He turned to look at Xiao Shixun and said with a smile, "Brother, come over here too, it's very cool here."
Xiao Shixun paused for a moment, then took off his shoes and socks and walked over, sitting down next to Xiao Shijing. He put his feet in the water as well, and the coolness instantly filled his body.
"Feels good, Your Majesty?" Xiao Shijing placed his hands on either side, then tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the coolness in the sweltering summer heat.
Xiao Shixun turned his head and saw Xiao Shijing's fair neck, smooth as porcelain. At that moment, he had an urge to reach out and touch it.
From then on, every quiet night, what floated in his mind was the image of Xiao Shijing swinging his fair feet, splashing water, tilting his head back to reveal his porcelain-white neck, his eyes closed, a gentle and blissful expression on his face, and the sound of Xiao Shijing gently calling him "Royal Brother" echoing in his ears.
Day after day, year after year.
He could no longer forget Xiao Shijing; instead, he engraved him deeply in his heart.
He wanted to possess him, to be with him for life, never to be apart for a moment.
He didn't know why, maybe he was just happy, so he couldn't help but excitedly tell the woman about it.
He felt that someone with such a twisted mentality as a woman could definitely accept things that ordinary people couldn't.
But when the woman's disgusted curses came, they shattered his last shred of hope for her.
"Disgusting, you disgust me. Just because I crippled you, you can't find a woman, so you've turned to liking men? You're a bastard, you have no right to do what you want, and you even dare to dream of becoming the Crown Prince. Don't you even take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? Do you deserve it? Xiao Shijing is the Crown Prince, revered by the world, a light you can never reach. You actually like him? You actually dare to like him?"
Xiao Shixun stood there, clenching his fists, without uttering a sound.
"Don't forget why I raised you. You're just a bastard, not even as good as a dog. You have to do whatever I tell you to do. Now that you're grown up and capable, you should help me take what I want, instead of falling for some man. Xiao Shijing has so many people who love him, he won't even glance at you unless... unless you become the emperor and order him around, maybe he'll look at you then."
The woman hurled many more vile insults, but they meant nothing to Xiao Shixun. Only Xiao Shijing's words kept echoing in his ears: "So many people love Xiao Shijing, he wouldn't even glance at you."
After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "If I'm the only one by his side, then I'll be the only one in his eyes..."
Chapter 5 Side Story: Darkness and Light (Part 5)
The woman paused after hearing Xiao Shixun's words, then sneered again: "How could Xiao Shijing only have you by his side? He has loving parents, a caring older sister, a respectful younger brother, and a beloved younger brother. As for you, you are nothing but an unwanted bastard."
“Then let him lose everything…that way, I’ll be his only one…” Xiao Shixun suddenly laughed.
The woman felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at Xiao Shixun, who seemed to have gone mad with desire.
But she quickly calmed down and said, "Only by becoming the emperor of Xiao Kingdom can you have everything you want."
She had waited all these years for Xiao Shixun to grow up and be able to get what she wanted most for her.
If she can't become empress, then she'll just become empress dowager!
What followed was that bloody catastrophe.
Xiao Shixun ascended to the throne and became the new emperor.
He thought that by cutting off everything around Xiao Shijing, he could become his only one.
But Xiao Shijing ran away and disappeared without a trace.
The world only knew that Xiao Shijing died in the fire, but only he knew that his Jing'er was not dead, and he was still alive.
Because he had already planted a curse on him, so if he lived, he lived; if he died, he died.
Regardless of who dies first or last, if one of them dies first, the other will immediately follow suit.
But where did his beloved Jing'er go...?
The woman looked at Xiao Shixun, who stood in a high position, his face expressionless. That was the first time she had ever smiled at him.
She smiled happily simply because she got what she wanted.
"Xun'er has indeed not disappointed his mother!" The woman couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought that everything here would be hers in the future.
Xiao Shixun looked at the woman whose face was contorted with laughter, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
The woman looked at the high position she had always dreamed of and walked towards it step by step.
Just as they were about to arrive, a flash of cold light appeared, and blood splattered everywhere.
The woman stared wide-eyed at Xiao Shixun, then gritted her teeth and cursed, "Xiao Shixun! How dare you lay a hand on me! I'll kill you, you bastard!"
The woman bared her teeth and claws, trying to pounce on him, but Xiao Shixun stood there motionless, waiting for her to lunge before grabbing her by the neck.
"Who do you want to kill? Who do you want to kill? Who can you kill?" Xiao Shixun stared at the woman, his eyes numb and gloomy.
"You, I'm going to kill you, kill you, you ungrateful bastard! If it weren't for me, would you be where you are today?!" The woman's face turned bright red as she was being choked.
"Yes, if it weren't for you, would I be where I am today? Your beatings and insults taught me that if I want something, I'll do anything to get it, regardless of face or humanity. And now, all I want is Jing'er. Jing'er has nothing left, so now as long as I kill you, no one will stop us..."
The woman panicked. She saw the coldness and ruthlessness in Xiao Shixun's eyes, which were even greater than her own.
Xiao Shixun now resembles a highly venomous snake, exuding a chilling aura. His eyes are icy cold, as if a single glance would be fatal, let alone a gentle bite from him, which would surely be an instant death.
"No, I won't stop you anymore. You can like whoever you want, I won't interfere anymore!" The woman didn't want everything she had finally hoped for to die before she could even touch it.
Chapter 6 Side Story: Darkness and Light (Part 6)
The woman didn't understand why Xiao Shixun was still obsessed with Xiao Shijing, someone who was already dead.
But if she doesn't go along with Xiao Shixun now, she might become a dead person herself.
Xiao Shixun, who had been speaking coldly, suddenly roared after hearing this: "I only want Jing'er, I only want my Jing'er!"
That terrifying expression, as if it were about to devour the woman at any moment, made her heart almost stop beating.
Then, Xiao Shixun regained his composure and said, "I don't care if you insult and beat me, but if you don't die, when I find Jing'er, he will be unhappy to see that you are still alive, because he has lost everything. How can I still have a mother living?"
"I... I'm not your mother, you know that. I'm not your mother at all, so you have no reason to kill me." Upon hearing Xiao Shixun's words, the woman quickly distanced herself from him, hoping to save her own life.
"Yes, I forgot. You are not my mother at all. I don't even know what my own parents look like. You stole me into the palace for your own selfish desires. So I can't let you stay. Shouldn't you atone with your death to soothe the pain of my parents losing their child?"
Xiao Shixun slowly smiled, his hand gradually tightening...
The woman's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. She was barely breathing, only exhaling. Knowing she couldn't save her life, she could only utter one last, bitter curse: "You disgusting bastard..."
Xiao Shixun's smile froze instantly, and the woman breathed her last in that instant.
He tossed it aside casually, as if he were throwing away something old and worn out.
Three years.
Xiao Shixun searched for Xiao Shijing for three years.
Finally, there was news of Xiao Shijing.
Xiao Shixun rushed to the border like a madman, but he was too late and missed the person he had been thinking about for three years.
However, he was still happy because he knew where he was.
He could finally see Jing'er, whom he had been longing for day and night.
When the day of their meeting arrived, Xiao Shixun chose his most beautiful purple dress to wear.
Because Jing'er once said that he looked best in purple clothes.
From then on, all his clothes were purple, even his dragon robe was changed to purple.
For Xiao Shijing, this is also why he never wore purple clothes later on. After he got together with Feng Muting, Feng Muting prepared new clothes of various colors for him. He wore red, pink, green and gray, but never touched the purple one.
Since that bloody catastrophe, purple has become Xiao Shijing's nightmare.
Before that, that was also his favorite color.
In the Kingdom of Feng, at the Prince Ting's mansion, Xiao Shixun finally met Xiao Shijing.
He stared intently at Jing'er, his eyes fixed on him.
But he discovered that when he saw Jing'er again, she had someone else in her eyes.
Why, why is this happening...?
Jing'er has nothing left but him, so why doesn't she see him?
However, that doesn't matter. He came to take Jing'er away. Once he takes Jing'er away and keeps him by his side, he will naturally only have eyes for her.
Xiao Shixun believed that if he brought Xiao Shijing back to Xiao Kingdom and kept him by his side, never leaving him for a moment, then Xiao Shijing would eventually belong to him.
But things didn't turn out the way he expected.
He found that no matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of the person in Xiao Shijing's heart.
Chapter 7 Side Story: Darkness and Light (The End)
Xiao Shixun looked at Xiao Shijing, who was extremely resistant to him.
He recalled the scene of Xiao Shijing treating his wounds and taking him to soak his feet to cool off in the summer.
It seems he has very few fond memories of him.
Very few.
Then, everything was filled with blood.
Since then, his Jing'er has never called him "Royal Brother" again.
Looking at Xiao Shijing, who was heartbroken and unwilling to wake up, Xiao Shixun clutched his chest, feeling as if something was slipping away there.
Is he going to die together with his Jing'er...?
When Xiao Shijing woke up, Xiao Shixun found that his heart suddenly felt empty, and he felt like he couldn't grasp anything.
He belatedly realized that the man in red standing next to Lu Chimo was the disciple whom the Gu King of Lijiang always talked about, the handsome and gentle disciple who loved to wear red.
It was at this moment that he finally understood why his heart felt so empty, because the only remaining bond between him and Jing'er was gone.
Xiao Shixun couldn't understand why Xiao Shijing wouldn't accept his love at all.
Was he wrong? Where did he go wrong? Did he not love him enough?
He eliminated everyone who would prevent him from being in love with Xiao Shijing.
Only he and Xiao Shijing remained.
He thought that this way, they could embrace each other.
Why did it end with the words, "Xiao Shixun, I hate you so much, you disgust me"?
No one knows how Xiao Shixun spent that night.