Luzhou Moon - Chapter 82
The winter sun pierced her eyes like silver needles, and Yue Ruzheng's vision was blurred by the constant flow of tears. His features, his brows and eyes, were forever etched in her heart. Even frozen in ice, they remained crystal clear.
The road ahead was narrow and rugged. She didn't know where to go, so she just kept walking aimlessly. The already winding path became increasingly difficult to walk, and the ancient trees on both sides were entangled with withered vines, making them appear even more gloomy.
She hadn't gone far when the path ahead was blocked by a fallen, withered tree, making it impassable. She stood blankly at the end of the road, lost in thought for a long time. Then, looking around, she saw a cave not far away, its entrance obscured by drooping, withered vines, concealing its depth. A cold wind swirled from the hillside. Yue Ruzheng walked weakly to the cave entrance and slowly sat down against the stone wall.
The white clouds on the horizon drifted slowly, so quiet that it seemed to make one forget time and everything else.
Yue Ruzheng sat there blankly, her mind seemingly a complete blank. It wasn't until a strange sound brought her slightly back to her senses.
--It seemed as if winds from different directions were colliding violently in the confined space, creating surging waves.
The sound rose and fell, elusive and hard to pinpoint. Yue Ruzheng listened for a long time before realizing it seemed to be coming from the cave behind her. She instinctively stood up and reached out to push aside the withered vines hanging in front of her.
The cave was dimly lit, making it almost impossible to see what was inside. She hesitated for a moment, then took a few steps forward. The ground was slippery, and the air smelled raw. Yue Ruzheng gripped the uneven cave wall, unsure whether to go any further. Just then, a sharp sound suddenly rang out from not far away. The sound was like a crane's cry echoing through the heavens, shattering the sky and carrying a faint rumble of thunder. It reverberated through the deep cave, making Yue Ruzheng almost lose her footing.
Shocked, she was about to retreat when a blinding white light, as cold as an ice blade, suddenly flashed before her eyes, bursting into a rainbow-like radiance. The light assaulted her, whipping up a fierce wind that Yue Ruzheng couldn't withstand. She turned and ran towards the cave entrance. Just as she was about to escape, a tidal wave of true energy surged from behind. Yue Ruzheng's feet touched the ground, but before she could leap far, she was struck in the back.
She felt a chill quickly swirl up her back and then explode, spreading in all directions. Stumbling forward a few steps, she turned to look at herself, her sword still in place, when another gust of cold wind shot out from the depths of the withered vines, aiming straight for her brow. Yue Ruzheng blocked with her sword, her wrist going numb, and the Lonely Fragrance Sword trembled violently. Knowing the person in the cave possessed profound inner strength, she could only endure the excruciating pain and turn to flee back as fast as she could.
Unexpectedly, the internal force that struck her was initially only chilling, but when she channeled her energy to run, it felt like ice shards shattering and piercing deep into her bone marrow. Yue Ruzheng's breathing became erratic. Her path was blocked, and she could only run in the direction she had come from. However, her steps were heavy, and each step caused her blood and qi to surge. Her vision was blurred, and she could barely see the road.
She could still faintly hear the wind behind her, as if someone was following her from a short distance, yet never actually approaching. It was precisely this elusive yet terrifying presence that drove her to flee for her life.
The forest path was winding and undulating. Yue Ruzheng had fled to the place where she had parted ways with Lian Junchu, and was already exhausted. She used her long sword to support herself and staggered forward for a while.
The gloomy feeling behind her never disappeared, as if someone was watching her all along. Yue Ruzheng was forced to stop by this indescribable feeling. She barely managed to gather her inner strength to protect her heart meridian, but her whole body was ice cold, and she could not even operate the most basic mental techniques.
She was breathing rapidly, as if she were stepping on clouds. Sunlight pierced through the pines and cypresses, shining into her eyes. In the distance, she could vaguely see someone sitting under the shadows of the trees.
A soft, rustling sound approached from behind. Yue Ruzheng used her last bit of strength to take a few steps forward, but could no longer support herself and fell heavily onto the ground covered with withered leaves.
In a daze, she seemed to hear someone walking quickly towards her. She opened her eyes with all her might, the world spinning and swaying, and in this extreme dizziness, she saw that familiar figure running towards her at top speed.
"You didn't leave..." Yue Ruzheng murmured to herself, her voice so low that only she could hear it.
His sleeves fluttered slightly in the wind, making her feel as if she had been transported back to when she was nineteen. He had leaped gracefully from a high cliff by the sea, his eyes filled with joy, his white robes whiter than snow. Back then, she was so close to him, she could feel his warmth.
She raised the corners of her mouth, wanting to smile, but felt a surge of hot, metallic liquid gush out from her throat.
When Lian Junchu rushed to Yue Ruzheng, her face was deathly pale, yet she wore a bleak smile. Blood flowed from the corner of her lips, staining her clothes red.
"Yue Ruzheng..."
He called her name in a daze. Yue Ruzheng tried to sit up, but after a brief struggle, she fell back down.
Lian Junchu knelt down and quickly bent down, trying to use his arms to help her up, but his shoulders were now covered with sharp thorns and various hidden weapons, making it impossible for him to get close to her body.
Just as he was getting anxious, Lian Junchu felt his sleeve being tugged. Looking down, he saw Yue Ruzheng with lifeless eyes, still holding his sleeve.
"Don't touch it!" He shook his shoulders forcefully, but dared not pull the cuff of his sleeve out of her hand. "There are sharp spikes on it!"
Perhaps the pain in her body was too intense, because Yue Ruzheng seemed completely oblivious to the pain in her palms. She was breathing rapidly and kept tightly gripping Lian Junchu's sleeve.
"Don't do this!" Lian Junchu looked into her eyes, his voice trembling slightly. But Yue Ruzheng seemed to have lost her mind, staring straight at him with eyes burdened by hidden pain.
Lian Junchu was helpless, watching as blood continued to drip from the corner of her lips, her eyes gradually becoming unfocused and lifeless, and her cheeks losing all color. He tried to break free of the chains tightly binding him, but no matter how hard he tried, it was all in vain. The cold chains, along with the two swords, remained firmly attached to his body, preventing him from getting close to Yue Ruzheng.
Lian Junchu suddenly felt like a monster. For the first time, he hated this strange weapon so much, and he hated himself even more.
He couldn't let her let go, nor could he lift her up. He could only grit his teeth, stretch his right leg to Yue Ruzheng's side, bend his knee, and struggle to lift her body, using his leg to support her as she barely managed to sit up. But by this time, Yue Ruzheng was on the verge of unconsciousness and couldn't even sit upright. He leaned over and let her rest against his chest.
Yue Ruzheng leaned against him listlessly, her right hand gripping his sleeve, her left hand laboriously raised to encircle his neck, her blue collar stained with her blood.
Lian Junchu looked down at her and said urgently, "How could this happen?"
Yue Ruzheng shook her head slightly, and just as she was about to answer, blood dripped from the corner of her lips again.
"Stop talking!" He was so anxious that he used his knee to push her down, but his arms were useless. Afraid that she would be pricked by the hidden thorns, he could only back away.
"Xiao Tang..." Yue Ruzheng grabbed his shoulder desperately, her breath short and her face pale.
Lian Junchu's body stiffened slightly, his breathing became rapid, and his eyes held a deep bitterness.
"Am I going to die...?" A glimmer of light shone in her eyes, yet her gaze was distant and vacant. "I... I'm so tired of living... Xiao Tang, perhaps... this is a kind of... liberation..."
Lian Junchu stood there stunned for a long while, then suddenly cried out in a hoarse voice, "Why do you want to be free? I won't let you die!"
Her eyes were filled with tears and she felt very sore. She felt a jumble of memories from the past, but she could no longer think clearly about the rights and wrongs. She was so tired that she just wanted to sleep.
As Lian Junchu watched her slowly close her eyes, her heart sank, as if she had fallen into an abyss of no return.
He turned his face slightly, his lips trembling, and pressed them against hers. He could feel her faint breaths, intermittent and faint. This was the first time since their reunion that he had been so close to Yue Ruzheng, yet he couldn't lift her up and carry her out of the small forest. He had never felt so panicked and helpless.
"Ruzheng, Ruzheng..." He kept calling in her ear, and Yue Ruzheng seemed to be able to sense it, her hand around his neck moved slightly.
Lian Junchu tilted her head slightly to the side and said with difficulty, "Hold me, I'll carry you out."
Yue Ruzheng's right hand rose heavily, then fell back down; she no longer had the strength to hold him tightly as before.
Lian Junchu kept his head bowed deeply. The cold wind in the mountain forest grew stronger with each gust. He bit Yue Ruzheng's sleeve and pulled her right hand to his shoulder. Then, he carefully turned his body to the side, letting Yue Ruzheng lean against his back.
Then, he knelt down, bent over, and using the strength of his waist and abdomen to support Yue Ruzheng with his back, barely managing to take a step forward.
But after moving her a few times, Yue Ruzheng's body would tilt to one side. He could only bite her sleeves tightly with his teeth to fix her arms in front of him. Sometimes he had to stop, move her to a suitable position, and then repeat the kneeling forward movement.
The forest path was uneven, with withered branches, fallen leaves, and even protruding rocks, but he couldn't care less about that. He just bent over and carried her forward step by step.
Lian Junchu didn't really know where he should go. His mind was blank. He just subconsciously felt that he couldn't leave Yue Ruzheng here. He estimated the distance. It wasn't too far from the edge of the forest, but it took him a long time to "walk" this distance of less than a few hundred steps.