They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: The Shooting

Three days later.

“Kill Bai Ze!”

“Kill Bai Ze! Embrace the new life!”

“Bai Ze dies! Our loved ones return!”

Among the common folk, after the changes, everyone’s attitude achieved unprecedented uniformity. Waving large banners and holding weapons, they pressed toward the palace gate, determined to achieve their goal today.

Inside the Moon Bathing Palace, Yun Qingwu calmly arranged the prepared dishes one by one on the table, setting out food and wine cups at the places where his parents and teacher used to sit.

After completing all this, he looked at Cold Lici, who was standing to the side.

“Let’s eat.”

Cold Lici looked at the newly added bow and arrow inside the Moon Bathing Palace. His suppressed irritation threatened to surface again. He looked at the food before him but did not pick up his chopsticks.

“What? If Bai Ze appears today, are you really going to shoot him?”

“I am the Lord of the Nation. Naturally, I cannot disregard the wishes of my people.”

Yun Qingwu stood up, poured a bowl of chicken soup, and handed it to Cold Lici: “Here. You haven’t had this in a long time, have you?”

Cold Lici looked at the bowl of chicken soup presented to him with a strange expression: “Where did you find the chicken?”

Yun Qingwu looked away and chuckled: “If one wants to find it, there is always a way.”

The commotion outside grew closer, yet Yun Qingwu acted oblivious. The moment Cold Lici picked up the spoon, his gaze silently returned.

If he couldn’t leave the Mind Realm, Cold Lici would no longer have anyone to restrain him. Therefore…

He couldn’t let Cold Lici leave.

But…

Yun Qingwu’s left hand clenched into a fist, trembling uncontrollably beneath the table’s cover. His heart, which had been numb for a long time, felt as if it were pierced with fine needles.

It was a tingling ache, mixed with a faint sharp pain.

What is going on?

He shouldn’t feel this way.

Just then, the voices outside surged in: “Bai Ze has appeared! Bai Ze has appeared! I saw Bai Ze!”

“We request the Lord of the Nation to shoot the evil beast, Bai Ze!” The people outside shouted loudly, their voices carrying the pleading sound of tears.

“Shoot Bai Ze! Shoot Bai Ze!” The crowd grew even more agitated.

Yun Qingwu slightly loosened his tightly clenched hand, a barely noticeable curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. His gaze fell upon the familiar bow and arrow hanging on the wall.

Cold Lici’s eyes darkened, his lips tightly pressed together.

“General Huanyu, the Lord of the Nation is in…” Ah Ge’s words were cut short as the hall door was violently pushed open.

Qu Huanyu’s usually composed tone now carried a hint of panic: “Lord of the Nation! You won’t shoot the Great God Bai Ze, right?”

Yun Qingwu slowly blinked, looking at Qu Huanyu. Qu Huanyu was much thinner and haggard due to the disasters of the past year. Perhaps she had clashed with the besieging citizens on her way here, as her light armor and hair were quite disheveled, leaving her in a rare state of distress.

Despite this, Qu Huanyu’s eyes were still bright and firm, without any sign of defeat, just as they were when she stood before him, trying to dissuade Meng Huang from shooting him.

The scene was the same, but Yun Qingwu’s state of mind was vastly different. As much as he hated Meng Huang back then, he wanted to shoot that arrow now.

Seeing Yun Qingwu’s silence, Qu Huanyu’s face paled for a moment. She stared at Yun Qingwu in disbelief: “The Great God Bai Ze saved me, and protected everyone in the Nanze Kingdom. We cannot betray him.”

“But didn’t he betray us? Mother, Father, Teacher, the Elders, and countless citizens—they all died because of him. Shouldn’t he pay the price for that?”

Qu Huanyu’s eyelashes trembled. The next second, she suddenly ran toward the bow and arrow, intending to seize the weapon capable of slaying Bai Ze before he could.

But the moment she touched the bow and arrow, a wave of dizziness hit her. The next second, she fainted on the ground.

Yun Qingwu had anticipated Qu Huanyu’s action and had already wiped a sleeping drug onto the bow and arrow beforehand.

After Ah Ge carried the unconscious Qu Huanyu back to her room, only Yun Qingwu and Cold Lici remained in the hall.

Yun Qingwu walked back to the table, saw that Cold Lici hadn’t touched his chopsticks, and let out a light laugh: “What’s wrong? This might be the last private meal I make for you. Are you sure you don’t want to try it?”

“The last meal?” Cold Lici scoffed, then abruptly reached out and swept all the dishes off the table.

“What do you mean?” Yun Qingwu frowned, anger building in his eyes, but his heart inexplicably felt a sudden release.

Cold Lici took out a cloth, slowly and methodically wiping his hands: “Yun Qingwu, do you think that by dying here today, you can atone for your so-called sins?”

“I owe them this,” Yun Qingwu said in a low voice. He walked to the bow and arrow, wiping the sleeping drug clean with the cloth.

Cold Lici chuckled softly: “Owe? You so-called gods always like to bestow yourselves with some unfounded halo, under the glorious name of responsibility.”

Yun Qingwu took down the bow and arrow, saying stiffly: “I’m not in the mood to argue with you about what responsibility is.”

Cold Lici stood up and walked toward the door: “You used your own wishful thinking to raise them into useless people who knew nothing of the world, couldn’t endure any hardship, and lacked the ability to overcome crises. But the law of the jungle is the rule of survival in this world. You deprived them of the ability to live. That is your sin.”

Cold Lici stopped at the door, turned to look at Yun Qingwu, and sneered: “You haven’t even figured out your own sin. How can you be sure your choice isn’t just self-pity?”

Yun Qingwu tightened his grip on the bow and arrow: “To give my people the best life, that is my responsibility.”

“Stubborn and misguided!”

Cold Lici was furious. He flicked his sleeve and walked away.

Yun Qingwu picked up an arrow nearby, slowly and steadily fitted it to the bow, and aimed at the Bai Ze leaping in the air outside: “When you leave, be disciplined. Otherwise, even without me, the Heavens won’t spare you.”

The person who had only walked a few steps suddenly stopped. As if having reached his limit, he turned around, drew his Bone Sword, and charged toward Yun Qingwu. The Bone Sword, as flexible as a snake, wrapped tightly around the bow and arrow.

“Yun Qingwu, I didn’t realize you were such a coward!” Cold Lici cursed angrily.

The moment the bow and arrow slipped from his hand, it was as if the last straw had broken Yun Qingwu’s composure. The calmness on his face could no longer be maintained. Yun Qingwu glared angrily at Cold Lici, his clenched fists trembling uncontrollably, his voice hoarse:

“What exactly do you want? Wouldn’t my death here be a good thing for you?”

“You can be killed by me, but if you intend to die so pathetically, forget it!” Cold Lici threw the bow and arrow five meters away onto the ground.

Yun Qingwu: “Cold Lici! How I choose to die is none of your business!”

Cold Lici scoffed and pointed out the truth: “The demise of the Nanze Kingdom, while you are certainly at fault, wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for this sudden disaster. It’s not impossible to live here for a lifetime. You clearly sensed that something was wrong.”

“What are you running away from?” Cold Lici asked, staring into Yun Qingwu’s eyes.