Chapter 78: The Endgame

Yunqing felt a deep sorrow, for she could not find a reason to refute Feiling. Every word he spoke was undeniably true, yet precisely because of this, those words cut into her heart like knives, leaving her aching and uneasy.

She spent a sleepless night.

In the days that followed, Yunqing forced herself not to seek out Zhushu again. Fortunately, Feiling did not appear before her to remind her of that bloody reality. But on the twelfth day, within the joyful atmosphere of the inn’s first floor, Yunqing overheard a piece of news: Tang Li was gravely ill.

Standing on the second floor, Yunqing looked down. Every patron below wore a smile, switching their tea for wine and congratulating one another.

"If that dog of an official dies, it’ll be a blessing for everyone!"

"He’s committed so many sins—how could Heaven not deal with him? Ha!"

Yunqing had barely listened before she rushed out of the inn, ignoring everything else as she headed straight for the Tang residence. Once again, she concealed herself and slipped inside, finding Zhushu in Tang Li’s bedchamber. Zhushu sat vigil at Tang Li’s bedside, her eyes sorrowful but dry. Besides Zhushu, imperial physicians in official robes attended to Tang Li, likely sent by order of the Emperor of Luo. Yunqing glanced around but did not see the household servants who had once found Kangsheng. She approached Zhushu and quietly inquired.

Zhushu replied, "Earlier, they all urged Kangsheng to let go, but he refused and sent them all back to the Tang clan, saying he didn’t want them following him anymore. In their anger, they left and haven’t returned to see him since."

"How is Kangsheng’s health?"

Zhushu gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "It’s all old ailments. They flare up again and again, but this time it seems worse. I don’t know if he can make it through."

Yunqing was silent, listening to the old physicians’ instructions, which did not differ much from what Zhushu had said. After they departed, Yunqing asked, "If Kangsheng passes on, what will you do?"

"I’ll seek out his next life. The karmic ties of this life have all shifted to me; he should have a proper reincarnation."

"By then, he will have forgotten you. Does that not matter?"

Zhushu paused, then shook her head. "He’s already nearly forgotten me. But no matter how he changes, I promised him. I will watch over him for three lifetimes, then find a suitable place to resolve our karmic bond. If fate allows, perhaps we’ll meet again."

Yunqing said no more, keeping vigil with Zhushu by Kangsheng’s side. This time, Kangsheng truly was gravely ill. The medicines prescribed by the physicians he swallowed only to vomit them back up, his body growing thinner by the day. As he languished in bed, Zhushu quietly kept watch, as though she believed this was the best ending for him. During Kangsheng’s illness, Yunqing also saw the Emperor of Luo come to visit, whose features indeed resembled those of Chu Xuan.

A month passed, and Kangsheng’s health failed to improve. His body was frail, his eyes sunken; he ceased taking medicine altogether, and no one in the household tried to persuade him otherwise.

One day, Kangsheng struggled from his bed, limped to the study, and after much effort, removed the painting from the wall.

The blood-red visage on the painting was as it had been before, smiling gently. Kangsheng raised his bony hand to caress Zhushu’s image, his gaze suddenly tender. He whispered, "I always believed I hated you—why is that? Clearly you took me in, helped me, but I couldn’t feel gratitude... Over the years, I did resent you; even I found it odd. Now I understand—I hated for so long that I forgot I was supposed to love you, isn’t that right? I always felt I had forgotten something, but I was too busy seeking revenge to care. These days, lying in bed gave me time to think clearly. Do you think I’m right?"

‘There is an end to earth and sky, only longing is boundless... Have I disappointed you so much that you’ve kept yourself hidden all this time?’

A single tear fell, spreading across the painting.

Watching at the side, Zhushu could not hold back her tears. She covered her mouth tightly with both hands, stifling any sound.

Kangsheng caressed the painting again and again. "I fear it’s too late in this life... I know if I recover, I’ll forget you again, so I won’t take medicine. In the next life, will you come find me? Don’t let resentment take root again; let’s live simply, with plain food and a quiet life. Would that be all right? Promise me you won’t despise me then."

"...Very well, we’ll live simply. No civil examinations, no resentment, just ordinary folk in the countryside."

Zhushu answered, stepping before Kangsheng. Sensing her presence, he raised his head, his eyes bright. Zhushu opened her arms, gently drawing Kangsheng into her embrace. Kangsheng closed his eyes and smiled, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes. In the next instant, he collapsed, passing through Zhushu’s form and falling to the floor, still clutching the painting tightly in his hand.

Yunqing saw that Zhushu’s face in the painting had been blurred by tears, becoming indistinct. Zhushu simply stood there, staring in a daze as Kangsheng’s body was carried away by servants, prepared for burial. The mourning hall was sparsely attended; apart from the Emperor of Luo and a few ministers, there were no others. On the day of burial, however, a large crowd of commoners gathered to watch in the capital. When the coffin left the city, the people who had followed began to attack it furiously.

The escorting party scattered. Those carrying the coffin, constrained by the Emperor’s command, did not dare abandon it, and hurried to the gravesite. When they arrived, they tossed the coffin carelessly into the tomb, shoveled a few loads of earth and left. Only then did Zhushu appear, quietly straightening the coffin, covering it with soil, and erecting the tombstone. But the people pursued her relentlessly.

Zhushu stood tall before the tombstone, pelted by eggs, vegetable leaves, and stones, some of which struck the tombstone itself.

Yunqing wished to appear and help, but Zhushu shook her head at her.

Filth accumulated on the tombstone, and some men struck it so hard with rocks that it chipped.

At that moment, Yunqing heard Zhushu speak: "Mingyue, I was wrong, truly wrong... I suppose I must break my promise; next life, I cannot seek him. If you have the chance, please find him and tell him I failed to keep my word."

Yunqing’s eyes widened, hastily revealing herself and rushing toward Zhushu, but she was a step too slow. Zhushu’s figure gradually faded away. At the same time, bamboo shoots burst wildly from the earth, growing rapidly and spreading outward. The remaining onlookers screamed in terror and fled, vanishing in an instant. Yet the bamboo’s growth did not cease, but continued to rise and spread in frenzy.

Within moments, Yunqing found herself surrounded by a dense bamboo forest, unable to discern her direction.

Suddenly, the sound of a painting tearing echoed overhead. Yunqing looked up, and scraps of paper rained down. She picked up a few pieces at random; the face was gone, only a hint of blood-red remained. Yunqing could no longer tell if this was Kangsheng’s token of longing or the painting left by Zhushu.

The next instant, a torrential rain, out of season, poured down.

Yunqing gave a bitter smile, turned, and chose a direction at random, heading outward. Near the edge of the bamboo grove, a figure approached and raised an umbrella for her, though her clothes were already soaked through.

Yunqing did not push him away, only wandered on in a daze, not knowing where she was going.

Suddenly, she could not understand—Zhushu had promised Kangsheng, so why did she choose this ending?

As if sensing her doubt, a familiar voice sounded at her ear: "Zhushu bore Kangsheng’s karmic debt; one day, it had to be repaid. What she loved was only Kangsheng of this life, the one and only Kangsheng in all the realms. So she did not choose the elusive next life, but chose to disappear together with him. Perhaps someday, a man truly named Kangsheng will meet an ordinary woman named Zhushu..."

Would there be no regrets then? Yunqing did not ask, but walked forward in confusion.