Several days had passed since Ah Jin woke up and found that he had become like this.
From An Xie’s rough actions and taunts, he had roughly understood that he had turned into a monster and was using the body of the Third Prince An Chengjing. On the day he took over this body, a strange tomb raider came to the tomb palace, and this body was also severely injured. Perhaps that was the moment when the real An Chengjing died and was replaced by him.
And An Xie… also became a twisted man whom he didn’t recognize.
But Ah Jin could understand.
An Xie had turned into such a monster after that battle. He lost everything and watched the people he cared about die in front of him one by one. Even the bitter love between them came to an end in such a tragic and sorrowful manner.
He had retaliated against those people, and also used the Third Prince An Chengjing’s life to recompense their hatred.
But An Xie had gone mad.
He used to be a straightforward man. Although young, he had excellent martial arts skills. He could fight on the battlefield and also drink and laugh loudly with a group of rough men, casually giving advice about the world and beauties.
When he laughed, he did so freely; when he expressed anger, he did so bluntly.
He fought for the peace and prosperity of the country, holding onto the tenderness for loved ones in his heart.
His man, his master, was a hero of indomitable spirit.
But now…
Ah Jin looked at the hostility in the man’s eyes. He was picked up by An Xie as if he were a toy, unable to speak or move, and was thrown to the ground.
Ah Jin cut a sorry figure as he rolled on the ground for quite a distance. Luckily, although this body had no legs, it didn’t feel much pain either.
Someone stepped on his back, and Ah Jin heard the familiar voice of a man ring above his head. The man squatted down, roughly pulling his head and slamming it against the cold bronze mirror.
The mirror made a ‘bang’ sound upon impact.
An Xie smiled, but there was no warmth in it. He said, “Baby, come and see what you look like today.”
The shriveled facial skin was pressed hard.
Ah Jin raised his head and took a quick look. Even he, who had seen many battles, was startled by the sight of the monster covered in purple hair and shriveled skin in the bronze mirror.
The monster in the bronze mirror didn’t even resemble a human, with hardly any flesh left, only skin sticking to the bones like paraffin wax, its features askew and face ferocious. It was not just an ugly monster, but an ugly monster covered in purple hair.
Seeing Ah Jin’s frightened expression, An Xie grinned with delight and took a “photo” with him, saying, “Hehe, so? How many times have you seen it and still get scared? Look at our respected Emperor, tsk.”
He grabbed the purple hair on Ah Jin’s face and forcefully pulled it off, causing blood and flesh to come off with it, then presented it to Ah Jin to look at.
“Hehe, is it beautiful? Not at all beautiful.”
Although there was no physical pain, the pain in his heart was excruciating.
Not because of this body, nor because of how An Xie treated him.
Ah Jin knew that An Xie’s violence and anger were not directed at him.
He was just heartbroken, heartbroken for the man who had once said he wanted things to be “clean and straightforward,” the man who looked carefree on the surface, natural and cheerful, but harbored a gentleness within, had been forced into this twisted appearance by himself.
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.
Ct Alc ageis ecvfgrabbv Cc Wlf abb kfii.
Cc Wlf kjr cba bcis qeclrtlcu Cc Jtfcuplcu yea jirb qeclrtlcu tlwrfio.
Ufgtjqr tlr tfjgajmtf kjr abb jqqjgfca lc tlr fsfr. Cc Wlf revvfcis ogbhf ktfc tf rjk atf ibbx lc Ct Alc’r fsfr, atfc fgeqafv lcab fnfc wbgf fzqibrlnf jcufg.
“Qtb ujnf sbe atf gluta ab ibbx ja wf ilxf atja? Kgslcu ab qgbnbxf wf?!”
Ah Jin suffered a beating, but he didn’t resist. He had been An Xie’s servant since childhood, and An Xie was his master. Anyway, as long as An Xie didn’t push himself so hard, he could endure and let him vent.
A kick landed on his chest, and Ah Jin finally felt the pain. But his eyes were soft as he looked at An Xie, silently conveying: An Xie, I’m back.
But his mouth opened and closed, unable to utter a word.
An Xie grabbed his throat with such force that it seemed he wanted to snap the neck that was like dry wood in his hand.
“Do you want to die! You want to die!”
His handsome face, distorted with rage, was terrifying. His eyes locked onto the eyes of the monster beneath him. The cloudy scarlet eyeballs were not dead and despaired when tortured today, only soft and warm things. No matter how hard he tried, the other party didn’t let out an unpleasant scream as usual, nor did he wildly wave his arms.
He hadn’t seen that kind of gaze in a long time, and for a moment, besides being familiar, An Xie couldn’t recall where he had seen it before.
Familiar, really familiar. Who had once looked at me with such gentleness and tolerance? Who was it…
When the murky tears flowed down, An Xie suddenly felt afraid for some reason. He released his grip abruptly, looking at An Chengjing, who had turned into a zombie, still lying motionless on the spot. Using the fingernails on his withered claws, he scratched something on the ground.
An Xie calmed his complicated thoughts and approached to take a closer look.
When he saw the words “Ah Jin” on the ground, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He stared blankly at the words on the ground, then looked back at those familiar eyes.
“Ah Jin…”
He called out stupidly, and the purple-haired zombie on the ground nodded.
Ah Jin looked at his man and said in his heart: An Xie, I’m Ah Jin, I’m back.
An Xie’s face burst into ecstasy, then turned into doubt and panic. Because his facial expressions changed too quickly, his features twisted into a ball, which looked a bit funny.
“No, no…”
An Xie muttered to himself, his pupils contracted, his eyes bloodshot. His voice suddenly became louder, almost roaring at Ah Jin as if he had gone mad: “You’re not Ah Jin! You’re An Chengjing! You want to trick me into letting you go… impossible! I won’t let you go!”
‘I am, I really am.’
Ah Jin parted his lips and mouthed at him, watching An Xie’s current crazy appearance with worry, wanting to stand up to calm him down.
But the next second, An Xie suddenly lifted him up and locked him into the coffin mentioned before.
His vision turned black again.
Ah Jin tried to push away the heavy wood, but the coffin was made of ironwood, and his current condition being what it was, he couldn’t move it no matter how hard he pushed. He could only anxiously lie in the coffin and wait, praying that An Xie wouldn’t do anything to hurt himself.
After all, it looked like his current condition was really bad.
I don’t know how long it was until the coffin was opened again, and An Xie returned with a dark face.
He lay down beside him and hugged him to sleep without saying a word.
Ah Jin pushed him away, gestured with his hands, used lip movements to speak to him, and said many, many things to prove himself.
Like the things that happened when they were kids, the secret codes only they two knew, the troubles they got into when they were naughty together, and in the end, he even talked about how many times An Xie hugged him, how he was hugged, what position, and so on.
But An Xie just remained silent with a poker face. The violence he meted out before was gone, but he didn’t give him any response either.
Ah Jin was a little scared.
He wasn’t afraid of An Xie being cruel with him, he was afraid An Xie would forget him.
‘I am Ah Jin!’
‘An Xie, please don’t scare me, okay?’
‘Master, do you still remember Ah Jin?’
“…”
Days passed by, even year after year.
Wherever An Xie went, he would wrap him in white cloth and hold him in his arms, whether sleeping, walking in the tomb palace, or wandering in the mountains outside the tomb palace.
Many years later, Ah Jin had become disheartened.
But suddenly, one day, An Xie took him to meet two other people who lived in a tomb palace.
An Xie once again showed a hearty smile. Although there was some pretense, he was genuinely happy.
Ah Jin was surprised to be wrapped in white cloth and held in his arms, unable to make a sound.
That day, when they returned to the tomb palace, Ah Jin was lying in the coffin in An Xie’s arms.
He thought it would be another peaceful day, but An Xie beside him suddenly spoke.
He said, “Great, it’s not a dream.”
Ah Jin was dazed, not understanding what he meant.
The man didn’t stop, but instead, he held him tightly as if trying to embed him into his bones, resting his chin on the top of his head.
After a while, he said:
“It’s great, it’s not a dream…”
“You said you’re Ah Jin, you said you came back… I’m scared, I’m so scared, I’m afraid it’s all fake… I’m afraid I’m dreaming.”
“I dare not sleep, I dare not even close my eyes, and I dare not ask you. I’m afraid if I ask you ‘Ah Jin, are you really back?’ and you answer ‘yes’, then I’ll wake up from the dream…”
Hot drops fell on Ah Jin’s head, one after another, murky and bitter.
They wet Ah Jin’s hair.
Stunned, Ah Jin turned his head to look, only to see a face filled with grief, tears streaming down yet suppressing the cries.
“I’m so scared every day, I’m so scared…”
“Ah Jin, Ah Jin…”
“I walk on the road carrying you in my arms, after a long, long time, everything feels so real.”
“But it’s been over a thousand years, and every day I imagine you by my side. I’m afraid you’re just my crazy imagination…”
After he finished speaking, Ah Jin finally understood.
An Xie didn’t fail to recognize him, but he dared not recognize him… He thought his return was his own fantasy, that he had gone mad after a thousand years. That’s why he remained silent, why he held him every day, wrapped him in white cloth to prevent any mirrors or lights from shining on him, why he wandered in the underground palace and in the mountains everyday, trying to find something to prove that this wasn’t an overly real hallucination.
So he lived in fear every day, carefully holding him for so many years.
It wasn’t until today that he finally got the definite answer from that incisive tomb palace master…
Idiot…
Idiot!
Ah Jin turned around and fiercely beat An Xie’s chest, tears streaming from his cloudy eyes. He couldn’t help but open his mouth and let out a harsh roar, vigorously cursing the man who had driven him to a dead end.
That day, the two people, who had a new understanding, hugged each other and cried for a long, long time.
When their throats were dry and hoarse, their strength exhausted, and the grievances and bitterness of over a thousand years were cried out, they finally stopped…
An Xie held Ah Jin in his arms, cautiously asking in a hoarse and unpleasant voice.
He said, “Ah Jin, are you back?”
Ah Jin grasped the clothes on his chest, opening his mouth and silently saying, “I’m back…”
As if truly hearing it, the man’s embrace became tighter.
An Xie lowered his head, fiercely and anxiously kissing Ah Jin’s now ugly face as if to confirm something, and licked the corners of his lips.
And Ah Jin was perfectly happy to accept it.
The candlelight in the underground palace flickered.
Flickering away the loneliness of a thousand years…
Translator:
All’s well that ends well. It’s a relief that An Xie’s story isn’t as dog-blood as I expected.
I hope you enjoyed this story, my dear readers. Remember to leave a comment~
Ahhhhhh such a sweet ending for our lovely side CP as well!! My heart is full, my crops are watered and my skin is clear 😭❤️
Thank you translator for your hard work!!! ❤️❤️❤️
I’m sad but also Happy for them… 😭
Thank u for finishing this extras!
Thanks for finishing this translation! Ngl An Xie and Ah Jins back story had me tearing up more than our main CP. Glad both had a happy ending despite the hardships 😭❤❤
Thankyou so much for the wonderful translation work. I’m so glad that each of the CPs worked out their problems and can live happily now
Thank you for the translation!