Chapter 235: Close Your Eyes

Shen Qing lay on the grass, letting out a short breath.

Although with this breath, the blood on his chest became a bit more scarlet, his expression carried a hint of relief.

“Really won’t let me find a doctor to try?” Bai Li said beside him.

Just now, seeing the arrow in Shen Qing’s chest, she immediately wanted to find someone, find a doctor, but Shen Qing stopped her.

“By the time you find a doctor and come back, you’ll only be able to see my corpse.” He said, then laughed again, seemingly talking to himself, “Without a doctor, I’ll be a corpse in a while anyway.”

“If you can live, then live, after all, you can still help.” Bai Li said, getting up again to leave.

“No one doesn’t want to live, I know my own situation, I can’t live, it’s useless even if a doctor comes.” Shen Qing said, “Illusion can make people think they’re dead, but no illusion can make a dead person think they’re still alive.”

He said with a self-deprecating smile.

“Knowing illusion doesn’t mean you’ve become a real immortal.”

Even if you know illusion, you’re still flesh and blood, even if you can pull fierce and vicious people into an illusion, you’re still powerless against falling blades and flying arrows.

Bai Li said: “You saved many people, prevented them from dying in the raid, to them, you are an immortal.”

Shen Qing snorted through his nose: “I don’t care about their life or death.”

“But you didn’t leave either.” Bai Li said, glancing at the child sleeping beside them, “You could have left.”

When the raid first appeared, he could have left silently and unnoticed, but he stayed to help her expand the dream.

Later, the pleasure boat tilted, the people in the dream instinctively woke up, the dream was broken, he protected the child and escaped from the water with her.

Although he was flesh and blood, if he had left earlier alone, he wouldn’t have been in danger.

Shen Qing snorted again: “How is there no danger? If I only cared about my own escape, would you let me off afterward?”

Bai Li couldn’t help but laugh.

“…If it were Her Highness, she wouldn’t let me off for deserting either.” Shen Qing muttered again.

He looked at the sky, the morning light had faded, the sunlight was bright.

“Shen Qing, you’re going to die too, huh?”

A female voice sounded beside him, not the previous coldness, but as scorching as sunlight.

Shen Qing quickly turned his head and saw a familiar face under the sunlight.

“Your Highness.” He said, couldn’t help but smile, “Although this Young Miss Bai is fierce and crazy, she’s still soft-hearted after all. Seeing that I’m about to die, she conjured Your Highness to see me.”

The woman beside him nodded: “Indeed.” She then pouted, “So silly.”

“I deliberately made her pity me.” Shen Qing said, looking at the woman in front of him, “The more she conjures, the more Your Highness occupies her, one day, Your Highness will truly return.”

The woman beside him laughed, plucking a blade of grass and poking Shen Qing’s face: “Stop dreaming, I’m dead, I can’t come back.”

Shen Qing’s breath quickened, his hand hanging by his side clutched the grass on the ground: “Your Highness will come back, you said so.”

He looked at her, his eyes intoxicated again.

“Your Highness, you look so real now, much more vivid than my illusions.”

The woman beside him threw the grass in her hand and looked at the river in front of them: “You said it yourself, it’s an illusion, an illusion, no matter how real it is, it’s fake.” She then smiled, “But, I existed, that’s real, the mark I left is real, no one can erase it, and, in the future, it will appear in another form…”

Shen Qing’s face was a little blank: “Your Highness, what are you talking about…”

The woman beside him looked at him and smiled: “I’m saying, I’m dead, you’re about to die too, Shen Qing, the things I asked you to do are done, you can let go.”

Let go? Shen Qing looked at the woman in front of him, as if he was back to the beginning. He failed to become an official through studying, but unexpectedly, relying on his guqin skills, he entered the court, was favored by the emperor, and admired by many. Everyone discussed the guqin with him and only listened to him talk about the guqin.

Actually, what he knew and wanted to say was more than just the guqin.

But whether in front of the emperor or others, even if they treated him as a guest of honor, called him the top scorer, as long as he wanted to say something else, everyone interrupted him.

“This is not something you can talk about.”

“Master Shen, please play the guqin for our entertainment.”

Yes, he was just a musician, just like someone serving with beauty, everyone only needed his guqin, no one cared about him as a person. Even if he sat high in front of the emperor, he was just a decoration.

Just like that young, immortal-like Zhou Jingyun.

“You can’t compare to him.”

The emperor’s new favorite beauty sneered.

“He’s more useful than your guqin, people will see him, listen to him speak, and you? Your guqin sound is nothing, even if they hear it, it’s like they haven’t.”

Although he wasn’t as handsome as Zhou Jingyun, he was young and vigorous, and being angered, he retorted without politeness, “So what if you’re favored by His Majesty, you’re just like a pearl hanging on the curtain.”

Useless decoration.

The beauty was not annoyed, she laughed heartily, sat on the white jade steps, looked at him, and frowned: “I don’t want to be useless either, but what can I do, I’m a woman, who would listen to me speak.”

✿✿✿

She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Hey, guqin player, are you willing to help me?”

Guqin player, others at least addressed him respectfully as Master Shen, but, Shen Qing felt dejected again, actually, she wasn’t wrong, he was just a guqin player.

“What can I, a guqin player, do for Your Highness besides playing the guqin?” He said grumpily.

“They say people who can play the guqin have sharp ears, you can help me listen to sounds.” She said.

Listen to sounds? He looked back at her.

The woman on the steps smiled: “Listen to the sounds of the court officials, listen to the sounds of His Majesty.”

Listen to the court officials, His Majesty… He instantly understood, what listening to sounds! This was eavesdropping!

He, the guest of honor who was regarded as a decoration by everyone, wasn’t he the most convenient eavesdropper!

This was asking him to be a spy!

This woman!

He was both angry and panicked at the time.

She, a favored consort, a woman, not serving with beauty, what was she doing eavesdropping on the court officials for!

“You won’t know what you can achieve until you do it.” She sat on the steps, looking at the vast court hall, and said with a smile, “Don’t you want to try, to do something new that the world has never seen before?”

She looked at him again.

“Don’t you want to try, to let the whole world hear our voices?”

Let the whole world hear…

Shen Qing looked at the woman in his sight and let out a short gasp: “Your Highness, you can’t ignore it, the things you said haven’t been done yet.”

The woman beside him smiled and said: “There’s no way, things are never that easy, especially things that have never been done before, failure is normal.”

Failure, failure, did they fail? Shen Qing’s breathing became more and more rapid, yes, Your Highness was killed, the officials and soldiers they gathered together all fell…

Tears slid down Shen Qing’s cheeks.

Fingers reached out to wipe them away.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry.” She said with a smile, “What’s there to cry about failure, things in the world are like this, how can things be exactly as you wish, but, our matter hasn’t completely failed, things haven’t ended here.”

Shen Qing looked at her, his eyes full of expectation, so, she would still come back!

She looked at his expectant eyes and slowly shook her head: “No, Shen Qing, I’m dead, you’re about to die too, our matter ends here, it’s up to others now.”

Ends here… Shen Qing’s eyes dimmed.

A hand gently stroked his face.

“Don’t be sad, you’ve done what I asked you to do.” She said, “Shen Qing, you can rest now.”

You can rest now.

Shen Qing’s eyes were filled with melancholy, he looked at the clear sky, clouds drifted by, birds flew by, making crisp chirping sounds.

A smile appeared on the corner of his lips, he let out his last breath and closed his eyes.

The child beside them moved, clenching their fists as if about to wake up, Bai Li reached out and patted them, the child fell back asleep.

“He’s dead.” She said, turning to look at her side, a figure sat beside her in the sunlight, “Why didn’t you say something nice to him? You had to let him die with regret.”

The figure beside her sighed: “He’s dead, no need to lie to him anymore, dying with expectations is tiring.”

That makes sense, Bai Li smiled and looked at the river, the river flowed calmly.

“Alright, （I） should go back now.”

Bai Li said, at the same time, a voice also said in her ear.

She paused and looked to her side.

The figure beside her smiled: “So scary, we’re becoming more and more like one.”

Bai Li said: “You were created by me, naturally you are one with me.”

After saying that, she picked up the child.

“You dead people can rest in peace.”

“The living are going to take revenge for their grudges.”