Moles and ants may go unnoticed by adults, but they are the most familiar playmates for children. Nearly every child has crouched on the ground watching ants, imagining what their lives underground must be like.
Life underground, it turns out, is not particularly interesting.
Dark, damp, suffocating—to the point where one doesn’t even know if they are still alive.
Sometimes it feels as though death has already claimed them several times over.
Burned to death.
Bled out until dead.
Mud and water clogged their mouth and nose, ants and insects crawled over their body, tree roots entangled them, threatening to turn them into nourishment.
At times, their body felt light, merging with the soil; at other times, the weight of the entire earth seemed to press down on them, unbearable.
Sometimes the surroundings were noisy—they could hear many sounds: the crackling of fire, the shattering of stones, the scuttling of insects, the tumbling of loose soil.
Other times, it was so quiet it felt blank, as if floating in chaos.
At some point, a knocking sound emerged from the chaos—neither too loud nor too soft—then abruptly pierced downward, penetrating the soil, piercing through his body, through his throat, his chest and lungs—
Xie Yanlai jolted upright like a fish thrown ashore, gasping for air. Before his eyes appeared the face of a man wrapped in a cloak, standing in the darkness, looking down—
"You really are still here," a voice sounded by his ear.
The next moment, a lamp lit up in the darkness, illuminating the man’s face. Xie Yanlai recognized him—Deng Yi.
"You really are tough to kill," Deng Yi said, then shook his head. "No, I should say you’re lucky."
Lucky? Xie Yanlai felt a bitter urge to laugh. Well, yes—many people said he was lucky. A child born outside the main family, suddenly elevated to become a member of the Xie household, living in luxury and high status.
Lucky, to have survived the great fire.
But was it still lucky to run into Deng Yi?
This man who had pledged allegiance to a second master and become Grand Tutor.
A second master whom Xie Yanlai had just killed.
"You’re lucky to have met her," Deng Yi’s voice fell from above.
Her? Who? The thought flashed through Xie Yanlai’s mind. The next moment, Deng Yi released his grip, and the lamp fell. The bean-sized flame instantly erupted into a blaze, engulfing him completely.
Xie Yanlai let out a low cry, instinctively raising his arms to shield his head and face.
But there was no searing heat, no choking smoke.
Xie Yanlai opened his eyes, gasping heavily. The world before him was dim—no great fire, no Deng Yi.
He was no longer lying underground, either.
He was lying beneath a bed, or rather, inside the bed frame.
Though it was also an enclosed space, cramped and unable to stretch out, it was different from being buried in soil.
He had been dreaming again—a dream within a dream.
He took deep breaths, steadying his breathing.
Gradually, a pair of eyes as bright as stars appeared above the bed frame, then the entire face came into view. And when that face smiled, the dark, cramped space beneath the bed seemed bathed in the warmth of spring sunlight.
Xie Yanlai couldn’t help but smile as well.
Death—he didn’t really mind it, nor was he afraid of it.
But if he lived, he could see her again.
"Xie Yanlai," the girl floating above him said with a smile, "are you alright?"
Xie Yanlai wanted to respond, but he knew that as soon as he spoke, the dream would dissipate. In the past, he had always spoken precisely to make the dream fade—except when he dreamed of her.
When he dreamed of her, he didn’t really want to wake up.
He gave a slight nod in place of an answer.
"Really?" The girl frowned, studying him. "Then why aren’t you speaking? Did you injure your throat? Can you not speak?""This damned girl is so annoying even in dreams," Xie Yanlai glared at her.
"It's over, he's not even retorting," the girl murmured. "He must really be broken."
No matter what, he had to teach her a lesson, at least make her stop being so nagging next time she appeared in his dreams. Xie Yanlai said: "Lots of people don't feel like talking, that doesn't mean they've all broken their vocal cords."
The girl's face blossomed into a smile, but then immediately filled with sorrow.
"So much time has passed," she said, reaching out to stroke his face. "Your voice is still hoarse - it must have been damaged by the smoke. Has Deng Yi not been giving you any medicine?"
The hand on his face was soft and warm. Were dream sensations this realistic? Xie Yanlai froze for a moment. And why was she asking about Deng Yi?
"Chu Zhao?" he said.
Chu Zhao looked at him and responded.
"Chu Zhao!" Xie Yanlai suddenly sat up.
Only then did he realize the bed boards had been opened at some point.
Wasn't he dreaming?
But he couldn't get up properly as Chu Zhao threw herself into his arms, embracing him in the narrow bed space.
Though this girl wasn't particularly heavy, her weight was still substantial when she landed on him - different from fire-blocking screens, different from planks supporting collapsing tunnels, different from layers of earth falling on him...
This wasn't a dream.
It was real.
"Chu Zhao!" Xie Yanlai said. "What are you doing!"
"Did I hurt your wounds?" the girl immediately responded, supporting herself to slide aside. "Where are you injured? Sword wounds or burns?"
Xie Yanlai snorted: "Injuries everywhere, all kinds of wounds..."
Before he could finish, he saw Chu Zhao's tears fall, one drop then two, soon pouring down like rain, streaming across her face. She carefully leaned down, gently circling his neck with her arms, nestling against his side.
Xie Yanlai paused, then slowly said: "It's not that serious. You came too late - the wounds have already healed."
Chu Zhao nestled against his side without speaking, but Xie Yanlai knew she was still crying as her tears soaked through his shoulder.
"Stop crying," Xie Yanlai said, hesitating before raising his hand to gently pat her. "I'm really fine now. A month has passed, it's all over."
Chu Zhao lifted her head to look at him.
With the curtains and bed boards opened, though night had fallen, the visibility wasn't dim.
His face was pale, thin and sunken. If not for his still thick dark eyebrows and slightly upturned phoenix eyes, she wouldn't have recognized him as the arrogant, spirited Xie Yanlai.
Chu Zhao's eyes blurred with tears: "Xie Yanlai, why are you always so miserable?"
Xie Yanlai looked at the tear-streaked girl before him. The last time he saw her cry like this was after her father passed away. A hundred emotions surged in his heart while countless warm currents spread through his veins.
He couldn't help but laugh: "Maybe my fate is just unlucky, that's all."
Chu Zhao shook her head: "No, your fate is good - good enough to let you do what you want and still survive."
She buried her head in Xie Yanlai's shoulder again.
"My fate is good too, to have met you."
Was meeting him really good fate for her? Wasn't it just yesterday that she blamed him for disrupting her path, for cutting off her return to the Border Commandery?
The girl pressed against his shoulder lifted her head again, looking at him: "I didn't know back then that meeting you was actually heaven smiling upon me."
He didn't know why, but hearing these words felt like being scorched by fire again, burning him with restless discomfort throughout his body."Stop with the sweet talk," Xie Yanlai said, reaching out to push the girl's forehead. "Get up quickly, don't squeeze against me."
But Chu Zhao didn't rise, instead resting her head on his shoulder.
"Wait a moment, let me catch my breath," she said, releasing a long, deep sigh.
She must be exhausted too.
Learning he had disappeared.
Learning Xiao Xun had been assassinated.
All while carrying the weight of anxiety, suppressing her spirit, deploying troops methodically without haste or panic.
For nearly a month, he had been hidden by Deng Yi beneath the bed plank, mostly drifting in and out of consciousness.
Though the stupor and physical pain were agonizing, those who remained conscious suffered even more.
Xie Yanlai fell silent, feeling the girl leaning against his shoulder breathing steadily—she had truly fallen asleep.
"Me too," he murmured softly.
Meeting you was truly heaven granting me mercy.
......
......
A Le stood by the door, glancing into the inner chamber before looking at the four or five physicians waiting outside.
"When will we let the physicians examine his injuries?" she couldn't help whispering.
Logically, the moment he was found, he should have been carried out for immediate medical assessment—so why had the young lady climbed into the bed too?
Xiao Man said, "It's been a month already—another moment won't change the urgency of his injuries."
She peeked inside.
"They've fallen asleep."
Asleep... A Le felt both amused and helpless. How were they asleep again? This time it wasn't just Xie Yanlai—the young lady had dozed off too.
Xiao Man signaled to her with a glance: "Let them sleep. They're both exhausted."
A Le paused in silence, offered no further words, and gently closed the door.
OpenNovel