Chapter 43#

Dreamscape#

The residual poison’s onset was fierce. While unconscious, Lu Yan had a dream.

The dream consisted of intermittent fragments, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry.

He dreamed of the Three Barren Mountains of the Demon Clan and of his father, the Emperor, with whom he was not close. He was the young lord of the Demon Clan and his father’s only child, but his father did not like him.

His name was Lu Yan. “Yan” (meaning “loathed” or “disgusted”) had never been a good word. What parent who looks forward to their child’s arrival would give them such a name?

He had stayed alone in the empty and quiet divine hall since childhood. His father rarely saw him, and everyone was very respectful to him, yet very distant. He silently practiced his sword and lived his life alone.

He lived very earnestly, what hour to get up, what hour to meditate, all according to plan. He even learned to brew spirit ginseng tea and cook health-preserving porridge, one bowl every day. At that time, he didn’t understand what loneliness was, only that sometimes he felt the surroundings were too quiet, so quiet that it made one feel lonely.

In the world between heaven and earth, was it this quiet everywhere?

The path of cultivation cannot lack experience. In the year he was about to turn thirteen, Lu Yan finally had the opportunity to leave the divine hall and walk the world for the first time. His father gave him the Dark Feather Sword for protection and let him choose where he wanted to go. He looked at the mountains, rivers, and lakes on the map, and as if by some freak of fate, pointed to Chaoge.

It was said that this was the capital of the Human Clan, a very lively place.

When he truly stepped into the city of Chaoge, the bustling mundane atmosphere hit him in the face, and Lu Yan found everything fresh. A luxurious and exquisite tall carriage passed by him. He turned his head curiously and happened to see the gauze curtain on the carriage blown up by the wind, inside which seemed to lie a pale-faced child.

The carriage ran very fast, and in just an instant, it brushed past Lu Yan. Lu Yan heard the people around him discussing that it was a royal carriage, sending the injured little Crown Prince to Fengliang. Lu Yan stood stunned for a long time, suddenly feeling empty in his heart, as if he had lost something. The curiosity and excitement he felt when he first entered the city were gone.

Lu Yan stayed in Chaoge for three months and saw the lively human world as he wished, but he didn’t feel happy. He always felt it shouldn’t be like this… something was missing, making this trip to Chaoge incomplete. The Golden Crow is a divine bird born from following the heavenly timing, and can vaguely sense the heavenly secrets; its intuition has always been the most accurate. But Lu Yan tried desperately to recall and still couldn’t understand what exactly he was regretting.

He left Chaoge in a daze, and that feeling of having lost something still tormented him. So every year thereafter, he left the Demon Clan to travel in all directions. He was looking for something, but he didn’t know what he was looking for. Sometimes he would suddenly feel a sensation and go somewhere on a whim, only to return empty-handed. For example, Luoyan Mountain—that was the time he felt he was closest to the thing he was looking for, but he still couldn’t find anything.

He was going to find…

Find what?

In the dark, it seemed as if something had nudged the trajectory of fate, blocking his footsteps. Returning to the divine hall from Luoyan Mountain, Lu Yan sat in the darkness and finally understood what loneliness meant.

The Demon Clan was never a peaceful and quiet place; it was constantly changing and full of internal strife. His father suddenly went into seclusion, and there were even rumors that he was seriously injured. A portion of the Demon Clan suddenly launched an attack, and Lu Yan fought his way out of the Three Barren Mountains with his sword. The road ahead was vast, and there were pursuers behind him. Lu Yan chose to head toward Chaoge.

Having been the young lord for many years, Lu Yan was not without roots in the Demon Clan. He had many alternative paths he could choose, and he didn’t understand why he chose Chaoge. But he felt he absolutely had to go there.

It was safe there.

This feeling came inexplicably, but Lu Yan still set out. Along the way, he was hunted down, many times feeling despair. Sometimes he also felt he was going crazy, but he climbed back up and continued to move forward. He finally arrived at Chaoge, and what greeted him were arrow lights like falling stars and fire.

He fainted and then opened his eyes. Someone was holding him in their arms, looking at him with concern.

Suddenly, a huge sense of satisfaction, relief, and security flooded in, along with a bit of grievance. He shouldn’t have been a gullible person, but at that moment, he only wanted to grab the hand of the person in front of him. He asked intermittently, “Was it you who saved me?”

The other’s gaze was so gentle, saying they would watch over him. But when Lu Yan opened his eyes again, he found the place empty, with no one there.

Lu Yan climbed up, with only one thought in his heart: he must find him.

*

When Lu Yan woke up, his head was still throbbing.

Why did he suddenly dream about the past? Lu Yan instinctively wanted to move his fingers, but found his hand was pressed down by something.

Lu Yan opened his eyes, turned his head, and was stunned. He felt as if he hadn’t fully woken up, and it was only after a long while that his consciousness completely returned.

The youth lay beside him, facing Lu Yan, with his eyes closed and his eyelashes casting a small shadow, showing a bit of the well-behaved nature rarely seen. Lu Yan’s hand was half-pressed under the other’s head, and the other’s black hair was scattered, with a few strands tangled around Lu Yan’s fingertips.

Subtle emotions rippled in his heart. Lu Yan remained motionless, his throat dry.

“…Yuheng?”

Lu Yan called out softly. The other person unconsciously leaned towards Lu Yan’s direction and murmured, “Cold…”

Lu Yan’s heart tightened. He pulled out his hand and felt Yin Yuheng’s forehead.

A fever?

Lu Yan grabbed Yin Yuheng’s wrist again. After checking his pulse, his face suddenly became unsightly. He sat up and, regardless of anything else, gathered Yin Yuheng into his arms and called out for someone.

Eunuch De appeared silently in the room. Before Lu Yan could speak, Eunuch De bowed respectfully: “His Highness has already taken the medicine.”

“What’s going on?” Lu Yan asked through gritted teeth, thinking that he was the one poisoned, yet upon waking up, Yin Yuheng was sicker than him.

“Old injury relapsed, hard to treat,” Eunuch De sighed. “The Ghost River water is cold and stimulated his heart meridians. His Highness also lost a lot of blood… coupled with the backlash from the formation, His Highness is seriously injured.”

“Ghost River?” Lu Yan’s eyes turned red. “He went to pick the Underworld Flower? To refine the antidote?”

No wonder the residual poison in his body had almost disappeared… no wonder! Lu Yan understood everything. The hand holding Yin Yuheng tightened slightly, and he stared intently at Yin Yuheng’s closed eyes, tracing every inch of his features with his gaze. Lu Yan’s Adam’s apple rolled slightly, as if suppressing intense emotions. Finally, he closed his eyes, hiding the red bloodshot lines, and barely squeezed out a few words: “And you didn’t stop him?”

Eunuch De shook his head: “Couldn’t stop him. After you took the medicine, His Highness refused to leave, insisting on staying until you woke up.”

Staying until I wake up? No wonder he’s sleeping next to me… Even when he’s feeling this miserable, what’s he staying for? It should be me staying by your side instead. Lu Yan’s heart was sour, sweet, and angry all at once, bottled up inside.

“Injured like this,” Lu Yan’s voice was trembling, “How many times have I said, cherish yourself, don’t get hurt. Can’t you remember? When you wake up, I’ll settle the score with you.”

Eunuch De looked at the two, smiled knowingly, and vanished silently.

Lu Yan carefully wrapped Yin Yuheng in the quilt and held him in his arms. Yin Yuheng still didn’t wake up, moving slightly and continuing to complain: “Cold.”

Lu Yan’s whole body stiffened, and then he realized that Yuheng feeling cold was likely due to being tainted by the Ghost River water.

The Ghost River water was cold to the bone, and ordinary stoves and charcoal basins were hard to dispel this kind of chill. Lu Yan cursed softly: “Now you know it’s cold?”

Lu Yan hesitated for a moment, looked around, and found no one. Then, a golden light flashed, and a Golden Crow bird with feathers glowing with golden flames appeared on the bed.

The person holding him suddenly disappeared. The sleeping Yin Yuheng frowned, his hands instinctively searching around. The little Golden Crow shook its wings and burrowed into Yin Yuheng’s arms. A surge of heat flooded in, and Yin Yuheng, who had been tormented by the chill, let out a satisfied sigh and hugged the bird in his arms tightly.

The fire of the Golden Crow can ward off yin and evil. The chill brought by the Ghost River water dissipated, and Yin Yuheng’s brow smoothed out. The little Golden Crow nestled in his arms, letting him hug it tighter and tighter, remaining motionless.

*

National Preceptor’s Manor.

When Zhu Anning was thrown onto the ground by his collar, he felt a sense of resignation, thinking “it’s finally come.”

The boundless spiritual pressure made him unable to move, and every bone in his body was in so much pain it felt like it was about to shatter. Before, Li Guanghan thought he was his savior and had treated him with great care. Now, Zhu Anning truly realized how terrifying the Transformation Stage really was.

Demonic energy had seeped into his Dao heart. At this moment, Li Guanghan was crazier and more ruthless than usual. He looked down at Zhu Anning crawling on the ground, without a trace of pity in his heart. Seeing Zhu Anning struggle, using his hands to prop himself up, he snorted coldly.

In an instant, a wave of sharp pain hit. Zhu Anning’s hand gave way, and he fell to the ground again, looking utterly miserable. Li Guanghan watched him tremble with pain, but coldly curled his lips.

Toward a liar, there was no need for mercy. Not to mention this person had not only deceived him but also caused Yuheng’s path of cultivation to be ruined…

Even if he were killed a thousand or ten thousand times, it wouldn’t be enough.

“Not many dare to deceive me,” Li Guanghan said in a low voice. “You certainly are quite bold.”

Zhu Anning panted softly. It took a long while for him to gather a sliver of strength to speak. He tried hard to lift his head, giving Li Guanghan a mocking smile.

“But weren’t you still deceived?” Zhu Anning chuckled hoarsely. “You care so much about your so-called savior, yet you could still mistake the person… It seems your care is nothing more than this! His Highness liked you so much… Ugh!”

Li Guanghan’s face turned cold. Zhu Anning let out a muffled groan, his lips pale. Cold spiritual energy poured into his heart meridians, churning wildly, making Zhu Anning lose focus from the pain. Unable to endure it, he lowered his head and vomited a mouthful of blood.

“The pain of an injured heart meridian, you should experience it too,” Li Guanghan said indifferently. “You’re still useful, so you won’t die for now… But the things you swindled from Yuheng must be returned.”

Zhu Anning had used Yin Yuheng’s heart’s blood to reconstruct his spiritual meridians. Looking at him, Li Guanghan recalled Yin Yuheng crying in pain during the bloodletting. In comparison, Li Guanghan felt a desperate urge to go mad.

His Yuheng should have had the best talent, used the best sword, and reached the highest peak… He should have been the most esteemed little Crown Prince, possessing the best of everything, rather than living such a bitter life now.

Sometimes Li Guanghan thought that perhaps meeting him and Zhu Anning was Yin Yuheng’s tribulation. The two of them owed Yin Yuheng; how could they ever repay him?

Li Guanghan looked coldly at Zhu Anning and suddenly said, “What are you shielding in your arms?”

Zhu Anning lay on the ground, arching his back, seemingly hiding something. Li Guanghan grabbed his collar, pulled him up, and found it was a storage pouch.

“Don’t touch it!” Zhu Anning’s voice cracked from the pain, and his eyes were red as he desperately protected the storage pouch in his arms.

Inside the storage pouch were things his Senior Brother had once given him… a jade hairpin, a piece of Flame-Leaving Warming Jade, and a jade pendant.

When Zhu Anning left the National Preceptor’s Manor, it was very abrupt, and he had left many things behind. But Zhu Anning didn’t mind, as long as the things his Senior Brother gave him were with him, it was fine.

During this time, every night, Zhu Anning had recalled the bits and pieces of his time with his Senior Brother countless times. For example, when he first saw him in the manor, how his Senior Brother smiled at him… but back then, he was full of hostility toward his Senior Brother and wasn’t polite at all. His Senior Brother didn’t mind and even gave him the Flame-Leaving Warming Jade. Every time he thought of it, Zhu Anning felt both guilty and sad. Another example was when his Senior Brother saved him from Young Master An and even tied his hair for him…

His Senior Brother was so good, but he didn’t know how to cherish him.

The past could not be looked back on; the more he recalled, the sweetness of those former details became a poison that pierced his heart. His Senior Brother would never be good to him or smile at him again. Zhu Anning could only endure the urge to cry, holding the things his Senior Brother once gave him in his arms, trying to get a bit of warmth to survive the long nights.

Anyone who touched these things would have to fight him to the death. Fearing Li Guanghan would destroy the storage pouch, Zhu Anning said angrily, “You were plotted against yourself without knowing it! There’s someone behind the scenes who forged my identity and used your hand to hurt His Highness. Yet you can’t even get revenge for His Highness!”

Li Guanghan’s expression changed: “Who is the person behind you?”

This matter had also puzzled Li Guanghan for a long time.

There were no flaws in Zhu Anning’s identity, and even with his Transformation Stage cultivation to deduce the heavenly secrets, the results showed Zhu Anning was completely fine. There must be a reason for this, and Li Guanghan had been brooding over it.

“I don’t know, the mastermind’s actions were very careful.” Zhu Anning raised his hand, revealing the bracelet on his wrist. “This bracelet is the communication tool he gave me.”

Li Guanghan glanced at it and crudely grabbed his wrist. Zhu Anning screamed in pain, feeling his wrist and finger bones shatter. Yet the bracelet still wouldn’t come off. It seemed as if it had grown into his flesh, like a brand marking his guilt and shame.

Li Guanghan frowned, closing his eyes to deduce the origin of this bracelet. When he reopened his eyes, his expression was somewhat solemn.

Unable to deduce… how could this be?

*

Shen Liyuan sat in his wheelchair, rubbing the bracelet in his hand. He lowered his eyes for a while, then gave a low laugh: “Throw it away. Throw it far away, don’t let anyone suspect the Shen family.”

Now that Zhu Anning was of no use, Shen Liyuan had no intention of spending more effort on him. The material of the bracelet was special and extremely hard to destroy, so it was better to just throw it away. As for what would happen to the bracelet on Zhu Anning’s wrist, Shen Liyuan didn’t care at all.

The maid behind him took the bracelet and complied.

Shen Liyuan sighed, thinking of his missing servant. Shen Liyuan understood that the servant had likely fallen into Yin Yuheng’s hands… and didn’t know how much about him would be revealed.

Thinking of this, a look of obsession appeared in Shen Liyuan’s eyes.

His Highness was originally an extremely clever person… if he hadn’t fallen for unworthy people, he wouldn’t have ended up where he is today. Shen Liyuan chuckled, wondering if His Highness could trace it back to him. If so, would His Highness’s gaze finally fall on him?

However, it wasn’t enough. His eyes should only have him in them.

Shen Liyuan gave a low laugh and had someone push the wheelchair to a secret room.

In the secret room, a milky-white object was emitting a faint glow.

This was a fragment of the Kunlun Mirror that Shen Liyuan had obtained by chance. With the fragment to hide the heavenly secrets, even the Transformation Stage Sword Sovereign Li Guanghan was just a chess piece on his board.

Zhu Anning and Li Guanghan were not worth worrying about, but Lu Yan…

Shen Liyuan showed a dark expression and said, “He is a Golden Crow, after all…”

The Golden Crow is a naturally divine bird, a symbol of the sun, having inherited the great power of heaven and earth.

There can only be one sun in the sky; only when the old Golden Crow turns into raging fire and passes away can the new Emperor of the Demon Clan truly be born. The cultivation that originally belonged to the old Golden Crow can directly transform into an inheritance, flooding into the next Golden Crow’s body. The moment of accepting the inheritance is when a Golden Crow truly becomes an adult.

Passed down through generations, unceasing, constructing the myth of the Golden Crow.

And Lu Yan was currently an un-adult Golden Crow who had yet to accept the inheritance.

That was why those rebellious demons were hunting Lu Yan… no one knew how strong he would become once he accepted the old Golden Crow’s inheritance. But unexpectedly, at the critical moment, the Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty actually protected him.

Yin Yuheng allowed Lu Yan to live in the palace city, with the capital’s great array protecting him at all times, almost always together, making the lurking demons retreat. Even if nothing else was done, this was already the greatest support and protection for Lu Yan. There was almost no safer place in the world than the Chaoge Palace, allowing Lu Yan’s most difficult and dangerous days to be spent in peace and tranquility.

Shen Liyuan smiled and said, “Do you think Lu Yan’s approach to Yin Yuheng was truly because of him, or a deliberate calculation? Meeting just at the right time, and being taken into the palace just at the right time… without a word, he obtained the greatest benefits.”

The maid pushing the wheelchair kept her head low and didn’t dare to speak.

Shen Liyuan didn’t mind and continued to smile: “Natural spiritual beings like the Golden Crow are also naturally cold-hearted. For imperial power, what is there that they can’t give up?”

“The Demon Emperor is critically ill, and the heavenly secrets are changing. It’s time for Lu Yan to go back.”

*

Yin Yuheng slept very soundly holding the little Golden Crow.

It had been a long time since he slept so peacefully. He had a dream in which he embraced the sun.

When Yin Yuheng woke up in a daze, he found that he really was embracing the sun.

Lu Yan noticed Yin Yuheng waking up and instinctively wanted to fly away, but was quickly grabbed and held tightly by Yin Yuheng.

Yin Yuheng stared at the little Golden Crow in his arms for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Little yellow duckling, so this is what you look like?”

Lu Yan: “…” He knew it.

Yin Yuheng said with a smile, “Beautiful. Are all Golden Crows this pretty?”

Lu Yan shook his feathers, thinking, ‘Could it be that you want to raise another Golden Crow?’

Yin Yuheng smoothed his feathers and said seriously, “But my A-Yan must be the most beautiful Golden Crow.”