Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 405 : A Night At Wushan Temple (4)

Chapter 405: Chapter 405 : A Night At Wushan Temple (4)

"B-but Wei Wei, why?"

Bai Ling started crying on Qiao Wei’s shoulder.

"What happened? Don’t you love me anymore???"

"I do," Qiao Wei pressed a gentle kiss on Bai Ling’s forehead to placate her. "But I see you as a little sister, not as a lover."

Qiao Wei cupped Bai Ling’s face in his palms and looked into her glassy eyes.

"You deserve to marry someone who will cherish and love you as a woman. I am not worthy of you."

"You are!" Bai Ling cried out. "Wei Wei, I love you. I want you and no one else. Even if you don’t love me, I still want to marry you!"

"Little Ling..."

"I don’t want to hear another word," Bai Ling cried out. "You must never leave me. I don’t want you to go, wahhhhhhhh~!!!"

Qiao Wei tilted his head backward and looked at the bright blue sky over his head.

Fengxi, he called out secretly in his heart.

Fengxi...

"Wei Wei..."

Bai Ling stood on tiptoe and hooked her arms around Qiao Wei’s neck.

Not wanting to push Bai Ling away in her distress, Qiao Wei closed his eyes and let the young woman kiss him.

Unbeknownst to Qiao Wei, Zhang Fengxi did not leave at all.

Instead, he lurked in a remote corner, unseen by Qiao Wei and Bai Ling.

Crossing his arms as he stood under a paulownia tree, Zhang Fengxi watched the scenes unfolding before him.

Behind the mask of darkness, Zhang Fengxi’s eyes were a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. Envy, like a sickly bloom, twisted his features, blooming brighter with each fleeting glance and every tender touch Qiao Wei and Bai Ling shared.

The sight of their lips meeting was a dagger to Zhang Fengxi’s gut, twisting and churning with venomous jealousy. The air around him grew thick, suffocating, as if the room itself choked on his silent scream.

It was not until Qiao Wei and Bai Ling retreated into Qiao Wei’s bed chamber that Zhang Fengxi felt a stinging pain across his palms.

He looked down at his tightly clenched fists. Unconsciously, he had dug his fingernails into his flesh, causing droplets of crimson blood to trickle down his hands.

Zhang Fengxi gritted his teeth in fury.

He already took three steps into Qiao Wei’s bed chamber, intent on dragging that little vixen, Bai Ling, away from Qiao Wei, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

As he inhaled and exhaled the fresh air in the temple several times, his mind unexpectedly cleared up.

Maybe this was a repayment, he mused.

Zhang Fengxi was given a second chance to redo everything that went wrong in his life, but he wasted months chasing after Liu Wenyuan.

He knew Xie Jianyu’s feelings toward him not long after he regressed, but he never paid Xie Jianyu’s feelings any heed.

No, that was an understatement.

Zhang Fengxi was cruel to Xie Jianyu.

He hurt the love of his life again and again.

And yet, despite everything Zhang Fengxi did, Xie Jianyu never left.

The poor Crown Prince stubbornly lent his helping hand to Zhang Fengxi, again and again, only to disappear afterward with mere thanks as his reward.

Zhang Fengxi clawed into his scalp in frustration.

Now that Xie Jianyu transmigrated into Qiao Wei’s body, he had that one chance to be happy with someone who loved him unconditionally.

Someone who did not make him cry alone when he slept at night.

So why couldn’t Zhang Fengxi let it happen?

Because he was jealous.

Because he was hurt.

Zhang Fengxi didn’t want to admit that there was someone else out there who loved Xie Jianyu in a way he could not, and had Xie Jianyu love them in return.

Like Xie Jianyu said, he was Qiao Wei right now.

And Qiao Wei belonged with Bai Ling.

Hot tears stung Zhang Fengxi’s eyes when the realization hit him.

This was what Qiao Wei meant when he said that Zhang Fengxi was childish.

Not only was he childish, he was also terribly selfish.

"Damn it," Zhang Fengxi cursed under his breath.

The supreme general then turned on his heel and left for Fuxi Palace.

An unnatural quiet settled over Fuxi Palace, a fragile order imposed over the raw wounds of grief.

The lifeless bodies of fallen guards and servants had been laid in wooden coffins and sent to their mourning families.

Xie Jianyu’s body was laid in his bed chamber for the time being, because the mausoleum was undergoing an extensive repair.

In the stillness of the bed chamber, Xie Junjie and Zhang Mingrui cuddled close to their mother’s body, seeking solace in his cold embrace. Traces of tears on their tiny faces suggested that they had been crying in their sleep.

Against the hushed backdrop of the morning light, Caihong stood sentinel close by, his vibrant plumage a stark contrast to the slumbering forms of the boys. His wings, vast and graceful, brushed against them in a silent lullaby, each feather a whisper of comfort.

When Zhang Fengxi walked past the threshold, it raised its head at the supreme general and asked, [Have you finally calmed down, Supreme General?]

Zhang Fengxi slumped onto the floor with a gloomy expression. He reached out and navigated the terrain of his children’s backs, soothing away tremors like gentle waves washing over a pebble.

"A little, but I am not happy with the current situation at all."

Caihong flew over and perched on Zhang Fengxi’s shoulder. It tilted its head and pinned the alpha with a stare.

[Is there any creature across the three realms who remains happy every second of its life?] It asked wistfully.

Zhang Fengxi let out a derisive scoff.

"I will be, if only Jianyu returns to my side."

[The time will come, Supreme General. You merely need to be patient.]

The majestic bird then took flight, not without giving Zhang Fengxi a full slap on the face with its broad wing.

[Your children need you more than ever. Take good care of them, and let me handle the complicated entanglements of fate. By heaven’s will, the stars might just align to your utmost satisfaction.]