Ink Blade Chapter 57 (Part 1)
Great news, I’m just about to finish up this novel, so I’m increasing the update rate to 4x a week! Enjoy~
Translated by Sylver
Chapter 57.1 Xuan Hong (part 1)
Mo Ren’s consciousness was floating up and down in chaos.
He didn’t know where he was, only the intense pain was gnawing at his lungs. Even breathing became like torture, he struggled in pain, convulsed violently in a daze, and vomited something. His throat and nose were full of the smell of blood.
Gradually, the smell of blood also dissipated. He felt very cold in his daze, even colder than when he died in his previous life.
It seemed that he was thrown alone into the dark icy sea, and the vast snow fell on him, burying him.
In the haze, the originally pitch-black vision suddenly had a group of colors blooming. There was a clamor in the distance, and people were beating gongs and drums.
He seemed to see the Jiuzhong Palace covered in snow, with countless figures walking around. He saw the red festive silk, the bright lanterns. The light kept shaking in front of his eyes, and it also reflected the white snow on the ground and the eaves, as if falling into a fantasy.
Mo Ren was stunned: Why would he dream of these? He knew this was a dream, he should wake up.
But then he heard a bell-like voice coming from all directions.
“Mo Ren, a lowly servant in the side hall, plotted to murder the new Master Bai Hua, and committed the crime of rebellion.”
“The thirteen cruel punishments have been completed, please asking the Palace Master to inspect the punishment and grant death—”
Layers of echoes, deafening.
“Please asking the Palace Master to inspect the punishment—grant death—”
Layers of jade steps lead straight up, in front of the magnificent main hall, at the end of the flying snow, stood Chu Yan. There was no Bai Hua in the dream, nor any other people, only Chu Yan in a red wedding dress, looking down at him coldly from above.
Therefore, Mo Ren suddenly remembered how he died in his previous life. After the palace master gave the order, he was dragged out by two people from both sides, taken off the torture rack, and dragged all the way out of the Jiuzhong Palace.
He wanted to take a last look at the palace master, but he didn’t have the strength to raise his head.
He thought vaguely.
Master.
Master, are you tired of me? Are you tired so you want to throw me away? No… don’t. Ah Ren is not afraid of death, but at least I beg you to kill me personally…
The meridians of his hands and feet were broken, and it should be very painful to be brutally pulled, but probably because he had suffered too many tortures and was used to the pain, or perhaps because he was only left with the last breath, Mo Ren actually didn’t feel much. The only profound feeling was cold, the cold that kept invading the bone marrow, so cold… so very cold…very very cold.
He kept shivering, his eyelids opened and closed repeatedly. The night was very dark, and the blood flowing out of his body dyed the snow and withered grass along the way red.
He faintly heard the two people dragging him talking.
“Tsk, this person is almost done.”
“Nonsense.”
“The Palace Master ordered to throw it out… where should it be thrown?”
“Go outside the hall and find a wasteland. Today’s a great day, don’t let the corpse get in the way.”
He also wanted to beg those two not to go any further, at least let him die in the Jiuzhong Palace, or at least where he could see the Jiuzhong Palace.
But he couldn’t say a word anymore, he could only make a faint sound. He started coughing again, vomiting a lot of blood.
In the end, he was thrown on a deserted snowfield, surrounded by nothing but the dark night, and he couldn’t even see the lights of the Jiuzhong Palace.
The snow was still falling, and the cold wind was howling. The two attendants went back together, and he lay alone in the snow, continuing to shiver, cough, and lose blood… He was still thinking quietly about the palace master, sad that the palace master finally didn’t want him anymore.
He kept thinking in this heavy snow, thinking a lot, until his consciousness dissipated, until the handsome and cold face in his mind also melted like foam… When he could no longer continue to think, he just died.
… But why did he dream of these?
Mo Ren didn’t understand, he… had also walked through the gap of life and death countless times, but this was the first time he was trapped in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up.
Mo Ren thought weakly: because the Master has been treating him too well recently. He became weak and delicate.
And that sword. That sword move, why did it deviate…
More and more snow pushed his consciousness away, and after an unknown amount of time, Mo Ren felt the surroundings shaking, and the sound of the carriage wheels came.
Accompanied by the sharp pain in his lungs, his five senses gradually recovered a bit. He realized that he was covered with a thick quilt, and someone was holding him in their arms.
Mo Ren hadn’t fully woken up yet, and he instinctively struggled a bit.
The arm holding him immediately tightened, someone gently patted his shoulder, and said softly, “Ah Ren don’t be afraid, it’s this Master here.”
Mo Ren opened his eyes with difficulty, and what he saw was the carriage compartment, with a strong smell of medicine and blood. The curtain of the carriage was a thick curtain, not transparent, and it was not clear whether it was day or night. There was a small lamp on the side of the carriage, and the yellow light was swaying peacefully in the dark.
“Ah Ren… are you awake? Do you recognize this Master?”
Chu Yan was holding him through a layer of quilt, his expression seemed infinitely gentle under the light, but there were tear marks in the corners of his eyes.
The basin next to him was soaked with blood-soaked handkerchiefs, and the palace master’s cuffs and collar were also stained with spots of blood.
Mo Ren was lying on Chu Yan’s chest, he heard the palace master’s heartbeat trembling in his ears, and his already unclear consciousness became even more confused.
He just thought: Did the Master cry?
Why… who made his Master cry?
“Master…” He wanted to call out to his master, but his throat was so hoarse that it was frightening. When he made a sound, there was a dry pain.
The palace master then poured a small half bowl of water from the side, “Come, drink some water first.”
Chu Yan held him with one hand, and with the other hand brought the bowl to the pale lips of the guard, “Slow down… drink slowly, otherwise you will vomit blood later.”
Mo Ren drank a few sips of hot water with the palace master’s hand, and took shallow breaths on the palace master’s chest, still in a daze.
Chu Yan patted him and comforted him in a low voice, “Be good, if you’re uncomfortable, sleep a little longer.”
He knew that Mo Ren was seriously injured this time, and it was unexpected that he could wake up from a coma on the road.
But Mo Ren didn’t sleep, he opened his eyes slightly, and looked at Chu Yan blankly for a long time, before he slowly said, “Master…where are we going…”
Chu Yan said softly, “We are about to return to the palace, back to the Jiuzhong Palace. It’s not dawn outside now, Ah Ren, what do you want to eat? This Master will order someone to make breakfast after we go back?”
Return to the palace…? Why…
Mo Ren’s eyes were a little unfocused, he held a piece of Chu Yan’s clothes corner with his fingers in a loss, and said hoarsely, “That Yan Luo… Bai Hua…”
Chu Yan noticed his small movement, and quickly held the guard’s cold fingers in his own palm, and said in a deep voice, “It’s all resolved, don’t think too much, rest well.”
Mo Ren instinctively felt something was wrong, but his brain was like a rusty wheel, and couldn’t turn at all.
He suddenly groaned lowly, couldn’t help but curl up and cough, coughing so that his whole body was trembling like autumn leaves in the wind.
“…Ah Ren!” Chu Yan gritted his teeth abruptly, holding him tighter, holding his palm and inputting internal energy.
The palace master’s face turned green, and he whispered in a flustered voice, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…”
“Ugh, cough cough cough cough…cough, Master…..cough cough, Master…ugh cough!!”
Mo Ren’s pupils shrank in pain, he suddenly convulsed, and the crimson that choked out of his mouth splashed in mid-air.
“Ah Ren…!!”
Chu Yan closed his eyes in almost despair…The sleeve of the arm he was holding Mo Ren was splashed with new blood stains.
But he didn’t care, he hurriedly used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Mo Ren’s lips, and said with a trembling voice, “Don’t be afraid… Ah Ren don’t be afraid, we are about to return to the palace, there will be an antidote soon, hold on a little longer… it won’t hurt soon, very soon.”
The carriage was still shaking slightly, the sound of the carriage wheels seemed like a nightmare that was hard to wake up from, but this long road, it was unknown when it would end.
“Master…” Mo Ren pressed his chest and gasped in disorder, his eyes wide open with cold sweat, but his vision was blurred, and he murmured, “Let go…cough cough cough…”
