Chapter 423: Ah Li, do you want to go home?

Looking at Zhou Yanli kneeling before her, Bai Wei was a bit dazed.

This person used to be very proud, not even sparing her a glance, yet now he was kneeling willingly.

"Zhou Yanli, get up quickly, I am not some Goddess..."

Suddenly, Zhou Yanli's body swayed, and he spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

The glaring blood splashed onto his silver armor, a shocking sight.

Bai Wei was stunned; after coming to her senses, she rushed forward anxiously, "Zhou Yanli, what is wrong with you?"

Xiao Moting shouted in a deep voice, "Call the Military Doctor quickly."

Bai Wei reacted quickly and immediately grabbed Zhou Yanli's pulse.

"... The pulse is faint and almost non-existent, the heart pulse is damaged... It is the pulse of someone whose oil is exhausted and lamp is dry, how can this be..."

"Zhou Yanli, what is wrong with you? What happened? Tell me quickly, so I can treat your wounds!"

She was so anxious her face turned red, and even her speech carried the sound of sobbing.

Behind her came the hoarse voice of Li Zongguang.

"Yanli was injured while with the Fusang People. To clean up the sect, he broke into the Fusang People's camp alone to make Shi Yao pay for her crimes."

"He blew up the armory and destroyed the modern weapons that the Fusang People should not have had."

"However, the Fusang People had guns, and Yanli was hit; shrapnel entered his heart. He was only able to hold on until now by using life-extending poison and his final breath."

"Because he foresaw that you would encounter danger, he had to return here to protect you one last time."

After finishing, Li Zongguang sighed.

"Yanli, you have completed the mission of the Great Diviner, you can rest easy now."

Bai Wei supported Zhou Yanli, her nose aching, and tears streamed down her face.

"No, I want to take him back to the modern era."

"As long as we return to the modern era, find the best hospital and the best doctors! He can definitely be saved by surgery."

As she spoke, she tremblingly took out the Jade Pendant, desperately focusing her mind, wanting to take Zhou Yanli back.

Li Zongguang asked softly.

"Can he go?"

Bai Wei's trembling fingers paused.

She remembered that in the modern era there was Zhou Yuchuan, who was Zhou Yanli's half-soul; space-time would not allow the same person to appear in the same space.

Zhou Yanli could not go.

"What should I do? Grandpa, you must have a way, right?" Bai Wei hugged Zhou Yanli and pleaded with Li Zongguang.

She did not have many friends in Daliang, and Zhou Yanli counted as one of them.

Although he used to be fierce and even wanted to kill her, later on, he saved her life several times, each time disregarding his own life just to save her.

In her heart, Bai Wei already regarded him as a friend of life and death.

"Cough..."

Zhou Yanli spat out another mouthful of blood, his armor stained with bloodstains.

He leaned on Bai Wei's shoulder, his handsome face as white as paper.

Bai Wei hugged him tightly, holding back her sobs, and used her sleeves to wipe the blood off his armor incessantly.

He was so proud and so clean, his clothes always spotless without a speck of dust, yet now the armor on his body was stained with blood and filth.

No matter how she tried to hold it back, tears still dripped down.

"Zhou Yanli, I will definitely find a way to take you to the modern era, you must hold on."

Zhou Yanli slowly opened his eyes, his dense and long eyelashes as light as two butterfly wings.

"No need... Shennü Daren..."

"This is the gods' punishment for me... I helped Yuan Canghai, devised strategies for him, and gave him medicinal powder, which caused the deaths of many people and also harmed many in the Beijiang Army."

"Now, it is my turn to atone for my sins."

His voice was also very light, intermittent, and he coughed up blood from time to time while speaking.

"That's not true." Bai Wei cried, "You were deceived by him; you never wanted to harm anyone. It was Yuan Canghai who took your medicine and secretly captured commoners and Beijiang Army soldiers behind your back to turn them into Medicine People."

Zhou Yanli no longer had the strength to turn his head, so he moved his eyes to look at Xiao Moting.

"As the Great Diviner, I should have protected her... but now, I am afraid I cannot... You are stronger than me, you can..."

When he reached this point, he began to cough arduously again.

He could not continue.

Xiao Moting immediately said in a deep voice, "Rest assured, I will definitely protect Bai Wei well; I can take an oath."

Then, he knelt on one knee before Zhou Yanli.

The people around were shocked.

"Your Majesty, how can you kneel..."

Xiao Moting raised his hand to stop the others.

His gaze was sincere as he looked at Zhou Yanli.

"I, the New Emperor of Daliang, Xiao Moting, on behalf of the Xiao Clan, apologize to all the members of the Divine Witch Tribe! It is the Xiao Clan that has failed the Divine Witch Tribe; for a bit of greed, we killed and plundered, committing a monstrous crime!"

"Xiao Moting hereby swears to Heaven that I will bury the remains of all your clansmen and hold memorial services and erect monuments for them. From now on, all Divine Witch Tribe members wandering outside will also be treated with great kindness."

Zhou Yanli looked at Xiao Moting, his lips moving.

The lip-reading was—'Thank you'.

He was too weak to speak, his gaze looking toward his own chest.

Bai Wei hurriedly reached out her hand and took an object from his lapel.

It was a childish, old sachet; who knows how many years had passed, for the fabric had long since turned yellow. On the front, the two characters "A-Li" were embroidered, and on the back, a White-winged Bird unique to Wushan was stitched, representing peace and safety.

Seeing this object, Li Zongguang's eyes grew moist.

"A-Li, this is the sachet your mother embroidered for you with her own hands when you were born; she hoped you would grow up safe and sound... it is only a pity she did not live to see it..."

Zhou Yanli's parents died in that catastrophe.

Li Zongguang raised his hand to wipe his eyes, his expression sorrowful.

He took a deep breath.

"A-Li, do you want to go home?"

Blood slid down the corner of Zhou Yanli's lips, and he nodded slightly.

"Very well, Master will take you back to your hometown, back to Wushan." Li Zongguang's voice trembled as he struggled to hold back the tears about to fall, "That is the place where you were born; all your clansmen, all your family, and your parents, they are all buried there, and they have been waiting for you to come home."

"Once you return home, you will never again have to be alone, drifting through the world in solitude, and you will never again have to carry the hatred of a destroyed clan and live in pain."

"A-Li, it is time to go home."

The corners of Zhou Yanli's lips curved slightly, and he smiled.

His handsome, cold face was stained with a few spots of fresh blood, looking like red plum blossom petals withered in the snow.

He leaned his head gently against Bai Wei's shoulder and closed his eyes.

The plum blossoms withered and fell.

"Zhou Yanli!" Bai Wei hugged his body tightly, tears falling in strings.

A cool breeze blew, and all the Beijiang Army silently lowered their heads, their right hands balled into fists and pressed against their hearts.

This was the highest military salute of the Beijiang, reserved only for those most respected.

They paid their respects to Zhou Yanli.

Zhang Yu, leading the Peasant Army and the thousands of Yuan Family Army behind him, knelt down in unison and performed three kowtows to Zhou Yanli.

"Lord National Preceptor, you will forever be the supreme deity in the hearts of the people of Yannan, irreplaceable!"

The deity of the Beijiang was Bai Wei, while the deity in the hearts of the people of Yannan was Zhou Yanli.

Whether they were peddlers, commoners, the impoverished, starving refugees, or even those looked down upon—beggars, courtesans, or people from all walks of life—as long as they found Zhou Yanli and asked for his help, no matter how outrageous the request, as long as he could do it, he would certainly reach out to assist.

The National Preceptor Zhou held a high and powerful position, and he was proud his entire life.

But he had helped many poor people in Yannan, almost always granting their requests; he was the only one who ignored high-ranking officials.