“What is it this time? Which scene are you trying to perform now?” Mockery curved Nalan Xuan’s lips, mixed with disdain, while his eyes remained entirely cold. “If Emperor Huawu is willing to injure himself just to make sure the performance goes well, and this prince ruins the whole thing, I could hardly bear responsibility for such an offense. Why don’t you tell me the script first, so I won’t be caught unprepared and accidentally spoil Your Majesty’s plans?”
Nalan Xuan seemed to consider what expression would be most appropriate. “So what do you need from this prince right now—surprise, or satisfaction?”
With the sword still driven through Feng Xuanyi’s shoulder, Nalan Xuan casually shook the hilt. The blade moved inside the wound, tearing flesh apart and sending blood surging out. Nalan Xuan seemed to take particular pleasure in that shocking red. Feng Xuanyi remained expressionless and did not even furrow his brow, as though the person with a hole pierced through his body were someone else entirely.
His eyes, dark and deep as a bottomless pool, remained fixed upon Nalan Xuan’s without shifting even slightly. They were filled with complicated emotions and regret too intense to conceal, deep and heavy, as though Feng Xuanyi hoped that with a single look he might communicate every thought and feeling within him. “I know we’ve missed too much between us and misunderstood far too much. Come back with me. We can begin again. Give me one more chance, and let me love you.”
That gaze could indeed have been called deeply affectionate. That voice could certainly have been called remorseful. Every movement seemed humble and pleading, as though Feng Xuanyi were no longer the emperor standing high above an entire nation, but merely an ordinary man sincerely begging the person he loved to return. He looked helpless, devoted, and at a complete loss.
But Nalan Xuan knew that something which merely looked real would forever remain only an appearance. He had seen the same performance too many times and had long since grown numb to it. Deep affection? True love? If the former Ning Xuan had repeatedly been deceived by these same illusions dressed in slightly different forms, it had only been because of his fundamental innocence and straightforward nature—and, undeniably, because of the stupidity required to believe that something called love actually existed in this world. But the present was no longer the past. Though they were ultimately the same person, Nalan Xuan was Nalan Xuan. If Feng Xuanyi was cold-blooded and heartless, then Nalan Xuan could only laugh and say that he would not lose to him there. Feng Xuanyi wanted to drag him back into the very play Nalan Xuan himself had originally set into motion, and he even intended to use the same stale methods all over again. Nalan Xuan did not know whether he should feel pleased that he remained one step ahead or furious that Feng Xuanyi looked down on him so completely. If anything from that naïve, ignorant Ning Xuan still remained, it was only the searing pain of losing his child. And now that Nalan Xuan had once again taken control of this body and its thoughts, he had inherited something else as well: dignity and pride that would tolerate no desecration from anyone.
“Did this prince hear you correctly?” Nalan Xuan abruptly pulled out the sword, spraying blood several feet through the air. Wild laughter echoed through the empty hall, carrying coldness, venom, and a trace of madness. “Love? How could such a cheap word possibly come from Your Majesty’s mouth? Wouldn’t it soil your tongue? Someone as cold and merciless as you, someone who slaughtered his own brothers, has no business reaching for a word like ‘love.’ And this prince has even less interest in possessing anything so tedious.”
Nalan Xuan’s disgust did not seem to discourage Feng Xuanyi in the slightest. He silently watched every one of Nalan Xuan’s movements while that wild, piercing laughter rang in his ears. An uncontrollable tenderness gradually surfaced in his eyes and followed Nalan Xuan without wavering. Blood poured from his left shoulder. The sudden withdrawal of the sword threw him off balance, and he staggered before dropping to one knee, yet he seemed not to care.
“Put away that ridiculous act. There’s no one else here, so who exactly are you performing for?” Nalan Xuan sneered contemptuously.
“I know you don’t believe me, so give me time. You will believe me. We—” Feng Xuanyi’s low, magnetic voice remained calm, almost like the bewitching call of a nightingale, drawing a person helplessly inward.
“It seems winning against me several times has inflated your confidence until you can no longer see anyone but yourself.” Nalan Xuan raised his phoenix eyes slightly, looking down with obvious pleasure at the blood staining most of the long sword. “You think that as long as I give you enough time, you’ll have complete confidence in making me fall back into the palm of your hand so you can fool me again? Has victory gone to your head so badly that you overestimate yourself, or do you simply underestimate me?”
“Do you really think I would let you die so easily beneath a single thrust of my sword? Do you think enduring one sword wound and putting on a pitiful act is enough to erase everything that happened before and lure me back into submission? Don’t think so highly of yourself, and don’t imagine everything in this world can be solved so simply. I won’t let you die that easily, and I certainly won’t let your blood dirty my sword. The show has only just begun. How could anyone appreciate the flavor without letting it simmer slowly over a low flame? So I won’t kill you. I’m in no hurry to kill you. You might as well use the time to properly experience all the tastes life has to offer.”
His voice had been fierce and cutting one instant, only for Nalan Xuan to suddenly smile brilliantly the next. “Ah, but what a pity. I can certainly give you time. Unfortunately, I can’t give you everything you want. As for ‘going back,’ of course that can be arranged. The only problem is that we won’t be returning to Hua. We’ll be returning to Xiliang.”
Seeing Feng Xuanyi’s brows draw together slightly put Nalan Xuan in an excellent mood. “Have you spent so long as Emperor Huawu that you’ve started believing everything under heaven is decided by you alone? You slipped into my territory by a hidden route, fully prepared to catch me off guard. What makes you think I came here without preparations of my own? Back when I lived in Prince Rong’s residence, I was fortunate enough to receive Your Highness’s generous treatment. Now how could I possibly fail to return the favor with a suitably ‘generous gift’ of my own?”
The moment those words fell, Xuan Guang rushed inside without even stopping to knock. “Master, a large number of Xiliang soldiers have been discovered searching the mountain. They’ll probably find our trail very soon.”
Nalan Xuan frowned almost imperceptibly. Inwardly, he cursed Tuxun as an incompetent idiot who could do nothing right. Coming up the mountain at precisely this moment would only corner Feng Xuanyi and force him into desperate action. Worse, Tuxun’s decision to act on his own had opened a gap in the blockade. Once the strategy ceased to be flawless, Feng Xuanyi might find a way to exploit it. Nalan Xuan was furious, yet outwardly he could only raise an inscrutable smile.
“Are you truly that impatient to see me dead?” Feng Xuanyi asked quietly, though what he truly wanted to ask was clearly something more than that.
“If killing you were really that easy, I would consider it an extraordinary honor.”
Without warning, Feng Xuanyi suddenly flew toward him. A dark shadow pressed close. Nalan Xuan retreated two steps to buy himself enough time to defend, but a sudden sharp pain struck the side of his neck. His footing staggered. His consciousness immediately began to blur as darkness swept over him, and the last thing he heard was Feng Xuanyi saying, “Go.”
A silent laugh passed through Nalan Xuan’s mind. Do you think Xiliang is a place you can enter and leave whenever you please? Do you think the net I laid out will simply let you come and go as you like? I originally thought the person infiltrating Xiliang would be the Eighth Prince, but instead you delivered yourself straight into my hands. It wasn’t what I expected, but since you came in person with such remarkable ‘sincerity,’ the gift prepared for you won’t be wasted. At least I won’t have to send it thousands of li to the imperial capital at breakneck speed. Since you’re already nearby, you can hear the freshest news from the front while it’s still hot.
“Master, what about these people…?”
“He knows my identity. Bring him with us.” Feng Xuanyi gathered the limp Nalan Xuan into his arms and gestured for them to take Hu’erhan as well. “The others have already lost consciousness, so leaving them here is fine.”