Chapter 46: A Family of One

  I'm covered in sweat and I've run out of energy, but I mustn't give up. I have to persevere and work hard.

  "Xuanyuan, I'm begging you, please wake up. Let's not be angry anymore, okay? If one day you don't like me anymore, please tell me clearly, don't torture me again...” I suddenly couldn't continue speaking, thinking of leaving him made my heart ache sharply.

  It was he who threw a stone into my heart, and collapsed the tightly enclosed city wall. He can be irresponsible, but what about me?

  "Snow..." Xuan Yuan Mu suddenly spoke up from behind.

  "Xuanyuan, are you okay?" I didn't dare to put him down, I was afraid that once I put him down, I wouldn't have the strength to pick him up again: "You're awake, hold on a bit longer, we'll be at the small building soon."

  "Snow, are you going to leave me?" Xuan Yuan's voice was so weak.

  "No, I won't leave you unless you don't want me to, otherwise I won't leave." I replied in tears, with tears dropping down.

  "I won't let you go, never will. You are the only one I love, and I don't even have enough time to love you, how could I bear to let you leave?"

  "Alright, neither of us will leave the other!" I gritted my teeth and replied, struggling forward, this road is so long.

  "Do you love me?" Xuan Yuan Wu asked weakly.

  "Uh, I love you, from childhood to adulthood, I've never loved someone like this before. If you're gone, what's the point of me living? Before, I didn't care about life or death, but since meeting you, I've had hope for living. Xuan Yuan, promise me, you have to be strong and get better." I cried out in response, my strength exhausted, and fell to the ground.

  "Xuān Yuǎn fell to one side, the wound on his neck was shocking, only half connected. 'Get up, let's go back to the small building!'"

  Xuanyuan held my hand tightly "Snow, as long as you're by my side, I'm at ease. You know that day when you said you wanted to leave me, how much I hated myself, it was all my fault, sorry..."

  "Don't say any more, let's get up and go back to our small building!" I stopped him from continuing to speak, got up and went to pull him.

  Xuanyuan was also working hard, and with his cooperation, returning to the small building became much smoother.

  I helped him into the stone coffin and didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the lid was closed.

  Xuanyuan recovered very quickly and came out of the coffin in about an hour. His wound was completely invisible.

  I reached out and touched his neck: "Will it hurt?"

  Xuanyuan shook his head "It won't hurt, I'm a corpse, how could it possibly hurt? But because I don't feel pain, the wound also won't heal."

  "But you got hurt, didn't you?" Otherwise he wouldn't have done that.

  Xuanyuan nodded and pulled me into his arms: "We are a couple who share life and death, even if we occasionally quarrel, we are still family."

  I leaned into his arms and smiled. Yes, even if we occasionally quarrel, we are still a family.

  It wasn't until later that I found out Xuan Yuan Mu could have returned to the small building on his own, but because he was sulking with me, he gave up the best time for treatment and ended up almost becoming a lifeless corpse.

  In the next few days, His Majesty will take Consort An and others out of the palace for a hunt. This is a good opportunity to retrieve the corpse. And this year is different from previous years, the Crown Prince does not need to follow, just having the National Master follow is enough.

  Xuanyuan Qi hurriedly rushed to the East Palace upon hearing this matter.

  "Third brother, this matter is quite strange?"

  Xuanyuan Mu also had a serious face, looking at Xue Qiufeng on one side: "What do you think?"

  "The Emperor suddenly wants to go hunting outside the palace, and he's also bringing along Empress An, who is in charge of the harem. It's scorching summer now, isn't it a bit out of season for hunting? Moreover, every year during early spring hunting, it's always the Crown Prince and other princes who follow him, so why is the National Master accompanying him this time? This is indeed quite strange."

  "Although this is a good opportunity to fish for corpses, we can't fall into someone else's trap!" Xuan Yuan Qi said with furrowed eyebrows.

  "But there's no more opportunity, these two days another two palace maids drowned, if it continues like this, the power of the female corpse will get stronger and stronger, the yin energy will get deeper and deeper, later on probably nobody can handle her." Xuan Yuan Mu said: "Let's take action, I am the crown prince, at that time under the pretext of salvaging the drowned palace maids, seal off Fengyue Water Pavilion, no one will suspect, choose a day when the sun is strongest."

  "Good!" Xuan Yuanqi nodded along with Xue Qiufeng and they left the palace, making preparations.

  "Let's go!" Xuan Yuan Mu turned his head to look at me: "If you're afraid, then don't go."

  I shook my head: "I'm not afraid, but have you asked Master Xue Qiufeng about his affairs? He's been hiding and covering things up, it makes people feel uncomfortable in their hearts."

  "He was asked and said that his master was stabbed by an official, but didn't die. He's afraid the government will bother him again, so he's hiding."

  "Hmm! I don't know if his master will be willing to help us. If he is, maybe we can find the hidden secrets of the palace sooner."

  "When the time comes, we can try and see if he's willing to come out of retirement!"

  The emperor left the palace, and the large team of people who followed him lined up for three miles before leaving the capital. As soon as he saw off the emperor, Xuan Yuan Mu hurriedly rode his horse back to the palace.

  The sun was shining brightly, and everything was ready. The entire area of Fengyue Shui Ge had been sealed off, and Xuan Yuan Mo was going to personally dive into the water to catch Princess Ruolan. Xue Qiufeng had to cooperate.

  Xuanyuan Qi had already prepared the horse carriage, grass paper, grass rope and talisman, just waiting for the female corpse to surface, then he would bind her with a big five-flower knot.

  I stood on the shore, anxiously waiting, the calm surface of the water was as if nothing had happened.

  As time slowly passed, the sun gradually set in the west. Xuan Yuan Mu and Xue Qiu Feng still hadn't appeared, so I grew anxious. Taking advantage of Xuan Yuan Qi's distraction, I tied the Bagua mirror that Xue Qiu Feng had given me to my chest and jumped down from the waterside pavilion.

  In the water, a dark patch appeared because of the sufficient sunlight. Those corpses all hid in the deeper water. I swam towards the bottom of the water and gradually saw Xuan Yuan Mu entangled with a female corpse. Xue Qiu Feng was busy dealing with those wrongly killed corpses. Some were bloated, some had already rotted, their faces blurry.

  I was going downstream, when a female corpse suddenly appeared in front of me, wearing the clothes of a palace maid. Her face was rotten and decaying, looking like she had just died recently. One of her eyes had fallen out and was hanging on her cheek, while the flesh around her mouth had been eaten away by fish, leaving only her dark and gloomy teeth inside.

  I suddenly realized I was being impulsive, and if I continued like this, wouldn't I be causing trouble for them? But I was too worried, so instead of waiting to see what would happen, I decided to take part in it. I stretched out my foot and kicked the female corpse's belly.

  "Hmph..." With a single kick, the woman's belly was actually kicked rotten by me, her rotting body couldn't withstand any impact.