Blind and Bereft

Chapter 80 | Victor in Red Sea

Zhanying walked behind the curtain and slumped down against his bed. The poison was corroding his veins and torturing him as if it wanted to act as a reminder that he was dying because of her.

He waved a hand, and smoke wafted up from the incense burner to calm his mind. Taking a deep breath, he looked past the curtains. Jingrui was still sitting on the ground, sniffling faint cries. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples as he lapsed into meditation.

He didn't have time to care for her, and he didn't want to see her. The poison was already enough for her to always haunt his mind.

Besides, there were far too many things he had to worry about. The former Heavenly Emperor Yunyin's birthday banquet was coming up in a few days. It marked the day of the full moon festival, and it marked the day he would put an end to everything.

On that day, he would make sure his long years of torment would come to an end. The game that he spent his blood and sweat to devise would come to a checkmate. He was only one step away, and no poison, or a rose with thorns, would get in his way.

But as he sat still, clutching tightly to the golden seed and listening to her sobbing, he suddenly felt alone.

Like a lonely victor dancing in a red sea, he was cursed to be alone.

At least he still had his Third Uncle, the one who had helped him survive his long years within the Heavenly Palace.

He brought the old paper wrapped around the seed up in front of him. His eyes trailed over Yuansong's true form, and then, onto the old paper parchment. Red and black ran through the yellow surface, forming inky characters over bloodstains. Perplexed, he dispelled the lotus seed and unfurled the paper.

The obsidian characters ran to form a letter, and his heart quenched. His hands trembled, and his flow of Qi that he stabilised through meditation, broke into chaos once more. The taste of steel gurgled up his throat, and he coughed.

Poison Consort Chen before midnight. Empress Dowager Lingyue to Third Prince Yunru.

Pain vied over his soul, and he clenched his fists. His blood boiled as he trailed his thumb across the paper, trying to wrap his mind around it.

All this time, he had thought Lingyue murdered his mother, but who could have thought he had been living in a lie. It wouldn't have pained him as much if it were someone else. But it was his Third Uncle, the one he had trusted, and the only companion he had within the Heaven of Hell. In his life, the very thing he despised most was betrayal.

He crunched the paper in his palm as he pushed himself to stand.

Jingrui gave him the letter. He didn't know how she had it, but if she had stabbed him once, she could stab him again.

Words were always empty and intangible. Only if he heard the truth from Yunru's mouth, would he believe.

Transporting himself, he arrived at the Third Uncle's Palace in a flash. His body grew rigid as he walked through the narrow gate into the old and abandoned Palace.

Third Uncle was sitting on a mahogany bench with his hand fan, cooling himself in deep thought. When he sensed Zhanying enter, his gaze lifted. A smile came over him, and Zhanying wondered whether the smile was another mask.

Yunru could sense Zhanying's anger smoldering from him, and his smile dropped. "What's wrong?"

Zhanying tilted his head back towards the clear sky and took a deep breath. "Third Uncle."

Yunru gestured to Zhanying to sit beside him. When he refused, the Third Uncle stood up. "Is the poison relapsing?"

A chuckle rasped out of his throat, and he held the letter out in front of him. Yunru arched his brows and received it from him. Upon unfolding the letter, his eyes popped out from their sockets, and his face turned pale. "T-This. . ."