Chapter 150: Chapter 150: The Lost Soul

“So, I still must thank you.”

Jiang Ke gave a sardonic smile and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“Jiang Ke!”

Sang Yan cried out in alarm, squatting down and supporting him, tears streaming. “Jiang Ke… don’t…”

Jiang Ke was grasping a knife.

He intended to take his own life.

Sang Yan shook her head frantically, even trying to snatch the knife from his hands with her bare hands.

The blade sliced through her hand.

Blood flowed freely.

“Let go! Sang Yan, don’t be foolish!”

He was drenched in blood, but he couldn’t bear to see her bleed even a drop.

He reached out to pry her fingers off.

This caused their blood to mix together.

“Ah Yan, don’t cry.”

As he tried to wipe away her tears, he left streaks of blood on her face.

It was too filthy!

He was too filthy!

Like a broken toy, scarred and battered, having expended all of his vital energy.

In the end, he withdrew his hand and sighed, “Ah Yan, I’m sorry. I thought I could handle it, but I overestimated myself.”

The moment he took her and fled the Capital City, everything had already spiraled beyond his control.

But he was too young.

Arrogantly believing himself to be invincible.

“It’s over.”

He sighed but then managed a resigned smile. “Ah Yan, it is my incompetence, and in life and death, I harbor no resentment.”

Hearing his self-defeating words, Sang Yan, shaking her head and crying, said, “Jiang Ke, you can’t do this, you just can’t–”

She turned to plead with Qi Jiu, “Don’t kill him! He’s no match for you! Spare him, please! He’s still so young…”

She suddenly remembered what he once wanted, what he had never experienced, and what she had treasured, never having given…

Would there be less regret now if she had given in earlier?

“Don’t beg him!”

Jiang Ke grabbed her hand, his eyes firm as he said in a low shout, “You’re the Empress of Da He, and you must never kneel to a despicable man!”

“No! I don’t want to be the Empress anymore!”

Sang Yan wept, her words choked with sobs, “Jiang Ke, please, keep… living. We… we should both keep living.”

Jiang Ke pressed on her shoulders, his bloodshot eyes intimidatingly bright, “Ah Yan, listen, life and death are worthless, it’s the spirit of living that counts. Because of you, my life has been fulfilled enough. So, don’t cry. Not in the future, nor now, do not cry.”

With that, he grasped her hand, the knife in his, and plunged it ruthlessly into himself.

“Jiang Ke!”

Sang Yan’s scream tore through the night sky, startling countless birds into flight.

Jiang Ke spat out a mouthful of blood, his body going limp in her arms.

He said, “Ah Yan, I really am a… bastard. Even in death… I want you to forever remember me…”

He died in her arms.

His hand abruptly fell.

“Jiang Ke! Jiang Ke–”

No matter how she cried out to him, there was no response.

The young man who should have had a glorious future as the Marquis Mansion’s Princely Heir, the youth who dreamed of becoming the Martial Arts Top Scholar and asking the Emperor for her hand, forever perished on an unnamed island, becoming a wraith of the isle.

“Why?”

“Why force him to death?”

“What did he do wrong?”

Sang Yan, looking at Qi Jiu, asked in utter despair.

Her tears washed the blood on her face, leaving trails like blood-stained tears.

“I’ll kill you all!”

She drew a knife and stood up, glaring at Qi Jiu!

“Bang!”

A stone hit her knee.

Sang Yan felt pain and her calf gave way, and she fell heavily to the ground.

Qi Jiu frowned, looking at Han Chen next to him, thinking it was unnecessary.

He didn’t believe Sang Yan could hurt him at all.

But Sang Yan stood up again, knife in hand, and charged at him, “I will kill you! Qi Jiu, give him back–”

Her words were cut off as he struck her unconscious with a palm strike.

Han Chen: “…”

He looked at his master and felt that his strike wasn’t lighter than his own.

Qi Jiu paid no attention to his gaze and instead looked at the person on the ground.

He had admired him, pitied him, killed him out of fear, and now that he was dead, he felt regret.

Of course, the regret was momentary.

He was still the ruthless, cold-blooded Ninth Prince of Bei Qi!

“Bury him,” he ordered.

He finished speaking, picked up Sang Yan, and turned to leave.

Black-clad assassins lined up in two rows, walking ahead of him, clearing the errant branches.

His path was unobstructed.

He arrived at the coast shortly after.

Two large ships were moored off the coast.

One was a pirate ship, the other his own.

The pirate ship was the last one he boarded.

“Mr. Jiu–”

Wu Tao bowed and led him to a spacious and luxurious room.

Inside the room, everything glistened with gold.

The ornaments were all made of gold, and even the floor was paved with gold bricks.

Qi Jiu placed the person on the bed and waited for her to wake up.

When Sang Yan woke up, the sky had already darkened.

She opened her eyes slightly, observing her surroundings–it was a room, dimly lit, and she could hear voices by her ear, those of Qi Jiu talking with his subordinates.

“We have done what is morally right.”

“Even his severed arm was buried.”

“In this way, we have returned him his complete corpse.”

“In truth, even if we didn’t kill him, with his physical condition, he was already at the end of his strength.”

…

They were talking about Jiang Ke.

Jiang Ke was dead.

Jiang Ke…

Sang Yan clutched the bedsheet tightly, her heart aching so intensely she wanted to scream out.

She had depended on him for so long, from hating him to caring for him. His death deepened her affections, and she could not bear to hear his name.

At the mention of it, her pain was unbearable.

“Ah–”

She curled up in bed, biting her finger, hoping the physical pain would distract her from her grief.

Her hand had been treated and was now wrapped in white gauze.

But now, exerting force again, fresh blood seeped out, staining the white gauze red.

“You’re awake.”

Qi Jiu had been standing by the window, talking to Han Chen and Han Mo. Hearing the noise, he turned his head and saw Sang Yan on the bed, biting her finger and holding back tears.

Jiang Ke’s death had dealt her a heavy blow.

Even though the man she loved was He Ying.

Perhaps now it wasn’t entirely He Ying anymore.

And what of He Ying?

Had his love for her faded with the passage of time?

*

He Ying was ambushed in Quanzhou.

On the second day he arrived in Quanzhou, in the midst of searching for Sang Yan, two groups of black-clad assassins attacked and attempted to kill him.

He was injured and poisoned, remaining unconscious for half a month before awakening.

After waking up, he first purged Quanzhou’s security management, executing a batch of officials, then recuperated until he received a letter from the pirates and finally was able to get out of bed.

He was anxious!

Even if he couldn’t get out of bed, he had to!

Clutching his chest, he stood at the bow of the ship, staring long at the vast sea under the night sky.

The sea breeze was strong, blowing his robe with a rustling sound.

“Emperor, your wound hasn’t healed. You should go back to lying down,”

Pei Muyang said, seeing that his chest was wet, knowing that the wound had reopened.

That poison was fierce and domineering, causing his chest wound not to heal for half a month.

Now, with the poison still in his system, rashly going to sea to look for someone was truly… Ah, for Lady Sang Yan, he really was neglecting his own health!

“Hero Tan, perhaps you could… persuade him?”

Pei Muyang looked toward the staggering figure approaching.

“Bleurgh–”

Tan Yunjian was seasick, vomiting everything he ate. Having gone hungry, he dared not eat anything and just drank a little wine, but still couldn’t stop throwing up.

Seeing this, Pei Muyang said with sympathy, “Ah, Hero Tan, you’ve been vomiting for a whole day, how come you haven’t gotten better!”

Tan Yunjian waved his hand, indicating that he was not in a position to speak, then leaned over the bow, continuing to vomit.

“Bleurgh–Bleurgh–”

He vomited so vehemently that tears sprayed out.

After finishing, he looked out at the sea and smirked painfully, muttering to himself, “Jiang Ke, damn you, I really owe you one!”

He saved He Ying in that assassination incident, becoming his lifesaver.

Knowing that He Ying was going to sea to find Sang Yan and Jiang Ke, he also followed along.

He has been seasick for many years, too fearful to venture to sea, so when Jiang Ke took Sang Yan and fled by sea, he didn’t follow. He thought he could avoid it, but in the end, he couldn’t escape.

He had to follow along; Jiang Ke was engaging in a life-threatening venture. If He Ying really found him, it would spell trouble.

He was there, perhaps able to lend a hand.

With that in mind, he intended to save him, unaware that the person he wanted to save… was gone forever.

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