LMY Chapter 100

Madman

As they spoke, the sky outside had already completely darkened.

In the past, Wang Dian’s farthest journey by carriage had only been to Shizai Mountain, and that too in the emperor’s exclusive carriage, which wasn’t very bumpy. Moreover, they often rested along the way. It couldn’t be compared to the current level of rushing on their journey.

He felt as if his stomach was about to be jolted out.

“In half an hour, we’ll leave on horseback,” Quan Ning looked at his very unwell face and asked, “Can you manage?”

Wang Dian replied with a serious expression, “Even if I can’t, I must.”

“Another twenty li ahead, we’ll be in Ningyang County’s territory,” Quan Ning jumped down from the carriage and reached out to help him, “If Liang Ye has issued an order, fake travel documents might not get us through, and there’s also a curfew. We might have to take a detour into the mountains, which would slow us down considerably.”

Wang Dian didn’t take his offered hand and jumped directly off the carriage. However, his footing was off, and when he looked down, he saw his boots were covered in mud. The muddy sensation instantly made him frown.

“It snowed a couple of days ago,” Quan Ning mocked him mercilessly, “You’re used to walking on jade steps and golden roads, not a speck of dust on your shoe soles. Northern Liang is vast, not everywhere is like the capital with streets paved with bluestone slabs. If you can’t endure this hardship, you might as well give in to your brother early.”

Wang Dian disgustedly shook the mud off his boot soles and gave him a puzzled look before realizing, “Don’t tell me you’ve escorted some troublesome, pampered young master before?”

Quan Ning’s expression twisted slightly, “Do you know about the Four Young Masters of the Three Kingdoms?”

Wang Dian nodded, “Xiao Yutang of Eastern Chen, Baili Cheng’an of Northern Liang, Lin Yuan and Wen Liufang of Southern Zhao.”

These four young masters were of noble birth, outstanding in appearance, and each exceptionally talented. Their poetry and prose were admired by the world, with countless “fanatics” – after all, when Baili Cheng’an was demoted to Hexi Prefecture, the scholars and young ladies of the capital cursed him vehemently, with some even crying and shouting that they wanted to follow him to Hexi.

“That Xiao Yutang,” Quan Ning mentioned him with gritted teeth, “He wouldn’t step on muddy ground, only ate freshly picked fruits and vegetables, drank mountain spring water, bathed twice daily, burned incense and read books for two hours every day. I took the job because the pay was high, but a ten-day journey dragged on for three months. I’ve never seen such a fussy man in my life.”

Wang Dian chuckled and patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’m not that particular. I just haven’t gotten used to it yet.”

But Wang Dian soon realized that it wasn’t just that he hadn’t gotten used to it yet, but that he had never seen a truly ancient society in the real sense.

In the capital, he lived in Yingsu Square, the most prosperous area of the imperial city. He walked on wide, smooth broad roads, rode in precious horses and fragrant carriages. Around him, palace doors opened and closed, with officials in grand hats and brocade robes on jade steps. Even at night, thousands of lights illuminated hundreds of markets, bustling with people. No matter how much scheming and unpredictable life-and-death situations there were, he was still living in luxury, basking in Liang Ye’s glory.

Except for the lack of modern electronic devices, his quality of life hadn’t decreased much. He even had the leisure to have a romance with the emperor.

But when he rode on horseback, he saw destitute refugees barely clothed by the roadside, saw crops long dead in the fields despite it being winter, saw groups of chained women, children, and the elderly being whipped as they were driven north, saw the aroma of meat and wine wafting from one side of the road while beggars crowded the other, saw corpses by the roadside that had been frozen for days, their clothes stripped clean.

Even within the cities, his horse’s hooves still trod on muddy dirt roads. Passersby were gaunt with hollow eyes, looking numb and hopeless.

Turning over the luxurious and glamorous page of the capital revealed a stark, powerless reality of devastation on the other side.

And this place was only a hundred li away from the capital.

He remembered the reports of prosperity and peace submitted by officials, who cried and claimed to be exhausted from serving the country and people, and the precious treasures and jade they eagerly presented. Suddenly, a surge of irritation rose from the depths of his heart. Anger at being deceived blazed up in the face of the miserable and desolate scenes before him, only to be quelled by the pale, empty gazes from the roadside that left him feeling ashamed.

A year ago, when Liang Ye left the capital, he might have taken the same road as him, or perhaps he had stubbornly taken many roads, but the scenes he saw were all quite similar. So even when he reached Sifang City at the southernmost edge of Southern Zhao, he still chose to turn back.

Living as a carefree immortal was good, but it wasn’t a path he could take.

Wang Dian gripped the reins tightly, feeling almost suffocated by the surrounding cold.

He pieced together Liang Ye’s early life with difficulty: living like a puppet in a daze for over a decade, then becoming eccentric and deranged in seeking revenge, scheming to drag the entire Great Liang down with him, only to be persuaded by his master, losing interest and sparing his enemies, leaving with flair.

Then, the emperor, confined in luxury and extravagance, stepped out of the capital in a vain attempt at freedom, only to find his hands and feet mired in the mud he saw everywhere. The riddled-with-problems Great Liang thus pressed down on his shoulders and back, heavy and uncompromising, rendering him immobile from then on.

What lay hidden beneath his madness, casually concealed, was something that no amount of white jade soup could erase.

Wang Dian couldn’t help wanting to look back, but after gritting his teeth for a long while, he finally just cracked his whip hard. His steed galloped past the street, stirring up a chilly wind.

Two days later, they reached Qingsong City, at the border between Danyang County and Wunan County.

“You need to sleep,” Quan Ning grabbed his reins, his expression solemn. “We’ve been rushing non-stop for three days. You’ll exhaust yourself to death before you’re even caught.”

Wang Dian’s eyes were dry and tired, but his nerves were unusually excited. He blinked with some difficulty, shaking the dust from his robe’s hem and sleeves. “I’m not tired.”

“The horses are tired,” Quan Ning’s forehead throbbed. “I spent a fortune and went through hell to bring back these fine horses from Loufan. If you ruin them, I’ll ruin you.”

Wang Dian released the reins only to grip them tightly again, saying hoarsely, “Liang Ye won’t rest.”

“Even if he catches up, I have ways to keep him from finding you,” Quan Ning grabbed his sleeve and yanked him down.

Wang Dian’s vision went black for a moment. Only when his feet touched the ground did exhaustion surge over him, overwhelming him completely.

Despite this, after entering the inn, he still asked the attendant for a bucket of hot water to bathe.

The inn, touted as the most luxurious in the entire Qingsong City, couldn’t even afford to heat the floor. The dilapidated bed and quilt emitted a faint musty odor. Wang Dian hesitated for two seconds while drying his hair, but ultimately wrapped himself in the quilt fully clothed.

As soon as his head touched the pillow, drowsiness instantly vanished, leaving only a rootless fatigue. He closed his eyes for a long while, then painfully opened them again. He reached out to feel the miscellaneous items in his sleeve pocket, inadvertently touching the soft red bridal veil.

Afterward, he inevitably thought of Liang Ye… various versions of Liang Ye.

In the darkness, he took a deep breath, attempting to stifle these inappropriate thoughts. However, his body was beyond control. So, in the darkness, in his mind, he thoroughly ravished Liang Ye again out of thin air. The crevices of desire were barely filled, and only then did drowsiness surge over him.

Meanwhile, the person who was being manipulated into various compromising positions in Wang Dian’s mind had stopped his horse at the gates of Qingsong City.

The man in black attire sitting on horseback stared at the tightly closed city gates with a stern expression, slowly pulling into a dangerous smile.

“Master, shall we enter the city?” Chong Heng stopped his horse behind him, with dark circles under his eyes. “Wang Dian should be inside.”

“Have people guard all the city gates,” Liang Ye narrowed his eyes. “Zhen wants to see what other tricks he has up his sleeve.”

Wang Dian’s sleep was not peaceful. Even in his dreams, Liang Ye wouldn’t let him rest. He walked alone on a muddy road filled with skeletons and no end in sight. Liang Ye stared at him, gloomy and cold, gripping a short arrow and suddenly plunging it into his own heart.

He screamed out in his dream, only to be splattered with scalding blood all over his face.

When Quan Ning covered Wang Dian’s mouth, the bloodshot look in his eyes hadn’t faded. Even though Quan Ning had killed countless people, he was startled by the murderous aura in Wang Dian’s eyes, thinking to himself what immense hatred could drive a person to this state.

“Your brother has come after you,” Quan Ning said in a low voice.

Wang Dian seemed not to understand what he was saying, his entire demeanor still terrifying.

“Liang Ye,” Quan Ning pointed towards the window of the inn.

Wang Dian seemed to suddenly catch his breath, his three souls and seven spirits settling heavily into his body. He swatted away Quan Ning’s hand, instinctively looking towards the window. Almost simultaneously, the Gu worm in his body flared up without warning, causing pain so intense he nearly cried out.

Quan Ning firmly covered his mouth, poured out a pill from a bottle and stuffed it into his mouth, whispering, “It will take effect in half a quarter hour.”

Wang Dian, pale-faced, nodded once, and was immediately fitted with a strange mask. However, he was in so much pain and covered in sweat that the mask slipped twice and fell straight into his lap. He found himself staring into the grotesque eyes of the mask, nearly vomiting.

Quan Ning grabbed the mask, quickly wiped Wang Dian’s head with a cloth, and swiftly secured the ugly mask onto his face. Soon, the mask almost fused with his skin, impossible to remove.

Wang Dian’s lips trembled with pain. He had wondered why Liang Ye hadn’t stirred the Gu worm, only to realize that this scoundrel simply thought the time wasn’t right.

On the empty city street, Liang Ye expressionlessly felt the Gu worm crawl from his wrist to his forearm. After it darted past his forearm, he forcefully drove it back, stopping it at the upper part of his forearm.

It wouldn’t be interesting if he died from the pain.

He casually raised his hand, and countless hidden guards sprang out from behind him, like ink dripping into water. With him as the center, they slowly spread throughout Qingsong City, weaving a dense web full of murderous intent.

Liang Ye leisurely moved his somewhat stiff neck and stepped onto the muddy ground of Qingsong City, not minding at all that his boots and the hem of his clothes were splattered with mud. The restless Gu worm moved back and forth between his forearms. He walked calmly through the night with his hands behind his back, heading straight towards the inn where Wang Dian was staying.

Suddenly, the Gu worm under his skin fell silent, as if someone had forcibly suppressed them using some method. Liang Ye stopped at the entrance of the inn, looking up with displeasure at a certain window on the second floor. He controlled the Gu worm to suddenly rush towards his shoulder and lurk at the back of his neck.

Wang Dian didn’t know if he had cried out in pain. For a moment, his vision went completely white, and his ears were ringing. He regained his senses while gasping for breath, vaguely seeing Quan Ning’s grave expression before being fed a handful of pills. Only then could he barely hear sounds again.

“Are you sure Liang Ye won’t take your life?” Quan Ning reached out to wipe the blood flowing from his ears. “Of all people to trust, why did you have to trust a madman?”

Wang Dian grinned.

The Gu worm crawled back to Liang Ye’s wrist. His eyes were filled with murderous intent as he threw out the Liuye sword in his hand. The tightly closed window on the second floor of the inn instantly shattered into pieces.