kingnovel Chapter 425: Life and Death
Chapter 425: Life and Death
"Then let me introduce myself again." Ji Anni shook her head and said, "I am Ji Anni from the third planet in the solar system, Earth, from the x grade and x class of xx Middle School, xx district, xx city, xx province, Asia, China. Ji for season, An for quiet, and Ni for girl." After saying that, she looked up at Yun Zhen as if she was expecting something.
Yun Zhen knew what she was expecting and replied, "From now on, there is no Zhao Ji in the world, only Ji Anni."
"Say it again." His brows were furrowed with emotion, and his throat was choked with sobs.
"There is no Zhao Ji in the world, only Ji Anni." Yun Zhen had a faint smile on his face, and there was a bit of self-blame and joy in his eyes when he looked at Ji Anni. He felt guilty because he regretted taking away Ji Anni's identity, and he was happy because he was happy that Ji Anni finally found herself.
Ji Anni covered her face and sobbed, "I obviously don't want to cry... I obviously don't want to cry..."
But the tears flowed out uncontrollably.
At this moment, I finally felt clearly: I am back, really back.
She returns to her own story from the first day of her time travel when Yun Zhen told her, "There is no Ji Anni in the world, only Zhao Ji."
"My queen, you will be free soon." Yun Zhen gently stroked the back of Ji Anni's head, comforting her like a child, "Although you can't return to your original world for the time being, at least you can get rid of Zhao Ji's identity and find freedom in this world."
"After entering the palace, I always told myself not to expect too much, because I was afraid that I would be hurt when my expectations were not met." Ji Anni lowered her head, wiping her tears as she spoke, "But Yun Zhen... you always make me have a lot of expectations. I don't know if it's because you are really more optimistic and confident than me... Most of the time I feel that you are just comforting me with fake optimism..."
Yun Zhen listened quietly to Ji Anni's chattering, unable to interrupt and not knowing what to say.
At this time, Ji Anni raised her hand and grabbed his sleeve, as if she was afraid that he would suddenly run away, "Yun Zhen, can you tell me the truth? Can I really deceive the emperor by pretending to be dead? What if he buries me?"
Yun Zhen was amused by her exaggerated seriousness. "My queen, Yun Zhen will tell the emperor that you are just a spirit away from your body, not really dead, and ask him to agree to take you to the Taoist temple outside the palace to recuperate. As long as you leave the palace, you won't have to worry about not having a chance to escape."
"Can it really be so smooth?"
"Everything is determined by fate, so don't think too much, madam. Anything can happen in the future, good or bad, we can only let it go and can't force it."
Yun Zhen is indeed a cultivator. Ji Anni's calm attitude when facing an unknown future is beyond his reach.
Ji Anni nodded, not quite understanding, "Then I don't want to think about the future, I just want to think about the present, okay?" Her eyes suddenly became cunning, and she brought the topic back to the starting point, "Yun Zhen, stay here with me tonight, okay?"
Seeing her insistence, Yun Zhen felt that it would be difficult for him to refuse, but he still couldn't accept it readily on this basis, so he thought of a temporary solution and said, "My queen, you go to sleep first, Yun Zhen will stay by your bedside."
"Aren't you sleepy?" Ji Anni didn't believe that Yun could stay up all night.
"I'm not sleepy." Yun Zhen lied with a smile on his face, causing Ji Anni to curl her lips.
"Forget it, I won't force you." Ji Anni crawled back into the bed and rubbed her eyes that were almost closed.
Suddenly I felt a little unsure whether Yun Zhen really liked me.
Maybe he does like me a little, but that's probably just like the love for a pet...
"Yun Zhen, if there is a way to return to the original world next time, will you come back with me?" Ji Anni suddenly had an idea, "My world is very interesting. There are many things I want you to see, such as TV, computer, chocolate, bungee jumping... too many to count."
The more he talked, the more excited he became, as if he had already got the train ticket home.
I thought Yun Zhen would refuse, but Yun Zhen replied softly, "Okay."
Ji Anni was unable to react for a long time. She stared blankly at Yun Zhen's face that said "I won't lie". She wanted to believe it but didn't dare to.
"Forget it... go to sleep, go to sleep." Ji Anni got into bed, covered herself with the quilt, and deliberately turned to face the wall, with her back to Yun Zhen. Otherwise, her panicked expression would definitely fall into Yun Zhen's eyes.
He is willing to leave the palace with me and enter my own world... At this time, whether he can really leave the palace or return to his original world is no longer important. What matters is Yun Zhen's heart. He is willing to be with me forever.
I hope everything goes well tomorrow—Ji Anni closed her eyes and made a wish.
Even though Ji Anni wanted to dream that night and enjoy the carefree life outside the palace with Yun Zhen in advance in her dream, unfortunately, Ji Anni did not see any dream. After she closed her eyes, the world was only dark.
There is no hint, no hope, the darkness is as thick as ink...
An indissoluble nightmare.
The next day, Long Mohan was invited to the Xianke Pavilion, and Yun Zhen led him into the room where Ji Anni was.
After drinking the potion prepared by Yun Zhen, Ji Anni had already fallen into a state of suspended animation, lying motionless on the bed.
Long Mohan felt a little sad and disappointed when he saw that Ji Annie showed no signs of recovery. Thinking of her lively and energetic appearance before, his chest became even more heavy and he could not breathe.
The scene of Ji Anni and I being stranded outside the palace and overcoming difficulties together suddenly emerged in my mind.
Although he knew that Ji Anni was not Zhao Ji at that time, he still protected her diligently. Although he repeatedly claimed that it was to protect Zhao Ji's body, subconsciously, he had an urge to protect Ji Anni.
I have to admit that Long Mohan does admire Ji Anni's character of daring to love and hate, but it is precisely because of this that he forced himself to say those heartless words yesterday. Otherwise, he was afraid that he would not be able to tell whether his feelings for Zhao Ji were transferred to Ji Anni because of that identical face. If he could not admit the fact that Zhao Ji was dead, he would only be able to live in self-deception forever.
However, looking at the stiff body lying on the hospital bed, whether it was Zhao Ji or Ji Anni, Long Mohan felt heartbroken.
He didn't want to stay in this room for even a second longer, so he turned his gaze to Yun Zhen's face and asked, "What do you want to tell me?"
There was no need to talk about politeness, every word he uttered was full of aggressiveness.
"Yun Zhen wants to answer in person the questions the emperor left yesterday." Yun Zhen had already prepared himself mentally and answered very calmly.
"The question of whether Zhao Ji is alive?" Long Moran glanced at him coldly.
Yun Zhen nodded, "The Emperor once said that when Yun Zhen is ready to bear the guilt of deceiving the Emperor, he will answer this question. Now, Yun Zhen has already realized it."
Yun Zhen spoke every word very seriously, and his serious attitude made the atmosphere in the room suddenly tense.
Long Mohan took a breath, calmed himself down and said, "Then tell me."
"Zhao Ji has long been dead. Now there is only a woman from another world named Ji Anni in the world. Although this woman from another world has occupied Zhao Ji's body, she is no longer Zhao Ji. Your Majesty, it was Yun Zhen... who deceived you. It was Yun Zhen who brought Ji Anni into the palace to impersonate Zhao Ji. Now Ji Anni's soul has been driven out of Zhao Ji's body by the fox demon Xue Lan, and it is still unclear whether she can return. The evil spirit of Xue Lan is too strong in the palace. Yun Zhen begs Your Majesty to let me take Ji Anni out of the palace and treat her outside the palace where she is not affected by the evil spirit of Xue Lan."
In order to show his sincerity, after he finished speaking, Yun Zhen lowered his head and knelt in front of Long Mohan.
Long Mohan pointed a finger at Yun Zhen's head and opened his mouth several times, but couldn't utter a word.
"Your Majesty, Ji Anni is not your Zhao Ji at all. She is just an insignificant person. Can't you just let her go?"
Yun Zhen's words were like a bucket of oil poured onto a raging fire, causing Long Mohan to yell in anger, "Well, you lied to me... you lied to me! Even you know you lied to me, and you still want to leave with this woman safely?!"
"Yun Zhen said what he said just now with the awareness of taking the blame for deceiving the emperor. If the emperor wants to hold him accountable..." As if he had expected Long Mohan to be furious, Yun Zhen was not scared off by the other party's sudden anger. Instead, he said calmly word by word, "...Yun Zhen is willing to die, but I beg the emperor to let my disciple Xuanjizi escort Ji Anni out of the palace to the Taoist temple for recuperation."
"It's easy for you to say that I'm willing to die!" Long Mohan was still angry, and his roar almost made the floor shake.
Yun Zhen lowered his head and did not answer. If even death could not atone for his sins, he didn't know what to do to calm Long Mohan's anger.
"You just said Zhao Ji is dead, and you want me to let you and her go out of the palace to live happily?!"
"Yun Zhen just wanted to save her life. He had no other extravagant requests." Yun Zhen finally couldn't help but defend himself.
"You're dreaming!" Long Mohan was like a wild animal out of control, "I will pay you back doubly for the pain you brought upon me!"
"If Your Majesty wants to collect a debt, please ask Yun Zhen alone. Don't vent your anger on Ji Anni. She is just an innocent person who was deceived by me. I threatened to send her back to her original world, and only then would she follow me into the palace." Yun Zhen wanted to take all the blame on himself.
"You don't need to teach me how to do it!"
Long Mohan was so angry that he swept all the utensils on the round table beside him to the ground with a flick of his long sleeves. The "crackling" sound did not extinguish his anger, and he still felt unsatisfied and overturned the entire table to the ground.
The table fell towards Yun Zhen and hit his knee, but Yun Zhen seemed to have lost his sense of pain and didn't even frown.
Long Mohan roared, "Do you think the bond between you two is deep? Do you think that she made a scene at the execution ground for you, and you took the blame for her, which proves that the two of you are indestructible? ... Yun Zhen, I will avenge your crime of deceiving the emperor. I will not take your life, but will separate you from each other! If she lives, you must die, and if she dies, you must live! We cannot be together in life, and we cannot be buried together in death. We will never see each other in this life, forever and ever!"