Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 84: Zopyra — XVIII

Quietly, he repeated, as if to convince himself. "It could have been us... But you backstabbed me."

Hearing the quiet, the broken, the scared whisper, Long ZhenHai froze. Though he was unable to see what exactly was going on beyond the fiery wall, he could sense the shift in the ten-tailed fox mood.

Suddenly, however, the fallen fox deity snapped out of his depressive episode and sneered, spitting on the corpse’s face, he bared his fangs.

"Who am I lying to?" He whispered, but his voice quickly rose to a scream, a thick, trembling and wet scream. "Who am I lying to?! Everything we had was built on lies. Hahahahaha—" he broke down, sobbing, eyes welling with tears as he wept.

Angrily, he slashed his hand at the corpse and right then and there, the burnt cadaver turned to dust, blackened, gravely dust without even a single bone left intact.

The ten-tailed fox sobbed softly, covering his face with his blood and ash ridden hands as he whimpered pathetically.

Long ZhenHai didn’t know how to react to the sudden shift. All he could think of was the whiplash he was experiencing at the moment. Wisely, though, he opted to remain silent.

As the ten-tailed fox’s connect with Hu Lijing’s body continued to weaken, the tether wavering, he could feel Hu Lijing’s own consciousness stir awake bit by bit.

He didn’t care. The grief that had crashed down on him, the loss he never had the chance to mourn for was far greater right now.

Gradually, the fallen deity’s cries quietened to sobs and then they softened to sniffles as he tried — in vain — to wipe away the dirt from his face.

In his chest, the borrowed heart thumped a low rhythm. Neither too fast, nor too slow.

The time for his departure was fast approaching.

By the time he calmed down, Hu Lijing’s consciousness was stronger than before. He didn’t let it bother him, instead, with a slight shake of his head, he straightened up, squaring his shoulder as he took a deep breath.

Above him, in the sky, the dark clouds rumbled, signifying the imminent rain.

"Long ZhenHai," in a hoarse voice, the ten-tailed fox began, a dull cadence staining it. "I’ve clung to resentment more tightly than to my own soul. Say, now that the resentment is resolved and its objective gone, is what remains truly me and my soul, or just an empty shell?"

Long ZhenHai pursed his lips, unable to answer the question as he shook his head. "I cannot say for sure, fox." He said, rather chagrined.

When the first drop of rain fell down through the collapsed ceiling, it landed right on the ten-tailed fox and intensified, the drops pelting down on him and Long ZhenHai mercilessly.

The raindrops trailed down his face, tracing Hu Lijing’s features as they caressed down his throat, soaking into his clothes, making the grieving ten-tailed fox shiver slightly.

Long ZhenHai sat in silence, unsure of what to do next as he waited for the ten-tailed fox to leave Hu Lijing’s body. The dragon didn’t know when he would.

The ten-tailed fox closed his eyes, swallowing thickly as he parted his chapped lips slightly, allowing the rain water to enter his mouth. With a deep breath, inhaling the scent of rain and the rumbling clouds, the ten-tailed fox spoke again, his voice soft and a touch rueful.

"Nearly everyone met the fate they deserved. Those who deserved slaughtering were slaughtered, those who deserved to be burned were burnt. Except for the two of you. This is not the conclusion you deserve, but there’s no changing it, is there?"

In response to his words, Long ZhenHai froze as Hu Lijing’s consciousness bristled, making an uncomfortable sensation run through his body. The ten-tailed seemed to take no offence to their actions.

Surprisingly, in his last moments, the fallen fox deity was calm. He moved slowly, opening his eyes as he turned to look at Long ZhenHai from over his shoulder, crimson eyes half-lidded as the raindrops hung on his lashes while the torrential downpour increased.

Under the veils of rain and the weakening flames, those crimson eyes looked almost remorseful.

"I’m a villain, through and through." He murmured in a low voice while looking up at the sky. "There is no sad story, no tearful pain for me to share, you know?" He let out a faint chuckle as he observed the dark clouds. "My departure accompanied by rain?" He huffed, a ridiculing smile playing at his lips. "How unoriginal."

Long ZhenHai listened to him speak. Under all of his arrogance, all of his insane nonchalance, the dragon would have to disagree. The ten-tailed fox definitely had a story he didn’t want to share.

Perhaps a really sad one, who could say for sure?

Silently, he shook his head, pricking his ears to listen carefully.

There was silence. Thick, suffocating silence that hung in the atmosphere, accompanied by nothing but the deafening noise of rumbling clouds, crackling thunder and pelting rain.

"I have always asked: ’What is mercy?’" He paused for a moment before continuing with a wry grin as he glanced at Long ZhenHai. "Now, I have the answer. Mercy is selfless love. You’re right, dragon... I’ve never had mercy."

Just when Long ZhenHai opened his mouth to say something, the ten-tailed fox spoke again, turning his body slightly so that he was now facing the dragon.

With a wry, disturbingly gentle smile on his face, the ten-tailed fox put his hand on his chest and spoke, his voice barely above a weak whisper.

"It’s said that as long as a name is remembered, a person never truly dies. I know I don’t deserve it, and I’ve abhorred my name all my life..." He trailed off, shaking his head gently as the amber locks clung to his face, water streaming down the contours of his visage. "But Long ZhenHai and Hu Lijing, I’m leaving my name with you, hoping it won’t be forgotten. My name... My name is Bai Huiqi."

And just like that, he was gone. Flying away in dark wisps that were neither smoke nor anything Long ZhenHai could identify.

The ten-tailed fox’s departure left Hu Lijing unconscious, the divine fox’s body swaying as he fell to the ground.

Abruptly, Long ZhenHai tore his eyes away from the disappearing wisps of black and all but flew to catch his beloved’s unconscious form.

"Jing’ge!"