Ye Zhiqiu watched Ye Shang suddenly push open the door and enter. Hearing his words, the bad premonition in his heart grew stronger.
As if sensing his thoughts, the two guards on the left and right immediately stood beside him. Clearly noticing Ye Zhiqiu's reluctance, they were specifically sent to watch him and prevent him from escaping.
But Ye Zhiqiu knew very well that he simply didn't have the ability to escape. No matter how far he ran, there would always be a day when he would be caught back.
This would be a fruitless cycle. The only way to break out of this cycle was...
Unless he died, this cycle would never end.
But now, it seemed that he didn't have much time left to live either.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't struggle any more. Instead, he walked up to Ye Shang, looked up into his eyes, and said calmly, "Let's go."
Ye Shang was a bit surprised by Ye Zhiqiu's action. From the way he had desperately tried to escape before, he didn't seem like someone who would give in so obediently.
But now he had compromised.
Well, it was reasonable. He should have also realized that if he tried to escape again, it would do him no good at all.
Ye Shang didn't say anything more. For a smart kid, he would always save himself a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Ye Zhiqiu was extremely cooperative all the way. He followed behind Ye Shang and walked step by step towards that closed room.
He knew that there was no chance for him to escape, and now it was also the time for him to find out their purpose, although it would cost him his life.
Ye Shang pushed open the wooden door. A faint smell of blood and the scent of calming incense came together. Ye Zhiqiu frowned slightly. The smell of blood was so strong that even the calming incense couldn't cover it.
He looked inside. There was nothing special in the room. There was just a wooden plank bed in the center, and shackles were installed around the bed.
On the table beside the wooden plank bed, there was a small iron box. Because he was relatively far away, he couldn't see clearly what was inside.
Ye Shang put his hand in his sleeve, looked down at Ye Zhiqiu's expression, and said with a smile, "I know you're a smart person, and I don't want to use force. If you don't want to suffer too much pain, I hope you can lie down on it by yourself. Otherwise..."
He paused. He didn't finish the rest of the sentence, but he gave a look to the guards standing beside him. Even if he didn't say it, Ye Zhiqiu could understand.
This was a silent threat to him.
But there was no other way. Indeed, there was a big difference between lying down by himself and being forced to lie down by the guards.
Those guards never showed mercy to anyone.
Ye Zhiqiu just remained silent for a while, and then he walked to the wooden plank bed and lay down by himself. The wooden plank felt very cold. After he lay down, he felt as if he were a fish on the chopping board.
There was no possibility of struggle. He could only be at others' mercy.
Ye Shang watched the other person's decision. The smile on his face didn't change. The guards behind him skillfully stepped forward to shackle the chains on the head of the bed. It was obvious that they had done this countless times. Ye Zhiqiu didn't say or do anything. He just stared at the ceiling with his eyes open.
"Don't worry. It'll be over soon." Ye Shang was still a bit surprised to see Ye Zhiqiu's calm look. This kid had given him too many surprises.
Maybe... this time it would really succeed.
Ye Zhiqiu turned his head and glanced at Ye Shang's face. There was no other thought in his eyes. He stared blankly and said without any emotion, "Those people all died for this, right?"
Ye Shang picked up the iron box on the table. After opening it, he saw the slowly moving bug inside. There used to be five bugs here, but only this one was left in the end.
This was the one he had spent a lot of effort to raise successfully, and this time it had to succeed.
He wasn't surprised when he heard Ye Zhiqiu's words. He wasn't surprised that the other person could guess this. He picked up the short knife in his hand and made a cut on Ye Zhiqiu's palm.
Ye Zhiqiu frowned tightly because of the pain, but he didn't make a sound. Ye Shang lowered his head and explained his doubts. Anyway, there was nothing to hide from him.
It didn't matter if he knew the truth. After all, he couldn't possibly walk out of here alive, and this truth would never be known by anyone.
"Yes. Most of them couldn't survive the pain of the venomous bug devouring their hearts. The corpses you saw on the back mountain that day all died because of this. But I still hope you can hold on."
"Why are you doing this? What's the purpose of all this?"
"Purpose? I'm just following orders. Someone wants to have an eternal dream of immortality, so this place was created. And you all are the test subjects sent by that person. So this isn't what I want to do. If you want to hate someone, don't blame me."
"Don't you ever hear the wails of countless wronged souls in your dreams at midnight when you do such things?!"
"I never believe in ghosts and gods. I only believe what I see with my own eyes. I've said that this isn't what I want to do. I'm just doing things for others."
"Alright. Don't ask so many questions. Save your strength to endure the bite of the venomous bug. After all... I sincerely hope you can succeed. I don't want to stay in this place any longer either."
Ye Shang's voice gradually became faint. Ye Zhiqiu could feel something suddenly burrow into the wound on his palm and move all the way along the bone and flesh towards his heart.
This pain was even more unbearable than the pain he had suffered from the whipping before. Ye Zhiqiu wanted to reach out his hand to drive the bug out of his body, but his wrists were locked by the chains. He simply couldn't touch anything related to the wound.
Ye Shang just stood on one side and watched coldly. The smile on his face was no longer maintained. He stared blankly and waited for the final result.
In the end, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help crying out because of this pain. This pain was even more unbearable than death. The bug reached his heart all the way and greedily devoured the flesh and blood there without any mercy.
Every moment was an agony. He wanted to escape from here quickly, to end all this quickly, and even wanted to die.
At that time, Ye Zhiqiu thought of many things in his mind, but the pain in his heart didn't stop for a moment.
The chains tightly bound his struggle, making it impossible for him to even escape. Apart from wailing continuously on the wooden plank bed because of the pain, he simply had no other way to stop this pain.
It was hard to imagine how desperate and miserable those children must have felt when they were waiting to die on this wooden plank bed.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't know if Ye Shang felt any uneasiness when he was watching coldly on one side.
Ye Zhiqiu looked in Ye Shang's direction. There was no emotion in the other person's eyes. His expression was so cold that it was as if he was looking at a stranger.
He didn't know how much time had passed. The pain he was suffering felt so long that even a moment seemed like an eternity. The bug in his heart gradually stopped moving and just lurked there without any other actions.
Ye Shang frowned when he saw this. He saw the two venomous bugs in Ye Zhiqiu's heart and murmured in a low voice, "Two venomous bugs... When on earth did he get this one?"
Ye Zhiqiu could no longer hear what the other person was saying. The bug hadn't stopped for long when it started moving again. This time, the movement was even greater, as if it was fighting for something.
The pain in his heart was extremely intense. Ye Zhiqiu felt his consciousness gradually fading away. In the end, he suddenly heard a 'puff' sound. He didn't even have the strength to look.
Finally, he lost consciousness. Before he lost consciousness, the only thing left in his sight was Ye Shang's desolate expression.
"This time... it failed again..." Ye Shang watched the venomous bug break out of Ye Zhiqiu's heart. It was motionless at the moment. It seemed that it was dead too.
He couldn't even remember how many venomous bugs he had wasted. The blood on the wooden plank bed flowed all the way to his feet and stained most of his clothes.
There was no expression on Ye Shang's face. He just slowly walked towards the door. The guard standing at the door walked up to him when he saw this and waited for his order.
"Take him to the back mountain." Ye Shang's voice was very soft. It could be heard that he was very tired at the moment.
He had been living in this desolate mountain for three years in order to develop a venomous bug that could make people immortal, but none of the venomous bugs had been able to survive successfully in these three years.
If he couldn't find a way soon, he didn't know if he would be blamed for losing his value.
He suddenly remembered the question Ye Zhiqiu had asked him before.
"Don't you ever hear the wails of countless wronged souls in your dreams at midnight..."
Ye Shang looked down at the bloodstained corner of his clothes. This wouldn't be the first time, nor would it be the last. There were many things that he couldn't choose.
He was just following orders. That was all...
When Ye Shang saw the guards carrying Ye Zhiqiu's body passing by him, he suddenly called them to stop for some reason.
"What's your order, my lord?"
"Take him to a place close to the top of the mountain. He didn't reach the top of the mountain when he was alive. After his death, he should at least get to see what the top of the mountain looks like."
Ye Shang's voice was very low. Although the guard was a bit puzzled by his order, he still nodded obediently.
Ye Shang glanced at the sky in the distance and let out a soft sigh.
After that, the guards carried Ye Zhiqiu's body and walked up the mountain step by step. It had rained a few days ago, and these days it had been continuously overcast and rainy. The mountain path was a bit difficult to walk on.
By the time they reached the middle of the mountain, their feet and bodies were already covered in mud. One of the guards was new. Looking at all the corpses on the back mountain, he felt a bit scared. So he trembled and said in a low voice,
"I think this place is very strange. Why don't we just leave him here? Anyway, my lord won't come up here. He won't find out."
"But if my lord finds out, we'll die."
"He won't. As long as you don't say anything and I don't say anything, how could my lord possibly know? He won't come up the mountain. Look, it's getting late. By the time we reach the top of the mountain, it'll be dark. All these corpses look so inauspicious at night."
"But..."
"Come on. Don't be so hesitant. Just leave him here."
"Alright. Remember to keep this a secret from my lord. Otherwise, we'll lose our lives."
"Sure, sure. I'll definitely keep it a secret."
The voices of the two guards gradually faded away, and only Ye Zhiqiu's body was left lying among a pile of corpses.
He was lying on his back looking at the sky, and the sky had quietly darkened without him realizing it.
Ye Zhiqiu thought he was definitely going to die this time, but he didn't expect that he would wake up one day.
He was woken up by the raindrops at that time. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was already dark. The raindrops hitting the leaves made a ticking sound.
It had started to rain here at some point. He slowly got up from the ground and felt the area around his heart. He found that the pain was gone, and there wasn't even a single wound on his heart.
"What's... going on?" Ye Zhiqiu sat under the tree and was in a daze for a long time. Even to this day, he still couldn't believe that this had really happened to him.
The thing of coming back to life after death.
He remembered that he should have died. The feeling of the venomous bug devouring his heart was still vivid in his mind. Moreover, he clearly heard a 'puff' sound before he lost consciousness.
If his guess was correct, it should be the sound of the venomous bug breaking out of his body, and he had died because of this. But now the strange thing was that he was still alive, and there wasn't a single wound on his body.
Was this possible?
Ye Zhiqiu remembered the purpose Ye Shang had told him before. He said it was to develop a venomous bug that could make people immortal. But judging from himself now, his research had indeed succeeded.
Because he had truly come back to life after death.
Forget it. It wasn't the time to think about these things now. He had to take advantage of the fact that everyone thought he was dead and escape from here quickly. If he was discovered and caught back, he would never have such an opportunity again.
Ye Zhiqiu quickly gathered his thoughts, stood up, and ran towards the top of the mountain. He didn't dare to stop for a moment, for fear that if he stopped, he would never be able to escape from this cage.
He kept running towards the top of the mountain. He didn't even feel the pain of the raindrops hitting his body. Ye Zhiqiu only had one thought in his mind now. He had to escape!
After he reached the top of the mountain, he found that there was a village on the other side of the mountain. The faint candlelight there gave him great hope.
As long as he crossed this mountain, he could completely say goodbye to everything that had happened here.
But because of the rain, the land on the mountain was muddy. Ye Zhiqiu accidentally slipped and stepped into the air. He rolled down the cliff all the way. After hitting several rocks, he completely fell into a coma.
Later, he fell into the water and was discovered by the villagers. When he was rescued, he had lost all his memories of the past.
Ye Zhiqiu saw everything he had experienced in the illusion. Even now, he still felt as if he was in a dream. It turned out that the truth he had been looking for about why he could be resurrected infinitely was the memory he had forgotten.
After he remembered everything, the illusion last night suddenly changed. The fog filled his sight. Ye Zhiqiu stood up from the ground and looked around.
All he could see in front of him was fog and more fog. He had already remembered his lost memory and knew how to solve it, but now he was trapped here and didn't even know how to get out.
He could only walk in the direction of the fog.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't know how long he had walked. He followed the direction of the fog and came to a small courtyard. The silver - bell - like laughter of a child came from inside.
He took a few steps forward and saw a child running straight towards him. Before Ye Zhiqiu could dodge, the child ran straight through him and ran away.
This feeling was very complicated. Ye Zhiqiu looked down at his palm. It was faintly transparent. It was only at this moment that he realized that he was still trapped in the illusion.
He just didn't know whose memory this was.
"Mother Concubine, I've reviewed all the books today. The imperial tutor even praised me for doing a good job in my studies."
The little girl's voice sounded with a bit of coquetry, with three parts asking for praise and seven parts playfulness.
Ye Zhiqiu was very familiar with this voice. He turned his head and looked at the child who had just run through him. He wasn't surprised when he saw her face clearly.
It was Le Ning.
But the woman she was chasing for praise wasn't the imperial concubine. The woman's hair ornaments jingled slightly. She reached out and stroked Le Ning's hair. There seemed to be a clear spring in her eyes. She looked gentle and kind.
"Good girl Ning'er. You've never disappointed me." The woman's voice was gentle. She lovingly stroked Le Ning's head.
And Le Ning nestled in her arms, with a smile that matched her age on her face.
Le Ning here was quite different from the one Ye Zhiqiu was familiar with. She had the innocence of a child. There was no scheming in her eyes, and the words she said didn't seem to have any hidden meanings.
It was as if... she was really just a seven - or eight - year - old child.
"It seems... this is Le Ning's illusion." Ye Zhiqiu watched Le Ning in the courtyard and made this conclusion in a low voice.
Although he didn't know why he had come into Le Ning's illusion, maybe there was a clue for him to get out of the illusion here, and...
The secret that Le Ning had hidden.
Ye Zhiqiu stayed in Le Ning's illusion. After watching for a while, he noticed something strange.
This wasn't the palace city of Yu Ling, but the capital of the Man Dynasty that had been destroyed in the previous dynasty. And Le Ning was the seventh princess in the royal capital.
She was the only remaining bloodline of the previous dynasty.
But as far as Ye Zhiqiu knew, when the Man Dynasty was destroyed by Yu Ling, no one in the imperial city was spared. The emperor of Yu Ling had mercilessly killed all the orphans in the main hall with lightning speed.
It was said that the blood in the hall had flowed for three whole days that year, and the smell of blood had lingered for a long time.
Although forty years had passed, Ye Zhiqiu still occasionally heard some stories from the old people in the city about the emperor's heartlessness back then. In the end, it was just a sigh.
But if Le Ning was really an orphan of the Man family, even if she had somehow managed to survive, she should be forty years old now.
Why was she still the same age as now when he first met her?
Ye Zhiqiu watched this past of Man Lening. The more he watched, the more mysterious the truth seemed to him.