Chapter 460: My Death

"Father, I will die."

The voice was somewhat hoarse and barely audible; just listening to it, one could perceive the owner's lack of courage and hesitation.

It was Zhu Yijing's voice.

From the time he was brought over by Zhu Zai until now, he had not spoken a word. He looked down at his toes as if he had lost his soul, and he had not lifted his head until now. Snowflakes drifted onto his head, melted, and the water droplets dripped down his hair, making him look extremely wretched.

He said this sentence almost in a whisper.

But as his words fell, he seemed to finally unload some burden he had been carrying on his shoulders, and his tense shoulders suddenly slumped.

"Father, I will die."

He repeated it, and this time his voice finally returned to normal.

"Do not let Brother Miao know about my affairs."

"The one who should die is me."

Zhu Zai turned his head abruptly, staring fixedly at Zhu Yijing.

"Jing'er..."

"Father, actually, I am very tired."

Zhu Yijing said hoarsely.

"Since I was born, I have known Brother Miao. I admire him very much. Every time he returned from an assignment and told me about those experiences, I thought that when I grew up, I would go and be his deputy."

"When brothers are of one mind, their strength can cut through metal; that's how it's written in the storybooks. When you are old, Brother Miao will be the Guard Commander, and I will be the Deputy Guard Commander. We will go out on assignments together, kill evildoers side by side, and then laughingly tell you about our experiences at the dinner table, and you will smile and say to us, 'Well done.'"

"I thought, that would be enough."

"But I can't do it, Father, I can't do it."

Zhu Yijing never lifted his head, just speaking to himself, like a son saying goodbye to his father before a long journey, wanting to vent the words he couldn't usually say along with his emotions.

"These daydreams are mine, and they are yours too."

"But I am just a mediocre person who is not worthy of being your son, not worthy of being Brother Miao's brother. The more I think, the more I do, the more I get wrong."

"Gradually, Brother Miao stopped telling me about his assignments; I know he didn't want me to feel lost by comparison. Gradually, even you stopped handing important matters to me because you were afraid I would make a mistake."

"I am afraid."

"I am afraid of not being able to see Brother Miao's back, I am afraid that one day you will be completely disappointed in me, I am afraid that this daydream I've had since childhood will really become a bubble... so I took the wrong path."

"I began to envy Brother Miao. Why is he so strong, why can he do things well, why can he share your worries, why can he make you feel at ease... why can't I, why am I born a... mediocre person."

"Father, the day Brother Miao returned to the capital, you didn't hit me, but you didn't look at me either. From that moment, my dream ended."

Zhu Yijing turned his head to look at An Ziyang.

"Battalion Commander An, I am sorry, I said things I shouldn't have... can you help me unlock the chains?"

An Ziyang shook his head, and Mei Qinghe stepped forward to chop the chains apart with a sword.

Zhu Yijing bypassed Zhu Zai and walked in front of Liu Jin.

"Jinyi."

He said.

"Actually, I knew you were acting strangely a long time ago, but I was still obsessed and kept you... because you were the only one who looked at me with that kind of gaze—admiration, approval, just like in my dreams."

"Unfortunately, it was fake, right?"

Liu Jin shook his head.

"No."

Zhu Yijing was silent for a while, then turned around.

"Thank you for lying to me, but I should wake up."

"Father, kill him."

"This matter shouldn't be done by Battalion Commander An; he is Brother Miao's subordinate and shouldn't be involved in our family affairs. Don't make things difficult for Brother Miao in the future."

Zhu Zai's sleeves trembled uncontrollably, his teeth clenched, but he did not move.

The current Zhu Yijing looked a bit like he did in his youth, and he was the person he had hoped Zhu Yijing would become all these years... but this was the last look.

"Father."

Zhu Yijing called out again.

"I want to do one thing before I die, something worthy of being your son and Brother Miao's brother. Something that you and Brother Miao will feel proud of when you think of me in the future."

"I have no wisdom and no strength; I've been wrong my whole life. The only thing I have is this life... now I finally have a chance, please fulfill my wish." ===== CHAPTER 461 =====