CH 66

Fu Qinghan took Ji Ning away from Cangshan mountains, and in an instant, they had returned to the Boundless Sea.

As a war in Cangshan was inevitable, Yun Dao had taken Ji Ning to the Boundless Sea to seek refuge. Qin Ruwang had naturally followed them. After becoming a murderous corpse and recognising Ji Ning as his master, he refused to leave his side. 

In order to meet with Ji Ning, Fu Qinghan had set up an illusion formation. Everyone apart from Ji Ning was affected by it and had fallen into a deep sleep. When Ji Ning returned to the carriage, he saw Yun Dao sprawled out across three seats, while Qin Ruwang sat in a rigid, upright posture. The only indication that the handsome man was sleeping was his closed eyes.

Despite his identity as a murderous corpse, he had still been tricked by the illusion into sleeping. From a distance he appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but when Ji Ning looked closer he saw that his eyebrows were furrowed and his hands were clenched tightly around his sword, exuding a faintly murderous aura.

Fu Qinghan entered the spacious carriage and looked down at Qin Ruwang for a moment. “He isn’t alive, yet he has a soul. How interesting.”

A faint thread appeared in the air, connecting Ji Ning and Qin Ruwang together. Fu Qinghan ran his finger along the red string and said in a low voice, “This line of fate should also be cut off.” 

His qi circulated inside the carriage. Half of it formed an indistinct mirage, slowly building into an illusion array. The other half poured inside of Qin Ruwang, dispelling the aura of death inside of him.

Colour slowly bloomed on Qin Ruwang’s face, as the cold gloom that clung to his body dissipated. When he finally opened his dark eyes, he looked like a completely different person.

However, what he saw was not the carriage, but a large hall. He stood in the centre of a palace, with palace maids in black veils kneeling either side of him and weeping. It seemed that he was inside a mourning hall, with the transparent coffin in front of him carrying the body of a young girl.

Qin Ruwang was lost for a moment, before he remembered that this was the mourning hall of the Goddess daughter. The Goddess daughter had passed away from serious illness and today was the day she would be buried.

The new God son and Goddess daughter had already arrived from the Wushen Kingdom and sat in front of the coffin, guarding the spirit of the previous Goddess daughter. But their bodies were weak and after a while, they had to be helped down by the palace servants. The worshippers of the Goddess daughter also stood up, wiping away their tears as they prepared for the burial.

It was not until the coffin was carried out of the mourning hall that Qin Ruwang slowly turned around and followed the funeral procession, watching the coffin with dark eyes.

Halfway through, he changed direction and walked towards another palace.

When he left the mourning hall his expression matched those around him, his eyes covered in a layer of sorrow as if he was truly mourning for the Goddess daughter. However, as soon as he turned around his expression turned blank, without a trace of grief remaining on his face. 

Ji Ning, who was watching from outside of the phantom array, understood why he’d had such a reaction. The Goddess daughter had caused the death of Qin Ruwang’s mother and he had hated the Goddess daughter for many years. Why would he mourn her when he was probably celebrating her death?

If he had arrived at this time, then the day Ji Ning died in this world was close.

Ji Ning still remembered the events clearly. It had almost been ten years since he first met Qin Ruwang. The divine envoys of the Wushen Kingdom always had short lives as punishment for stealing the secrets of the Gods to replicate them in the mortal world. It was simply luck that caused the Goddess daughter to die before him, since he had also grown very weak and found it difficult to even get out of bed.

He continued to watch Qin Ruwang as he entered the palace of the God son. It was summertime and the weather should be hot, but a cold chill seemed to run through the desolate and empty hall. 

Qin Ruwang gently opened the door to see the God son lying on his bed.

The God son still wore a silver mask which only exposed the lower half of his face. His jaw was thin, with a pale complexion and bloodless lips. His body looked thinner, his wrists that lay on top of the quilt were slender, as if he could be shattered at any moment.

“You came…”

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The God son leaned into Qin Ruwang’s arms. He tried to hold the prince’s hand, but his fingers didn’t have the strength to close and weakly slid down his arm instead. Qin Ruwang quickly grabbed the falling hand and wrapped his warm hands around the God son’s cold fingers.

“Where is…where is she?” The God son spoke slowly. Every time he said a word, he had to exhale lightly, as if it had exhausted all his strength.

“She’s about to be buried.” Qin Ruwang replied. 

The dead Goddess daughter wouldn’t be buried inside of the Xia Empire, instead her body would be transported back to the Wushen Kingdom to be buried in her homeland.

“It’s a pity I couldn’t see her for the last time…” The God son whispered. He smiled faintly, “Nevermind. It won’t be long before I die too and my soul and body can return to Wushen with her-”

His mouth was suddenly covered. Taken aback, he looked up to see Qin Ruwang glaring at him, his dark eyes stained with anger. He said coldly, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“As the God son, I know the past and the future. I’ve never spoken nonsense.” 

The God son shook his head, took a deep breath, then said slowly.

“There is no reason to be afraid of life and death. Before I die, as long as I can see you crowned Emperor, I would have no regrets…”

His words were like a curse engraved on Qin Ruwang’s heart. Ten days later, the crown prince died violently in the East palace. Examinations on the corpse revealed that he had been poisoned. The Emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation of the murder, placing the ninth prince, Qin Ruwang, in charge of the matter.

After a thorough investigation, it was revealed that the person who poisoned the crown prince was unexpectedly his imperial consort. She resented that the prince doted on his favoured concubine but treated her coldly. Blinded by hatred, she finally ended up committing such a sin. 

For poisoning the Empire’s crown prince, the imperial consort was executed, and the nine clans of her family were also put to death.

The execution lasted for three days. Mountains of corpses and rivers of blood ran through the execution grounds. The shrill screams shook the heavens and earth and the strong scent of blood travelled all the way to the central palaces. Because of the continual screams, even the people of the palace who had become used to death, had nightmares from the sounds.

During these three days, Qin Ruwang visited the execution ground only once. The ground was stained black with blood and broken blades from the guillotine were left piled in a corner. Corpses still littered the ground, too many to clear away, the scene of destruction so horrific that even the executioner turned pale and ran away to vomit until there was nothing left.

The soles of Qin Ruwang’s boots were stained with gore, blood splashing up the leg of his robes. His cold eyes swept across the sea of corpses without a trace of emotion. 

He stood in a hell of his own making.

Every one of these people was innocent, including the imperial consort. She was just the scapegoat he’d chosen after poisoning the crown prince.

He wouldn’t allow anyone to be a stumbling block on his path to becoming the Emperor.

It didn’t matter who stood in his way. 

He moved closer as the next execution was carried out, splattering his jade face with blood. With his pitch black eyes and bloodstained appearance, he looked like a demon who’d clawed its way from the depths of hell, who merely wore the skin of a handsome man.

Now, he wanted the head of the man who sat on the imperial throne.

The crown prince had died, which put the Emperor in a terrible mood. He led a group of princes and ministers to hunt outside of the imperial city. Alongside a large group of guards, they rode their horses deep inside the dense forest. Unexpectedly, they caught sight of a beautiful white fox, who jumped out from the grass and stood in front of the Emperor’s horse, watching him with dark eyes.

The Emperor calmly reached for an arrow from his back, but the white fox sensed the danger and sprung backwards. The Emperor fired an arrow but the fox gracefully leapt out of its way, fleeing into the depths of the forest. 

The Emperor’s arrow had missed, but how could he let the white fox go? Immediately, he urged his mount to chase. The guards moved to follow, but the Emperor had the fastest horse in a thousand miles, even at their fastest speeds, they couldn’t keep up with him. They shouted for their Emperor but could only watch as his figure disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

The white fox continued to race away, but the Emperor never once lost sight of it. The Emperor shot several arrows, yet each time they only brushed against the fox’s fur. This only angered the Emperor, and he vowed to kill the cunning fox.

But without warning, the white fox jumped up and disappeared into the undergrowth. It was only then that the Emperor realised he had been led away from his guards. He had no idea where he was and also had no idea that a drawn arrow was aimed towards his heart.

Whoosh. 

The arrow flew from its bow, brushing past the horse’s neck and burying itself inside the Emperor’s heart.

Frightened, the horse threw the Emperor off its back and bolted into the forest. Blood poured from the Emperor’s chest and he cried out from the pain. Gasping for breath, he looked up to see a figure with a longbow approaching him.

“…It’s you!”

The face of Qin Ruwang appeared in the eyes of the Emperor. He clutched his chest, his expression warped from anger and shock. With red eyes he glared at Qin Ruwang, his cruel voice choked with resentment. 

“This Emperor has never treated you badly, why would you want to kill me? The crown prince is already dead, the day I die the throne would be yours, but you-”

Qin Ruwang put his fingers back on the bowstring, staring viciously down at the man. He ignored the Emperor’s furious questions and curses, as he silently watched his slow death.

Just as the Emperor’s eyes were about to close, he finally leant down and whispered in his father’s ear.

“This arrow was not shot for the throne.” 

“But for my mother, and for him.”

“You can close your eyes now.”

The scene changed but Ji Ning knew that the abrupt death of the monarch sent the government and its opposing powers into a frenzy. After a bloody struggle, the throne finally fell into Qin Ruwang’s hands.

The scene steadied on the day of the enthronement ceremony. Qin Ruwang wore a black Emperor’s ceremonial robe and a mian on his head. Entering the palace of the God son he found the God son sitting on a chair. 

“Why did you get up?”

Qin Ruwang walked up to him, grabbed his thin wrists, and was about to carry him back to bed when the God son stopped him. Beneath his mask, he stared thoughtfully at the young Emperor with pale eyes.

He was in surprisingly good condition that day, not only was he capable of sitting up, but there was a little colour in his lips. They raised slightly as he said in his usual gentle voice, “I never thought I’d get to see you wear these clothes with my own eyes.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and took off his mask, revealing a delicately beautiful face. He said with a smile, “Naturally, now that you are Xia’s Emperor, you can see my true face.” 

Qin Ruwang froze, his eyes locked on the God son’s face for a long time. He slowly raised his hand, as if he wished to touch the God son’s cheek, when he heard the boy say.

“Do you still remember the promise you made back then?”

The God son lowered his eyes, a small smile on his lips. His voice was gentle but the words he spoke were coldly cruel.

“You said that you would crush the Wushen Kingdom, kill its citizens and destroy the altars of the gods. You said you would dig up my body and smash my bones to ashes so I can never enter the cycle of reincarnation.” 

“I told you that if you became the Emperor of Xia before I die, you could kill me yourself. That I would wait for you to kill me.”

“It’s time to fulfil your promise.”

He took Qin Ruwang’s hand and placed it on his neck, smiling sweetly.

“Your Majesty, please can you kill me?” 

Wow.

I find the character Ji Ning plays in this world so sexy. He’s just in complete control of their entire relationship – even Ji Ning asking Qin Ruwang to kill him ensures that Qin Ruwang has no power even in his revenge. Imagine how empty revenge would feel when your enemy has already predicted how it will play out, and then how much worse it feels when you’ve fallen in love with that enemy. I just love their dynamic…but Qin Ruwang is probably having a very bad time right now!!