Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 102: Crimson Spider Lily — VII

Li Xinyuan turned to look at him for a brief moment before raising his head to affix his gaze to the hues of rolling blue and black splashed with scattered stars of the night sky as he let out a hum.

"Where do I fall, you ask?" He smiled wryly, the expression itself being more dry than anything else. "I served not much of a big role," he paused, one hand rising up, fingers splayed out loosely as he stared at the sky, fingers moving as if to touch the beautiful stars.

"It... Was a brilliant world. And in that brilliance of lengthy and complicated equations—" he grinned ever so slightly, the gold in his eyes melting to give way to nothing but pure appreciation "—I was merely a feeble, twinkling star living his days, hanging by a strong thread. But it was a rather knotty thread."

For a long moment, Hu Lijing said nothing, just merely watched Li Xinyuan’s actions as his amber eyes followed the surgeon’s hand in silence. His eyes too looked up at the night sky, the starlight from the millions of stars falling into the elaborate trap of his eyes as they reflected and twinkled within the pool of them.

Hu Lijing closed his eyes, eyelids fluttering close as he leaned back some more, lips pressing together as he drew a deep, cold breath of air through his nose, the silence filled the void between them as he simply allowed himself to be assimilated into the vastness of nature.

The rustling leaves and blades of grass, trills of night crickets singing to one another, the gurgling of the river in front of them, minute sounds of slumbering birds and animals as well as the distant screeches of owls gliding across the sky on a hunt for their prey.

Hu Lijing let out a long exhale and opened his eyes slowly, the shine in his dull eyes returning gradually as he gazed up at the sky, still somewhat collecting himself from the gentle yet overwhelming intensity of the alive nature around him.

There was so much in this world. So much he had seen and so much more he had yet to see, yet to acquaint himself with.

What was in ease and comfort of death that was more than the beauty and the hardships of life?

Hu Lijing’s lips fell open slightly as he exhaled once more, his breath coming out in a deep, stuttering yet soft flow.

Life was hard, but just as beautiful. Death was a relief, death was comfort; but it was just as bleak.

He had a lot to die for, yet he had so much to live for too. For instance, watching Li Xinyuan grow old and wrinkly while he himself remained young and handsome. Like watching the brat he raised become an incredible doctor.

Moreover, if Hu Lijing were to die now — or anytime soon — Long ZhenHai would give him a lot of grief over it in the afterlife.

Hu Lijing blinked, finally collecting himself and his scattered thoughts and fragments from the tenacious yet fragile grasp of nature.

He continued to look at the stars. Then, he let out a silent sight, the gaze boring into the side of his face was a tad too obvious for him to easily overlook it and pretend like he did not have a genius surgeon staring holes into his face.

Just as he was about to speak, the surgeon beat him to it. Hu Lijing stilled for a second, his heart beating fiercely as it squeezed in the claws of a bittersweet pain.

"How are you feeling now?" Li Xinyuan dared to ask, his voice soft and quiet yet so fragilely hopeful that Hu Lijing could not help but nod slowly.

"Yes," he drawled in a soft voice. "Yes, I feel better now."

Li Xinyuan’s brows drew together into a frown, lips tugging downward slightly before he swiftly cleared away his expression and shook his head.

"That is a relief to hear." He smiled at Hu Lijing, the curl of his smile was completely genuine, not a grimace, a tight smile, a reassuring facsimile of it. It was the truly genuine smile that crawled onto Li Xinyuan’s lips for the first time in hours.

Hu Lijing would heal. Though slowly, he would heal one day, because time was the best healer in this world.

Then, he said no more and continued to gaze at the night sky, casually allowing his body to lean backwards until he collapsed on his back, lying on the grassy floor by the riverbank with his hands splayed on his stomach.

His golden eyes took in the sight of countless stars as if drinking the sheer display of them—it was like he wanted to commit those little twinkles of light to his deepest memories.

It was a beautiful thing. The sight of those golden eyes passionately tracing the stars.

Unfortunately, Li Xinyuan’s only companion for the night was Hu Lijing who had his own eyes lingering on the stars for a few moments before they moved on to fixate on the shining crescent moon.

As Hu Lijing lay on his back, observing the moon and appreciating its beauty, the surgeon spoke again, his voice dropping to a carefully hushed whisper.

"There were no stars in the sky," Li Xinyuan sighed softly.

"Ha?" Hu Lijing blinked, turning to shoot the surgeon a doubtful glance. "They did not have stars. That seems a bit inconceivable. To me at least."

"No, I do not mean that in the literal sense, Lijing." Li Xinyuan chuckled, covering his lips with his hand. "There were stars of course. What I meant was that there were no stars in the sky at night. We could not see these beautiful stars in the sky of the city I lived in." He paused. "The luxuries were many, but in advancing forward, we cut off our roots with nature."

At those words, Hu Lijing pursed his lips, eyes narrowing as he hummed. "That is an unfortunate thing."

"Indeed."

"Still, what were you in that futuristic time that had no stars?"

Li Xinyuan scoffed, rolling his eyes in exasperation and grumbled. "I thought we were discussing the deterioration of nature?"

Hu Lijing continued to lie on the grass beside him, waving his hand nonchalantly as he replied. "That issue is far in the future. No matter what we do right now, it will hardly make a difference. I am not going to use my brain power in pondering upon issues of the future."

"Fine, you win, " Li Xinyuan grunted in answer. "I hope you live until the end of this world."

"..."

"I was a doctor."

"In that life too?"