TSMITB Chapter64

The crowd, which had been agitated all night, quieted down at this moment, replaced by a sudden, deadly silence. Even the night wind seemed to have its throat choked.

The hundreds of tribespeople in the square all held their breath, waiting for Sheng Qixiao’s answer.

“Don’t listen to them!” Shen Que cried out urgently. His chest was heaving violently, his limbs were numb from the bindings, yet his mind was clear. “Sheng Qixiao, go back in first! This is a complete trap, I walked into it myself, you don’t need to worry about me! Regain your strength first, and then round them all up later!”

Shen Que was terrified that Sheng Qixiao would simply nod and agree. He was practically screaming with all his might, “Sheng Qixiao, have you forgotten? I said I like obedient people. If you listen to me this time, the next time we meet, I will tell you that I like you.”

That last sentence was practically squeezed from his throat, carrying a hint of embarrassment and reckless courage. This was the only leverage he could think of that might sway Sheng Qixiao.

Even though Sheng Qixiao had not yet made a move, Shen Que had already glimpsed his answer in his calm eyes.

“Before, everything was always according to what you wanted, and you always made me do as you said. Now, it’s your turn to listen to me for once!”

“Shen Que…” Sheng Qixiao’s eyes curved, but it didn’t look like a smile.

“Shut up!” The elder’s increasingly cloudy eyes widened furiously. “If you dare say one more word, we’ll end you now!”

Shen Que sneered, condescendingly sweeping his gaze over the few distorted faces. “Do you dare to act? If you want to live in the outside world, you have to follow the outside rules. Even if you kill me, what will you gain? Do you think my family will let you off?”

“Hahaha…” The elder seemed to have heard the biggest joke. He immediately doubled over with laughter, a rattling sound coming from his throat, like the engine of an old, neglected tractor that was about to retire for good and stop running. “Your family? Even now, you still seem to think too highly of yourself. Tell me, will your father give up the woman he ‘loves most’ in this life for your sake?”

The elder waved his hand, and the crowd automatically parted, revealing a stylishly dressed, attractive young woman.

It was precisely his father’s new girlfriend, whom Shen Que had met just two days prior.

No wonder…

At the time, he only found it ridiculous and comical. How could such a young and beautiful girl be blind enough to fall for his worthless father?

It was all a trap.

That made more sense.

“…How truly naive.” Shen Que suddenly felt like laughing.

He realized that these old monsters who had lived in the deep mountains for hundreds of years, despite their vicious methods, always held a foolish conviction, even a deification, about the word ‘love.’

No wonder Sheng Qixiao was such a hopeless romantic.

So, this was the origin of everything.

The elder’s laughter stopped abruptly, and his face instantly darkened. He had clearly understood the mockery in Shen Que’s smile.

“Of course. For unfeeling, faithless outsiders like you, a woman’s beauty may be useful for a while, but it won’t last a lifetime.” He deliberately drew his words, “Then guess again, does your father, or your grandfather, have any of our E’yun Mountain specialties inside them?”

With a “boom,” Shen Que’s mind instantly went blank. The color drained completely from his face, and he couldn’t utter a single word.

Only then did the elder feel he had gained the upper hand. He laughed grimly with satisfaction, “As long as they’re under my control for even a single day, who would know whether you’re alive or dead? And who can stop me? Since I intend to enter the secular world, I naturally won’t be content to be an ordinary person. I must thank you and the Little Spirit Master for paving such a good path for me. Considering the great wealth of your Shen family, I won’t let you die painfully, and I’ll even make Sheng Qixiao be buried with you. On the road to the Underworld, you guys won’t be lonely either.”

“I originally didn’t want to kill you!” The elder’s voice abruptly rose, filled with malice and gratification, “Blame him for being stubborn and putting up a futile resistance! If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have suffered this pain and met your end here!”

“Since he won’t compromise, and you don’t want him to yield, then I’ll have to send you off first!”

The instant his voice fell, the killing intent in his eyes was fully revealed.

The burly tribesman guarding the cave entrance didn’t hesitate. He raised the dagger stained with Shen Que’s blood and fiercely slashed at the hemp rope suspending him.

The rope emitted a grating snap, and Shen Que’s body suddenly dropped downward.

“Wait!”

At the critical moment, Sheng Qixiao’s voice rang out.

He no longer hesitated. Before Shen Que could react, he quickly slashed his own wrist.

He raised his arm high as blood gushed out.

“Isn’t it my blood you want? Come and take it!”

Time and Shen Que’s heartbeat simultaneously froze at this moment.

The next second, the crowd completely erupted.

The tribespeople rushed forward, holding all kinds of containers, afraid to waste even a drop.

Faced with something so intensely tempting, the elders, who thought they held all the authority, were instantly swept off their feet and jostled by the surging crowd.

Even the tribesman who was gripping the rope above Shen Que hesitated between scrambling for the blood and keeping watch over Shen Que.

“Insolent!” The elders barely managed to maintain their posture, gripping their scepters tightly with both hands and forcefully stamping them on the ground.

An invisible pressure settled over the heads of every tribesman.

Their expressions turned numb, and their eyes instantly became empty and lost their brilliance, as if their souls had been sucked out.

They stopped scrambling but did not retreat. Under the elders’ silent manipulation, they moved to surround Sheng Qixiao step by step.

Countless sharp weapons sliced through Sheng Qixiao’s clothes and skin. More and more wounds appeared, and the blood continued to flow in increasing amounts.

They were like a swarm of frenzied bloodsuckers, maximizing the extraction of Sheng Qixiao’s remaining value.

Sheng Qixiao, however, seemed oblivious, walking step by step towards the cave entrance. His steps became slower and slower, even somewhat staggering, with each step leaving a string of wet, bloody footprints.

He raised his head and showed Shen Que a gentle, clean smile, stripping away all the madness and pain he had expressed during their later interactions, leaving only the pure image Shen Que had held in his heart when they first met.

Behind him, the elders awkwardly turned their heads in unison, their twisted faces filled with the self-satisfaction of a successful scheme, and with a slight wave of the hand.

The next moment, the tribesman closest to Sheng Qixiao reached out and violently shoved him in the back without any warning.

“Sheng Qixiao!!!” Shen Que’s eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a desperate cry of grief.

The suddenness of the event was too fast. He didn’t even have time to register what had happened before Sheng Qixiao, like a butterfly with broken wings, plummeted rapidly into the darkness.

A surge of strength from nowhere swept through his body. Shen Que suddenly bent his legs, kicking with all his might at the tribesman next to him, who was still in a daze.

The man staggered from the kick. He held his head and took several seconds to recover before suddenly snapping out of the elder’s control. He looked back at Shen Que, then at the other tribesmen with blank expressions, realized what had happened, and immediately became angry and ashamed. He raised his hand and slapped Shen Que, opening his mouth to speak Han with a strange accent, “You dare to be arrogant when death is imminent!”

“He’s been pushed down! What the hell are you still dawdling for!” Shen Que saw stars from the slap but showed no fear. “Hurry up and cut the rope to send me down to be buried with him!”

“Oh!” The man was startled at his words. A strange look mixed with apology and envy actually appeared on his face. “I… I didn’t expect you to be such a loyal person. I also wish I could meet someone willing to die with me.”

“……” Shen Que was choked by this peculiar line of reasoning. He tentatively spoke, “Could you first help me cut the ropes on my hands? I want to… hold him as we die together.”

“Is this what outsiders call romance?” The man mumbled to himself. He then nodded heavily, quickly and neatly cutting the ropes binding Shen Que’s hands. “Goodbye! May you die a worthy death!”

“…Sheng Qixiao taught you your Chinese?”

Before he finished speaking, the rope above his head was completely severed, and the sensation of freefall instantly hit him.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before Shen Que finally opened his eyes, feeling exhausted.

It was pitch dark before him; he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face.

He propped himself up and looked upwards; the cave entrance seemed to have been sealed.

Only then did his senses fully return. His entire body felt as if it had been crushed and reassembled with every inch in devastating pain.

The air in his nostrils was heavy and sticky. As expected, the poisonous mist was pervasive here too.

But he couldn’t worry about any of that right now.

“Sheng Qixiao!” Shen Que repeatedly called out Sheng Qixiao’s name into the boundless darkness. “Sheng Qixiao! Where are you!”

The only reply he got was the continually diminishing echo.

His heart sank bit by bit.

“Sheng Qixiao! Why are you playing dead? Even I’m still alive!”

Shen Que used his hands and feet, frantically groping around in the darkness.

Finally, just before sinking into complete despair, his fingertips touched something warm.

He rushed toward it eagerly, trembling as he pulled him into his arms. His palms were wet and sticky with still-undried blood.

“Sheng Qixiao!” Shen Que didn’t dare to shake him vigorously, so he cautiously patted his face. “Wake up, Sheng Qixiao!”

His short, dense eyelashes lightly brushed against Shen Que’s thumb. Sheng Qixiao slowly opened his eyes.

He didn’t struggle. Almost the instant he opened his eyes, he recognized who was holding him.

A cold hand stroked Shen Que’s cheek. Sheng Qixiao’s voice was weak and soft as he gently asked, “Are you hungry? Are you uncomfortable?” As he spoke, he offered his wrist to him. “Drink it. My blood is truly a good thing; they were all fighting for it.”

A bitter pang of sorrow instantly flooded his entire chest cavity.

Shen Que grasped Sheng Qixiao’s injured arm, his voice trembling. “You’re finally awake!”

It was too dark in the cave. He couldn’t see anything and could only grope around, tearing off the hem of Sheng Qixiao’s robe to roughly bandage his wound, hoping to achieve a hemostatic effect.

“Shen Que…” Sheng Qixiao called his name softly. “Are you worried about me?”

Shen Que didn’t answer, only hugging him tighter.

“Why did you follow me down? Is it because you couldn’t bear to leave me?” Sheng Qixiao persisted in asking like a curious baby. “Why aren’t you speaking? Are you admitting that you like me? Did you come down here to die with me?”

“Shut up!” Shen Que finally couldn’t help but snap, “I only heard the sound and knew the cave wasn’t deep, that’s why…”

“Shen Que, you’re lying again.” Sheng Qixiao interrupted Shen Que, quietly burying his head in his chest, listening to the frantic heartbeat by his ear.

In the endless darkness, Sheng Qixiao’s expression was one of unprecedented satisfaction. “Long time no see. I’ve missed you very much.”

The two embraced tightly like this, and Shen Que miraculously felt an inexplicable sense of security.

But as time passed, this faint sense of stability gradually began to disappear.

Sheng Qixiao’s breathing grew weaker and weaker, and his body temperature dropped lower and lower.

He was too severely injured with too many physical wounds, plus those unknown damages. He might be heading towards an end that terrified Shen Que at an extremely fast pace.

“Sheng Qixiao…” Shen Que pressed the tip of his nose against Sheng Qixiao’s forehead. “Sheng Qixiao, are you still there?”

“En.” His voice was increasingly muffled. “Shen Que. If I die, will you miss me? Will you bring me flowers, like you bring flowers to your mother?”

“I won’t bring you any.” Shen Que’s voice was choked, and his tears finally broke free. “If you live, I’ll bring them to you.”

“Alright.” Sheng Qixiao seemed to smile slightly. “Then I don’t want red roses. You’ve given them to so many people; I don’t like them…”

His voice became softer and softer until it disappeared completely.

No matter how Shen Que called him, there was no longer any response.

Shen Que embraced Sheng Qixiao blankly, his throat painfully constricted. Vaguely, he seemed to hear someone’s whimpering.

He suddenly remembered something. Mimicking Sheng Qixiao’s past action, he bit his own wrist open and offered it to his mouth.

This method seemed to work.

Initially, Sheng Qixiao showed no reaction; the blood merely slid down his contours.

Shen Que refused to give up, persistently pressing his wrist against his lips, coaxing him to drink it again and again.

Finally, those cold lips seemed to move, beginning a faint, instinctive sucking motion.

A drop of warm liquid fell onto the palm of Shen Que’s hand, which was supporting Sheng Qixiao’s jaw.

Shen Que paused for a moment before realizing that what slid down this time was not his blood, but Sheng Qixiao’s tears.

He lowered his head and accurately kissed the corner of Sheng Qixiao’s eye, wiping away that dampness.

He heard Sheng Qixiao ask again, “Why? Shen Que, why is this?”

“I like you.” Shen Que no longer avoided the topic, speaking to him in such a gentle and earnest tone for the first time. “Because I like you. I missed you very much during the days I wasn’t by your side.”

Sheng Qixiao’s tears not only didn’t stop but began to intensify.

“I’ll remember that.”

The two nestled against each other. Sheng Qixiao unceremoniously drew warmth from Shen Que and gradually stabilized.

He let out a long breath. On the hand hidden behind his back, a point of faint light gathered on his fingertip, then was quickly extinguished.

Shen Que’s injuries were not severe, and the poisonous mist could no longer affect him.

Sheng Qixiao pondered silently, Just wait a little longer. Shen Que, at this moment, belongs only to me.

Though he will be his later too, just wait a little longer.

Thinking this, Sheng Qixiao turned his head and gently kissed him.

Their bodies were finally flowing with each other’s blood.