Chapter 8: Do You Believe In The Concept Of ‘Rebirth’?

Worried that the cold breeze would enter the tent when walking in, Gu Heyan gently lifted the curtain. As soon as Gu Heyan walked in, he immediately closed the curtain without making a sound.

As he looked around the tent, Gu Heyan could see that there was a soft mattress and fur quilt spread out in front of him on the right side of the tent. There, a man was curled up in a ball underneath the quilt.

Gu Heyan slowly walked over and saw Mu Zhiming lying there, with his eyebrows furrowed, breathing unsteady.

Right after Fu Ji’an left, Mu Zhiming closed his eyes to rest. Since the bedding was thick and warm, the tent was quiet, he fell asleep almost instantly. Gu Heyan moved very lightly to not disturb Mu Zhiming. Due to this, Mu Zhiming wasn’t aware that someone had walked into the tent, nor that Gu Heyan was standing right beside him.

Mu Zhiming wasn’t sleeping soundly. In his stupor, he dreamed that he was standing by a terrible abyss filled with blood, snakes and insects. There, Fu Yi stood close by, holding a red agate Phoenix Nirvana jade pendant in his hand.

Mu Zhiming saw Fu Yi revealing a disgusting and contemptuous face, trying to throw the jade pendant into the abyss with utmost disdain.

Mu Zhiming was furious, and as he gnashed his teeth, his gums bleeding, he roared at him: “Fu Yi! Give me back that jade pendant!”

At that moment, outside the dream world and inside the tent, Mu Zhiming, who wasn’t sleeping soundly, clenched up his right fist. His breath slightly sharpened, as if he was having a nightmare.

Gu Heyan, who stood beside him at a loss, leaned down to gently caress Mu Zhiming’s forehead, soothing his wrinkled brow. All of a sudden, Gu Heyan heard Mu Zhiming murmur something several times.

“Fu…. Fu Yi….”

At that instant, Gu Heyan felt like he was falling into an extremely cold cave, where his warm blood froze right away. When holding out his hand mid-air, only nothingness brushed against his empty palm.

After a moment of complete silence, Gu Heyan gently tucked Mu Zhiming’s restless right hand back into the quilt. After that, and without making a sound, Gu Heyan exited the tent.

Back to the chaotic dream, Mu Zhiming was thinking of rushing over and beating Fu Yi’s pig head to a pulp, when all of a sudden, he felt a chilly breeze. Unable to stop the cold, he shivered and woke up from the dream, only to realize that someone had entered the tent. When Mu Zhiming looked up, he saw Fu Yi lifting up the tent’s curtain and walking up towards him with a big smile on his face.

Mu Zhiming muttered to himself: ‘He is the sinner, not me. I don’t have to be afraid of what’s about to come.’

Then, Mu Zhiming forced himself to sit up and salute Fu Yi: “Your Highness.”

“Your body hasn’t recovered from the illness yet, so there’s no need to be so formal and polite.” Fu Yi walked all the way to the soft mattress and reached out to stop Mu Zhiming’s salute. But Mu Zhiming insisted on stubbornly bowing to him, expressing the distance between them from the bottom of his heart.

“Are you feeling better?” Fu Yi asked with concern, as he sat down on one of the silk mats on the side of a low square table.

“I’m no longer seriously ill. I thank His Highness for his concern.” Mu Zhiming said lightly. “I was about to get up and change my clothes, to pay my respects to the Noble Consort Niangniang. We will wait for the Spring Hunt Sacrificial Ceremony together.”

‘Now that you know that I have something to do, can you stop pestering me?’

Fu Yi laughed and said: “When my Imperial Father went to hunt in the forest yesterday, he found the stunning view of a waterfall in a valley. This morning, he went to enjoy the scenery with the Noble Consort Niangniang and his beloved Ministers, so they aren’t in the camp at the moment. You should rest well, there’s no need for you to go pay your respects.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, for informing me. I’m glad that I didn’t have to take a trip in vain, it would have exhausted me even more.” Even though Mu Zhiming thanked Fu Yi, a headache was forming in his head. His head started to ache, as he didn’t know how long he would have to deal with Fu Yi.

For a while, neither of them knew what to say next, and the atmosphere became silent.

In his previous life, Mu Zhiming would have been excited and curious, asking Fu Yi about the details of what had happened the past few days during the Spring Hunt. But this time, Mu Zhiming didn’t want to say anything.

AD
Fu Yi looked at Mu Zhiming and could see how tired he looked. The fact that Mu Zhiming was not wearing an outer robe, his lips looking pale and dry, his long black hair was unkempt, scattered all over his shoulders added to this exhausted appearance. Since Mu Zhiming was looking to the side, half of his face could not be seen due to his hair covering the other half of his clear, elegant eyes and eyebrows. After pondering for a short while, Fu Yi reached out to lift that waterfall-like black hair with the intention of pulling it behind Mu Zhiming’s ear.

However, Mu Zhiming was startled and immediately dodged Fu Yi’s hand. His eyes looked at Fu Yi, extremely alert.

Stunned, Fu Yi withdrew his hand and laughed: “Did I scare you?”

“I’m the one who is improperly dressed and has not followed the proper etiquette. I hope His Highness can forgive me.” Mu Zhiming picked up the vibrant purplish hair ribbon beside the pillow and tied up his black hair, as neatly as possible.

“Lizhu, when have you and I fallen apart like this?” Fu Yi stood up slowly, as he said with a playful tone and an unabated smile.

Right when Mu Zhiming was about to fabricate an excuse, something around the lines of: ‘Before, I wasn’t aware of the etiquette, so I couldn’t act accordingly’, Mu Zhiming suddenly heard Fu Yi ask with a smile: “Lizhu, do you believe in the concept of ‘rebirth’?”