The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 95

“Again I am weak. Or am I already dead?” Longwei asked himself, trying to open his heavy eyelids. With awakening, feeling bitterness in his mouth and intense thirst, he coughed heavily, and at that moment when on his hand he felt a blood clot that had just come out of his throat, he realized that he was still alive. Alive and greatly weakened.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he barely opened his eyes and, already preparing himself for the dazzling rays of the sun, closed his eyes, but as it turned out, he was in complete darkness.

Standing up he touched his body in case he had wounds, but all he felt were cuts all over his chest.

Realizing that he was wearing only pants and nothing else, he tried to remember what happened to him and how he got here. Recalling passages from days gone by, he writhed with pain in his heart.

“Finally you woke up.” there was a voice that echoed painfully in his head.

“Who is there?”

Throwing a spark of flame into the wood, Yue Liang smiled tenderly and sat down next to him.

Surprised by what he saw, Longwei asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Do not move.” Yue Liang said as he adjusted the bandage on Longwei’s stomach, which was clearly covering the serious wound.

Catching his hand and squeezing it so tightly that Yue Liang’s face twisted in pain, Longwei asked, “What happened? Why am I here? Where is Yun Qi?”

“When you and Lei and your daughter went in search of the kingdom, all three clans followed you. All of us. I mean the First and Third Clans. Therefore, I already know about everything.” answered Yue Liang. But noticing the obvious dissatisfaction in Longwei’s expression, he continued, “When I found you, the warriors of the Second Clan beat you while you were tied up. They tortured you so much that you were almost dead. And when I found you, you stopped breathing. I told my soldiers to kill them all. And now you are here. I saved you.”

Having finally come to his senses, Longwei got up and trudged towards the exit.

“Do you really think you’re able to walk?”

“I have to find Yun Qi.” said Longwei and again, feeling extremely dizzy, fell to the ground.

Everything around whirled around him in a frantic rhythm. The stone wall of the cave, the light coming from the outside, Yue Liang in his silvery robe, it all swirled so hard that he squeezed the wall, afraid to fall.

“You are weak. You cannot go. There is a war going on. If you leave, you will die immediately.” Pressing his sweat-soaked body against him, Yue Liang leaned against the wall and touched Longwei’s upper lip. “Longwei, you will be safe now.”

Sinking into a viscous sleep, Longwei clutching Yue Liang’s thin robe tried his best not to lose touch with reality, but all he could do was to repeat two names in his head.

“Don’t let anyone get in here.” Longwei heard through the veil of unhealthy sleep. “Water. Drink it.” Yue Liang whispered.

Lifting his head gently, he poured water from a flask into his slightly opened mouth.

“How do you feel?”

“Awful. It feels like all my bones are broken.” Longwei replied, finding the strength to sit up and lean back.

“Dizzy?”

“A little, but not so much.”

Looking at Yue Liang’s worried face, Longwei patted him on the shoulder and said, “Thank you. For saving me.” Getting up, he made sure that he could walk. He took the vest that was lying at the entrance and putting it on over his wounded flesh added, “I can hardly repay for your kindness, but I hope that you will have a decent life.” Thus having said goodbye to his friend, he left the cave.

In the distance, seeing bright lights in the sky that were nothing more than a fire that blazed over the kingdom, he hurriedly moved in that direction.

But feeling behind him someone’s big hands, he turned and saw a tall warrior somewhat similar to Ye Ying.

“You can’t leave.” he said in his rough voice and suddenly hitting him on the head, he lift him and went back into the cave.

“No!” Running out again, Longwei was now trying to beat the huge warrior, but he grabbed him and said, “I do not want to hurt you, but my Master told me so.”

Twitching in his strong grip, Longwei tried to free himself, but the warrior was much stronger than him.

“Yue Liang tell your soldier to let me go!” he shouted. Noticing that Yue Liang continued to sit with his back to the exit, he repeated, “Yue Liang! Tell him!”

Grabbing his neck, Longwei wanted to hit his head, but weakness throughout his body prevented him from lifting one finger.

“Yue Liang! Explain what this all means?”

“Bring him here.” ordered Yue Liang.

Carrying Longwei with ease like he was just a thing, he threw him towards the fire and went out of the cave.

“Yue Liang!” exclaimed Longwei throwing an iron mug of water at him. “What does all of this mean?”

Turning to him, he smiled happily and touching his lips whispered, “Now we will always be together. Now no one will bother us.”

“What are you saying?!”

“Hush. Don’t scream. You have no strength. Why don’t you eat?”

“Enough! If you don’t explain it to me right now! Yue Liang! Why did you order your warrior not to let me go? What are you up to?!” Longwei jumped up and gazed at Yue Liang’s calm and cold face, clenching his fists. “Answer me!”

Approaching him, Yue Liang put his hand on his chest and quickly moved his head forward and kissed Longwei.

Pushing him away from himself, Longwei, losing all control over his emotions, shouted, “What are you doing?” Grabbing the sword that was lying on one of the stones, he brought the blade closer to Yue Liang’s throat. “Take your warriors away now. Otherwise I am not responsible for my actions.”

Smiling, he was not afraid to touch his face again. “If you want to kill me then do it. At least I will die at your hands.”

“Are you crazy?! Yue Liang take your warriors away!”

“We will be together Longwei now. I promise you.” Yue Liang said without hearing the words shouted right into his face.

Striking him with the last of his strength, Longwei grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall. “What are you up to? Are you with Sun? Is that so?! Answer me! You’re with Sun!”

Suddenly, wrapping his arms around him, Yue Liang whispered in his ear, “I just love you.”

“Yue Liang, for the sake of our old friendship, please let me go.” Longwei said, completely ignoring what he heard.

“Alright, it’s up to you.” Yue Liang finally said and waved his hand looking towards the exit. The next thing they heard were many footsteps that went further and further until they disappeared.

Letting go of him, Longwei glanced at him with contempt. Attaching the sword to his belt, he wanted to take a step forward towards the exit, but feeling a slight sharpness on his shoulder, he turned his head and saw a small needle stuck under his skin. Pulling it out, he caught Yue Liang’s eyes on him.

“I’m sorry that I have to do all this.” he said.

“What is it?” Again feeling dizzy and nauseous, Longwei heard ringing in his ears and began to lose his balance.

“I’m sorry. But I can’t let you go. More precisely, I don’t want to let you go again. Never.” He said while hugging Longwei’s weakened body.

“Yun Qi. I will come soon. Yun Qi. No! Lei!” Waking up from his own scream that burst out so that it was his last breath, Longwei immediately wanted to get up. But unable to even move, he raised his head and saw that his legs and arms were tightly tied with ropes.

Unable to endure the fainting and nausea anymore, Longwei suddenly laughed out loud. Trembling with laughter that was the result of his current condition, he seemed to have lost his mind. But going crazy was a rare luck for him, because Yue Liang brought him reality along with cool water that was already running down his throat.

“You need to eat. You can’t go on like this. Look what I have. This is poultry meat. I got it from the local market. Try it and you will feel good right away.” said Yue Liang, tearing off a small piece of white meat.

Falling back onto the soft pillow, Longwei knew that there was no longer any point in wasting energy on escape. Moreover, if he again behaves so aggressively, then Yue Liang will again stick his needles into him, the tip of which was soaked in sleeping herbs.

Looking around the cave, he noticed several books as well as many different foods around the fire. A rope hung from the ceiling on which some kind of clothing was being dried. Noticing how Yue Liang arranged everything here, as if he began to live here, Longwei caught his eye.

“What do you want from me? What have I done wrong to you?” he asked.

Putting the plate aside, Yue Liang straightened his shoulders and, looking somewhere in the distance, replied, “You did nothing wrong to me. On the contrary, you did only good for me. You were the only light, the only hope that led me through the icy darkness.”

“What do you need from me?” Longwei repeated his question.

Smiling, Yue Liang immediately became very serious. “What do I want from you?” he asked him. “I need a very small thing. Small but very difficult to get.”

“Don’t tell me it’s love.” Longwei answered with irony in his voice.

“I need life from you.” Yue Liang replied and touching his sweaty forehead continued, “I want you to live. Longwei, that’s all I need from you.”

Laughing, Longwei turned his head away from him.

“What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing. I just know that you wanted to say love. But you’ve turned love into life.”

“Love and life are one thing. Didn’t you know about that?” Yue Liang asked.

Without saying anything, Longwei just lay and looked at the gray stone wall along which the lizard was crawling.

Noticing that Longwei was far away in his thoughts, Yue Liang turned his head and whispered, “I love you Longwei. I have always loved you. And I cannot help it.”

“You’ve been like a brother to me all this time.” Longwei replied to his pleading look. Still feeling the brotherly warmth towards him, Longwei tried to forget about everything he had done to him. “Please stop all this. You know I have to go. My daughter is waiting for me.”

Moving away from him, Yue Liang said, “Not only your daughter is waiting for you. Lei is waiting for you.” After a few seconds of silence, he pressed Longwei’s shoulders to the floor. “I know that you love him, but that does not mean anything. People always stop loving those who were once everything to them. This is human nature. It is in the soul of each of us. Longwei, I will wait for you to forget about him. And I will definitely wait for this moment. And while chaos reigns everywhere, I cannot let you go. You can die. I will not let this happen.”

“Now I think I understand why everyone was so hostile to love between warriors. Yue Liang, come to your senses. Stop acting like that. Let me go!”

“Lei will die soon.” Yue Liang said with furious eyes.

“Yue Liang!” shouted Longwei. All he could do at that time was only to show his anger with just one glance, and this look was enough to make Yue Liang even more distraught.

Having started to walk back and forth, without taking his eyes off Longwei, he began to say, “You have no idea what I went through just to be with you. Out of love for you, I lost my mind. Yes, I admit it. I no longer recognize myself. And at first I didn’t like it. I was afraid of my feelings. But over time, only feelings for you remained in me. Longwei, you never noticed anyone but Lei. Never. How many times have I come to your clan, but what have I seen? How you run past me to meet Lei’s outstretched hands. You did not notice me when I stood right in front of you. At such moments I felt that a little more and I would become the same as all those beasts. For the first time in my life I understood evil. And as it turns out, love makes you understand the nature of evil. Longwei, look at me! I’m right in front of you! Always was and will be!”

Kneeling down in front of him, Yue Liang began to cry softly. “Longwei please notice me. I’m very close. Please.”

Without saying anything Longwei just lay there. And all he saw, all he thought was Yun Qi. Yun Qi and the fact that time was flowing forward, which meant that he would soon die. Falling into despair at the thought that he would die in a cave without seeing Yun Qi and Lei, he felt his soul bleed. And this blood filled his entire being to the very limit when he began to choke in pain.

Pressing his hand against his face, Yue Liang closed his eyes. “I went to great lengths for this love.”

“I didn’t ask you for this Yue Liang. Don’t act like I owe to you.” Longwei said quietly.

Kicked a large stone that lay right in the middle of the cave Yue Liang shouted, “For this love, I went to great lengths! I became the monster! Do you hear?! For your sake, I killed my father!”

Shocked at what he heard, Longwei turned towards him. “Did you kill On?”

“For this love, so that no one interferes with us, I killed my father. Because if he knew about how we feel for each other, he would kill you. And I could not let this happen.”

“What do we feel for each other?! Yue Liang I don’t love you! That is enough!” shouted Longwei, trying to sit.

And then, swinging his hand, Yue Liang slapped him in the face and immediately hugged him and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Come to your senses. I beg you, let me go.”

“I couldn’t allow my father to kill you. I couldn’t allow it. Longwei, I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to.”

Taking his face in his hands, Yue Liang wanted to kiss him, but taking advantage of the moment of closeness, Longwei sharply hit his head with his forehead.

“You’re making everything complicated Longwei.” he said and taking another needle, quickly thrust it right into Longwei’s neck.