Chapter 901: An Emperor, and an Emperor

An Emperor, and an Emperor

Li Fu took a deep breath and grabbed toward the Associate Emperor Destiny once again. He roared furiously, using all his strength to seize it...

But following a muffled thud, he was ultimately swept away and sent flying, crashing heavily into the ground like a pile of mud.

The grand hall fell into a dead silence.

Seeing this, Han Dong's eyes revealed helplessness and bitterness. After an intense internal struggle, he finally made up his mind and bowed deeply toward Li Fu in the pool of blood...

He uttered a word of farewell, turning around to walk out of the grand hall.

Li Fu lay quietly in the pool of blood, his hollow eyes staring upward, like a silent corpse.

"Brother Xiao Li, let's not try anymore, okay?" A-Qian had already become a tearful mess by the side. She trotted over to Li Fu and gently nudged him, her tone full of pleading.

"A-Qian... They've all left. Aren't you leaving?"

Li Fu didn't answer. Sometimes, the hearts of children were the most pure. A-Qian relied on him too much right now, making it clear that she would stay by his side regardless of life or death... but Li Fu couldn't possibly allow her to die here.

Li Fu had already made up his mind. Once he recovered a little, he would go beg Wu Qiong to take A-Qian away with her.

As for himself...

The image of Zhu Zhong flashed through Li Fu's mind, and his hands in the pool of blood clenched tightly once more.

"Brother Xiao Li, don't do anything foolish." A-Qian immediately panicked upon seeing Li Fu's gaze. "We won't go anywhere. Let's just rest here for a bit, okay?"

"...Okay."

Li Fu gave A-Qian a deep look and struggled up from the pool of blood. He walked over to the step below the throne and slowly sat down.

The youth's Hemp-Clad clothes were soaked in blood. He sat alone upon the grand hall, with nothing left beside him save for a tearful girl... He never imagined that after coming all this way, he would end up in such a miserable state.

Recalling everything that had happened before, Li Fu offered a miserable smile.

Right at this moment,

A figure draped in a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe stepped silently into the grand hall.

Seeing that figure, Li Fu's body gave a slight jolt, and his heart instantly plummeted to rock bottom... To think that he was targeted at a time like this?

It truly seemed like the heavens wanted him dead.

But after thinking about his current situation, his heart instead calmed down...

He had nothing left now. He was a true Dog With No Home. If the Thespian Emperor had come to take his life, what was there to fear?

The demonic red-clothed Emperor slowly walked toward Li Fu. However, Li Fu didn't stand up from the steps. Below the throne, his dim eyes quietly observed everything, as if it had nothing to do with him.

"What a touching storyline..."

Beneath his broad sleeves, Chen Ling smiled and clapped gently, the crisp sound echoing throughout the grand hall.

"It's just a pity that the story's ending seems destined to be a tragedy."

Seeing Chen Ling approach, A-Qian's face instantly turned deathly pale.

Yet, disregarding everything else, she dashed right down the steps, throwing her delicate arms wide to physically block Chen Ling!

"You... don't you touch my Brother Xiao Li!!"

"A-Qian!!"

Seeing A-Qian rush out, Li Fu, who had already prepared himself to die, could no longer sit still. He staggered to his feet and shouted.

Chen Ling looked at the tear-stained girl before him, his heart experiencing a faint tremor. In a daze, a memory surged into his mind...

...

Stars faded away from the sky one by one.

Amidst the despairing blizzard, a youth dressed in a Theatrical Robe held up a handful of cinnabar-like fragments and spoke softly:

"Brother, it's not like you have no hope left..."

"The path that they severed..."

"I will mend it for you."

...

Chen Ling fell silent.

He looked at those childish yet resolute eyes, and the softest part of his deepest heart was touched. Immersed in his memories, his gaze revealed a trace of complex emotion...

His hand slowly raised.

"Direct whatever you have at me!! Don't hurt her!!" Li Fu's eyes widened. He struggled to stop Chen Ling, but he was already too heavily injured and exhausted. His foot slipped, and he tumbled down the steps.

A-Qian was trembling. Even though she remained firm in keeping her arms spread to protect Li Fu, the terror welling from the depths of her heart could not be overcome... Upon seeing that hand rise, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side.

A moment later,

A gentle hand softly patted the top of her head.

A-Qian was slightly taken aback. She looked up in bewilderment and met a pair of eyes filled with doting affection... It was as if those eyes were looking at her, or perhaps, at someone else.

For a moment, A-Qian was completely at a loss.

After Chen Ling rubbed her head, his gaze gradually returned to normal. He withdrew his hand, walked straight toward Li Fu, and his calm voice echoed through the grand hall.

"You have a good little sister."

"Your destiny, your subordinates, and everything else has abandoned you... but she hasn't."

Both A-Qian and Li Fu were dumbfounded.

"What... exactly do you want to do??" Li Fu furrowed his brows tightly.

The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe didn't attack him. Instead, he calmly stepped onto the stairs, turned around, and sat on the topmost step... The bright red Theatrical Robe spread out over the black stairs like a vivid and dangerous flower.

"Have her step out for a while. Let's talk," Chen Ling said indifferently.

Li Fu stared at Chen Ling in silence, unsure of what trick he was playing.

But it appeared he bore no ill will toward A-Qian, which was the most important thing to Li Fu... He turned his head and whispered something to A-Qian, who then nodded worriedly before running out of the grand hall.

In the end, only Chen Ling and Li Fu were left in the grand hall.

"Sit."

Chen Ling patted the step beside him.

Having reached this point, Li Fu no longer had anything to fear. Like a condemned prisoner before his execution, he calmly walked up to that step and sat down next to Chen Ling...

The empty grand hall fell into a dead silence.

Below the throne, a figure wearing a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe and a blood-soaked Hemp-Clad youth sat together in silence.

The setting sun gradually sank below the horizon. The fading glow of dusk pierced through the barren Imperial Palace, illuminating the steps of the empty grand hall. The dividing line between light and shadow sliced across the throne, diagonally separating the two like a sharp sword.

The bloodstained youth sat silently in the golden light, while the crimson Theatrical Robe bloomed in the darkness.

"What is it that you want to do?" After an unknown period of silence, Li Fu finally couldn't help but ask.

Chen Ling didn't answer. He simply watched the setting sun as it gradually sank into the earth, his eyes as deep as an abyss, seemingly reminiscing or lost in thought.

"...I can understand you." The setting sun reflected in Chen Ling's eyes as he spoke calmly. "Our experiences are actually quite similar... The difference is that my salvation is no longer here, whereas yours is still by your side."

Li Fu froze. It seemed he couldn't comprehend what Chen Ling was saying, nor did he know what kind of past Chen Ling had experienced. But upon seeing those eyes, his heart inexplicably felt a thick sense of loneliness and sorrow.

He glanced at the towering throne behind him. After a moment of silence, he still asked tentatively, "Have you... also experienced this kind of despair?"

Chen Ling smiled. He glanced at the Audience Expectation Value swiping by and answered casually,

"Even now, I am still deeply mired in it."