Sharing One Life with My Nemesis - Chapter 7
Chapter 7
There were no windows in the stone chamber.
Only a single oil lamp hung on the wall, its flame pitifully small.
Xie Huaiyan’s leg was pinned by an iron spike. Every movement sent pain lancing through me as well.
Ah Man hung by the wall, struggling to open her eyes.
“Sister Jiang?”
I braced myself and crawled over to cut the ropes.
Ah Man fell to the ground, and the first thing she did was stuff something into my palm.
A short length of bamboo tube.
“The Draft Manuscript is fake.”
Her voice was terribly weak.
“The real one is here.”
I opened the bamboo tube. Inside was a sheet of paper as thin as a cicada’s wing, rolled tight.
The writing on it was my father’s.
The original Northern Frontier Military Report, the grain and supplies transfers, the Crown Prince’s Private Seal-it was all there.
My eyes burned.
Leaning by the mechanism, Xie Huaiyan said softly, “Ah Man, well done.”
Ah Man grinned.
“Lord Xie said the more obvious something is, the more likely it’s fake.”
I looked at Xie Huaiyan.
“When did you teach her that?”
“In my previous life.”
He said, “She was a child your mother once saved.”
My chest tightened.
My mother had been so gentle she would even save a little beggar by the roadside, yet they had branded her the family of a traitor colluding with the enemy. In the end, even her bones had not been allowed into our ancestral grave.
I hid the Draft Manuscript close against my body.
Lu Xingzhou’s voice came from outside the door.
“Tingyun, give me the Draft Manuscript, and I’ll let you out.”
I said coldly, “Let Xie Huaiyan go first.”
Lu Xingzhou laughed.
“You’re starting to care about him?”
I did not answer.
He went on, “You both heard the method to break the Soulbound Gu, didn’t you?”
Xie Huaiyan suddenly spoke.
“Lu Xingzhou.”
“Yes?”
“If you want the blood from my heart, you can come in and take it.”
My expression changed.
But Xie Huaiyan did not look at me.
Lu Xingzhou said, “You think I wouldn’t dare?”
The stone door slowly opened a crack.
Lu Xingzhou walked in with Black Cloak.
In his hand was a white jade box.
Inside the box crawled a tiny insect, so red it was almost transparent.
A sudden burning pain seared through my chest.
Black Cloak said, “The Gu Thread is starting to close.”
Lu Xingzhou looked at me.
“Tingyun, I’ll give you one last chance.”
“Give me the Draft Manuscript. I’ll kill Xie Huaiyan and break the gu for you.”
Xie Huaiyan’s voice sank.
“She won’t give it to you.”
Lu Xingzhou’s smile chilled.
“Who are you to answer for her?”
I slowly stood.
My leg hurt so badly that I had to brace myself against the wall to keep from falling.
“Lu Xingzhou.”
I said, “You always think everyone should choose the way you want them to.”
“My father should hand over his military power. I should be grateful you let me live. Xie Huaiyan should die for me.”
“But we are not your pawns.”
Lu Xingzhou’s expression darkened bit by bit.
“Tingyun, he deceived you once, and you still want to trust him again?”
I glanced at Xie Huaiyan.
He was looking at me too.
Covered in blood, battered beyond belief, yet his eyes were very calm.
I said, “I don’t trust him.”
Xie Huaiyan’s lashes trembled.
I continued, “I trust the evidence.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I shoved the Draft Manuscript hard into Ah Man’s lapel.
“Run!”
Ah Man turned and dove into the dog hole by the wall.
The hole was so small that only she could fit through.
Lu Xingzhou roared, “Stop her!”
I lunged over and wrapped my arms around his leg.
At the same time, Xie Huaiyan yanked out the iron spike, and blood splattered all over the ground.
The pain was so intense my vision went black, but I still refused to let go.
Black Cloak raised a hand and released the gu.
The insect in the white jade box sprang toward my heart.
Xie Huaiyan suddenly caught it, then turned his hand and pressed it into his own wound.
He let out a muffled groan, all color draining from his face.
I screamed, “Xie Huaiyan!”
He looked up at me, his lips pale.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“This time, I told you.”
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