An Xie knew he would die…
Ah Jin stared blankly at the soldiers and high-ranking military officers kneeling on the ground.
No wonder…
No wonder he wouldn’t promise me…
An Xie has been a smart person since he was a child. There are some things he simply doesn’t care about or won’t speak of, so people think he is a careless person, but how could I forget?
How could I forget?
Ah Jin seemed to have lost his soul, staring at them, “What are you kneeling here for…”
An Xie went to throw away his life for us, to fulfill the emperor’s wish. What more do we, the ones who survived, expect or need?
Suddenly, the strategist knelt down. This smiling strategist who only obeyed An Xie’s commands knelt before him, “Deputy General Dai Jin, you are the General’s deputy. Please order us to catch up! We— we want to live and die with the General!”
“We will not abandon the General. We will not trade the General’s life for so-called safety and peace!”
“Deputy General, give the command!”
“Give the command!”
Pairs of red eyes stared at him, resolute and determined.
“You are all what he traded for… Taking you with me means letting his wish come to nothing…”
An Xie chose to fulfill that dog emperor’s wish voluntarily because he didn’t want these subordinates to be killed by the emperor for some made-up reason. How dare Ah Jin let them follow.
An Xie would hate him for it.
“Do you not want to catch up?” Suddenly, the strategist stared at him and shouted in a deep voice, “Deputy General Dai Jin, are you really just going to obediently follow the General’s wish? Will we just cower in the military camp and watch the General get killed?!”
Ah Jin opened his mouth: I don’t want to.
An Xie’s wish came true, then who will fulfill his wish? He hated An Xie; he just abandoned him and selfishly chose death.
An Xie could ignore his wishes. Why should he care about An Xie’s feelings?
Ah Jin chuckled softly, slowly tidying up his armor. Over ten thousand people, ten thousand pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
After the last button was fastened and the scimitar was held in his hand, Ah Jin looked back at them with a smile.
He said, “Let’s go bring the General home!”
The military officers and the strategist in front clenched their sabers, making a neat clanking sound.
Their loud shouts echoed through the sky.
“Bring the General home!”
… …
He was surrounded by corpses. The twenty-plus brothers he brought with him shielded him, one by one standing in front of him and blocking the blows with their own bodies. But they were surrounded as soon as they entered the canyon.
Tens of thousands of soldiers hemmed in twenty-plus individuals, a scene both ludicrous and tragic.
An Xie struggled to stand, gripping a spear in his hand. The unadorned, jet-black spear stood planted in the ground, supporting his body.
Around him lay the bodies of both allies and enemies. An Xie’s valor was evident from the mountain of corpses surrounding him. His armor was punctured and was torn to pieces, bloodied holes covering his arms, thighs, and abdomen. Yet he stood there, watching every enemy who dared to approach.
The sight of him, unyielding and refusing to kneel even in death, shook those enemies who intended to advance once more.
Initially, they thought he was dead and thus motionless. But as soon as one dared to approach, he would suddenly spring into action, his face covered in blood clots, mercilessly killing anyone who came close to him!
Blood splattered, both from the enemies and from his wounds spraying out.
One man, facing thousands of soldiers!
“Monster…”
“Monster—!”
The sword-wielding enemy soldiers backed away in horror.
It wasn’t until several horses slowly trotted over that An Xie lifted his head. His eyes were crusty with frozen blood, clumps of ice blocking his vision. He blinked hard.
There was a large hole in his chest protector. A broken-off spear from an enemy general was stuck in the hole.
His breath was already weak, and black spots began to appear in his vision, causing the scene to sway uncontrollably.
He was dying.
This was a fact; even if he was not killed, such injuries were beyond recovery.
The enemy troops had a habit of cutting off the heads of their slain enemies for sacrifice. An Xie touched the spot on his chest where the brocade pouch was placed, hoping that when Ah Jin and the others came to collect his body, they would recognize him by it…
His face had long been frozen stiff by the cold wind and he couldn’t even smile.
“You are a hero.”
The enemy general on horseback looked at him, his eyes filled more with admiration and respect than with hostility.
An Xie looked at him and tightened his grip on the spear.
“Someone like you would be worshiped if you were in our country.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf wjc rqbxf lc j raloo lcijcv vljifma, klat j nfgs rbifwc abcf jcv j gfugfaoei ogbkc.
“Dea sbeg fwqfgbg kjcar sbe vfjv. Pa kjr tf ktb ujnf wf atf wfrrjuf. P atlcx sbe jgf j tfgb! Kbvjs, P klii afii sbe atf ageat. P vbc’a kjca sbe ab vlf ecperais — rabq rageuuilcu, P vbc’a kjca ab xlii sbe, yea sbe mjc’a tbiv bc wemt ibcufg. P kbc’a mea boo sbeg tfjv. P jvwlgf sbe!”
The man dismounted and saluted him.
An Xie opened his mouth, but only coughed up a lot of blood clots. He looked at the enemy and released his weapon. The opponent also breathed a sigh of relief, and bowed to him more sincerely. The enemy soldiers behind him did the same, showing respect.
Heh…
How ironic.
The one who wants me dead is the person I protect, yet it is my enemy who shows me respect…
What’s the point of me protecting that person up high? What’s the point of me protecting this country?
Forget it…
Forget it…
The surging bloodthirsty aura on him dissipated. An Xie kept coughing up large mouthfuls of blood clots, grinning, and unable to speak, but he signaled his enemy with his eyes.
Come on, give me a quick death!
The enemy general understood. He shook his head and sighed, drew his sword, and slowly approached.
The gleaming blade seemed to reflect Ah Jin’s face. An Xie slowly knelt halfway to the ground, squinting his eye that hadn’t been frozen by blood clots.
In the end, he still smiled.
Looking expectantly at the blade and the face reflected on it.
Ah Jin, wait for me.
In the next life…
In the next life…
I’ll be clean, upright, and carefree — your man, only yours.
The blade was raised high, but it didn’t descend.
Someone shouted in an unfamiliar language, “Enemy attack— Enemy attack!”
Countless people panicked. An Xie’s eyes snapped open and the enemy general turned back in shock and looked down the valley.
There, the sound of war horses neighing filled the air, and the noise of countless iron hooves and armor crashing together was like thunder.
The enemy general roared something and rode off, but An Xie couldn’t hear. He only saw Ah Jin riding fast at the forefront, with those brothers who had sworn to risk life and limb with him behind him!
They roared forward, shouting his name as they fought!
“General, where are you— we’ll take you home—!”
“General— we’ll take you home—!”
I’m here!
An Xie shouted back in his mind, but in reality, he just stared, looking in their direction and staggeringly taking two steps.
When he saw his familiar subordinates, the ones he couldn’t be more familiar with, being cut down at the forefront, he jolted awake. He opened his mouth and roared, coughing up a large blood clot, finally able to make a sound!
“What are you all doing here! Go back— Go back—!”
You’re throwing your life away! Why did you come? Why!
Ah Jin… it’s Ah Jin!
After he left, these people obeyed Ah Jin’s orders, and only Ah Jin could hold them back.
An Xie stared fixedly at Ah Jin at the forefront, and Ah Jin also noticed him. He shouted something to the people beside him, too far away for An Xie to hear anything, but he saw it.
All his soldiers looked at him.
They saw him and rushed towards him.
Don’t come over—
“Don’t come over—!”
An Xie bellowed, but it was futile. His soldiers had already decided to stand with him.
He stood right among the enemies, at the deepest position. The enemy soldiers behind him bumped into him as they rushed over there, but he could no longer move his feet. He could only look on helplessly as his brothers, who once shared meals at the same table, joked together in the military tent, and shed blood on the battlefield, fell down…
The two sides collided, creating a scene akin to the end of the world. The valley was filled with billowing blood mist, and the ground was covered in flowing rivers of blood!
The soldiers fought, roaring and shouting in frenzy!
The wide valley was filled with countless corpses, and the harsh winter couldn’t stop their advance.
An Xie always led the charge at the forefront with his men. But this time, he watched them charge towards him with his own eyes.
These are my troops!
These are the soldiers I lead!
Thousands of soldiers, each and every one of them righteous, elite soldiers that he was proud of!
An Xie’s remaining eye welled up with scorching tears, and he roared loudly in response! He tightly gripped his spear and lifted it, taking a step forward, blood spurting from every part of his body!
The next moment, he lunged forward. He didn’t know what he was shouting, he didn’t know about the crimson glow in his eyes, and he couldn’t see his own ferocious grin!
So be it. If there’s nothing you can do to save the situation, then just go all out fighting!
They don’t want to let me down, and I don’t want to give up like this either!
Ah Jin saw An Xie and laughed, almost tumbling off his horse as he rushed over—
General, do you see it?
You chose to sacrifice yourself to save your brothers.
And your brothers’ choice is the same as yours.
We’re also willing to sacrifice ourselves to save you.
Many, many soldiers charged towards An Xie and surrounded him. They were fearless. They stood behind An Xie. They were the General’s men.
If they were to die today, so be it!
When they stood together, that’s when they truly fought with blood and courage, fearless, the true invincible army! Even in death, history would sing their praises!
Everyone’s eyes were bloodshot. Their willingness to sacrifice their lives made them seem like demons returned from hell!
The enemy general stared in horror at them, gritting his teeth as he commanded his troops to charge forward.
They had the numerical advantage, they couldn’t retreat, couldn’t be afraid. Their numbers were two or three times that of the enemy!
But he was wrong.
His soldiers were constantly getting killed, and the enemy kept depleting, from ten thousand to a thousand, to a hundred, to ten…
When the enemy general lowered his head, he saw that most of the bodies lying on the ground were his own men; and those who were wounded, even missing limbs, stabbed through the abdomen, were struggling to get up from the ground…
“Retreat—” the enemy general was sweating profusely, “They are no longer human, retreat quickly—”
When he was a child, he had once heard from his elders that some warriors were too tough, that even if they died, they would rise as corpses! They became an undying army of the dead!
What else could this group of staggering figures in front of him be if not the undead?!
“Retreat—!”
The enemy quickly withdrew.
They won.
General, we held on.
Those who remained looked at the disappearing enemies, and the breath in their chests disappeared. They stood against all odds, but now they knelt, falling down one by one, dead…
An Xie didn’t realize the changes in his body. It seemed as though he was filled with strength again. When the few remaining people beside him fell, he hurried to assist them.
But it was futile. Their eyes were open, their bodies cold.
Only a few, with resentment in their dying grips on his hand, said, “Avenge us, General, avenge us! The one in the palace— It’s him—”
It’s him who abandoned us!
We protect him, protect this country, but in the end we’ll be wiped out with just one word of those powerful ministers and imperial power!
Hateful! How hateful!
The dying men looked bitterly at the land they had sworn to protect.
Witnessing this, An Xie felt a surge of anger and hatred in his chest, and he nodded heavily.
Then his mind became muddled. After seeing off the last comrade, he turned around and thought in a daze: By the way, where’s Ah Jin? Why haven’t I seen Ah Jin?
He crawled on the ground, searching through one body after another.
Ah Jin?
Where are you, Ah Jin?
A blank An Xie knelt on the ground and searched through the pile of corpses with a foggy mind.
Not here, not here either. Ah Jin, where on earth are you?
Did he make it?
Just as he thought this, he suddenly found Ah Jin’s scimitar beneath an enemy’s corpse. His hand trembled, his face frozen into a block of iron, his eyes unable to see clearly as something streamed out from the rims of his eyes.
Slowly, he lifted the stumps blocking the way.
He found Ah Jin…
Ah Jin’s position was right behind where he had stood then, loyally and steadfastly guarding An Xie’s back.
No wonder.
An Xie thought to himself: No wonder I didn’t see him. So he was behind me.
Ah Jin slept quietly with closed eyes. An Xie dragged him out and held him in his arms, softly asking, “Ah Jin, why are you sleeping here?”
Ah Jin didn’t answer.
“Ah Jin? Wake up.”
An Xie patted his face, then his gaze lowered, noticing a huge gash from the throat to the belly. The cut was very long and deep, cleaving Ah Jin’s armor, splitting open his chest…
A small section of red was exposed.
An Xie thought of the red brocade pouch he found under Ah Jin’s bed.
His fingers trembling uncontrollably, An Xie pulled out the broken red rope.
Tied under the red rope, was a small red brocade pouch with a pair of mandarin ducks embroidered on it.
An Xie recalled Ah Jin’s rosy cheeks and those words.
[Here, everyone who is engaged to be married must embroider. Women embroider for men, one for each of them. Hanging this around the waist and walking together shows that we’re a pair.]
A pair.
An Xie clenched the pouch tightly, bowing his head.
The river of blood froze, the valley of countless corpses.
After a while, a heartbreaking cry suddenly rang out, resounding through this graveyard of lonely ghosts…
That year marked the death struggle of An Xie and his comrades.
The newly arrived general swiftly suppressed the severely weakened enemy with abundant provisions and countless soldiers.
Everyone praised the new general’s valor, but General An, who was said to have caused the deaths of his ten thousand soldiers because of his arrogance and pride, was not mentioned.
It was also that year when An Xie, who had become a zombie, sneaked into the capital city and saw his home, where his whole family had been executed unto the third generation, and the imperial concubines and children that An Chengjing had conferred titles upon.
Entering the palace through a secret passage, he massacred An Chengjing’s entire family.
He held An Chengjing, who had ascended the throne and was now the emperor, hostage and returned to the valley and killed An Chengjing. An Xie, realizing he had become a zombie monster, looked down at An Chengjing’s corpse and thought,
Because of you, all my brothers and relatives are dead, and Ah Jin is dead too.
I have no next life; I can only be a monster.
Ah Jin is gone; he cannot wait for me.
And I won’t let him see me like this either.
“I’m going to torture you for the rest of your life.”
An Xie laughed as he lifted An Chengjing’s corpse, gazing at the mountain of corpses.
“I’ll torture you for eternity! I’ll turn everything you’re proud of into ashes and turn you into an ugly monster like me, an endlessly tormented undead!”
… … … …
… … … …
And a thousand years later…
In a joint burial tomb, Qishan.
Ah Jin woke up and found himself sleeping in a coffin! He could not make any sound when he opened his mouth, nor could he feel his legs. Upon looking down, he discovered his legs were gone.
Was this a result of the injuries sustained in war?
He was alive at the moment, but he was buried as a corpse?
Ah Jin calmly pondered, but as he turned his head, he saw An Xie lying beside him!
An Xie?!
How come he’s buried with me?!
At the same time, An Xie opened his eyes under his gaze, and upon seeing him, sneered for some reason.
“Awake, monster?”
Monster?
Ah Jin’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth, making inarticulate sounds. In the next moment, the lid of the coffin was lifted off, revealing An Xie grinning, though his eyes were frosty. He reached out and lifted him up.
The two locked eyes.
Ah Jin also saw his own reflection in An Xie’s pupils.
Ah Jin stared at himself in shock.
I’ve grown fur?!
Purple?!
Author’s Note:
Be sure to play “A Kind of Sorrow” while reading this, because that’s what I listened to while writing.
I wonder if anyone remembers the brocade pouch An Xie used to hide the pill when he and Wen Fengjin confronted Yi Yan.
Also, in his first appearance, the story he told deliberately concealed the real facts. At that time, Ah Jin had taken over, and he noticed it, which made him more intimate with Purple Hair. Before that, he just said affectionate words but actually tortured him for fun.
I’m so happy for them!! And also very very grateful that the story about how An Xie is just a crazy facecon is fake, and he knew all along ❤️
Thanks for the translation!