Ich denke an dich, wenn der Wind weht

Kapitel 67

Xie Yunshu had already dug up a new grave, but upon finding it wasn't the right one, he abandoned it and started digging at another spot. Everyone scattered to search, and the desolate and gloomy graveyard echoed with the sound of dust being thrown up from all directions.

She hadn't buried it herself, and she didn't know where it was. She collapsed to the ground, watching everyone's actions with a blank and numb expression.

He frantically shoveled away the smothering soil, his mind focused on only one thing. Cold sweat trickled down his temples and disappeared into the damp earth. As he continued to dig, a distorted face emerged.

His heart skipped a beat. The insignia of the Prince of Nanjun's mansion could still be vaguely discerned from the mud-smeared clothes, and Li's dark, bluish complexion was a sign of impending doom.

The corpses were piled up several times; in one grave, there were even three or four bodies. He threw them out one by one and dug downwards until the coffin lid at the deepest point was finally revealed. The unusual action attracted the attention of others, who stared silently at the cold, hard coffin.

Bi Jun jumped down into the deep pit to help sweep away the smothering soil. He took a deep breath and lifted the coffin lid with his bare hands. The long coffin nails made a piercing scraping sound, and the splintered wood cut his palms, but he didn't feel it at all, staring blankly at the interior that was revealed.

It really is Jia Ye.

The night was very dark, and the person in the coffin was extremely white.

The man who had roamed the vast desert, fighting and killing, lay motionless in the cramped coffin.

The torn, tattered garment had clearly been straightened, covering most of her naked body except for her slender feet and a bruise on her forehead from a fall. Her delicate fingertips clenched spasmodically at her chest, and there were a few streaks of blood on her neck. She showed no fear of death; her long, fan-like eyelashes were closed, and a faint mockery lingered on her purple lips, as if she were ridiculing her ridiculous fate.

It was as if everything had frozen in time.

Bi Jun's legs went weak, and he almost couldn't stand up; Yin Hu opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound; Yu Sui's face was deathly pale; Chi Shu stared at the person in the coffin in disbelief; Xie Qu Heng's gaze swept over, looking worriedly at his motionless younger brother.

Xie Yunshu remained calm, took off his coat to wrap her up, and jumped up with her in his arms.

"Jia Ye, wake up." He coaxed softly, as if the person in his arms was asleep, calling out gently and patiently. His injured hand pressed against her back, continuously channeling his inner energy, trying to restore some warmth to her cold body.

"Jia Ye... stop sleeping. Didn't you want to leave Yangzhou? Get up."

"...You won't die, right...?" He gently touched her soft face, the mud on his hands staining her delicate skin, which he then wiped away with his sleeve. "You look awful like this...Wake up..."

The person in his arms was motionless, like a delicate doll, devoid of any life.

"You like kites, right? I'll make you something even prettier. Get up..."

“Gaye…”

He kept calling out to you, coaxing you gently, but gradually grew anxious, "...It's still so cold, you're always like this..."

He lowered his head and breathed into his mouth again and again.

Lightning flashed across the wilderness, illuminating the tightly embracing silhouette. A strange, labored breathing sounded like the low groan of a drowning person.

"Wake up... wake up..."

"...You survived so many injuries, how could you die like this..." His cold hand hung motionless on the ground. He murmured softly, even reaching out to touch her eyelashes, the warm blood between his fingers slowly sliding down her cheeks, bright red and glaring.

“…Gaya…don’t do this, open your eyes and look at me…”

“…Gaya…please…wake up…”

Despair gripped everyone's hearts; the extreme stillness was suffocating; the wind carried away the putrid smell of the graveyard, mercilessly sweeping everything away.

Xie Quheng choked painfully, wanting to step forward and pull his younger brother away, but he couldn't move his feet. Yu Sui approached and reached for the limp, thin wrist, but Xie Yunshu flipped his palm away. The unexpected attack triggered a counterattack of internal force. Under the impact, Yu Sui took a step back, and Xie Yunshu, who was holding Jia Ye and hadn't used his strength, immediately had blood trickle from the corner of his lips.

The other party meant well in probing, but Xie Quheng felt apologetic for his third brother's overreaction. He hesitated, wanting to say something, but Yin Hu spoke for him, offering a barely acceptable explanation.

"The Snow Fairy is poisonous; you must not touch her."

Xie Yunshu ignored his own injuries and gazed intently at Jia Ye.

Her long eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, and Yu Sui, who had never taken her eyes off her, suddenly brightened up, her voice choked with emotion.

"look!"

Her delicate brows furrowed, as if she were being squeezed uncomfortably. Her lips moved, and she suddenly coughed.

"She's alive! She's still alive!" Bi Jun excitedly pounced on Yin Hu and shook him violently. Yin Hu didn't push him away, and was equally overjoyed. Xie Quheng breathed a sigh of relief, and Chi Shu's tense body relaxed, only to find that his fists were clenched too tightly, and his knuckles ached.

After a series of agonizing coughs, she finally regained her breath, and her bluish face gradually returned to normal.

Xie Yunshu knelt down, holding her weakly, and cold sweat finally seeped out, soaking his back.

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it also seemed to have only been a moment.

Its dark pupils were blank and lifeless, and it suddenly began to struggle and push away. Xie Yunshu restrained its limp hands and comforted it in a hoarse voice, "It's me, it's me. Don't be afraid..."

Sensing the familiar presence, the person in his arms calmed down and, guided by him, stroked the well-defined face.

"...Shuying?"

Since arriving in Jiangnan, she had never called him by that name. He pulled her hand to his forehead, suppressing the emotions surging within him, and responded in a hoarse voice.

"It's me, don't worry."

She suddenly remembered something and tried to speak, but choked. Xie Yunshu helped her up slightly and gently patted her back, "I'm poisoned, Biluo Powder..."

"Um."

A flash of lightning illuminated the scene, and Xie Quheng noticed his younger brother's face had turned black, a clear sign of poisoning, which greatly alarmed him. "Third brother!"

Xie Yunshu turned back to his brother and smiled, then lifted Jia Ye's little finger and ran it across the back of his hand, which was still bleeding from the splinter wound, allowing the antidote to enter his bloodstream. "It's alright, it's cured now."

Ignoring Xie Quheng's fright, he turned to the person in his arms, whose slender white hand was groping for her eyes. "Is it night...? I can't see anything."

"You just came from... your eyes aren't used to it yet, but it'll be fine in a while." The low, husky voice was extremely gentle, as if afraid of startling something.

"In the coffin?" Her pale face was almost transparent. "I know..." Her breathing was erratic, she paused, and smiled wearily. "Actually, this way of dying... isn't bad, at least it's a complete corpse."

"Don't talk nonsense." The strong arm tightened its grip again.

Sensing his unease, she gently rested her head against her chest.

A clap of thunder cut through the sky, and large raindrops pounded down, releasing a strong, earthy smell. Jia Ye suddenly murmured as if in a dream.

"I saw Mother and Huaiyi come to pick me up..."

"…………You must have seen wrong." Xie Yunshu seemed oblivious to the presence of others, gently coaxing her in a soft voice.

“That’s true…” The death-defying restraints distorted her senses, and Jia Ye couldn’t distinguish between reality and dreams, feeling dazed and confused. “I killed them all, how could they possibly come to pick me up?”

"It was the King who killed him, not you." He kissed his pale eyelashes.

“I was the murderer…” Her voice was weak and feeble as she recounted the facts, her voice haggard.

“It was the King. You have killed him to avenge him, and no one will blame you.” Xie Yunshu looked at the unfocused black eyes with pity, his heart softening to the point of pain.

Jia Ye stopped insisting, an overwhelming weariness washed over her, and she buried her face in her chest, curling up her small body to hide the inescapable loneliness.

I'm tired.

"I know."

The long-brewing downpour finally fell, turning the world into a vast expanse of white.

Long after everyone had left, Yu Sui returned to the empty pit and gently stroked the overturned coffin lid with his fingertips.

After a long silence, Wen Ya's face was as pale as death as the rain poured down on her.

Dream

After a quick wash and change, he waited outside the bathhouse until a strong maid helped Jia Ye out. Dressed in clean clothes, exuding the fresh scent of a bath, Jia Ye was still pale, but no longer appeared weak and feeble. He took her in his arms and carried her into the main room of Chunze Garden. Unlike the lotus pond of Xiachu Garden, Chunze Garden was lush with vegetation, its flowers blooming vibrantly in summer, like a lively and flamboyant young woman in full regalia.

"Stay here for now, and move over once Xia Chuyuan is properly cleaned up." Everything else is fine, but dealing with the broken jade bottles of various colors must be done with extreme care.

Jia Ye nodded and let him place it on the ice silk mattress.

He opened the medicine box placed to the side and applied medicine to her, wrapped up the pinch wound on her arm, and rubbed the bruise on her forehead with medicated wine. His warm fingertips touched her slightly cool skin, and the smell of medicated wine spread. She slowly closed her eyelashes.

Something touched the corner of her mouth, and she opened her eyes to see him carefully applying medicine powder.

"It's nothing serious, nothing serious." Avoiding his gaze, she pulled him to sit down on the edge of the bed and began to tend to his injured hand. There were still splinters on his fair fingers and palm, which she carefully removed with a silver needle.

“Gaye”.

"Um."

"Actually, you don't want to live at all, do you?" His voice was like ice floating on a winter lake, but his eyes burned with passion.

Jia Ye didn't speak or look up, and continued cleaning his fingers until he picked out the last crumb.

"You knew that curing Shen Huaiyang's poison would mean giving up your own life, but you still did it."

"You clearly woke up in the coffin, but you didn't struggle at all. What were you thinking then?"

"You have no hope of being rescued, and you're just quietly waiting to die, aren't you?"

"You said you were tired... After killing the Pope, you became different. You didn't care about anything, even your will was empty... Why is that?"

He grabbed her hand to prevent her from escaping, his handsome face fixed on her.

"tell me."

Her snow-white neck drooped, and even her long eyelashes seemed still.

"Gaye!"

"I..." she managed a weak reply, then swallowed it back down. "I have no power to resist, you know... the weakness will last all day..."

“That’s not a reason.” He wouldn’t tolerate a false excuse. “No one stays motionless in a coffin without even trying to push it open.”

"I tried."

“You don’t have any. There isn’t a single scratch on the coffin lid.” Recalling the scene of finding her, he almost trembled. He was both relieved that she hadn’t moved recklessly and was angry that she had completely given up the will to live.

Trapped alive in a dark, narrow, and gloomy space, struggling to breathe, death drew ever closer, and she simply pulled her clothes tighter and quietly awaited her death, completely giving up the struggle.

"Is it because of Shen Huaiyi? Do you think it's retribution?"

Black eyes paused for a moment, then looked away.

"Since you've already accomplished what you needed to do, you don't care about your own fate, right?"

She finally raised her head, staring blankly at the man whose breath was rippling. His clear eyes seemed to pierce her heart, his handsome face was filled with pain and anger, but the hand holding hers was firm and warm.

Someone completely different from her... possesses something that draws people in, perhaps it's light, perhaps it's warmth...

She wanted to say he was right, that she didn't care how she died, that in the claustrophobic confinement of the coffin she remembered him, his tenderness and indulgence, his loving care and pampering, and... his kisses...

She truly believed that she would die eventually, just a little earlier.

Why... did his anger lead him to mistakenly believe he was indispensable...?

As if hypnotized by those angry eyes, his fingertips gently caressed his handsome face and kissed his sharply defined lips.