Fox Spirit: One Sword Sweeps the World

Page 123

Tu Shan Ya Ya quietly approached and could hear his suppressed, extremely light breathing, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

She didn't say anything, but just stood quietly behind him.

Hearing footsteps, Mu Qinghan slowly turned around.

"Ya Ya," he said softly, his voice slightly hoarse but still gentle.

"I will have to trouble Tu Shan to take care of the troops stationed on the border. I have already had the supplies prepared and will send them over tomorrow."

Tu Shan Ya Ya looked at his calm face, her throat tightened, and in the end she could only utter one sentence.

"I understand. You... should take a break too."

He smiled, but the smile vanished in an instant.

"It's alright, there's still a lot to do."

The snow was still falling outside the palace, pattering onto the tiles and carrying the cold wind into the half-open palace door.

Tu Shan Ya Ya's arms suddenly tightened, pulling the person in front of her firmly into her embrace.

Strands of hair brushed against Mu Qinghan's neck, causing her fingertips to tremble uncontrollably, and her voice to become choked with sobs.

"Qinghan, take a break, let your heart... rest a little..."

"my heart…"

Mu Qinghan's voice was stuck in her throat.

He raised his hand to push him away, wanting to say that he had things to do, that he still had…

But when his fingertips touched Ya Ya's warm shoulder, he suddenly lost his strength.

I could only let that warmth gradually envelop my cold limbs.

"I know."

Ya Ya's voice was soft, but every word pierced his heart.

“You’ve always been a loyal and affectionate person. You remember when others are kind to you and repay them tenfold in return.”

"Those people are your family, the people who have protected and loved you since you were a child. How could you not feel heartbroken?"

How could I not be sad?

Her palm gently rested on his back, and she could clearly feel the suppressed trembling in his chest, like a caged beast.

"Please, Qinghan, stop holding it in."

Ya Ya's voice was tinged with sobs, and her fox ears drooped down.

"There is only Ya Ya here, no human powerhouses, no representatives from any side, only me."

"Ya Ya will stay with you, always with you."

The moment those two words were uttered, Mu Qinghan's taut back suddenly collapsed.

The redness that had been building up in her eyes finally broke through her defenses, and scalding tears streamed down her face, soaking the front of Ya Ya's clothes.

He suddenly raised his hand to cover his chest, as if trying to suppress the churning pain, but even his breathing became rapid, and he could only bury his head hard in Ya Ya's arms.

The familiar, warm scent lingered around his nose; it was the only piece of driftwood he could cling to at that moment.

"Ya Ya... my heart... it hurts so much... it hurts so much..."

His voice was muffled, yet every word was stained with blood and tears.

“They are my family… They have protected me since I was little. They would comfort me when I fell and cook me sweet porridge when I was hungry.”

"They said...they said they would watch me get married, watch me support the Shepherd Family, and support the human race..."

The tears flowed more and more fiercely, soaking Ya Ya's clothes and his own sleeves.

"I really love them so much... I can't bear to part with them..."

"I haven't had a chance... I haven't had a chance to properly show my filial piety to them... to properly repay them..."

His shoulders trembled violently, as if he were pouring out all his repression, guilt, and pain at this moment.

"It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."

He suddenly gripped Ya Ya's fabric tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"If I hadn't gone outside the industry back then, if that bastard hadn't seen me..."

"Does that mean they won't have to die? Is everyone still alright?"

"No, Qinghan, it's not your fault."

Ya Ya quickly raised her hand and gently stroked his hair with a tender gesture.

“The slaughter of us by creatures from outside the circle has never stopped since ancient times. Even if you don’t go out, they will come sooner or later.”

"That circle can't stop them forever."

"You've done your best, you did nothing wrong."

She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on his cheeks, her fingertips touching his burning skin, and her heart ached as if it were being pricked by needles.

Didn't you say that?

"After people die, they become stars in the sky and watch over the people they care about from the clouds."

Ya Ya's voice became even softer and more cautious.

"They might be watching you from heaven, watching their poverty, watching you protect humanity so well, watching you live a good life."

"They still love you deeply, just as you love them..."

Mu Qinghan didn't say anything more, but buried her face even deeper, like a wronged child, curled up in Ya Ya's arms, letting her tears flow silently.

This was the fourth time he had shed tears.

It was unforgettable, and the pain was excruciating.

The snow was still falling outside the palace, and the candlelight flickered, casting long shadows of the two people.

Ya Ya stopped talking and just gently patted his back, again and again, with a slow and gentle rhythm.

She knew that any more words would be superfluous at this moment. No matter how strong Mu Qinghan was, he was still just a person who could feel pain and sadness.

All she could do was give him a warm hug and let him know that he didn't have to be everyone's pillar all the time.

With her, he could let down his guard and cry his heart out.

The person in my arms gradually calmed down, and their breathing became even.

Ya Ya looked down at his reddened eyes, gently kissed the top of his head, and silently murmured in her heart.

It's okay, it's okay...

Ya Ya is here...

Ya Ya needs to work hard to become stronger...

I'll be with you.

Protecting Tushan, protecting the human race, and also...

The drifting red rain stirs up memories, however fleeting they may be; your beautiful eyes remain as they were then, lingering in my heart.

Chapter 146 Greatness in the Ordinary

Half a month after the disaster

A very small village.

The snow finally stopped, but the sky and the ground were still covered in a vast expanse of white "snow".

It wasn't hexagonal ice crystals, but rather paper money cut into neat squares.

Yellow and white, swirling and drifting in the wind.

Snow still clung to the branches of the old locust tree at the village entrance, and paper money flew around the tree.

Some landed on the frozen ground of the threshing ground, some stuck to the mottled mud walls of the roof, and some floated along the frozen river in front of the village.

It's like... paving a silvery path for the dead, leading them to the graves in the mountain valley, to some indescribable distance.

This is a tradition passed down through generations in the village. When someone passes away, people always scatter some paper money, saying that it will ensure the deceased has enough money in the afterlife and will not suffer from cold or poverty.

The elderly often say that the farther the paper money travels, the more genuine the thoughts and feelings are conveyed.

The cries in the village were less intense than in the first two days; they were no longer heart-wrenching wails, but rather sobs from the corners of houses and walls.

Aunt Zhang sat on her doorstep, clutching a tear-stained white cloth in her hand, her shoulders trembling. But when she saw Li's child running past next door, she wiped her face and gave him a hoarse warning.

"Slow down, don't fall..."

"Sigh, this child..."

Uncle Wang's son died in that invasion. He still wears a white cloth on his head, but he picks up a hoe early in the morning and heads to his own vegetable garden.

The spinach in the field should be watered with warm water, otherwise it won't sprout in the spring.

When the sun rises to the height of a bamboo pole, smoke rises from each house's chimney.

Wisps of smoke, carrying the aroma of scorched firewood and the sweet scent of rice porridge, lingered in the air above the village.

Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, Old Liu set up his sugar painting stall. A white cloth was still tied to the bamboo stick, but he still twirled the copper spoon in his hand with ease, and the dragon fish he poured out was lifelike.

When a child came over, he would smile and hand them a bamboo skewer, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Eat it, it's sweet and delicious."

Although it is very sad, but...

Life must go on.

A passerby asked him, "Why are you setting up a stall if you're feeling down?"

Old Liu wiped the copper spoon and said, "We can't keep suffering to ourselves. Young Master Mu is leading everyone to build irrigation canals on the other side of the mountain. They've even broken up the frozen ground. We can't just lie at home and hold them back."

"That's Young Master Mu, the most powerful man in the world. It's unbelievable that he would come to help us."

"Yes, yes, and Young Master Ba Ye, oh, and that... Yang Yi Tan, Young Master Yi Tan, and several others, all of them are noble young masters, and they've all come to help us."