Why Does Mr. Xie Favor Me? Chapter 55
byChapter 55: Broken Blade Buries Spring
The long night is coming to an end, no one will share my dawn
It was already dusk when Wen Boyan returned to Guzang City.
The horse had already collapsed from exhaustion in the continuous attack. He walked the last thirty miles on foot.The sister’s skeleton wrapped in a robe on his back seemed to be of great weight.
The gates of Guzang City were closed and the towers were heavily guarded, even more so than when he left.All entry and exit must be strictly inspected, and there is a long queue at the city gate. Most of them are people trying to escape with their families, and there is a mixture of crying and scolding.
Wen Boyan mingled in the crowd, lowering his head and covering most of his face with a tattered scarf. His hand kept pressing on the handle of the knife at his waist.
Just as he slowly moved under the city gate with the flow of people, a soft but cold voice came from the side: “Bo Yan, you are back.”
Wen Boyan froze and slowly raised his head.
On the steps of the turret next to the city gate, Mrs. Zhou stood there quietly, dressed in plain palace clothes and a black fox fur coat.Behind her stood eight guards in black. All of them had sharp eyes and calm breaths. They were all obviously masters.Further away, the city gate defenders seemed to have received some kind of instructions and quietly blocked all escape routes.
She just looked at him, her eyes still gentle, “Have you had a hard journey? Come here, I will take you back to the palace. We can have a good talk.”
Wen Boyan suddenly smiled when he looked at her gentle face and her eyes that once made him feel they were the only warm eyes in the world.
The laughter was low at first, and then grew louder and crazier. It echoed under the city gate and shocked the surrounding people to look sideways and step back.
“Talk? Talk about how my sister was abused to death? Talk about how you used her death to treat me like a dog for so many years?”
The gentleness on Mrs. Zhou’s face finally cracked. She frowned and her voice was a little colder: “Bo Yan, who did you listen to and what nonsense did you hear?”
“Shut up!” Wen Boyan roared violently, pulling off his turban, revealing his face twisted with hatred, “I went to Linchuan! I dug up mass graves! I found Wanwan’s skeleton! She still has the peace charm I gave her hanging around her neck!”
He took off the package on his back, carefully placed it on the ground, and unwrapped it, revealing the gray skeleton.There were exclamations and gasps all around.
Wen Boyan pointed at the skeleton and stared at Madam Zhou with blood-red eyes: “Zhou Wanrou, when you look at me, do you think I’m stupid? Or do you think… the lives of our brothers and sisters are as worthless as a piece of grass?!”
Madam Zhou was silent. She looked at the skeleton and the madness and pain that almost overflowed from Wen Boyan’s eyes. She sighed softly after a long time: “Bo Yan, this is how the world is. The weak eat the strong, and the fittest survive. Your sister’s death… I am very sorry. But that was not what I did. As for using you…”
She paused, and even had a hint of pity in her tone, “Didn’t you also benefit from it? Without me, how could you, a sinner, have climbed to where you are today without me?”
“I don’t care!” Wen Boyan interrupted her with a roar, tears rolling down his face mixed with dust, “I would rather freeze to death and starve to death in the ruined temple! I would rather never meet you!”
He slowly pulled out the machete from his waist, and the blade glowed with an icy cold light in the afterglow of dusk: “Zhou Wanrou, I came back today just to take your life.”
He said the last few words very softly, but with a heart-piercing pain.
Madam Zhou’s face finally turned cold. She took a step back and waved her hand: “Take it down. No matter life or death.”
Eight guards in black moved instantly. They were obviously well-trained and cooperated tacitly. Two of them blocked the retreat, two flanked him, and four of them attacked from the front. The light of swords and shadows instantly enveloped Wen Boyan.
Wen Boyan didn’t hide, he didn’t even look at the incoming swords.He just stared at Mrs. Zhou, like a crazy beast locked on its prey, and rushed forward without dodging the most powerful sword.
“Pfft!”
The long sword pierced his left shoulder, and blood spurted out.But he didn’t seem to feel the pain, and with the momentum, he slashed the guard in half with the machete in his hand, and hot blood spurted all over his head and face.
He pulled out the sword on his shoulder, threw it with his backhand, and nailed another guard to the ground.
The remaining six guards were shocked by his bravery and their movements froze.However, Wen Boyan had already pounced on him. His swordsmanship was completely unstructured, all a desperate fighting style, exchanging injuries for injuries and lives for lives.Every knife was filled with overwhelming hatred, and every knife seemed to be cutting out all the humiliation and deceit over the years.
If the blade of the knife is curled, smash it with your fist or bite it with your teeth.One guard’s throat was bitten by him, and another’s eye was stabbed through his broken arm bone.
He was covered in blood and couldn’t tell whether it was his own or the enemy’s. The wound on his left shoulder was so deep that the bone was visible. His right leg was also slashed, reaching as deep as the leg bone. However, he still stood and approached Madam Zhou step by step.
When the last guard’s neck was broken by him, there was already a Shura field under the city gate.Eight corpses were lying on the ground, the blood stained the bluestone, and the strong smell of blood was nauseating.
Wen Boyan held a curled machete and dragged an almost useless leg up the steps of the turret step by step.His eyes were fixed on Mrs. Zhou, and the hatred in her eyes was overwhelming.
Madam Zhou finally panicked and retreated until her back was against the cold city wall, with no way out.
“Bo Yan… listen to me…” Her voice was trembling, “I… I can’t help myself! I am the wife of Concubine Zheng, and everything I do is based on orders! I only found out about your sister later, and I was also very sad. I…”
“Painful?” Wen Boyan grinned, revealing his teeth stained red with blood, and his smile was as ferocious as a devil’s, “Then you go to the underworld and apologize to her in person.”
He raised his machete and was about to chop it down.
“Wait!” Mrs. Zhou screamed, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. The tears looked so real and sad, “Bo Yan… do you know why I hate the Xie family and Xie Heng?”
Wen Boyan’s knife paused in mid-air.
Madam Zhou seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and said hastily: “Because Xie Heng’s father… caused my husband Wu Shu to be beheaded in public. I was just pregnant at the time. When I heard the news, I had a miscarriage on the spot… My child and my husband are gone!”
She cried so hard that she shouted at the top of her lungs: “I hate the Xie family! That’s why I helped the imperial concubine and the Wang family deal with Xie Heng! But to you…Bo Yan, I really treat you as a younger brother! I…”
Wen Boyan interrupted her, his voice as cold as iron, “Use lies to turn me into a murderous knife, and call me brother?”
He shook his head, and the last trace of fluctuation in his eyes disappeared, leaving only the darkness of death: “Zhou Wanrou, your story is very touching. Unfortunately… I don’t believe a word of it.”
“Pfft——”
The curled-edged machete stabbed fiercely into Mrs. Zhou’s abdomen.
Mrs. Zhou’s eyes widened, she looked down at the knife that was embedded in her abdomen, and then looked up at Wen Boyan’s expressionless face. Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something else, but only a mouthful of blood foam came out.
Wen Boyan twisted his wrist and the blade stirred in her belly.
Madam Zhou’s body twitched violently, and her eyes quickly became distracted.She looked at the chess piece that she had cultivated and lost control of, and suddenly gave a very faint smile. She used her last strength and murmured: “You… will also… die badly…”
After saying that, he tilted his head and died of anger.
Wen Boyan pulled out the machete, and blood spurted out and splashed all over him.Without looking at the body lying on the ground, he turned around and staggered down the steps.
All the people under the city gate had already fled, with only a few bold ones hiding in the distance to peek.The defenders looked at each other, but no one dared to step forward to stop the man.
Wen Boyan walked back to his sister’s skeleton, carefully rewrapped it and carried it on his back, and walked step by step towards the depths of Guzang City.
The setting sun stretched his shadow very long, like a bleeding scar, branded on the streets of this city that was about to collapse.
Wen Boyan did not go home directly, nor did he go anywhere to treat his wounds.
He was like a walking zombie, carrying his sister’s skeleton on his back and dragging his broken body, wandering in the streets of Guzang City.The wounds were bleeding continuously. The penetrating wound on his left shoulder, the stab wound on his right leg, and countless other wounds on his body were all devouring his life force.But he felt no pain or weakness.
He only had one thought in his mind, to kill everyone who deserved to be killed.
Late at night, he came to the Langya Wang family’s mansion in Guzang.Apart from the imperial palace, this is one of the most magnificent residences in Guzang City. It has a red gate and high walls and is heavily guarded.Even though it was an extraordinary period, the lights inside and outside the palace were still brightly lit, the guards patrolling the palace, and the atmosphere was tense.
Wen Boyan carefully hid his sister’s skeleton in the shadow of a corner and covered it with a rag.
“Wanwan, wait for brother for a while.” He said softly, as if his sister was still alive.
He took a deep breath, grabbed the old tree outside the wall, and climbed up with difficulty.The wound burst open and the blood soaked the already tattered clothes, but he didn’t even frown.
The lights in Wang Yuzong’s study were still on, and he was pacing anxiously in the room.Xie Heng’s troops outside the city were approaching, and people in the city were panicking. Lady Zhou had not returned from the palace in the afternoon, and there was no news at all. All signs made him feel that something was wrong.
“Master Sir,” the old housekeeper pushed the door open and came in with an equally ugly face, “I just got the news that Mrs. Zhou… died at the gate of the city. It was Wen Boyan’s hand.”
“What?!” Wang Yuzong turned around suddenly, “Wen Boyan? Is he crazy?!”
“I’m afraid I know about Jiangnan.” The old housekeeper whispered, “Should we send someone…”
His words stopped abruptly, and the study door was slowly pushed open.
Wen Boyan stood at the door like a bloody man.He was covered in blood, his clothes were in rags, and his exposed skin was covered with wounds, some of which were deep enough to show bones.His left arm hung limply, and his right leg trailed a trail of blood with every step he took.
“You…how did you get in?!” The old housekeeper was shocked and instinctively protected Wang Yuzong.
Wen Boyan grinned and showed a creepy smile: “They are all dead.”
Those three words made Wang Yuzong feel cold all over his body.
“Wen Boyan, do you know what you are doing?!” Wang Yuzong forced himself to calm down and said sternly, “Killing the palace family members and breaking into the palace without permission is a major crime against the nine clans! If you put down the sword now, I might be able to protect you…”
Wen Boyan interrupted him, his voice hoarse, “Where do I come from the nine tribes?”
He dragged the machete into the study step by step. The tip of the knife made a sharp sound on the floor, leaving a trail of blood.
He stopped three feet away from the two of them and tilted his head, “Did you know? My lover’s name is Zuo Yunci. He is only twenty-one years old this year, and his eyes are very beautiful when he smiles. He always said that when the war is over, he will retire to the mountains and forests with me.”
He paused and lowered his voice: “But he died. He died in the snow in the north. When he died… he was covered in blood, and the blood dyed the snow red. Before he died, he told me… Boyan, just be okay.”
Wen Boyan raised his head, with blood and tears in his eyes: “He believed in me so much, but I brought him to death. Because I listened to Zhou Wanrou, because I thought…as long as I obey, I can protect my sister.”
He raised his machete and pointed it at Wang Yuzong: “Tell me, who should I settle this debt with?”
The old butler’s raised hand was trembling, but he still shouted with a stern look: “Wen Boyan! That’s a battlefield! Life and death matter! What does it have to do with my Wang family?! Don’t talk nonsense here and retreat quickly, otherwise…”
“Otherwise, what?” Wen Boyan laughed, and the laughter grew louder and louder, and finally turned into a crazy laugh, “Otherwise, kill me? Come on! Come and kill me! I don’t want to live anyway!”
The old butler hurriedly backed away, but only felt a pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the blood spurting from his chest, and Wen Boyan’s emotionless eyes.
“This knife is for Wanwan.” Wen Boyan whispered in his ear, and then drew the knife.
The old housekeeper’s body fell limply to the ground.
Wang Yuzong watched helplessly as the old housekeeper died in front of him, his face turned pale with fright, he staggered back, bumped into the bookshelf, and antique books fell to the floor.
“You…you madman!” He screamed, “Someone is coming! Someone is coming quickly!”
“Stop screaming.” Wen Boyan shook off the blood on his knife and approached step by step, “Everyone outside is dead. From the gate to the inner courtyard, there are seventy-three people. The guards in your house are not very easy to kill.”
Wang Yuzong finally collapsed. He collapsed on the ground, crying: “Wen Boyan! What do you want?! Money? Power? I can give it to you! Let me go! Let me go!”
“What do I want?” Wen Boyan knelt down and looked level with him, his eyes empty. “I want my sister to come back to life. I want Zuo Yunci to come back to life. Can you give it to me?”
Wang Yuzong opened his mouth but was speechless.
“You can’t give it.” Wen Boyan answered for him, then raised the knife, “So, I can only take your life.”
Wang Yuzong suddenly hissed, with a weird smile flashing in his eyes, “Wen Boyan! Who do you think you are?! Avenger? Bah! You are just a chess piece! A chess piece manipulated by everyone! You kill me now, but it’s just another person using you! Do you think Xie Heng and Xiao Jue will let you go if they win? You traitor, whose hands are stained with his own blood!”
Wen Boyan’s hand paused, and Wang Yuzong thought he had been persuaded, and said even more hastily: “Put down the sword! Cooperate with me! I know Xie Heng and Xiao Jue’s weaknesses! I know their marching route! I can help you…”
“I don’t care.” Wen Boyan interrupted him softly.
“I don’t care who is the chess piece or who is playing chess.” Wen Boyan looked at him with terrifyingly calm eyes, “I don’t care what will happen if Xie Heng and Xiao Jue win, and I don’t care what will happen to me in the future. I only know -”
He sank his wrist and stabbed Wang Yuzong’s heart with the machete: “This knife is for Yun Ci.”
Wang Yuzong’s eyes widened instantly, and the ferocious smile on his face solidified, turning into unbelievable horror.He opened his mouth to say something, but only blood foam came out.
Wen Boyan twisted his wrist and suddenly pulled out the knife.Wang Yuzong’s body twitched twice, fell into a pool of blood, and died.
Wen Boyan gasped for breath, and his vision went black due to excessive blood loss, but he still struggled, cut off Wang Yuzong’s head with a knife, and wrapped it hastily with a tablecloth.
He staggered out of the study, walked out of the palace, and walked through the road paved with blood.
At the darkest moment before dawn, he came to the door of Xie’s mansion.
This place was still surrounded by the Forbidden Army, but the morale of the besieged soldiers had long been depleted. Seeing this evil ghost covered in blood and carrying a human head, no one dared to step forward to stop him.
Wen Boyan threw the head into the courtyard of Xie’s Mansion. Then he slowly knelt down and kowtowed three times toward the gate.
With his forehead resting on the cold stone steps, he whispered: “Thank you Pushe, General Xiao… Boyan, for atonement.”
After saying that, he stood up, took one last look at the high wall of Xie’s mansion, turned around and disappeared into the brightening sky.
Wen Boyan did not go far.
He carried his sister’s bones on his back and returned to the peach grove. Spring was approaching, and a few peach blossoms bloomed here and there, swaying tremblingly in the morning breeze.
Wen Boyan chose a sunny slope and started digging with the curled machete.His strength had long been exhausted, and every shovel was extremely difficult. The wounds burst and blood mixed with the soil, but he did not stop.
After digging from early morning to noon, a shallow pit was finally dug.
He carefully placed his sister’s bones inside and carefully covered them with his robe.He stood up and found a relatively flat piece of bluestone nearby, and carved words with difficulty with the tip of a knife.
“The Tomb of Sister Wenwan”
“Brother’s words stand”
The words were carved crookedly, but he used his last strength.
After setting up the stone monument, he knelt in front of the grave and looked at the small mound of soil quietly for a long, long time.
The wind blew through the peach forest, blowing off a few petals and falling on the new soil on the grave.
Wen Boyan suddenly spoke, his voice was very soft, as if he was talking to himself:
“Wanwan, brother is sorry for you. I didn’t protect you well and made you suffer so much. You died alone in a foreign land… Brother took you home. The peach blossoms are blooming here. It’s beautiful. Do you like it?”
No one answered.
He smiled, that smile was pale and gentle: “When the peach blossoms are in full bloom next year, it will be even more beautiful. Unfortunately… brother can’t see it.”
He paused and his eyes drifted to the north, as if he saw the frozen snowfield through thousands of mountains and rivers: “Yun Ci, you always said that I am too boring and don’t talk about things on my mind. Now, let me tell you… I’m sorry. It was me who hurt you. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely not let you go to the north with me. You should live, you should have… a long and good life.”
His voice was choked, and tears fell silently: “But there is no if. Yun Ci, just wait for me… I will come right away.”
He stretched out his hand, touched the cold stone tablet, and slowly pulled out the curled-edged machete from his waist.
The blade reflected his pale and thin face, “Wanwan, Yunci…it was me who harmed you.”
He whispered, placing the blade against his left wrist, “Now, I’m here to accompany you.”
With a strong stroke, blood spurted out and sprinkled on the new soil on the grave. It quickly seeped in and dyed the soil dark brown.
Wen Boyan didn’t feel pain, he just felt an unprecedented sense of relief, as if the shackles he had carried for many years were removed.He slowly fell in front of the grave, leaning his face against the cold soil, looking at the small stone tablet and the crooked words on the stone tablet.
His vision gradually blurred, and darkness came from all directions.
In a daze, he seemed to see his sister wearing a shabby but clean flowered jacket, standing under the peach blossom tree, waving to him, smiling sweetly: “Brother!”
And I seemed to see Zuo Yunci, wearing a brand new military uniform, high-spirited, “Bo Yan, after the battle is over, let’s go back to see the peach blossoms together!”
He also smiled, and using his last strength, he stretched out his hand to catch those phantoms.
His fingers dropped feebly in the air.
Peach petals fell one after another, covering his increasingly cold body and the blood-soaked grave soil.
The wind blew through the trees, sobbing like tears, as if singing a silent elegy for this man who was filled with sin and finally found his home in blood and regret.
In the distance, the sound of rumbling war drums and faint shouts of killing came from the direction of Guzang City.A new era is coming with blood and bones.
And the last sacrifice of the old era has rested peacefully in this lonely peach forest.After all, he could not see the day when the peach blossom trees were full.In the end, no redemption could come.
Only this blood-stained peach forest silently witnesses the final repentance and eternal peace of a broken soul.
[The author has something to say]
There are quite a few people who died in this chapter [Loading][vomiting blood]