Chapter 134

Night had fallen, and the wind blowing down from the mountainside already carried the chill of early winter.

The Xie family was a prestigious clan with a history spanning centuries, and their ancestral cemetery occupied nearly half of the mountain outside the city.

Frost-white moonlight spilled across the bluestone pathways, making it seem as though a light snowfall had just fallen.

Graves stood everywhere, lending the cemetery an eerie atmosphere in the darkness. Yet someone still walked through the moonlit night toward it. The lantern in his hand swayed in the cold wind, casting a hazy pool of dim yellow light.

Only when he arrived before the joint tomb of Xie Linshan and his wife did he stop. The dark golden embroidery on his brocade boots flickered in and out of sight beneath the lantern’s glow.

An elderly servant carrying a food box crouched down and opened it, carefully placing the offerings one by one onto the stone altar before the grave.

“Miss, the Prime Minister has come to see you. He even brought your favorite longevity clover cakes.”

After arranging the three offerings, the old servant took out a fire starter and bundles of spirit money. He lit them and slowly fed them into the brazier before the tomb while murmuring:

“Chef Nie from the main kitchen, the one who makes these longevity clover cakes, has become more and more dim-sighted these past two years. Since the day you were married, the Prime Minister kept him employed for twenty-one years just because of this pastry he made. In another couple of years, he probably won’t be able to continue and will return home to retire.”

The flames from the burning paper money gradually outshone the lantern’s glow, illuminating the traces of age and melancholy in the old servant’s eyes.

The calligraphy carved into the stone monument also became clearly visible.

The words ‘Tomb of Wei Wan, Wife of the Great General Who Defended the Nation’ were especially striking.

A silver squirrel-fur cloak rested upon Wei Yan’s shoulders. Standing in the flickering firelight, he silently gazed at his younger sister’s grave.

Only after a long while did he speak.

“Wei Quan, leave us.”

The old servant rose and bowed.

“Then this old servant will wait for Your Excellency at the mountain road below, as I do every year.”

Wei Yan nodded slightly.

The old servant left the lantern before the grave and quietly withdrew.

The wind picked up, stirring the hem of Wei Yan’s cloak and scattering sparks and ashes from the burning paper money into the night.

Wei Yan bent down and picked up a stack of unburned spirit money beside the brazier. He tore off pieces one by one and tossed them into the flames.

Throughout it all, he remained silent.

Even before a lonely grave in the wilderness, he could not bring himself to utter a single word from his heart.

When Xie Zheng arrived beneath the cold moonlight, this was the scene he saw.

Standing more than ten paces away, he curled his lips into a mocking smile and spoke with icy sharpness:

“You drove her to her death, yet you come here every year on this day. Who exactly are you putting on this performance for? Or is it because she’s been too peaceful in the underworld, so you have to come disgust her once a year?”

The moment he heard the footsteps, Wei Yan already knew who had come.

Standing with his side toward Xie Zheng, he did not even raise his eyelids. Acting as though he had heard nothing, he continued burning every last sheet of spirit money in his hand.

Only after the final piece had turned to ash did he brush the dust from his robe and rise.

As he walked back and was about to pass by Xie Zheng, he finally stopped and left behind a single sentence.

“I thought after hiding in the shadows for months, you no longer even had the courage to come here and pay your respects today.”

One of Xie Zheng’s brows lifted.

His gaze was as cold as blades. Beneath the moonlight, his face seemed covered in frost.

With a sarcastic curl of his lips, he replied:

“So the Prime Minister came to the Xie family cemetery in the dead of night just to see whether I would come burn incense?”

Turning his head slightly, he added mockingly:

“I have never feared coming here. The one who needs courage to come is you, isn’t it? Blood debts must eventually be repaid.”

Wei Yan glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

His emotions were unreadable.

Without saying a word, he lifted his foot and continued walking away.

He had only taken two steps when Xie Zheng’s expression darkened. Staring at his parents’ cold gravestones in the distance, his loose hair fluttered in the night wind. Savage fury churned within his star-like eyes.

Without warning, he drew his sword.

The blade swept toward Wei Yan in a reverse slash.

The sword wind roared with overwhelming force, fast as lightning.

Clang!

A metallic collision rang out in the night.

Weapons met.

The piercing screech of steel against steel sent sparks flying.

The death guards hidden throughout the cemetery instantly revealed themselves.

Facing a formidable enemy, they quickly formed a defensive wall around Wei Yan.

A cold, mocking smile curved Xie Zheng’s lips.

Staring at Wei Yan behind more than ten death guards, he raised his bloodstained sword.

“You and I are destined to settle this sooner or later.”

“Why not today?”

The moment the words fell, his eyes sharpened.

He suddenly closed in on one of the death guards.

His sword flashed dozens of times in an instant.

Sparks exploded everywhere.

The tremendous force split the guard’s tiger’s mouth open. Blood immediately soaked the hilt of his blade, forcing him backward again and again.

At that moment, Xie Zheng’s handsome face looked as terrifying as a vengeful ghost.

A tangible aura of bloodshed seemed to spread from his body.

His sword swung so rapidly that only afterimages remained.

He shouted at Wei Yan:

“My father supported Crown Prince Chengde and stood in your way, so you plotted his death!”

“My mother discovered your scheme, and so you wanted her dead as well?”

With the final swing of his sword—

Clang!

The death guard’s saber snapped cleanly in two.

The man’s eyes widened in terror.

Yet before he could react, the remaining force of the strike cut across his waist.

He convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

Blood slowly spread beneath him.

A gust of mountain wind carried the thick scent of blood through the cemetery, nauseatingly strong.

The remaining death guards stared at Xie Zheng with even greater caution.

All those accompanying Wei Yan tonight were Heaven-ranked death guards.

Any one of them could rival a military officer on the battlefield.

Yet before Xie Zheng, one had not even lasted half a quarter of an hour.

Holding his dripping sword, Xie Zheng stood in the distance.

Fine droplets of blood speckled his face.

The excessive beauty of his features was now consumed entirely by savage menace.

He asked:

“For these past seventeen years, how have you had the nerve to come here?”

The wind swept the ashes of the burned paper offerings through the air.

His black robes outlined his tall figure, making him seem one with the endless night itself.

Wei Yan listened to every accusation.

He remained silent.

Ashes drifted onto his shoulders.

In the flickering darkness, the gray at his temples seemed even whiter than before.

One of the guards protecting him stared warily at Xie Zheng, who was being held back by the others.

“Prime Minister, this place is dangerous. Shall I escort you away first?”

Wei Yan raised a hand, signaling him to withdraw.

The guard looked momentarily stunned but dared not disobey.

He sheathed his weapon and stepped back to Wei Yan’s side.

Separated by several yards, Wei Yan met Xie Zheng’s gaze.

His eyes were unfathomable.

“It is only natural that you hate me.”

“If you do not seek to kill me, then one day I will cut off your head myself.”

“But you should not have been arrogant enough to fight me here.”

Brushing the ashes from his cloak, he continued:

“With your strength alone, you cannot eliminate all of my Heaven-ranked death guards.”

“Since your mother is watching, I will not make things difficult for you here and disturb her peace.”

Wei Yan turned and walked deeper into the darkness along the bluestone path.

Xie Zheng remained standing with his sword.

Suddenly, he let out a cold laugh.

“When she was alive, you couldn’t tolerate her.”

“Now that she’s dead, you’re putting on this act.”

“Do you really think she still knows anything in the underworld?”

Wei Yan paused briefly.

Then he continued walking without a word.

The death guards surrounding Xie Zheng did not dare relax.

Their palms were slick with sweat as they gripped their weapons, fearful that he might attack again.

Only after confirming Wei Yan had gone far away did they slowly retreat, keeping their blades pointed at Xie Zheng.

Then they turned and swiftly disappeared into the night.

The cemetery fell silent once more.

It was already early winter.

Even the chirping of insects was gone.

One of the lanterns had overturned during the fight.

The paper lantern and bamboo frame had burned away completely.

Only the spilled lamp oil upon the bluestone remained, still burning with a faint blue flame.

That dim bluish light illuminated Xie Zheng’s blood-splattered face, making it seem coated in a layer of icy frost.

He turned his head toward his parents’ grave in the distance.

Standing motionless, he looked like a statue.

Memories surfaced one after another.

The sixteen years he had spent in the Wei residence had never felt so vivid.

Ever since he was five years old, Wei Yan had brought him to the Xie family cemetery every Qingming Festival and every death anniversary.

The coachman and guards always waited below the mountain.

Wei Yan said his mother had loved peace and quiet while alive, and bringing too many people here would disturb her rest.

He feared Wei Yan’s severity.

He also resented his mother’s cruelty in leaving him behind.

Each time he knelt before the grave, he merely burned paper offerings and kowtowed.

He never spoke another word.

Wei Yan was the same.

He always remained silent.

He would come here and stand before the grave for a long time before finally leaving.

The spilled lamp oil eventually burned out.

With a soft puff, the blue flame vanished.

Now there was no light left in the world but the cold moonlight.

At last, Xie Zheng moved toward his parents’ grave.

Looking at the name Wei Wan carved into the cold stone monument, he raised a hand and gently touched it.

Moonlight soaked his lowered eyelashes, casting faint shadows beneath his eyes.

Oppression.

Gloom.

Suffocation.

Hatred.

Like a raging tide, they engulfed him and dragged him toward a bottomless abyss.

The hand hanging at his side unconsciously clenched.

His jaw tightened.

A vein bulged visibly at his temple.

Faint traces of scarlet appeared in his eyes.

Then hurried footsteps sounded from the distance.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

As though they were stepping directly upon someone’s heartstrings.

Xie Zheng lifted his eyes.

A small, warm light was rapidly approaching through the darkness.

He saw the girl’s skirt illuminated by the lantern’s soft yellow glow.

He saw her hair flying in the night wind as she ran.

He saw the flush on her cheeks from exertion.

And he saw the worry filling her eyes.

It was a strange feeling.

The darkness and gloom in his heart gradually receded.

One day, despite being covered in wounds, he too had finally been illuminated by a sun that ran toward him.

When Fan Changyu was still at the foot of the mountain, she had already smelled the blood carried by the wind.

Fearing that Xie Zheng had fallen into an ambush, Xie Zhong secretly kept watch over the carriage and horses Wei Yan had left below the mountain, while Fan Changyu sprinted all the way uphill.

On her way up, she had already seen a large pool of blood on the ground.

Seeing blood splattered across Xie Zheng’s face as well, she quickly raised the lantern and examined him for injuries.

Her voice unconsciously tightened.

“How are you?”

“Did Wei Yan’s people ambush you here?”

“Are you hurt?”

Questions poured from her one after another.

Having run so hard, she was breathing heavily, and her words came between gasps.

While she anxiously searched him for injuries, the man before her simply lowered his eyes and stared at her without blinking.

Fan Changyu found no wounds on his front.

But the smell of blood on him was overwhelming.

Worried that he might be injured on his back, she hurriedly said:

“Turn around and let me see!”

Xie Zheng did not move.

Fan Changyu had already learned from Xie Zhong about how he had returned to the Xie ancestral hall to receive one hundred and eight lashes.

Thinking about how he had later gone back to Lu City to find her, she naturally understood why he had endured those one hundred and eight lashes.

Throughout her journey here, she had been unable to suppress the sting in her eyes.

Seeing that Xie Zheng refused to cooperate, she became increasingly worried that his back was injured.

Anxiety filling her heart, she reached out and grabbed his arm, trying to turn him around so she could check.

Unexpectedly—

The man before her suddenly lifted an arm and pressed a hand against the back of her neck, pulling her forcefully into his embrace.

The strength of the hug was so fierce that it nearly crushed her waist.

Fan Changyu found it difficult to breathe.

The lantern slipped from her hand during the stumble and fell to the ground.

In an instant, flames engulfed it.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

Her cheek was pressed tightly against his hard chest.

Then she heard his low, hoarse voice above her head.

The words were clearly meant to push her away.

Yet Fan Changyu suddenly had the illusion that she would never again be able to break free from his hold.