His highness's Allure - Chap 62

Qi Changyi hadn’t slept well at all; it had been freezing cold all night. Even though he had wrapped himself tightly with the blanket, he could still feel the chill permeate his flesh and bones.

In his sleepy haze, Qi Changyi seemed to hear someone calling his name.

“Changyi, Changyi, Changyi, wake up…”

But his eyelids were really too heavy. No matter what he tried, he just couldn’t open his eyes.

In his dream, he was running. His body was covered in scrapes from falling over, and blood was dripping out of his wounds, but he couldn’t stop running. There was a thick layer of fog behind him; it looked like something was chasing after him.

Suddenly, a terrifying beast rushed out of the fog, its bloody mouth wide open. The Beast’s tongue was scarlet red, and hot, and it looked ready for a feast of human flesh. Its sharp teeth were but a hair’s breadth away from sinking into the prince’s back.

Qi Changyi was covered in a cold sweat. His entire body was so wet, it seemed as though he had been fished out of a river. His inner robe was already completely soaked.

He was so frightened that he couldn’t make a sound. His eyebrows scrunched, his fingers clenched, and his breathing turned sharp and frantic…

“Changyi! Wake up!”

“Arghh!” Qi Changyi screamed in shock, and his eyes finally flashed open.

He was lying inside the carriage again – they had already left the little town.

“What’s wrong? Why are you sweating so much? Did you have a nightmare?” Zhao Litang wiped the sweat from the small man’s brow, but it immediately beaded up again.

Qi Changyi’s lips were white, and he was still shivering, “I… I just had a really scary dream… It was… Too scary…Tang-gege, will we really be able to escape? Will we really be okay?”

Zhao Litang comforted him, “We will, we’ll definitely be fine, don’t be scared.”

Qi Changyi’s heart calmed slightly, and he laid back down. But the moment his head touched the pillow, he panicked again.

“My lantern, where’s my lantern? Where did my lantern go? I put it right here… Tang-gege, have you seen my lantern? It’s shaped like a bunny, and it has a red lotus on its head, and its ears are broken…”

Qi Changyi searched throughout the entire carriage, groping and shuffling through everything. Zhao Litang grabbed him and explained, “Changyi, you’re feverish. It looks like you’ve become ill again. Stop moving around, be good, and put on the blanket. Listen to me!”

“Tang-gege, I just want my lantern…” The prince’s eyes instantly reddened, and he opened his eyes wide to hold back his tears.

“Changyi, listen to me first. Don’t cry, okay?”

The little prince wiped his tears with his sleeve and nodded.

Zhao Litang didn’t know why he was so attached to that ruined lantern. But right now, His Highness was far away from the Imperial City, where he had lived since he was a child; naturally, he would be scared and panicked, so Zhao Litang spoke patiently.

“When I checked outside a little while ago, I saw soldiers patrolling the town. They weren’t imperial guards, but there’s no reason for them to suddenly start searching… So in order to not get caught, we had to get out of there as soon as possible, do you understand?”

The small man held his tears back and nodded.

“When I went back to the room, you were asleep. Your body was boiling hot, and you didn’t wake up no matter what I did. It just so happened that the guards started questioning the innkeeper downstairs. I was in a hurry, so I carried you and left through the back door, and I didn’t have time to see if there was anything next to the bed. The lantern is probably still at the inn.”

The small man understood most of what he said, and he knew that Zhao Litang had made the right decision. But he still couldn’t help himself from feeling incredibly sad.

He really liked that lantern. As for why… One could say that it was a symbol of his emotions and aspirations over the past few years. It was also a symbol of the hopes he had for the person who gifted it to him. After all, Qi Changyi had left so abruptly – who knew if they would ever be able to meet again.

But now, even this tiny sliver of hope had dissipated.

Zhao Litang said, “All right, stop thinking about it. If you want, I’ll buy you a few others in the future, okay?”

Qi Changyi nodded obediently. He tucked himself back under the thick blanket, curled into a little ball, buried his head in his knees, and let his tears flow out.

The carriage was racing over the roads; they were heading toward a larger city further away.

Zhao Litang was worried about Qi Changyi’s condition. He didn’t know if it was the freezing weather that had caused him to catch a cold, or an old chronic illness. He couldn’t leave the small man to continue burning up like this; they had to go to a more populated place to find a doctor.

Even though Qi Changyi was completely covered by the blanket, Zhao Litang could still see that the little body underneath it was trembling.

***

After another day on the road, the carriage finally arrived at a relatively large town.

The moment one stepped foot into it, one could tell that this place was far livelier and more prosperous than the previous town. However, it was still incomparable to the Imperial City.

Once Qi Changyi had settled in, Zhao Litang ordered the coachman to find the best doctor in town, before he sat down at his bedside.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. It echoed in the silent darkness, which would make anyone’s hair stand on end. Zhao Litang walked to the door and opened it, and a dark figure quickly flashed inside.

Wu Quan was breathing heavily. He had been following Zhao Litang and the others the whole way. Luckily, they had discussed the route beforehand, so he caught up quickly.

Upon seeing that he was alone, Zhao Litang frowned, “Where’s everybody else?”

“Don’t worry, General. They’re all fine, we split up in the beginning. They’re heading straight back to the army, so I’ve come to pick you guys up.”

Zhao Litang hurriedly led him to the side of the bed, “Come here and take a look first, what’s going on with him?”

Wu Quan saw the small man lying on the bed, his eyes closed. His face was white as paper, but his body was terrifyingly hot.

“General, he needs immediate medical attention! This subordinate has always said that His Highness’s body is extremely weak, and it will be difficult to nurse him back to health. Now, it looks like his condition has worsened…”

Just as he spoke, the coachman returned with a doctor.

He was an old man with wisps of white in his hair. Though he walked a little awkwardly, but he was definitely the best doctor in town.

The old man was in no hurry as he stepped through the door. Although he could tell that nobody in the room was just an ordinary citizen, he didn’t really care. He walked straight to the bed to check Qi Changyi’s pulse.

He took a good while to check his pulse, before the old man lightly stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes.

“Ai, this kid is so young, how can his body be ruined to this point? His internal organs are full of holes. Something terrible must have happened to him; both his body and mind have been damaged greatly, and he is also suffering from internal trauma. He’s clinging to life by a single breath, I’m afraid that he can’t be saved!”

Zhao Litang’s fists clenched at these words. Stepping forward, he grabbed the old man’s collar, “What are you saying?! What do you mean ‘he can’t be saved’?! Right now, your only job is to cure him!”

Wu Quan quickly pulled him back, “General, he’s right. No matter who you ask, they’ll all tell you the same thing!”

How could Zhao Litang not know that? He just didn’t want to believe it.

The frail body lying on the bed was unsettlingly quiet. His face was fair, and carried an inexplicable, undeniable beauty. He was only sixteen years old1, yet he had suffered such horrible pain; pain that most people would never have to experience in their entire life. Was that why he was so eager to let his life end? A life that was tragically short and terribly long at the same time.

“Now, that isn’t necessarily true. There is one person who may say differently.” The old man, who had been standing quietly at the side, suddenly spoke up, “To my knowledge, the best doctor in the entire world is a ghost doctor2 who lives in the Ghost Valley. Legend has it that he can revive a corpse, and even repair its flesh and bones. Naturally, healing a living person would be a piece of cake for him. Unfortunately, he’s quite elusive, so no one’s ever been able to find him.”

Zhao Litang swiveled to him, “Is there anyone else?”

“There is one more person. But I’m afraid you won’t be able to see him either.”

“Just tell me.”

The old man stroked his beard, “An imperial physician in the palace’s Imperial Hospital named Jiang Yubai. At a young age, he had already made great contributions to the field of medicine, and can be called the second-best doctor in the world. But he’s an imperial physician; we ordinary folk will never be able to see him.”

Jiang Yubai?

Zhao Litang gritted his teeth. If they didn’t return to the palace, it would indeed be impossible to see Jiang Yubai again. What else could he do? Did he really want to watch Qi Changyi slowly wither away?

“Ai, why would I even tell you these ridiculous things, it’ll only stir up worry and trouble. Just do your best to make sure that he lives out the rest of his days happily.”

As he spoke, the old doctor retrieved his medicine box and took out a packet of acupuncture needles, “I will perform acupuncture on him to lower his body’s internal temperature. Otherwise, he’ll continue to burn until his brain is fried.”

Wu Quan and the coachman retreated.

Zhao Litang’s thoughts were a mess as they raced through his mind. At the moment, he really couldn’t think of a fitting solution to this matter. He stretched his hand out absentmindedly and pulled open Qi Changyi’s collar to expose his chest; it would be easier to insert the needles this way.

Under his open robe, what was supposed to be a marble-smooth, fair-skinned little chest was actually littered in old wounds and greenish-blue hickeys. The marks stretched all over his body in intricate patterns, and one couldn’t pull their eyes away from the sight. The neat ring of bite marks on that pale and delicate collarbone was even more conspicuous; it was like a brand of ownership that warned anyone who this person belonged to.

Both Zhao Litang and the old man stared at the terrifying sight in front of them.

The old man stabbed his needles into the correct places, but he was muttering the entire time, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, inhuman!”

The thought of bringing Qi Changyi back to the palace for the best treatment had crossed Zhao Litang’s mind, but he definitely couldn’t let him return now!

Pei Zheng had not a shred of humanity. If Zhao Litang sent the small man back, who knew what kind of torture he would be subjected to. Perhaps that little life he had worked so hard to preserve would be lost even faster!

After the acupuncture, the heat in Qi Changyi’s body finally began to fade. He was no longer hot to the touch, but he was still unconscious. It seemed that the past two days of traveling had only aggravated his condition.

The old doctor prescribed some medicine; it could only keep him alive for a little longer as they journeyed on, and it wouldn’t do much to help Qi Changyi recover.

Zhao Litang put the medicine away. Just as he was about to escort the old doctor out, there was a sudden commotion from downstairs.

When he looked down, it turned out that several guards had entered the inn to search, and they were about to go upstairs.

The old doctor quickly shoved Zhao Litang back into the room. Zhao Litang grabbed the small man off the bed and was about to jump out the window, but the old man pulled him back by the corner of his robe.

“Don’t run! Are you trying to shatter him to pieces? Besides, who knows if it’s actually safer outside! If you can trust this old man, I’ll stay behind and help you.”

Zhao Litang stared into the old man’s eyes, before he placed the little prince back onto the bed.

He only saw the old doctor lift one of the wooden floorboards; underneath, there was actually a small compartment that could fit one person in it.

“You, hurry up and hide in it, this old man will take care of the rest.”

Upon seeing that Zhao Litang was still unwilling to trust him, the old doctor actually began to worry for him.

“The innkeeper and I have known each other for a long time, so I’m familiar with all the secret rooms and passages here. If I wanted to harm you, I would’ve just shouted for someone, why would I be fussing with this? If you hesitate for any longer, they’ll come in and catch you! Besides, you can hear everything that’s happening from under there. If something bad happens, all you need to do is rush right out!”

The wooden floorboard had just been put back into place, when the door was suddenly flung open, and several guards rudely barged inside.

Notes

GHOST VALLEEYYYYYYY

Thanks for reading~

1.年方二八: It’s an old way of saying someone is sixteen years old (it’s 2 and 8, because 2*8=16, I don’t know why it’s multiplication…), however, author-san actually wrote 年方十 (age 10?), and it…didn’t really make sense.

2.鬼医 (guǐ yī): a ghost doctor is someone who differs from normal doctors in that they treat people selectively; if they don’t like you, they probably won’t heal you no matter what kind of offers you make. They are also very skilled.