Chapter 73#

Meeting Again#

Yin Yuheng understood that an insecure Golden Crow needed to be coaxed.

But wasn’t this a bit much? Yin Yuheng lay on the bed, staring blankly at the bed curtains. The bed was indeed soft, the surrounding decorations were indeed beautiful, and the medicinal incense burning nearby smelled very comfortable, but… none of these were reasons to stay in bed for three days without getting up.

It had already been three days. Whenever Yin Yuheng showed any intention of getting out of bed, someone would immediately come to stop him.

“His Majesty has ordered that you must rest quietly and should not move.”

The voices were gentle, and the attitude was like treating a piece of fragile porcelain.

Yin Yuheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, thinking it wasn’t necessary; his body wasn’t so bad that even walking was difficult, right? But in the end, he obediently stayed in bed, letting Lu Yan have his way.

During these three days, Lu Yan spent most of his time accompanying him. From the food he ate to the medicinal herbs used to regulate his body, Lu Yan did everything personally. Sometimes Yin Yuheng’s energy flagged and he fell into a heavy sleep; when he woke up, he could see Lu Yan sitting silently by the bed, his gaze fixed directly on his face. It was unknown how long he had been watching, as if afraid Yin Yuheng would disappear.

At such times, Yin Yuheng could only reach out and gently rest his hand on Lu Yan’s. Only then would Lu Yan’s tense body slowly relax.

Yin Yuheng understood in his heart that the pain brought by some injuries went deep into the bone and marrow and could not be worn away in a short time.

Xiao Bai expressed understanding of this, crying and complaining: “I was scared too! When you were in a coma, Heng-ge, I was constantly searching for your information but couldn’t find your soul anywhere. I was almost scared to death… waaaah…”

Yin Yuheng comforted it softly: “It’s okay now, it’s all in the past.”

“The Heavenly Dao wanted to harm you; it deliberately made it so I couldn’t find you and even made it so Lu Yan couldn’t recognize you,” Xiao Bai said nervously, “It’s so wicked!”

Xiao Bai had already started referring to the plot as the Heavenly Dao and loathed it deeply.

Yin Yuheng rubbed his brow and showed an ambiguous smile: “Indeed.”

———

On the Three Desolate Mountains, the morning glow was like gold.

Lu Yan took the spiritual tea off the fire and carefully filtered out the residue. In the cyan cup, the tea rippled slightly, emitting white mist.

Yin Yuheng leaned against the bed, draped in Lu Yan’s outer robe, watching Lu Yan bustle about.

“Lu Yan?” Yin Yuheng suddenly called out.

Lu Yan hurriedly looked up.

“It’s nothing,” Yin Yuheng smiled, “Continue.”

Lu Yan was somewhat puzzled. He looked at the brewed spiritual tea and said: “Wait until it cools down a bit before drinking.”

Yin Yuheng didn’t speak, watching Lu Yan with a smile.

Xiao Bai remarked with emotion: “Heng-ge, you seem to be in a very good mood, quite different from before.”

There was less of that resolution to incinerate others along with himself, and his entire aura had become much more peaceful. For one thing, if the former Heng-ge had encountered Xue Ciling treating him as a body double, he certainly wouldn’t have let it go so easily—

Xiao Bai shuddered, stopping itself from thinking further.

“Is that so?” Yin Yuheng said softly, “Perhaps it’s because there’s someone I’m willing to believe in again.”

Who doesn’t like the feeling of “being loved”?

So many people treated him as light, but how many had thought that he also needed to be illuminated? It was just that his life was a snowy night, and he never truly thought he could encounter a lamp.

The morning breeze entered the window, and Lu Yan walked toward Yin Yuheng, naturally closing the window: “The wind is picking up.”

Yin Yuheng smiled: “I’m not that weak yet—alright, alright, close it.”

Lu Yan brought the spiritual tea over, handed it to Yin Yuheng, and asked with some apprehension: “Does your head still hurt?”

Injuries to the soul were the hardest to recover from. In truth, there was some headache, but Yin Yuheng shook his head gently: “It’s fine.”

Lu Yan didn’t relax; he carefully took Yin Yuheng’s hand, and Golden Crow Divine Fire flickered at his fingertips. The Golden Crow Divine Fire was the spiritual fire with the best effect for nourishing the soul, so the Demon Emperor insisted on using it to comb through Yin Yuheng’s soul every day.

This was also the reason Lu Yan had brought Yin Yuheng back to the Three Desolate Mountains. The Golden Crow aura there was conducive to Yin Yuheng’s recovery.

“A-Heng, tell me if it hurts; don’t endure it.”

In fact, it was Lu Yan who had a slight sweat on his forehead. Yin Yuheng looked at the lowered eyelashes of the person before him and suddenly spoke: “Your Majesty?”

Lu Yan looked up, somewhat flustered: “A-Heng?”

Lu Yan was somewhat afraid of Yin Yuheng addressing him like this. Recalling his cold treatment of Yin Yuheng during this period, he couldn’t help but feel miserable. Yin Yuheng was soft-hearted and said he didn’t blame him, but how could the person who should have been held at the tip of his heart be so neglected by him?

While he was feeling apprehensive, Yin Yuheng’s face suddenly enlarged before his eyes.

Yin Yuheng approached him, so close that Lu Yan could see his own reflection in Yin Yuheng’s pupils. Yin Yuheng reached out and gently poked Lu Yan’s cheek: “Does Your Majesty not want to pay attention to me?”

Lu Yan was stunned: “How could that be?”

Yin Yuheng said solemnly: “You’ve been particularly silent these past few days, speaking less than before. Are you blaming me?”

Lu Yan grew panicked: “I’m not, how could I blame you? I…”

“I’m afraid you blame me for forgetting you.” Yin Yuheng straightened up and gazed at Lu Yan earnestly, “I’m sorry for making you worry about me for so long. I know you were searching for my soul all along; I’m very happy, but also very pained for you. Just thinking about not remembering you for so long makes me feel very self-reproachful. I’m sorry.”

Lu Yan’s eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn’t help but grip Yin Yuheng’s hand: “How could this be your fault?”

Seeing Lu Yan’s anxious look, Yin Yuheng finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud, turning his head away: “It’s good as long as you don’t blame me. I forgot you this time, and you didn’t recognize me; we both have faults. After apologizing, neither of us is allowed to bring up old scores again. Hmm?”

Lu Yan was dazed for a moment before whispering: “Alright.”

Lu Yan knew that Yin Yuheng said these things to prevent him from brooding over the fact that he hadn’t recognized A-Heng.

This was the unvoiced tenderness belonging to Yin Yuheng.

Lu Yan took Yin Yuheng’s hand and gently pressed it against his forehead: “A-Heng, why are you so good.”

Yin Yuheng smiled: “Since I’m so good, will Your Majesty show mercy and let me go out for a walk? It’s so boring being cooped up in bed.”

Lu Yan refused flatly: “No.”

“…” Yin Yuheng recalled how when they were in Chaoge back then, Lu Yan would often get angry about his health and even threatened to lock him to the bed. He couldn’t help but curl his lips, “Have you been wanting to do this for a long time?”

Lu Yan lowered his eyes and only after a long while gave a light cough: “Wait until your soul is a bit better, and I’ll send you to Chaoge… your brother and sister are still waiting for you. It was their instruction to recover well and not be willful.”

Lu Yan’s eyes darkened slightly: “From now on, you’re not allowed to be willful; I’ll be watching you. Even if Li Guanghan wants to harm you again, I’ll go kill him—you’re not allowed to be like before.”

Yin Yuheng: “…”

———

After recuperating on the Three Desolate Mountains for a few days, Lu Yan often looked at Yin Yuheng as if he had something to say but hesitated.

Yin Yuheng vaguely guessed what Lu Yan wanted to say but didn’t point it out, merely smiling without speaking.

By the time Yin Yuheng was finally able to get out of bed and walk around, Lu Yan still hadn’t spoken his mind. On the last night, Lu Yan faced Yin Yuheng in silence for a long time, his face even turning slightly red, before he squeezed out a sentence: “I’ll send you back to Chaoge.”

Yin Yuheng blinked: “Is this the only thing you want to say to me?”

Lu Yan’s lips moved, and his hands couldn’t help but clench.

“Mm,” Yin Yuheng nodded, find it amusing in his heart, “It is time to go back.”

Lu Yan didn’t say it in the end.

————

Compared to Yin Yuheng’s memory, the current Chaoge was familiar yet held a trace of strangeness.

The willow-lined paths remained, and the lives of the common people remained. It was just that the people in power had changed; the Princess was overseeing the state, and the thousand-year foundations of the great families and sects had collapsed in a single day, with the gates of the National Preceptor’s Mansion tightly closed. Resistance to the Pushing the Immortals Decree was completely gone, and cultivation books and resources began to circulate widely. The Demon Emperor Lu Yan’s implementation of new laws to improve relations between the Demon and Human races was also proving quite effective.

The Li Dynasty was no longer the Li Dynasty of the sects and great families; a new dawn for the Human race had already begun to emerge. The grand trend of the era would not stop just because of the memory loss and coma of Yin Yuheng, the mastermind behind the scenes.

Or rather, everything today was a part of what Yin Yuheng had envisioned.

Yin Yuheng’s desire to steer the plot off course had never been limited to just a few major characters. The change of a few people was just a few splashes; what about the change of a whole city? The change of a whole nation?

The general trend and the people’s will were something even the Heavenly Dao could not block.

Lu Yan brought Yin Yuheng to the Crown Prince’s East Palace, where Yin Xuanji and Yin Shaozhuo had been waiting for a long time. If not for the fact that Yin Yuheng’s injuries required quiet recuperation on the Three Desolate Mountains and he should not have emotional fluctuations, this pair of siblings, eager to protect their brother, would have long since enshrined their lost-and-found brother at home. How could they tolerate someone else taking him away?

“Little brother!” Before Yin Yuheng could even open his mouth, Yin Xuanji rushed up, took his hands, and looked him up and down, her eyes turning red: “You’ve grown thin.”

Yin Yuheng felt a pang in his heart but smiled on the surface: “A-jie, with a puppet body, how could I grow thin?”

Yin Xuanji’s eyes grew redder, tears about to fall at any moment: “My little brother has suffered.”

Yin Shaozhuo walked over. As the always steady eldest brother, his voice was also a bit husky: “It’s good that you’re back.”

Yin Yuheng sighed and reached out to hug his sister and then his brother: “I’ve made you worry.”

“You brat, knowing you’d make your brother worry yet you still didn’t cherish yourself. I just went into seclusion, and when I came out, my brother was gone. After asking around, I found out how much my little brother was bullied.” Yin Shaozhuo’s tone was sour, and he patted Yin Yuheng’s head, but when his palm fell, he lightened his strength, turning it into a comforting gentle rub.

Yin Yuheng was speechless.

Yin Xuanji slapped Yin Shaozhuo’s hand away: “Alright, only you would lecture our little brother.”

Yin Yuheng couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.

“In short, with me here from now on, don’t get hurt again. As for that Li Guanghan, you’re not allowed to see him again.” Yin Shaozhuo said in a low voice, “The Yin Imperial Family can protect you; there’s no need for you to wrong yourself for the National Preceptor’s Mansion. Even if the Demon Emperor comes, he also…”

Yin Shaozhuo looked up at Lu Yan in the distance, recalling the other’s anxiety since Yin Yuheng had been in a coma; his care for his brother was evident. Sometimes even Yin Shaozhuo was secretly startled by the other’s obsession.

Yin Shaozhuo sighed: “Never mind, as for him… see him if you want to.”

Yin Yuheng’s lips curled slightly: “Big brother…”

Before Yin Yuheng could finish, Yin Shaozhuo’s expression suddenly changed, his gaze falling behind Yin Yuheng.

“Li Guanghan?”

Yin Yuheng’s voice stopped. He turned back and saw a silent man in white standing under a tree in the distance.