Chapter 1105 - Perplexed and Smitten (165)

Atlas Studios

Hua Jin’s initial anger vanished without a trace. She held his gaze and said, “Why do you not tell me about anything at all? Don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you, I just didn’t want you to be worried about it. I definitely trust you.”

“Why did you bring Princess Consort Mu out and walk on the streets with her for the past two days? You didn’t even come to see me. Did you fall in love with her?” she asked, tearing up again.

“I’m not blind, why would I be in love with her? Let’s be honest with each other today, alright?” He held her hand and pulled her up from the bed. “Remember, I’m not saying this just to coax you, but you’re the only one in my heart. You’re the only one I miss and the only one I love. Although I seem to be treating her as my wife on the surface, I’m only pretending to do that and it’s all for show. It’s not real at all,” he continued.

“You should have told me earlier. You bottle all your feelings up, and if you keep hiding your emotions from me, I’ll never know how you truly feel,” she said, hugging him.

“From now on, no matter what happens, just bear in mind what I said today.”

She snuggled up into his embrace and murmured assent.

During breakfast, Jin Qingyan was jolted awake from his dream by a sudden pain.

He had broken out in a cold sweat. He struggled to get out of bed and took a look at the time to discover that it was two in the morning.

He felt an unbearable pain that was spreading all over his body from head to toe, as if he had been crushed by stone bricks.

However, it seemed his best bet was to just lie still, for the pain would worsen with every slight movement of his.

He lay stiff in bed with his eyes wide open, all the way until five o’clock in the morning. He then slipped into a daze and fell asleep.

He initially thought that he would finally get to sleep properly. To his astonishment, he drifted off to dreamland again.

This time, he was no longer in the Prince’s residence. Instead, he was in an obscure and secluded mansion.

He was not participating in the dream either and was simply a bystander who was watching the scenes play out in front of him.

Staring at the pale Xihou Ling who was lying on the bed, Jin Qingyan knew that he had already developed a severe illness.

“Your Highness,” greeted one of his bodyguards, who entered with a bowl of herbal medicine soup. The bodyguard then helped him up and eased him into a comfortable position while feeding him the medicine with a soup.

However, the effects were clearly not potent, for he constantly threw up the medicine right after taking a mouthful. He persisted and repeated the process over and over again.

At last, he finally curbed his urge to vomit.

Seemingly not wanting his bodyguard to be worried, he said softly, “I’m fine. Call the rest of them in later, I have some instructions for all of you.”

“Yes.”

The bodyguard left with the empty bowl while Xihou Ling took out a thick handkerchief that he then placed over his mouth before spitting out the medicine that he had been holding in.

He gasped a few times before stuffing the handkerchief back into the bed and lay in bed with his eyes glassed over.

Moments later, a few bodyguards entered and stood in front of the bed. Staring at the ill-stricken and sickly Xihou Ling, the men teared up uncontrollably, not daring to utter a single word.

“There are a few mountains situated along the river and there’s one in between two of the highest ones, called Mount Yihua… Take me there and prepare a coffin for me as well… I want to wait for her there.”

“Your Highness!!!”

“I want to go there today,” he said in a soft yet assertive voice.

“Yes…”

His bodyguards had never dared to defy his orders.

His instructions were final.

While Jin Qingyan was staring at Xihou Ling, the scene in front of him changed drastically all of a sudden. It happened as quickly as the blink of an eye. He took a closer look, only to discover that he was now in a cave.

Xihou Ling was lying down on the stone bed and struggling to take his very last breath.

He was on the brink of death and appeared extremely drained and feeble.

He had become gaunt and emaciated, due to the fact that he could barely stomach any food.

He lay quietly on the bed, his eyes slightly open.

There were only two bodyguards present. Jin Qingyan did not manage to see where the rest had gone.

After about two hours, the other bodyguards finally returned.

They came back together.

His eyes lit up slightly upon the sight of them. As much as he tried to speak at the top of his voice, he still sounded faint and soft to others.

“Has there been any news yet?” Xihou Ling asked, struggling to speak.

The few bodyguards stood rooted to the ground with a grave expression on their faces. They remained silent and refused to speak.

Xihou Ling seemed to have guessed that there were bad news, judging from the expressions of his bodyguards.

“Are there still no news yet? It’s alright, I still have some time. I’ll continue waiting for her. She’ll definitely come,” Xihou Ling said with a look of dejection.

“Rest assured, Your Highness. We’ll definitely accompany you to wait for Miss Jin until she comes.”

“If… If I pass away, just leave my body here and leave this place. Go somewhere else and start life anew…”

“No… we’ll continue staying by your side until Miss Jin comes. This is our duty.”

“…”

The scene began to change again. At last, it stopped changing when Xihou Ling held a small piece of jade in his hand and scrutinized it. There was a raging snowstorm outside the cave.

The bodyguards returned from outside, covered in snow and shivering from head to toe.

“Has there been any news yet?” Xihou Ling asked, struggling to speak.

“We’re incompetent, we didn’t manage to find anything…”

“Forget it, you don’t have to go out to ask around…” As his voice faded, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

“Your Highness!” the bodyguards exclaimed. They hurriedly crowded around his bed, after which one of them wiped the blood away from the corner of his lips. They had long since teared up uncontrollably.

“I can’t hang on anymore. I won’t make it. I won’t get to see her before I die,” he murmured, panting heavily and struggling to breathe.

The bodyguards were frightened out of their senses and frantically called his name.

He used his remaining energy to raise his arm and placed the small piece of jade inside his mouth. He passed on.

During ancient times, many royals and aristocrats had a penchant for swallowing a jade piece before their deaths, for they placed great emphasis on preserving their corpse and keeping it in the best condition possible.

The cave was filled with the sounds of his bodyguards weeping and mourning his death.

Jin Qingyan opened his eyes again to see that the sky had already risen high above the sky.

He sat up, after which Auntie Chen asked from outside his bedroom, “Young Sir, are you awake?”

“Yes…”

“I’ve already prepared breakfast for you.”

“Got it.”

It was already half past nine,

During breakfast, Xiao Bai entered and said, “Young Sir, Chief said that he couldn’t reach you on your mobile phone.”

“I forgot to charge it last night. I’m putting it to charge now.”

“Are you going to the office today, then, Young Sir?”

“No, I’ll go in the afternoon instead.”

“Young Sir, you seem to be out of sorts. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just didn’t sleep well. You may take your leave if there’s nothing else. I’ll call Shixin after breakfast.”

“Okay.”

However, breakfast was not too enjoyable for him because he did not have much of an appetite.

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Chapter 1106: Perplexed and Smitten (166)

Atlas Studios

The first thing Jin Qingyan did when he returned upstairs was to call Fan Shixin. He then proceeded to call An Xiaoning after hearing from Fan Shixin that everything was fine.

He told her about the dream he had last night. There was barely anyone whom he could tell such things to.

After hearing his words, An Xiaoning imagined the scenario in her head according to his description.

Her tears fell silently, and she said, “We already know who the culprit is. The one who caused us to be separated and who raided the Prince’s residence in our previous lifetime. Back then, the medium from the Yin family sealed and trapped the souls of your servants in the Prince’s residence. Regardless of where he reincarnates to, we’ll definitely find him, as well as the corpse of his previous incarnation. I must turn him into ashes with my bare hands! It doesn’t matter even if I have to cover my hands in blood.”

“Don’t cry.”

“How do you know that I’m crying? I’m not crying at all,” she said, wiping her tears away.

“Because there’s a surveillance camera in your room. I’m looking at you right now.”

An Xiaoning scanned her surroundings, and a spot on the corner of the wall caught her eye. She walked toward Fan Shixin and kicked him before saying, “Why didn’t you tell me that you had installed a surveillance camera in my room? Are you tired of living?”

“Young Madam, don’t malign me. Young Sir was the one who instructed me to do it. I didn’t want to at all. However, Young Sir insisted that I do it, so you should be beating him up instead.”

“He… I can’t bear to hit him.”

“I took the rap… without warning again,” Fan Shixin said with an aggrieved expression.

An Xiaoning smiled at him and gestured for him to leave. She then asked Jin Qingyan, “Are you at the office now?”

“No, I just woke up a while ago. I’ll go in the afternoon instead. I’d like to take a look at Mount Yihua.”

“Go ahead. I’ve gone there twice before. The spirits and souls in there have already gone to reincarnate. There’s nothing much left.”

“Okay, be mindful of your own safety.”

“Got it, do you still not believe in my abilities?”

“You’re so freaking impressive. Here’s a ‘like’ for you.”

“No, screw you.”

An Xiaoning chuckled and ended the call.

“Hahaha, Sis, what did Mr. Jin say? Look how happy you are.”

“That’s none of your business. Have you sketched the diagram?”

“Yes. There you go, hurry and memorize it,” said No. 5, who handed the sketch to her.

An Xiaoning scrutinized the diagram attentively. While she was focusing on memorizing it, her mobile phone began to ring again.

“Is it Young Sir again?” Fan Shixin asked.

“No, it’s Erlan.” She swiped to answer the call and put on her earphones while still keeping her eyes fixed on the sketch.

“Erlan.”

“Sis, Yan Ge knows about it.”

“Huh? What does he know?”

“He knows that I lied to him. He saw the expensive car that Xiao Chenyang had bought and asked me who the owner of the car was. I told him that the car belonged to me, since Xiao Chenyang is pretending to be my cousin and bodyguard on the surface. Anyway, he now knows that Xiao Chenyang is not my cousin. I didn’t want to hide things from him so I decided to tell him the truth.”

An Xiaoning grabbed her phone with her other hand and asked worriedly, “What… did you tell him?

“I admitted that Xiao Chenyang is not my cousin and that I don’t fancy him at all, but he was the one who compelled me. I didn’t tell him about the rest.”

An Xiaoning heaved a sigh of relief and said, “You mustn’t tell Yan Ge anything else about Xiao Chenyang. You ought to know what’s appropriate to divulge and what’s not.”

“Yes, I know. But, Sis Xiaoning, I really don’t know what to do now. Yan Ge and I fancy each other and I want to be with him.”

“I once promised Xiao Chenyang that I would stay out of your private life. Hence, there’s nothing I can do, unless it’s work-related. Erlan, Xiao Chenyang…” She paused and continued, “I’m not putting in a good word for him just because I know him. I know Yan Ge too. However, I just want to say, it’s really rare to have someone be so devoted to you like Xiao Chenyang is. Why would he do this to a stranger? Have you never thought about it carefully before?”

“I did, but I really couldn’t think of an answer. By the way, he had taken that female corpse away from the museum and cremated it. He’s also scattered her ashes into the ocean.”

“He brought you along, didn’t he?”

Fang Erlan answered, “Yes. I asked him about the corpse and he told me that he had requested you to bring it to the museum… Sis Xiaoning, is that true?”

“Yes, the corpse was originally situated in an ancient graveyard in V Nation. I brought it back here myself together with Shixin and delivered it to the museum.”

“V Nation? Sis Xiaoning, do you know how long he has been alive?” Fang Erlan asked.

An Xiaoning could tell that Fang Erlan had already discovered that Xiao Chenyang was extraordinary and different from the average human. She answered, “I don’t know exactly how long he’s been around for. However, you should ask him yourself if you’d like to find out.”

“Sis Xiaoning…”

“Yes? What’s the matter?”

“Do people who live past centuries really exist in this world?”

“It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?”

“It’s incredible.”

“Life has to go on. Filming is about to begin soon, isn’t it?” An Xiaoning asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the sketch.

“Yes, I’m joining the production unit soon. Xiao Chenyang is coming with me.”

“It must be hard on him. Focus on filming. Let time prove the rest.”

“What’s there to prove…”

“Let time prove who’s your destined Mr. Right.”

Fang Erlan constantly pondered over An Xiaoning’s words after ending the call.

She shifted her gaze onto the closet and walked toward it. She then took out the box inside and placed it onto the bed. She was filled with an inexplicable feeling while staring at the wedding gown.

She put the lid back onto the box and placed it back inside the closet.

As soon as she closed the door of the closet, the doorbell rang.

She went out to open the door, after which Xiao Yue handed her the item in her hand excitedly. “Sis, here… the coconut juice that you wanted. Is Cousin home?”

“No, what’s wrong?” Fang Erlan asked.

“Where is he, then?”

“Why are you asking about him?”

“Just a casual question.”

Fang Erlan poked her forehead and said, “I think you’re obsessed with him.”

“I like him too much.”

“What do you like about him? Do you like him just because he’s handsome?” Fang Erlan asked while closing the door.

“Sis Erlan, isn’t that reason good enough? Pardon me… I’m just that superficial.”

“That’s because you don’t know his true colors yet.”

“What true colors? Sis, tell me about it, I’m very curious,” Xiao Yue asked in puzzlement.

“For example, men are all lecherous. He might just rape you when I’m not around…”

Xiao Yue lit up with joy and surprise. “Sis Erlan, I’m willing to give myself to him. I’m just afraid that he’s not willing to take me!” she exclaimed.

Fang Erlan guffawed and chided, “Brainless.”

“I’m just making a casual remark. I know Cousin is not such a person.”

“You’ve only known him for days, how are you so sure…”

“Of course I am. If he harbored designs on me, he would’ve taken action on me long ago.”

“Get yourself prepared in the next couple of days. I’m about to join the production unit. Tough times are about to begin soon,” said Fang Erlan, looking at her.