Chapter 91: Collapse

When I finally woke from the excruciating pain in my arm and throat, I realized I was in Qi Ran's arms, and my arm had been crudely bandaged with torn pieces of clothing.

I strained to move my eyes and looked around, only to find we were still in the hidden valley, the situation still tense as ever.

Leng Zhuo Xi lay unconscious before the waterfall, his body dampened by the spray.

Qi Ran held me, half‑kneeling on the ground, and let out a long sigh when I awoke. Bu Sha stood nearby, his long knife poised over the still‑unconscious Xiao Yifei.

The dozens of men in black, expressionless, surrounded us, restless but unwilling to act because of Xiao Yifei's life.

Wei Lingfeng stood not far ahead, confronting Ao Tian Jun. Beside him stood a figure both familiar and strange; on closer look it was Cheng You, who is always hidden by Wei Lingfeng's side.

No! It wasn't Ao Tian Jun; I widened my eyes—Wei Lingfeng was confronting the Iron‑faced Man, and… he was looking at Wu Ye with a cold, eerie smile.

I struggled to rise, and Qi Ran hurriedly steadied me. I staggered toward the center of the storm. Bu Sha's knife remained on the unconscious Xiao Yifei, his gaze alert as we moved slowly.

"…Even before General Xuan captured Yinchuan, my subordinates discovered that Mo Jin had secretly met the Fourth Prince of the Yin Kingdom. Your Majesty, after I left, you ended up with such grievous injuries…"

"Cheng You!" Wei Lingfeng glanced at my disheveled state, furrowed his brows slightly, and calmly interrupted, "Repeat what you just said."

Cheng You gave me a cold glance, bowed, and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

I could see Wu Ye, standing opposite me, and I shuddered violently.

"After careful investigation, my subordinates found that on that day, Yin Ziheng bribed Bu Sha to assassinate the Empress, and beforehand received a carrier‑pigeon message from Mo Jin, who was then the Empress's guard. Additionally, we have concrete evidence that Mo Jin privately met Crown Prince Fu Jun Mo of the Key Kingdom and Yin Ziheng multiple times."

My whole body jolted sharply; my chest and heart ached to the limit.

Qi Ran tightened his grip on my hand, his eyes full of worry. I forced a comforting smile at him, but his face grew even more concerned, and his gaze toward Wu Ye and Wei Lingfeng turned icy.

"You're Cheng You?!" someone among the black‑clad men shouted, "The Cloud Sea Spirit Snake of old, Cheng You?!"

I was startled, turned back to Qi Ran, and saw surprise in his eyes; he glanced at Cheng You and explained, "Do you remember I told you? Twenty years ago, the Tianhe Continent already recognized three top masters: first, my and Bai Shengyi's master, the hermit Xie Yanke of Green Bamboo; second, the Ice‑ling King Xiao Yifei; and the last, Cheng You, who back then wielded one of the four divine artifacts, the Spirit‑Evil Sword, challenging every lord across the heavens and the continent. He was called the Cloud Sea Spirit Snake because he first appeared on an island in the eastern Cloud Sea."

Cheng You's brows twitched slightly, his face a mask of cold; when he turned to Wei Lingfeng, a faint respect and cautious deference naturally showed, embodying the very picture of a loyal servant obeying his lord's command.

Suddenly, he gave me a cold glance, then bowed respectfully, "Your Highness, there is something you may not know. On that day, the Emperor learned you were in the Yangzi Kingdom, feared the Ice‑ling faction would find you, and secretly went there without informing his subordinates. It was there he was ambushed, nearly dying. Do you, Your Highness, know all this?"

My eyes snapped at Wei Lingfeng, and for a moment my vision blurred and my stance wavered, "Last time, why didn't you tell me?"

Wei Lingfeng looked at me, his deep icy gaze softening slightly, yet he remained silent.

Cheng You cut off my attempt to continue, glanced at Wu Ye, and coldly said, "The only person beside the Emperor that day was Mo Jin, who was then the Master of the Flying Eagle."

"Wu Ye…" I clenched my cold, tingling hand and looked at him, "The night you fled the Qi Kingdom's palace, didn't you say you went to assume the Flying Eagle position?"

Wu Ye lifted his head, looked at me, and from beneath his mask emitted a muffled, barely audible voice. In his eyes a complex darkness swirled, and finally he uttered two words: "Lord…"

"Don't call me 'Lord'!!" I shouted in pain, broke free from Qi Ran's embrace, and staggered a few meters away, "I've never wanted you to call me 'Lord'! I don't ask why you approached me, nor who your true master is; I just want to know one thing."

I stared at him, fixed his gaze, and said word by word, "Did you have any part in harming Bu Sha and Wei Lingfeng?!"

Wu Ye's hands were hidden behind his back, his head bowed, his gaze locked on me; the waves in his eyes were both tumultuous and scorching, as if trying to sear and boil both him and me, yet within his eyes flickered an odd tenderness and lingering affection.

Suddenly, that tenderness snapped as if violently broken, turning into terror and panic that tore through his entire body.

In a daze, I sensed a familiar yet strange icy aura sweep through the empty space between me and Qi Ran, rushing toward us.

Its speed was like lightning, swifter than a gale; its momentum was like a thousand stones crushing down, an army of ten thousand unable to resist.

I heard Qi Ran shout a name I could neither believe nor dodge. It felt as if something in my chest was torn apart and then pierced, pain unbearable.

He shouted, panicked, "Bu—what are you doing?!"

Then, before I could react, that figure leapt behind me. The icy aura, so familiar it seemed to merge with my own body, enveloped me entirely, coalescing at a point and drawing blood to kill.

Then, before I could accept any of it, my body was drawn into a stiff yet warm embrace. There was no familiar smell; I'm not good at remembering a person's scent.

Yet at that moment, that embrace was deeply imprinted in my heart and mind. As the heavy body slowly rotated, it gradually merged into the depths of my heart.

On this day, in these few short hours, how many tears have I already shed, and how many more must I shed to be content? I looked up amid the spin and saw the eyes hidden beneath the iron mask, never truly visible.

Those eyes gazed at me with deep longing, unwilling to miss even a single second of our time together. His pupils flickered slightly, and from beneath the iron mask came a single, heavy voice—"Lord…"

"Lord!" I couldn't help but grab his collar, wanting to scream and weep. Why do you still call me 'Lord' at this moment? Why, after I've doubted you so much, do you still save me, sacrificing your own life for me?

"Sss—" I heard in terror the sound of a black knife piercing flesh, the splash of blood. The black knife tipped slightly; its tip, familiar beyond familiarity, broke through his ash‑gray clothing, and blood stained my eyes red.

Yet the heart‑pounding events of this day, the separations and deaths of these few hours, were far from over.

Wu Ye held me, barely steadying his stance, as the black knife suddenly left his body, his dark garments drenched in blood.

He settled me down, ignoring his own wounds and my cries, then turned and blocked another black knife that came at him.

At this moment, my gaze finally had a chance to land on Bu Sha.

With just one glance I knew that person was Bu Sha, yet he was not Bu Sha.

His eyes were pitch black, without even a hint of spirit light. He clearly appeared under deep hypnosis, his actions controlled by someone. But who could control him, who moments ago seemed normal?

Know that deep hypnosis is not a simple process. It's either prolonged induction, drug control, or… I was startled—could it be a latent trigger?

That trigger had long been hidden within Bu Sha's body, so that a single moment of a special suggestion would…

I furrowed my brows, my mind tangled with countless thoughts, staring ahead blankly. Suddenly my whole body jolted violently.

Wu Ye blocked Bu Sha's black sword without pause, thrusting straight ahead. The surrounding black‑clad men, seeing Bu Sha displaced, rushed forward to rescue Xiao Yifei.

Wei Lingfeng was protected by Cheng You, Qi Ran shielded the attack himself, and Wu Ye and I were still far from those people.

But Bu Sha, he seemed dazed, his eyes vacant, motionless, even as Wu Ye's sword and the black‑clad men's knives struck his body.

"Wu Ye, don't—" I shouted loudly, trying to rush forward, to block the continuously swinging sword in Wu Ye's hand, but the searing pain in my chest slowed me, missing it by only a few seconds.

I watched the sword about to pierce Bu Sha's chest, and saw Bu Sha about to be torn apart by those long knives.

Then, Qi Ran, as swift as lightning, flashed before my eyes; he parried all the long knives in the black‑clad men's hands, pulled Bu Sha back a few steps, and with a leaping kick sent the long sword from Wu Ye's hand flying.

The recoil was immense; as the long sword hit the ground, Wu Ye toppled toward me.

Qi Ran's expression hardened, an unknown complex flash in his eyes, and suddenly he lunged forward, attacking Wu Ye's mask as if to tear it off.

Wu Ye parried instinctively, and in a single leap he clashed palm‑to‑palm with Qi Ran. Wu Ye's inner strength was far weaker than Qi Ran's; his ash‑gray body no longer struck my frail form, but flew straight, straight out, skidding past the unconscious Leng Zhuo Xi's clothing, splashing water droplets that struck the hidden‑valley stone tablet beneath the waterfall.

"Wu Ye—" I widened my eyes, watching him as he slammed into the stone tablet, spitting out mouthfuls of blood, his knife wounds gushing blood.

"Boom—"

I staggered, trying to run over and lift Wu Ye, but suddenly my body, shaken violently, collapsed to the ground. It was as if a thunderous roar from deep within resonated, spreading from a point throughout the entire silent valley.

"Damn, the broken stone's triggered!" Ao Tianjun let out a low roar, his face full of fear and panic, "Qi Ran! The hidden realm is collapsing, hurry out! You who supported the Emperor, get out at once!"

"Boom— Boom—" As if to confirm Ao Tianjun's words, the roof made of eight massive stones suddenly showered the sky with a cascade of dust.

I clumsily propped myself up, only to be flung down again by the violent tremor. Falling, getting up, getting up, falling again, fine bitter dust filled my ears, nose, and mouth.

"Bing Yi—" Qi Ran and Wei Lingfeng's startled cries came at the same time.

I stammered, "I'm here..." A massive stone fell from above, barely striking beside me. I rolled fiercely on the ground, dozens of cuts lacerated my arms, the arm already grazed by a bullet bled profusely, staining large swaths of my clothing red.

In the secluded valley, in an instant, the air filled with shattered stone dust, nothing could be seen, only the screams of the crowd, the sounds of fleeing, and the rumble of falling boulders.

"Cough—... Wu Ye... where are you?" I couldn't wipe my eyes with my dust‑covered sleeve, so I forced my eyes open and groped my way back toward the original direction.

"Lord..." a familiar hoarse voice whispered weakly, "Be careful..."

"Wu Ye!" My heart leapt; though I couldn't see clearly, I reached out and grabbed his sleeve, my hands covered with blood‑stained dust, "Wu Ye, how are you? Your wound..."

"Lord, the Emperor's mother..." Only then, in the haze, did I see him still struggling to hold a person.

"Bing Yi— hurry out with me!" Qi Ran's shout grew nearer; I quickly turned and replied, "Qi Ran, I'm here, Wu Ye and Leng Zhuoxi also..."

"Boom—" A deafening crash suddenly drowned out my words.

"Bang—" I felt the massive stone falling onto my head, heard bits of the walls collapsing, then my body was violently, violently... thrust outward.

In that instant, strangely, the dust seemed transparent, allowing me to see, beneath the sky‑filled boulders, a face hidden behind a mask.

At that moment, my heart ached, as if something precious had been utterly shattered, never... never... able to return.

Beneath that iron mask was a lip‑less, tooth‑covered mouth, gently opening and closing as it called my name—the name I held in his eyes—Lord.

"Wu Ye!"

The boulder—smacked into him, engulfed him, leaving not even a trace of sound.

Eyes... looking at me, those eyes I had never truly cared about, still stared at me with focus in the final moment.

Wu Ye, vanished! It turned out that even those who were once taken for granted by my side could disappear; it turned out... indeed, nothing in this world is truly taken for granted.

Wu Ye... that Wu Ye who had constantly guarded me by my side has truly vanished.

Vanished among the sky‑filled dust and boulders...

"Wu Ye... Wu Ye..." I stood dumbfounded in place, repeatedly calling the name I had created. My mind was ashen, my body numb, my heart stalled, yet tears would not fall.

"Bing Yi! He's beyond saving, this place is collapsing, hurry out with me."

Who, who is whispering in my ear? Can you... "Save him, save Wu Ye..." I snapped my head around, grabbing the unseen collar amid the chaotic stones and dust, "Qi Ran, hurry save Wu Ye, there's still time..."

"Boom—"

"Bing Yi!" Qi Ran shielded me, dodging the falling boulder, shouting loudly, "Listen to me, get out first! Stop worrying about him!"

I hesitated for a moment, less than a second, then broke down crying, "That's Wu Ye! He was buried below to save me! You tell me not to worry about him? How could I not care about him?!"

I abruptly flung him aside and sprinted toward the rolling debris. I had no time left, yes! I must hurry, rush to save him. Wu Ye had just bled so much, vomited so much blood; I had to rescue him quickly.

"Bang—" A sudden numb pain shot through my neck, darkness clouded my sight, I lost feeling, and I fell amid the sky‑filled flying debris into a warm embrace.

Transparent, crystal‑clear droplets of water pierced the dust, falling drop by drop to the ground—whose tears were these, so sorrowful, so desperate? Who is saying that under the blue sky, the heart, though not transparent, still remains crystal‑clear...

Forever... farewell!

"Let me go!" I stared resolutely at Qi Ran before me, daring not let his expression reflect in my eyes. Then I forcefully shook off his grasp, turned and left.

After six steps, my feet felt as heavy as if filled with lead; I didn't look back, speaking softly, "Don't worry, I have the ability to protect myself."

I wandered forward dazedly for a long time, waiting for something to happen, and also waiting for someone's arrival.

It has been three days since the hidden realm collapsed. Bu Sha is still in a coma, and I don't know where Cheng You took Wei Lingfeng for treatment.

Yet he still sent someone to deliver a simple note, a note that shocked me to the point of refusing to believe even in death. Inside, it boldly read: "Mo Jin has long ago..."

My whole body's injuries have almost healed, but the pain in my chest, when idle, occasionally spikes, cutting to the marrow.

These three days, we lodged at a farmer's house; I treated my wounds myself, with the farmer's wife helping to bandage them. No matter how gently Qi Ran coaxed or how forcefully he insisted, I firmly refused his close inspection. I know this wound well; it's not life‑threatening. Yet if I don't recuperate properly, it may leave a lasting ailment.

I know that this concealment will only make him more sorrowful, yet I still don't want to see his remorseful, pained, and self‑blaming expression.

These three days, I close my eyes daily and see that pair of eyes that still cannot close beneath the sky‑filled stones. I have thought a lot—about the past, the present, the future, every little detail.

Then I realized I truly could no longer wait like this. So I told Qi Ran—let me go.

My steps suddenly halted. People arrived, but not the ones I expected. Over a dozen masked black‑clad masters surrounded me, and I suddenly felt amused—just moments ago I boasted I could protect myself, yet now I might be slain on the spot.

The fight was fiercer than imagined; I knew these people were definitely Xiao Yifei's subordinates. Though these three days I was merely staying at an ordinary farmer's home, in reality I was under Qi Ran's—i. e., Yi Guo's—protection, which is why they hadn't struck.

I personally killed Leng Qingya—Xiao Yifei's beloved woman—how could he possibly let me go easily? Moreover, he might not aim to kill me but to capture me alive. That way, I could taste a fate worse than death and also threaten Qi Ran.

I wielded my long sword, moves flowing like water, but my inner energy gradually waned. Indeed, since the endless injuries of recent days, channeling my inner power has become increasingly difficult. Fortunately, this Leisurely Wandering Sword Technique was largely crafted for a few to defeat many, so even now I have not been killed or captured.

Sharp pain throbbed in my arm, the wound on my shoulder finally split open, and a light slash appeared on my right elbow. I countered a sword strike against one of the black‑clad foes; he stepped back a few paces, while a surge of qi and blood roiled within me, leaving my limbs weak.

If I guessed wrong, I might very well die here. Or, I can't help but smile wryly—if Qi Ran were nearby, he would likely be unable to resist coming to my rescue...

"Ping— Pang—" A pale cyan flash flickered before my eyes, silver light whistling as if drawing a flawless protective circle, locking me firmly inside. That silver light enchanted the spirit, bewildered the will, causing me to involuntarily squint.

Several of the wounded fell limp to the ground, their eyes suddenly flashing with an odd divine light, their expressions dazed, and they began babbling incoherently.

Qi Ran once said that the Condensing Seal, one of the four divine artifacts of Tianhe Continent, when it pierces a person's blood vessels and nerves, those whose will is not strong enough will experience hallucinations and be powerless to fight.

"Bing Yi, are you alright?" The figure in blue slowly turned a circle toward me, his unusually fair face bearing a childlike pure yet ambiguous smile. He gently grinned, revealing a row of neat white teeth, and bent to help me up.

I looked up at him, gazing deeply, fiercely, then silently nodded.

"Good that you're fine... Bing Yi—!!"

My vision darkened, slowly falling backward, yet my eyes clearly saw Thus Character: Thus Character: Luofeng's tense expression, and I finally fell into his arms.

So... it was you. A faint cold smile curled at my mouth, chilling my heart; Wei Lingfeng and Qi Ran were right—indeed, it was you!

(End of Chapter)