MLIAM Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Choosing Life or Death, the Two Secretly Cooperated Under His Nose…

Chapter 115: Choosing Life or Death, the Two Secretly Cooperated Under His Nose…

Wan Yan Jun’s expression suddenly turned cold, the original smile still frozen on his face.

Looking at the two who had joined hands again, he almost gnashed his teeth as he spoke: “You… aren’t you afraid of death?”

“Afraid.” Yu Shuli smiled, gripping Wei Yan’s hand tighter, “But, if it’s with Wei Yan, then I’m not afraid. We’ll reincarnate together, and we’ll still be together in the next life.”

Wan Yan Jun’s eyes were completely empty, his side desolate, with no trace of his beloved, and a large piece of his heart was torn open.

He laughed in despair, his voice hoarse: “Good… good… you die together…”

With a “crack,” the crossbeam twisted into a hideous beast in the raging fire, and the red-lacquered giant pillar collapsed with a bang, completely separating Wan Yan Jun from Yu Shuli and Wei Yan.

Yu Shuli raised his hand and unfolded the only wet wedding robe, wrapping Wei Yan and himself inside.

“Wei Yan… I took the liberty… will you blame me?” He raised his eyes, his small face a mess, but his eyes sparkled brightly.

Wei Yan smiled, gently took his hand, and carefully traced his features in the firelight. “Of course not. To share the same quilt in life and the same grave in death is something I’ve longed for.”

His eyes were moist, his eyebrows and eyes gentle beyond words, “Now that you and I are together, every moment, every second, is fulfillment. Heaven is already merciful. If we can grow old together, that would be wonderful. If not, Wei Yan won’t ask for anything else.”

Dense smoke filled the air, but Wan Yan Jun felt that he was not only surrounded by flames, but also swallowed by the fearlessness of those two facing death, a state he could not intrude upon.

His stifled heart ached.

It was a pain like scraping bones and gouging out his heart.

His eyes were dark. “You want to die together? I won’t let you.”

The heatwave distorted the light reflected in the sea of fire, as if the entire main hall was spitting out its last bloody tongue under the dome of the sky.

He staggered to a porcelain vase on the floor.

With a “bang,” the man-high celadon vessel was shattered, and a small passage just wide enough for one person slowly cracked open on the wall behind Yu Shuli and Wei Yan.

Wan Yan Jun’s eyes were as cold as frost: “The secret passage is open, but… only one person can pass through.”

He glanced at Wei Yan, “If you’re determined to die together, then pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Yu Shuli’s eyes trembled, and he grabbed Wei Yan’s hand.

Wei Yan let go of the hand that was gently embracing him, smiled slightly, coughed heavily a few times, and then restrainedly pulled away a little distance, “Ji’an, go and see.”

Yu Shuli bit his cheek, “What do you mean?”

Wei Yan, however, would rather hold onto the scorching hot stone pillar beside him to maintain his balance than embrace him. He took a few low breaths before speaking: “I’m sorry, Ji’an, I lied to you before. I’ve long been on the verge of death. Even if we get out, we won’t be able to spend our lives together. Saying we’d grow old together was a lie.”

“You see, a man like me doesn’t have a single word of truth in his mouth…” Wei Yan looked up at him, smiling gently, “Why don’t you just leave me?”

Yu Shuli’s fingers trembled, and he went up to hug him: “Don’t talk nonsense! And don’t overthink it! We agreed to live and die together… You can’t just abandon me because of Wan Yan Jun’s words!”

“He might be lying to us…” His voice was tearful, “Don’t give up on me like this… Wei Yan…”

“He can lie to me, but he won’t lie to you.”

Yu Shuli moved his lips bitterly, and found that he had nothing to say.

Wan Yan Jun, separated by the sea of fire, watched Yu Shuli’s bloodless lips open and close, and he laughed loudly: “This may be the most sincere truth I’ve ever spoken in my life.”

His eyes suddenly burst with expectation, coughing and crying at the same time: “Who are you planning to leave behind to accompany me to hell? Take away your rival in love… take away your lover… neither seems bad.”

Yu Shuli ignored him, forcibly grabbed Wei Yan’s hand, which was burning hot from the stone pillar. “Wei Yan, let’s go together.”

“Okay… you go together…” Wan Yan Jun raised his eyebrows: “Once the mechanism at the end senses that two people are entering, spikes, arrows, poison needles, traps… will all be triggered immediately. If you don’t believe me, try it. Whether you die in the fire outside or die inside, pierced by ten thousand arrows, is up to you.”

“Wan Yan Jun! Why do you have to use such a vicious method to separate us?!” Yu Shuli’s eyes blurred, and he roared at him hysterically.

Wan Yan Jun didn’t look at Yu Shuli or respond. He looked towards the sky and murmured, “It’s almost dawn.”

It was almost dawn, and the war was about to end.

If nothing unexpected happened, Xizhao would be destroyed.

He, as the Emperor, was truly incompetent.

But fortunately, he also broke up these two enemies of Xizhao… which could be considered… revenge for his family and country.

He turned around and picked up a wine vessel on the almost completely burned table, tilting his head back and drinking several mouthfuls of strong liquor. He laughed and cried at the same time, “Now, begging and failing, imprisoned by love. This may be the epitaph of my life.”

He raised his sword and looked at Yu Shuli one last time in the firelight, trying to smile beautifully. “Ji’an, I really liked you.”

Yu Shuli’s forehead jumped, and he immediately wanted to rush over to stop him: “Wan Yan Jun! Don’t die yet!”

If he died, what would happen to him and Wei Yan?!

“This must be the time you’re most reluctant for me to die…” Wan Yan Jun chuckled and threw his wedding robe into the fire. “Unfortunately… in the end, I came alone and leave alone, with no good companion in my life. After being burned by the raging fire, I hope I have no soul or spirit in the next life, and become an inanimate object. Or…” He hooked his lips, “As you wish, eternal non-reincarnation is also fine.”

Yu Shuli was about to rush over when Wei Yan stopped him.

“There’s fire, you can’t get through.”

The two sides were already like a chasm.

“If he dies, there will be no one to tell us how to get out! He’s the only one who knows about the secret passage. Who knows what the mechanisms inside are like?!” Yu Shuli’s eyelashes trembled, and he choked.

Wan Yan Jun didn’t want to live himself, but he wasn’t willing to let Yu Shuli and Wei Yan live easily either.

Because he admired Yu Shuli, he was willing to let Yu Shuli go, but he wasn’t so generous to Wei Yan.

Knowing that Wei Yan would definitely leave the opportunity to live to Yu Shuli, he was so bold as to deliberately make them make the final choice between life and death.

With the country on the verge of collapse, there was no way to turn back time. Perhaps this was the best way of revenge he could think of.

It had to be said that this was indeed a cruel but quite effective revenge.

“Ji’an… I know you hate me… but I presume that you still have a trace of pity for me, right? You shouldn’t want to watch me die…”

“I don’t miss you at all!” Yu Shuli’s eyes were bloodshot, and he glared over in embarrassment, tears falling one by one, “You’ve done so many evil deeds, death is the best way out for you.”

Wan Yan Jun saw him being stubborn, smiled slightly, and nodded, “You’re right.”

He put the sword across his neck and looked at Wei Yan, whose expression was complicated at this moment, “Block his eyes… The scene of suicide is too bloody and too ugly, I don’t want him to see it.”

“Why should I help you?” The expression on Wei Yan’s face was unclear, and a layer of mist seemed to float in his deep eyes.

“Let him watch me die with his own eyes, maybe, he will remember me for the rest of his life.”

“Aren’t you jealous?”

Wei Yan remained unmoved.

Wan Yan Jun paused and murmured, “It’s okay if you don’t help…”

He turned his wrist and cut the horizontal blade into his neck.

Looking sideways, Wei Yan finally slowly raised his hand and covered Yu Shuli’s eyes at the moment of his suicide.

Wan Yan Jun smiled faintly: “Thank you.”

Thank you, Wei Yan, for guarding the last bit of dignity he wanted to protect for him.

Thank you for agreeing to his only cooperation.

In his last consciousness, he seemed to see the study room when he was ten years old. The sleepy teenager supported his elbow on the desk, and his hair happened to fall on his shoulder, comforting him and saying: “Wan Yan, don’t worry, one day, the world will be unified, the country will be prosperous and the people will be safe, and we will all go home safely.”

The firelight in the room chased the last bit of moonlight, like the Milky Way hanging upside down.

At the moment when Wan Yan Jun fell, he glanced at Yu Shuli, who was obediently held in Wei Yan’s arms, and his lips slowly opened: “Ji’an, may you go home safely.”

*

There was darkness in front of him, and Yu Shuli had lost his voice for a long time except for the sound of the fire burning.

He tugged at Wei Yan’s sleeve and asked anxiously, “Wei Yan, can you let go of me?”

Wei Yan “hmm”ed: “Ji’an, he’s dead.”

Yu Shuli’s fingers trembled: “Yes.”

He stretched out his hand behind him, as if to verify Wei Yan’s answer: “Wei Yan… we are going to die together.”

Wei Yan lowered his eyes to look at him and gently kissed him on the side of his neck, “Sorry.”

Yu Shuli’s face changed, and he was about to turn his head.

Wei Yan suddenly raised his hand and decisively tapped him on the neck.

Yu Shuli never guarded against Wei Yan, and he never thought that at this moment, he would cooperate with Wan Yan Jun, tap his acupoints, and insist on sending him away.

Now, how could he not understand why Wan Yan Jun suddenly mentioned to Wei Yan to help him cover his eyes.

For Yu Shuli, what did it matter whether an enemy lived or died? Yu Shuli was not the kind of person who would be overly sentimental, and he had seen many partings of life and death on the battlefield. The passing of a life would not make him miss him for too long, at most it was some memories and reminiscences.

As long as he thought about it carefully, he would know that covering his eyes was just an excuse—a reason to make Wei Yan’s actions against him more justified.

The two secretly cooperated under his nose, making a choice for him to live.

He was completely unaware and had no chance to resist.

Yu Shuli’s face was pale, and there were mottled tears on his face.

Looking at his lover who could not move in front of him, Wei Yan wiped away his tears with pity and heartache in his eyes: “Sorry, Ji’an. I have to break my promise.”

“Wei Yan… I hate you…” Yu Shuli squeezed these words out of his teeth.

The fire was too fierce, and Wei Yan’s body was poisoned to the bone. He was already inconvenient to move. It took almost all his strength to drag Yu Shuli into the secret passage.

After hiding him inside, Wei Yan staggered to the ground.

He tilted his head and smiled slightly: “The acupoints I tapped can’t control you for too long. Ji’an, can you just live well for my sake?”

Yu Shuli was a few steps away from him in the secret passage, away from the source of the fire, and his chaotic brain was unexpectedly clear at this moment.

He suddenly urged his internal strength and desperately attacked his acupoints.

The scorching heat raged among the eaves and pillars of the main hall, and the charred buildings left a burst of pungent smoke under the licking of the flames.

The heat seemed to pass through the small tunnel to Yu Shuli.

He cried while concentrating all his energy to unlock the acupoints.

The outline in front of him gradually became blurred due to the burning of the main hall outside.

Wei Yan… wait for me… wait a little longer…

The fate of floating life is inherently illusory, and even if the fate is not exhausted, it will inevitably be difficult to meet in the next life.

In that case, it is better to fight for the present.

At the moment when the last pillar of the main hall collapsed, Yu Shuli finally turned into a flash of light and rushed back.

Wei Yan was sitting sideways at the entrance of the secret passage, the closest distance to him, already in a coma.

He really didn’t want to leave him until he died.

This fact is both fortunate and sad.

Yu Shuli grabbed the person in his arms, rushed into the secret passage while crying and laughing.

Die together if you want to die, live together if you want to live.

Yu Shuli didn’t care about any mechanisms or restrictions.

He only knew that he couldn’t lose Wei Yan.

After a loud “bang,” the main hall of the Xizhao Imperial Palace was reduced to ashes.

This exquisitely carved glory finally became fragmented at this moment, and the fire disappeared after burning out.

A loud cock crowed outside the city, followed by the sound of war drums.

The final war had begun.