Zhaoyi of Qin State

  "A Li, as long as you live on, I am willing to give you anything, including my life." Faintly, I seemed to have heard someone say so, that voice, was exactly like Uncle Ah's.

  A white figure jumped out of the darkness.

  "It's Xiao Bai." I muttered in Uncle Ah's arms, and only then did he slowly let go. He helped me stand steady, placing his index finger on my forehead, a warm flow pouring into my mind.

  Everything in front of me is getting clearer, my body is starting to warm up, and I'm gradually regaining sensation in my limbs. I'm really enjoying everything Uncle Ah is giving me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. If only Uncle Ah's fingers wouldn't leave my forehead, it would be great if we could stay like this forever.

  This endless stream of power makes me feel so comfortable that I never want to leave, and I greedily accept the gifts given by Uncle.

  A force from the left knocked me open, my forehead left Uncle's fingers, and my body crashed into the stone wall, my head buzzing with dizziness, my eyes blurred.

  I stood firmly and looked at Uncle, his face was somewhat pale, his eyebrows were tightly locked, as if he had been seriously injured, weakly leaning against the stone wall beside him.

  Xiao Bai has arrived at my feet, and the white fur on his back and legs is stained with a patch of red. Xiao Bai is injured.

  I couldn't take care of my own pain, nor could I take care of coming to Uncle's side. I picked up the little white dog on the ground, his eyes were no longer dim red, the flesh on his back was twitching, and fresh blood was slowly gushing out.

  "Xiao Bai, are you hurt?" This poor little thing, a big patch of fur on its back was gone, revealing the bloody flesh underneath, with blood flowing non-stop.

  I feel heartache for Xiaobai, completely forgetting the pain of his own head injury.

  Xiao Bai let out a soft cry, as if telling me not to worry. I looked up at Uncle and saw him gazing weakly at me, then ran towards him.

  What's going on here?

  Xiao Bai is injured, why does Uncle Ah also seem to be injured?

  My nose is sour, I don't want anything to happen to my uncle. If there's any illness or pain, I'd rather be the one to suffer, and I also don't want my uncle to feel uncomfortable in any way.

  I finally met him, the werewolf.

  Just as I was worried about Uncle's health, his voice sounded behind me, a warm and gentle man's voice.

  "Let me help him."

  At this moment, beside the pitch-black stone wall, as long as someone helps Uncle, no matter who it is, even a ghost, I won't be afraid, because I love Uncle, and have already given up my own life.

  I turned around and looked at the man with a half-human and half-wolf face, exhausted to the point of collapse, without any fear.

  "He said, 'Believe me, I can help him.'"

  He approached me in the morning, I looked at this werewolf with suspicion, whether he was human or ghost, he would be my only hope. In my heart, I wasn't afraid that he would harm Uncle, and inexplicably, I trusted him.

  I held Xiao Bai in one hand and the werewolf approached, I saw his black wolf tail, only then did I feel my whole body trembling, wanting to go forward to stop him from getting close to Uncle.

  He turned back to me with a smile, "I didn't mean it."

  His smile was somewhat ferocious, but his voice was as gentle as water. I stood still, and only felt at ease when Uncle nodded to me before retreating to the side.

  The werewolf and Uncle stood facing each other, their palms locked in a fierce stance. A green aura swirled around them, tendrils of smoke curling up from the ground to shroud their figures. I could only make out vague outlines of the werewolf and Uncle through the swirling mist.

  Time stood still, eerily quiet, except for the sound of water droplets, there was nothing else.

  Until...

  The smoke slowly dispersed, the werewolf retreated from Uncle's side, I narrowed my eyes to look at Uncle, his face had regained its rosy complexion, completely unlike earlier.

  I jogged two steps forward and stood in front of Uncle, looking him up and down.

  "Silly girl, I'm fine." Uncle smiled at me, this smile, so comforting.

  Nodding at Uncle Ah, I turned around and looked at the werewolf behind me with a grateful smile.

  Uncle is fine now!

  At this time, Xiaobai's body trembled in my arms, I looked at the constantly flowing blood from Xiaobai, his eyes were slightly closed.

  "Uncle, Xiao Bai is injured." I exclaimed anxiously, although Xiao Bai was in my arms. To Uncle, I had actually forgotten that Xiao Bai was injured, which was really unfair to Xiao Bai.

  If he hadn't gone to the Dark and Tianlang battle just now, he wouldn't have been so seriously injured. Suddenly I feel like I'm so heartless, with Uncle here, I forgot everything, even almost forgetting Xiaobai's life.

  "The werewolf said, 'This is my fault.'"

  I turned back to look at him, I laughed at myself for being foolish. It turned out that the wolf in the dark was actually the werewolf who had saved Uncle.

  "Follow me." The werewolf said, glancing at Xiaobai in my arms.

  I glanced at Uncle Ah, and Uncle Ah nodded at me, following behind the werewolf!

  I didn't know there was such a vast world inside this cave. I always thought it was haunted by ghosts, man-eating wild cats and monsters.

  The villagers' rumored monster, the wild cat child, isn't this heavenly wolf?!

  He led us through the stone wall, around several small paths, and suddenly opened up in front of us. The cave ahead looked like a fox spirit's residence, beautiful but not fully decorated, with a wooden bridge over flowing water at one end, and a wooden table set with leftover food and wooden utensils.

  Crossing the small bridge, under which the brook babbles, as if it is constantly gushing out from the ground, flowing down the mountain, and converging into that small river leading directly to Qin Village.

  Although it's a cave, there is another beautiful scenery. If I get tired of the worldly life, I think it would be fine to live here with Uncle, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the world.

  Of course, he also avoided Ah Shu's fiancée and his beloved woman Liu Xiujun.

  Uncle and the werewolf walked to the wooden table, seemingly discussing something. I saw the werewolf nodding repeatedly, while Uncle stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the dishes on the table, lost in thought.

  As soon as they entered the cave, Xiao Bai's injuries seemed to ease up and he stopped convulsing.

  "Uncle." I hugged Xiaobai and walked to the stone bed on one side, placing Xiaobai steadily on the stone bed. I turned back and called out to Uncle.

  He walked towards me in the morning, with a werewolf following behind him. The werewolf at this moment was like his guardian deity.

  The werewolf fetched some clean water and gently wiped the wound on Xiaobai's body, so carefully and skillfully that I couldn't help but smile. If the werewolf were a normal person, married with a wife, she would be very happy.

  "Is Xiao Bai okay?" I stood up and walked over to Uncle's side, asking. Xiao Bai's body was trembling with the werewolf's wiping motion.

  His eyes fell on Xiaobai, and Uncle Ahn hummed softly.

  "He's a century-old spirit, once the wound is cleaned up and tonight passes, he should be fine." The werewolf said to me while wiping away Little White's bloodstains.

  I nodded at him, and Xiao Bai's body gradually stopped trembling, quietly lying on the stone bed, letting the werewolf take care of him.

  ……

  It wasn't until dawn that I learned the story of this cave, and why Uncle had to come here. It turned out that the owner of this cave was a woman known to everyone in history, and the decorations inside the cave had been preserved for over 2,000 years under the protection of the wolf people.

  Sleep is coming fast, but I still want to hear out this story.

  "What's next?" I narrowed my eyes and looked up at Uncle Ah, yawning continuously.

  "You'd better go to sleep first." Ah Rong turned his head and glanced at me with a hint of mockery.

  I won't leave until I've heard this story out.

  "I've been here for over 2,000 years, keeping everything intact. She once said that if someone could find their way here and hand this over to them." The werewolf spoke first, handing a jade pendant to Uncle, I looked at the pattern on it, still clearly visible, with a single character "Lv" in the center.

  He raised his neck and I wanted to take a closer look, but Uncle pinched him in his hand, seemingly deep in thought.

  "For so many years, no one has entered the cave, and even if they walked to the entrance of the bloody path, they wouldn't last half a cup of tea's time." The werewolf said with a heavy expression, then shifted his gaze onto me, "When I saw her react to the wolf howl with a headache, I knew you two were the ones I was waiting for."

  I looked at the werewolf in confusion, and he withdrew his gaze from my face.

  "Didn't she leave any other words?" Uncle Ah listened for a long time, the jade pendant in his hand felt warm, before asking the wolf man.

  "There is." The werewolf nodded, "She said this jade pendant will save a person's life."

  I felt Uncle Ah pause for a moment, he turned his head and looked at me, I was inexplicably bewildered.

  Uncle nodded and put the jade pendant in his pocket, his movements so light as if he was afraid of breaking the jade.

  "I don't understand anything at all, Uncle." I rubbed against Uncle's side for half a day and finally asked this sentence, as drowsiness was coming on strong.

  "You're tired, go rest early." Uncle looked at that stone bed and hinted for me to go rest soon.

  "But who is this woman you're talking about?"

  "Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji of Qin."

  ……

  I finally got the answer, and I finally knew about the story between Langren and Zhaoji. At that time, Qin Emperor was in power, Lü Buwei was killed, and after that, Zhaoji became depressed and unhappy, and died of illness three years later.

  The day Zhao Ji was buried, the sky was filled with violent sandstorms, and wherever it passed, no grass grew...

  Later, someone said that this was Zhao Ji's last wish. She couldn't let go of Lü Buwei and hoped to be with him until death.

  At that time, the werewolf was still a guard beside Zhao Ji. After Zhao Ji's death, he guarded her tomb every day and refused to eat or drink. Eventually, he fell ill in front of Zhao Ji's tomb.

  He himself didn't know how long he had slept, but when he woke up and saw the woman, she looked so much like Zhao Ji. Later, the wolf learned that Zhao Ji hadn't died, but had only left to escape from her son Qin Shi Huang and flee from the Qin state.

  After all, his own son killed the person he loved most...

  The werewolf left the Qin state with Zhao Ji, traversing thousands of mountains and rivers, arriving at a place now known as Guizhou two thousand years later (at that time it was not yet called Guizhou). Later, someone learned that Zhao Ji had not passed away. The Qin Emperor knew his mother's resentment towards him, for the sake of a man, even if she were still alive, she would not want to see him again.

  The Qin army's momentum was strong, and they searched for Zhao Ji's whereabouts. The wolf-like guards brought her to this cave, where she narrowly escaped disaster. However, after this incident, Zhao Ji never left again, living in the cave with the guards for many years.

  Until death!

  I once asked the werewolf, "You and Zhao Ji are both normal people, why did she pass away over 2,000 years ago while you're still alive?"

  "Perhaps it's fate." The werewolf looked at Zhao Ji's usual spot where she often stood at the entrance of the cave, gazing far away, and let out a deep sigh.

  I just realized that the person Zhao Ji loved most in her heart was always Lü Buwei, while Langren Shìwèi had been willing to accompany Zhao Ji all along, not because she was once the biological mother of the ruler of the world, Zhao Taihou, but because he fell in love with this woman who shouldn't be loved.

  Silently dedicating himself to her for a lifetime.

  Originally, after Zhao Ji passed away, the guard did not leave and lived a life of seclusion, fulfilling the last wish of Zhao Ji before her death, waiting for someone once again.

  "Why did Zhao Ji know for sure that someone would come looking for the jade?" This has always been a puzzle in my mind.