Chapter 1247: Chapter 1245: Sayonara
“Swish, swish…”
Richard trudged through the increasingly thick snow, arriving in front of the second white house, and with a “creak,” pushed open the door.
As the door opened, a rush of turbulent and scorching air blew out, striking him, and then spread into the surrounding snowfield. The heat of the air was so high that it left traces of lting in the snow.
Richard paid little attention, casting his gaze inside the door.
Inside the door, the scene was much like the first house, still the square, still the palace where he resided at the end of the square. The only difference was that the palace was burning, with many people being hunted by soldiers within the palace and across the square.
Among them, a bright-eyed young girl was carefully hiding behind the fountain in the square. She wasn’t particularly beautiful, nor was she unattractive, but she had a pleasant appearance. She looked alertly around, hid her figure cautiously, confird that amid the chaos, no one was paying attention to her, and got up, crouching and scuttling aside, preparing to escape.
The girl ran faster and farther, with her ponytail bouncing behind her head. Just then, with a “whoosh,” a crossbow bolt flew in.
“Thud!”
The bolt struck the girl’s back, the arrowhead piercing through her chest.
In an instant, the girl didn’t feel any pain, nor did she realize she was injured. Under the inertia, she took a few more steps before her legs went weak, and she fell to the ground with a “thump.”
In the distance, a black-armored soldier silently put away his chanical crossbow, confird the girl had no chance of surviving, and paid no more heed. Coldly, he drew his longsword and turned towards a young, terrified boy about ten ters away—he was the King’s guard. The order he received today was to eliminate everyone within the palace while the Second Prince was out, regardless of resistance, leaving no one alive. As for the Second Prince himself, soone else would handle him, and he wasn’t involved.
The black-armored soldier carried out his task without deviation, while the girl pierced by the crossbow tried hard to sit up from the ground.
She knew her chance of survival was slim but still strove to hold on for a little longer.
She pressed her hand against the wound, controlling the flow of blood from her body, not daring to rashly pull out the arrow. Soone had taught her that the human body is a complex structure, and without absolute certainty, one should not move the arrow when shot. Because when an arrow is lodged in the body, while causing an injury, it also closes the wound to so extent, slowing the blood flow. Once the arrow is removed without proper asures, it could fully open the wound, causing massive blood loss in a very short ti.
The person who taught her this had ntioned it casually, but clever as she was, she rembered. Now, trying to stay conscious, she hoped for a turn in this massacre.
But no turn ca for her.
More and more soldiers appeared, more and more people were killed—the palace and square were rivers of blood, bodies everywhere.
A few minutes later, the girl couldn’t hold on anymore, the blood seeped through her clothes, and she leaned against a statue. Her gaze was sowhat blank as she looked around and suddenly saw a door open in midair and saw Richard at the entrance.
The girl’s eyes brightened, but soon dimd again, a bitter smile on her face as she weakly said, “Your Highness, you ca back, you finally… ca back. But, you ca back too late, everyone is dead, I… am going to die too. Cough, cough!”
With a couple of light coughs, she glanced at the blood still flowing from her chest, using her last strength to press the wound, looking up at Richard with desolate confusion, asking, “Your Highness, why do they… want to kill us?”
At the door, Richard looked at the girl, silent for a long ti, finally sighed softly and spoke: “This is the price, Hui Zi.”
The girl’s na was Hui Zi, given by him, as in ancient Earth literature, “Hui” was synonymous with “wisdom.” She indeed lived up to her na and was perhaps one of the smartest people he had ever t, yet she lived such a short life without a chance to showcase that intelligence.
Hui Zi, upon hearing this, didn’t quite understand, and asked: “Your Highness, what price?”
“The price for pushing beyond the tis, for doing so, will inevitably be t with backlash from society’s inherent conservative forces,” Richard replied. “It was my oversight; I made a mistake.”
“Is it our mistake?” Hui Zi furrowed her brow, “But we didn’t kill anyone, did we? It’s them who are killing, right? Shouldn’t they be the ones in the wrong?” Hui Zi looked towards the soldiers swinging swords in the square.
“You can think that way, but the world is too pragmatic. Sotis theoretical right and wrong are not the right or wrong; winning is the true right, losing is the true wrong… and if one dies, then it’s an everlasting wrong.”
Hui Zi blinked, thinking for a few seconds, smiled at Richard, and said: “Your Highness… your words are always so profound. So I can understand, others take days to figure out. I think I’m too dumb to ever reach your expectations.”
“No, you’ve already done very well, truly, you’ve done very, very well.”
“Really?” Hui Zi looked pleased, then her expression beca increasingly dim, “Well, thank you, Your Highness. It’s just… perhaps I won’t be able to follow you anymore because I’m going to die.”
“I’m going to die,” Hui Zi’s voice grew weaker, her eyes vacant as she gazed at Richard, not moving for a long ti, using an almost imperceptible voice to say, “Your Highness, sayonara…”
“…Sayonara, Hui Zi.”
Hui Zi heard.
Hui Zi smiled.
Hui Zi’s body slowly fell to the ground, blood no longer flowing.
Richard quietly watched, observing the scene for a long, long ti.
In the end, he said nothing and exited, closing the door.
“Bang!”
…
On the snowfield.
Richard stood outside the door for a long mont, then turned his head to look to the side, seeing the Black Tower closer, and a third white house appearing a few hundred ters away.
“Swish, swish…”
He took steps forward, walked to the door, hesitated for a mont, and then reached out, opening the door with a “creak.”
This ti, inside the door was no longer the square and palace but a small room. He was familiar with the room, knowing every piece of furniture, as it was the bedroom he had lived in for many years.
The bedroom was brightly lit with many candles, and a child-like version of him sat on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, reading a thick book.
“Rustle, rustle…”
The child-like version of him kept flipping through pages until finally finishing, and with a “snap,” closed the book and set it aside.
He looked up, noticing his real presence, and the child-like version of him blinked and smiled, speaking out: “Honestly, seeing my future self here is surprising, I should be amazed, but I’m not; instead, I feel calm. It’s a bit strange.”
ps: Sayonara, Japanese—さようなら, aning ‘goodbye’ in Chinese.
Reviews
All reviews (0)