186: Chapter 186 Allow Me to Be Willful This Once

"Love Gu," the Altar of Heaven seven days later...

"No, Your Majesty..."

She shook her head, her tears flowing even more fiercely, and used all her strength to grab Su Chen's wrist.

"Don't... don't worry about me anymore."

"I beg you... stay away from me, don't be good to me anymore."

"Nonsense!"

Su Chen's face darkened as he spoke with feigned anger.

"You are my Beloved Consort; if I don't care about you, who will?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Your Sister Jiang and I are both looking for a way to save you."

"Trust us, we will definitely be able to cure you."

"That's not it, Your Majesty."

"Please listen to me!"

Su Daji, finding strength from somewhere unknown, struggled to sit up.

Then, she was gently pressed back down by Su Chen and Queen Jiang, who had put down the medicine bowl and rushed forward.

"Sister Su, your injuries are not stable yet; you must not move recklessly."

Su Daji couldn't spare a thought for Queen Jiang at this moment; she stared fixedly at Su Chen.

She blurted out everything she had seen through internal vision and the message from her Master.

Everything was revealed without reservation.

"The thing you couldn't figure out, the thing that causes me such agonizing pain, besides my chaotic cultivation, is something she planted in my bones."

"It's called a Love Gu."

"Because I fell in love with Your Majesty, it has awakened."

"Whenever I think of Your Majesty, it will flare up, causing me unbearable pain and slowly torturing me to death."

"It can only be resolved if Your Majesty dies, or if the one who planted the Gu—my Master—dies."

"At the Great Ceremony of Heaven seven days from now, Master will come in person to kill Your Majesty."

"She wants me to trick Your Majesty into going onto the altar..."

"At that time, it will be a duel between the two of you, but Master is too strong, and Your Majesty..."

Su Daji knew that if Su Chen really went onto the Altar of Heaven,

Whether it was Su Chen who died or her Master who died, the Love Gu inside her would be completely removed.

Even if she couldn't obtain the complete Supreme Forgetting Joy and Union Canon,

At least she could live a normal life without using her cultivation.

But...

How could she bear to let her King take such a huge risk?

"Your Majesty, do not perform the sacrifice! Do not go up!"

"I beg of you... just let me die from the pain alone."

"It's my own fault, I was blind, I didn't see that this was a trap."

"I have burdened Your Majesty... I have failed Your Majesty."

By the time she finished, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

She gripped Su Chen's hand tightly.

It was as if that warm, slender hand was the last piece of driftwood for a drowning person like her.

She wanted to hold on tight, yet desperately wanted to push him away.

The bedchamber fell silent.

Even Queen Jiang had long since stopped all movement, standing frozen by the bedside.

Her face was no better than Su Daji's, pale as a sheet.

She knew Su Chen all too well.

The moment Su Daji spoke those words, she knew.

Su Chen had already made his choice.

He never took his own safety seriously.

But if it weren't for this personality of his, how could she have fallen in love with him?

After a long while, Su Chen slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He reached out, ignoring Su Daji's struggle, and firmly yet gently pressed her back onto the pillow.

He pulled over the cotton quilt and covered her carefully.

He even gently tucked in the corners of the quilt.

Then, he looked directly into Su Daji's tear-filled fox-like eyes with tenderness.

Word by word, he spoke clearly and slowly.

"Beloved Consort, tell your Master."

"Seven days from now, at the Great Ceremony of Heaven."

"I will be on the Altar of Heaven with my sword."

"Waiting for her."

"Your Majesty—!"

Su Daji's beautiful eyes widened.

Su Chen had indeed made a choice that was almost suicidal.

"Husband!"

Queen Jiang also cried out in alarm, taking a step forward, tears shimmering in her beautiful eyes.

"Are you mad?!"

"That is the Sect Leader of the Hehuan Sect!"

"Given that immortals cannot act against mortals, a Xiantian Peak cultivator like her is the ceiling of this mortal world."

"Even if you can mobilize the National Destiny, how much of it can you actually use at a special place like the Altar of Heaven?"

"You are going to your death!"

Su Chen did not answer Queen Jiang's question, but instead reached out and wrapped his arm around her slender waist.

His gaze, however, remained locked on Su Daji's face.

He reached out and used his thumb to wipe away the surging tears on her face bit by bit.

"Silly girl."

He chuckled softly.

"Do you think I don't know this is a death trap?"

"But I am the Lord of the Yin Shang Dynasty."

"I am the King."

"I am your man."

"Someone has held a knife to your throat, using your life and such vicious means to force me and plot against me."

"If I shrink back, if I am afraid, if I leave you alone to suffer the torture of that damn Love Gu..."

"Then what kind of man would I be?"

"Would I still be fit to sit in this chair?"

"Would I still be worthy of you... calling me 'Your Majesty'?"

"But..."

Su Daji wanted to say more, but Su Chen gently pressed his fingertip against her lips.

"There are no buts."

"Demon Concubine Su Daji, for me, you were willing to force a breakthrough, destroying your meridians and hanging by a thread."

"So what does it matter if I face a death trap for you?"

Having said that, he threw his head back and laughed.

"In this life, I have been diligent in governance and loved my people, yet when I arrived, it was No Meeting Spring."

"I have borne the infamy, carried the blood debts, and played the role of the faint-hearted ruler of the Wine Pool and Meat Forest."

"In the end, to be able to rightfully draw my sword for the woman I love and meet that so-called expert, it wouldn't be a waste to have come to this world for a visit."

He let go and gave Su Daji a reassuring smile.

"Recover well and wait for my return."

"I promise you, I will definitely return."

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

Hearing this, Su Daji tried to get up to stop him.

But she ignored her terrible physical condition at the moment.

As soon as she moved, the simultaneous eruption of meridian chaos and the heart-devouring pain of the Love Gu slammed her back onto the couch, causing her to curl up in agony.

Her face was as white as paper, and she couldn't even speak to stop Su Chen.

Only tears rolled down silently.

Beside her, Queen Jiang's fingers holding the medicine bowl tightened almost imperceptibly.

She lowered her eyes, looking at the agonizing Su Daji on the couch who was weeping in despair because of Su Chen's words, and then at the man with the straight back by the bed.

In her heart, a sense of resentment quietly grew.

If only the person lying on the bed were her...

She would be willing to bear this pain.

Even illness had become a luxury for her.

Because...

She just wanted to enjoy it once.

The way this man would rather break than bend, acting as a shield for those he cared about.

Su Chen comforted Su Daji with gentle words for a long time until she was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep again.

The young woman still frowned in her sleep, her body trembling slightly from pain from time to time.

Occasionally, she let out a few delicate breaths that inspired pity.

Confirming she was temporarily safe, Su Chen slowly stood up and gave Queen Jiang a look.

The two of them walked out of the bedchamber one after the other, entering the outer room.

Outside the palace, the moonlight was like water, and the wind lanterns under the corridor swayed, casting long shadows of the two.

Queen Jiang walked silently half a step behind him.

After a long while, she finally spoke softly.

(Tomorrow will begin three days of triple updates.)