General’s Gown - CH 63

Chapter 63 Tan Hua Dream Part 12

However, in the illusion, he could not see whether anyone was following Wuyi, only Wuyi holding something, and excitedly going up the mountain.

In a corner of the underground palace, a small oil lamp emitted an orange-yellow, warm light. Feilan was wearing an old half-length jacket, his hair was loosely bundled, and he was painting on the table.

Wuyi rushed in, and Feilan quickly covered up the not dried drawing on the table, then looked up helplessly: “Don’t you ever knock?”

Wuyi smiled and hid his hands behind his back, and said, “Here you are, a surprise.”

Feilan looked at him deliberately trying to flaunt, stretched out his hand, and said with a smile: “What surprise?”

Wu Yi went around behind him, tilted his head to look at his profile: “It’s a surprise. You close your eyes first.”

Feilan had no choice but to close his eyes.

Wuyi hugged Feilan from behind: “Okay!”

The smell of steaming rice came. Feilan opened his eyes, and saw Wuyi holding a big bowl of blue-rimmed white porcelain, which turned out to be a bowl of lamb wonton.

The wontons were even slightly steaming.

“It’s finally not squeezed into a flat bread this time. Try it now, it’s delicious!” Wuyi narrowed his eyes with pride and smiled, revealing a small tiger tooth.

Feilan was extremely surprised: “How did you bring it here?”

On such a cold day, such a long journey?

“I took two bowls, buckled up and down like this, and wrapped them into my robe— ” Wuyi gestured: “As expected, it’s still hot!”

Yan Changqing noticed that Wuyi didn’t wear a robe along the way, and he was only wearing a thin undershirt of the same color. On a winter night, he wrapped this bowl of wontons in his robe and walked all the way.

Feilan didn’t say anything, just put his brother, who was half a head taller than him, in his arms and silently warmed him with his own body temperature.

Like a big dog, he rubbed against Feilan’s chest contentedly and raised his head.

Feilan looked down at him: “What are you going to say?”

Wu Yi thought about it and said, “If we live in Qinchuan City, then we can eat lamb wontons every day, as well as candied gourds, zongzi candy…”

Feilan smiled and said, “How old are you?”

Wu Yi said, “You know, when I’m in Qinchuan, every time I see something delicious, fun, or beautiful, I will immediately think of you. I want you to come with me to see the outside world, instead of staying on a cold mountain forever.”

Feilan shook his head: “I don’t think there is anything wrong with this plac.”

Wu Yi raised his head and looked at him seriously: “That is because you haven’t seen the outside yet. If I tell you, we can have a spacious and warm mansion in Qinchuan City, have fertile land, and be admired by everyone in the city like a god, second brother, would you like to go?”

Feilan said: “How can such a good thing happen?” As soon as the words came out, he suddenly realized something, and looked at Wu Yi a little strangely: “Why did you suddenly say this… Who did you meet today?”

Wu Yi sat down and told him what he had heard today. Between his eyebrows was full of anticipation.

But Feilan’s face became paler as he listened to it, and finally he couldn’t help it. He waved his sleeves: “No, you cannot agree!”

Wuyi was puzzled: “Why not? There is so much water in the White Wolf Lake that it will never be used up. As long as you give Qinchuan a little water, you will not only do good deeds, but their future generations will also be grateful, so why not do it?”

“Nonsense!” Feilan was a little anxious: “Our ancestors explained that the water veins of White Wolf Lake are the heart of the entire Baicang Mountain. Once it is destroyed, the sky and the earth will collapse and life will be ruined!”

Wuyi did not expect Feilan’s reaction to be so big, and said in a daze: “Is that true, are you lying?”

Feilan said: “This kind of thing, why would I lie to you?” He grabbed Wuyi and walked to the other side of the underground palace.

“Do you know that all of our clansmen died in one night?” Feilan pointed to the mottled mural on the wall: “It’s to protect this White Wolf Lake! If the water in White Wolf Lake is drained, our Baicang Mountain, and all the creatures on this mountain, will be finished.”

Yan Changqing followed the mural pointed by the great witch doctor and looked carefully. This was exactly one of the murals he and Helian Rongchuan had seen before. Now that the light was brighter, Yan Changqing noticed that on the Baicang Mountain in the mural, there was a lake of a very light color painted on it, but the wall was a little peeled off, so he hadn’t noticed before. The position of this lake in the center of Baicang Mountain was depicted like a heart. From the “heart”, there were many thin light blue veins scattered around it, like blood vessels.

“Once the White Wolf Lake is cut open, these water veins will dry up. If the underground is not supported by these water veins, it will inevitably collapse, and the consequences will be unimaginable!”

Yan Changqing was shocked. Could it be that the earthquake in Qinchuan City was because…

Wuyi obviously didn’t expect it. He opened his mouth and said something, like an apology or a further explanation. But Yan Changqing couldn’t hear it clearly.

“Boom!!!”

There was a loud bang, and a burst of smoke instantly rose from the dome of the underground palace!

Although he knew it was an illusion, Helian Rongchuan still subconsciously protected Yan Changqing.

The illusion was twisting.

The snow-capped mountains in the dark night were illuminated by countless torches. The White Wolf Lake was blasted open, and the rubble was flying, and the clear lake water rolled down, converging into a river, flowing down the mountain.

Under the illumination of the torches, the turbulent river shimmered like tears from the snow-capped mountains.

“It’s not enough, continue to bomb!” The county magistrate of Qinchuan commanded the hundreds of soldiers who followed him up the mountain, and his voice was particularly sharp because he was too excited: “When we back, we will gain our rewards, each of you will have a share!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

More groundwater veins were forcibly blasted by gunpowder, and the river became wider and wider.

Wuyi ran out of the underground palace in dismay. Seeing the scene in front of him, his knees softened, and he fell to his knees on the cold snow with a thud.

“How… how…” Wu Yi panicked, he wanted to explain, but when he turned around, Feilan, who had escaped from the underground palace with him, was gone.

A snow-white figure, like a moth fighting a flame, rushed towards the crowd.

“No! You can’t—”

Feilan opened his arms and rushed to the front of the government soldiers who were continuing to blow up the water veins, blocking their way.

Wuyi had never seen Feilan so anxious and angry. But despite being anxious and angry, Feilan was obviously still trying to restrain himself amid the crowd, straightening his chest and explaining something.

It was so far away that he couldn’t hear what Feilan was saying. He only saw the Qinchuan County magistrate put on a smile and said a few words calmly.

Hearing this, Feilan turned to look in Wuyi’s direction, his eyes extremely firm. His lips moved and he said a few words.

Yan Changqing identified it carefully and guessed what Feilan said,

“He wouldn’t.”

But at this time Wu Yi obviously didn’t see what Feilan was talking about, and the sight in front of him completely frightened him. He kept saying: “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me who took them up the mountain, it wasn’t —”

Before he finished speaking, something suddenly got stuck in Wuyi’s throat, and he could no longer make a sound.

The air seemed to condense in an instant.

Wuyi seemed to be firmly nailed to the ground with the chilling air, and the cold air hissed and smoked, freezing him in an instant.

He looked at everything that suddenly happened in front of him in horror and disbelief. In his wide green eyes, several bright red blood veins burst out in an instant, winding like a poisonous snake.

Feilan still seemed to have something to explain, and was completely unprepared for a sharp long knife that suddenly appeared behind him, stabbing straight into his chest from his back.

Everything happened so fast.

Feilan lowered his head and looked at his chest in surprise.

Blood.

The bright red, warm blood slid from his fingers, and fell drop by drop onto the dirty snow that had been trampled on. In a flash, it gathered into a small trickle.

The magistrate of Qinchuan still maintained a graceful smile, twirled a few strands of his mustache on his chin, raised his foot, and stepped over Feilan who was lying on the ground. It was like stepping over a stone blocking the way.

“Go on, go on!” The county magistrate waved his arms and continued to urge energetically.

Wuyi staggered and ran over, trembling all over. He hugged Feilan in his arms. His trembling fingers tried to cover the wound on Feilan’s chest, but no matter what he did, blood still poured out continuously, smearing most of the white clothes of the two of them, a dazzling scarlet.

“No…no…Second brother…no…”

Feilan slowly opened his eyes as if hearing the call. His face was so white that it no longer saw any blood, and his whole person was frail and fragile, like a broken, withered Tan Hua.

“Second brother…it’s not me…I didn’t bring them up…” Wuyi’s voice was flustered and erratic, a trembling cry.

Feilan’s lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but his chest was overflowing with blood, and he could no longer make any sound.

“Speak up…Second brother, talk to me…”

Wuyi hugged Feilan tightly, shrinking into a small ball, obviously a teenager much taller than Feilan, but at this moment, he suddenly was a helpless, frightened child.

“Don’t do this…I…I’m afraid…”

Feilan looked up at Wuyi with some difficulty. His beautiful eyes were full of love, sadness and reluctance, but there was no trace of blame.

He raised his hand, and with some effort, lightly touched the tip of Wuyi’s nose, and wiped off a small smear of dust on the tip of Wuying’s nose.

…

My brother, Wuyi, although he is very talented, he is still a child who rubs dust on his nose every day.

…

I’m not a child anymore. I can protect you now.

…

Wuyi stared blankly at Feilan, watched his hand fall weakly, watched his eyes slowly close, watched a crystal tear slide down Feilan’s long eyelashes and drip onto the snow and disappear.

It was snowing. In the dark blue winter night, the heavy feather-like snow fluttered in succession.

Without blinking his eyes, he just watched quietly, like an ice sculpture. He was so quiet, as if he belonged to a separate world from the large firelight not far behind him, and the noisy, excited crowd.

After a long time, Wuyi let out a desperate but soft whimper like a trapped beast.

“It’s me, it’s me who hurt you, it’s all me…” Wuyi hugged the dead Feilan tightly, his eyes lost focus, and he whispered softly.

Boom!

There was another loud bang that shook the ground and the mountains, and the chest of the White Wolf Lake seemed to have been forcibly torn open.

Wu Yi very slowly, very slowly, turned around.

A sharp wolf howl suddenly cut through the night sky.

Hundreds of white wolves rushed down from the top of the mountain and rushed towards the crowd by the lake.

Wuyi faced the blazing fire. The gust of wind ruffled his hair, and he could no longer see his expression. Only the sounds of countless flesh being torn apart and the painful cries could be heard.

Scene transition. In the dilapidated underground palace, Wuyi was frantically rummaging in front of the bookshelves.

“The method of rebirth…the method of rebirth…” Wuyi kept repeating the words in his mouth, constantly rummaging through all the ancient books left by his ancestors, but he found nothing and his eyes were bloodshot.

Wuyi sat down in front of the table and noticed a rolled up painting in the corner.

It seemed to have been rolled up in a hurry, and the wet ink had stained the paper a little, but the whole painting was still lifelike, and the gentleness from the painter was evident between the brushstrokes.

In the picture, two high-spirited teenagers were riding on top of a majestic white wolf with smiles on their faces. The towering snow-capped mountains behind them, and countless blooming, snow-white Meng Xiantan under their feet.

Big tears rolled down his face.

Wuyi stared at the flowers in this painting, thoughtfully.

In the other corner of the desk, there was a bowl of wontons that had long been cold.

…

The underground palace disappeared. Now, Yan Changqing followed Wuyi to a withered flower field. Wuyi lowered his head and knelt on the ground, holding the Meng Xiantan that withered before it bloomed.

Why? Why can’t these life-saving Tan Hua be planted?

Wuyi slammed his punch into the ground. The rough stone cut through his hand immediately, and blood poured into the soil. However, where the blood flowed, a Meng Xiantan which had clearly withered, suddenly rejuvenated and slowly stretched out its withered leaves.

Wuyi widened his eyes, stretched out a slightly trembling finger, and touched this small flower and leaf very carefully.

…

The illusion was changing. Wuyi stood among the still-blooming MEng Xiantan, using a knife to cut wounds on his arms and legs, letting his own blood water all the flowers.

“Not enough……”

Wuyi looked at the scars all over his body indifferently, cutting his own flesh with one knife after another. He seemed to have lost the sense of pain, and he did not even wrinkle his eyebrows slightly, as if he was doing a routine that was irrelevant.

After a while, he almost turned into a bloodless man, and there was no good skin on his body.

Except for his face.

It once used to be a handsome, bright face with a bit of innocence.

“Not enough…”

Wuyi raised the knife and cut his face without hesitation.

Yan Changqing trembled as he saw it. He finally understood why the face behind the Great Witch Doctor’s mask was scarred.

But… there were too many flowers, his blood alone was not enough.

Wuyi grabbed a few branches of Meng Xiantan that had withered before and walked to the top of the mountain. White Wolf Lake, which was originally as clean as a mirror, has dried up a lot. Along the hard boulders, dozens of white wolves were constantly digging at the gravel with their claws, trying in vain to dig out the water so that the White Wolf Lake would not dry up.

From this supreme angle, it can be seen that there were already large swathes of collapsed potholes on the White Wolf Mountain at this time. These pits dotted and stretched down, and they were almost approaching the prosperous Qinchuan City.

“Second brother was right, you have harmed the creatures of Baicang Mountain, and you have harmed yourself.” Wuyi muttered to himself, a creepy smile on the corner of his mouth.

“But, it’s not enough.” Wuyi’s long, black robe embroidered with gold rustled in the wind, like a black eagle about to spread its wings.

“Blood for blood.” Wuyi put on the white wolf mask and walked down the mountain.

…

Wuyi returned to the flower field again. He cut the fingers of every virgin who was sacrificed, and used their blood to drip on the Meng Xiantan.

A few Meng Xiantan bloomed slightly, and in the faint fragrance of flowers, the dark green eyes without shadows lost their focus, indulging in the fantasy of the Meng Xiantan.

“Did you see it?” Wuyi pointed to the distance: “Did he move?”

The boys and girls were immersed in the illusion and shook their heads in confusion.

“Impossible!” Wuyi growled, confused.

“It’s because there are too few Meng Xiantan, it must be because there are too few Meng Xiantan!” Wuyi said to himself: “I want to plant more, more…”

Wuyi stood up and walked towards the top of the mountain. What was placed there was the ice coffin of Feilan and his clan.

The light suddenly turned into a dazzling white.

When he opened his eyes again, Yan Changqing and the others had returned to reality.

The truth came out.

Yan Changqing and Helian Rongchuan looked at each other and remained silent.

In front of them, the great witch doctor bowed his head and crouched beside the ice coffin, holding a few Meng Xiantan in one hand.

Around him, there was a large patch of dark red blood that had solidified.

The Meng Xiantan had withered, and the gray-white petals that had lost their vitality were like the scarred face of a great witch doctor.

Wei Jin looked at the frozen, intoxicated smile at the corner of the great witch doctor’s mouth, stretched out his fingers, and probed the tip of his nose.

He shook his head silently.

“He was deceived by the Meng Xiantan.” Wei Jin said, “Meng Xiantan watered with the blood of a virgin will only make people see a false environment. It can’t save people at all.”

Yan Changqing and Helian Rongchuan worked together, wanting to carry the great witch doctor into the ice coffin where Feilan  was sleeping peacefully.

The moment he opened the ice coffin, Yan Changqing realized that Feilan was surrounded by colorful things.

A bag of fried chestnuts with sugar, a bag of zongzi sugar, a rattle with a New Year’s doll, a windmill folded in gold paper, a cloth tiger made of rags, a string of candied haws, a red- faced rabbit with a clay sculpture…

Yan Changqing’s hand accidentally bumped into a round, hard thing beside Feilan.

“This is…?”

Yan Changqing lowered his eyes and found that there was a bowl of white porcelain on a blue background beside Feilan.

At the bottom of the bowl were a few bulging wontons. Surprisingly, the wontons were still fresh and not spoiled.

Unfortunately, there was no one to eat it anymore.