When Ye鸾 woke again, she was on a cold jade ancient bed.
She blinked her eyelids, covered her throat, and found that her body had no discomfort. She breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around, her mouth opening in surprise.
It was an outrageously large, sacred white palace. Bronze ancient lamps illuminated the surroundings, bright as the sun. Petals paved the way, ethereal and dreamlike, like a celestial realm.
Outside the window, silver light streamed down, and clouds swirled.
She sat up, her bare feet leaving the bed. She peeled back layers of floral canopies and walked outside.
But after walking for a long time, she found no doors anywhere, only windows on all sides.
Ye鸾 looked at the layout of the surroundings in surprise and hurried to the window.
Only then did she realize it was an extremely tall building, a phoenix palace with silver bridges.
From all four sides, she could take in the entire surrounding palace complex.
My God.
This must be over ten meters high, why build it so tall?
It was like trying to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun.
How was she supposed to get down?
"Luan Luan, you're awake."
Ye鸾 heard the voice and quickly turned her head.
She saw Xiao Chi Zhan appear from nowhere, wearing only a black robe.
"Where did you bring me?"
Xiao Chi Zhan walked over and hugged her from behind, "Bei Gong, Yun Shang Que."
His palace, tailor-made for her.
"Luan Luan, we will get married here, and from now on, we will live in Bei Gong."
"Get lost, grandma."
Xiao Chi Zhan didn't let go, holding her tightly.
"Luan Luan, I'm really angry."
Ye鸾 pried his hands away and looked back at him, "So what, are you going to kill me?"
"How could this prince bear to kill you?" He stroked her face, his voice obsessive and sick, "This prince wants to keep you here, to marry you."
Seeing that he had exposed his true nature again, Ye鸾 pushed him away in disappointment and roared.
"Your so-called change is just a temporary act. When you can't keep it up, will you imprison me again?"
Bringing her to such a high palace clearly meant she couldn't leave.
Xiao Chi Zhan, already suppressing his anger, heard her words. He coldly gripped her chin and asked.
"Then tell me, what do I have to do for you to be willing to come back? For me to watch you fly away with someone else? I can't do it!"
"Can't you use your brain? I was drugged, that was all a lie."
"What if it was an act? You've always tried to escape me, even to the point of death. Ever since this prince found you, no matter what this prince did, you've always been indifferent, never returning to my side."
"What do you want me to do, for you to forgive me, to let go of everything in the past?"
Ye鸾 looked at his ferocious expression and took a deep breath, calming her mind.
"Xiao Chi Zhan, I have long since let go of everything in the past."
"Then why won't you accept me, Ye鸾? You haven't let go at all. You can fool others, but you can't fool me. You love me, but you refuse to accept me, because you don't want to face your own heart."
Ye鸾 was stimulated by his words, and a sharp pain shot through her heart, as if it were being torn apart.
She remained silent.
"Will you only forgive me if I truly die?"
Suddenly, he frantically pulled out a knife and pressed it against his heart.
Ye鸾 watched his movements, his fierce demeanor making her slightly narrow her eyes, a hint of amusement rising.
"Xiao Chi Zhan, don't you want to see your current pathetic state? The dignified King of Dingbei of Da Liang, resorting to threatening someone with death?"
Hearing this, Xiao Chi Zhan laughed, his shoulders shaking, emitting a strange terror.
"If I die, won't you be free? If I die, no one will bother you anymore."
Ye鸾 clenched her fist hidden in her sleeve and turned her eyes away.
"What? Are you reluctant?"
"Reluctant?" she sneered. "If you die, the world will lose a demon. Why would I be reluctant? I wish you were dead, so I could marry someone else."
Xiao Chi Zhan laughed coldly, stepping closer and closer to her.
"Yes, if I die, you can marry someone else."
Ye鸾 was forced to retreat step by step by him, her lower back suddenly hitting a glazed pillar.
"Ye鸾, you resent me for ordering people to kill you in the dark chamber, you resent me for whipping you, you resent me for threatening you. I'll let you have it all back."
Yes, he admitted, when he discovered she had become a different person, he had wanted to test her, to kill her.
He was wrong!
He was wrong!
If he had known that one day he would love her to the point of death, he would never have hurt her in the slightest.
"If you can't do it yourself, I will."
He said, fiercely stabbing the knife into his chest, inch by inch.
"You didn't hesitate to threaten me three times by jumping from a building. Ye鸾, this time it's my turn. I'll bet my life against yours. If I lose, I die."
Ye鸾 looked at his actions, her voice trembling with anger.
'What do you mean?'
Xiao Chi Zhan smiled at her, pushing the knife deeper, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"If this knife goes any deeper, I will die. If you refuse to save me, then I die, and from then on, you will be free. But if you save me, you can only obediently return to my side, and I will never let go."
Hahaha.
Truly amazing, resorting to death to force her.
Why didn't he just fly up to heaven?
Ye鸾 was driven mad with anger. She looked at the blood flowing from his chest, but her face remained cold and mocking.
"Why doesn't the Prince ride the wind and ascend to the heavens, soaring ninety thousand li?"
Go die.
Go die, why are you doing this in front of me?
Xiao Chi Zhan pushed the knife deeper, beads of blood dripping down him. His entire body lost its color, becoming deathly pale.
He reached out a blood-red hand to caress her cheek. When he opened his mouth to speak, a large pool of blood spilled out. His voice was weak but filled with a sick, obsessive possessiveness.
"Luan Luan, I don't want to go to heaven, I only want to get into you."
Ye鸾 laughed, looking at him as she did.
Madman!
Dead madman!
Even now, he was still flirting with her.
But why did she feel so much pain?
A bone-deep ache spread through her limbs, making her uncomfortable, making her want to cry.
The light from outside the window shone through the floral canopy, permeating every inch of the room, soft and diffused.
Ye鸾 watched as he continued to stab downwards. She grabbed the knife, her voice trembling.
"Are you really not afraid of death?"
The knife in his hand fell with a thud. His tall body could no longer support itself, and he leaned forward, collapsing onto her.
"Luan Luan, if I die, you can leave."
Ye鸾 looked at his profusely bleeding wound and laughed.
"Then die, I won't save you."
She spoke cold and heartless words, but tears streamed down her face, tracing her fair jawline and falling onto Xiao Chi Zhan's neck.
The person slumped on her suddenly became still.
Completely still.
The air around them was terrifyingly silent.
Suddenly.
All strength left his body, and he slid down her clothes, falling to the ground with a crash.
The scent of blood filled Ye鸾's nostrils.
She looked at the person on the ground who had truly closed his eyes and stopped speaking. Her heart seemed to stop beating, and all color drained from her face.
"Xiao Chi Zhan!"
Ye鸾 exclaimed in alarm. Her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, cradling the bloody figure.
"Xiao Chi Zhan!"
Impossible, he must be lying to her.
How could he be so foolish as to stab himself in the heart? He must have deliberately deviated the knife, he wouldn't really die.
"Xiao Chi Zhan! Xiao Chi Zhan! Wake up---"