A Wager on the Future

Was it snowing? When Xu Yuan awoke from his stupor, what greeted his eyes was a pitch-black canopy of sky swirling with heavy snowflakes. As he took in the scene before him, his frozen thoughts slowly began to churn once more. Hadn't he been immobilized by Tianye? Had he already left the Sword Sect? Where was this? Thoughts surfacing one after another, Xu Yuan stood up and looked around. He found himself lying on a hillside. In the warmth of spring when flowers bloomed, this place ought to be an endless grassland, but at this moment it was completely buried in white snow. Only a solitary pavilion stood not far away amidst the snow-swept expanse. A trace of confusion flickered across his eyes. Xu Yuan got to his feet, brushed the accumulated snow from his clothes, and began walking toward it. But in the very next instant, a voice drifted into his ears, bringing his footsteps to an abrupt halt: "Changtian, return to Di'an." It was his father's voice. Hearing those words, Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment, then let out a bitter smile. *So that was it.* He had thought he was already strong enough—strong enough to handle anything. Yet in the end, it was still his father who had stepped in to wipe away the mess he had made. A wisp of blood-red flame flashed in his eyes. Looking toward the solitary pavilion again, Xu Yuan saw two middle-aged men sitting inside. One was his father, the Prime Minister of Great Yan. The other man's appearance, however, gave him pause. Was that... the Emperor? Snow continued to fall, the snow mist kicked up by the howling wind nearly blinding the eyes. The other middle-aged man's dashing, handsome countenance made it difficult for Xu Yuan to connect him with the hunched, dying old man in imperial dragon robes. Yet at this hour, the only person who could possibly be sitting beside his father was that very man. With these thoughts, Xu Yuan's gaze grew guarded. Possessing the life-death Dao charm, he could see the dense aura of death concealed beneath the Great Yan Sovereign's surging vitality. He did not believe the man would be willing to pass away so quietly. As his spiritual vision fanned out, Xu Yuan's suspicion was confirmed—beneath the snow-clad mountains beneath his feet, he saw a magnificent, undulating giant array. Like an earthen dragon weaving and crisscrossing below, the array spanned nearly hundreds of li in every direction. It was an array laid out for his father. As thoughts raced through his mind, wisps of blood-colored mist gradually drifted around where Xu Yuan stood. But right at that moment, the two middle-aged men in the pavilion looked over at him at the same time. Within Li Yaoxuan's starlit eyes lingered a leisurely, amused smile, while Xu Yinhe's eyes held an unprecedented severity. Looking at Xu Yuan, he repeated in a deep voice, enunciating every word: "Father said, return to Di'an." "..." The sound of falling snow swallowed every noise in the world. Xu Yuan remained silent and said nothing. But looking at the two men in the distance who had once shared a common ideal, he ultimately chose to yield. This was a battle that belonged solely to the two of their generation. A battle that permitted no interference from anyone. "Father..." "Go back." "Wait, you at least have to tell me which way is Di'an, right?" "..." Xu Yinhe fell silent. Glancing at the father and son across from him, Li Yaoxuan lightly tapped the stone table before him and chuckled softly. "Brat, this is the Great Yan Imperial Mausoleum. Surely you know the way back to the capital now?" Xu Yuan froze, subconsciously looking around. Seeing his reaction, Li Yaoxuan teased with some amusement, "What, you don't believe it? With your life-death Dao charm, you ought to be able to see Zhen's condition. Coming to the imperial mausoleum before Zhen passes away saves a lot of trouble, does it not?" "..." Xu Yuan was silent for several breaths. Without a word, he bowed deeply to the two elders in the pavilion, then lifted his gaze to look intently at his father, murmuring softly: "Father, your son will wait for you in Di'an." "..." Xu Yinhe's gaze remained tranquil and silent, offering no reply. Li Yaoxuan smiled playfully at those words. Neither of them spoke. In silence, they watched the blood-robed figure leap into the air until he vanished into the far reaches of the wind and snow. Only then did Li Yaoxuan speak leisurely: "Reap what you sow. That boy of yours is quite remarkable." Xu Yinhe took one last look toward the north, then withdrew his gaze. Rather than responding to Li Yaoxuan's remark, he said in a low voice: "Thank you for just now." Li Yaoxuan stroked his chin, the imperial dragon robes behind him fluttering in the wind and snow. He asked deliberately, "Thank me? For what?" "Thank you for speaking up just now. And thank you for not striking just now." "Heh." Li Yaoxuan chuckled and shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he stared at his old friend across the table. "Sometimes your words truly displease Zhen, Chancellor. Asking Zhen to join hands with those beyond-Saint figures of the sects to strike you down? In that case, Zhen might as well just drop dead on the spot." Hearing this, a faint smile flickered in the depths of Xu Yinhe's profound eyes, but in the next instant it dissolved into a sigh. "True enough." Li Yaoxuan pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "Still, Zhen is curious. If Zhen hadn't spoken up just now, what did you plan to do, Chancellor?" Nothing in this world was strictly binary. To Xu Yinhe's proposal of standing side by side in their final moments, there were not merely two answers of acceptance or refusal. Li Yaoxuan speaking up had been the final straw that shattered the Sect Alliance's intent to execute Xu Changtian. Had he chosen silence at that moment, the Sect Alliance certainly would not have relinquished their hold on Xu Changtian so easily. And so, Li Yaoxuan looked at the man across from him and pressed on, "Would you truly have chosen to march alone onto the Sword Sect's grounds to rescue that cub of yours?" The words fell into silence, leaving only the sound of drifting snow. Xu Yinhe answered the question with silence. Having played the board and walked beside him all his life, Li Yaoxuan knew very well what his old friend's silence signified. For that reason, bewilderment surfaced in his eyes. Yet before he could voice it, Xu Yinhe spoke first, asking the question weighing in his own heart: "Are you still hesitating?" "..." Li Yaoxuan fell silent as well. Ever since that day when he supported the new Emperor of Great Yan, he had thought his resolve was set. That was why he had invited this lifelong rival and friend to this place—the imperial mausoleum he had spent over a decade preparing as their final curtain. He wanted to kill him. To eliminate the greatest threat to the imperial family's continuation. During these past few days of waiting as proposed by the other man, Li Yaoxuan had consistently believed so, thinking his mind was made up. Yet if his resolve had truly been set, he would not have spoken up to aid him under the intimidation of the Sect Alliance's two beyond-Saint experts just now. As long as Xu Yinhe went to the Sword Sect, even if he did not act himself, this greatest threat to the continuation of the imperial bloodline would have been handled by others. So, why had he spoken? Li Yaoxuan could not understand what was going through his own mind. Perhaps he felt that others were unworthy of killing this brother-in-arms of his. Perhaps he was unwilling to see the Prime Minister's Manor fall into chaos without a leader. And of course, perhaps the ideals of those early years had never truly left him... Li Yaoxuan chuckled softly, laughing at his own absurdity. Lowering his eyelids, he nodded and admitted: "Indeed. Zhen is actually still hesitating... Rather ridiculous, isn't it?" "..." Hearing those words, Xu Yinhe remained silent, slowly closing his eyes to conceal the complicated emotions within. Li Yaoxuan rubbed the space between his brows and took a deep breath, exhaling a plume of white mist into the swirling snow. "Chancellor, I have a question." "Speak." "What was the reason you were so determined, harboring a resolve to die just to rescue Xu Yuan? Is he truly that important?" "Yes." "Even more important than yourself?" "Yes." "For the sake of the cooperation between Emperor and Chancellor?" "Yes, and no." "Then for family affection?" "Yes, and no." "..." Silence fell. Li Yaoxuan narrowed his eyes, studying the familiar yet foreign opponent before him. He asked no further questions, merely waiting for the other man to speak the true answer. Beneath the vast, desolate wind and snow, a soundless quiet spread to every corner of the imperial mausoleum. In the calmest, gentlest voice, the Prime Minister of Great Yan spoke the answer in his heart—the very thing that had once haunted the dreams of both men present: "The future."