Romans PaiPai - Chapitre 16
He was determined to leave, his expression frantic and intense. He truly wanted to leave this place; he truly didn't want to stay... His mind was clear, transparent and cold from his fingertips to his heart, like ice crystals.
There was no resentment, no blame, no sadness, no anger, only despair.
That kind of despair is the expression on the face of a person who is about to freeze to death, watching helplessly as the only fire goes out.
The firelight faded, and the world grew cold.
Tang Qiefang felt a sudden, loud noise in her ears, and her body seemed to regain its own consciousness. She turned around and hugged him, "I'm leaving, but I'm not dead! You can still go out and look for me! We can still meet! You—why are you crying?" Her throat tightened as she spoke, and she tried to scold him even harder, "Idiot!"
"No...don't leave me alone..." Tang Congrong cried, gripping Tang Qiefang's arm tightly with both hands, as if he would leave if she let go, as if she wanted to break his arm. If she couldn't keep him, could she keep these hands? A terrifying thought vaguely crossed her mind...leave something...anything...anything at all.
Tang Qiefang had never seen him cry before, and she never imagined that when he cried, it would be so overwhelming and desperate, with a suffocating power. Looking at this tearful person, she could hardly breathe. His hand was gripping her arm, and his ten fingers felt like they were digging into her arm bone, causing unbearable pain.
Such pain, such tangled emotions, made Tang Qiefang suddenly shout, "I'm not leaving!" Her voice was so loud it startled the birds into flight, as if she were trying to convince herself, or perhaps making a vow, "Congrong, I'm not leaving! I promise you, I'll never leave again, I won't leave you alone..."
These words seemed to release all the tangled emotions deep within him, and he inexplicably calmed down. The usual Tang Qiefang returned, "Don't cry, don't cry, please don't cry! Ah, if you cry again, I'm leaving! Good heavens, where do you get so many tears? Are you even a man?!"
Chapter 33
As she spoke, she embraced the weeping man, her tears soaking his clothes. His chest felt alternating between icy cold and burning hot. Seeing Cong Rong weep, she felt so sad. Yet, amidst the sadness, there was also a strange joy.
I never knew that someone would be so heartbroken when I left.
It turns out that someone needs me so much.
Just like needing light and fire.
Can I become this person's light and warmth?
Seven years have passed, but the boy's desperate eyes and silent tears still seem to be right before my eyes.
Tang Qiefang sighed deeply. Every time she thought about it, a wisp of turbid mist would rise in her chest, and if she didn't exhale it all at once, it would feel like she was suffocating.
The scene from seven years ago flashed before Tang Congrong's eyes like a mirror. Back then, the twelve-year-old boy only knew that he was leaving; no one would ever call him by his name again, no one would ever take him to raid hornet's nests again, no one would ever cook him red date and rice porridge when his weakness flared up, no one would ever laugh and joke around him instead of bowing respectfully before him… Yes, never again would anyone be so close to him. The Tang Clan was so vast, yet he was all alone now.
He was aloof from a young age, while Tang Qiefang was too unruly. People could no longer remember what the two of them were like before. They only knew that after that winter, Tang Congrong was always accompanied by Tang Qiefang, and Tang Qiefang was always accompanied by Tang Congrong. They were like each other's shadows, rarely separated.
He naturally assumed they would continue like this, but Tang Qiefang's departing figure almost drove him to despair, and he couldn't understand the meaning of those words at all.
Now, recalling each word, Tang Congrong's fingertips trembled slightly—it turned out that those words from back then already contained this astonishing secret.
"Congrong, I am not surnamed Tang." Tang Qiefang softly revealed the secret that the successive lords of the Pharmacy had tried their best to conceal. "The person who refines the Heavenly Fragrance cannot have descendants. My grandfather was adopted by my great-grandfather. My father was adopted by my grandfather, and I was adopted by my father. Apart from the first lord, none of the Pharmacy lords are of Tang family blood."
Tang Congrong was so shocked that she couldn't speak.
Tang Qiefang looked at him and smiled gently, "I knew you would be terrified if you knew about this."
Tang Congrong asked blankly, "You're not a member of the Tang Clan?"
"no."
"Not my uncle?"
"no."
"Why...why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Since I'm staying with the Tang Clan, I am Tang Qiefang. What difference does it make whether I tell you or not?"
Tang Congrong still felt a bit confused. "Then... what was your original name?"
“I don’t know…” Tang Qiefang replied, “I was brought in right after I was born. To protect his position, the lord of the pharmacy was extremely meticulous in his work. If it weren’t for my mother, I would never have known my true identity.”
"Your mother?" Your biological mother?
“Your great-aunt.” Tang Qiefang seemed to know what he was thinking. “In my whole life, she was my only mother. She loved me like a newborn son. But my father was unpredictable and sometimes… he would abuse her…” He closed his eyes slightly, the pearly light reflecting the faint blush at the corners of his eyes, his red lips were incomparably beautiful. “Until seven years ago, when she died, I didn’t want to stay in the Tang Clan anymore, so I deliberately poisoned the disciples of the Pharmacy.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
So he never allowed himself to be called "Uncle" from the beginning, and he always resisted this title.
Therefore, he had a strained relationship with his father since childhood.
Therefore, he wanted to leave the Tang Clan.
"Qiefang," Tang Congrong called softly, taking his hand in hers. Her own hands could no longer feel the warmth of these hands, but his voice echoed in her ears, "Congrong, I won't leave! I promise you, I'll never leave again, I won't leave you alone..."
I knelt all night, my knees were cold and numb, but his embrace was so warm.
He has always been my source of warmth.
But she had no idea what was on his mind.
For a moment, Tang Congrong couldn't express her emotions, and whispered, "You stayed here for me, didn't you?"
Tang Qiefang said, "Who else could it be but you? Crying with snot and tears streaming down your face."
"The Heavenly Incense was also made for me, wasn't it?"
"Yes. You've never asked me to do anything, except that night you begged me to refine the Heavenly Fragrance." Tang Qiefang smiled faintly, the blush at the corner of her eyes so beautiful. "I will never go back on my promises to you."
Tang Congrong could no longer hold back, tears streaming down her face as she covered her face with her hands, feeling the cold seep into her skin.
That night, he got drunk. He had no dreams and knew nothing.
He had no idea that someone was pricking his skin with the mother snake's blood, which he considered a priceless treasure.
No one knows that on that night, someone made the decision to sever their bloodline and have no descendants.