After Getting Involved In A Love Triangle With My Mortal Enemy From A Past Life, All I Want To Do Is Lie Down And Relax - Chapter 28

The air was thick with the scent of blood and rusted iron. A faint sliver of light filtered through a narrow window, illuminating walls covered in grime and a floor of uneven, stained stone. In a corner, scattered haphazardly over a bed of dry straw, lay a youth covered in blood. Most of his face was hidden by disheveled black hair; only his skin, white to the point of being translucent, was visible.

The heavy prison door groaned open. A man walked in with measured steps. “To think a former ruler of a nation could fall to such a wretched state.”

The man drew closer to the youth. Seeing that the person on the ground remained silent, he let out an impatient click of his tongue. “How does it feel to have both your hands ruined?”

“Where is Huo Xun?” The youth’s voice was as calm as stagnant water. “I want to see him.”

“Sang Luo, have you lost your mind? A prisoner dares to make demands? Do not forget, you owe this misery entirely to Huo Xun.”

Sang Luo remained unmoved. He repeated himself, “I want to see him.”

The man laughed. “After killing so many of Huo Xun’s soldiers, do you think he would ever forgive you? I might as well tell you that everything you have suffered was done with his silent consent.”

Sang Luo’s pupils shrank. Although he had long suspected it, the confirmation felt like a bucket of ice water poured over him, wretched and unbearable.

“I am here today to send you on your way. Eat this; it is a special reward from Huo Xun.”

With great effort, Sang Luo propped himself up with his elbows. He stared at the dark pill for a long time before a faint smile suddenly touched his lips. “Bai Chen, tell him for me that we are even now.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Sang Luo swallowed the poison.

“Sang Luo!” Bai Chen’s breathing became ragged. Seeing the youth begin to cough up blood, he flared with rage. “Are you truly doing this willingly?”

Sang Luo did not answer. He simply waited for death in silence. His fate had been sealed the moment Huo Xun breached the city walls and looked upon him with cold, indifferent eyes.

Bai Chen laughed hysterically, his gaze terrifying and his expression grim. “I lost. Well played.” He gripped his hair tightly, a surge of malevolence crossing his face in his pain. “Fine, Sang Luo. This is your own choice.”

Sang Luo was confused, but his consciousness was fading fast. He no longer wanted to expend the effort to think or guess. Living until now had been exhausting enough.

“Sang Luo!”

Huo Xun’s heart-wrenching voice echoed in his ears. Sang Luo figured he must be hallucinating. The sorrow in his heart had grown numb, incapable of producing any more ripples. He curled his body tightly and peacefully closed his eyes.

In that moment of deathly silence, Sang Luo felt his body grow light. Scenes of their first meeting flooded his mind.

His mother had been a mere maid who died early at the Empress’s hands. As a child, he was confined to the Cold Palace, frequently punished for the most trivial reasons. One day, he had been forced to kneel in the snow for two full hours.

Then, the young Huo Xun had pulled him up. A clear, gentle voice reached his ears: “Do not kneel anymore. I am the Crown Prince of the Jiang Kingdom; no one dares blame me.”

The high-spirited Huo Xun was like the morning sun, melting the cold surrounding him. It was the first time Sang Luo realized a person could be warm. With an air of arrogance, Huo Xun draped a warm cloak over him. “What is your name?”

“Sang Luo.” He heard his own voice, exceptionally hoarse from long disuse.

“A very beautiful name.” Huo Xun pulled Sang Luo into his arms with an indescribable possessiveness. “You are so lovely. Are you a fairy?”

Sang Luo, being praised for the first time, blushed instantly and shook his head in denial.

“Why were you kneeling here? I have been watching you for a while, but you would not speak when I asked.” Huo Xun looked annoyed with himself. “I should have pulled you up sooner.”

Sang Luo continued to shake his head, simply savoring the rare warmth. Like a long-awaited rain after a drought, he looked up and carved Huo Xun’s image deep into his heart, never to be forgotten.

“Little Fairy, will you marry me?” Huo Xun teased, intentionally joking with the delicate child. “Marry me, and I will give you the moon from the sky if you want it.”

Sang Luo first shook his head, then nodded.

This made Huo Xun laugh. Back then, he was still the young prince pampered by everyone, not the Yama who had carved a path of blood through a palace coup.

“So is that a yes or a no?”

Even as a child, Sang Luo possessed a breathtaking beauty. Wrapped in the white cloak, his peach-blossom eyes misty and unfocused, he looked like a little celestial child in the snow.

“I am not a fairy,” Sang Luo said with a soft smile. “I am a boy.”

“So what? You nodded, so you are mine.” Huo Xun spoke bossily, but his smile was tender.

Sang Luo knew he could never truly marry Huo Xun, but from that day on, he had a reason to live. He hoped to see this warm person again.

Huo Xun had to leave soon; he was there representing the Jiang Kingdom to finalize a treaty. He tried his best, but he could not take Sang Luo with him. Before departing, Huo Xun found Sang Luo and left him with a promise: “In five years, I will definitely come back for you. When that time comes, I will take you away.”

From then on, that promise was Sang Luo’s only hope. He often clutched the cloak Huo Xun had left behind to comfort his longing. Even when he was tortured until no part of his skin was whole, he firmly believed Huo Xun would come for him.

After five years passed, every passing day brought more disappointment. When a full year had gone by, he fell into total despair. Tears fell silently like broken strings of pearls. Looking at the red tiles and high walls, seeing Huo Xun again became an obsession.

On New Year’s Eve of his thirteenth year, Sang Luo made a decision: he would take the throne. As he gained the Emperor’s favor, Sang Luo’s heart gradually closed off until no one could get close to him. In the depths of the palace, indifference became his shield. Only he knew that at the bottom of his heart, a sliver of hope remained.

Impacted by these memories, Sang Luo woke up from his high fever. Seeing the person beside him, he grabbed him. “Why? Why did you not come for me?”

Huo Xun was startled. “What?”

“Why did you lie to me?” In his illness, Sang Luo was exceptionally stubborn and filled with desolation. “Why?”

The Huo Xun before him was no longer the boy from his childhood; he was tall, and every gesture carried a sense of pressure. Yes, Huo Xun must have forgotten the promise long ago. He was the high and mighty Crown Prince of the Jiang Kingdom, standing above ten thousand people; there were bound to be others by his side. And he, Sang Luo, was just a wretched person who had used schemes to take the throne.

Only he had taken it seriously, using it as his motivation to survive, pining for him day after day. It was laughable that through every disappointment, his resolve to see Huo Xun only grew stronger. Even if the path was full of danger, he never wavered.

When they met again, he was cast into a bottomless abyss with no hope of climbing out. Yes, it was only he who willingly drank from the dregs of that remaining warmth from that snowy day. He lived in the past, while Huo Xun moved forward step by step, further and further away, until there was no hope of catching up.

An immense sorrow spread across the edges of his fragile heart. Sang Luo closed his eyes and wept silently, just as he had on the day the promise was broken.