ICAWZ Chapter 123

In the year 2764 of Hossburgh, in the depths of winter.

At this time, Elden had just been promoted by Faeus as the deputy leader not long ago. Whether it was Deputy Leader Yenia or General Wesley, both had perished in the rebellion last year. This meant that the high and mighty leader of the North had completely become a “solitary figure.”

There is one more important matter—

That male zerg escaped two months ago and has not returned since.

Elden didn’t know how to address Xu Cenfeng. He always felt that this male zerg and the leader looked like companions, eating together, living together, sleeping together every day. But in reality, they had never held a companion ceremony. So, when one day the other escaped, there wasn’t a straightforward reason to openly search for him.

It was another overwhelming snowstorm, with feathers of snowflakes falling from the sky like they wanted to swallow up the entire North.

Elden stood silently in the hall, holding a military document that required Faeus’ personal signature, but he hesitated to approach.

The master bedroom on the second floor was tightly shut, and despite the special soundproofing material of the door, one could still hear the agonizing screams coming from inside. It was the female zerg’s voice, crying out in the midst of a psychic turmoil. Perhaps it would last for several hours, maybe even the entire night. But apart from the male zerg’s pheromones to calm him, there was no other solution.

Elden had gone up once and found the leader bound to the bed with shackles, his limbs raw and bleeding. Unable to bear watching any longer, Elden hadn’t returned since.

Only Hawke persisted, bringing doctors each time, attempting to convince the leader to erase the markings left by the male zerg. Only then could they bring in a new male zerg for pheromonal soothing.

But Elden knew that the leader would never agree.

That male zerg had completely disappeared from the North, never to return again. How could the leader bear to erase the last trace of the male zerg’s existence?

“Bam—!”

Elden sat on the stairs and unsurprisingly witnessed Hawke being thrown out of the room along with two doctors. Hawke was beside himself with rage, grabbing one of the doctors by the collar and growling angrily, “I don’t care what methods you use. Immediately calm the leader’s psychic turmoil, or I’ll take your life!”

The doctor initially trembled with fear, but after multiple encounters, had become numb to it. “Deputy Leader Hawke, the leader is likely carrying the male zerg’s eggs now. We can’t administer suppressants without risking harm to his body. It’s better to bring back the male zerg that once marked the leader.”

“Get out!”

Hawke went mad every time he heard those words. He shoved the doctor away and chased them all out, pacing the hallway like a headless fly. “I don’t believe there’s no other way, I don’t believe there’s no other way…”

But inside the room, the agonizing screams grew quieter and hoarser. This didn’t signify a calming of the psyche, but rather that Faeus no longer had the strength to resist the raging turmoil in his mind.

Hawke trembled all over upon hearing the sounds from inside, finally conceding defeat in desperation. He grabbed a nearby soldier on duty, his eyes red with urgency. “Where is Xu Cenfeng?! Find him! Quickly! Bring him back! Wasn’t he missing in the Solitiam Forest?! Go find him! Hurry!”

The soldier, even more panicked than Hawke, stammered, “Deputy… Deputy Leader… We’ve been searching for several months… We can’t find any trace of him…”

“Even if you can’t find him, you must keep searching!”

Hawke almost roared out loud. He grabbed the soldier by the throat, his extreme anger contorting his features. “What are you all doing?! You were the ones on duty near the forest! You let him escape! Don’t tell me you didn’t notice a live male zerg slipping away right under your noses?!”

Elden sat under the stairs, pondering how those soldiers could not have known. But when the leader ordered them not to intervene, how could they dare to act?

Hawke still didn’t understand the leader’s thoughts.

The entire North was under the leader’s control. If he hadn’t silently allowed it back then, how could that male zerg have possibly escaped?

Under Hawke’s pressure, the soldiers scrambled out of the villa with an entire team, heading towards the Solitiam Forest for the twenty-sixth time to search for Xu Cenfeng’s whereabouts.

Elden remained seated motionless below, knowing deep down that he wouldn’t be found.

Hawke descended the stairs in a daze, his hands stained with blood—Faeus’ blood. He stared and stared, then suddenly buried his head in his knees and sobbed uncontrollably, his voice hoarse with regret, “I was wrong… I was wrong…”

Hawke cried bitterly, his heart torn apart, “When Yenia brought that male zerg here… I should have stopped them… Then the leader wouldn’t have liked him… and things wouldn’t have turned out like this today…”

“He’ll die if we keep this up… He really will…”

Elden had never seen Hawke cry before, but now he sat beside him, crying like a distressed pup, filled with regret and frustration.

They had always been in a competitive relationship, usually unable to see eye to eye. Yet in this moment, they shared a mutual sorrow that was unexpectedly profound.

Elden hesitated for a moment, then slowly raised his hand to pat Hawke on the back, speaking softly, “Stop crying…”

He continued, “If you’re feeling this way, go with them to the forest and search for His Excellency. Maybe… just maybe, you’ll find him.”

Elden said those words even though he didn’t believe them himself, but he knew that Hawke staying here would only make things worse. The profound sense of helplessness was tormenting them every minute and every second.

Upon hearing Elden’s suggestion, Hawke took it to heart as if abruptly awakening from a dream. He instinctively stood up from the stairs, hastily wiping away the tears on his face. “Yes… yes… I have to go with them to the forest… I have to go with them to the forest… Maybe we’ll find him there…”

With those words, Hawke rushed down the stairs in a flurry, without even saying goodbye. He pushed open the door and dashed outside, his figure quickly disappearing into the vast expanse of white snow.

Elden sighed as he watched Hawke go. He set the documents aside, got up, and walked over to close the door. Suddenly, he remembered that the leader was still alone in his room. Feeling uneasy, he turned back and headed upstairs again.

Hawke and the others had rushed out so quickly that they left the door slightly ajar. Elden stood in front of the master bedroom door, hesitated for a moment, and then pushed it open. Inside, he was greeted by dim light and a faint smell of blood lingering in the air.

Elden didn’t need to see to know what scene awaited him on the bed. He walked to the balcony and drew open the heavy, tightly closed curtains, allowing the bright, piercing sunlight to flood the room instantly. There, lying on the bed, was a red-haired, green-eyed female zerg, his limbs securely bound with shackles. His wrists were mangled from intense struggling, the clean sheets now marred with streaks of blood.

No one would have imagined that the esteemed leader of the North would end up like this, the once noble female zerg now fallen to dust.

Elden blinked hard, feeling the sting of tears in his eyes. He then took out a key from his pocket, half-knelt beside the bed, and began to unlock the shackles from Faeus’ wrists. Softly, he called out, “Leader?”

Faeus had just managed to calm the restless turmoil in his mind. His short red hair was damp with sweat, clinging tightly to his gaunt cheeks. His vacant eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, his lips pale and cracked, a taste of blood lingering between them. Finally, in a barely audible whisper, he uttered two words, “Xu Cenfeng…”

He repeated the name over and over again, murmuring to himself:

“Xu Cenfeng…”

Mixed with blood, mixed with pain, as if these two words could keep him alive or bring him peace in death.

So Elden knew that the leader hadn’t fully regained consciousness yet. Faeus never mentioned that male’s name when he was awake; those two words had become a forbidden taboo in Faeus’ heart.

Elden swallowed his emotions and said softly, “Leader, Hawke and the others have gone to search. They’ll be back soon…”

He paused, choked up for a moment, then continued, “We’ll bring back His Excellency Xu Cenfeng soon…”

The words acted like a bucket of cold water, abruptly jolting Faeus back to reality. He struggled to turn his emerald eyes towards Elden, where the sharpness of his gaze had long been replaced by the weariness and desolation accumulated over the years of betrayal and isolation.

Faeus’ chest weakly rose and fell for a moment. He moved his blood-streaked fingertips and whispered, “Don’t go searching…”

Elden was momentarily stunned.

Faeus closed his eyes slowly. “He won’t come back…”

His voice hoarse and broken, like a dagger snapped in two, like a corroded firearm beyond repair.

In that moment, Elden suddenly wanted to ask Faeus if he regretted it, if he regretted letting that male zerg go out of momentary weakness. But the question was too painful, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Instead, he bowed his head, hiding his reddened eyes, and knelt by the bedside, pleading earnestly, “Please, live on… Please, you must live on…”

None of the past leaders of the North had ever died a peaceful death. Only the most ambitious and treacherous zergs could ascend to that position. They either perished on the battlefield due to plundering or succumbed to greed and political intrigue. The long lifespan of two hundred years among the zergs seemed meaningless to them.

Elden didn’t want Faeus to meet such an end.

Coming from the slums, Elden had once yearned for power himself. But now, he suddenly realized that power wasn’t all that desirable. Faeus stood at the pinnacle of the North, where all subjects bowed to him, yet he seemed anything but content.

Though Faeus didn’t say a word, Elden couldn’t shake the feeling that he was deeply distressed. Every minute, every second, every stormy night tormented him.

Faeus remained silent, closing his eyes quietly, resembling a breathing corpse. After a long while, he finally spoke, “Elden, if one day I die, bury me in that place.”

Elden knew exactly which place Faeus was referring to—the forest where Xu Cenfeng had disappeared. Tears welling in his eyes, he nodded vigorously, “I… I will follow your command.”

Faeus remained proud, perhaps trying to salvage some dignity. He lifted his chin and with a hoarse voice said, “That place is also a battlefield. A warrior should die on the battlefield.”

But Elden understood that Faeus simply wanted to be closer to that male zerg. He knelt by the bedside for a long time, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion that left his knees numb. Eventually, he unsteadily rose from the bedside.

“The North is doomed,” Elden thought hazily.

In a place filled with betrayal and intrigue, it couldn’t continue indefinitely. If one day the leader truly died on the battlefield, there would be no zerg left among their kin who could bear this heavy burden. What awaited them would be annexation by the West and the downfall of the North.

At this moment, Elden even considered worshiping the Zerg God, bowing to the deity who legend says banished them, begging for redemption to be bestowed upon the North.

Faeus, exhausted from the strain on his mental energy, had fallen into a deep sleep. Elden quietly slipped out of the room, preparing to call another doctor to come and check on the situation. Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

“Ding dong!”

“Ding dong!”

The clear chime of the doorbell echoed through the spacious living room, sounding somewhat eerie. It was strange considering that Hawke and the others had only just left; they shouldn’t have been back so soon.

Elden paused in his tracks and reluctantly went downstairs to answer the door. He had initially thought it might be the servant responsible for clearing snow from the garden. However, when he saw the figure standing outside the door, his mind went blank. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he struggled to utter two words:

“Your… Excellency?”

Outside the door stood a slender male with fair, almost porcelain-like skin. His hair and eyes were as dark and mysterious as the night, contrasting against the snowy white landscape around him. He stood there in the vast expanse of snow, resembling a delicate statue.

The male’s shoulders were dusted with snow, and his hair had a thin layer of frost. His clothing looked thin, as if he had traveled a thousand miles from a distant place, enduring countless years and passing through seasons before finally reaching this desolate northern land.

“Whew…”

The wind whistled past his ears.

The cold wind swept up the swirling snowflakes, blowing them into the open doorway and scattering them throughout the room. The entire living room was dusted with a flurry of fine snow, but before it could settle, it melted away in the warmth of the heating.

Upon seeing this, the male took a step into the house, snow settling on his eyelashes. He looked around the room and finally asked in a low voice:

“May I ask… Is Faeus here?”

It is said that when it snows, old acquaintances return from afar…

 

 

 

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