Chapter 42: Revenge 2

  Nalan Xixi displayed her lightness skill all the way and ran out of the imperial palace smoothly.

  She went to the Bright Moon Pavilion first, to get the fast horse she had long prepared. The Bright Moon Pavilion was pitch black, and there was no one left here. Judge Yu finished his last task and left the Bright Moon Pavilion.

  Nalan Xixi led out her horse and inadvertently glanced at the window on the second floor.

  That was the place she had to pass by every time she came to Baoming Building to see Judge, and she still remembered that Judge asked her why not enter from the main entrance, she didn't answer, just because she couldn't think of a response at that moment.

  Yes, why not go through the front door?

  Thinking of this, Nalan Xixi shook her head, inexplicably wondering why she thought of him.

  Suddenly, she heard a noise on the second floor. It was a familiar breathing sound, who?!

  However, the other party seemed to have discovered her as well. A sturdy figure flashed in front of the window and upon seeing Nalan Xinnuo, that figure almost jumped up. "Princess!! You're really here!"

  Nalan Xixi let out a sigh and stood still, acknowledging her own bad luck.

  He Xian and Quan Long rushed over quickly, they saw Nalan Xinnuo, happily laughing with their mouths open wide, looking at their sincere smiles, Nalan Xinnuo's heart felt a pang.

  "Princess! Where are you going? The master will be back in the capital soon!" He Xian said happily.

  Quan Long heard this and used his elbow to nudge him, He Xian knew he had misspoken and hurriedly covered his mouth.

  Watching him cover his mouth, Nalan Xinnuo couldn't help but laugh. These few people, in front of her, always seemed like boys who would never grow up, making one both want to cry and laugh.

  "What's it to me?" Nalan Xiong's tone sounded nonchalant, but his heart was already racing wildly.

  "You're going to wait for him to come back!" He Xian said with a matter-of-fact expression.

  "What's the point of waiting for him to come back? Waiting for him to kill me?" Nalan Xianyu sneered, curling up the corners of her mouth.

  "How could the master kill you?!!"

  "My daughter disguised as a man and deceived Nan Gongyan into making him her husband. Isn't that a capital offense for him?"

  He Xian and Quan Long looked at each other in dismay, not knowing how to respond. Indeed, if it were someone else, they would be dead for deceiving Nan Gong Yan, let alone showing an inappropriate expression.

  "But... you're different." He Xian also didn't know how to express this difference.

  Nalan Xixi's smile was indifferent and calm. "Nothing is different, everything is the same."

  Having said that, she got on her horse, and He Xian saw the situation and immediately stepped forward to block the horse. "No way, you can't go!"

  "Master misses you... Master thinks of you every day." Kuang Long said anxiously from behind.

  Missing her? Nalan Xixi sneered. "How do you know he's thinking of me?"

  "After the master returned, he drank every day. The master found a theater troupe and had them write a play. In the play, actors played you and him, saying things you both said and experiencing things you both experienced. He would drink while watching it over and over again, from dawn till dusk, until he fell asleep, until tears flowed unknowingly..."

  Quan Long became excited. "The people in the palace were all frightened, but they wouldn't know what their master was doing every day. Only we knew, only we saw that our master was having a hard time!"

  Quan Long finished speaking and suddenly choked up, He Xian also followed with difficulty. "Don't believe it, we'll take you to see, go see that play, the theater troupe is in my mansion's secret room, only we and the master have seen that play."

  "What's the use of looking again? I've already made up my mind." I had long since decided to leave and wouldn't turn back.

  "Princess!" He Xian and Quan Long knelt down with a thud. "Princess, there are some things that you may not have heard before but should listen to, consider it my request to the princess, just follow me and take a look!"

  Nalan Xixiao had long known that, before coming to this world, she knew that an assassin, a person who made a living by controlling others' lives, would once encounter someone they couldn't bear to kill, and would thoroughly lose.

  She couldn't kill them or ride her horse over them. She looked up at the sky, was silent for a moment, nodded and said: "Get up."

  General's mansion, secret chamber.

  Nalan Xinnuo was led into a room in the secret chamber, and above the room was a large white screen.

  He Qian went to the back hall and gave some instructions. Before long, many candles were lit on the white screen, making it shine brightly.

  Suddenly, many shadows appeared on the white screen, looking like mountains and rivers. At this time, a line of black shadows appeared on the white screen, with four people chatting and laughing, having a great time.

  Those laughable episodes were exactly as they had been at the time, without a single word changed.

  Until the very end, she was unconscious, and Huo hesitated to utter that fatal word. Yet at this moment, he was so calm, without any sorrow or even a hint of doubt, convinced that she was still alive.

  He said to them: Remember, your master is dead.

  He no longer wants it, doesn't want that world, doesn't want those things he's always held onto, only because he's found the real one, the one he wants to protect, the one he's willing to give up everything for.

  He hugged her and walked on.

  The scenery of Yunzhugou is very good. If it weren't for those frightening strange objects, it would also be a place with beautiful mountains and rivers.

  At the summit, a willow tree with a trunk as thick as a house stands alone and unyielding. Years of wind and rain have bent its branches, but it remains remarkably sturdy.

  He slowly sat down, leaning against the trunk of the tree, and the person in his arms didn't move.

  "You deceived me." His voice was low, yet it still echoed slowly in the silent valley.

  "What do you think I recall every time I look at you?" He lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead, as if she were really listening. "There's always a picture in my mind, in a valley like this one, where we build a small cottage, rising with the sun and resting with the sunset."

  "When I'm happy, everything goes according to your wishes. When I'm unhappy, I argue with you and provoke you into anger." He said with a smile. "You must not want to quarrel with me, you must want to draw your sword and kill me. So I'll fight with you, or pretend to be dead, or else, I'll pretend to be crippled by you and lie in bed every day, making you feed me."

  At this point, Nalan Xiong couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  "When it's a stormy day, I'll pretend to be afraid of thunder and cling tightly to you, saying that I want my wife to protect me, but actually I just want to take advantage of the situation. I just want to rely on you like a child, like a scoundrel, letting you accommodate me, take care of me, and pamper me."

  He smiled more deeply, at this moment, his smile no longer had the usual coldness and overbearingness, it was the most primitive, purest, and most real Nan Gongyin. "Then, when you're tired and don't want to be a heroine anymore, let me take care of you, I'll tie you up on my body, we'll be together every moment, if you dare to escape, I'll kill you."

  Nalan Xixiao's smile gradually disappeared, she struggled to hold back her tears, trying to hold back the tears that had already filled her eyes, but in the end, she couldn't bear it.

  Nangong Jin did not notice the movement of the person in his arms, and his smile gradually faded away. "I also deceived you."

  "I lied to you, I wouldn't leave you behind alone. That day, I thought you were dead because no woman could survive my hands, do you know that? At that time, I just thought you had a special skill, you dared to marry me, why not take advantage of you to help me find these things and then use you as bait in the Cloud Spider Valley. But, you actually died. The matter with Yan'er couldn't be delayed, so I left you behind and continued on my way. Later, I realized..."

  "Later I realized, I couldn't do it, for the first time I felt so out of control, unable to bear wanting to follow you, wanting to see you safe and sound, wanting to protect you, wanting to tie you down by my side, wanting to put everything aside just to be with you, simply wanting to be with you, can't live without you... it's true, not even for a moment."

  The room fell silent at this point.

  Nalan Xixi suddenly stood up, then turned around and quickly walked out of the secret room. As she rapidly left, she swiftly wiped away the tears on her face. She couldn't cry, couldn't waver, couldn't leave behind...

  Behind him, He Jin and Yuan Shu followed closely.

  They were the ones who least wanted her to leave, they had witnessed her and his love, that kind of life-and-death, shared honor and shame.

  It must have been at that moment when they fell in love with each other.

  As they gazed coldly at each other, she said: You will die.

  He said: I know.

  Then, a resolute and determined person will go even if they know they will die. A person with unshakeable conviction will follow, knowing they will die but still going nonetheless.

  And so they met and fell in love.

  "Princess!" He Xian loudly called out to the figure hastily fleeing in front of him.

  However, the figure did not stop for a moment, but instead ran even faster. She jumped onto her horse and fled wildly in a directionless manner into the distance, soon disappearing into the night.

  Behind him, at the gate of the general's mansion, two figures stood still, reluctant to leave.

  She rode a fast horse, galloping forward in the darkness of night, or rather, fleeing.

  If she hesitated for another half second, she would never be able to leave that place and let go of that person.

  But she had to let go, because he was destined not to be hers alone, unable to give his love only to her. He had too many things that he couldn't abandon. And she, too, had too many things that she couldn't deprive herself of.

  Loving him is a deprivation for some people in this world.

  But this looks like an excuse, an excuse for escaping.

  Nalan Xixi, what are you running away from? Are you afraid that you've discovered your true feelings for him and now don't dare to love him?

  The sky brightened, and the horse could no longer run, crashing to the ground on an unknown peak.

  Nalan Xixi took out a water bag and fed it to its mouth, slightly relieving it. It was not going to die from exhaustion after all.

  Looking back, underfoot is a vast expanse of cloud sea, unknowingly rushing all the way, but also don't know where to go.

  Suddenly, a similar scene flashed back in his mind, with the same peak and the same scenery.

  He said:

  "Why must you leave." A cold voice sounded from behind.

  Nalan Xixi's body slightly hesitated for a moment, then she shook her head, and must have been too tired to think clearly.

  Suddenly, a strong force approached, pulling her over and embracing her in his arms.

  "Cold voice this time with a hint of anger. 'Answer me, why are you leaving?!'"