Chapter 44 Broken Hearts

After everyone left, Yongzheng's clothes were dried and the two of them were full. Yongzheng sat in front of Xue Horan.

Xue Horan said, "Yongzheng, you don't have to carry me, I can walk slowly."

Yongzheng said, "Just let me carry you."

Xue Horan asked, "Why?"

Yongzheng said, "This can alleviate my guilt."

Xue Horan said, "It's not your fault."

Yongzheng said, "Horan, I feel somewhat guilty. I want you to know that no matter what happens to you, unless you tell the fourth person, I will never mention it. In addition, I want you to know that what happened is not your fault. I don't want you to blame yourself for it. This will be the last time we mention this issue. I don't want you to mention it again in the future." He sighed. "Can you promise me?"

Xue Horan looked at Yongzheng's back and realized Yongzheng was more emotionally hurt than him. He leaned forward, leaning on Yongzheng's back. He said, "Okay, we will never mention about this issue again."

It took Yongzheng and Xue Horan almost a day to reach Li Village. They walked to Yan Zhanjin's house. They stood at the front door, and Yongzheng let Xue Horan down from his back.

Yongzheng shouted, "Is anyone home?"

Yan Zhanjin shouted back, "Enter the backyard.

When Yongzheng and Xue Horan walked to the backyard, they saw Yan Zhanjin drying medicine herbs.

Yongzheng said, "Yan yisheng, is Rao-xiong here?"

Yan Zhanjin replied, "Yes, he is in the house."

Xue Horan asked, "How is he?"

Yan Zhanjin said, "He will live, but it will take a few months to recover." He looked at Xue Horan. "I'm sorry for what happened. I heard about it from Yuan guniang." Yan Zhanjin felt distressed and wanted to cheer Xue Horan. "You two are not the only ones captured by the Cao."

Yongzheng asked, "Were you also his prisoner?"

Yan Zhanjin said, "Yes, I used to be his hostage. The wicked man came here to hold me hostage, and then forced my good friend to help him heal Mu Dishi. He knew he could not defeat my friend, so he fed me the seven colors pill."

Xue Horan asked, "I suppose you don't have a cure?"

Yan Zhanjin said, "It's an easy poison to mix, but finding a cure is hard."

Yongzheng asked, "How so?"

Yan Zhanjin explained, "It all depends on the order in which the seven medicines are mix. To create an antidote, the seven medicines need to be mix in reverse order. If the order is mix wrong, it will become a different seven colors pill."

Xue Horan asked, "How many days can a poisoned person live?"

Yan Zhanjin chuckled, "Of course it is seven days, so that is why it's called the seven colors pill." He looked at Xue Horan. "Come to think of it, when I first check Rao Zhengsheng, he has traits of seven colors pill, but he somehow recovered. For as long as I've known Cao Wenyan, he will never give Rao Zhengsheng the antidote." He stared at Xue Horan. "Do you know?"

Xue Horan looked down. He hesitated and said, "I…I don't know."

Yan Zhanjin asked, "Young man, can you give me that red leaf. I need two."

Xue Horan turned to his left. He looked at the dried herbs. He said, "I don't see any red leaves."

Yongzheng then said, "Yan."

Yan Zhanjin said, "Hold your tongue." He looked at Xue Horan. "The leaves are right in front of you. People who have consumed the seven colors pill is unable to see red."

Yongzheng looked at Xue Horan. He grabbed Xue Horan's hand. He asked, "Did you?"

Xue Horan, "I…"

Yan Zhanjin reached out and grabbed Xue Horan's wrist, and began to measure his pulse. He looked at Xue Horan and said, "How many days has it been?"

Xue Horan said, "Four days ago."

Yongzheng let go of Xue Horan's hand and began to leave. Xue Horan quickly grabbed his left hand.

Xue Horan asked, "Yongzheng, where are you going?"

Yongzheng said, "Getting the antidote."

Xue Horan begged, "Don't go, you will be killed."

Yongzheng said, "I don't care."

Xue Horan stood in front of Yongzheng and said, "But I care...you can't come back on time to save me." He looked at Yongzheng. "Forget it."

Yan Zhanjin said, "He makes sense, even if Cao Wenyan gives you the antidote, you will not be back on time." Then he looked at Xue Horan. "Cao Wenyan might be an evil man, but I don't understand why he wants to hurt you."

Yongzheng looked at Xue Horan. He asked, "Is this for Rao Zhengsheng?" His hands grabbed both of Xue Horan's shoulders. "You used yours."

Xue Horan shouted, "Yongzheng!" He looked at Yongzheng. "We promised to never talk about it again."

Yongzheng slowly let go of Xue Horan's shoulders. He turned around and ran away through the front gate.

Xue Horan shouted, "Yongzheng…"

Yongzheng ran across the dirt road, up the mountain road, and went straight to the cliff. He stood in front of the cliff, overlooking the valley. He took a deep breath and shouted from his lungs. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and stood there with his fists clenched in his palms.

Liang daoshi said, "Yongzheng, when did you get back?"

When Yongzheng turned around, he saw Liang daoshi. He bowed his head and said, "Shifu, I am back."

Liang daoshi asked, "What's the matter?"

Yongzheng, "Shifu, I have liked someone. I want to bring this person back to live with us."

Liang daoshi said, "I have no problem with this."

Yongzheng, "But that person probably doesn't want to stay here because."

Liang daoshi, "That person feels differently than you."

Yongzheng, "Yes." He looked down. "I happened to promise a dying person to take care of this person."

Liang daoshi, "Yongzheng, look deep inside your heart. I believe you already know the answer to your question." He smiled at Yongzheng. "If your heart is not here...then your body has no reason to stay." He slowly walked towards the old temple.

Yan Zhanjin told Xue Horan that Rao Zhengsheng would not wake up any sooner after taking heavy medicine. He stood by the window, looked inside, and saw Yuan Xiurong taking care of Rao Zhengsheng. He walked to the front gate, leaning against the door, overlooking the dark path, the shadows of the trees added more darkness to the path.

Yan Zhanjin stood up from behind and said, "You remind me of a person I knew before."

Xue Horan, "Mu Dishi?"

Yan Zhanjin laughed and said, "No."

Xue Horan asked, "Who?"

Yan Zhanjin, "His name is Gu Yingjie."

Xue Horan, "Is he your friend?"

Yan Zhanjin, "No, it's more like a rival in love." He approached. "He and I, we both like the same person. His name is Zhu Mingyang."

Xue Horan, "Yan-xiong, you liked a man."

Yan Zhanjin said, "I don't like any man. I just like Zhu Mingyang. We know each other and have a common life philosophy. When he rejected me, I felt very sad, but then I rethinked everything and I finally understood that there are two different types of likes. Brotherly likes and soulmates likes." He smiled. "Mingyang is right, there is only one winner when it come to love, and I am not that winner."

Xue Horan, "I'm sorry."

Yan Zhanjin, "Don't be. Mingyang love Yingjie to the point that he will do whatever it takes to protect Yingjie. They love each other so willingly to the point they can sacrificed themselves to protect each other."

Xue Horan asked, "How do we know if there are people who are willing to sacrifice themselves to protect us?"

Yan Zhanjin looked at Xue Horan. He said, "When someone is willing to use their body to protect you from harm, you should never let that person slips from your fingers." He looked at Xue Horan. "Or you will regret it for the rest of your life." He frowned and walked back to the house. "I'm not so lucky to have a guard like Yingjie has Mingyang or you have Yongzheng."

Xue Horan murmured, "Why am I not feeling as lucky as you said."

Xue Horan looked at the dark road. He thought deeply inside. He has a person who is willing to stand in front of him to protect him from harm, but he will not be lucky enough to spend the rest of his life with that person. Xue Horan looked up at the dark sky and closed his eyes. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

When the wind blew by him, he felt a little cold. He murmured, "Yongzheng." He continued to stand and wait for Yongzheng. Then he felt a gentle breath breathing gently behind him. Xue Horan was surprised, he didn't even know that there was a person standing behind him, until that person slowly stroked his hair. His entire body froze.

The man put his hand on Xue Horan's back, and Xue Horan felt his internal force flow back to the center of his chest. Xue Horan felt like his chest is going to burst open. Xue Horan's lips trembled fiercely. He felt that his energy was draining out from his body.

Xue Horan wanted to cry, but he couldn't move. Immediately afterwards, Xue Horan suddenly felt an extremely powerful force passed through him. He spat a mouthful of blood. He turned his gaze to the road and saw a man dressed in black who has long white hair. He slowly walking past Xue Horan.

The man said in a cold voice as he walked away from Xue Horan, "You don't look like him, why do everyone think you look like him?"