Chapter 129

“Qin Cheng consumed a life-prolonging pill given to him by Su Jingmo. Although this pill has the ability to grant him a prolonged life, it also represents a threat to his life.” Qu Zhiwen and Jiang Ping were walking side by side, gazing at the warm sunset that dyed everything around them red, chatting quietly: “Qin Cheng’s condition was already bad in itself, and in my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before he passes away. Fortunately, Qin Cheng has forgotten about Su Jingmo, which implies that Qin Cheng has regained that desire of wanting to live. That has been supporting him until now.”

Jiang Ping frowned and asked: “But, can he still regain his memories?”

Qu Zhiwen shook his head: “That I don’t know. Qin Cheng’s memories were erased for external reasons; he hasn’t lost them through natural amnesia. It was me who erased his memories, so according to my own reasoning, he shouldn’t be able to remember…. but….”

Thinking of Qin Cheng’s red thread which was now broken, Qu Zhiwen was no longer so sure….

Even if Qin Cheng had forgotten everything, will he still be able to refuse the bond predestined by the Heavens? Qin Cheng engraved his feelings for Su Jingmo into his soul, and Qu Zhiwen knew deep down that even if he erased the memory from Qin Cheng’s mind, Qin Cheng’s soul wouldn’t forget that person so easily…..

“If Qin Cheng were to remember Su Jingmo….” Jiang Ping took a pause, then continued: “What will happen?”

Qu Zhiwen didn’t answer right away. He simply stopped dead in his tracks, turned his body, and stared at Jiang Ping. Slowly, he replied: “Qin Cheng is extremely close to death. If he were to remember that person, even the slightest will to stay alive would be completely extinguished within Qin Cheng. I am afraid that, by remembering him, he will seek death.”

“….Is he gonna die?!”

Qu Zhiwen nodded, but then shook his head. ‘ It is certain that Qin Cheng will die, but he has a Taowu bone inside him. As long as I help him, Qin Cheng’s unfinished destiny can remain intact. ’

Thinking about the deal he made with Su Jingmo before he disappeared, Qu Zhiwen let out a light sigh.

‘ These two… one becomes a fool by being with the other, while the other is a cunning and calculating fellow who is several centuries old, but who willingly chooses to become a fool. ’

“Qin Cheng won’t….” Before Qu Zhiwen could utter the word ‘die’, the look on his face suddenly changed and his left ring finger trembled slightly.

The ring finger represents one’s lifespan, and Qu Zhiwen had previously linked Qin Cheng’s lifespan with his ring finger. If Qin Cheng were to die, Qu Zhiwen would be the first one to know, so he could hurry to control Qin Cheng’s soul.

But now, Qu Zhiwen’s ring finger had trembled, which could only mean one thing…. Qin Cheng was dead….

Realizing this, Qu Zhiwen hurriedly recited an incantation to locate Qin Cheng’s exact position.

“Jiang Ping, do me a favor. Contact Pingyao Hospital immediately. Don’t let them touch Qin Cheng’s body! We have to go to Pingyao immediately!”

“What?!”

With his eyes glued on Jiang Ping, Qu Zhiwen said with a serious expression on his face: “Qin Cheng is dead.”

…

Qin Cheng was sent to the nearest hospital in Pingyao, and was lying on the operation table at that moment. Qin Cheng had long since stopped breathing, and had no heartbeat. The doctors had been trying to resuscitate him for a long time. Just when they were about to shake their heads and give up, they were startled by several policemen who burst in through the door: “A doctor is coming from Xi’an for urgent treatment.”

Upon hearing the policeman say that, the doctor opened his mouth ready to inform him that the person in the operating room was already dead and a rescue attempt would be futile. However, the policeman instructed the doctor to remain silent.

Believing that the person in the operating room was someone of high status, the doctor hurried to shut his mouth. The only thing he could do at that moment was to give evasive answers to the archaeological team, mentioning that an expert was on their way.

After waiting for nearly five hours, the ‘expert’, Qu Zhiwen, finally arrived at the Emergency Room. After taking a look at Qin Cheng, Qu Zhiwen instructed Jiang Ping to transfer Qin Cheng to the car, stating that he would be taken to Xi’an for emergency treatment. Ignoring everyone else’s questions, they hurried out of the hospital.

Jiang Ping, who was driving the car, glanced at the rearview mirror to look at the already stiff Qin Cheng in the back seat: “What’s going on? He’s clearly already dead, how can you bring him back to life?”

“He’s not completely dead.” Qu Zhiwen’s face looked somewhat grim. ‘ Because of the Taowu bone inside Qin Cheng, his soul shouldn’t have been able to leave his body within a day, as souls are attracted to the Taowu bones. Even the Ghost Messengers ¹ would be unable to take away his soul…. But, why did Qin Cheng’s soul disappear within just a few hours?! ’

This sudden turn of events exceeded Qu Zhiwen’s expectations. Fearing that Qin Cheng’s soul might have already ended up in the Underworld, Qu Zhiwen hurried to release guiding paper cranes to search for Qin Cheng’s soul. However, the paper cranes flew in circles, unable to find any trace of his soul.

“This isn’t right!”

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Ping looked back and frowned. “Something went wrong?”

A cold sweat broke through Qu Zhiwen’s body as he watched the guiding paper cranes fly in circles in front of him: “Qin Cheng’s soul has gone missing. I released some paper cranes to track him down, but they haven’t been able to find him…..”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The guiding paper cranes are able to find the exact location of every soul. Even if that soul ended up in Hell, they’ll be able to find it without a problem. Even then, those few paper cranes haven’t been able to track him down….”

A train of thoughts flew through Qu Zhiwen’s mind at full speed, causing his face to become gloomy. Qu Zhiwen then looked ahead with a serious expression on his face, and asked: “How long until we reach Xi’an?”

“Three hours.”

“Three hours…..” Qu Zhiwen muttered. “No, it will be too late by then. Let’s look for a Taoist temple nearby. I suspect Qin Cheng’s soul isn’t even in this world. If we’re too slow…. I fear no amount of Taowu bones will be able to save him.”

…

Qin Cheng didn’t know what had happened to his body. All he had thought of was of Su Jinmo’s smiling face, the sweetness of his kisses, and of Su Jingmo asking him if he loved him…..

‘ Su Jingmo must have liked me. ’ Qin Cheng thought.

‘ How painful it must have been for Su Jingmo to leave me behind…. ’ At the mere thought of this, Qin Cheng felt as if a hole was growing in his heart. A void that couldn’t be filled with anything, from which blood seemed to gush out without the slightest indication that it would stop.

More air was leaving Qin Cheng’s lungs than what was coming in, as a severe heartache attacked him from within. All Qin Cheng could do was crawl on the ground, howling in sobs.

‘ Su Jingmo has disappeared from this world, and I will never be able to see him again….. ’

Qin Cheng was unsure at what point he lost consciousness, nor did he realize how chaotic things had become around him, generating panic among his teammates. As Qin Cheng watched the sun setting on the horizon, his heartbeat stopped silently, almost at the same time as he finally closed his eyes. Then, the whole world seemed to fall into dead silence and infinite darkness.

At that moment, Qin Cheng was aware that he was dead….

‘ But, why do I still have some kind of consciousness after death? ’ Qin Cheng couldn’t find an explanation for it. No longer feeling the pain in his heart, Qin Cheng slowly walked along a road filled with white mist, in complete silence.

As he walked slowly, the fog became denser and denser, the surroundings seemed to darken even more. However, Qin Cheng had no intention of retreating, as he bravely continued to move forward.

‘ This should be what people refer to as the ‘Road to the Yellow Springs’, right? ’ Qin Cheng had heard from the elders about this before. On the Road to the Yellow Springs, one must retreat without delay to stay alive. But Qin Cheng didn’t want to turn back.

In the disconcerting fog, there was only one path, and Qin Cheng no longer knew how long he had been walking. However, out of nowhere, everything around him was engulfed by darkness, and the arrival of a sudden voice made Qin Cheng stop in his tracks.

That voice sounded too familiar. So much so, that even tears began to slowly build up in Qin Cheng’s eyes. Qin Cheng didn’t dare to look back, for fear that it might only be his own hallucinations. When that voice sounded again, Qin Cheng violently turned around.

‘ Yes, it is him…. ’ Qin Cheng’s body trembled slightly, at the same time he muttered in a hoarse voice: “Jingmo….”

Without hesitation this time, Qin Cheng ran backwards towards a figure in the distance and stretched out his hands to pounce on that person so as to embrace him.

However, to his surprise, he ended up colliding with emptiness.

Feeling tremendously bewildered, Qin Cheng turned his body and looked at the person he had missed so much. However, he also noticed that something was wrong.

‘ The person in front of me is really Su Jingmo…. but he looks younger. Between 17 or 18 years old…. ’

Qin Cheng clenched his fist, and kept running towards him without giving up. As he ran towards the young man, Qin Cheng saw him laughing and joking with other people. Qin Cheng tried to shout out loud: “Jingmo, it’s me, Qin Cheng! Can’t you hear me?! Can’t you see me?!”

However, no matter how loudly he shouted, the person who was merely a few steps away from him didn’t even look at him. No matter how much Qin Cheng wanted to hug Su Jingmo, it was all in vain.

Qin Cheng stared at Su Jingmo dumbfounded, realizing that he had passed right through him. As the young man gradually receded into the distance, Qin Cheng discovered that the thick fog that had been surrounding him had faded to a mere dot…..

The tavern banners waved in the air, brimming with activity, with their black tiles fixed to the roof with curved hooks, supported by wooden structures. Music flowed through the rustic wooden fences with intricately carved flowers, and bright red lanterns illuminated the entire street. There, countless people dressed in ancient attire were coming and going, selling and engaging in commercial activities on the street……

At that instant, Qin Cheng found himself standing on the street of a long-gone era.

This was the Imperial City ² of the Great Xu Dynasty. The bustling and prosperous Capital ³ of the country.

However, as soon as that realization fell into his mind, the environment around Qin Cheng changed again, not even giving him time to gather his thoughts. Qin Cheng now found himself surrounded by the scorching hot Gobi Desert.

Dust floated high into the skies filling the air, as thousands of soldiers besieged a City, with their iron hoofs trampling every inch of the desert. Qin Cheng witnessed battle after battle unfold before his eyes, with great armies wielding victories under banners with the ‘Xu’ character waving in the air. Those same soldiers cheered for the Third Prince….

Qin Cheng witnessed the ferocious cruelty of the approximately 18-year-old Su Jingmo. He saw him slaughter his enemies, staining his cheeks with their blood. Not even once did his peach blossom eyes reveal the joy that Qin Cheng had grown so used to. Only madness laid within them….

If Qin Cheng could breathe, he would have run out of air upon witnessing Su Jingmo in such a state. For he was strangely captivating. Qin Cheng knew that Su Jingmo had been like a God of War in the period of the Xu Dynasty, but he had clearly never witnessed it himself. Now, Qin Cheng had found himself in the role of a bystander, witnessing Su Jingmo’s great achievements in conquering the Northwest, experiencing with his own eyes, the grand magnificence of an Emperor.

Yet again, the scene changed to another. By this point, Qin Cheng began to understand that he was witnessing events from Su Jingmo’s life when he was still alive….. It’s just that, Qin Cheng wasn’t entirely sure why he was actually able to see them.

Gradually, Qin Cheng managed to calm down. Right at that moment, Qin Cheng caught a glimpse of Su Jingmo’s rise to power, occurring before he even reached adulthood and received his title as ‘King’ ⁴ . Qin Cheng witnessed how the atmosphere of the Capital gradually changed immediately followed by the death of the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Fourth Prince one after another…..

In addition to this, Qin Cheng saw the woman Su Jingmo had described as being ‘extraordinary’. Lin Qing, a talented woman who was so bewitchingly beautiful, she could cause the downfall of an entire Nation ⁵ .

Her skin was as smooth as jade, and her face as beautiful as peach blossoms. Her eyebrows resembled willow leaves and her lips were like flower petals. Not only was she remarkable for her incomparable beauty, but also for her astonishing intelligence.

Qin Cheng witnessed with his own eyes the respect and affection Su Jingmo had for this woman. However, Lin Qing’s heart was drawn to someone else. To none other than Su Jingyan.

Although Qin Cheng knew very well that Su Jingmo’s attempts to win Lin Qing’s heart laid in his intention to obtain the Taowu bones protected by her family…. Qin Cheng’s heart was unable to avoid feeling uneasy anyway.

Unwilling to watch this any longer, Qin Cheng turned his head to the side. However, immediately upon turning around, the scene changed again. In front of him, there appeared the lingering image of Su Jingmo hovering in the bedchamber of a beautiful woman, flirting with her…..

After swiftly flicking his gaze over Su Jingmo’s naked waist and the beauty’s soft hands hugging his back, Qin Cheng closed his eyes tightly, a bitter smile on his face. ‘I really can’t let him go. Although I know Su Jingmo was quite the coquettish one in his lifetime, seeing it for myself is torturous.’

Fortunately, the scene changed again. This time, Qin Cheng saw Su Jingmo becoming the Crown Prince at the age of 22. At that moment, the Emperor decreed that Lin Qing, daughter of the Lin Family, would become the Imperial Consort of the Eastern Palace ⁶ ……

On the wedding day, Qin Cheng stood outside the chambers of Crown Prince Su Jingmo in his Residence. There, Qin Cheng watched as Su Jingmo emerged from his chambers dressed in a round-necked groom’s ceremonial robe, with black embroidered Dragons, along with gold threads outlining the sun, moon and stars. On his collar, the design of an ascending Dragon ⁷ was embroidered, at his waist he wore a nine-loop belt ⁸ with a jade amulet hanging from it, and on his feet, he wore a pair of Liuhe boots ⁹ . His black hair was elegantly tied back, and his peach blossom eyes sparkled with joy. Together, this combination made Su Jingmo look extraordinarily handsome and captivating….

Qin Cheng fixed his gaze on the man in front of him, and for some reason, he felt unexpectedly nervous. As if he himself was the one who was about to get married. Qin Cheng restlessly fidgeted, not knowing where to place his hand. After a long time of hesitation, Qin Cheng finally found his voice. Still knowing that Su Jingmo could neither see nor hear him, Qin Cheng took a few steps forward and said with a faint smile on his face: “Jingmo….you look very beautiful….”

“Qin Cheng…..” At the same time, immersed in an endless darkness, Su Jingmo slowly opened his eyes.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE:

Qin Cheng’s dead just like his hubby. He did it. The simp finally did it lmao he even ruined Qu Zhiwen and Jiang Ping’s date HAHAHAHAHAHAHA damn, Qin Cheng didn’t even remember QZW and he still got in the way of his love life XD

But wait, did Qin Cheng’s soul travel to the past? Or what is going onnnn hehehe

Also, if you think this chapter has too many footnotes, just wait until ch 130 and 131 (I have them ready for the Ko-fi extra, so wait for itttt. I’ll update them this week huhu)

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Ko-fi Goal for Extra Chapters~ ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

Footnotes

<ol><b>鬼差</b> <b>guǐ chāi</b> ; They’re responsible for catching and leading the souls of the deceased to the Underworld, where they will be judged before their new reincarnation. <b>都城</b> <b>dū chéng</b> ; It refers to the principal city where the government, administration, and Imperial Palace were located. In ancient China, the concept of “Imperial City” was significant as it represented the political and administrative center of a Dynasty. Each Dynasty often had its own Imperial City located at a certain location, which changed with the rise and fall of different Dynasties throughout history. <b>中都</b> <b>zhōng dū</b> ; It literally translates to “Central Capital” or just “Capital”. It can refer to a city that serves as the political, economic, or cultural center of a region or country. This refers to ( <b>冠</b> <b>guān</b> ). In ancient China, men held a ‘crowning ceremony’ when they reached adulthood, usually, at the age of 20, where they were given a Courtesy Name. At that age, the Imperial Princes will be given a ( <b>王</b> <b>wáng</b> ) ‘King’ title, as in the traditional Chinese feudal system, the ‘King’ title was below that of an Emperor but above other noble ranks. <b>倾城倾国</b> <b>qīng chéng qīng guó</b> ; Chinese idiom. From <b>《汉书·外戚传》</b> by ( <b>班固</b> <b>bān gù</b> ) Ban Gu [32-92 AC] from the Eastern Han Dynasty [25-220 AC]. This phrase portrays the image of a woman whose beauty is so remarkable and irresistible that it can capture the attention and admiration of people not only within a city but also throughout an entire country. An excerpt from the original text: In the North there was once a beautiful woman who lived detached from the world. If she were to gaze upon the soldiers defending the City, they would abandon their weapons and the security of the City would be threatened. If she were to gaze upon the Emperor who rules over the world, the Emperor would fall in love with her and the entire Country would fall into ruin! <b>东宫</b> <b>dōng gōng</b> ; In ancient China, the Eastern Palace referred to the Residence and Court of the Crown Prince. The Eastern Palace was specifically designated for the Crown Prince’s activities, education, and training in preparation for assuming the role of Emperor, where the Crown Prince would receive education in governance, engage in official duties, as well as receiving guidance from experienced Officials. <b>升龙</b> <b>shēng lóng</b> ; In Chinese culture, the Dragon is a powerful and revered symbol that represents strength, auspiciousness, and Imperial authority. The representation of the Dragon rising upward symbolizes greatness, power, and the ascension to a higher status. The use of the “ <b>升龙</b> ” motif in clothing as well as decorations is often associated with Nobility and Imperial ranks. <b>九环带</b> <b>jiǔ huán dài</b> ; It refers to a type of belt with nine golden rings or loops. It’s a traditional accessory in Chinese attire, particularly worn by Emperors and Noble Officials. The belt is typically made of fabric or leather and features nine metal/gold rings evenly spaced along its length. The rings can be functional or purely decorative. <b>六合靴</b> <b>liù hé xuē</b> ; It refers to a type of traditional Chinese boots that were commonly worn by Emperors and Noble Officials in ancient times. The term “ <b>六合</b> ” ( <b>liù hé</b> ) literally translates to “Six Realms” or “Six Directions”, representing the idea that these boots are designed to cover and protect the feet in all six directions. They are typically made of durable materials such as leather or fabric.</ol>