Love Beyond the Grave

The current situation was rather tricky, and Duan Xu thought he might have to mobilize the Purple Micro agents lurking in Jingzhou. Just as he was considering this, he spotted a crow landing on the moonlit ground.

His eyes flickered, then he smiled.

A pale hand rested on Han Lingqiu's shoulder, and He Simu's strikingly beautiful yet pallid face appeared behind him. She said coldly, "Have I come at a bad time, interrupting your reunion?"

Her fingers dug deeply into Han Lingqiu's shoulder as she enunciated each word: "Let go."

Han Lingqiu stared at He Simu in shock, involuntarily releasing his grip. He murmured, "You are..."

He Simu snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, and Han Lingqiu swayed before collapsing to the ground. Then she turned gracefully to face the room full of astonished gazes, pointing at Duan Xu and declaring, "This man is mine. I'm taking him."

Whispers of fear rose from the soldiers hidden in the shadows. The first to react was Luda, who glanced at the Ghost King Lamp at He Simu's waist and said, "That lamp... Could you be... the Ghost King?"

He Simu nodded. "Good eye."

"The last time I saw you, you were human."

"That was just a little game."

Luda's gaze shifted between Duan Xu and He Simu. "From then till now, your situations have reversed. You turned from human to ghost, and he from ghost to human. There's some kind of connection between you."

His eyes settled on Duan Xu. "So this is the reason Marshal Duan achieved such overwhelming victories on the Yunluo battlefield?"

Duan Xu couldn't help but scoff. Closing his Illusion-Breaking Sword, he said lightly, "If thinking that way makes you feel better, then go ahead."

He Simu waved her hand, and three hidden spikes flying toward Duan Xu froze midair. She looked at Fourteen, snapped her pale fingers, and the poisoned spikes burned to ashes, scattering to the ground.

Fourteen, their owner, wore a dark expression. He said coldly to Duan Xu, "In the end, you betrayed the Azure God and sided with the evil deity." Pausing, he turned to Murtu and added, "Master, he's the one from the legends—the child connected to the evil god, the one who opposes the Azure God. We should have killed him long ago."

He Simu had no interest in the grudges of anyone other than Duan Xu and was about to take him away directly. But Duan Xu grasped her hand, signaling her to wait.

He turned to the white-haired Murtu in the wheelchair. From the moment he entered the prison until now, Murtu hadn't spoken much. Earlier, he hadn't responded to Fourteen either. He simply sat there with his back straight, like a statue, like a mountain.

Yet Duan Xu felt he knew what Murtu wanted to say but couldn't voice.

"Master, is this the first time you've left the Heavenly Awareness Manor in nine years?" he asked.

Duan Xu still remembered Murtu with jet-black hair when he left. Now it was entirely white, and those once-agile legs could only rely on a wheelchair. He maintained his dignity, refusing to show excitement or frailty.

But he had truly aged. So this was what growing old meant—nine years had passed, and even the once-indomitable leader of Heavenly Awareness had withered.

Even nightmares grow old.The anger and fear surging within him gradually receded, as if he had struggled to pull one foot out of a nightmare that had lasted over a decade. Finally, he could barely wipe away the blood-red haze from his eyes and take a closer look at his tormentor.

Had he not also been Murtu’s nightmare?

"Master, not everything in this world has an answer. The answer you seek—I don’t have it, and even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. What I can tell you is this: the obedience, attachment, fanaticism, and devotion of Seventeen, whom you once adored most, were all fake. They always were. I loathe everything about Heaven Knows. I never considered being Seventeen an honor, nor have I ever believed in the Azure God. Master, the truth is, I have never believed in any god at all. In every quagmire I’ve faced..."

Duan Xu pointed at himself and said, "It was always me who pulled myself out. Gods have mystical power because I believe in them. Their power is my own power."

Murtu’s hands clenched tightly, as if he were desperately restraining his emotions, veins bulging on his forehead, his breathing heavy and erratic.

After a pause, Duan Xu said, "I hated you once, Master."

Murtu had once told him that those who were useless did not deserve to live in this world. So, he had blinded Murtu, cruelly wondering how a useless Murtu would survive. As if tormenting Murtu would allow him to breathe easier when recalling those past horrors.

But hatred had no end, and the past never truly vanished. What had truly freed him was time—and He Simu.

"But I don’t hate you anymore, Master. Yet you must still hate me, and this hatred will likely only end when one of us dies. Perhaps even in the next life, we still won’t understand each other. Honestly... that’s not such a bad ending."

Duan Xu took a step back, then knelt on the ground strewn with withered grass. Slowly, he lowered himself, pressing his forehead to the earth with a soft thud.

As if realizing what Duan Xu was doing, Murtu’s expression froze momentarily.

"Thank you for teaching me martial arts, for imparting to me the art of war. Every skill I possess is because of your favor and your unreserved guidance."

"Thank you for once treating me sincerely, as if I were your own child, for protecting me at every turn."

Duan Xu bowed twice, then straightened up and looked at Murtu. The man opposite him trembled faintly, as if some uncontrollable emotion raged within him. The dark red scars where his eyes had been, stark under the moonlight, bore witness to painful memories.

"Thank you for traveling thousands of miles to Jingzhou, just to see me one last time and settle things between us. Master, you are still one of the greatest men I have ever known. But I would rather walk a solitary bridge in this world than tread the golden road to the underworld."

In the Scripture of Azure Words, the most devout followers of the Azure God would, after death, walk a road paved with gold, leading to a world free of suffering, filled only with bliss. Back then, he had wondered: people loved gold because it could buy delicacies, fine silks, and grand mansions. But if that world had no hunger, cold, or storms, what use was gold? If men were mice, would the golden road instead be paved with rice?

In the end, he was a rebel who doubted everything. The only thing he could be certain of was the solitary bridge beneath his feet.Duan Xu kowtowed once more before rising from the ground. It was at this moment that Murtu finally spoke, saying, "Duan Xu, that is your name now."

"Yes."

"I swear in the name of the Azure God, you will lose everything and die with eyes unclosed."

Duan Xu smiled faintly and replied, "Good, I'll wait for it. Farewell, Master."

He Simu took Duan Xu's hand, and he casually lifted the unconscious Han Lingqiu beside them. Under the serene moonlight, a wisp of blue smoke drifted by, and the three vanished without a trace.

To avoid causing a commotion, He Simu placed Duan Xu and Han Lingqiu in a remote wilderness some distance from the Returning Crane Army camp in Yunzhou. When his feet finally touched the soil of Yunzhou, Duan Xu let out a long sigh of relief, his entire body relaxing. Everything that had just transpired felt like a dream, and now, surrounded by silence, it was as if he had awakened from that dream.

He turned to He Simu and said, "Your timing was impeccable."

"Why didn't you call for me when you were in trouble?"

"It wasn't something I couldn't handle." Duan Xu began walking toward the brightly lit, bustling army camp in the distance.

He Simu walked beside him with her arms crossed and asked, "Were you afraid of that man—your master?"

"Could you tell?"

"You were trembling when I first arrived." She spun around to stand in front of him, looking up into his eyes with a smile. "But you weren’t afraid anymore after I came. What’s this, General? Are you borrowing my strength to intimidate others now?"

Duan Xu stopped in his tracks. He looked down at He Simu, then reached out to embrace her, pulling her cold body tightly against his. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair—identical to his own.

He Simu gently patted his back.

"I once lived to please him. I thought I could never face him again. Before you came, it felt like I had fallen back into a nightmare. But when you arrived, the dream ended." He chuckled softly. "Even though I’ve spoken to you lightly about the things Heaven Knows, I know I haven’t truly let go."

The occasional flashes of madness and bloodlust that surfaced in him were reminders that he wasn’t an ordinary man—perhaps he was a weapon or a beast wearing human skin.

"But just now, I felt like I might finally be able to let go. Maybe after years of pretending, I didn’t even realize I’ve already become human."

Over the years, he had shed some of his sharp edges. Though he still walked a tightrope, his steps had grown steadier. Perhaps it was because he had gained something of his own—for the first time, he felt at peace living.

And now, there was someone who would hold him like this, patting his back, effortlessly yet earnestly soothing his pain.

He Simu was silent for a moment before she smiled and lifted Duan Xu’s head, caressing his face. "Duan the Fox, you’re truly brave."

"Am I?"

"Mhm. There aren’t many in this world who can face their past as openly as you, bringing it to a proper close." She tilted her head slightly. "Maybe even I can’t."

"It’s because of you."

"No, you’ve always been a brave person. Courage is a rare quality. Of all the people I’ve met in this world, you are the bravest."Duan Xu smiled, releasing He Simu and taking her hand to interlace their fingers as they walked toward the military camp. As they neared the camp, he hoisted Han Lingqiu—who had been kept afloat by Simu's magic—onto his shoulder.

The guards on duty seemed to recognize Duan Xu from afar, as a commotion arose from the camp before the gates swung open. Chen Ying rode out with a group to meet him. Upon reaching Duan Xu, Chen Ying dismounted and hurried over to help support Han Lingqiu, exclaiming anxiously, "I only found out after returning from Treading White that you sneaked into the enemy camp alone again! Third Brother, how could you take such risks? Your body has long—"

Mid-sentence, he finally noticed He Simu standing beside Duan Xu and swallowed the rest of his words. Meeting Duan Xu's warning gaze, he quickly amended, "—long belonged not just to you, but to Great Liang! You must take better care of it!"

Simu paid no mind to Chen Ying's stammering. Since only Duan Xu and Chen Ying could see her, she waved dismissively to indicate she would wait for them inside the camp before vanishing into a wisp of smoke.

After a moment of observation, Chen Ying sighed in relief. As he helped Duan Xu secure Han Lingqiu onto the horse, he chided, "Third Brother, you really must stop acting so recklessly."

"Understood, understood. Look how frightened you are," Duan Xu replied, actually chuckling.

"Third Brother, you're still laughing!" Chen Ying protested.

Still smiling, Duan Xu affectionately ruffled Chen Ying's hair.