Here's the English translation of Chapter 5714, "Former Life Extra - Mo Lian Also Missed It 3 (Proceed with Caution)":
Chapter 5714: Former Life Extra - Mo Lian Also Missed It 3 (Proceed with Caution)
The flames of war on the Pingjin Great Plains raged for a full half year.
By the end, all that remained were desolate weeds and skeletal remains, the entire prairie virtually scarred beyond recognition.
Our allied forces, though victorious, achieved a Pyrrhic victory in this battle.
The puppet corpse army was completely annihilated, but our own crippled and weakened forces didn't fare much better.
Rong Lie's illness grew increasingly severe.
Sometimes, he would be bedridden for three days and two nights, rarely regaining consciousness during that time.
When I visited him that day, he awoke hazily and looked at me.
His once handsome face was now gaunt and distorted from emaciation.
When his eyes met mine, they seemed lifeless, on the verge of fading.
"I think I had a very, very long dream. We won..." he whispered in a hoarse voice.
"We already won." I hurried forward, gripping his hand tightly. "Are you confused? We won ten days ago; we can go back soon."
"No." He coughed feebly twice, trying to sit up.
I quickly reached out, and with another attendant, gently helped him sit up a little. "Are you hungry?"
"I saw them, the flowers and grass. A single glance, and everywhere was vibrant green, full of life, exquisitely beautiful."
I remembered what the doctor had told me privately: "Your Majesty is likely to pass away soon. If he wakes again, it will surely be a final surge of vitality before death. Your Highness, seize the opportunity to say all that needs to be said."
I gripped his hand tightly, as if hoping an unseen will could continue to sustain me.
"Didn't you say that once everything was over, you'd go to the Sea of Oblivion?"
"Yes, I saw it."
He suddenly turned his head, pulling my hand, and in his flickering eyes, a glimmer of light seemed to emerge. "I saw that boundless Sea of Oblivion."
"In my dream, everything was there. I even saw a large ship sailing towards me."
"I vaguely saw someone on the ship, constantly waving at me. Unfortunately, I couldn't see her face clearly. She must have come to pick me up."
I silently turned my head, hastily concealing the tears in my eyes.
"You're tired. Rest well."
"No rest," he shook his head, using all his strength to pull my hand.
"Later, there will be plenty of time to rest properly. Stay with me a little longer. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to speak to you like this again."
"Nonsense. An evil person like you is naturally destined to plague humanity, causing mischief for thousands and tens of thousands of years."
He laughed, his coughs sounding weak and half-dead.
"Mo Lian, promise me one thing."
"Tell me." I dared not turn back.
I only feared that if I did, I would lose control of my emotions, and tears would stream down my face.
I was afraid of breaking down in front of him; that would be too unsightly.
"After I pass away, bury me on the grasslands. There's no need to bring me back."
He held my hand, sighing softly. "I want to look up and see the boundless sky. I always feel that someone will be waiting for me in the heavens."
"Mo Lian, can you promise me...?"
I think I'll never forget it as long as I live.
He leaned there in a single moon-white garment, his gaze carrying a hint of death.
I remembered our first meeting, when he came riding, clad in scarlet armor, vibrant and spirited.
That night, I silently sat by his side, watching him toss and turn for half the night, coughing faintly a few times.
By the latter half of the night, there was no more movement.
I sat blankly by his bed for a long time, then leaned over, crying quietly for half the night over his gradually chilling body.
"You think, you always say what you think. Well, I thought you could never die."
"I also thought we shouldn't have lived this life this way."
"You, on the other hand, did half the job and then just abandoned it, leaving a pile of messes for me to clean up."
In the end, I was the only one left to silently bear all of this...
Later, I followed his last will and buried him on the Pingjin Great Plains.
The sky was exceptionally bright on the day of his burial, with a crimson glow spreading from afar.
I looked up.
Whether it was imagination or illusion, it seemed as if I truly saw a blurry shadow, sitting on a cloud, coming to meet him.
If I could, I truly wished I could have gone with them.
To spend the rest of my life traveling, enjoying mountains and waters, treading across thousands of clouds and mist, never again having to worry about the present.
However, I always had responsibilities I had to fulfill.
It took me roughly a hundred years to slowly rebuild the ravaged Three States Continent.
I became the sole Emperor of this Three States Continent, but I would always wake up in the dead of night, sitting blankly by my bedside, spending entire nights sleepless until dawn.
It was so strange. These past years, intermittently, I seemed to have had a very, very long dream.
The dream grew more and more real, more and more vivid.
I could even hear our laughter, coming from the dream, giggling as if we were very happy.
Who was that?
Who was laughing so joyfully?
It sounded, it sounded like my own laughter?
How strange. I hadn't laughed for almost a hundred years.
What was laughter? I had long forgotten, so why would I laugh so heartily?
Hu Dequan was extremely old now. Every step he took seemed incredibly difficult, often requiring two young eunuchs to support him, walking unsteadily.
"Has Your Majesty been sleepless again?" Hu Dequan sighed, gesturing for two young eunuchs to come forward and help me change.
"The flowers in the Imperial Garden are blooming beautifully today. Would Your Majesty like to go for a stroll?"
What's the point of walking around alone?
I shook my head. "I want to refine artifacts. Just for a while."
Hu Dequan stayed with me in the palace, silently sitting to the side, watching me refine a gleaming small sword.
His eyes were slightly moist. "Every year, around the New Year, Your Majesty refines a small sword for a child's self-defense. It's been like this for decades, but not a single one has ever been given away."
I gazed at the small sword floating and sinking in the fire, and suddenly smiled. "Hu Dequan, I always feel like I have a son."
"I accompanied him riding horses and archery, adventuring everywhere. We traversed mountains and rivers, crossed countless waters."
"I immerse myself in the dream, sometimes not even wanting to wake up."
"When I wake up, I always have to cry."
"I feel like I truly might have missed something, something most important in this life..."
A young eunuch ran in frantically, falling to his knees with a thud, crying tremblingly, "Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus has passed away."
My hand trembled slightly, supported by the shaking hand of Hu Dequan.
I staggered a step, turning my head to look at the distant sky, clear and blue like it had been washed.
So, in the end, I truly became a lone wolf, with no other family left...
(The End)