AYM Chapter 114 (Extra 5)

Extra 5: For the Rest of My Life, It Will Be You.

In a daze, the first snow of the year drifted down, and within moments, the earth was completely blanketed in white, as though even people’s hair had turned white.

Han Zhen stumbled and stepped into the river where the water had not yet fully frozen. The bone-chilling cold instantly cleared his mind somewhat, but fear rose like dry grass set ablaze, surging higher and more fiercely by the moment.

Leave the city, cross the river, and you will reach the mass graveyard.

The night watchman had nearly been frightened unconscious earlier. Han Zhen knew that in his current state, he probably looked more like a ghost than any of the ghosts in this mass graveyard.

Before him was a mountain hollow. As far as his eyes could see, there was nothing but one mound of snow after another.

Han Zhen did not know where Ming Zhang had been buried. He seemed to have gone mad, stumbling about in frantic despair, the blue veins at his temples bulging visibly. The wound tightly bound around his waist had long since split open again from his violent movements.

But his body seemed to have lost all sense of pain. Or perhaps that pain was nothing compared to the suffocating turmoil twisting within his heart.

The snow was constantly blown aside by the internal energy he forced through his body, yet when the billowing mist of snow cleared, all he saw were scattered bones and corpses left mangled and half-eaten.

Was King Qing lying to him? Was Ming Zhang not here? Was he still alive?

Yet even with that possibility in his mind, Han Zhen, already nearly exhausted, did not dare stop for even a moment. He clenched his teeth hard. Even if only the last shred of strength remained, he would search this entire mass graveyard.

Even if… even if he really was dead, how could he leave him alone in this cold, damp wilderness, with the only company being nothing but wandering spirits and lost souls?

Ming Zhang, you really did calculate everything so precisely.

You calculated that I would come to assassinate him.

You also calculated that I would be no match for him.

So you chose to poison him first, even though you knew how vicious King Qing was, even though you knew you had almost no chance of succeeding.

Did I not make it clear enough? From that day onwards, you and I were to go our separate ways, no longer having anything to do with one another.

Then, what right did you have to do all this for me? To die in my place!

The snow was soft, yet it struck Han Zhen with a pain that reached deep into his bones. The wind brought by his frantic running was as hard as blades of ice, repeatedly cutting away the moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes, stinging his eyes until his vision blurred.

A rustling sound made Han Zhen, whose mind was almost completely in chaos, suddenly raise his head. A few dark shadows approached one after another across the snow in the distance. They clearly had not expected to find a living person here. They stared fixedly at Han Zhen, the fur along the backs of their necks standing on end as they let out threatening growls.

King Qing’s words instantly surfaced in Han Zhen’s mind.

Wild dogs… follow the scent of corpses.

Driven by hunger, they were searching for fresh corpses.

Despair coiled around Han Zhen like an inescapable rope, winding tighter and tighter around him until he could barely breathe. Yet he drew a deep breath, gathered the killing intent throughout his body, and quietly watched the vicious dogs baring their fangs.

Seemingly no longer sensing any threat, the hungry wild dogs had no desire to remain entangled with Han Zhen. They lowered their heads and sniffed repeatedly through the snow, gradually gathering together. Eagerly, they began clawing at the snow with their forepaws.

But in the next instant, a sharp bark tore through the silent night.

The throats of several wild dogs had been cut. Their blood gushed out, hot and bright red, melting the snow beneath them and revealing a hand that seemed even paler than the snow.

The hand was ice-cold. The instant Han Zhen grasped it, he could not help but shudder. But the cold had no intention of letting him go. It gnawed densely at his heart, seeping into his soul and bones.

Beneath this snow was Ming Zhang.

Han Zhen carefully brushed away the loose snow covering Ming Zhang’s face. The first thing that pierced his eyes was the dried blood at the corner of his mouth.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and his teeth were chattering. Han Zhen dared not check for a breath. Only the softness of that body brought him the slightest sense of relief, even if it was nothing more than self-deception.

The wind and snow continued to howl, gradually burying the footprints and bloodstains left behind. The mass graveyard returned to complete silence, as though no one had ever come by.

In a hazy, muddled state, a young man in fine clothes was speaking to a flamboyantly dressed girl. The girl’s face was deathly pale as she turned and ran in panic. When she passed the lakeside, her foot slipped, and she fell into the water.

The young man frowned. He had only meant to frighten the young princess who was always pestering the crown prince. He had never intended to take her life. Although reluctant, he still rushed over to save her, earning the admiration of everyone around him.

Afterward, the young princess never appeared again. A surge of satisfaction filled the young man’s heart, along with the faint thrill of having successfully carried out a scheme.

After that time, he became more practiced each time, more composed each time. Until a figure that constantly followed him appeared, he then became even more fearless.

In the blink of an eye, he had grown into a young man. He ran desperately, trying to catch up to a figure who always stood with their back toward him. Yet the figure clearly had not moved. Why, then, could he not reach it no matter how hard he tried?

Who was that figure? Why, even as it gradually blurred before his eyes, did he continue chasing it with all his strength, driven by an obsession that refused to let go, even when his entire body was battered and torn?

“Ming Zhang, come back, please?”

Who was calling him…

“Please, stop chasing.”

Who was it… Why did they not want him to chase? But if he stopped chasing, what else could he do?

“No one understands your unwillingness to accept this better than I do. No one understands your pain better than I do.” The voice continued, making Ming Zhang slow his running in hesitation.

“I know you have already given up, but even your surrender was like a sacrifice. You refuse to leave yourself even the slightest way out. But did you know why I turned away that decisively?”

Ming Zhang came to a complete stop. He realized that he wanted to know the answer, and that desire had already surpassed his urge to keep chasing.

“Because I realized that even when you had given up, you had never once included me in your calculations.” The voice suddenly choked up, as though it took a long while to steady itself before speaking again. “I finally left just as you wished. So why did you have to do this for me?”

“You are Ming Zhang, a man who could calculate everything so thoroughly. Then, did you already calculate that your own death would leave me burdened with guilt for the rest of my life, suffering for the rest of my life, and… thinking of you for the rest of my life…”

Han Zhen. It was Han Zhen!

Ming Zhang suddenly realized that tears had somehow already streamed down his face. He abruptly turned around, desperately searching for Han Zhen, but no matter how hard he looked, the layers upon layers of mist before him kept him from finding the person he longed to see.

“You must have been very surprised that time, right? You never expected me to willingly lie beneath you.” There was laughter in the voice, but beneath that faint, gentle laughter lay nothing but bitterness. “At the time, I thought, just this once, I was determined to be something that fell outside of your calculations.”

Han Zhen’s eyes had already grown moist. He gently kissed those pale, cold lips.

“But heaven knows how badly I wanted to have you. So please, wake up, will you? You…”

The dampness against his cheek made the murmuring Han Zhen freeze. He suddenly raised his head and, in disbelief, brushed his fingertip across the corner of those tightly closed eyes. He stared blankly as tears fell endlessly, like beads spilling from a broken string.

Six months later, on the bustling streets of the capital, the once-crowded Ming residence had long since fallen into disrepair. Its roof tiles were gray with age, and its plaque hung crookedly. Two officials passing by could not help but sigh. The once-glorious Lord Ming had vanished without a trace. Not only that, it seemed Lord Han had disappeared as well. Why was His Majesty not anxious in the slightest?

“So, do you want to go back?” Ming Zhang asked with a smile, his voice clear and gentle. “If you want to go back, I’ll go with you.”

It had been half a year. When Han Zhen, clinging to the last of his strength, appeared in the valley carrying a man who could almost be called a corpse, he had given his master, who had lived in seclusion for many years and long since grown accustomed to a life without disturbance, a genuine fright.

The man had been saved, but even though Han Zhen had nearly exhausted all his inner energy along the way to keep him alive, the lingering poison had still damaged his eyes, making it difficult for his vision to recover.

Yet, even though those eyes were now like pearls veiled in dust, they still turned accurately toward Han Zhen. The affection flowing within them was unmistakable.

“Han Zhen, you don’t need to worry about whether I want to return to the capital. Just do as you wish. In the past, you always followed me. From now on, I only wish to follow you.”

As he spoke, Ming Zhang simply leaned forward without a care. In the next instant, his falling body was caught in a strong embrace.

Although he was blind, he was not afraid, for Ming Zhang knew that the person beside him had always been there.

“Is your master nearby?”

“No.”

Ming Zhang lifted his chin slightly, the corners of his lips curving into a beautiful smile.

“Then kiss me.”

When two hearts depend upon each other, the entanglement of lips and teeth seems to never be enough, and of course, it does not end there.

In the darkness, Ming Zhang trembled violently once more, his eyes long since drowned in tears. Beneath his palms was a back soaked with sweat. He strained to raise himself, groping his way to kiss those equally breathless lips.

“Don’t… don’t stop…”

In the past, he could see through all things in the world, yet it was nothing compared to the clarity of heart and sight he possessed now.

The rest of our lives might hold regrets, but with you here,

there would be no regrets left.