Chapter 71#
He is Awake#
Xue Ciling didn’t expect Lu Yan’s reaction to be so extreme.
The Golden Crow fire was pure and clean, incinerating all things; the demonic energy dissipated in the golden flames like evaporating steam. The surrounding night was as black as ink, yet at this moment, it was illuminated as bright as day.
The tips of Lu Yan’s hair flickered with gold, and his eyes held a hidden anger. He said nothing, his hand already resting on the hilt of the Black Feather Sword.
Xue Ciling was tense all over, gritting his teeth to hold on, unwilling to show weakness in the face of Lu Yan’s killing intent. He sneered: “What, is one Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty not enough for you? You want to keep another body double as well, enjoying the company of both—”
With a loud boom, Xue Ciling subconsciously dodged backward. In an instant, the place where he had just stood had turned into scorched earth.
Xue Ciling spat out a mouthful of blood and looked up at Lu Yan. He began to regret, thinking he shouldn’t have provoked Lu Yan like this. But Xue Ciling was also puzzled in his heart: wasn’t Lu Yan wholeheartedly in love with that Crown Prince? He shouldn’t have such a strong reaction to his words… Xue Ciling’s gaze darkened, and he slowly clenched his fists behind his back.
He didn’t want to fight Lu Yan for that Crown Prince; he just wanted to find his puppet back.
Xue Ciling closed his eyes and finally chose to lower his head: “I have no intention of offending Your Majesty; I only ask for Your Majesty’s fulfillment.”
For his puppet, he could offer all kinds of humble pleas, and could even be more lowly. He only hoped it was still not too late to make amends.
The killing intent flashed by, and sweat broke out on Xue Ciling’s back. After a long while, he finally heard Lu Yan’s strained voice: “…No.”
No? Why no? Lu Yan already had the Crown Prince; was he unwilling to even return the puppet to him?
Xue Ciling’s pupils shrank, and anger instantly overwhelmed him. He looked up in fury, but before he could speak, he suddenly heard a weak voice from the room behind Lu Yan: “Lu Yan?”
The Golden Crow fire dimmed in an instant, and the originally tense atmosphere suddenly froze. The killing intent that had been restraining Xue Ciling and making him feel like thorns on his back also dissipated.
Lu Yan suddenly became uneasy. His hand holding the sword trembled, and his eyes showed a few hints of vacancy, apprehension, and tension. After being dazed for a while, he slowly turned his head.
The movement was so light, as if he were afraid of disturbing a phantom dream.
Xue Ciling saw Lu Yan open his mouth and, with great difficulty, cautiously shuffled a small step forward, tentatively calling out with disbelief: “A-Heng? A-Heng, are you awake?”
Xue Ciling’s feet were similarly nailed to the spot.
Such a familiar voice. Xue Ciling’s heart couldn’t help but throb violently, but he still barely retained a shred of reason: the person who could be so cherished by Lu Yan was the Crown Prince, not his Yuheng.
“Hiss…”
Some subtle sounds came from the room, as if something had fallen. Lu Yan’s expression changed, and ignoring Xue Ciling, he rushed into the room in a few steps: “A-Heng—”
The wind blew the gold-red gauze curtains. The person as beautiful as a painting had already lifted the brocade quilt and was trying to get out of bed, but he had overestimated his control over his body and fell back onto the edge of the bed. His head of black hair was somewhat messily spread out; Yin Yuheng leaned forward slightly, gasping for breath with effort.
Lu Yan’s mind went blank for a moment, and his hands had already subconsciously embraced Yin Yuheng, supporting him onto the bed, and said nervously: “Don’t, don’t move…”
The person in his arms was not yet fully awake and let out a subconscious “un,” leaning quietly in Lu Yan’s arms. Lu Yan’s whole body stiffened slightly, and his arms holding Yin Yuheng tightened involuntarily, his fingertips feeling numb.
“Yin Yuheng…” Lu Yan whispered his name in a low voice, unable to say a complete sentence, “Yuheng. I, I…”
His voice grew smaller and smaller, nearly becoming silent.
Lu Yan’s reason slowly returned. He remembered what had happened before, and his mood sank bit by bit. He was suddenly afraid, not daring to look at Yin Yuheng’s expression, not daring to hear his voice.
…Did Yin Yuheng hate him very much now? Just like he hated Li Guanghan or Zhu Anning.
He hadn’t even recognized A-Heng. It was clearly so obvious, yet he always missed it… He wasn’t there when Yuheng had his accident back then, and later he caused Yuheng to remain in a coma.
Lu Yan felt that he had done too many things wrong. He thought Yin Yuheng must be angry.
He began to regret his action of embracing Yin Yuheng; did Yin Yuheng hate his touch very much?
But he… he was unwilling to let go.
He even basely hoped that this moment would last a bit longer. If Yin Yuheng really wanted to leave him after waking up, he at least wanted to have this last memory.
But time passed so quickly; he felt the person in his arms move, distancing themselves a bit, and a hand was raised.
Was he going to push him away? Lu Yan closed his eyes, showing a bitter smile.
In the next moment, he felt a warm breath brush against his cheek.
Slender fingertips gently rubbed Lu Yan’s brow and eyes, slid over his cheek, over his eyelids, and touched his lips, separating after a brief touch. But this fleeting touch still made Lu Yan’s heart stop for a moment. In that instant, all things were silent, and Lu Yan could only stand dazed on the spot, hearing that gentle voice sigh: “Why so haggard?”
Lu Yan opened his eyes in a daze, lowered his head, and looked at Yin Yuheng.
He saw Yin Yuheng smiling at him: “Don’t be afraid, I’m already awake… I remember everything now; it’s okay, Lu Yan.”
Lu Yan’s lips trembled, and his eyes turned slightly red.
“Yuheng…”
Yin Yuheng rubbed his hair again and then lowered his hand. Before Lu Yan could feel disappointed, he wrapped his arms around Lu Yan’s waist again.
“You’ve grown thin.”
Yin Yuheng leaned against Lu Yan’s embrace, his mouth holding a smile and his gaze gentle.
Lu Yan’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and it took a lot of effort for him to blink gently. In his dark, deep-pool-like pupils, light bit by bit emerged, reminding Yin Yuheng of the Lu Yan of the past; back then, Lu Yan had a pair of star-like eyes.
Lu Yan slowly leaned down, enveloping Yin Yuheng entirely in his embrace, as if wanting to rub this person into his own bone and blood.
Lu Yan’s Adam’s apple moved, suppressing the trembling in his voice.
“A-Heng, am I dreaming?”
His hands were so forceful that Yin Yuheng felt some pain, but he didn’t move; instead, he smiled: “What do you think?”
Lu Yan was silent for a long while and said: “No, dream. In dream, you don’t want me.”
Yin Yuheng: “…”
He sighed: “I didn’t ’not want’ you. Weren’t you very good at reading expressions before? Why are you being silly now?”
Lu Yan looked at Yin Yuheng without blinking. He was unable to speak for a long time, and only after a long while did he squeeze out a sentence: “I thought…”
For the first time, Lu Yan felt that the surrounding gold-red gauze curtains were too dazzling, making him dizzy and his mind muddled. His emotions were surging, and he heard the rushing of blood in his body. The Golden Crow fire almost burned intensely out of control, illuminating the night as day, dispersing all darkness, and incinerating all barriers—
Thus, Yin Yuheng suddenly felt a bit hot; the temperature of the surrounding air continued to rise, and an atmosphere of jubilation permeated the air. The candlelight burned a bit brighter, swaying excitedly from side to side.
Yin Yuheng: “…”
When cultivation reaches a certain level, every movement will affect the surrounding environment. Yin Yuheng thought to himself that perhaps at this moment, the plants on the entire Three Desolate Mountains were growing wildly, swirling and dancing in the wind. He found it somewhat amusing, yet also felt a bit pained for him.
He had the memories of being “Bai Heng” during this time and knew how deep Lu Yan’s obsession was, how much self-reproach and sadness he felt. But this clearly wasn’t Lu Yan’s fault—
“Are you silly?” Yin Yuheng gave him a push, “Alright, someone is still watching.”
Lu Yan was suddenly startled awake, and his hands suddenly let go. A faint red spread over his neck and cheeks; he retreated a few steps in panic, hurriedly explaining: “I… I was momentarily excited…”
As if he had committed a major mistake, Lu Yan looked at Yin Yuheng with some apprehension.
Yin Yuheng’s movement paused for a moment, suddenly realizing Lu Yan’s current state of worrying about gain and loss. He smiled helplessly, grabbed Lu Yan’s hand, signaling him not to move, and then looked up toward the door.
Yin Yuheng smiled and said: “City Lord Xue, please forgive me for being unable to welcome you due to my current physical inconvenience.”
A-Yan needs to be coaxed slowly; the bothersome person must be dealt with first.
…
Yin Yuheng looked at Xue Ciling outside the door, and Xue Ciling also looked at him.
Xue Ciling keenly perceived that although Yin Yuheng was smiling, the gaze he looked at him with was far from being as tolerant and gentle as when he faced Lu Yan.
Xue Ciling suddenly became a bit uneasy, silently moving his steps and standing properly.