Hidden Shadow – CH 212
by MTL TranslationChapter Two-Hundred-Twelve: Brother
In Yelu Huangwu’s memory, the slightest warmth of family affection came entirely from his father. His mother was a woman with an insatiable thirst for power, who spent her entire life striving for it.
Some said that Empress Xiao originally had a childhood sweetheart but lost contact after being married into the royal family. Later, she sought the pinnacle of power to be with the one she loved. Yelu Huangwu did not know the truth, only that she was a selfish mother.
Mind-Bending Technique!
Yelu Huangwu suddenly looked up, breaking free from the illusion cast by Gu Jinghong.
Gu Jinghong spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to retreat hastily. He collapsed onto the snow, his hair turning completely white at a visible speed, rapidly aging, his once clear eyes now shrouded in blood.
He exhaled a puff of mist, tears of blood streaming from his eyes. In the end, all his efforts were in vain! He could not even kill Yelu Huangwu, let alone the person in the sedan chair!
The sky was overcast, and heavy snow fell rapidly, quickly burying his aged face.
Yelu Huangwu clutched her chest wound, panting heavily. She had struggled greatly to escape the illusion, and her face was now ashen. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the spot where Gu Jinghong lay. “Go see if he’s dead.” Her cold voice pierced the snow, and the others awoke from their lingering illusion.
Five burly men approached with lingering fear, their blades drawn. Their inner energy shattered the thin layer of snow covering Gu Jinghong, revealing his withered face.
A burly man nudged him with his sword sheath. Seeing no movement, he checked his pulse. “No heartbeat.”
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Ning Yanli was bandaging Yelu Huangwu when she pushed her away, saying, “Never mind me, get the heart’s blood first.”
Ning Yanli hesitated, then put down the wound medicine. “Alright.”
When she reached Gu Jinghong, Ning Yanli knelt and checked his pulse, carefully removing the silver needle from his heart. She carefully observed the color of the needle. The medicine man had had his heart’s blood taken by Mo Sigui; he might have left some kind of trap on him.
Finding nothing amiss, she tore open Gu Jinghong’s clothes, revealing his upper body.
Everyone gasped. The body was covered in scars, new wounds overlapping old ones, the skin almost invisible. It was clear he had escaped death multiple times.
Ning Yanli recalled that handsome face from before, and looking at this body, she could not help but sigh. She drew her short dagger and placed it on the wound in Gu Jinghong’s heart.
The dagger pierced the flesh without drawing blood. She stabbed further in before a few drops of blood oozed out.
Just as Ning Yanli was about to penetrate deeper, she suddenly felt a numbness in her wrist. A sudden blizzard swept through the snow, and when the snow began to fall, she realized that Gu Jinghong, who had been so close, was gone!
Yelu Huangwu closed her eyes.
The sedan chair moved slightly. A long, slender hand with distinct knuckles lifted the curtain, and a tall man wrapped in a black fox fur coat stepped out. His sharply defined face was half-hidden in the fur, pale and with deep-set eyes and long, dark eyebrows; he had a very cold and aloof appearance. Even the snow falling on his shoulders seemed to fall cautiously. In those imposing features, he bore a six or seven-tenths resemblance to Gu Jinghong, only more profound and mature.
A sudden gust of wind arose, and the man narrowed his eyes slightly. The swirling snowflakes in front of him seemed to slow down somewhat.
“Brother,” Yelu Huangwu called out, “are we not going to chase after him?”
The man looked in the direction Gu Jinghong had disappeared for a moment, then turned back to the sedan chair and said calmly, “Let’s go.”
Yelu Huangwu pursed her lips slightly. When Ning Yanli came to bandage her wounds, she remained motionless.
“My Lord, shall we mount our horses?” Ning Yanli said softly.
Yelu Huangwu mounted her horse without a word and slowly rode forward, cleared by the crowd.
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This was the kinship of the Yelu royal family. A bitter smile appeared on Yelu Huangwu’s face. She closed her eyes and silently told herself that she must be heartless. If she were heartless, she would not crave anything, and she would not feel heartache from loss. She was not born stupid, so her short life was destined for scheming. She once had a chance to escape this fate, but she did not trust that person.
Yearning on one hand and unable to trust on the other, so there was no future from the beginning. When the madman died, Ning Yanli said, “There will never be anyone who treats you so well again.” Did she regret it? Yes, she regretted it! But if he had not proven the loyalty of that love with his life, she would never have believed it. At least, she was at peace now. Someone had loved her so much, and with that person in her heart, she would not be lonely…
“Actually, the madman is not really mad,” Yelu Huangwu murmured. “I am.” Her voice was swallowed by the howling wind; only Ning Yanli, who was closest to her, heard it.
The person sitting in the sedan chair was the next Emperor of Liao, and the medicine man was being groomed for him. When Yelu Huangwu took over, the medicine man had already been fed for many years. At that time, she knew the medicine man was her cousin, but in terms of lineage, he was still somewhat more distant than the brother in the sedan chair. If this were the only way to save her only brother, she would definitely choose to sacrifice her cousin without hesitation.
But… blood ties… Yelu Huangwu smiled.
The wind and snow intensified.
Ten li away, in a snow cave, the black-robed man sat quietly. The withered person lying on the ground stirred slightly and slowly opened his eyes.
Their eyes met, and after a moment of silence, Gu Jinghong finally had the strength to speak, “Chu Dingjiang?”
“Yes.” Chu Dingjiang frowned at him. “What happened?”
“They did not chase after us?” Gu Jinghong asked.
“Do not worry, they will not find us.” Chu Dingjiang assumed Gu Jinghong had taken on some mission and said, “If you cannot defeat them by force, then use your wits. Why risk your life so much at such a young age?”
Gu Jinghong sighed, “Even if I had great wisdom, what good would it do? I’ve been fed all sorts of rare medicines since childhood. After a while, I could not live without them. Every year, I search far and wide, desperately carrying out missions to earn money and opportunities to enter the top-grade medicine vault, trying every possible way to collect those medicines myself, but alas…”
Hearing this, Chu Dingjiang vaguely understood his meaning. “You are a medicine person? Whose medicine person?”
“I do not know. I was raised in a cellar from birth, and I followed my master when I was seven or eight years old.” Gu Jinghong’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “I once thought he genuinely cared for me, but who knew he was just a pharmacist feeding me?”
Thinking of his years of affection for him, his heart grew even sadder. He would rather not know the truth, rather be kept in the dark from birth to death; at least he would be happier while alive.
“I cannot live anymore, can I?” Gu Jinghong asked.
Chu Dingjiang shook his head. “Your pulse is weak, yet it is stagnant. You might still have a chance to live, but I am not a physician.”
Gu Jinghong’s clear eyes brightened for a moment, then dimmed again. “That female shadow said I am a selfish and cowardly person, that I killed so many people to save my own life.”
“Are we not all the same?” Chu Dingjiang knew without a second thought that these were An Jiu’s words. “She’s a dark person; just take her words as nonsense.”
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