Chapter 1709 – End It Yourself
Hua Yuan leaned on a tree branch, limping up the mountain, his crippled leg dragging behind him. The rugged mountain path made even half the journey exhausting; sweat beaded on his forehead, and his chapped lips peeled. Lü Zheng glanced over and couldn’t help but look away.
Others watched him with sympathy, but Hua Yuan seemed numb to the pain, his face devoid of any suffering, showing instead a hint of relief and urgency. The closer he got to his destination, the faster he moved, even hopping on his good leg for the last few steps.
Silence fell over the group until a servant accidentally stepped on something that cracked underfoot.
At the sound, Jiang Pengji turned her head and spotted the servant stepping on a filthy bone half-buried in the mud.
Hua Yuan wasn’t surprised; he turned towards it, squatted down with difficulty, and picked up the bone, his expression somewhat dazed as he sighed, “After the calamity of Nanman, everyone is on edge; our people had no choice but to leave. Only a few loyal servants remain to manage the ancestral home and guard the graves, lest the nearby common people come up and dig up the dead…”
He spoke calmly, but the others reacted differently.
Wei Ci observed with a neutral expression, Jiang Pengji remained emotionless, and Lü Zheng secretly studied Jiang Pengji from the corner of his eye.
This was nothing new for Jiang Pengji; her underlings often dug up graves for funds. Previously, when she battled An Huan and faced a food shortage, she relied on such means to get by, infuriating the aristocrats from Fan Prefecture who ultimately rebelled, leading to her total victory over them.
【Moon Dance Phoenix Nest】：Hahaha, Lü Zheng’s expression is just perfect!
【Star-Crossed Siblings】：I really want to shove the microphone in the anchor’s mouth and ask how she feels right now.
【A Crowd of Onlookers】：No need to interview; I bet the anchor looks cheerful on the outside but is definitely cursing inside.
【What’s the Update Today】：Seems like the anchor’s grave-digging experiences can rival Boss Cao’s! How about a little treasure-hunting session?
Jiang Pengji, a model anchor through thick and thin, has never missed an episode over the years, experiencing all sorts of weather delays but always showing up. The idle ones watched her grow from a twelve-year-old to what she is now, knowing all her secrets like an open book.
When she ordered grave-digging to supplement military supplies, many expressed opposition, yet more chose silence. It wasn’t that they were cold-hearted; their rational minds told them that Jiang Pengji’s actions were justified by the backdrop of her times. As spectators, all they could do was spam the comments and watch the show unfold, unable to change her fate.
Time had passed, and now when they mentioned this incident, the onlookers could only laugh it off.
Hua Yuan appeared oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, continuing in his hoarse voice, “There are several villages up and down the mountain, often filled with lazy thugs engaging in dubious trades, covertly digging stolen graves to sell off the belongings of the deceased. If it were just this, it wouldn’t be too troublesome. If the deceased could ensure the living could survive, it could barely be considered accumulating virtue in death. Unfortunately, most villagers are despicable and greedy, stealing not just the offerings but even the contents of the coffins, ultimately splitting them open for firewood, leaving these clansmen—once prominent in life—without a resting place in death…”
In this regard, Jiang Pengji still had some integrity.
Her treasure-hunting subordinates might dig graves, but they wouldn’t strip corpses of what they wore, nor would they leave behind even a coffin.
Of course, this was just a case of fifty steps laughing at a hundred steps; fundamentally, there wasn’t much difference.
Hua Yuan’s parents’ grave had also been defiled, nearby filled-in burial pits were a mess.
Despite the destruction, remnants of the deceased’s family wealth were still evident, a level of opulence not common for the ordinary populace.
Most nearby graves were overgrown, some even turned into nests by small animals. Only Hua Yuan’s parents’ grave looked tidy, the surrounding weeds carefully pulled, and no scattered bones anywhere. Who could have cleaned this up? It was hard to guess.
Hua Yuan stared at the grave, his expression filled with a hint of daze, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
His parents had perished from an epidemic during his childhood, and his uncle and aunt took advantage of his youth to seize his family’s wealth, making his life a prolonged torment from childhood to adulthood. If that epidemic had taken him too, he wouldn’t have to endure over thirty years of suffering.
Kneeling before his parents’ grave, Hua Yuan spoke softly, while Jiang Pengji didn’t interrupt, simply watching as if she were a mere backdrop. Time passed, and after nearly a quarter of an hour, the lines on Hua Yuan’s forehead relaxed, as if a burden had been lifted, his aura becoming steadier.
Hua Yuan bowed to Jiang Pengji, sincerely saying, “Thank you, Lord Lan Ting.”
Jiang Pengji replied, “Do you know that while you were in a frenzy, you called yourself ‘Liu Xi’?”
Hua Yuan wasn’t surprised by her question; apart from this, he couldn’t fathom why a vassal lord would appear before him.
“I didn’t know at first; I found out later.”
As he recounted this, his breath slightly faltered.
He seemed to be suppressing his emotions, yet his eyes betrayed him, regret and pain were almost overwhelming.
Of course, these feelings weren’t directed at Jiang Pengji, but at others—like the adopted Young Master he treated as family, his Lord An Huan, and those who died directly or indirectly at his hands. Their deaths weren’t his intention, yet he undeniably caused them.
Hua Yuan didn’t want to excuse himself; he sought only death as a release.
“Can I see him?”
Jiang Pengji’s suggestion took Hua Yuan by surprise, so much so that his expression froze in disbelief.
“Well, it’s not impossible, but… Lord Lan Ting, you should know, he seems to fear you especially…”
Hua Yuan’s temporary return to lucidity was owed to Jiang Pengji’s aura being close.
Jiang Pengji asked, “Are you saying you can’t bring him out?”
Hua Yuan spoke with shame, “This matter is beyond my control…”
If he could manage those troublesome personalities appearing or not, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.
Jiang Pengji sighed, “That’s a bit unfortunate.”
When she first met Hua Yuan, she noticed multiple personalities within him; now, seeing him again, those chaotic personalities seemed to have vanished, replaced by a murky and fragmented “sub-personality,” likely a result of personalities devouring one another.
This “sub-personality” was probably the so-called “Liu Xi.”
Even if awakened, it would be a mindless “monster.”
“I’m not heartless enough to kill at my parents’ grave. Here’s your chance; end it yourself.”
Jiang Pengji’s hand above the God-slaying Blade fell, tossing a dagger to Hua Yuan.
Hua Yuan looked at the dagger and smiled.
“Thank you, Lord Lan Ting, for your mercy.”
