The years I was in the human world

Lin Shuyang was carried back by his men, with blood all over his clothes on his buttocks. Xie Huaiyu knew that he was just like before, not choosing to make up for his mistakes with merits, so he was beaten. He watched Lin Shuyang being carried into the tent with a paler face than before, and slowly clenched his hands.

"If you want to go see him, go ahead." Xiao Fengzhuo said, rarely without any sarcasm.

After the military doctor treated Lin Shuyang's new injury and left, Xie Huaiyu opened the tent and went in. The light in the tent was very dim, and neither he nor Lin Shuyang could see each other's expressions. He walked to the bed and opened his mouth, but found that the questions that had never been answered in the past, in fact, had already been answered with the passage of time.

"Huaiyu, is that you?" Lin Shuyang remembered Xie Huaiyu's footsteps, but he was still a little hesitant. How could such a noble and handsome man condescend to come to this chaotic tent to see him?

"Yeah." Xie Huaiyu sat down beside him, stretched out his hand to gather the quilt around Lin Shuyang, and asked, "Why don't you tell them that you saved me? At least in this way, Xie's will definitely protect you."

No matter what Lin Shuyang insisted on, he would rather be punished than make up for his mistakes with merits. This was a very stupid thing to do. Xie Huaiyu didn't say it clearly, but Lin Shuyang heard it. He was silent for a moment, and then whispered: "If you seek preservation with merits, Shuyang will really be just a retainer."

He seemed to want to prove something. Everything he did to Xie Huaiyu was not because of the Xie family behind him, but simply because it was Xie Huaiyu.

"I owe you this, I'll remember that." Xie Huaiyu got the answer he wanted and said nothing more, "You can take a rest. I'll handle the follow-up matters of the Northern Army."

After Xie Huaiyu finished speaking, he was about to get up and leave. At this time in the past, although the Northern Army was spared the death penalty for abandoning the city and fleeing, they were sent to the battlefield as a suicide squad during the subsequent invasion by the Wuxiang people. The court refused to support them, and the remaining 40,000 people were all killed in the battle.

The Northern Army was the Northern Army that Lin Shuyang wanted to preserve. Naturally, Xie Huaiyu would make plans for him because he loved Xie Huaiyu. But when he turned to leave, Lin Shuyang suddenly grabbed his sleeve: "Huaiyu." There seemed to be some faint hope in his words, and on a deeper level, it was a deep affection that made people tremble with fear.

Xie Huaiyu paused as he was leaving. In the past, he would never enter the tent at this time and say such strange words. Even if he wanted to change now, he was just deceiving himself in the illusion.

Xie Huaiyu's eyes suddenly turned red. He didn't dare to look back, for fear of seeing an expression on Lin Shuyang's face that he had never had the chance to see in the past. He was also afraid that his revealed emotions would break the illusion and wake him up from the dream too early.

"Don't worry, the Northern Army has done nothing wrong. I will do my best to protect them for you." Xie Huaiyu turned his back to Lin Shuyang, and there was nothing unusual in his tone.

After that, a few days passed in peace. The past in the illusion slowly progressed, Lin Shuyang's injuries gradually improved, and he was able to walk. After Xie Huaiyu left Lin Shuyang's tent that day, he really went in and out of the court several times to excuse the Northern Palace Army as he said.

Xiao Fengzhuo didn't know why, and didn't say anything to stop him, letting him work in vain in the illusion of settling down. The two people's state was very strange. After Lu Zhouxue, as a real outsider, quietly observed for a few days, he finally couldn't help but take the initiative to find Xie Huaiyu.

"Master? Is there anything I can help you with?" At that time, Xie Huaiyu was holding a brush and writing a memorial to the emperor at the desk.

"I'm looking for him." Lu Zhouxue said briefly. Although the two of them were temporarily squeezed in the same body, Xiao Fengzhuo's expression was completely different.

"Is this a memorial to defend the Northern Army?" Lu Zhouxue went up to take a look at what Xie Huaiyu had written, then frowned. He looked at Xie Huaiyu seriously, "Do you know what you are doing?"

Xie Huaiyu remained silent, and Lu Zhouxue continued: "Are you too immersed in the role?"

The illusion is an illusion in the Nine-Square Array. The deeper you indulge in it, the greater the damage you will suffer when you leave the array. The past is set and no matter how unwilling you are, it cannot be changed.

"Azhuo, he is unwilling to resign himself to his fate. What about you? Why are you so unwilling to resign?" Xie Huaiyu was immersed in it, and Xiao Fengzhuo was like a madman who let it go. It was hard to say that he was not affected by the illusion, but he remained silent. Lu Zhouxue could not even see his true intention.

"Mianmian." Xiao Fengzhuo sighed. He put his arms around Lu Zhouxue and rubbed his shoulders. "It's nothing. It's really nothing. I just can't let it go for the time being."

He was once a crown prince, but he had no father or mother. His mother died of hemorrhage when giving birth to him. The imperial teacher predicted that a comet would bring disaster to the world and disrupt the destiny of the country.

Xi Chao did not particularly believe in fate, and he was the queen's legitimate son, so it was not easy to execute him. In the end, his king and father pretended to let him sit in that position for many years.

Later, the Eastern Palace was abolished, but the gift he gave to please the emperor and his father was replaced by his brother with a heinous witchcraft object.

Why didn't the emperor think of this? It was just that he didn't care about this child who had been rejected since birth, and didn't care how this child hoped for the emperor's mercy.

Just like Chu Zhaoli's brother who casually destroyed his gift, no one cares what the child who already had nothing will get.

The decree to depose the crown prince was easily issued without even going through a trial by three judges, and all the civil and military officials in the court were happy to hear it. Then the Wuxiang people marched south, and the once noble crown prince was kicked out and taken to another country as a hostage.

When I left Beijing, the whole city was covered with snow, and no one came to see me off. The imperial edict from my father and emperor was filled with the words "We will never meet again in the underworld."

Chu Zhaoli never got an answer, an answer to whether his father and emperor loved him. He had been away from home and country for many years. When he returned, his father and emperor's coffin had been sealed in the mausoleum. Later, he went down to the underworld and watched at the Naihe Bridge as the gray-haired emperor drank Mengpo soup, forgot all his past, and reincarnated into another unrecognizable person.

They forgot everything and rushed to the next spring and autumn, leaving Chu Zhaoli alone in the snowy city of Xichao.

"Huaiyu, the Prime Minister has sent someone to invite you to his house for a chat." Lin Shuyang came in suddenly, was stunned for a moment when he saw the two people hugging each other, and then he finished all his words with a normal expression.

"Since you are busy, go first. We can discuss our business later." Lu Zhouxue said this, meaning that he would not ask any more questions. He seemed to sense the deep sadness in Xiao Fengzhuo, patted his back comfortingly, and then let him go. At the end, he also said to Xie Huaiyu with concern, "Go, some things should be settled."

"Okay." Xie Huaiyu nodded to Lin Shuyang and hurried to see Xiao Ling.

Soon only Lu Zhouxue and Lin Shuyang were left in the tent. Lin Shuyang stared at Lu Zhouxue for a moment, then asked, "How do you know Huaiyu?"

Lin Shuyang is first and foremost a general, so he naturally would not intentionally make things difficult for Ah Xun, who is also a commoner. But he is also a lovesick man, and when he looks at Lu Zhouxue, he still can't hide the envy in his eyes.

"We have never met before, just a chance encounter." What Lu Zhouxue recognized was not Xie Huaiyu, but Xiao Fengzhuo who was temporarily living in his body. The past presented in the illusion was very delicate, making the two people immersed in it, but Lu Zhouxue had no intention of participating.

He turned to leave after he finished speaking, but Lin Shuyang called out to him: "But he clearly has deep feelings for you."

The look on Xie Huaiyu's face when he hugged Lu Zhouxue just now made even a dull person like Lin Shuyang shudder with fear. That was definitely not the expression that strangers should have. He felt envious and aggrieved because Lu Zhouxue was favored by the person who was beyond his reach.

"Really?" Lu Zhouxue paused as he was leaving. Even Lin Shuyang had seen through it, so how could he pretend to be unaware? Lu Zhouxue slowly clenched his hanging hands, and his heart began to beat violently - did Ah Zhuo really have such thoughts about him?

Lu Zhouxue's face was still calm, and he seemed to not care about what Lin Shuyang said. He just turned around and said in a light tone: "Xie Huaiyu's deep affection has always been for you."

Lu Zhouxue left after he finished speaking. This time Lin Shuyang did not speak to stop him. He walked aimlessly to the stone bridge by the river outside the base and sat there in a daze. He did not appear to be as calm as he seemed. On the contrary, his mind was in a mess.

Ah Xun, who was sleeping peacefully, woke up at this time. He could sense Lu Zhouxue's mood, so he asked, "You seem very anxious?"

"Well, maybe." Lu Zhouxue was distracted and his words seemed perfunctory. He didn't pay any attention to what Ah Xun asked him.

"Why? Do immortals also have troubles?" Ah Xun's question was filled with some naivety. In his eyes, immortals like Lu Zhouxue who could make clouds and rain with a wave of their hands did not have to endure hunger and would not be bullied. Do they also have troubles?

"No one is a piece of ignorant wood. Where there are desires, there will be troubles." Lu Zhouxue said softly, still immersed in memories. It's not that he is ignorant of love matters, but the lesson he learned from the ten thousand years of seeking but not getting during the calamity was too deep, so deep that he was still frightened after waking up from the calamity.

He really loved Xiao Yueheng at that time, and now he has completely let her go, but this does not mean that he is ready to talk about love with Xiao Fengzhuo.

"Then what are you worried about?" Ah Xun had never read many books, and what Lu Zhouxue said was too profound for him to understand. If there is desire, there will be troubles, so why should people have desires? Lu Zhouxue already has the capital to do whatever he wants, so what else is there to be dissatisfied about?

Yes, what is he worried about? Lu Zhouxue asked himself in his heart, what answer did he want to seek? He was afraid of the lesson he would receive from Xiao Yueheng, but could he really give up the blazing Xiao Fengzhuo?

This was not a question he could figure out by himself.

At the end of the official road, a group of cavalrymen rode towards them, raising a cloud of dust when their horses' hooves landed. The man in the lead had black hair in a high bun and a stern expression. He rode a snow-white horse and galloped past Lu Zhouxue, his snow-white cloak fluttering in the wind.

When they passed each other, Lu Zhouxue subconsciously looked up, just in time to meet the indifferent gaze that the man inadvertently cast at her. It was gloomy and cold, like a bottomless swamp. This was all Lu Zhouxue saw in those dead eyes.

The man quickly withdrew his gaze and rode his horse into the Lin'an City in front of him, leaving Lu Zhouxue with only a desolate back.

"Who is that?" Lu Zhouxue looked at the cavalrymen following behind the man. Each of them was strong and powerful, and even compared with the northern barbarians, they were rare elite.

"Chu Zhaoli." Ah Xun used to be trapped in Wanzhuang Tower all day and never went out, but she had heard passers-by on the streets and alleys praise the great achievements of King Ding'an. However, he was a half-demon after all, and had no respect for the emperor and nobles of the human race. When Lu Zhouxue asked her about it, she actually called him by his name.

Who could have thought that the deposed crown prince who was once sighed over by others would now have the three southwestern states of the Southern Dynasty as his fiefdom, and would even have the tendency to go downstream and threaten Lin'an, becoming the only royal family in the entire Southern Dynasty who could compete with Xiao Ling.

"Chu Zhaoli? The Yong King?" Lu Zhouxue frowned. He still remembered this name. When Xiao Fengzhuo was in the old capital, he told a story about this deposed prince of the Immortal Kingdom. But at that time, Xiao Fengzhuo did not have a very good opinion of this prince. He said he was mediocre and incompetent, so he called him the Yong King.

Lu Zhouxue thought of the look in his eyes that he had just seen accidentally. It was not a look of mediocrity and incompetence at all. It was clearly a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity, which would pounce out from the dark and kill people if they were not careful.

"It's not King Yong, it's King Ding'an." Ah Xun said.

"Prince Ding'an..." Lu Zhouxue murmured. The word Ding'an was enough to show its importance. At least it was not as insignificant as the title of Prince Yong, which implied a derogatory meaning.

"What King Ding'an?" The man's voice sounded softly in Lu Zhouxue's ears, and then a heavy cloak was draped over his shoulders, carrying the other's hot body temperature.

Lu Zhouxue looked up and saw Xie Huaiyu who had returned from Xiao Ling's residence. Unlike his usual attire, his attire today showed a youthful spirit, and his characteristics belonging to Xiao Fengzhuo were very obvious. Lu Zhouxue could tell at a glance: "Azhuo, you're back now?"

"Well, I don't get along with that Xiao Ling." Xiao Fengzhuo tucked the collar of Lu Zhouxue's cloak. He seemed to be testing something. While pretending to be unintentional, he looked at Lu Zhouxue's expression pryingly. His curious look was like a cat testing its owner's preferences.

This guy. Xiao Fengzhuo's calculating look made Lu Zhouxue want to laugh, so he also wanted to tease him: "You and Xiao Ling are both smart people, and smart people should be able to talk easily. How come you don't get along well?"

"He speaks in a high-sounding way, which is too hypocritical. I don't like it." Xiao Fengzhuo wrapped Lu Zhouxue in a cloak, stretched out his hand to hold her in his arms, and said half-warningly and half-jokingly, "I know what Mianmian feels about that man, but you still don't side with him, otherwise I will definitely make trouble with you."

Xiao Fengzhuo was acting like a spoiled child in a serious manner, which made Lu Zhouxue feel strange. So she followed his words and asked, "How is Ah Zhuo going to act like a spoiled child? Why don't you show me a lesson?"

"If Mianmian wants to see it, I'll demonstrate it to you after we come out of the illusion. It's not so convenient to use someone else's body now." Xiao Fengzhuo embraced Lu Zhouxue and walked back.

Lin Shuyang and Ah Xun, who listened to the two people's sweet talk in silence, said: "..."