Chapter 65: With You
Li Jianyu barely came back to his senses and pushed himself up from the ground.
If that phoenix was Yun Jian, then the one he was guarding was…
Li Jianyu walked to the jade bed and saw an old man with white hair and wrinkled skin lying on it.
Li Jianyu turned over the jade pendant at the old man’s waist. Sure enough, it was the same as his, with a “Li” character on it.
This was his father, Li Guan zhi!
Li Jianyu smiled bitterly.
It turned out that the little phoenix in the story had not gone to find that person’s reincarnation. Instead, after marrying that person and living one life, he had only been willing to stay with that one person from that life. Even though that person was already dead, he had foolishly kept watch over him.
Li Jianyu looked at the person on the jade bed. Although the body was well-preserved, it had already lost its life.
Although a phoenix’s art could bring people back from the dead, it could not reverse the will of heaven. Phoenixes could save those who had died of illness or been killed, but when a person’s time was up, they were truly dead.
Perhaps Yun Jian just couldn’t accept it, just as he himself had been immersed in an illusion before.
Clang—
“Jianyu!”
Li Jianyu turned his head and saw Wan Yunliu and the others burst in. And Dabao was behind them, looking very unhappy.
“It’s good that you’re alright.” Wan Yunliu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Jianyu. He took off his cloak and covered him with it. “We followed you all the way here. When we heard a sound in the cave, we wanted to come in and help you, but we were stopped by your phoenix.”
Dabao did a good job, Li Jianyu thought.
The way he and Yun Jian had fought just now, if these people had come in, they would probably have been caught in the crossfire.
“…Brother?!”
At the side, Li Guan hui was petrified when he saw the person lying on the jade bed.
Li Guan hui looked at the body, then at Li Jianyu.
Li Jianyu nodded. “That phoenix is my father.”
Li Guan hui’s hands clenched into fists.
“Is it… Yun Jian?”
It was actually Yun Jian…
Seeing Li Guan hui’s complicated expression, both excited and apprehensive, Li Jianyu was a little puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Where is Yun Jian now?”
“He left after seeing me,” Li Jianyu said, rubbing his temples. “Neither of us reacted at that time.”
It was quite… magical.
Li Jianyu had originally accepted that he had no parents, but he had never expected a father to suddenly appear, and that they would meet for the first time in this way.
And no father and son had ever had a fight as their first meeting, right?
“In any case, we’re all family. We can move His Majesty in, right?” Wan Yunliu was even more nervous than Li Jianyu.
To be honest, Wan Yunliu still liked Li Jianyu, but he hoped even more that he would be happy. And it was clear that the one who could bring Li Jianyu happiness was not him.
Now, Li Jianyu looked fine on the surface, no different from usual, but Wan Yunliu had grown up with him since they were children. He knew him.
“We can. There’s not just one jade bed here. The map says there are three rooms with jade beds,” Li Jianyu said. “The other two are probably empty. We shouldn’t move the body here.”
Yun Jian had guarded for so long and had been so wary of outsiders just to continue being with his lover.
“Alright.”
XXXXXX
After that, Yun Jian did not come back. Li Jianyu moved Zhao Linxu’s body into the Hall of Longevity and three days passed just like that. In these three days, no so-called miracle happened. Zhao Linxu was still in a deep sleep, and Li Jianyu just quietly stood by the jade bed, watching him.
Outside the cave, Xing Huan and Dan Xi were grilling meat in the shade of a tree. Wan Yunliu was now in the cave with Li Jianyu, and the two of them were responsible for making food and helping to send it in after it was grilled.
“Do you think His Majesty can survive this?”
Xing Huan flipped the meat as he chatted with Dan Xi.
“It’s hard to say. I can’t divine it,” Dan Xi said, shaking his head. “I wrote to the Prince a few days ago. If something really happens to His Majesty, the Prince will be prepared and will also treat Zhao Lang as his own.”
Xing Huan nodded.
After a moment, Xing Huan sensed that something was wrong.
“Treat Zhao Lang as his own?” Xing Huan frowned slightly. What did that mean?
“I’ve talked to the City Lord that day. If His Majesty is really gone, how can the City Lord possibly stay in this world alone?”
Xing Huan paused for a moment and sighed.
These two were really something.
“What about the Imperial Preceptor? If the one the Imperial Preceptor loves dies, what will he do?”
Dan Xi’s tone was indifferent. “I have no one I love. I am the Imperial Preceptor of the Great Gong, devoted to the Starfall Pavilion, and I have long since abandoned the seven emotions and six desires.”
“Oh?”
Looking at Dan Xi’s rigid appearance, Xing Huan stroked his chin. “Don’t give me that. You are the head of the Starfall Pavilion now. The only one who can control you is Zhao Linxu. Zhao Linxu doesn’t even care. What do you care about?”
Xing Huan couldn’t see the face under Dan Xi’s veil, only vaguely seeing those faint eyes. At this moment, those eyes blinked, as if they were thinking, and then he said, “It’s not that I care, but it’s my duty. Only by being calm and desireless can I divine the heavens.”
Clang—
Dan Xi lay on the grass, staring blankly at the man who had suddenly pounced on him, petrified.
“Cult… Cult Leader! Please have some self-respect!”
“Hiss… the more you put on this aloof little appearance, the more I want to make you show other expressions.” Xing Huan squinted and smiled, his body hovering over him. He lowered his head and said softly, “What should I do?”
This person…!
Dan Xi’s eyes widened. He did not miss the glint in Xing Huan’s eyes, and his heart trembled.
“Are you afraid of me? Little Dan Xi, I am not the same as I was back then, but there is one thing that will never change no matter how many years pass, and that is my affection for you,” Xing Huan said with a sigh. “It was a misunderstanding back then.”
Dan Xi said stiffly, “You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
“Oh?”
Xing Huan held Dan Xi’s hand with one arm and leisurely pulled off his veil with the other.
“…Xing Huan!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Xing Huan said with a grin, his fingers gently sliding across Dan Xi’s soft cheek.
“What… are you doing?”
The two of them stiffened. They saw Li Guan hui, who had just returned from picking wild fruits, watching them from the side.
Dan Xi’s eyes widened. He looked at Xing Huan, who was on top of him, and stammered for a moment.
But Xing Huan was not a shy person. He twisted his body, slipped off Dan Xi, and leaned against the tree trunk as if exhausted. “Imperial Preceptor… you’re so mighty. I… I…”
With that, Xing Huan covered his face with his sleeve and acted coy.
Li Guan hui stared with wide eyes, amazed at the two of them.
Dan Xi’s face was so red it was about to bleed. He rarely lost his composure. “No! Great Hero Li, you’ve misunderstood!”
“Ah… mmm, Imperial Preceptor, don’t be angry. I’ll do better next time.” Xing Huan was still twisting and turning like a snake at the side, making Dan Xi wish he could slap him to death.
“It’s good to be young,” Li Guan hui said, shaking his head, and put the wild fruits aside to tidy up.
Dan Xi trembled with anger. He stood up and stomped hard on Xing Huan’s knee, making him gasp in pain.
Looking at Dan Xi’s angry departing back, Xing Huan shook his head and smiled.
He was finally willing to smile.
Now that something so big had happened to Zhao Linxu, everyone’s mood could not be good. He had just wanted to cheer Dan Xi up. He was sure Dan Xi also felt very guilty. After all, the Starfall Pavilion was originally meant to help the emperor in terms of secret arts.
“You should relax too. A person’s life is in the hands of heaven.” Li Guan hui could see through these young people’s little thoughts. He patted Xing Huan’s shoulder and smiled. “Just do your best. The dead are gone, but we who are alive must continue.”
“Great Hero Li is right.”
Xing Huan squinted at Li Guan hui and smiled. “Did Great Hero Li also make himself persevere like this after Yun Jian left back then?”
Li Guan hui was stunned.
“This little rascal.”
Li Guan hui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He had indeed liked Yun Jian before, but Yun Jian was his sister-in-law, so he naturally couldn’t do anything.
No… not just before. Didn’t he still like him now?
At least, he could no longer look at anyone else.
XXXXXX
In one of the rooms in the cave, Zhao Linxu was lying motionless on the jade bed, while Li Jianyu was sitting by the bed, his hands folded on the head of the bed, his head resting on them.
Li Jianyu did not sleep comfortably. It was too cold here because of the waterfall. It was probably the only cold place on the entire island. After all, the temperature on this island was different from the outside, and it was obviously much hotter.
He was just a mixed-blood phoenix. Yun Jian, a pure-blood phoenix, had been guarding here for decades. How cold must it have been?
“City Lord, here, eat. You’ll have the strength to wait after you’ve eaten.”
Wan Yunliu had been sent out by Li Jianyu to get some sleep. There was no reason for him to have Wan Yunliu stay here with him all the time. So, the one who came in with the food box now was Dan Xi.
Li Jianyu looked at Dan Xi and suddenly smiled.
“Good thing it was you who came.”
Dan Xi blinked in confusion.
What’s wrong?
Li Jianyu shook his head.
Dan Xi placed the food box beside Li Jianyu. Li Jianyu suddenly looked up and smiled. “Thank you for staying with me all these days, for escorting His Majesty here, and for waiting with me.”
Dan Xi sensed that something was wrong and his eyes widened. “City Lord, what do you mean by that?”
“Linxu won’t wake up,” Li Jianyu said calmly. “He won’t wake up. If this jade bed were useful, he wouldn’t still be unconscious.”
“City Lord…”
Splash—
Dan Xi saw the Li Jianyu before him suddenly transform into a phoenix and flap its wings. The strong wind sent him flying and also knocked down the large rock at the entrance of the cave.
With a rumbling sound, the entrance was covered by the large rock, completely isolating Li Jianyu from the others, trapping him in the cave.
“City Lord! City Lord! Li Jianyu—”
Li Jianyu listened to the faint shouts from outside, took off his jade hairpin, letting his hair fall down, and climbed onto the jade bed, lying down beside Zhao Linxu.
The cave was cold, the jade bed was cold, and Zhao Linxu’s body was also cold, but Li Jianyu no longer cared.
Li Jianyu snuggled in Zhao Linxu’s arms and murmured in a low voice, “I finally made up my mind, but now you’ve left me again…”
Let it be so. Let him be like Yun Jian. Li Jianyu was not a pure-blood phoenix. Perhaps if he stayed here without eating or drinking, he would die. But it would be better to die. At least they would die together.
Now, only the two of them were in this cave.
