Chapter 219: Chapter 199: The Mountains Have Grass and Trees (Part 1) Chapter 219: Chapter 199: The Mountains Have Grass and Trees (Part 1) Chu Yu lowered her head, burying her face forcefully into the ice-cold, damp towel. The chill of the cold water penetrated her skin and reached her brain, giving her a slight boost of alertness.
She had not rested for three days, extensively depleting her physical and ntal energy. Strangely, Chu Yu could not sleep. She had tried hard to rest for a while. But the mont she closed her eyes, it felt as if sothing was urging her to open them again.
Setting aside the towel, Chu Yu turned to look at Tian Rujing.
Like her, Tian Rujing hadn’t slept for three days. Worse, during this ti, he hadn’t eaten anything, only drunk a little water. Whenever he couldn’t hold on and was about to lose consciousness, Chu Yu would take advantage of his confusion to ask him about the thod to use the bracelet, hoping to coax it out of him while his mind was unclear. Yet, every ti she touched on sothing crucial, Tian Rujing would snap back to clarity and resu his silence.
The two looked at each other. The depletion of their energy ant that they could produce no other expression except to gaze blankly at one another—their eyes cold and vacant as if they were two lonely ghosts.
Tian Rujing felt as though all the bones in his body were wailing tragically, as if soone were hamring his brain, producing a thunderous noise that made his ears ring. His field of vision narrowed so much that looking at Chu Yu prevented him from seeing anything else around him; shifting his gaze ever so slightly made her vanish from his sight.
He knew his condition was terrible. He had never experienced such prolonged exhaustion. Though his will could still hold, his body might collapse first.
Yet…
He focused his gaze on Chu Yu. Within his field of vision, only a small circular area was illuminated, allowing him to see Chu Yu’s features clearly. Everything else was shrouded in darkness, except for the bright, clear area around her brows and eyes. Her brow tips bore a weary heaviness, but her gaze was as solid as ice.
Despite feeling awful, Tian Rujing’s expression flickered briefly with hard-to-detect sorrow and pity as he looked at Chu Yu’s rigid deanor.
Slowly, he parted his lips, opening and closing them a few tis but suddenly realized that he couldn’t make a sound. His throat felt as if it were a broken air bellows, whistling wind through its emptiness, dry from his lips down to his throat.
Noticing Tian Rujing seed about to speak, Chu Yu quickly picked up the white porcelain teacup set aside and walked over to give him a drink.
After three days, her patience had been eroded by restlessness. Initially, she would patiently hold the cup to Tian Rujing’s lips and wait for him to lower his head to sip. But now she would forcefully pour without caring whether he actually drank it or whether he might choke.
The cold water flowed into his windpipe, and Tian Rujing’s inelegant coughing seed violent enough to tear him apart. Chu Yu, however, rely watched with cold indifference as if observing a third-rate movie.
After a brief glance, she put down the teacup and took out the bracelet from her bosom, which she had studied countless tis over the past three days.
After confirming that the bracelet wouldn’t produce an electric shock and harm her, Chu Yu hadn’t been shy about playing with the object. Now, even with her eyes closed, she could trace in her mind every arc, the size of the gemstone, and the finest details of the bracelet. Yet, she still couldn’t use it.
It wasn’t hers, never hers.
Anxiety and exhaustion were indeed terrible things, almost driving her to madness, leaving only a slight clarity to rember her initial obsession, but with no extra ntal capacity for those tender, wonderful emotions.
Tian Rujing knew what was going on with Chu Yu and didn’t get angry because of her brutality and indifference. Instead, his sorrow and pity only deepened.
Even though he was the one bound, he still held an unbeatable trump card. The person forced into a corner first was instead, her.
Was it he who had driven her to this state?
Thinking this, Tian Rujing, after a severe bout of coughing, finally managed to regain his ability to speak. With a hoarse voice, he slowly said, “…It’s impossible. You can’t possibly use the Divine Artifact.”
This was the first ti in three days that Tian Rujing had initiated a conversation with Chu Yu about the bracelet. Chu Yu coolly raised her eyes, waiting for him to continue.
“To use this object, you must be recognized by its current holder,” Tian Rujing struggled to say. Water still stung in his windpipe. Each word caused pain from his lungs to his throat. “Or, you could kill , and after three years, the Divine Artifact will naturally have no master and will respond to anyone.”
The conditions he stated were nearly impossible to et. The current holder of the bracelet was naturally Tian Rujing. Having held on for so long, how could he possibly want to help her? As for waiting three years, she could not afford that ti.
She could afford to return ho three years late, but by then, Rong Zhi would likely have turned into nothing but bones.
Chu Yu didn’t suspect whether Tian Rujing was lying. At this point, he had no need to fabricate lies to deceive anyone. Even if he did make up a story, suggesting killing him was not a strategy anyone would propose.
After thinking for a while, she quietly asked, “Why are you telling this?”
Over these three days, she had exhausted all ans of persuasion. She had even revealed that the Heavenly Book was rely a historical record, all in hopes of softening Tian Rujing’s stubborn resolve, but to no avail.
He had been practicing Sealing and Closing for three days. Unless he had a sche, there was no need for him to falter at this ti.
Tian Rujing lowered his eyelids. His voice was soft, as light as a breeze drifting over thin clouds. “I spent three days thinking and I realized sothing. You initially did not co for Rong Zhi. Given Rong Zhi’s intellect, he wouldn’t use such thods, nor would he have you confront . Your initial action of holding hostage must have been for another reason.”
Chu Yu said expressionlessly, “You are right, I indeed didn’t co for Rong Zhi.” She had initially acted for herself, but now Rong Zhi’s coma had made her shift her primary goal.
Now that it was seen through, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
Tian Rujing still did not look at Chu Yu. He continued staring at the ground and spoke softly, “Then it has nothing to do with Rong Zhi, does it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you wish to free yourself from here?”
“Yes.”
“To go far away?”
“Yes.”
“And never return?”
“Yes.”
“To live a plain life?”
“Yes.”
“If I grant this to you, would you be willing to give up on Rong Zhi?”
“…”
Chu Yu almost instinctively responded with “Yes,” managing with difficulty to swallow it back, but she couldn’t deny the trendous allure of Tian Rujing’s words. Even after thoughtful consideration, she still felt a compelling urge to agree.
Tian Rujing looked at her and slowly said, “I’ve thought about it,, whether you are alive has little influence on the grand sche, but Rong Zhi’s existence can change the course of the world substantially.”
Compared to him, the danger Chu Yu posed was virtually negligible.
Tian Rujing knew that what he said wasn’t entirely without impact on Chu Yu. Hearing those historical narratives, it wasn’t so much a shock as a quiet relief for him: he finally had a reason to let Chu Yu live.
At worst, after twenty years, he’d traverse the world, altering all historical records to make them match the moirs in his bracelet,, as Chu Yu suggested, which was not impossible.
Though it would be arduous, at least it could protect her.
With a hint of pleading, he looked at Chu Yu: “I have already made concessions,, so you should also step back.”
He conceded.
He bowed his head.
He surrendered.
He withdrew.
Not for Rong Zhi, not for himself, not for anyone else, but just for her.
He had never imagined a day when he would value another above himself, ultimately even surpassing beliefs and convictions rooted deeply from childhood, causing him to take such a step back.
This step he took might seem very small, but it was unprecedented.
If the standoff continued, Chu Yu would be the first to collapse.
In the end, he simply couldn’t bear it.
Three days and nights without sleep, scant water, and no food hadn’t broken him, but he was defeated by the icy despair in her eyes.
Seeing Chu Yu’s skeptical and scrutinizing gaze, knowing she suspected his motives, Tian Rujing gave a bitter smile.
He finally admitted defeat, finally bowed, finally surrendered, finally withdrew, not for himself, but for a reason she would never know.
The mountains have trees and the trees have branches, my heart rejoices for the emperor, but the emperor does not know.
This is the deepest loneliness and despair in the world—I am right in front of you, yet you do not know that I love you.
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