Su Muqing felt heartbroken upon hearing Huo Qiyuan's words. She had been a novice then, and her mistake was truly unintentional. More importantly, she hadn't tampered with the fates of his parents and relatives as he imagined.
"Brother Huo, I didn't… I didn't know your parents would be arranged to have such an ending. It wasn't like this in their first life… but later there were too many variables…" Seeing the cold and distant look in Huo Qiyuan's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to offer more explanations.
"Variables? Aren't all those variables orchestrated by you? Weren't those variables meant to torment me until I was neither human nor ghost, and then, at my lowest point, you would descend like a savior, aloof and unattainable, to lend me a helping hand? In the end, what variables are there? It's all something you arranged long ago!"
At this moment, Huo Qiyuan didn't want to hear any more from her, nor did he want to see her face. In Huo Qiyuan's heart, since they were both divine envoys, Su Muqing must have been able to decide the endings of everyone in this small world. Didn't she say that was her mission?
"So, you've already completed your mission?"
"I've completed the mission on you, but other missions haven't…"
"You have other missions? Hahahaha… Could it be that in this world, there are people even more unfortunate than me waiting for you to save them?" Huo Qiyuan laughed bitterly, tears trickling down his eyes. This was the first time Su Muqing had seen him cry since his toxins were cleared.
"It's not like that! I didn't… Initially, you were my mission, but later I stopped seeing you as a mission. I helped you with all my heart, not just out of guilt and a desire to make amends, but because I truly like you… I've been working hard to upgrade the space, just so that one day we could truly be together. I was truly sincere…" Su Muqing panicked. She had never expected Huo Qiyuan to react so strongly upon learning the truth.
To be able to travel here, she had lost her own parents. Although her parents were also sent over, she hadn't known at first, and she had truly lost them.
"I don't know… I don't know! Why did you tell me this? I would rather my cousin be the murderer of my parents, I would rather my father, who lived a life of military exploits, be killed out of jealousy because he was too outstanding. I don't want you to be implicated in their tragic endings. Why did you tell me this? Why…" Huo Qiyuan shouted as if venting, gave Su Muqing a look of immense disappointment, and then angrily pushed open the door and ran out.
Su Muqing was left standing there, bewildered. She wanted to chase after him, but her legs felt as heavy as lead, unable to lift. Su Muqing sat on the ground and cried, hugging herself helplessly. She didn't know what she had done wrong…
The whole incident wasn't really related to her, was it? She hadn't participated in editing the story. She had just taken on a difficult mission when she was unfamiliar with it. It was only because of the chain reaction caused by the mission's failure that everything had led to this!
The Leng Zi team, who were waiting for the two to reconcile further away, thought they had made up since the Prince hadn't come out for so long. Just as they were preparing to go back and rest, they saw Huo Qiyuan run out like a gust of wind, his emotions clearly not right.
Leng Ren exchanged a glance with Leng Nuo, signaling him to check on Su Muqing. Then, he got up to chase after Huo Qiyuan. The others were to wait on standby. If the situation became too bad, they would invite the Zhou family and Xu Fu.
Because Su Muqing and Huo Qiyuan both greatly respected the two elders, no matter how fiercely they argued, they would at least maintain some semblance of decorum in front of the elders.
Leng Nuo walked to the door of Su Muqing's room, raising his hand but not knocking. He could hear intermittent crying from inside! How could the Prince make the Empress cry? And then leave without comforting her?
On the other side, Leng Ren was also in a dilemma. Huo Qiyuan walked alone to the half-collapsed outer city wall, sitting alone at the highest point. His silhouette looked desolate and lonely, and the aura of sorrow emanating from him cast a bleak hue upon the dark night.
Leng Nuo returned to where the Leng Zi team was waiting. The others anxiously asked him how the Empress was. He shook his head, his expression not looking good.
"I heard the Empress crying in her room, so I didn't dare to knock and enter…"
"The Empress cried?"
"No way? I've never heard the Empress cry before. Did you hear it wrong?" Leng Si and the others were surprised and somewhat disbelieving upon hearing Leng Nuo's words. Su Muqing had encountered so many things over the years, yet they had never seen her cry. How could their argument be so serious?
Leng Nuo felt quite frustrated as they doubted his words. If possible, he wished he had indeed misheard, but he clearly hadn't. Su Muqing was crying, and quite sadly at that.
"How is that possible! I heard it very clearly. And the Prince is also unreasonable. His Majesty was crying, and he just ran off like that. Can His Majesty still forgive him?"
"The Prince isn't an unreasonable person. They must have quarreled over something else. Otherwise, with the Prince's temper, how could he walk away upon seeing His Majesty cry?"
"Enough! This is the private affair of the Prince and His Majesty. We don't know what happened between them, so let's not speculate here." Leng Qi, seeing that the two were about to argue, couldn't help but interject.
He had a prosthetic eye and could clearly see the cool, solitary figure standing on the city wall. The Prince must also be feeling unwell in his heart right now, right?
Soon, a heavy rain began to fall, accompanied by strong winds. Perhaps it was during times of such sorrow that heaven always liked to intervene and play a role!
Su Muqing sat in her room, staring blankly at the wind and rain outside until dawn. Huo Qiyuan on the city wall, and Leng Ren below the city wall, stood there in the howling wind and rain all night, without moving even half an inch.
Their hearts felt like overturned spice jars, filled with all sorts of emotions. What was even more perplexing was that they didn't know how they would interact with each other in the coming days.
After all, they had been together for several years. If not for this incident, after Huo Qiyuan's revenge was complete, they would have held a grand wedding ceremony happily and gloriously.