Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 117: Buds of A Marigold — XII

[Bonus Chapter 2]

The surgeon dared not go forward and disrupt the nine-tailed fox in the glum shadows of grief that surrounded him in thick, dark clouds. The sobs that left his lips were heart-wrenching to say the least.

Li Xinyuan – in spite of all the grief and mourning he had had the misfortune of hearing and witnessing as a surgeon (doctor) in both of his lives – could not help the unforgiving deluge of rue that crashed into him the longer he remained standing in the back and listened to the fox spirit’s soft yet no less piercing cries.

He was helpless against the vestiges of it, for he could do nothing to abate the grief that consumed him.

The surgeon could do nothing but watch and listen helplessly as Hu Lijing wept his heart out, his shaking hands cupping the face of the cold, lifeless body of the man he so dearly loved.

Watching the man weep, listening to the soft choked sobs of his heart, his throat, Li Xinyuan could bear no longer as he cast his eyes down, golden gaze trailing over the mess of crimson sand that lay crushed under his feet.

Hands clenched on his sides, Li Xinyuan could help but wonder, what would he do if one day he lost his beloved – if he ever had one – and was faced with their cold corpse in such a decrepit state?

Then, the surgeon shook his head, forcefully breaking away from that train of thought as he let out a sigh and pursed his lips into a thin, tight line before taking a slow, half a step towards Hu Lijing who had now fallen silent, his tears coming no longer.

"Lijing..." In a soft voice, he began, standing behind the fox spirit who remained kneeling in front of the body of his lover, his fingers tracing the rigid flesh on his face. Li Xinyuan forced himself to take a silent, deep breath as he swallowed, his throat feeling thick. "Stand up..."

He whispered, then blinked as he heard the tremor in his own voice. Evidently, the morbid sight of Long ZhenHai’s somehow still intact dead body had affected him.

As he trailed off, a treacherous part of his mind spoke up, pushing, nagging and goading him to wonder the reason behind such a minimal amount of decomposition of his body despite being exposed to the harsh and humid coastal conditions for decades.

If anything, except for the rigour mortis that seemed to have affected the corpse, nothing else showed the signs of death, well, if you were to discount the shining sword stabbed right through his once beating heart.

Was it possible because Long ZhenHai had been a dragon spirit? It could be a possibility for sure, but Li Xinyuan, could not be certain. Regardless, he had enough sense to not bring it up in the midst of such a sensitive moment.

Ignoring his words, Hu Lijing continued to weep, his cries causing the ache in his heart to intensify. Li Xinyuan took in a cold breath of the coastal wind and stubbornly stamped down the murderous rage he felt for the fox spirit’s sake not for the first time. He balled his hands into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white as they creaked.

Once again, he spoke, his voice careful and low. "Lijing, please..." He knew the weight of Hu Lijing’s grief was too large for him to shoulder all alone while standing, but the fox spirit could not afford to stay kneeling in front of his lover’s corpse for too long, no it was simply too dangerous for that. "Let us go."

He leaned forward, bending at the waist as he lowered himself and gently clasped his hand on the fox spirit’s trembling shoulder as his sobs quietened down to feeble hiccups. Rubbing his hand on the latter’s shoulder in a comforting manner. Li Xinyuan gave it a little squeeze and finally raised his gaze to take a proper look at Long ZhenHai’s face.

He looked away as soon as he caught a glimpse of the handsome, yet deathly white and sunken face, swallowing a lump that formed in his throat. Even to him, it was such a horribly painful sight to look at, he could not even begin to imagine what Hu Lijing must be going through.

Not to mention just how long his beloved’s corpse had to go without so much as receiving the final rites the said male rightfully deserved, the thought alone made his eyes swell with unshed tears.

Blinking away the pooling tears, the surgeon let out a sigh.

...

It had been a gut wrenching and painful thing, having to extricate the damned sword – which seemed to hold an almost mocking shine to it – from Long ZhenHai’s chest, it had taken a lot of effort to pull the blade out of the rigid cadaver.

All of that, Li Xinyuan had decided to do alone, not having the heart to let Hu Lijing take over the task considering the mental state that he was in. The mental anguish that he already was in did not need any increase – addition – to it.

To disturb the finality in Long ZhenHai’s rest... It felt like blasphemy to do such a thing. To extricate the sword and then laboriously rearranged the stiffened body as he did so. It felt more like a desecration of a sacred chassis than anything else.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible to put Long ZhenHai’s limbs to be put together in a proper form, to rearrange the bent arms to lie at his sides, to straighten the tightly curled fingers or to stretch out the folded legs, considering the decades the long decades he had remained kneeling for.

However, mercifully as it was, the world that Li Xinyuan now lived in was far from a normal world. They had Qi. Qi which could be used to loosen up the rigid muscles, even if the task in and of itself was a hard and long process.

After having done all of that, now as Long ZhenHai’s somewhat worn yet pristine corpse lay on the crimson sand – a product of his own blood – arms folded on his chest, his expression that was of neutrality and eternal silence did not seem so hard to look at anymore.

The surgeon remained standing behind Hu Lijing, he simply looked on, slowly studying the uncannily neutral and silent look painted on his ashen features. As dreadful as it was, it would be a lie to say that it was not intriguing.

As a surgeon – and well, a doctor in general – he had had the misfortune of seeing many people who were dying, at death’s door and newly dead, but never once had he ever seen such an expression on a dead person’s face.

It was as if Long ZhenHai’s expression suggested that he would never be at peace–just eternally silent and without any opinion whatsoever. Which... was an evidently questionable evaluation from himself.

Li Xinyuan shook his head and sighed as he turned to see the look in Hu Lijing’s eyes as he gazed at the dragon’s body, his fingers twitching as if he was contemplating. "It was my fault." he heard him whisper, raw rue clouding the river of his voice

This time, Li Xinyuan voiced neither his disapproval nor his denial of the statement. Instead, he pressed a hand on the fox spirit’s shoulder and gave a slight nod, his own golden irises reflecting the bloomed red and the glaucous figure lying in the midst and upon it. Giving the nine-tailed fox spirit’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, he hummed. "Maybe it was—" as he felt the tremble of Hu Lijing’s body, he added "—but do not forget that it was also his own choice."

It was time that the fox spirit accepted it for what it was and pulled himself out of the storm of grief that he had been stuck in for so long, it was killing him, after all. A bleeding wound would heal only when it was given the chance to, holding on to it so stubbornly would only prolong the hurt.

"Lijing, give yourself another chance, let your past lay to rest, dont forget him, of course — that would be heartless — but don’t hold on to it so tightly that it begins to drag you down than help you move forward, you fool." Slowly, he turned his head to look at Long ZhenHai’s lifeless body. "Let us go now. It is time the ashes fly high." he tried to offer a wry smile.

How delightfully hypocritical of Li Xinyuan himself.