No, wait, what is going on here? Did they… get together? Something isn’t right; aren’t they supposed to be mortal enemies? How did they become so chummy so fast?
Meanwhile, on the road.
Dragging the drunken Gu Xici along, Ye Shu was subjected to the curious, sideways glances of countless passersby along the way, leaving him feeling utterly helpless toward his arch-enemy.
After pondering for a long time on the walk back, he ultimately decided to bring Gu Xici directly into his own estate.
With much difficulty, Ye Shu finally managed to pry Gu Xici’s tugging, clinging hands away from his waist, only to notice the guards standing before his gates staring at him with pensive expressions, wondering what on earth was running through their minds.
The guards at the entrance wore broad smiles, though there was something rather strange about those smiles.
Ye Shu glared at them for a few moments, ordering them to wipe those silly grins off their faces.
Once Ye Shu stepped inside, the guards immediately began whispering amongst themselves. If one listened closely, their chatter appeared to revolve around the relationship between Ye Shu and the companion by his side.
Upon opening the door, a completely docile Gu Xici suddenly closed in on Ye Shu and threw his arms around his waist, giving Ye Shu quite a start.
What on earth is Gu Xici playing at?! How can someone get this wasted off alcohol?!
As for Gu Xici, who had his arms wrapped tightly around Ye Shu’s waist, he began muttering indistinctly, tightening his grip around Ye Shu even further.
“Gu Xici! Did you hear me? Are you ever going to let go?!”
Ye Shu tried using his voice to snap Gu Xici out of it, but the effect seemed marginal at best.
A hazy and muddled Gu Xici seemed to catch the sound of someone calling his name. The voice was exceedingly familiar, sounding much like his former arch-enemy.
Yet… wasn’t I with Xiao Xiao? Where did he go?
Wait a minute, that person looks like Ye… Shu?
“Ye Shu?”
To his surprise, Ye Shu caught the sound of Gu Xici’s voice. He lowered his gaze to look at Gu Xici, who was still hugging his waist, profound and complicated emotions hidden within his eyes, accompanied by a faint trace of worry.
“You’re awake?”
Gu Xici, whose arms remained locked around Ye Shu’s waist, seemed to clear up a bit. A flash of awkwardness crossed his face as he looked at what he was currently doing, utterly at a loss for words.
No… what on earth is happening here?
Did I black out from drinking?
And besides, have I become so desperate that I’d even refuse to spare my mortal enemy?
Overwhelmed with shock, Gu Xici stared blankly at Ye Shu before him.
Meanwhile, Ye Shu looked at Gu Xici, who kept staring fixedly at him, feeling a strange sense of bewilderment. Clearly, the two of them had only just thawed their relationship; how had things devolved into such an ambiguous state?
Overwhelmed by awkwardness, a flustered Gu Xici hastily tried to stand up. In his haste, however, his foot caught against a stool in the room, sending him stumbling forward to crash straight down onto the deep-in-thought Ye Shu.
Gazing down at Ye Shu pinned beneath him, Gu Xici was struck dumb with panic, completely at a loss as to what to do until Ye Shu’s sharp command of “Get off me at once!” snapped him back to reality. Gu Xici averted his eyes, his ears burning bright red as he muttered incoherently, hastily clambering up to take a seat nearby.
From Gu Xici’s perspective, Ye Shu looked thoroughly displeased as he rose to his feet and prepared to leave, prompting Gu Xici to hurriedly call out to him.
“Ye Shu!”
Ye Shu turned his head, fixing a chilling, icy gaze upon him.
“I… my behavior just now wasn’t intentional. I… I’m sorry, I hope you can forgive me…”
“Understood.”
With that, Ye Shu turned his back to him, seemingly intent on walking away.
“Wait—”
Gu Xici called out, stopping him in his tracks.
“Ye Shu, I… I don’t quite know how to phrase this, but this matter…”
The confession seemed difficult for Gu Xici to articulate, but after hesitating for a moment, he steeled himself and forced the words out.
“Fine, I’ll just be direct. Ye Shu, l… I’ve developed feelings for you. So regardless of what you decide—whether you feel disgust or anything else just give me your answer.”
Ye Shu paused in his steps. He slowly turned back around, his tone indifferent.
“Gu Xici, I do not loathe you, but I cannot yet say I love you either. Therefore, I believe the two of us need to take some time to properly reflect on this. What are your thoughts?”
“Very well.”
Outside the city.
The carriage driver urged the horses forward along the road, carrying inside the vehicle both Gu Chen and Junior Preceptor Li, who were currently discussing the ongoing case.
“General Gu, this theft case involves the imperial court’s precious treasures, making it exceptionally severe. The Emperor has dispatched the two of us to investigate, strictly ordering all court officials not to act rashly. For now, let us head straight to the Huai’an prefectural office to survey the situation.”
“Very well, Junior Preceptor Li, you head on ahead to the prefectural office. I shall first inspect the crime scene, and once I’m finished, I’ll come find you to rendezvous.”
With that, Gu Chen dismounted the carriage, swung himself onto a horse, and galloped off down a narrow side path.
Inside the carriage, Li Yan watched Gu Chen’s retreating figure, a hypocritical, deceitful smile pulling at the corners of his lips before gradually fading away.
General Gu, you think you’re heading to the crime scene? In truth, it’s a trap specially laid out for you by His Highness the Third Prince—one heavy enough to shatter your bones to dust.
Heh, and as for that foolish, reckless younger brother of yours, his time is running out too.
As the carriage rumbled forward, the faint, haunting notes of a flute drifted through the air, seeming to foreshadow some impending doom.
Back at the restaurant, Xiao Xiao finally snapped back to reality, realizing he had been left entirely behind. Moreover, he felt he had just grasped a staggering revelation: his longtime buddy Brother Xici had actually hooked up with his mortal enemy, Ye Shu!
Yes, this astonishing piece of news left Xiao Xiao’s mind utterly blown; no matter who tried to process it, this was simply beyond the scope of verbal description.
Stunned for a long moment, Xiao Xiao finally trudged out of the restaurant and headed in the opposite direction toward Zuihong Pavilion.
Yet what he failed to notice was that several figures clad in black were lurking nearby, keeping a sharp, covert eye on him.
Meanwhile, back at the crime scene, things were looking decidedly grim for Gu Chen. Clutching his chest, he stared in utter disbelief at the Third Prince, whose sword had pierced straight through his heart. Warm blood slowly welled up from the corner of his mouth, and amidst his shock, he managed to gasp out: “T… Third Prince, it’s you… truly you? Wh… why would you do such a thing?”
The young man wielding the sword offered an indifferent, contemptuous sneer. “So it’s me—what of it?” With a swift motion, he yanked his sword free, instructing the surrounding men in black to drag him away so he could be disposed of later.
Observing Gu Chen’s look of utter astonishment, the Third Prince felt an unbidden pang of reluctance. He turned his face away, signaling the assassins to hurry and take him out of sight.
I know, Gu Chen, how perfectly aligned we once were, but now… I have no choice; everything has changed.
Once the men in black had departed, the Third Prince raised his gaze toward the distant horizon, his eye rims faintly tinged with red, as though inner remorse were gnawing at him.
Indeed, we can never return to the way things were.
The Dungeon.
Accompanied by the grinding screech of heavy stone doors being unlatched, a single figure slowly materialized inside the damp, gloomy underground chamber or rather, the dungeon.
Covered in scars, his hands and feet bound fast by heavy iron chains, Gu Chen raised his eyes to look at the figure stepping leisurely toward him. It was none other than the Third Prince. Realizing this, Gu Chen glared with burning fury, coughed up another mouthful of blood, and spoke with a mixture of helpless indignation: “Third Prince, what on earth are you doing here!”
Yet the Third Prince merely wore a gentle smile, looking at Gu Chen with complex, unfathomable eyes as he delivered a chilling taunt: “What, I come and go as I please—do I need Grand General Gu’s permission?”
“You deceived me! We shared five years of brotherhood, yet you trusted me so little that you… you actually lied to me! I…”
Tears welled up in Gu Chen’s eyes as he roared out in harsh, broken anguish.
Seeing this, the corners of the Third Prince’s eyes also grew red, though he stubbornly maintained a tough, unyielding facade. “So what if I did, General Gu? You and I have long since become strangers walking divergent paths. Even if we were once as close as brothers back then, times have changed; it would be best for you not to stand in my path any longer. Otherwise, your ultimate fate will be shattered bones and pulverized dust.”
Gu Chen fell silent for a long moment before letting out a long, weary sigh. “Just kill me, Third Prince.”
Hearing these words, however, the Third Prince suddenly burst into a wild, frenzied laugh, tossing a protective talisman engraved with a maple leaf imprint onto the ground before him. “I will not kill you, Gu Chen; I am going to torment you for all eternity.”
Things having reached this juncture, Gu Chen felt utterly helpless. Looking at the Third Prince laughing maniacally before him, he finally realized that this person was no longer the Third Prince he remembered from his memories.
“Ning Su, regardless of everything else, please stop harming innocent people.”
Ning Su—the Third Prince—turned his head back to look at Gu Chen, his gaze carrying a complex swirl of emotions as he gave a slight nod.
Then, without looking back, he turned on his heel and strode away.
Five years of camaraderie had ultimately proven to be nothing more than a mirror reflecting flowers in the water, a moon mirrored in the waves.
Ning Su, what on earth happened three years ago? How did you mutate into this shape, becoming someone I can barely recognize anymore? You and I were once closest friends, and later even closer than brothers was there truly nothing you could share with me?
Perhaps I should have realized long ago that your heart likely holds no room for me anymore.
Nightfall.
Ye Shu pushed open his window, gazing across the courtyard toward two figures currently locked in combat.
A flash of sword light swift as lightning cut through the air, and a black-clad assassin dressed in profound robes was instantly subdued, a razor-sharp blade pressed firmly against his neck by an opposing black-clad figure. Glaring with seething hatred at his captor, the assassin spat out the words, “I won’t tell you a damn thing,” and instantly bit down upon the lethal poison capsule concealed within his tongue.
Observing this, Ye Shu instructed the black-clad figure holding the sword: “Yiyi, check his body for anything, clean up the site, and return immediately.”
Cuppings his fists and bowing low, Yiyi replied, “Understood, My Lord.”
Before long, Yiyi returned, bearing a jade pendant that he handed directly over to Ye Shu.
Gazing down at the jade pendant in his palm, a flicker of profound astonishment crossed Ye Shu’s eyes.
It appears this individual was deployed specifically to keep tabs on me in secret. As for the mastermind behind him… I suspect it has some connection to that junior martial brother of mine.
Could Ye Feng… actually be attempting to supplant me?
Or is the master pulling the strings behind these assassins operating under a different agenda altogether one entirely separate from the faction of assassins that murdered Gu Xici in our past life?
Thinking of Gu Xici, Ye Shu felt his heart churn with turbulent, highly complex emotions. He could not shake the profound impression Gu Xici had left upon him, yet he remained unable to completely cast off the bitter lingering impressions of his past life. While he had stated that he wished to put past grievances behind him, the moment he recalled Gu Xici’s confession of affection, a deep internal struggle took root inside his soul.
Gu Xici, how exactly am I supposed to treat you?
You, a self-proclaimed spendthrift and dissolute young lord, actually offered me a sincere confession of affection were you being genuine or not?
In your past life, you spent your days chasing after hedonistic pleasures in houses of ill repute, never sparing me a single extra glance, yet upon your rebirth, not only do you avoid Zuihong Pavilion, but you actively manifest an interest in me.
My mortal enemy… I shall choose to believe you are being sincere. If you dare to deceive me, we shall sever all ties permanently from that moment onward.
I, Ye Shu, have never truly placed my trust in any living soul since my past life; for you, I shall make an exception.
I believe you.
Within Ye Shu’s aggressive, predatory phoenix-like eyes lay a profound, boiling tenderness, calm as the surface of the deep sea yet harboring sharp, chilling undercurrents beneath.
He instructed Yiyi to withdraw quietly and ensure no word of this incident leaked out.
While he wasn’t particularly well-acquainted with Ye Feng, judging by his character as a cheap junior martial brother, his obsession with personal gains and power was transparent at a glance. As for himself, he stood as the primary stumbling block barring Ye Feng from seizing those benefits.
Ye Feng, my cheap junior martial brother, I chose not to settle old scores with you over what transpired a few years ago.
However, if you attempt to stir up storms and chaos on my territory, I will make sure to settle every single account from those past years with you properly.
Though I remain unclear as to the true objective underlying your current journey, I can safely guess that your primary aim is likely the pursuit of that supreme seat of power.
As for that seat itself… I care nothing for it.
I only hope you choose your path wisely and conduct yourself accordingly.