Blind and Bereft

Chapter 51 | Eyes of the Portrait

"Your father is the Heavenly Emperor Yunyin, and your brother is Yihuai, do you understand Zhanying?"

"This place was never meant to be ours, so if Yihuai bullies you, you must not fight back, alright?"

"No matter how much you surpass Yihuai, you can never have the throne. It's Heaven's will that you stay in the abyss for eternity."

For the first time in millennia, his heart throbbed. Finally, he understood his mother's words. The Heavenly Palace was never meant to be his home. It was a mere shelter he could reap benefit from, even if he must sacrifice half of his sanity to survive.

It wasn't difficult for him to put everything together. Like puzzle pieces, everything aligned perfectly.

Bao Bao came to the mountain to find the mystery behind her master, Li Yu's, past, and Zhanying could have never thought that the world would tie them together in such a way. If Li Yu truly did run away with a disciple named Chen—his mother—while she was pregnant, then could it be that Li Yu was his. . .

He chuckled to clear his thoughts. He refused to believe such thing when there was no evidence. Inhaling in the faded medication, he took a step forward. "I hated Heaven all this time, and I never have a reason to fight for it."

Phantom Lord seemed to smile beneath his mask as he nodded. "Fate is strange, isn't it, Celestial Prince? So, now that I have answered your maid's query, will you assist this Phantom Sect?"

"There are several consequences I must bear for going against the Heavenly Emperor, but I am too tired to care. I shall assist you since I am partly responsible for this war." He sighed and held a hand up to wave those behind him out of the hall. "I shall devise plans with the Phantom Lord. Leave us."

At his bleak words, the presences behind him left the hall with gloom. Once he couldn't sense them, he dropped his smile and stepped away from the Phantom Lord. "I've regained my sight."

The Phantom Lord fixed his mask on his face and walked up to his throne. Plopping down, a sigh parted his lips. "Was it her blood?"

Zhanying nodded, but then he clenched his jaw and shook his head. "No. She doesn't love me, nor do I love her. Perhaps someone as crafty as you crafted this fraud story in hope of keeping me away from the Jade Fruit."

The Phantom Lord twirled his cup of wine in his hand and let out a laugh that filled the room. "Feelings can't be looked at on the surface only, my Prince. You are smart, but it seems you do not understand yourself."

Zhanying inhaled deeply as he refused to ponder over the Phantom Lord's utter nonsense. The story of one drop of blood was a mere lie to him because he knew deep within his heart that he was too numb to hold sentiments. Several years within the Heavenly Palace had toughened him to the point that no blade, such as love, could penetrate through.

He skimmed around the large jade hall with his regained sight and spotted a portrait behind the throne. Red paint melted like blood onto the large, yellow paper parchment, forming a picture of an eerie woman.

"Is that your lover?" Zhanying gestured at the haunting portrait.

"Ah, the portrait behind me? That's right, that's my Mei. Beautiful, isn't she?" The Phantom Lord clasped his hands together as he leaned back against his throne. "Although I've never seen her face with these blind eyes, I've had a popular painter paint her with the finest of details in case one day my sight is regained."

Zhanying stared at the portrait, and it stared back at him. His expression turned baffled as a sense of familiarity crept over him. The woman wore a serpent ring on her finger which was blood red, and he was drawn with interest. Strange for him to hold intrigue in a trivial affair, but the more the woman peered at him, the more he felt curious.

"She had a rather exquisite ring for a disciple," he remarked.

The Phantom Lord seemed to also be deeply interested as Zhanying was normally aloof to other's affairs. "That is the Blood Serpent's Ring. There's only that one ring in this vast land. The ring chooses its own master, and Mei happens to be the chosen one. The ring cannot be stolen, but only passed on by will. That's what made it a desirous heirloom. Although I am blind, this ring was what I distinguished her with. I would hold her hand and feel the ring on her ring finger to be sure she was my Mei, my beloved Mei."

Zhanying suddenly felt his head spin, and the medication within the room was too faded to calm him. He swayed slightly as he rubbed his forehead. "That's enough. Let us idle no more and proceed with devising war tactics."

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