Black Magic Rose Chapter 20
byChapter 20: Awakening and Farewell
Wen Jingheng had a very long dream.
In the dream, he walked in endless darkness, surrounded by eternal silence and coldness. He didn’t know who he was or where he was going, just walking aimlessly until he saw a faint light in the distance.
The light was weak, yet stubbornly bright, like a guide and a temptation. He walked toward the light, and after an unknown amount of time, he finally saw the source of the light—it was a rose blooming in the dark night. Its petals were deep, inky black, but its core emitted an eerie red glow.
He reached out to touch it. Just as his fingertip was about to brush the petal, the rose suddenly transformed into a human figure. The person had long, ink-black hair, and a pair of crimson eyes were quietly watching him.
“It’s time to wake up,” the person said.
Then, the world spun violently.
Everyone in the Wen Family sensed the abnormality.
First, there were inexplicable energy fluctuations and signs of struggle late at night. Then, the eldest young master, who had been in a coma for several years, suddenly showed improvement—though he still hadn’t woken up, his complexion was rosy, his breathing was strong, and even the data on the medical instruments became unprecedentedly stable.
All these changes occurred after the crimson-eyed “young madam” desperately “protected” the eldest young master.
Rumors quietly spread through the deep manor. Some said Shu Yijin was an Ill-Omened Being who brought disaster; others suggested he might truly be Wen Jingheng’s lucky star, and the Auspicious Marriage had worked. Regardless, the attitude of the Wen Family high-ups toward Shu Yijin underwent a subtle shift—from initial contempt and suspicion to cautious observation.
Shu Yijin was well aware of these changes but remained outwardly calm. He continued to meticulously care for Wen Jingheng every day, though his movements carried a hint of imperceptible urgency.
Through the Black Rose mark, he could clearly sense the acceleration of Wen Jingheng’s conscious activity. Although the transferred curse continuously eroded his power within his body, it also unexpectedly accelerated the disintegration of the Seal. As the Seal loosened, he recovered more and more of his power, and his premonition of Wen Jingheng’s awakening grew stronger.
Time was running out.
This evening, Shu Yijin was wiping Wen Jingheng’s body as usual. As he wiped his chest, a subtle tremor suddenly ran through the skin beneath his fingertips. It wasn’t an unconscious muscle spasm, but a genuine acceleration of the heartbeat.
Shu Yijin paused and looked up at the person on the bed.
Wen Jingheng’s eyelashes were trembling lightly, like a butterfly struggling to break free from its cocoon. His fingers unconsciously curled, and his breathing became rapid.
He was about to wake up.
This realization made Shu Yijin’s heart skip a beat. He should have been happy—Wen Jingheng’s awakening meant the Seal would completely collapse, and the freedom he had long awaited was close at hand. But for some reason, looking at this increasingly familiar face, he felt a trace of hesitation.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. The old butler stood outside, his tone respectful but brooking no refusal: “Young Master Yijin, the Elder Council requests your presence.”
What had to come finally arrived. A cold light flashed in Shu Yijin’s eyes. The Wen Family had clearly noticed Wen Jingheng’s change and intended to settle things before he woke up.
“I will be there shortly,” he replied calmly, but his wiping motion didn’t stop, as if this were just a routine summons.
After the butler’s footsteps faded, Shu Yijin put down the towel and sat by the bed. He gazed at Wen Jingheng’s face, realizing for the first time how clearly this drama, which began with calculation, had long since deviated from its original track.
“Wen Jingheng,” he spoke softly, his voice carrying a complexity he hadn’t noticed himself, “you and I must say goodbye.”
The person on the bed seemed to hear the words, his brow furrowing slightly, as if struggling to wake up.
Shu Yijin reached out, his fingertips lightly brushing Wen Jingheng’s brow. There was once a golden mark there, a symbol of the Wen Family bloodline and one of the keys to sealing him. Now the mark had faded, meaning the Seal was about to completely disintegrate.
“The world you guard does not deserve a Savior like you,” Shu Yijin’s voice was very light, like a feather falling. “But since we were married, I will give you a parting gift.”
He leaned down and whispered a few words into Wen Jingheng’s ear. It was a hint about a certain secret within the Wen Family, concerning those who had been secretly watching and might even pose a threat to Wen Jingheng. This was not something the “Evil God” should do, yet he said it anyway.
After speaking, he straightened up and took out an exquisite small box from his embrace. Opening the box, inside was an obsidian cufflink. Dark red light flowed within the stone material, like solidified blood.
“Keep it as a memento,” he placed the cufflink beside Wen Jingheng’s pillow. “If one day in the future, we stand on opposing battlefields, perhaps it can save your life.”
This was the truth. A wisp of his Source Blood power was sealed within the cufflink, capable of saving Wen Jingheng’s life at a critical moment. As for why he was doing this, Shu Yijin himself didn’t want to delve deeper.
Just then, Wen Jingheng’s eyelashes trembled even more violently, as if his eyes would open at any moment.
Shu Yijin knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He stood up, taking one last look at the face of his “husband,” engraving every detail deep into his memory.
“Goodbye, Wen Jingheng.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the window. The setting sun’s afterglow streamed through the window, casting his shadow long across the room. At the brightest point of the light, his figure began to turn transparent, gradually dissolving like melting ice and snow.
The very next second after he completely vanished, Wen Jingheng on the bed abruptly opened his eyes.
The eyes that had been closed for years were initially confused, but quickly regained clarity and sharpness. He instinctively looked toward the pillow—it was empty, save for an obsidian cufflink glowing with a dark red luster in the sunset.
A faint, lingering cold fragrance remained in the air, the scent of that person.
Wen Jingheng propped himself up, his body weak, and scanned the room. Everything was as it was in his “memory,” except for the absence of the person who should have been there.
He picked up the cufflink; the icy touch made him shiver slightly. Through the years of vague Shared Sensation, he had long understood that Shu Yijin was far from as simple as he appeared. But the person’s departure still left him with a strange sense of emptiness.
“Shu. Yi. Jin.” He softly spoke the name, his fingertips tracing the smooth surface of the cufflink, his expression complex and hard to decipher.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and the Wen Family members who had rushed over upon hearing the news flooded in. Seeing the awakened Wen Jingheng, they were both surprised and delighted, surrounding him with a flurry of chatter.
Wen Jingheng merely glanced at them indifferently, his gaze finally resting on the setting sun outside the window.
That person had left, taking all the secrets with him, vanishing without a trace.
But he had a premonition that this was not the end, but the true beginning of everything.
That night, Wen Jingheng dismissed everyone and stood alone by the window. Moonlight poured into the room like water. He toyed with the obsidian cufflink, suddenly sensing an extremely faint but familiar energy fluctuation contained within it.
It was that person’s power.
Wen Jingheng frowned slightly. Why did Shu Yijin leave this behind? Was it a provocation, a reminder, or… something else?
He didn’t know. But he was certain that from the moment of his awakening, his life would follow a completely different trajectory. And the person with the pair of crimson eyes would inevitably reappear in his life—in a different identity, on a different side.
When that time came, how would they face each other?
Wen Jingheng tightened his grip on the cufflink, his gaze passing through the window, looking out at the deep night in the distance.
In the darkness, a pair of crimson eyes seemed to be looking back at him.