Song Yan carried Ye Zhiqiu on his back. Ye Zhiqiu was already ice - cold all over. Song Yan's own blood dripped onto his hand and then onto the ground along his clothes.
Ye Zhiqiu had completely lost his breath. Even the rise and fall of his chest had disappeared. Song Yan gritted his teeth and carried him out.
The palace was heavily guarded. It was impossible for him to take Ye Zhiqiu out of the palace. After all, just the fact that he was carrying a corpse out while being inspected by the guards would be highly suspicious.
But if they couldn't leave the palace, there were almost no places he could go inside. And they couldn't stay outside any longer.
They couldn't go to Ye Zhiqiu's side palace. Maybe it was being surrounded, waiting for them to return.
Maybe... there was still one place!
After a brief moment of thought, Song Yan found a place in his memory where they could barely hide.
He followed the direction in his memory. On the way, he dodged the patrolling guards. After making a few detours, he arrived at a door.
This was the site of the previous Cold Palace case. Because the way the corpses died was extremely cruel and the murderer had not been caught yet, many rumors had spread about this case.
Some said it was the work of ghosts, while others said that at night, one could hear the cries of the dead concubines. There were all kinds of rumors. Due to these rumors, the emperor had abandoned this place.
Now, no one dared to pass by the Cold Palace. Even if someone did pass by, they would stay far away, for fear of being grabbed by the unclean things inside.
Song Yan was a detective. He never believed in such superstitious nonsense. Now, this was the best hiding place he could think of.
He would wait until tomorrow. After Ye Zhiqiu was resurrected, they could make further plans.
Song Yan pushed open the dusty palace door. As soon as the door opened, a shower of dust fell. He covered his nose to avoid being choked. After entering the palace, he turned back and closed the door.
The door creaked. Song Yan took off his outer robe and placed it under Ye Zhiqiu's head. Then he gently laid him flat on the ground.
After doing all this, Song Yan looked down at the wound on Ye Zhiqiu's neck and frowned.
When they first met, the wound had healed very quickly. But now... why was there no sign of the wound healing?
Song Yan began to panic. He had been calm before because he knew Ye Zhiqiu had the ability to resurrect, and Ye Zhiqiu had demonstrated it in front of him.
So he believed in Ye Zhiqiu and believed that he could be resurrected again.
But the current situation began to shake that belief in Song Yan's heart. Ye Zhiqiu, lying on the ground, had his eyes closed. His chest showed no sign of rising and falling, and there was not even the slightest hint of breath.
Although the deep - to - the - bone wound had stopped bleeding, Ye Zhiqiu now was no different from the corpses lying in the morgue.
Song Yan had seen countless corpses, but only when seeing Ye Zhiqiu did his heart ache.
He looked at Ye Zhiqiu's closed eyes. Ye Zhiqiu was lying there so quietly, without a trace of vitality. Song Yan couldn't help but blame himself again and again for coming too late.
If he had arrived in time, maybe Ye Zhiqiu wouldn't be in this state.
If he couldn't wake up this time...
Song Yan didn't even dare to think about this "if".
Just as Song Yan was constantly blaming himself in his heart, the wound on Ye Zhiqiu's neck gradually began to heal, but the healing speed was extremely slow.
Song Yan watched by the side. The current atmosphere made him think of the first time he met Ye Zhiqiu.
It was in the morgue. He hoped that Ye Zhiqiu would "come back to life" like he did when they first met.
If he could wake up, Song Yan would do his best to protect him so that he wouldn't have to face death again and again.
...
When Ye Zhiqiu woke up, he felt as if he had slept for a very long time. Since entering the palace, he hadn't slept so soundly for a long time.
He opened his eyes and saw Song Yan leaning against the wall. Song Yan was propping his chin with his hand. Even in his sleep, his brows were knitted tightly, like an unsolvable knot.
Ye Zhiqiu looked up at the sky outside and found that it was already bright. He reached out and touched his neck. The wound on it had almost healed, but there was still a long scar left.
It wasn't like this before. Every time he was resurrected, his wounds would heal completely. But this time...
Not only did it take longer to heal, but the wound didn't return to its original intact state.
Ye Zhiqiu lowered his eyes, and a complex look flashed across them.
He didn't know if he could be resurrected successfully the next time he died, or rather... if he died the next time, he might never wake up again...
Although Ye Zhiqiu had thought before that it would be good if he could really die, his thoughts had changed now.
When did his thoughts start to change? Maybe... after he met Song Yan.
"You're finally awake." Song Yan was a light sleeper. After hearing the sound, he quickly looked in Ye Zhiqiu's direction. Seeing that he was awake, his body seemed to act on its own and he directly hugged Ye Zhiqiu into his arms.
His voice was muffled. Obviously, he hadn't slept well all night, and his voice was a bit hoarse.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't expect Song Yan to suddenly do this. For a moment, he was at a loss. He paused with the hand he had raised and finally gently patted Song Yan's back.
"Thank you for your hard work last night." Ye Zhiqiu thought of the scar on his neck, and his eyes dimmed.
He didn't even dare to imagine how helpless Song Yan must have felt last night when he watched the wound show no sign of healing.
It was only after hugging Ye Zhiqiu that Song Yan realized his behavior might be inappropriate. After keeping a distance, he felt a bit embarrassed, but his eyes still couldn't help but look at Ye Zhiqiu's neck.
The wound had started to heal in the middle of the night. Although it was healing, it was too slow, and finally this scar was left.
Song Yan had a bad premonition. Ye Zhiqiu's ability to recover was still an unknown. No one knew when this ability would disappear.
If it disappeared, Ye Zhiqiu would never have the chance to open his eyes again.
Song Yan had been holding a sentence in his heart for a long time. After seeing Ye Zhiqiu wake up successfully, he couldn't hold it back anymore, because he didn't know if he would have the chance to say this sentence next time.
"Zhiqiu." Song Yan met his gaze and said this sentence seriously.
Ye Zhiqiu stopped the action of tidying his cuffs. He turned his head and looked in Song Yan's direction. This was the first time he had seen Song Yan look so serious.
"Promise me to cherish your life. Even when investigating the murderer, you must protect yourself first." Song Yan said this sentence word by word. He really didn't want to see Ye Zhiqiu lying there without a trace of vitality again.
This feeling was really unpleasant, and he couldn't go through it again.
Ye Zhiqiu's eyes flickered for a moment. This was the first time he had heard such words from someone else, and that someone was Song Yan...
He smiled. The corners of his mouth lifted into a beautiful arc. When he smiled, it seemed as if all things in the world lost their luster. In Song Yan's eyes, there was only Ye Zhiqiu's smiling face.
The falling snow bent his eyelashes, and his eyes contained countless stardust.
"Okay, I'll remember." Ye Zhiqiu's smile was very brief. In a flash, he returned to his original state, but his eyes were no longer as cold as before.
"By the way, how did you come to that garden?" Ye Zhiqiu shifted the topic to the incident of his attempted murder last night.
If that letter wasn't a trap...
"The letter I wanted to send to you suddenly disappeared before. There was only a note left on the table, with just the name of the garden on it and nothing else. I thought it was a bit strange, so I decided to go and have a look. I didn't expect to run into you." Song Yan recalled what had happened last night and thought the matter was extremely strange.
Someone deliberately wanted to lead him to the garden. If they wanted to kill him and Ye Zhiqiu to cover their tracks, why did they stop and run away after hearing his voice?
Could it be that... there were two masterminds in the palace, and they were restraining each other, and Ye Zhiqiu was their common target.
Was his appearance just to prevent that murderer from succeeding?!
Now, even Song Yan couldn't figure out the current situation. It seemed that the closer they got to the truth, the thicker the fog became.
It blocked his view and made it impossible for him to see the truth clearly.
"We can't figure it out now. Things in the palace are extremely complicated and changeable. Let's leave the palace first and then make further plans when we get to the investigation department." Song Yan pulled himself out of his wild thoughts. Now was not the time to daydream.
The palace was no longer safe. Ye Zhiqiu's resurrection ability was still an unknown. The most important thing to do now was to leave this place.
Ye Zhiqiu glanced in Song Yan's direction. Although he knew that Song Yan was thinking about him, blindly escaping was the worst strategy.
If they wanted to find the truth, they had to take a risk.
"Ye Zhiqiu, don't do anything stupid. There are many ways to solve a case. The most important thing for you is to protect your own life. If you lose your life, knowing the truth won't be of any use!"
Song Yan could tell what Ye Zhiqiu was thinking just by looking at his silent expression. No matter what he was thinking, Song Yan would never let him go further down the wrong path.
In any case, he couldn't take risks again.
As he said this, Song Yan grabbed Ye Zhiqiu's wrist and was about to walk out. He had made up his mind. Even if he had to tie Ye Zhiqiu up, he would take him out.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't stop him. He just followed Song Yan out of the Cold Palace. But before they could completely leave the Cold Palace, a person suddenly stood in front of Song Yan.
It seemed that this person had been waiting at the door for a long time. Before Song Yan could react, he was knocked unconscious with a club.
The attacker was quick, ruthless, and accurate. Song Yan passed out without any defense.
"Where is Master Ye going?"
A lazy voice sounded. After hearing the voice, the guards immediately separated to both sides. Then a person walked out from among them. The plain - colored dress of this person rustled slightly on the bluestone road.
She was holding a feather fan and swaying it. She walked up to Ye Zhiqiu smilingly. She glanced down at the unconscious Song Yan and then looked up in Ye Zhiqiu's direction.
Although she was smiling, the threat in her tone was very obvious.
"Even if I wanted to escape, I would have to be able to avoid your spies first, Your Majesty the Imperial Concubine." Ye Zhiqiu replied neither arrogantly nor humbly. There was no trace of emotion in his tone, making it impossible to tell his mood.
Liu Shiyao wasn't angry when she heard this. Anyway, she had expected Ye Zhiqiu to say such words to block her, but these didn't matter.
"Master Ye, what do you think I should do?" Liu Shiyao glanced at the unconscious Song Yan and said this with a smile.
Ye Zhiqiu was silent for a while. Finally, he replied in a low voice, "Let him go. I'll go with you."
"Master Ye, do you misunderstand something? In this situation, you don't have the qualification to bargain with me~"
"I'll answer all the questions you want to know."
"…Alright, then I'll give you some face." Liu Shiyao waved her feather fan forward, and then her tone suddenly turned cold.
She raised her hand and said coldly, "Take him away."
"Yes."
After hearing the order, the guards stepped forward, grabbed Ye Zhiqiu, and pushed him into the abandoned Cold Palace. Liu Shiyao also arranged a place for the unconscious Song Yan.
Ye Zhiqiu looked back in Song Yan's direction. This parting might mean that he didn't know when they would meet again.