The premature child was small, with a pitifully wrinkled little face, its cries were thin and soft like a kitten. Old Zhou felt a pang of sympathy. He took off his outer garment and wrapped the child. He wanted to hold the child out for Xiao Ning to see, but he was afraid Xiao Ning might go mad and hurt the child, so he cautiously placed the child on the small incense altar in the corner.
“It’s a boy.” Old Zhou muttered, feeling somewhat guilty.
Xiao Ning looked up, his blood-red eyes fixed on Old Zhou. Old Zhou bent down, unbuttoned Shen Yunjie’s upper garment, sealed several key acupoints, and struck his back with a palm. Dark needles around his chest sprang out. While removing the needles, he said, “This poison of his is not a matter of a day or two. Sooner or later, he would die of exhaustion anyway. However, in order to keep the child in his belly, he begged me to seal the poison temporarily with silver needles in his heart meridian.”
“So, you knew all along.” Xiao Ning looked at the black silver needles, his tone so cold that Old Zhou couldn’t discern his emotions.
Old Zhou had nothing to say. He took a new silver needle from his wrist and pierced it in, then landed a palm on Shen Yunjie’s chest.
“Cough… cough, cough, cough…” Black blood surged from the corners of Shen Yunjie’s lips. He choked as he knitted his brows tightly.
“He doesn’t have much time left, you…” Old Zhou didn’t know how to comfort him, so he silently retreated to the side, picked up the child, and huddled in the corner, trying to minimize his presence.
Xiao Ning repeatedly wiped the blood from the corners of Shen Yunjie’s lips with his sleeve, watching him slowly open his eyes.
“The child…” Shen Yunjie’s vision was hazy. It took him a while to clearly see Xiao Ning.
“The child is fine.” Xiao Ning said while wiping his blood, “It’s a boy. Xiao Yuan has a little brother.”
“Good… that’s good…” Shen Yunjie’s expression relaxed somewhat. He felt no pain now, only a chilling cold that spread outward from his heart.
Xiao Ning nodded, held him up securely, and said, “Let’s go home. Xiao Yuan is waiting for us at home.”
“Alright.” Shen Yunjie looped his arms around Xiao Ning’s neck, and obediently leaned on his shoulder: “I’m a little cold…”
“You won’t be cold when we get home.” Xiao Ning kissed his brow, whispering, “Ah Yun, don’t sleep.”
Shen Yunjie wearily held open his eyelids: “Young Master, I’m sorry… I always lied to you. When I first met you in Jinling that year, I was already lying to you… later in the Imperial Prison, I said I never loved you, that was also a lie… now I say I’ll be with you until old age… cough…” Blood splattered on Xiao Ning’s clothes.
Xiao Ning held him tighter in his arms, forcing his eyes shut with a metallic-sweet taste on his tongue: “Shen Yunjie, I hate you so much.”
All the tears from the corners of Shen Yunjie’s eyes fell onto Xiao Ning’s chest: “I know.” His body temperature dropped lower and lower, just like the day of the first snow in Jinling when he knelt in the snow while shivering from the cold. Suddenly, a bright and passionate flame leaped into his vision. From that day on, his life was no longer his own…
“But don’t you dare sleep, I’ll forgive you now.” Xiao Ning said softly.
In the desolate wilderness, near the solitary grave, the person in his arms was silent forever.
The child in Old Zhou’s arms, with its thin voice, suddenly began to cry incessantly. He looked up and saw the winding trail of blood behind Xiao Ning.
Shen Yunjie passed away. The cake stall displayed a mourning banner. Neighbors who came to offer condolences didn’t know the full story, only saying he had died from a difficult childbirth, leaving behind a frail, tiny child, which was deeply tragic.
On the day of Shen Yunjie’s burial, Xiao Ning carried the whimpering Xiao Yuan in his arms, watching as sixteen copper nails sealed the coffin. A handful of yellow earth was thrown, and snow-white joss paper scattered in the air.
Later, Xiao Yuan still attended the academy. The kitten-like child was named Shen Nian. Old Zhou found a nanny to help care for him. As for Xiao Ning, he was the same as before, standing in the house kneading dough and making cakes, but there was no longer the person whose eyes held a cautious tenderness when looking at him.
One night, Xiao Ning was awakened by thunder outside the window. He reached out to hug the person next to him but found the space empty. He abruptly got up, threw off the quilt, and ran out of the house. Amid the roaring storm, rain poured down. His hair was disheveled as he ran barefoot through the streets and alleys, all the way to Shen Yunjie’s grave.
The lonely grave mound quietly watched him.
Only then did Xiao Ning truly realize that the one he had hated so deeply and loved so fiercely would never come back.
From that moment on, both love and hate felt meaningless.
The author has something to say:
Friends who like bad endings, this is the end. Waving goodbye.
T/N: Waving goodbye cuz this story have a happy ending xD
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