Chapter 157

Chapter 157

Sheng Zhaoning tilted her head toward him and let out a bitter laugh. “Are you still lost in that false dream someone wove for you, even now?”

He had mistaken the peaceful illusion of these past days for reality, believing that she had truly let go of her old hatred and was willing to put their grievances aside and live with him in loving harmony.

In this illusion, false beyond all measure, he was the only one who had taken it for real.

“You killed the person I loved most. You imprisoned me, destroyed me, and did what you thought was ‘being good to me.’ What makes you think I would ever fall for you?”

Sheng Zhaoning cast aside her gentle disguise. Once every hope had been shattered, her fear would fade as well.

Perhaps she really would rot away in this inner palace for the rest of her life, never to see the light of day again.

Wei Yi stared into her eyes, as though desperately searching for something within them.

But all he found was endless coldness.

Why wouldn’t she lie to him anymore?

Even if it was all false, even if it was nothing but deception, he no longer wanted to expose it.

“What would it take for you to truly love me?” he asked, almost reverently.

Or perhaps she could go on deceiving him like this forever.

He could stop being so greedy.

But just as he finally stopped longing for the truth, Sheng Zhaoning answered him with the most genuine truth of all: “Never.”

From the moment that sword pierced Ah Heng’s chest, they had become mortal enemies, destined to fight until one of them died.

As long as they lived, this hatred could never be dispelled.

She wanted nothing more than to kill him. She simply couldn’t.

That did not mean she had forgiven him.

At last, Wei Yi saw utterly open sincerity in her eyes, only to be met with an answer like this.

Never.

Even after that person had died, she still refused to love him again.

If that was how things were, if she truly would never love him again…

“Then hate me,” Wei Yi said with a tearful smile.

His bloodstained fingers brushed her cheek, smearing her face red and staining his eyes crimson.

“Don’t ever forget me for the rest of your life.”

If she couldn’t love him, she could still hate him.

That was better than being indifferent to him.

He had to remain in Sheng Zhaoning’s heart. He could never allow himself to be forgotten and become a stranger to her.

Sheng Zhaoning was imprisoned once more.

Everything inside Changhua Hall was removed. Thick layers of soft padding were spread across the floor and walls. The hall doors were covered with black cloth from the outside, and every window was nailed shut. Heavy wooden boards completely blocked out the light, making it impossible to tell day from night.

Wei Yi came every day, but he never said a word to her. He only forced her to take her medicine and eat.

The bitter medicinal broth was poured into her mouth from the rim of a cold bowl. She could not swallow it and choked violently, only for a second bowl to follow at once, until she had taken the full dose.

For the rest of the time, she was locked alone inside the empty hall, without light or darkness’s end.

Sheng Zhaoning did not know why she was still alive. The unending darkness made it impossible for her to sense the passage of time. She began to grow drowsy and lethargic, often unable to tell whether she was awake or trapped in a dream.

But there was one place whose outline was rapidly becoming clear, whether in reality or in her dreams.

Suizhou, a place she had never visited.

Sheng Zhaoning used all her strength to imagine its mountains and rivers, its every blade of grass and every tree.

What kind of beautiful place was it?

Summer must be nearly here. At the place where he lay buried, were there little bridges and flowing streams, with the pleasant sound of cicadas?

Was it a desolate wilderness where no one ever went, or a green meadow covered in flowers?

Perhaps his name was not even carved on the grave, leaving only a cold, blank stone.

No one recognized him, and no one knew who he was.

He remained there alone, stranded in an unfamiliar land, unable to find his way home.

Sheng Zhaoning imagined it with all the power she possessed. Her soul longed to break free from the confines of her body and fly toward Suizhou.

But reality was that the towering palace walls kept everything out, and she remained trapped inside the cold, dark, empty Changhua Hall.

Not a sliver of daylight could reach her.

The hall doors opened again, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.

Sheng Zhaoning lay on the floor, which was covered in thick padding. In a daze, she opened her eyes to see a feeble candle flickering in the distance.

The light stabbed at her eyes, blurring her vision for a moment. When it cleared again, a pair of dark, deep-set eyes filled her view, sweeping her away like a whirlpool.

Wei Yi still said nothing. He pressed a bitter pill into her throat and forced her to swallow it.

Sheng Zhaoning frowned in pain, unable to suppress a dry retch.

Watching his back as he turned to leave, she spoke first for the very first time.

“Wei Yi, you still don’t understand.”

Her voice was so hoarse it barely sounded human. Every word felt as though it were being carved across her vocal cords with a knife, leaving behind hollow, ragged wounds.

The footsteps came to a halt.

“When will you ever truly understand what love is?”

She had once actually believed Wei Yi, believing that he had finally learned how to love someone.

But his love was an intense, suffocating possessiveness.

All he knew was how to force someone to remain at his side. He never considered that person’s feelings, nor could he learn to respect them or let them go.

All he could do was hide behind the name of love and hurt her again and again.

The candle flame was snuffed out, and Wei Yi turned and left.

The hall sank into darkness once more.

In the days that followed, Wei Yi continued to come every day.

The difference was that each time he came, he lit a candle in the room.

The only light she received each day arrived with Wei Yi.

Sheng Zhaoning knew that he was trying to tame her, using as bait the craving for light that came from living too long in darkness and silence.

She was a Shadow Guard. Such methods could not deceive her.

But as time passed, Wei Yi appeared less and less often.

At first, he came three times a day. Then it became twice a day, and later, only once.

Then once every two days, once every three days…

Until today, Wei Yi had not appeared for five days.

He sent Shadow Guards to force her to eat and take her medicine. No one spoke to her, and that faint thread of light never appeared again.

She lived day after day in pitch-black darkness, accompanied by a silence sufficient to drive anyone mad.

Sheng Zhaoning did not even know whether her eyes could still see.

Perhaps she had already gone blind.

Or perhaps she simply longed so desperately for a trace of light that she could use to confirm whether she could still see.

In any case, on the fifteenth day, Sheng Zhaoning finally began to long for his arrival.

How much time had passed? She could no longer remember, nor could she distinguish one moment from another.

Sheng Zhaoning had endured this endless darkness for far too long. She struggled to rise from the floor and groped her way toward the window where a chaise longue had once stood.

Her hand slowly climbed to the windowsill, only to find a heavy wooden plank.

She stared at it intently, trying to glimpse a sliver of light through the cracks, but all that lay before her was a hollow darkness with no bottom.

Sheng Zhaoning’s breathing grew faintly ragged.

She reached out and tried to pry the plank loose, but against the heavy wood, nailed firmly into the wall, even all her strength could not move it in the slightest.

A trace of bewilderment suddenly came over her.

In her daze, she seemed to have suddenly forgotten why she was here. She had even forgotten who she was.

After a long stretch of empty silence, Sheng Zhaoning slowly crouched down, leaned against the corner, and covered her head with both hands.

Is anyone there…

How long has it been?

Where is this place?

Could someone please talk to her…