Chapter 198: Nightmare

But Xie Wei ultimately didn’t ask. Instead, he replied, “I’m not tired.”

Jiang Xuening sat down across from him, bending over to pull a few branches closer. She muttered, “I’ve already slept for a while. I can watch the fire. Judging by the snow, it won’t stop anytime soon. Even if you’re not tired, you should rest for a bit, sir. In weather like this, the less rest you get, the easier it is to fall ill. If you collapse, won’t I be the one in trouble?”

Her words came out awkwardly.

She felt a bit embarrassed.

She knew it herself, so after speaking, she kept her head down, adding firewood to the flames, not daring to look up.

Xie Wei let out a low, inexplicable chuckle. Watching the firewood she added, he calmly reminded her, “It burns quickly. Add it slowly.”

Jiang Xuening: “…”

Her heart clenched for a moment. When she looked up and saw the faint, almost imperceptible curve of a smile on Xie Wei’s lips, she swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue—”Do I need you to remind me?”—and instead muttered softly, “Got it. Go to sleep.”

Xie Wei studied her for a while, then finally closed his eyes.

He didn’t lie down on the grass pile.

Instead, he crossed his arms, leaned back slightly against the cave wall, and pretended to rest.

Xie Wei didn’t intend to fall asleep.

But such a night was destined to be restless.

Almost the moment he closed his eyes, the endless, blood-soaked torrents of the past rushed toward him like a nightmare, as if they had toppled towering cliffs and shattered ancient trees, engulfing him…

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break free.

He fell into a restless dream.

In the morning light, the glazed tiles of the nine-layered palace gleamed, one overlapping the other, majestic and grand.

The fresh snow was pure white, reflecting the cheerful faces of the palace servants.

A young woman stopped to adjust his sleeves, smiling softly as she said, “Auspicious snow promises a bountiful year. With snow this winter, next year’s harvest will be good, and the people will be even happier.”

Her face should have been beautiful and radiant.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could only recall vague details, piecing together an indistinct outline.

Only the warmth of her hand as she led him forward remained deeply etched in his memory.

Step by step, they entered the palace gates, walked down the long path, climbed the steps, and then bowed together with her.

The elegantly dressed people clinked glasses and chatted merrily.

Crown Prince Shen Lang entered with several other companions, pulling him to a side hall to play chess.

After a few games, he grew tired.

The young woman came and had a servant take him to a warm chamber to sleep.

He had a dream.

In the dream, it was summer, and the newly planted cherry tree in his uncle’s estate bore bright red fruit. He dreamed of sitting under the eaves playing the qin, and the melodies that had always eluded him suddenly flowed smoothly. He dreamed of the estate’s chef finally making a plate of exceptionally delicious peach slice cakes, and he smiled, grabbing it to run outside…

Then he tripped and suddenly woke up.

When he opened his eyes, it was already dark outside, and the warm chamber was empty, with no servants in sight.

Only low sobs could be heard from outside.

He got up from the bed and walked out, seeing a few young servants huddled together, tears streaming down their faces, choking back sobs. The young woman sat close to the queen, who wore a phoenix crown and lavish palace robes. Though her face was clouded with worry, she smiled when she saw him and beckoned him over.

He asked, “What’s happening?”

She said, “Nothing, it will be fine.”

Though still young and not fully understanding the world, he could sense the fear lingering in the air.

But no one dared to speak of it.

At midnight, a general he had seen before, who guarded the palace gates, rushed in. Clad in blood-stained armor, he knelt before the queen, kowtowing and crying, “The capital is about to fall! Please, Your Majesty, open the secret passage and enter the underground palace to protect His Highness!”

So they were blindfolded.

In the darkness, only the young woman tightly held his hand.

When the blindfolds were removed, they were in an underground chamber. The heavy footsteps above and the clashing of swords could be faintly heard, lasting almost two full days and nights.

He could hear it before he fell asleep.

And when he woke up, he could still hear it.

It wasn’t until the third day that the sounds gradually faded and disappeared.

The people hiding in the chamber were haggard, nearly weeping with joy.

But the queen sternly rebuked them, forbidding them to cry.

The young woman held him tightly in her arms, saying that his uncle and father were both great generals leading a hundred thousand soldiers. They would soon receive the news and return to rescue them from this place.

He listened, but a lingering doubt remained in his heart: What if they couldn’t make it back?

But seeing the dark expression on his aunt, the queen’s face, he kept his thoughts to himself.

Time passed in waiting.

Eventually, they lost track of the hours, the days and nights. He simply kept his eyes open, listening to their conversations, or closed them and fell into tangled nightmares.

But on that day, he was unusually awake.

He faintly heard someone going out to investigate.

When they returned and spoke for a while, a sharp sound erupted. Something shattered, followed by tearful arguments, one of the voices eerily familiar.

He didn’t put on his shoes and quietly walked out.

A beaded curtain concealed his figure.

As he got closer, the voices became clearer.

“Your Majesty, the Heavenly Sect and Prince Pingnan are advancing with ferocity, driven by their wolfish ambitions and bloodlust. If they cannot find the Crown Prince, the three hundred children might still have a chance to survive until reinforcements arrive! If we follow your plan, no matter who goes, those children will likely perish! If it’s real, they’ll kill them to eliminate any threat; if it’s fake, they might still kill them out of rage. How can we sacrifice one for the other?”

“The rebels have issued an ultimatum to the entire capital! If no one appears, it will incite a riot! Even if we drive out the rebels and quell the uprising, who knows if it will cause unrest in the court and criticism from the scholars?”

“But Your Majesty, he hasn’t even celebrated his seventh birthday…”

“And how old is the Crown Prince? Do you dare to send my son to his death?”

“Then why should it be my child?!”

“Because my son is the ruler, and he is the subject! A subject dies for his ruler—there is a distinction between noble and commoner!”

Because Shen Lang was the ruler, and he was the subject.

Because there was a distinction between noble and commoner!

A subject should die for his ruler.

He stood quietly behind the beaded curtain, watching the young woman cry until her tears ran dry, collapsing to the ground in despair, covering her face.

The cold, stern woman said, “Bring the young lord here.”

A eunuch nearby bowed and responded, walking over to lift the curtain. When he saw the boy standing behind it, he screamed in fright, falling to the ground as if he had seen a ghost, trembling as he cried, “My lord, h-how are you here?”

The queen, wearing a phoenix crown, stiffened for a moment. The ferocity on her face had not yet faded, but when she turned and saw him, she quickly replaced it with her usual warmth and smiled at him. “What’s wrong, can’t sleep? Perfect, your aunt has something to discuss with you.”

He stood there, not moving.

The queen walked over and crouched in front of him. “The teachings of the sages say one should be loyal to the ruler. Now there are bad people outside who want to capture the Crown Prince. You are his companion. Would you be willing to pretend to be the Crown Prince and go out?”

He looked up toward the corner.

Shen Lang, of similar age, cowered there, avoiding his gaze. But in a flash, he glared back fiercely, standing up and scolding, “The ruler orders the subject to die. How dare you refuse?”

The queen was furious and shouted at him, “Silence!”

When she turned back to the boy, her expression softened again. “I know you’ve been wise beyond your years since you were young, the most sensible. You should understand what must be done.”

The crying woman finally broke down, rushing over and wailing, “No, don’t go!”

The queen waved her hand.

The eunuchs standing in the shadows stepped forward and restrained her, holding her back. He felt as if these people had grown out of the darkness, emerging from it like bloodied, soulless husks, moving silently.

The queen, her fingers adorned with enameled armor, gently rested on his shoulder. She pointed back at the woman and smiled. “Look, your mother has been hiding here for days, about to suffocate, to go mad. She loves you, and you want to protect her, don’t you?”

The guards held swords.

At some point, the blades had been drawn, gleaming with a cold, pale light in the dimness.

They restrained the frail woman.

She could not speak, could not move, only let out mournful sobs.

Her tearful eyes seemed to plead.

He blinked, slowly withdrawing his gaze, as if he had achieved an extraordinary calm. He replied, “I am willing to take the prince’s place; the subject is willing to die for the ruler.”

The woman closest to him smiled in satisfaction.

The woman farthest from him covered her face and wept.

He walked over.

Someone blocked his path.

The queen studied him for a moment, then waved her hand, and the guards stepped aside.

He approached the beautiful woman, hugged her, and whispered, “Mother, don’t be afraid.”

But she cried even harder, clutching him and refusing to let go.

Until someone forcefully pried her away. He watched as they dragged her aside, hearing the queen say behind him, “Your aunt will take good care of her.”

A eunuch stripped Shen Lang’s clothes and dressed him in them.

From the shoes to the jade pendant.

Before they blindfolded him again, he knelt down and quietly kowtowed three times to the woman. She struggled desperately, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break free.

The darkness now felt like a bottomless abyss.

He walked and groped through it.

When he heard the sound of a mechanism and the secret passage opened, a wave of cold air hit him.

They removed the blindfold, and he stepped out from beside the Danchi of the Qianqing Palace, descending the steps one by one. The bodies of palace servants lay scattered everywhere, frozen blood in the stone crevices and depressions like crimson amber.

The snow continued to fall from the sky.

He didn’t know if it had been snowing nonstop since the day he entered the palace, or if it had stopped and started again. All he felt was the biting cold, freezing his fingers until they ached.

The dream fragmented as he walked.

The black night, the white snow, all turned into vengeful spirits, screaming at him with hoarse voices.

Suddenly, countless unfamiliar faces overlapped before him.

Gloomy, ferocious, cold.

Someone asked, “Are you Shen Lang?”

He replied, “I am.”

Then he heard the sound of a long sword being drawn, the clang of steel, and a bone-chilling sneer: “Kill him!”

Kill—

His vision was suddenly obscured by the swirling snowstorm. He struggled to walk through what seemed like a river.

In the snowy mist, the cries of cats echoed.

He rushed forward, shouting, “Where are you?”

No one answered.

He tripped over a stone and fell to the ground. When he got up, he found his body and hands covered in crimson—it wasn’t a river beneath him, but an endless flow of blood; it wasn’t a stone he had tripped on, but a small arm.

Fear gripped him in that moment.

He took a step back.

But a strong wind swept in, clearing the obscuring mist and revealing a hill made of countless children’s corpses. Broken limbs pressed against cold, stiff bodies; slit throats lay next to shattered skulls…

A few cats crouched on top, feasting on something.

They were filthy, emaciated, their bones protruding through thin fur. When they turned to look at him, their ribs were starkly visible beneath their skin.

Their hungry eyes glowed in the darkness.

Even their cries carried a low, sinister tone, nauseating to the ears!

“Meow!”

A sharp, hostile cry.

A black shadow lunged at him like lightning!

“Mother…”

Xie Wei woke with a start, his fingers trembling. When he opened his eyes, the fire in the cave was still burning, but he felt no warmth. Instead, a wave of nausea overwhelmed him, leaving him unable to move.

But when he turned his head, he saw the cave entrance—

Pairs of glowing eyes in the darkness!

Dozens of wild cats from the mountains had gathered at the entrance, peering through the piled branches, staring menacingly at them!

Almost simultaneously, the lead cat bared its teeth.

A fierce cry erupted from its mouth, and it transformed into a black shadow, lunging swiftly into the cave!

Jiang Xuening had been adding firewood for most of the night. By the time dawn approached, she was drowsy, nodding off intermittently.

Xie Wei muttered something in his sleep, startling her awake.

In that moment, she saw the hunchbacked, bristling wild animals gathered at the entrance. A chill ran down her spine, a cold wave rising from her feet to the back of her head!

Xie Wei’s short knife, cleaned and placed on a rock nearby.

In the blink of an eye, without time to think, Jiang Xuening grabbed the knife. As the wild animal lunged, she stepped in front of Xie Wei and slashed at the creature.

There was no technique, no finesse.

A tearing sound echoed through the snowy night as the sharp blade sliced through its eye and tore open its belly. Filthy blood splattered onto her, and the cat fell to the ground, a mess of gore, letting out a piercing scream!

Jiang Xuening had acted on instinct, not expecting to see blood, let alone such a gruesome scene. Her scalp tingled, and she almost vomited.

In that moment, she wanted to drop the knife.

She almost stepped back.

But a memory from the past surfaced. A voice told her she couldn’t retreat. That force drove her to tighten her grip on the knife. She forced herself not to look down, suppressing the urge to vomit, and quickly kicked the lifeless cat’s body out of the cave.

The wild animals outside let out another round of shrill cries!

Xie Wei was freezing, his face pale. He couldn’t see her expression or read her thoughts, but he could see her back, trembling with fear, her breathing uneven.

Her fingers, though shaking, clenched the knife tightly.

Jiang Xuening, like a fool, stubbornly shielded him, her voice low and hoarse as she whispered, “Master Xie, I’m here.”

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