CH 153

The Emperor Star Will Fall

"Really?..."

Yan Yuan suspected that he had fallen into a beautiful illusion. He had long been prepared to be rejected by Xuan Long again, but Xuan Long actually reached out his hand and took the blue iris in his hand.

"En."

Receiving an affirmative reply, Yan Yuan looked at the man in front of him with a slight blush, which made his pale face look a little better:.

"Then... then can I hold your hand?"

"En."

Yan Yuan tentatively stretched out his hand and leaned in to take Xuan Long's right hand that was hanging at his side. This time, Xuan Long did not hide, and was actually held in his palm.

The one he loved had finally agreed to his courtship.

Yan Yuan thought that the reason for Xuan Long's consent was the beautiful blue iris, so every day since then, as long as Yan Yuan was awake, he would always go to the Zijue Lake to pick a fresh blue iris and give it to Xuan Long, regardless of whether he was ill or not.

He greedily hoped that with each blue iris he received, Xuan Long would like him more.

The fairies passing by the lake often saw their emperor, dressed in a white tunic with his white hair hanging down, bending over his bare feet in search of something among the flowers.

He was looking for the most beautiful one.

Xuan Long's decision was ultimately acquiesced by Ye Ling Shenjun and Yan Jing, both of whom knew that the Emperor Star had been severely damaged and that it was difficult to disobey the Heavenly Way, so Yan Yuan's hope of survival was slim.

Instead of watching him being tortured by the pain of unrequited love until he dies, it was better to let him be happy before he left. 

Even if that happiness had to be above the physical torture.

Since Xuan Long had agreed to be with Yan Yuan, it was clear that Yan Yuan was much happier, but inevitably, his health was deteriorating.

The weakened Emperor Star insisted on clinging to the Lonely Heavenly Star, and its destruction was inevitable.

Occasionally, when he could not find Yan Yuan, he would go to the kitchen or to Zijue Lake, where he would most likely find him. He was either making fish soup or had gone to Zijue Lake to collect flowers, while the remaining 20% of his time was spent picking A'Zhi up from school. If he hadn't returned for a long time, he must have fainted in the kitchen, in the flowers, or halfway to the school.

Every time Xuan Long had to go and get him back, Yan Yuan had either injured his hands by making fish or fainted in the sea of flowers and got covered in cold dew. His body was already in bad shape, so it was inevitable that Xuan Long couldn't help but be angry when he added insult to injury.

This time, he fainted in the kitchen. When he fell down, he instinctively tried to grab something beside him, but ended up knocking over the pot of soup on the stove and spilling the hot water meant for making soup over half of his body. From his neck to his chest, the area had been burned and blood blisters had formed, which broke and stuck to his clothes and flesh. He had to remove his clothes to clean the wound, which inevitably ripped off a layer of skin.

The bloody flesh was exposed to the air, and Xuan Long personally applied medicine to Yan Yuan. The light green ointment was applied to the wound with a flat wooden stick, slightly easing the burning pain.

The corners of Yan Yuan's forehead were stained with cold sweat, and strands of white hair stuck to his skin. He vaguely sensed that Xuan Long was angry and moved his hand over, clutching Xuan Long's sleeve and gently tugging it.

"A'Po... I'll make you fish soup tomorrow, don't you be angry with me..."

Xuan Long was angry with him for not caring for his body, but he thought he was angry because he didn't get to eat the fish soup.

"I have said that I do not like fish soup, so you must not make it again."

"If you make it again, I will really hate you."

There was no reasoning with a fool. Yan Yuan's memory had become very poor; what Xuan Long had said to him one moment, he often forgot the next. Xuan Long forbade him from wandering and told him to stay on his bed to recuperate. Yan Yuan always forgot, but he remembered that Xuan Long loved fish soup and liked blue irises.

The burns were so painful, yet Yan Yuan did not cry, but when he heard Xuan Long's words, his face fell into tears and he whimpered:

"Don't hate me..."

"A'Po, don't hate me..."

Xuan Long: "Then promise me that you won't run around in the future."

"No going to the kitchen and no picking flowers from Zijue Lake."

Yan Yuan cried and nodded.

Xuan Long reached out and wiped the tears from his cheeks with his fingers, whispering, "Emperor, don't cry, if A'Zhi comes back and he sees you, he'll laugh at you, at his father being such a crybaby"

A'Zhi would not laugh at him. In the mortal world, when Yan Yuan missed Xuan Long and A'Zhi missed his mother, father and son would cry together, but now, Yan Yuan could not remember anything.

Enduring the pain in his body, he lifted the back of his hand to wipe the tears from his eyes, "Does A'Po not like it when I cry?"

Xuan Long didn't want Yan Yuan to ask this question, it wasn't a question of whether he liked it or not, it was just that when he saw the formerly healthy man who had become dumb and foolish, crying like a child, his heart felt sad.

"Then I won't cry." Yan Yuan looked at Xuan Long and sniffled without waiting for him to reply. " I won't cry in the future."

Without saying a word, Xuan Long silently bandaged his wound and, with his palm facing upwards, produced a bowl of medicine that he had prepared earlier.

Yan Yuan had to drink it every day, and although the effect was slight, it was better than not drinking it at all.

He was a child now and was afraid of bitterness. The red dates and candied gourds could no longer coax Yan Yuan into drinking the medicine, and now that he was in severe pain, he was even more reluctant to add to the misery, but the person who told him to drink the medicine was Xuan Long, so even if the bowl contained poison, he would have taken it without hesitation.

With his injuries, it was difficult for Yan Yuan to get up, so Xuan Long fed him a small spoonful of medicine while Yan Yuan was lying down, and Yan Yuan dutifully opened his mouth and drank it. The bitter liquid dripped from his tongue to his throat, causing him to frown and choke on the first sip. He coughed violently, coughing up blood that soiled the bedding, and the bandages he had just placed on his body gradually blotted with red spots.

"A'Yuan..." Xuan Long produced a clean white handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of Yan Yuan's mouth.

After coughing, Yan Yuan twisted his head to look at Xuan Long, and his breath weakly said:

"Will A'Po like me more after I drink the medicine?..."

Xuan Long's lowered eyes made it impossible to see the emotion: "Yes."

Yan Yuan smiled, looking at Xuan Long's eyes like star fire in the dark night. After Xuan Long had cleaned the blood from the corners of his mouth, he took several sips of the bitter medicine one after another, looked at Xuan Long with unblinking eyes and asked:

"Then after drinking the medicine, A'Po, kiss me, okay?..."

"… Okay." Xuan Long said.

The medicine bowl was empty, and Xuan Long produced a candied fruit and brought it to Yan Yuan's lips, but Yan Yuan refused to eat it, pursing his pale lips and looking at Xuan Long bashfully.

Xuan Long knew what he meant and slowly leaned down, a strand of his ink black hair fell on Yan Yuan's face, and Yan Yuan's eyes closed nervously as he felt a feather-light kiss fall on his forehead, his breathing slowing for a moment.

After the kiss, Yan Yuan seemed to look much better. He ate the candied fruit given to him by Xuan Long and pulled up the blanket to cover his face, too embarrassed to look at Xuan Long.

He had long been drowsy and fell asleep shortly afterwards. Xuan Long called his name through the bedding, but Yan Yuan did not answer.

Most of his snow-white silver hair was exposed outside the bedding, a sign that he would not live long...