, but after taking on two missions, he had let both targets escape!

Wang Xinyong was furious. Ignoring his lame leg, he mounted again and gave chase. Perhaps he truly wasn’t skilled at this kind of pursuit, as he failed to recapture Shen Yangrui. However, he succeeded in holding back the Shen Family army, because he pressed too closely, forcing them to stay behind and cover Shen Yangrui’s retreat.

Shen Yangrui had taken twenty thousand men with him, but Wang Xinyong held back half of them. In the end, Shen Yangrui was left with only ten thousand troops. He had originally planned to go to Yizhou to regroup, but now there was no need. He might as well return directly to Jinling and, on the way, deliver the bad news of the Northern King’s furious rage.

Squinting, Wang Xinyong watched Shen Yangrui and the Shen army flee into the distance and let out a cold snort.

Now Southern Yong would become lively. The Shen army had suffered a crushing defeat, Shen Yangrui had become a criminal, and whether Sun Renluan would protect him or not was uncertain. Yang Zangyi already lost support, and Sun Renluan couldn’t bring himself to punish his own kin for the greater good. With problems at the top, would those below seize the opportunity to stir up trouble in the chaos?

Wang Xinyong was, after all, from Southern Yong. No one knew better than him how dark its officialdom was. Let it be chaotic. The more chaotic it became, the more it would make the Northern Army appear stable.

That way, fewer people would notice the King’s abnormal state.

…

Thinking this, Wang Xinyong returned, still full of worry. In the dead of night, Gao Xunzhi arrived, along with tens of thousands of infantry whom Qu Yunmie had ordered to run after them. They had not stopped the entire way, but upon arrival they were dumbfounded. The fighting was already over, so there was no place for them in battle. Even the cleanup didn’t require them, because this time the gains were enormous. There were tens of thousands of prisoners in the city.

Some of the prisoners were even old acquaintances. The last time they had met arm in arm, and this time they stood on opposite sides. Everyone felt a bit wistful.

The news of Xiao Rong’s capture didn’t affect the common soldiers much. At most they exclaimed in concern, then went back to their tasks. Gao Xunzhi, however, was not so at ease. He sat stiffly the entire night, and by dawn he looked almost like a corpse.

When an ecstatic personal guard ran in to report, Gao Xunzhi took a moment to react before asking, “What did you just say?”

The guard immediately repeated with joy, “Master Gao, the King has brought Master Xiao back—Master Xiao is safe!”

Gao Xunzhi froze for a moment, then rushed out at once.

He ran so fast that the guard behind him couldn’t keep up. Just as Xiao Rong dismounted and told Dongfang Jin to find a doctor, he heard the sound of running footsteps and turned his head, only to be embraced by Gao Xunzhi.

In front of countless people, Gao Xunzhi burst into loud sobs. “This is wonderful, little Rong! I knew you were a good child. You couldn’t bear to let this old man send you off!”

Xiao Rong stood there at a loss, his hands stiffly raised in the air. Qu Yunmie stood beside him. Xiao Rong glanced at him for help, but Qu Yunmie did nothing—he only watched them quietly.

Silently closing his mouth, Xiao Rong calmed himself a little. He gently patted Gao Xunzhi’s back and comforted him. “Don’t worry, Chancellor. In the future, I’ll definitely be the one to send you off first.”

Gao Xunzhi: “…”

His crying abruptly choked off. Letting go of Xiao Rong, he broke into laughter through tears. He held onto Xiao Rong, wanting to check his body. The bloodstains on Xiao Rong’s bedding had frightened him badly, and he still didn’t know where Xiao Rong had been injured.

Just as he reached to lift Xiao Rong’s arm, Xiao Rong pressed the back of his hand. “Chancellor, I’m a bit tired. Let’s talk about anything else tonight.”

Gao Xunzhi froze. When he looked up again, Xiao Rong had already released him. Turning around, Xiao Rong softly asked Qu Yunmie. “Shall we go inside?”

Qu Yunmie nodded. Xiao Rong walked over, took his hand of his own accord, and led him inside.

Gao Xunzhi: “…”

He stared at this scene in astonishment. After a long while, he pointed over there. “Th-this… what is going on?”

Dongfang Jin fell silent for a moment: “On the way back, the King hardly spoke a single word. When we arrived, the earthen tower where Yuan Baifu had supposedly held Master Xiao had already been burned into ruins. We all thought…”

At this point, he suddenly stopped. After a pause, he continued, “Master Xiao was not in the tower. He must have escaped beforehand, but the King didn’t know. Even now that Master Xiao has returned safely, he is still immersed in last night’s state.”

This was all Dongfang Jin’s own analysis—he didn’t know if it was correct. Thinking of this, he could not help asking Gao Xunzhi, “Master Gao, has the King ever been like this before?”

Gao Xunzhi: “…”

After a moment of silence, he answered, “No.”

Dongfang Jin was stunned, and Gao Xunzhi lowered his eyes and repeated, “Never.”

*

The doctor came over. When he saw Qu Yunmie’s severely injured hands, he remained silent for a full three breaths before sitting down to treat them. In this era, burns were second only to disembowelment in terms of difficulty to treat. Fortunately, the area of Qu Yunmie’s injuries wasn’t large. With proper care, his hands should still be usable.

The doctor carefully cut away all the dead flesh. As Xiao Rong watched, he couldn’t help biting his own knuckle. Qu Yunmie, however, showed no reaction. He glanced at Xiao Rong and even used the back of his other hand to press Xiao Rong’s forearm down.

Xiao Rong released his bite, and a pale tooth mark immediately appeared on his previously unblemished finger. He pressed his lips together and said nothing, but where Qu Yunmie couldn’t see, he pinched his own fingers again.

After everything was treated and the medicine applied, the doctor left. Xiao Rong told him to close the door. There was no one else here now, and no one would disturb them. Xiao Rong looked at Qu Yunmie’s hands resting on the table, then suddenly smiled.

His smile looked no different from usual. “Why do they look even uglier after applying the medicine?”

Qu Yunmie lowered his eyes and also looked at his hands, but still said nothing.

Xiao Rong waited for a while. When he saw no reaction, his smile became even brighter. “From now on, you won’t have palm lines anymore. You can’t even read your fortune, but that suits your status. An ordinary person’s fate can be seen from their palm, but yours… now only heaven knows.”

Qu Yunmie raised his head and looked at him. Though he still did not speak, his gaze seemed to say something. He saw through Xiao Rong’s act and knew he was deliberately trying to comfort him.

Xiao Rong met his gaze. Gradually, he could no longer maintain his smile. Closing his mouth, his throat moved, and when he spoke again, his voice turned tight and hoarse. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

Qu Yunmie answered, “It hurt.”

Xiao Rong’s brows unconsciously furrowed together. His expression looked almost like he was scolding him. “Then why didn’t you cry out? Do you have to endure it even in front of me?”

Qu Yunmie: “…”

He was momentarily speechless. After opening his mouth, he finally replied, “I just felt that this kind of pain doesn’t seem like much anymore.”

A sharp pain suddenly came from Xiao Rong’s hand—it turned out he had accidentally pinched his own knuckle hard enough to break the skin.

Taking a light, deep breath, Xiao Rong concealed the emotions in his eyes. When he looked up again, he seemed like his usual bold and cheerful self. “Thank you.”

Qu Yunmie looked at him, his brows slightly knitting together.

Xiao Rong continued, “Thank you for saving me, and thank you for finding me so quickly. It really was fast. I thought I’d have to spend the night in the forest, but you were suddenly standing in front of me. At that moment, you were like a deity descending from the heavens—so impressive.”

Qu Yunmie’s gaze began to lower. Seeing this, Xiao Rong immediately slapped the table. “Oh, right! Do you know how Yuan Baifu died? I killed him. He originally wanted to kill me, but he couldn’t beat me. I stabbed him, then left him in that earthen tower to die. He never would have dreamed that in the end, it would be me—a scholar with no strength to truss a chicken—who killed him.”

Xiao Rong’s lips curled upward, looking quite proud. As the silence in the room deepened, he could no longer hold that expression. The corners of his mouth gradually fell. He looked at Qu Yunmie, his eyes trembling slightly with unease.

“Aren’t you going to praise me?”

Qu Yunmie looked at him, watching Xiao Rong suddenly stand up, looking agitated.

“I did well, and you did well—no one made a mistake! The bad man is dead, I’m back, everything is fine—so why are you still like this?!”

“Qu—Yun—mie!”

“You can vent at me, you can yell at me—but you cannot torment yourself in front of me, because that isn’t tormenting you, it’s tormenting me!!”

Qu Yunmie was stunned. He also stood up. “I’m not—”

He didn’t finish the sentence. Pressing his lips together, he reorganized his words. “I just feel that in these past ten years, I haven’t changed much. I still can’t protect the people I care about.”

Xiao Rong clenched his fists and suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Qu Yunmie by the collar. He tilted his head up, standing extremely close to him. “No! No! No!”

His voice was nearly grinding through his teeth. “You are not allowed to think such nonsense. No one in this world can question your ability—not even you yourself!”

“You think you couldn’t protect me, but every day and night, you were protecting me. I could live until now because of you. I could have all this because of you. Please—don’t blame yourself just because of one accident, okay? Why can’t you be like a normal person? Hold me, cry once, tell me how scared you were. After that, you can feel at ease, and then we can comfort each other, take all the bad things into our dreams, and when we wake up, we can continue living normally.”

“Did you hear me? This is what I want. I want you to… hug me.”

Xiao Rong’s voice stopped abruptly before he could say those last words. There was moisture in his eyes, but no tears fell. Strangely, he had always been a strong-willed person, yet in front of Qu Yunmie, he was especially stubborn.

So he couldn’t say those words.

Qu Yunmie looked at him in a daze. After a long moment, he stepped forward and pulled Xiao Rong into his arms.

The moment that familiar presence enveloped him, Xiao Rong reflexively closed his eyes. He bit his lower lip tightly—seeing nothing, hearing nothing, saying nothing—temporarily shutting himself off to withstand the impact of that clear, conscious embrace.

Qu Yunmie did not disturb him. He simply held Xiao Rong, supporting his head, and very naturally pressed his lips against Xiao Rong’s hairline.

This shouldn’t have counted as a kiss—it was just an instinctive action. Even if it couldn’t be called a kiss, it was certainly not something that would normally occur between two men.

When he “kissed” Xiao Rong, Qu Yunmie’s heart suddenly trembled—not a tremor of fear, but of relief. It was like something that had been unsteady all along, swaying precariously, and then with a sudden settling at the base, the instability disappeared.

Qu Yunmie raised his head slightly. There had always been a question troubling him, but only today did he realize that it wasn’t really a problem at all. He had always known the answer—he just hadn’t understood what that answer meant.

After a long while, Qu Yunmie softly told Xiao Rong, “Go get some sleep.”

Xiao Rong slowly lifted his eyes like a rusty gear turning, as if looking at Qu Yunmie required gathering courage. Frowning, he asked, “What about you?”

Qu Yunmie finally smiled—a very faint smile, almost imperceptible. “Naturally, I’ll stay with you and sleep beside you.”

Just like in the countless days and nights to come—no matter the reason, he would never let Xiao Rong leave his side again.

 

Edited by: Antiope

 

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