Chapter 439
**Chapter 437: [Extra] Mo Xun (4)**
“It must be Zhang He'an's doing. The instrument came with me... He activated it.” Mo Xun took a moment to accept the truth that she was Li Qingxun. She pressed her throbbing temples, struggling to piece together the events.
Her soul had been affected by the instrument, and a century later, she was reborn as Mo Xun of Yaowang Valley. The urgent task at hand was to find the instrument. Its radiation was intense, and anyone who touched it would struggle to live long. Such a dangerous object, Zhang He'an would likely not keep it close.
After some thought, Mo Xun suspected that Zhang He'an had left the instrument in the royal tombs of Nanchu. She decided to head to Nanchu.
Thinking of the current state of the Nanchu kingdom—Emperor Li Yuanli was dealing with power-hungry royals, and chaos reigned—Mo Xun felt a headache coming on. These ungrateful descendants! The Nanchu kingdom she had painstakingly built was now in such disarray!
How infuriating!
Mo Xun immediately sought out Shen Wei to bid farewell before embarking on her long journey to Nanchu. On the way, she encountered Shen Wei's brother, Shen Xiuming.
Now a half-powerful official himself, Shen Xiuming carried himself with great poise. Upon learning of Mo Xun's destination, he tried to dissuade her, but when that failed, he personally escorted her to Nanchu.
The chaos within Nanchu was overwhelming.
Mo Xun took advantage of the confusion and, after much hardship, infiltrated the royal tomb. She wandered around the Nanchu royal tomb but still couldn’t find the instrument.
She couldn’t understand where Zhang He'an had taken it. Did he carry it with him? But could his frail body withstand the instrument's intense radiation?
She didn’t stay long in Nanchu. Emperor Li Yuanli had a nose sharper than a dog’s and soon discovered her presence, sending people to hunt her down. Mo Xun evaded capture until she was caught by Zhang He'an, who had come looking for her, and he brought her back to Yue.
Mo Xun was used to this.
For years, it had been a game of cat and mouse, with no end in sight. She felt utterly exhausted. In the carriage back to Yue, Mo Xun pinched Zhang He'an's chin, saying, “If I die, then so be it. Why are you forcing me to live? Don’t you know that the instrument is dangerous due to its radiation?”
Zhang He'an realized she had regained her memories.
He replied calmly, “A Xun, a lifetime is not enough, not nearly enough.”
The madness in his dark eyes was unmistakable.
Mo Xun never expected that the Zhang He'an she had playfully provoked a century ago harbored such a terrifying obsession.
She warned him, “The energy in the instrument is limited. If you use it again, it will be depleted. Zhang He'an, don’t keep the instrument on you. Find a place to seal it away.”
Zhang He'an simply replied, “Mm.”
It was unclear whether he agreed or not.
...
The two returned to Yaowang Valley to hide away.
After regaining her memories, Mo Xun lost the desire to run. Zhang He'an, affected by the instrument, grew weaker by the day. Mo Xun secretly worried and began experimenting with herbs to treat him.
In this era, technology was underdeveloped, still in an agrarian age, and medicine was often a double-edged sword. Mo Xun worked hard to improve her techniques, striving to extract the essence of the herbs and then giving the concoction to Zhang He'an.
The medicine was bitter.
Zhang He'an always drank it in one gulp.
He cherished every moment spent with Mo Xun.
In addition to supervising Zhang He'an’s medicine intake, Mo Xun encouraged him to exercise more. Zhang He'an said, “I’m in great shape.”
Mo Xun scoffed, “In great shape? Not really, your energy isn’t what it used to be.”
Zhang He'an: ...
So, he went to work out.
The two lived in Yaowang Valley, ignoring the storms of the outside world, like the most ordinary couple.
“A Xun, where exactly do you come from?” One day, after drinking his medicine, Zhang He'an tilted his head and asked.
A century ago, Zhang He'an had observed celestial phenomena, which had changed with Mo Xun's arrival. She was unlike any woman in this world, and he had always been curious about her origins.
After being married for two lifetimes, Mo Xun had no reason to hide anymore.
She told Zhang He'an that she came from a technologically advanced time and space. In that world, monogamy was the norm, and women had relatively equal job opportunities. She was a physics professor, a top researcher at a scientific institute, and due to an experimental mishap that caused an explosion, she ended up in this world.
“What is physics?” Zhang He'an asked.
With nothing else to do, Mo Xun sat beside him and began to teach, like a teacher: “Physics is a discipline that reveals the principles of how everything in the world operates. For example, look at that apple tree. When an apple falls, why does it only fall to the ground? Why doesn’t it fall upwards? That’s because of gravity. Newton proposed the law of universal gravitation, which explains this phenomenon.”
Zhang He'an asked, “Who is Newton? Do you know him?”
Mo Xun: ...
Zhang He'an showed great interest in physics, and Mo Xun was eager to teach him, sharing modern mathematics and physics whenever she had the chance.
It turned out that one should never underestimate the learning ability of an ancient scholar. Zhang He'an quickly grasped the new concepts of physics and learned rapidly.
Mo Xun marveled, saying, “If we were in modern times, I would definitely take you as my graduate student. After you graduate, I’d have you working at the institute for the rest of your life.”
Zhang He'an caught the key phrase “for the rest of your life” and smiled slightly.
Listening to Mo Xun describe another strange world, her words filled with admiration and pride, Zhang He'an held her hand and softly asked, “A Xun, do you want to go back to your hometown?”
Mo Xun lowered her gaze in thought.
The past felt so distant, and after living two lives, her desire to return to the modern world was no longer as strong as it had been in her first life.
She had taken root in this era.
So, Mo Xun shook her head, “The chances of going back are too slim. Staying here is quite nice.”
Zhang He'an reverently kissed her palm, saying, “A Xun, no matter where you go, I will always be with you.”
Time flew by, and the two lived in seclusion, over a decade passing, leaving faint wrinkles on their faces.
Years later.
On an ordinary afternoon, Zhang He'an lay on a wicker chair under the shade of a tree, taking a nap. Suddenly, he felt short of breath and dizzy. The soul tremors he hadn’t felt in years returned.
Zhang He'an struggled to open his eyes, gazing into the distance.
In the distance, the green mountains loomed, and the valley was serene. Mo Xun had gone to the town below to buy wine, saying she wanted to have roast chicken for dinner, but she had yet to return.
Zhang He'an sighed deeply.
He calmly closed his eyes.
A Xun, this time it was his turn to take the first step.
...
...
Mo Xun was in the town below buying wine. In recent years, Zhang He'an's health had deteriorated, the radiation from the instrument severely affecting his body.
Mo Xun was anxious.
She was even a bit fearful.
All she could do was try to keep Zhang He'an alive.
Suddenly, she began to understand Zhang He'an from a century ago. Watching a partner suffer from illness, feeling helpless, and only being able to watch them slowly approach death was an unbearable process. Every day, she opened her eyes, most afraid that Zhang He'an beside her wouldn’t wake up.
Just as Mo Xun left the town, a group of men in black blocked her path. Mo Xun bared her teeth—was there really an enemy even in the peaceful Yaowang Valley?
Alone, she could only surrender.
Thinking she was being kidnapped by bandits from Yue, she was shocked when she was shoved into a carriage and, after a bumpy ride, found herself in distant Nanchu. Upon disembarking, Emperor Li Yuanli of Nanchu, dressed in a black and gold robe, appeared before her.
Mo Xun was utterly confused.
It wasn’t until Li Yuanli produced the instrument, claiming he had obtained it by chance and hoped Mo Xun could explain its use, that she realized this descendant had lost his mind.
At first, Mo Xun stubbornly refused to speak, repeatedly warning Li Yuanli that the instrument was highly radioactive and contained only a small amount of neutrino elements. If activated, it would affect the user’s lifespan.
Li Yuanli dismissed her warnings and ultimately extracted the activation method from her.
Mo Xun was locked in a cave, her heart racing with anxiety. She had been missing for days, and Zhang He'an had not come looking for her.
It was too strange.
As time passed, her unease grew heavier. Two years later, when Li Yuanli activated the instrument and swapped Shen Wei’s soul, Mo Xun finally realized that Zhang He'an was no longer in this world.
Shen Wei recognized Mo Xun upon arriving in Nanchu. They both came from the same era, naturally having endless topics to discuss.
Mo Xun sensed that Shen Wei had a strong desire to return to the modern world. Having lived two lives, Mo Xun had calmly accepted this unfamiliar era. But Shen Wei was different; she was too independent and strong-willed, never having adapted to this time.
The two staged a play, and Shen Wei successfully returned to her original body.
Mo Xun returned to Yaowang Valley in Yue, only to find the houses in ruins, overgrown with weeds, and Zhang He'an missing, with not even a trace of his body. He might have fallen while searching for her, turning into a pile of dust in this world.
Mo Xun felt lost.
She experienced an unprecedented loneliness.
Without Zhang He'an and unable to return to the modern world, she could only watch time slip through her fingers, living in torment every minute and second, with no glimmer of hope.
When a person loses hope, they are no different from a withered log.
In the end, Mo Xun chose to end her life.
She knew Shen Wei needed her, but Mo Xun truly didn’t want to linger in this desolate world any longer.
A hundred years ago, she had died before Zhang He'an, leaving him to wander alone.
A hundred years later, Zhang He'an died before her, and she was tormented by longing to the point of despair.
Under the hehuan tree in the Autumn Cool Palace, Mo Xun gazed up at the tree she and Zhang He'an had planted. The sapling had grown into a towering tree over a century, silently recounting the tales of old.
She held a hehuan leaf, slipping into eternal slumber.
...
...
“Beep—”
“Beep beep—”
Li Qingxun's head throbbed painfully. She wanted to reach out and knock on her aching head, but her hands seemed bound, unable to move.
The instrument beside her kept beeping, making her head hurt even more.
She heard footsteps outside, someone rushing in, followed by an exclamation: “Professor Li is awake! Quick, call Doctor Fang! Professor Li is awake!”
The voice was loud!
It echoed throughout the entire building.
Half an hour later, Li Qingxun finally fully regained consciousness. She opened her eyes to see five or six doctors in white coats, led by a handsome young doctor checking her blood pressure.
She seemed to be in an intensive care unit, surrounded by various instruments.
Li Qingxun was astonished.
Hadn’t she died?
How... how was she alive again?
The ward was sterile, and the doctors and nurses wore protective gear. Li Qingxun numbly accepted their examinations, her gaze drifting to the glass window, where she saw the old professors and her colleagues from the research institute.
Everyone had tears in their eyes, gesturing wildly at Li Qingxun.
Li Qingxun pinched her thigh, and it hurt!
She... she really came back?
It was impossible; the energy in the instrument had been completely depleted, insufficient to support her return to the modern world. That experiment had been a half-finished product, and only she could complete it.
Li Qingxun couldn’t help but wonder if someone had helped finish the experiment, restarting it and bringing her back.
“When did the country produce a new physics genius? Can anyone still understand the theories I proposed?” Li Qingxun murmured, her throat aching, unable to speak.
Her physical condition was poor.
After the experiment failed, she had been in a coma for five years due to the explosion's impact. Even after waking from a vegetative state, she couldn’t yet be exposed to modern air.
Li Qingxun could only remain in the sterile ward, where other professors and colleagues visited her daily, bringing numerous topics for her to advise on.
Li Qingxun hadn’t yet come to terms with everything; her mind was flooded with too many memories.
She missed Zhang He'an.
In two lives, she finally saw her love for Zhang He'an clearly. She had long since become unable to live without him, and upon returning to the modern world, Zhang He'an had become nothing more than a memory.
Li Qingxun sighed silently, feeling a bit sad.
Her colleague, Xiao Zhang, came to visit her again. Li Qingxun used a voice tube to ask him about the status of Experiment 1098.
Xiao Zhang chattered, “Professor, you don’t need to worry. After the experiment failed, a Professor An from Europe came. He improved the experiment using the documents you left behind and prepared to start Experiment 1099. Unfortunately, the core instrument for Experiment 1099 was damaged in a car accident while being transported, hitting an innocent bystander, and the experiment had to be halted.”
“However, Professor An didn’t give up. After two more years, he created a new core component. Experiment 1100 succeeded, and you woke up—oh, by the way, the unfortunate bystander who was hit by the car woke up at the same time as you half a month ago. She’s in good health and was discharged two days ago.”
Li Qingxun stroked her chin in thought.
She asked her colleague Xiao Zhang, “Who is Professor An? I’ve never heard of him before. If he’s that capable, remember to tell the director to find a way to keep him at the institute; we can’t let such talent slip away.”
Xiao Zhang smiled, “Don’t worry, Professor Li. Professor An has already signed a contract; he will be working at our institute from now on—” Just then, Xiao Zhang suddenly turned around, exclaiming, “Oh, Professor An, you’re here! Are you here to visit Professor Li? She just woke up and is in good spirits!”
Li Qingxun looked on with curiosity.
In the sterile ward, she could only see outside through a glass wall. Li Qingxun squinted, faintly seeing a figure dressed in dark red.
Professor An wore a dark red suit, his fingers pale and clean, exuding an air of nobility.
He stood outside the glass wall.
Mo Xun was inside the glass wall.
Just like their first meeting in the previous two lives, upon catching sight of his cold, moon-like face, Li Qingxun couldn’t help but be mesmerized.
He said, “A Xun, long time no see.”
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