Zhanying walked behind the curtain and slumped down against his bed. The poison was corroding his veins and torturing him as if it wanted to act as a reminder that he was dying because of her.

He waved a hand, and smoke wafted up from the incense burner to calm his mind. Taking a deep breath, he looked past the curtains. Jingrui was still sitting on the ground, sniffling faint cries. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples as he lapsed into meditation.

He didn't have time to care for her, and he didn't want to see her. The poison was already enough for her to always haunt his mind.

Besides, there were far too many things he had to worry about. The former Heavenly Emperor Yunyin's birthday banquet was coming up in a few days. It marked the day of the full moon festival, and it marked the day he would put an end to everything.

On that day, he would make sure his long years of torment would come to an end. The game that he spent his blood and sweat to devise would come to a checkmate. He was only one step away, and no poison, or a rose with thorns, would get in his way.

But as he sat still, clutching tightly to the golden seed and listening to her sobbing, he suddenly felt alone.

Like a lonely victor dancing in a red sea, he was cursed to be alone.

At least he still had his Third Uncle, the one who had helped him survive his long years within the Heavenly Palace.

He brought the old paper wrapped around the seed up in front of him. His eyes trailed over Yuansong's true form, and then, onto the old paper parchment. Red and black ran through the yellow surface, forming inky characters over bloodstains. Perplexed, he dispelled the lotus seed and unfurled the paper.

The obsidian characters ran to form a letter, and his heart quenched. His hands trembled, and his flow of Qi that he stabilised through meditation, broke into chaos once more. The taste of steel gurgled up his throat, and he coughed.

Poison Consort Chen before midnight. Empress Dowager Lingyue to Third Prince Yunru.

Pain vied over his soul, and he clenched his fists. His blood boiled as he trailed his thumb across the paper, trying to wrap his mind around it.

All this time, he had thought Lingyue murdered his mother, but who could have thought he had been living in a lie. It wouldn't have pained him as much if it were someone else. But it was his Third Uncle, the one he had trusted, and the only companion he had within the Heaven of Hell. In his life, the very thing he despised most was betrayal.

He crunched the paper in his palm as he pushed himself to stand.

Jingrui gave him the letter. He didn't know how she had it, but if she had stabbed him once, she could stab him again.

Words were always empty and intangible. Only if he heard the truth from Yunru's mouth, would he believe.

Transporting himself, he arrived at the Third Uncle's Palace in a flash. His body grew rigid as he walked through the narrow gate into the old and abandoned Palace.

Third Uncle was sitting on a mahogany bench with his hand fan, cooling himself in deep thought. When he sensed Zhanying enter, his gaze lifted. A smile came over him, and Zhanying wondered whether the smile was another mask.

Yunru could sense Zhanying's anger smoldering from him, and his smile dropped. "What's wrong?"

Zhanying tilted his head back towards the clear sky and took a deep breath. "Third Uncle."

Yunru gestured to Zhanying to sit beside him. When he refused, the Third Uncle stood up. "Is the poison relapsing?"

A chuckle rasped out of his throat, and he held the letter out in front of him. Yunru arched his brows and received it from him. Upon unfolding the letter, his eyes popped out from their sockets, and his face turned pale. "T-This. . ."

"What do you have to say, Uncle?" Zhanying shook his head, swallowing down both bile and anger. "Have I always been living in a lie? If I had never found this, how much longer did you intend to keep me in the dark?"

Third Uncle's life faded from him, and he looked as if he were a mere mortal man aging from life. He stepped back, creases of vulnerability forming on his face. "I . . . I intended to keep it for all of my life. I swore to bury it deep within my heart and never let it resurface. . ."

Zhanying took a deep breath, his teeth grinding as he held himself from lashing out like a beast. "Does it amuse you? To see me give you all of the world's respect? To make me admire my own mother's killer all these years? Does it appease you?"

"Z-Zhanying, hear me out. I never intended it to be that way. I've only kept it from you all these years, because I thought you'd live happier not knowing—"

"Do you think I've been living any happier? All these long years within the Palace, I desperately sought the truth. You know how much it meant to me, yet you made me live in torment when the truth was just right by my side."

Yunru's body sank, and his eyes were hollowed out as he stumbled back onto the bench. As if the happy mask he had always masqueraded himself with had been stripped off, tears slid down his face. He clutched his hand onto his chest as he peered up at the sky. "Chen . . . I'm sorry Chen. . ."

Zhanying cocked his head to the side. "Apologising to the one you have killed? It's meaningless, Third Uncle. If you are truly sorry, I will make sure you get to meet my mother again and apologise in person." His sword appeared in his hand as he held it towards Yunru. "Why do you look solemn? Do you suddenly regret what you have done now that you are to die?"

Yunru shook his head as he wiped his tears. "I-I don't regret it . . . I only regret not telling you sooner. I regret that I engraved my sin and hid within my cowardice." He looked up at Zhanying, his eyes red with pain. "Kill me, Zhanying. At least then, I can make up for all that I have done. Kill me."

Zhanying tightened his grip on the sword hilt. "Oh, I will." He took a step closer and pressed the tip of his sword by Yunru's neck. "But before you die, tell me, Uncle. Why? Why did you kill my mother? She had always been kind to you, and she had trusted you most within this Heavenly Palace."

Hot tears streamed down Yunru's face as he dropped against the bench, petrified by the past that haunted him. "It was the only way. . ." He shook his head and hugged his trembling body. "It was the only way I could save you."

Zhanying stiffened, but he held the point of his sword firm. "What do you mean?"

"Although I knew Chen was married to my brother, I cared for her. Even if she simply considered me as a brother, I was willing to do anything for her . . . For many years, after Brother Yunyin had fallen ill, the Floating Abyss Palace had been oppressed by Lingyue, and Lingyue would stoop to any means in order to torment you and Chen. She knew that I was close to Chen, therefore she came to me.

"It was during that time when you brought victory from the battle between the Celestial Tribe and the Demon Tribe. Your name became more revered than Yihuai himself, and for that she was maddened to the core. She wanted to make you suffer and step back in your place, so she began sending letters to my Palace, making me do her dirty work. . ."

Zhanying tilted his head to the side. "But Lingyue doesn't have anything against you. Why, then, was she able to manipulate you?"

Yunru gave a solemn sigh. "As Yunyin's brother, I could be killed anytime. Just like you to Yihuai, I was a potential threat to Yunyin's throne. Lingyue offered me a lifetime of safety." He gulped and looked up. "But Zhanying, I have never done any of her dirty work. I've told Chen of every letter sent to my Palace. I let her decide all my courses of action and how I was to reply to every one of Lingyue's letters . . . But you see, the only thing in my life I had never expected was for Chen to decide that I should—" He came to an abrupt pause as he began to weep again.

A weary sigh parted his lips as he looked up at Zhanying. "When Lingyue told me to poison your mother, I also confided in her. But who could have thought, Chen was already planning her own death?" His skin turned sallow. "S-She asked me to kill her, Zhanying. Your mother asked me to kill her . . . she said that it was the only way."

Zhanying's heart hammered in his chest, and his breathing grew rugged. "I don't understand."

"It was the only way you would live your days without being weighed down. Chen knew that if she didn't die from the poison, Lingyue would hold her as a weapon and use her against you. For that, she'd rather die." Yunru's gaunt body lost its life, and he lay back, shaking his head. "Do you remember her last words to you before the day of her death? It is better if you are cursed to be alone than in the world where love weighs you down."

Zhanying's heart sunk back into the abyss he was born into, and he didn't have any strength left in him. The sword dropped from his palm, clanking against the floor as he stepped back. "Then why? If you didn't kill my mother, then why would you hide the truth from me all these years?"

Yunru blinked the tears in his eyes. "Chen made me promise her that I would look after you well, and since I've raised you since young, I know your temperament well. If I were to tell you all this, I was afraid you'd blame me for killing your mother. By then, you would no longer consider me your uncle." He looked up at Zhanying with a remorseful smile. "I am a coward, Zhanying. Besides, you know that little maid by your side? I recognise her; she looked just like her sister, the one I killed. Since you loved her, I couldn't bring myself to tell you even more. . ."

"That little maid no longer has anything to do with me." His gaze darkened.

Yunru nodded with a sad smile. "You may kill me, or you may resent me from now on. I know I deserve it, and I just want to repent for Chen. . ."

Zhanying shook his head, and a laugh, emptied of life, croaked out from him. "I won't kill you, Third Uncle, and I am not one without reason. If you really want to repent to my mother, you will testify for me. I've been flipping Heaven and Earth all these years, just to find out that the best piece of evidence against Lingyue was right by my side."

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WAX | 舞盡紅海 Dance End in Red Sea Arc