The years I was in the human world

Xie Huaiyu became famous at a young age and had unparalleled talent and learning. The late emperor once commented that he was the best of all time. In addition, he came from a prominent family, so he was often arrogant in his dealings with others.

His first half of life went smoothly. Even when he was wielding power in the court, he never lost the upper hand when dealing with Xiao Ling. Later, he requested to be transferred to Jingkou with the ambition to return to the confidential position. At that time, the generals of the Xie family in the Northern Palace were of humble origins, and he looked down on them and was very cold to them.

Lin Shuyang, however, was like a block of wood. Not only did he not care about his cold words, he also repeatedly asked about his well-being. However, Xie Huaiyu was arrogant and conceited in his youth, and was never moved. He watched indifferently as the general who had the final say in the army clumsily poured him tea.

The man was not good at speaking, and every time Xie Huaiyu would splash the scalding hot tea on his face, then laugh and sarcastically say: "General Lin should lead his troops to fight, and a rough man can't burn incense and drink tea, so why bother yourself?"

Lin Shuyang made progress every time, which showed that he had put in a lot of effort, but Xie Huaiyu always turned a blind eye to it and said words of criticism again and again. The man who seemed a little embarrassed in front of him always stood there awkwardly and lost, not knowing what to do, and could only say awkwardly: "I'll change it again."

Xie Huaiyu responded to this with a cold sneer. In his eyes, Lin Shuyang was no different from those people who wanted to curry favor with the Xie family and flatter and curry favor. In fact, this rude general was not as smart as those people.

Every time Xie Huaiyu recalled those years, he would think painfully how cruel he was back then.

Later, when the Northern Army was defeated for the first time in Danyang, Lin Shuyang had originally wanted to leave, but he rushed back to the banquet with injuries all over his body to rescue him. He was stabbed several times in the back by the Wuxiang people, and the wounds were so deep that the bones were visible.

At that time, Xie Huaiyu could not ride a horse, and Lin Shuyang was worried about him, so he dragged his injuries and rode with him for several days to escape back to the capital.

Lin Shuyang was seriously injured and bled a lot. He became unconscious several times on the road. He pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into his thigh to force himself to stay awake. He knew that if he fainted, Xie Huaiyu would be thrown off the uncontrollable horse and die.

They had not eaten or drunk anything along the way, and when they arrived in the capital, the horse died. Lin Shuyang fell off the horse and injured his waist. Xie Huaiyu fell ill when he came back, so he didn't know about it until much later. At that time, the military doctor unbuttoned Lin Shuyang's pants and almost pierced one of his thighs.

The man was so seriously injured that he was in a coma for several days before waking up. He almost lost his life, but after waking up, he immediately submitted a visiting card to the Xie family, requesting to visit Xie Huaiyu.

Later, the imperial court launched an expedition to hold Lin Shuyang accountable for the fall of Jingkou. Lin Shuyang was beaten with a stick and injured his bones. He went to the battlefield with injuries all over his body. It was an autumn night when he left. The lonely and cold moonlight shone all over him. He stood at the bottom of the steps in shackles, looking at Xie Huaiyu who was seeing him off with hope in his eyes.

"Sir, are you here to see me off?" He was still as clumsy and cautious as before.

At that time, Xie Huaiyu was no longer as cold and hard as he was to Lin Shuyang before, but he still had some grudges in his heart, so he remained silent. Someone answered for him: "How dare a lowly criminal like me flatter myself? The gift from you is to His Royal Highness Prince Ding'an."

The man was obviously disappointed. Xie Huaiyu felt inexplicably uncomfortable, but he still said nothing. What was there to say? He was here to see Chu Zhaoli off.

Lin Shuyang never heard from him again, and all the Northern Army died in Jingkou. Rumors spread in the capital that the Northern Army was defeated and Jingkou was lost because the commander-in-chief deserted the battlefield. But no matter what, the fall of the Southern Dynasty was inevitable.

The Wuxiang people broke through the city, burned, killed and looted at will, and paid special attention to capturing the Xie family and the royal clan.

Xie Huaiyu had enjoyed glory for half his life, but at this critical moment he could not maintain his former composure. He was powerless and had no power to fight back against the Wuxiang people who had broken into the city. His education would not allow him to commit treason and flee.

The noble young man, who was enjoying himself so much that he didn't want to return to his homeland, was still indulging in sensual pleasures. He felt that the destruction of the Southern Dynasty had nothing to do with their family, and he neither fled nor resisted, but watched the disaster of the Xie family with cold eyes.

The Wuxian people did not touch the aristocratic families. After breaking into the city, they fought and looted, and set up a tripod on the Golden Palace with the captured Xie family members. Xiao Lingzhi sat on the dragon chair with great pride and pointed out the situation. But he frowned when he glanced at them casually: "Why can't I see Xie Huaiyu?"

All the members of the Xie family who escaped and those who did not escape were captured, except Xie Huaiyu, so the Wuxiang people, who had stopped their activities, started searching the streets again with weapons in hand, turning every house upside down.

Xie Huaiyu stayed quietly in the Xie mansion which had been smashed and looted, waiting for the Wuxiang people to come. The city was broken suddenly and he had no time to do anything. He could only prepare a cup of poisonous wine for himself.

But it was not the Wuxiang people who broke into the gate of Xie's mansion, but Lin Shuyang. He crawled out from the pile of dead bodies, cleaned the blood on his body, and finally rushed back to Kyoto, but heard that Lin'an City had been broken. He suddenly became very panicked. The country changed, Xiao Ling won, and it was the Xie family that was overturned.

He was afraid that Xie Huaiyu had already put the complacent Xiao Ling in prison. Lin Shuyang wanted to rescue him, but he had no soldiers or troops. When he was extremely anxious, he remembered that Chu Zhaoli had left behind the garrison troops on the southwest road to the capital to look after the rear.

No one knew how he persuaded the main general left by Chu Zhaoli. He borrowed 150 soldiers from the garrison without any strategy. He sneaked in while the Wuxiang people were busy celebrating their victory and no one was guarding the city gate.

At that time, the streets were littered with corpses, and Chu Zhaoli was away on the battlefield and could not return. No one would have thought that the Southern Dynasty would have the strength to counterattack at this time.

Lin Shuyang found Xie Huaiyu in the messy Xie Mansion. The suave and elegant young man in his memory was kneeling in the courtyard in thin clothes, his clothes stained red with blood. A cup of poisoned wine went through his intestines and he was already dead.

"Huaiyu?" Lin Shuyang was suddenly frightened. He crawled over. The person lying there was still warm, but he could not detect any breath - Xie Huaiyu was dead, having committed suicide by drinking poison.

Lin Shuyang's tears suddenly fell. He hugged Xie Huaiyu's body, feeling extremely painful.

In the Xie family, only Xie Huaiyu died. Lin Shuyang didn't understand why he wanted to commit suicide. He couldn't understand whether the so-called dignity was really more important than being alive. Until he heard that Xiao Ling cooked and killed the entire Xie family in front of a group of noble families, ministers and cultivators in the Golden Palace.

Compared to being stripped of clothes and cooked like livestock, Xie Huaiyu's death was indeed more decent.

Lin Shuyang wanted to leave quietly with Xie Huaiyu's body, but before he could leave Xie's house, the Wuxiang people found out. He had no choice but to kill a few more people and planned to break out of the city with the 150 infantrymen borrowed from Chu Zhaoli.

As long as he entered the southwest, he would be in Chu Zhaoli's territory, which would be much safer than Lin'an City. However, at the city gate, he was stopped by a strange man wearing a cloak and with blood-red eyes. He had seen such a man before. He was a demon from the desolate land.

Lin Shuyang didn't know that the man was Xiao Ling, who forced him and Xie Huaiyu into a desperate situation.

Xiao Ling looked at the dead body in Lin Shuyang's arms, his eyes curved with joy. He pointed at Xie Huaiyu and asked with a smile, "Do you want to save him?"

At that time, Lin Shuyang was like a gambler who had lost all his chips. Even if Xiao Ling didn't look like a good person, he was willing to gamble on that one in ten thousand chance for Xie Huaiyu, so he admitted it without thinking: "I think, as long as I can save him, you can ask me to do anything."

"No problem." Xiao Ling was a straightforward and decisive guy. He took out an ink pen and a scroll from his sleeve, and seemed to write Xie Huaiyu's name on it. Then he unfolded the scroll for Lin Shuyang to see, and explained with a chuckle,

"Only one of you and him can survive, and the one who dies can only be Xie Huaiyu. Do you understand?"

Lin Shuyang has never been smart, but this time he unexpectedly understood Xiao Ling's roundabout words.

At this moment, the passing time suddenly went back, and Lin Shuyang suddenly returned to the time when he was negotiating with Chu Zhaoli's adjutant to borrow troops. Thinking of the messy courtyard and the people who had just died in the courtyard, Lin Shuyang gave up the plan to borrow troops from the adjutant.

He turned and ran, snatching a fast horse from Chu Zhaoli's army, and not daring to stop, ran towards the distant Lin'an City where the setting sun was setting. He and Xie Huaiyu were separated by only a short moment, but they were separated by life and death.

Without wasting any extra time, this time he went to Xie's house to see the young man who was still alive. Seeing him, Xie Huaiyu was surprised: "Shu Yang? You're still alive?"

Lin Shuyang said nothing, but just took Xie Huaiyu into his arms, but he still remembered Xiao Ling's words, and he didn't have any extra time to waste. He quickly let go of Xie Huaiyu, grabbed the other's shoulders, and said almost beggingly: "Huaiyu, live."

"The Wuxiang people want to cook us to death in the cauldron. It's not that I don't want to live, but I have no way to live." Xie Huaiyu learned about the Xie family's fate in advance from the Wuxiang people who came into the city. Suicide was the dignity he left for himself.

The method Xiao Ling used to deal with Xie was the bargaining chip he used to bribe the Wuxiang people in the first place. The immortal bloodline was such an attractive condition, even though Xie never gained immortality from it.

"Shuyang, what are you doing back here? The Xie family will surely be destroyed, and the court will have nothing to do with you from now on. You should live your own life, and you shouldn't come back to find me." Xie Huaiyu gently touched Lin Shuyang's tearful face, and spoke to him so gently for the first time, "Shuyang, go away."

After Xie Huaiyu finished speaking, he reached out to take the poisoned wine he had prepared for him.

"I won't leave. You are the one who should leave." Lin Shuyang smiled, but tears flowed from his eyes. He reached out and pulled out the hairpin on Xie Huaiyu's head. "Remember, now I am Xie Huaiyu and you are Lin Xiyang. Live well with my name."

This is Xiao Ling's condition. Xie Huaiyu must die, but the person who dies does not necessarily have to be the real Xie Huaiyu. As for the name, Xie Huaiyu can be called anything, but he still wants to leave some trace of himself, Lin Xiyang.

Xie Huaiyu never used the glass of wine that he had prepared for him. He thought Lin Shuyang must be crazy. However, when the Wuxiang people came in to search, they completely ignored him. They only saw Lin Shuyang standing there in military uniform. They called him "Xie Huaiyu."

Then Lin Shuyang also died, just as recorded in history books, he died of exhaustion. When he died, the long sword in his hand sank into the ground, his blood drained out, and the hairpin that he had been holding tightly in his hand also slipped from his hand and shattered into pieces.

The one who fled from the battlefield was never the general of the Northern Army, but the praised Xie Huaiyu. The Xie family had no dignity when the whole clan was destroyed. In the end, it was Lin Shuyang, who came from a humble background and had no knowledge of etiquette, who fulfilled the Xie family's last glory.

History books only remember the bright and noble Xie Huaiyu, but never find a loyal and courageous Lin Xiyang.

The illusion gradually faded away at this point. Xie Huaiyu, who was deeply trapped in the situation, stared blankly at the disappearing face of the deceased. Suddenly, he covered his chest and vomited blood. Lu Zhouxue, who had been expelled from the illusion early to watch the show, wanted to help him up worriedly, but saw his tearful face.

"So, you are not Lin Xiyang, you are Xie Huaiyu?" Xiao Fengzhuo was deeply immersed in the role, but he got out of it quickly and did not suffer any backlash.

Xie Huaiyu didn't say anything, and was obviously in a bad mood. Lu Zhouxue turned around and shook her head slightly at Xiao Fengzhuo, signaling him not to ask any more questions. Xiao Fengzhuo pouted, leaned on Lu Zhouxue aggrievedly, and said in a delicate voice: "Mianmian, I'm sad too."

"Why are you sad?" Lu Zhouxue turned around and looked at Xiao Fengzhuo in surprise. This guy was smiling heartlessly, and he didn't look sad, but Lu Zhouxue had always spoiled him, so she followed Xiao Fengzhuo's words and continued, "What can Ah Zhuo ask me to do to make me happy?"

Xiao Fengzhuo was teased back. He was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help rubbing against Lu Zhouxue's shoulder. He was so happy that his ears and tail popped out. He blew gently on Lu Zhouxue's ears and whispered, "My ears are itchy, Mianmian, help me scratch them."

Lu Zhouxue had been coveting Xiao Fengzhuo's cat ears for a long time. Now that he took the initiative to let her touch them, Lu Zhouxue naturally reached out happily and grabbed the ears. The ears were as restless as his owner. They moved around in Lu Zhouxue's hands, looking very lively.

Lu Zhouxue tickled Xiao Fengzhuo's ears with her fingers and asked softly, "Why are you moving so much?"

In return, Xiao Fengzhuo glanced at him with moist eyes, and said in a rather aggrieved tone: "My ears are itchy, Mianmian."

Xie Huaiyu, who was forgotten by the two of them, silently wiped the blood from his lips. His emotions had calmed down and his face was no longer in disgrace. He reminded them, "The illusion is over, but we don't know where we are now."

"Where else could it be? The underground royal tomb of the Immortal Kingdom." Xiao Fengzhuo said calmly. Without waiting for Xie Huaiyu to ask him why, he issued a fire order. A bright flame flashed for a moment, and then the dim underground palace was lit up, allowing people to see the whole picture clearly.

The three of them were facing the city gate, which was about eight feet high even underground. Behind the city gate were layers of buildings stacked up on top of each other. It was indeed a large underground city.