El amor es venenoso

Capítulo 26

Situ Xiang sneered: "When the truth is taken for falsehood, even the truth becomes falsehood; when the falsehood is taken for truth, even the falsehood becomes truth."

He raised the dagger without hesitation, about to stab, when suddenly a crisp sound was heard. Yin Li bit the stone in her mouth, turned to the side, spat out the stone fragments, and also spat out a mouthful of blood.

She raised her head, her lips covered in blood, and stared intently at Situ Xiang. Situ Xiang's hands trembled slightly; her blood made him shudder. He could feel the pain in his heart, as if he were being cut by a dagger.

"Xiang..." Yin Li said with difficulty, each word causing excruciating pain in the wound in her mouth, "Do you remember the birthmark on my shoulder?"

Birthmark? Situ Xiang shuddered violently. Did she have a birthmark? He had never seen her body before, so why was she asking this?

"Your Majesty!" Min Eun-joon's face was cold and gloomy as he urged, "Hurry up and do it! Don't let your emotions get the better of you!"

Situ Xiang seemed not to hear him. He used his dagger to cut open her shirt, and sure enough, there was a string of birthmarks in the hollow of her shoulder, like a string of words, but blurry and indistinct. He gasped softly, his eyes wide open, his hand holding the dagger trembling uncontrollably.

His heart was trembling too.

"Do you remember this?" Yin Li lay on the obsidian altar, tears streaming down her face, and said slowly and deliberately, "More than 2,500 years ago, it was you who tattooed it on me."

The birthmark glowed with a faint golden light, connecting the broken strokes together. It was in Khotanese script, which Caesar and Qin Wen both recognized.

Yudiyana, wife of Ebony.

Situ Xiang took a step back, feeling as if something had struck his chest, making it hard to breathe. His breathing became increasingly rapid, as if something was being suppressed deep within his soul. A sharp pain began to throb in his head. He clutched his head, knelt down, and whimpered, seemingly in great agony.

"Your Majesty!" Min Eun-joon's perpetually smirking face finally showed a hint of anxiety and fear. He rushed over and supported his king. "Your Majesty, don't hesitate any longer! They are witches! They are using sorcery to bewitch you! Kill them quickly! Only in this way can you avenge your people!"

Situ Xiang roared and swung his dagger. Min Enjun couldn't dodge in time and was slashed across the face with a deep gash that stretched from his lower left chin to the left side of his nose. The wound looked like a blood-red worm hanging on his face, extremely gruesome.

He stumbled back a few steps, crashed into the wall, and trembled as he touched his face, his hands covered in blood.

Situ Xiang was in even greater pain, clutching his head and rolling on the ground. Qin Wen seized the opportunity to move to the edge of the altar and rub the edge against the rope on her back.

Hurry! Hurry! She urged in her heart, knowing that if this terrible man recovered, they would have no chance at all.

Min Enjun finally couldn't wait any longer. He rushed to Situ Xiang, snatched the dagger, and stabbed it into Yin Li's eyes. Qin Wen was shocked. In her panic, she jumped up and lay on top of Yin Li. The dagger pierced her shoulder, making a bloody sound.

"Ah!" she cried out in pain. Min Enjun was startled, drew his dagger, and roared, "Since you've come here to die, I'll gouge your eyes out first!"

Before his second stab could land, a hand snaked out from under his armpit, grabbed his wrist, and squeezed hard. A crisp sound of bones cracking rang out in the air. Min Eun-joon cried out in pain, his hand loosened, and the dagger fell to the ground with a thud.

The two girls stared at the man in surprise. He roughly pushed Min Eun-joon to the ground and chuckled at them, "Luckily I woke up in time, otherwise you would both be wandering ghosts."

"Caesar!" Qin Wen finally burst into tears. "You brat, you're still alive! Legend has it that if you're poisoned by the eye of the Serpent King Salang, you'll lose your soul and be forever condemned to the deepest hell, never to be reborn!"

"As it turns out, legends are sometimes unreliable." Min Eun-joon picked up a dagger and cut the ropes binding the two men. "Your so-called Snake King is over there."

The two looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw that the once arrogant Salang snake king had been gutted, its gall bladder removed, and lay limply on the ground, motionless.

This time, Qin Wen couldn't help but admire this man.

"You little rascal, you're something else!" Qin Wen punched his chest with her small fist. He grabbed her fist triumphantly and said, "At least I didn't embarrass you."

“Xiang…” Yin Li murmured the name. Only then did the two remember that there was also the Ebony King who was in great pain. They turned around together and saw that Situ Xiang had already stood up. His face was pale and his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat. He looked very disheveled.

He walked up to Yin Li. Qin Wen wanted to stop him, but Caesar stopped her: "Don't worry, he means no harm."

Situ Xiang reached out and gently stroked the birthmark on Yin Li's shoulder. After a long while, he finally said, "I remember, Zhenyan, this is the birthmark I personally tattooed on you on that night more than 2,500 years ago."

“Yes.” Yin Li nodded. “You said I would be your wife for life, your only wife. But you didn’t do that.”

Qin Wen was taken aback, frowned, and interrupted their conversation: "Xiao Li, what exactly is going on?"

“Xiaowen, actually, more than two thousand years ago, I already compromised,” Yin Li said. “The punishment of sealing off the five senses is too terrible. I don’t want you to die with me. So, I secretly asked someone to tell King Ebony that I was willing to be his concubine on the condition that you be released.”

Qin Wen was shocked. Thinking back carefully, the dungeon should have been heavily guarded the night before the execution. How could she have escaped so easily? She had thought it was because she was lucky and had Buddha's protection, but it turned out that Yin Li had sold her freedom in exchange for her life.

Tears welled up again. Qin Wen was once again grateful that she had chosen revenge back then, choosing to bear eternal loneliness and death in her place. Otherwise, knowing the truth would have surely caused her unbearable pain.

Situ Xiang stared at those words, his brows furrowed, and after a long while, he closed his eyes in anguish: "I'm sorry, Zhenyan, I didn't keep my promise to you."

"What did he promise you?" Qin Wen asked eagerly.

Yin Li hesitated for a moment, then said, "He promised me that he would not only let you go, but also use a tampered dagger during the execution the next day. When the blade is drawn, it will break. Then he will tell all his subjects that the god Kshatriya has forgiven me and pardoned me. He will also forge a false oracle, saying that I am the queen bestowed by the god Kshatriya."

A chill ran down Qin Wen's spine. She seemed to have thought of something terrible, and she trembled as she reached out and pointed at Situ Xiang: "Xiao Li, that night, did he take you?"

Yin Li trembled all over, her face turning deathly pale.

After a long silence, she finally nodded.

Memory rushed towards her like a raging river, almost drowning her. She remembered clearly that night, the moon was terrifyingly large, hanging high outside the window, covering the entire Mano Kingdom with a thin layer of frost, so cold it was heartbreaking.

She lay on his bed, white gauze curtains draped from the ceiling, billowing and swaying with the breeze blowing in from the window. The handsome yet domineering king removed her snow-white dress and used a silver needle to pierce the inscription on her shoulder, declaring his ownership of her.

At that time, her feelings were complicated, including humiliation, sadness, and a little bit of joy.

He had a wife, the supreme queen of Mano, revered by all the people. He also had many concubines, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. His heart never lingered on these women; his heart belonged only to his country.

This is also why she was unwilling to become his concubine. She did not want to be like the other women in his harem, whose only task every day was to dress up and wait for his arrival. When he grew tired of her, this waiting would turn into despair, until she grew old, her heart was as barren as a swamp, and she was as withered as a dead weed.

She didn't know what fate awaited her. She was terrified by her own joy; it was a terrible emotion she dared not think about.

The moment I think about it, I am doomed.

30. Thunder God Beast

Qin Wen's face flushed red as she glared at Situ Xiang, her hands trembling uncontrollably. "You...you beast!" Before she could finish speaking, her fist was already at his feet. Situ Xiang stepped back, easily grabbing her wrist. He looked at her coldly and said, "It's not your place to lecture me." With a slight exertion, he pushed her backward. She lost her balance and stumbled back a few steps. Caesar quickly stepped forward to support her.

Situ Xiang took out a Swiss Army knife from his clothes, placed it in Yin Li's hand, and said, "Zhenyan, I'm sorry. Put this into my heart, and you'll get your revenge."

Gripping the knife hilt, Yin Li's eyes were filled with complex emotions. She gently bit her lower lip and said after a long while, "I want to know why? Do you hate me that much? Are you determined to kill me?"

Situ Xiang's expression was grave, and he sighed, "Any explanation would be superfluous in this kind of situation."

"You haven't been manipulated and lost your true nature, have you?" Caesar suddenly spoke up. Situ Xiang's expression changed, and the three of them looked at him at the same time. He chuckled dryly, "I was just guessing. Could I have guessed right?"

Recalling the execution was agonizing for Yin Li. The Ebony King had indeed acted strangely then; his eyes were unfocused, his gaze vacant, and his face almost expressionless. But she was consumed by despair and rage, leaving her no time or opportunity to observe or reflect.

"Is it Min Eun-jun?" Yin Li grabbed his sleeve. "Did he do something to you that made you like that?"

Situ Xiang was silent for a moment, and just as he was about to answer, Caesar exclaimed, "Min Enjun is missing!"

Everyone was startled and looked at the spot where he had just collapsed, only to find it empty. The four exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes scanning the entire hall. Had he already escaped?

"Impossible!" Situ Xiang said, "I closed the Gate of Limitless when I came up. No one but me can open it!"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that this dead transvestite had vanished into thin air?

Suddenly, a rumbling sound, like thunder, came from the sky. Qin Wen looked at the ceiling in surprise: "Wasn't the weather fine just now? Why is it thundering all of a sudden?"

Situ Xiang's expression changed drastically: "Damn it! It's the Thunder God Beast! That bastard released the Thunder God Beast!"

Thunder God Beast? Yin Li and Qin Wen both looked blank; this was the first time they had ever heard of this name, and there seemed to be no related record in Buddhist scriptures. Situ Xiang noticed their confusion and anxiously explained, "The Thunder God Beast is an immortal monster that has inhabited this oasis of Mano Kingdom since ancient times. The ancestors of the Volgili tribe were able to survive on this fertile land only after subduing it. This monster is inherently ferocious and difficult to tame; it can only be suppressed. One of the purposes of building this tower was to imprison the Thunder God Beast. This temple is not the top floor of the pagoda; there is a vast space above it where the Thunder God Beast is imprisoned!"

"How come we didn't know anything about this?" Qin Wen asked.

Situ Xiang rushed toward the Gate of Limitlessness and began pressing the mechanism: "This is a secret that only the king and the national advisor of each generation can know. Even the queen cannot know it."

Judging from his expression, this ancient monster was definitely not someone to be trifled with; it was best to leave. The three hurriedly followed him to the door, only to find him covered in sweat. He had pressed the mechanism several times, but the door wouldn't budge. He angrily pounded his fist on the door, gritting his teeth as he said, "That bastard Min Enjun! He actually destroyed the mechanism of the Gate of Limitless!"

A chill ran down the spines of the three: "What do we do now?"

Before he could answer, the ceiling suddenly shook violently, revealing a network of cracks. Situ Xiang cried out in alarm, grabbed Yin Li, and leaped behind the altar, yelling, "Get down!"

The violent earthquake, accompanied by the thunderous crash of falling boulders, nearly ruptured the four men's eardrums. When the earthquake finally subsided, the four men lifted their heads from the rubble, their hearts stopping for two seconds.

A monster with a human head and a snake's body was coiled in a hall full of jagged rocks. It had a woman's head with long hair that flowed down its back, and it was surprisingly beautiful. However, it had no neck below its head, only a long snake body with dark green scales that shimmered with a metallic sheen. It was more than two meters wide, making it an enormous creature to the four of them.

"Nu...Nuwa?" Qin Wen was so surprised that she was incoherent. "The Thunder God Beast you all know is actually Fuxi and Nuwa?"

"This is the first time I've ever seen this monster!" Situ Xiang's face was grim, but Caesar was surprisingly calm: "That's not surprising. Many ancient books describe strange and wondrous creatures from the past, and they weren't all made up. Perhaps such creatures really existed in Hong Huang's time. This is a groundbreaking discovery for the biological community. If we could capture one alive..."

"Are you insane!" Situ Xiang shouted. "The Thunder God Beast is covered in electricity and can attract lightning strikes at any time!"

"Shut up, all of you!" Qin Wen snapped in a low voice. "Why are you all making such a racket? Do you think people won't notice you?"

The two men finally stopped arguing, lay prone in the pile of rocks, and stared intently at the thunder beast, not daring to breathe. The monster turned its head, its eyes scanning the hall, then lowered its head to sniff, seemingly finding nothing, before swimming to the wall and violently ramming its head against it.

The moment its head hit the wall, a thunderous roar erupted in the air, sparks flew everywhere, and several flames landed on Qin Wen, setting her clothes ablaze. Caesar and Yin Li frantically extinguished the fire, but half of her clothes were burned, and she also suffered minor burns on her back. She gasped in pain, then threw her clothes off, covered her chest with her hands, and glared at Caesar, saying menacingly, "If you look at me again, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Caesar rolled his eyes and tossed his shirt to her.

The Thunder Beast seemed to hear the noise, turned around, and looked at the pile of rocks where the group was hiding. The four held their breath, using the boulders above them for cover. After watching for a while, the monster didn't seem to have found anything. Its lightning had blasted a large hole in the wall, and it crawled out of the hole. Just as it was about to descend the tower, Min Eun-joon suddenly appeared, holding a xun (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument) with a pattern of intertwined snakes carved on it.

Situ Xiang's face turned ashen: "Impossible! How could that thing be in his hands!"

"What is that?" Yin Li felt a chill run down her spine.

"The Thunderous Xun!" Situ Xiang's voice trembled slightly. "That's a treasure left by our ancestors, capable of controlling the Thunder God Beast for a short period of time!"

Qin Wen closed her eyes in pain, feeling utterly unlucky. If she could get back alive, she would definitely get rid of the evil spirits and take a bath with calamus ten thousand times!

Min Enjun began to play the xun, a tune he had never heard before, melancholic and desolate, reminiscent of the yellow sands of the desert and the blood-red sunset. The xun's sound was like a wolf's howl, distant and lingering. Upon hearing this tune, the Thunder Beast trembled all over, withdrew its head, looked towards where the four were hiding, pounced over, used its tail to lift the stone slab blocking their heads, and forcefully overturned it.

Before they could think, the four of them jumped up, and the Thunder God Beast's serpentine body slammed down on the spot where they had just hidden, causing the ground to immediately cave in.

The four men looked grim; in such a cramped temple, there was practically nowhere to hide! Situ Xiang glanced at Min Enjun, pushed Yin Li to Qin Wen, dotted the ground with a few dots, jumped in front of him, and punched him hard in the chin. He fell to the ground with a thud, and the xun rolled into a crevice in the rocks.

Grabbing his collar, Situ Xiang roared, "Why did you do this! Didn't you swear to be loyal to me to the death? Do you know what the consequences will be if you release the Thunder God Beast?"

Min Eun-joon wiped his mouth and sneered, "Your Majesty, you have been bewitched by that vixen."

Another punch landed on his face, Situ Xiang's voice filled with murderous intent: "Don't talk such nonsense anymore. I'm asking you, didn't you poison me back then?"

Min Enjun frowned, meeting his gaze. His icy green eyes radiated coldness, and he could clearly feel the murderous aura emanating from him. He glanced at Yin Li, who was busy dodging the monster's attacks, and said, "Why is it that you can have it, but I can't?"

Situ Xiang stared wide-eyed at him in disbelief. From the very beginning, the high priest had been cold-hearted towards Zhen Yan, seemingly determined to kill her. He had always thought he hated her, but it turned out he actually…

"This is impossible!" Situ Xiang used all his strength to lift him off the ground. "You're lying to me!"

"If you weren't the king, you'd never have her!" Min Eun-joon roared. "What I can't have, you can't have either!"

Situ Xiang felt a chill in his chest. It turned out that everything was a lie. It was the person he trusted most who had destroyed everything he had!

A scream came from behind. Situ Xiang turned around and saw Caesar's left arm scratched by the scales of the Thunder God Beast, the wound covered in burn marks, and he lay on the ground unable to move. Qin Wen held Yin Li tightly. The Thunder God Beast glared at them fiercely, then suddenly roared, and a bolt of lightning struck the two girls from the sky.

"Xiao Li!"

"Wen!"

The two men roared together, but it was too late. The lightning had already struck, sparks flying everywhere. Anyone struck by such lightning would have no chance of survival.

Despair filled both of their hearts.

Suddenly, flames shot up like a pair of blood-red wings, quickly spreading out and striking the Thunder Beast's face. The monster was terrified; its eyes were burned by the flames, and it roared in pain. Its long tail whipped across the ground, and it fled towards the outside of the tower.

Min Enjun was pulled by its tail and rolled out of the tower. In a moment of impulsiveness, Situ Xiang rushed over and grabbed his hand tightly. The handsome young man, who was as beautiful as a woman, looked up at his master and said with a bitter smile, "Your Majesty, these years as a policeman have made you weak. The old you would never have saved me."

"Shut up!" Situ Xiang's face darkened.