My Arch-Nemesis Cried and Begged Me Not to Die 61

Chapter 61: Don’t think about saying goodbye.

The moon on this day was exceptionally round.

The reflection of the full moon in the water was like a jade plate. Occasionally, ripples would sway, and the jade plate would shake. It was the small river lanterns flowing down the stream.

Yan Jingyu would from time to time command the small dog lantern in his hand to bump into the rabbit in Liao Chen’s hand, making “aowu, aowu” sounds. Liao Chen dodged a few times. “It’ll break if you keep doing that.”

“Stingy.” Yan Jingyu went around to bite him. Liao Chen dodged back and forth, and even directly held the lantern far and high, one hand pressing down on Yan Jingyu’s restless body, his attitude extremely determined to protect his own rabbit lantern.

Yan Jingyu really couldn’t reach it, so he had to give up, and snorted. “You really do care about your own things.”

“Of course I have to care about my own things.” Liao Chen pressed down the hand holding the small dog lantern, only then did he put down the rabbit lantern that Yan Jingyu had won for him by guessing a riddle, and tilted his head to turn the lantern and check for any damage.

“Then why do you have such a strong desire to destroy other people’s things?”

Liao Chen didn’t raise his head. “If other people’s things are broken, it’s not me who will feel heartbroken.”

He finally finished checking his own rabbit lantern, and then said with some dissatisfaction, “Its head is a little crooked from you bumping it.”

He held it up and carefully pinched the iron wire on it. Yan Jingyu wanted to roll his eyes at him again.

Back then, when he and Liao Chen fought, it wasn’t like he hadn’t had things snatched away by him. Even if it was the same thing, once it was in his pocket, it was like his spoiled medicine, he treasured it to death. But once Yan Jingyu wanted to snatch it back, if he was not careful for a moment, that thing would only be finished.

His specialty was that if it wasn’t his, it couldn’t be anyone else’s.

“Alright.” Yan Jingyu slapped his hand down. Liao Chen frowned and looked at him. Yan Jingyu had no choice. “My little dog is also crooked.”

“Useless thing.” Liao Chen cursed, suspended his own rabbit in the air, and then snatched the little dog from his hand and began to examine it carefully.

He was very close. The light shone on his face, reflecting a yellow light, and was also blocked by the lantern’s wire and silk gauze, creating some shadows, which moved slightly with his examining actions.

Yan Jingyu couldn’t help but laugh.

The light in front of him gradually became hazy. He vaguely heard Liao Chen saying something, seeming to complain about where he had broken it. His eyelashes flickered, and he stood quietly without moving.

But his eyes became empty because the front was plunged into darkness.

Liao Chen suddenly looked up at him. Yan Jingyu was smiling, his gaze still on the place where Liao Chen’s face had been when he was examining the small dog lantern. Liao Chen looked at him quietly, until he suddenly turned his eyes and looked at him, his eyes regaining their spirit. “Finished checking?”

“Mm.” Liao Chen handed the small dog lantern back to him and said softly, “Want to go release river lanterns?”

Yan Jingyu nodded and took it in his hand. Liao Chen gently took his hand and walked straight ahead.

The soul-lamp is burning out. His five senses are disappearing…

It must be that he hasn’t been eating properly during this time.

Yan Jingyu hooked Liao Chen’s finger. The latter also gently hooked his finger. Just like usual, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

But Yan Jingyu knew that he had discovered…

This fellow is truly worthy of being his greatest enemy in this life. He couldn’t even hide this from him.

Where is he a bird? He’s clearly a dog…

There was also a crowd by the river, mostly shopkeepers selling river lanterns. The crowd was carefully writing something by the railing. Yan Jingyu eagerly went to get a lantern. Liao Chen waited patiently for the person next to him to finish writing before he took the brush and handed it to him. “What wish do you want to make?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.” Yan Jingyu felt that his mind was a little chaotic and was too lazy to think. So he asked back, “What wish do you want to make?”

“My wish is very complicated. I can’t explain it clearly.”

“Tell me.”

Liao Chen turned his head to look at him, seemed to smile, and said, “If I die, I will wish that you also die.”

“…” Yan Jingyu raised an eyebrow and heard him continue, “If I live… I will wish that you live as long as the heavens.”

It was as expected. He knew that this person’s way of doing things was always to benefit himself first. He pouted. “What’s so complicated about that?”

Without even thinking, he picked up a brush and wrote on the river lantern—

“In life, I wish you longevity. In death, I hope to die together. The river of stars as our pact…

His brush was serious, his characters neat.

“…qi kuo forever.”

After he finished writing, he admired it for a moment, then held it up and handed it to him, his eyes filled with the swaying light of the lanterns, with a hint of asking for praise. “How is it?”

Liao Chen looked at his characters, then at him. “The second half, is that your wish?”

“Is it not allowed?” Yan Jingyu asked back, then shook it in front of him. “If you have no objections, shall we release it?”

The lanterns today were dazzling. No matter which direction he turned, it seemed as if the river of stars was shining. Yan Jingyu changed direction and placed the lantern in the water. Liao Chen, on the other hand, turned his head to look at his profile.

When they first met, the other’s profile had a hint of baby fat. Now, that soft cheek had disappeared, and his profile was smooth and gentle, full of the beauty of youth.

He felt a little nostalgic, and also a little lost in thought.

“…What does ‘qi kuo’ mean?”

[Translator’s Note:The phrase qi kuo is a classical Chinese term meaning being apart for a long time but still deeply connected. It symbolizes an enduring bond and is used here to express a wish for eternal unity despite separation.]

The river lantern was gently pushed out, flowing down the stream, passing over the full moon that was like a jade plate. Yan Jingyu turned his head to look at Liao Chen, and with a “pfft,” he laughed out loud.

When they were about to go back, Yan Jingyu already felt a little tired. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and could hardly hold the small dog lantern in his hand. He kept pulling at Liao Chen. “A vehicle… carry me…”

Liao Chen timely supported his swaying body. His gaze passed through the spiritual platform and looked at the soul-lamp, which was so faint that even the cold flame could hardly be seen. He bent down and carried him on his back. Yan Jingyu lay softly on his back, and the small dog lantern in his hand slowly slipped down, floating ethereally on both sides of them.

The full moon hung high.

Liao Chen carried him through the sea of people, over the river of lanterns, and along the winding official road, all the way into the lit-up small village.

The village was not quiet. Someone was hitting a child, catching a chicken, or having a fight. From time to time, you could hear the wailing of a child, the angry roar of an adult, and the clucking of a chicken flapping its wings and running away, and the incessant barking of a dog.

Yan Jingyu was already sleeping soundly, his breathing light and long. The rabbit lantern and the small dog lantern floated on both sides of his hands respectively. From a distance, it looked as if he were still holding the lanterns, helping the person carrying him to light the way ahead.

Liao Chen was focused on gazing at his feet, from time to time gathering the legs of the person on his body and lifting him up lightly.

And at this moment, Ming Zelin was looking at Qi Mufang’s ferocious face as he held his head. “I know, I know. You are my Grandmaster, I know!!!!”

He felt that he was about to go crazy. Clearly, he had already done as Liao Chen had said, thinking of his Grandmaster every time he called him ‘Master’. But Liao Chen still occasionally whispered in his mind. He had now reached the point where he would start to feel as if insects were crawling in his bones as soon as he heard the voice. Even if it didn’t hurt or itch, the restlessness was still driving him crazy.

This time, it lasted for nearly half an incense stick’s time before he finally climbed out of bed, drenched in cold sweat. Ming Zelin looked at him cautiously. “Are you… alright?”

He had vaguely realized that Liao Chen had some other reason for taking the two of them as his apprentices. But of course, he couldn’t possibly ask the other about this. And Ming Zelin also felt that even if Liao Chen were as treacherous as he was, it was still worth it to receive the talisman classics written by Yan Jingyu himself.

Clearly, Qi Mufang also thought so. He closed his eyes, adjusted for a while, and then murmured, “He must be crazy.”

The people who thought the same as him were the entire Demon Realm.

Yu Qiuye lay on his own bed, forcefully pressing his head with a pillow, trying to escape the voices in his mind. However, the whispers were all-pervasive and constantly circled in his mind. But unlike Qi Mufang, the whispers in his mind were: “When you see Immortal Lord Dufang, please tell him something. When you see Immortal Lord Dufang, please tell him something. When you see Immortal Lord Dufang, please tell him something…”

“Ahhhh—!” Mo Xia smashed the cutting board in the kitchen with a slap and screamed, “What on earth does he want us to tell Yan Jingyu?!”

Besides the native demonic beasts of the Demon Realm, the cultivators in purgatory were even more in pain.

This matter had started after the new year. That day, this voice had come out of nowhere, and would sound in everyone’s mind every so often. But it always had only the first half, and never the second half.

The trapped cultivators in purgatory were terrified, and at the same time, a hint of expectation had also emerged. After all, since this demon lord had something he wanted someone to tell, it meant that everyone still had a way to live.

They waited patiently, thinking about what Liao Chen wanted them to tell him. But soon, the whispers came again, lingering in everyone’s ears, over and over again, sounding for a period of time every so often. Now, the entire Demon Realm, including everyone in purgatory, began to feel that Liao Chen must be crazy.

For half a month, there was only the first half and no second half of the whispers, which made them feel as if they were being scratched through their boots again and again. This feeling of clearly having caught it, but never being able to scratch the deep itch, made them feel more and more that Liao Chen was simply a demon, no, he was a demon among demons.

The lava in purgatory made gurgling, bubbling sounds. The cultivators who could have been focused on resisting the flames of the lava felt their Dao hearts become unstable one after another, and were thus hit by the thick lava dripping from the top. The scorching pain brought back their senses. Someone opened his eyes and murmured, “He wants to disturb our Dao hearts…”

“If I don’t find out what he wants me to tell him, I will definitely not be able to rest in peace even if I die!”

“I will never be able to ascend to immortality in this life!!!!”

“My cultivation will forever remain at the Cloud-Soaring Realm…”

“I’ve already fallen from my realm!!!!”

“Liao Chen—you will not have a good end!!!!”

“If he dies, who will we ask for the answer?!!!”

“…You guys say, could it be that he’s already dead? This is just his resentful soul playing tricks?”

As soon as these words were spoken, a few more people with unstable Dao hearts found it difficult to concentrate on supporting the protective shield, and spat out a mouthful of blood. The cultivator beside him quickly protected him and forcefully woke him up. The other’s expression was dazed. “I, I’ve also fallen from my realm… He kept saying he wouldn’t kill us. He was actually going to use this despicable method to make us live a life worse than death…”

Liao Chen was indeed doing this on purpose.

It was also after seeing Qi Mufang’s reaction that he had suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of this method.

Among cultivators, the strong were respected. And those who could truly become strong must have a firm Dao heart. He had been whispering intermittently in people’s ears for many days—the reason it was intermittent was because it was too draining on his spiritual energy to transmit his voice to so many people. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of directly implanting a nightmare talisman or something, but a million cultivators was a big project. It was better to just say a few words every day when he remembered.

…A Dao heart was really too important for a cultivator. This was much more likely to make them have an obsession than crippling them and arousing their resentment.

Yan Jingyu’s soul-lamp was already on its last legs. Last year, Liao Chen had impulsively infused all the spiritual medicines into his body. Now, even if he were to feed him more pills, it would be difficult for him to continue to maintain his five senses.

He gradually began to sleep more and wake up less.

When he was asleep, Liao Chen would sit quietly beside him, meditating with full concentration, and continue to create nightmares for the entire Demon Realm.

When he woke up, Liao Chen would sit in front of him, accompany him to eat unnecessary meals, play chess that he was not good at, and listen to his undisguised ridicule, laughing so hard he would bend over, still looking like a youth.

Qi Mufang and Ming Zelin also clearly felt the change in Yan Jingyu. Before, the spiritual medicines had been too nourishing. Now, many spiritual medicines were no longer very effective on him. At the end of the first month, Yan Jingyu was holding a snack and casually instructing Qi Mufang to practice his sword when he suddenly heard Ming Zelin call out, “Immortal Lord…”

Yan Jingyu turned around. Ming Zelin was sitting on the side meditating. He stared blankly at Yan Jingyu, his expression a little panicked. “Your hand…”

Qi Mufang withdrew his form. Yan Jingyu’s gaze also fell on his own hand.

The white palm was swaying, faintly revealing the shape of deadwood.

“It seems the fuel of the soul-lamp can no longer support the transformation of the divine wood.” Yan Jingyu indifferently took another dried fruit and put it in his mouth, saying casually, “Xiao Lin, make something delicious later. Let’s have a farewell dinner in advance.”

Qi Mufang’s eyes were red. He subconsciously looked back at Liao Chen in the room. The other was still meditating with full concentration, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.

He suddenly walked over. A few steps away, Liao Chen opened his eyes. “Hmm?”

“Master, Master he…”

Liao Chen’s divine sense suddenly spread out. After seeing the lazy but still relatively complete Yan Jingyu in the courtyard, he relaxed a little. “I know.”

He put down his legs, walked out of the room, and looked at the beautiful face of his former arch-nemesis. He looked at him, always smiling, without a trace of sadness, and put his hands behind his back slightly. “Are you dying?”

Qi Mufang suddenly looked at him, as if he couldn’t believe that such words would come from his mouth.

What made him feel even more outrageous was that Yan Jingyu actually sighed and agreed. “Yes.”

Their four eyes met. Yan Jingyu handed him a dried fruit. “Want some?”

Liao Chen walked over. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Yan Jingyu didn’t say much and turned to walk out of the courtyard side by side with him. Qi Mufang subconsciously wanted to follow, but was pulled back by Ming Zelin. He shook his head. “He said he would save him… It’s useless for you to chase after him.”

Qi Mufang could only force himself to be at ease.

The spring cold was biting. The trees were still in their winter appearance, and at a glance, it was still desolate. On the dirt road in the village, a stone suddenly rolled out and plunged into the dead leaves on the side of the road.

Liao Chen glanced at his restless foot. “Do you have anything to say before you die?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot in a daze recently.” Yan Jingyu strolled along, swaying, as if he were walking in his own backyard. “Now that you ask, I suddenly don’t know what to say.”

Liao Chen let out a laugh. “What did you think about?”

“I thought…” Yan Jingyu thought seriously, “I thought of telling you not to cry too hard. I thought of saying that after I’m gone, you should just forget me. I also thought of saying that you’re not allowed to forget me. If you dare to forget me, I’ll climb out of my coffin to settle the score with you…”

“Then do you want me to forget, or not to forget?”

Yan Jingyu looked at him. Liao Chen also stopped his steps.

By the river in early spring, the winter cold had not yet gone. In the cracks of the nearby stones, some wild grass had just sprouted new green.

Yan Jingyu’s eyes stared at Liao Chen without blinking, his eyes filled with a bit of a young man’s curiosity and seriousness. He looked at Liao Chen, and Liao Chen also quietly let him look, until he smiled and spoke. “Do you want to go fishing in the Cloud Sea?”

Fishing in the Cloud Sea rarely caught anything. That was just a way of playing that the young Yan Jingyu had come up with on a whim. At that time, Yan Jingyu’s mind was always full of strange ideas, and only someone like Qin Zhongyou, who had no social hobbies to begin with, was barely willing to accompany him in such a boring thing.

Liao Chen did not accompany him to the Cloud Sea.

The river beside them suffered an undeserved disaster. An endless amount of raging fire pressed down, and tens of thousands of tons of water vapor quickly evaporated. The surroundings were instantly filled with mist. The figure in front of Yan Jingyu gradually became blurry.

Not until he was pulled up by the other, his figure soaring into the air, his dark hair messy in the wind.

A single leaf-like boat landed at their feet. Liao Chen compressed the mist, condensed it, and formed an increasingly dense cloud sea below. Only then did he lead him out of the boat with a smooth glide and landed steadily on the river. “It’s windy up there. Let’s just have a cloud sea here.”

He took out a fishing rod, placed it in Yan Jingyu’s hand, and threw the hook out. Yan Jingyu heard a clear sound of falling into the water.

Clearly, what he saw was still a rolling dense mist. At a glance, it was as if he were in a sea of clouds. But in fact, it was only a few feet away from the water surface.

The fishing rod extended from his hand into the mist. With Yan Jingyu’s vision, he could not see the situation in the water through the dense mist. His gaze fell on the shadow of the fishing rod that had been swallowed by the mist. “I want to return the divine wood.”

Liao Chen was not surprised. Yan Jingyu had said similar things more than once. He sometimes suspected whether Yan Jingyu knew about the curse, or if he was just accidentally revealing a heavenly secret.

He nodded. “I will.”

The two of them did not speak again for a while. The relationship between them was really too strange. If they said too much, they were afraid that the other would think they were being coy. If they said too little, it seemed a little like they were letting this relationship down. Yan Jingyu continued to hold the fishing rod in his hand and was quiet with him for a while. He said again, “Do you have nothing to say to me?”

“I do.” Liao Chen said, “I’m waiting for you to finish.”

“I’ve said half of it. It’s your turn.”

Liao Chen smiled again. His divine sense fell on the water surface below the mist. After a while, as if he had sorted out his thoughts, he crossed one leg and looked at Yan Jingyu, his tone serious. “I will save you.”

Yan Jingyu subconsciously looked at him and heard him say slowly, “So, don’t think about saying goodbye.”

“Yan Jingyu, I know you are afraid. You are afraid that I will forget you, and you are also afraid that if I remember you and live alone, I will feel pain… I know you are very sad now, but you don’t want to tell me that you are very sad…”

In Yan Jingyu’s eyes, a mist gradually rose.

Liao Chen was still looking at him. “It’s normal for you to be afraid. It’s fine. You don’t have to pretend not to be afraid, because I’m also afraid. I’m afraid I can’t save you. I’m afraid that we will never see each other again like this…”

He reached out his hand, and his palm caught the teardrop that rolled down from Yan Jingyu’s eyes.

He gently gathered his palm, but his gaze never left Yan Jingyu’s eyes. “No matter what you want to say to me, if those words make you feel very troubled, if you feel that you don’t want to say goodbye to me, if you really don’t know what to say to me, it’s fine. Don’t say any more… because I will save you. I know you don’t believe me, but I will save you. I won’t watch you die as if nothing had happened. I’m not really indifferent to your death.”

“…Actually, I’m just as at a loss as you are, incoherent. I also have many, many things I want to tell you, but I don’t know where to start.”

“Yan Jingyu.” He looked at his tears. “I will take you to Jiuyi Mountain and bury you in the Qiwu flower…”

His voice suddenly choked.

All the feigned calmness and composure crumbled in an instant.

The fishing rod moved silently, gradually slipping out of Yan Jingyu’s hand by an inch, two inches… with a splash, it fell into the river.