No one pressed him—not even Xiong Xiaobao, who couldn’t bear to push him further the moment he saw his head start to ache, the moment he saw him clutch at it.
But Baili Weisheng could no longer give himself excuses, could no longer give himself a way out!
Memory loss might not mean much to him, but to the people around him, it was its own kind of harm!
Being unsentimental didn’t mean he was willing to watch others suffer on his account!
“Jinjiao… innocent deep ravine, boundless deep sea, silver jiao… father, mother…”
“Han Ziqing, Jun Beiyue, Xiong Xiaobao… wretched scholar… Nanny Gu, the Xiongnu… poison Gu, Baili Xiaosheng…”
Baili Weisheng kept murmuring, his voice growing softer but his pace growing faster and faster, repeating without end, thinking without end.
Then, suddenly, he stopped short!
“Xuanyuan Lige?!”
“Xuanyuan Lige… that fellow, Xuanyuan Lige…”
He murmured to himself, veins visibly rising between his tightly furrowed brows, cold sweat beading unnoticed at his temples!
“Xuanyuan Lige… Xuanyuan Lige!”
So familiar!
Knowing a name, knowing a person, and being truly familiar with that name, that person—these were two entirely different things!
“Aaah…”
Suddenly, Baili Weisheng let out a sharp cry, finally unable to hold back, clutching his head tightly with both hands, and the instant he did, he lost all control, spinning around and slamming hard into the edge of the bed frame, then tumbling down to the floor, thrashing and rolling across it!
“Aaah… aaah…”
How much pain must it take for a grown man to cry out like this?
“Aaah… aaah…”
If the pain before had felt like thousands of ants digging through his skull, then now, it felt like thousands of nails being driven straight into his cranium, stabbing viciously inward!
The pain was so severe he felt as though his head no longer belonged to him, as though he wanted to hack it off entirely!
And yet, amid the pain, that sense of familiarity grew clearer and clearer, more and more distinct!
“Xuanyuan Lige!”
Baili Weisheng cried out, “Xuanyuan Lige, don’t die! Don’t die!”
Great swaths of memory came flooding into his mind all at once—the memories from that day, in the cave at Yuqiong Mountain.
Xuanyuan Lige had joined forces with him against Meng Wanyue, and at the moment his life hung by a thread, Xuanyuan Lige had sacrificed himself to save him and Meng Duo’er.
He himself had ended up with a Five Elements body, doomed never to die a peaceful death!
Baili Weisheng suddenly felt a pain in his heart, sharper even than the pain in his head.
Xuanyuan Lige, weren’t you supposed to be the villain? Hadn’t you already become the villain? Why did you still save us?
Don’t you know the saying—every man for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy him?
Suddenly, Baili Weisheng loosened his grip on his head, and his hand fell instead to rest on his right forearm!
The memories he’d recovered weren’t many—just fragmented flashes from that cave—and he didn’t even know why he’d reached for his arm. Even with his head still aching, even as it felt about to split open, his attention had settled entirely on that arm.
The feeling of his arm being gripped… so familiar.
At the moment the Five Elements’ power had fully erupted, in that blinding burst of purple light, Xuanyuan Lige had seemingly gripped his arm just like this!
At that moment, everything came back to Baili Weisheng, completely!
And at the same time, he seemed to hear Xuanyuan Lige’s voice again.
He’d said, “Scholar, I’m entrusting you with two things. Tell Ziqing for me—the matter with Yelu Qianqian was a demonic sound illusion, not real.”
He’d said, “And one more thing—the blood zheng. Something I meant to give Ziqing is hidden inside the blood zheng, something very important. You must, absolutely must, take it out and give it to her. Tell her it’s…”
The voice cut off right there, and by that point Baili Weisheng had already been in so much pain he’d lost all clarity of mind—he had no idea how much of it he’d actually retained, no idea whether he simply hadn’t heard the rest clearly at the time, or whether he’d forgotten it since.
In any case, right now, the pain in his head had subsided, but he found himself gradually losing all strength, his whole body collapsing to the floor, his hands slowly loosening, and he passed out.
The next morning, the moment the King of Nanzhao arrived at the battlefield, without even pausing to rest, he crossed the river in person, a massive retinue of guards and beasts trailing behind him, as though afraid that if he didn’t come now, he’d never get the chance again.
And yet, even so, Jun Beiyue still kept his manner distant and lofty—though he’d once been on good terms with the King of Nanzhao, he genuinely held him in little regard.
Other opponents, at least, had some measure of real strength behind them. The King of Nanzhao, though—he was entirely coasting on his ancestors’ legacy.
If he hadn’t been born into the royal family, a man so wishy-washy, so hollow behind his bluster, probably wouldn’t have lived to this age at all!
The King of Nanzhao waited in the main camp, while Jun Beiyue and Ziqing arrived fashionably late, trailed by Jue Mingzi, the Dream Clan chief, Meng Duo’er, Yelu Qianqian, Situ Haonan, and the rest of their group.
Seeing them all, the King of Nanzhao was completely stunned. Hadn’t the letter said this matter regarding the lonely island required a private, secret discussion? How could…
Of course, everyone else was equally taken aback, seeing that all of the King of Nanzhao’s attendants had been left outside, that not even Old Master Sheng or the elder Beast Clan chief had come in with him.
Could it be that the King of Nanzhao still had some secret he wasn’t willing to reveal?
Could it be that he was still trying to hide something?
“Prince Yao, in this humble one’s opinion, this matter would be better discussed privately.” the King of Nanzhao said, testing the waters.
Jun Beiyue looked over at Ziqing—when it came to this matter, Ziqing and Jue Mingzi were the ones directly involved.
“Is there something the King of Nanzhao still can’t say in the open?” Ziqing shot back.
They were already here to make a public apology—what was left for the King of Nanzhao to hide?
That single line left the King of Nanzhao at a loss. In the end, it all came down to a matter of face.
Except, a person’s dignity wasn’t something others granted—it was something earned through one’s own conduct.
A royal house so hollow, so full of pretense—what dignity did it still have left to preserve?
Today, not summoning all of Nanzhao’s various clans to listen in was already an enormous act of grace on their part toward the Nanzhao royal family.
Seeing the King of Nanzhao offer no answer, Ziqing asked coldly, “Why hasn’t Baili Weisheng arrived yet?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, someone has already been sent to hurry him along.” an attendant answered quickly.
“Then let’s wait for him first.” Ziqing said flatly, as though this were the most ordinary thing in the world.
The King of Nanzhao silently clenched his fists—how much more was he expected to endure?
After all, he was a king in his own right. Coming here in person to sue for peace was already an unprecedented concession on his part—and now Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing were treating him with such open contempt!
The King of Nanzhao wanted nothing more than to slam his hand on the table and shout, “Guards! We’re returning to the palace!”
And yet, however unbearable it was, he endured it still.
Having come this far, if he left with nothing settled, Nanzhao’s internal factions would surely erupt into rebellion.
The King of Nanzhao had no choice but to grit his teeth and bear it.
But to everyone’s surprise, this particular wait dragged on for the better part of a day!
Though Ziqing and the others knew it was unlikely, they couldn’t help but start to wonder whether that wretch Baili Weisheng was doing this on purpose.
Baili Weisheng wasn’t doing it on purpose at all. He’d only regained consciousness near dawn the day before, and after drinking a few sips of water, had gone right back to sleep, snoring away, ignoring the guards outside who were nearly pounding the door down—too lazy to get up and answer.