I’ve translated the frozen lake scene, from where Chu Qiao jumps into the water up until she comes out of the lake. I might continue translating this last volume that the drama did not get to film. Leave a comment if that sounds like a good idea.
*****Zhuge Yue is basically Yuwen Yue. Book and drama have different names.
Chu Qiao opened our mouth wide, she wanted to shout but couldn"t make any sound. Cold wind poured into her throat, causing her to cough wildly. She struggled to stand up, staggered her way forward, and jumped straight into the chilling frozen lake.
The cold was so chilling, and felt as sharp ice thorns were forcefully piercing her feet and calves, piercing into her back and neck. She bowed her body forward and dived deeper, trying her best to swim. Opening her eyes wide underwater, she searched with great effort. The sunlight above shined itself through the water. Struggling silhouettes appeared in front of her eyes as the taste of blood spread throughout the waters.
No, no, no, she helplessly sobbed. Tears fell, mixing with the icy water and fresh blood. Her face livid and ashen, her body slowly started to harden, her moves also started losing its keenness. She feels someone grab ahold of her waist, someone is trying to pull her upwards.
No, she doesn"t want to go up! She pulled out the dagger from her waist and turned around to cut whatever had taken ahold on her waist. Except just at this moment, a pair of freezing hands colder than the icy water suddenly grabbed ahold of her wrist, forcing her to stop in the middle of her movements.
She turns her head and is suddenly greeted by a handsome face, dark eyes, pale lips, straight nose. His eyes stared at her intensely, his hand covering her hand, forcefully pushing her upwards. Fresh blood spilled consistently from his wound, the blood making its way towards Chu Qiao"s mouth and nose. She cried, opening both of her arms in an attempt to wrap her arms around him. The palm of her hands grabbed onto him tightly,as she tried to pull him upwards with her.
Zhuge Yue takes the dagger out of her hands and pulled her now-freed hand towards him. In the middle of her palm, he messily, but repeatedly writes:
"Live on…….live on…….live on……."
"Together with me!" she opened her mouth to shout back at him, but only a string of broken bubbles comes out of her mouth.
He slowly shook his head, and continued to write:
"Live on."
Her tears fell madly, she shook her head wildly, and tightly grabbed onto him.
Together with me! Together with me! Live on together with me!
I don"t want to go up by myself, I don"t want to live my life forever indebted towards you, I don"t want you to die, I don"t want it, I don"t want it!
The weight on her waist continued to pull her upwards. She was already frozen, and only her fingers were still tightly grabbing onto him. She never knew that his death would make her this alarmed. She never knew that unconsciously, he had already deeply entered her heart. She never knew, that the so-called hatred she had towards him was just an excuse she made for herself so that she didn"t have to face what she really felt. She never knew that seeing him leave her would make her heart feel as though her heart had been cut by a knife for a long time.
Rays of light start becoming more and more bright as she cried soundlessly. Her tears blurred her vision, and all she could see were his warm eyes. Her fingers desperately clamped onto his forearm. All the words that she could not say pa.s.sed through her clasped fingers. She continued to shake her head despairingly, desperately pleading. She suddenly filled with regret. Why did she have to tell Yan Xun all the pain she had hidden in the bottom of her heart for the past year? Why did she have to enrage him? Why couldn"t she just let go of her pride and lower her stance a little earlier? If she had done so, then Zhuge Yue probably wouldn"t have to die.
Her pain and fear felt like an endless abyss, slowly swallowing her away. She hung onto him, unwilling to let go.
Zhuge Yue was still so handsome, and for the first time in his life, he gazed softly at a person. His long-cherished wish was like a short and pitiful dream, but for a moment, he finally felt a soft response. He swam with great force, moving slightly upward, stretched out both his arms and wrapped them around her thin back. And then at the corner of her mouth, left a soft, cold kiss.
Tears spilled out of her eyes, mixing in with the water and then landing on the edges of Zhuge Yue"s lips. Feelings of despair seemed to puncture her heart in an instant, and it felt as though the freezing water surged into her heart filling in the deep hole left by her despair.
Her body had already completely frozen, yet the hold on her waist continued to pull her slowly upwards. Her forearms slowly straightened out as Zhuge Yue slowly untangled her fingers that held onto his arm. Both his and her hands finally separated as they slowly drifted apart from each other, farther and farther. Chu Qiao stretched out her slumped forearms as she watched him sink deeper and deeper. His bright eyes submerged underneath the waves, his warm lips were as white as paper, and eventually completely surrounded by the freezing darkness.
The bottom of her heart hurt as though it had been punctured. Light from above shot through the water, preventing her from clearly seeing her surroundings. The only thing she could see were his eyes, those warm yet steady eyes gazing back at her, as though his eyes were repeatedly telling her: live on, live on……….
Live on, don"t forget, you still have many dreams and aspirations left to fulfill.
Once long ago, she also said the same thing to someone else.
She suddenly turned her head, and discovered a different pair of eyes, silently watching her from behind.
The moment she exited the water, she felt as though she had already died. Sunlight shined her face made her feel as though she was in a trance. Yan Xun nervously hugged her, loudly calling out her name. Except she couldn"t hear it at all. All of her had died underneath that frozen lake. The only thing that came out of that frozen lake was a freezing body of blood and flesh.
The wind blew lightly, white birds flew across the sky, the sun was about to set, the snow and wind had already stopped. The sunset look as red as blood, shining thousands of red rays as it set behind the mountain, so nice to see, so pretty.
Except in the end, he will never be able to see any of this again.
She suddenly panicked, and her body seemed to be controlled by a miraculous strength, allowing her to disregard everything and push Yan Xun away. She staggered her way towards the broken surface of the ice. Yan Xun hurriedly rushed forward to hold onto her tightly. She was less than five steps away from that broken surface, and yet she was being tightly held back, unable to even move a single step forward. Her despair and heartache hit her like an overwhelming tide. Finally unable to control her emotions, she kneeled on the ground crying out sorrowfully: "Come out! You come out!"
A mouthful of fresh blood suddenly sprayed out and landed on Yan Xun"s wrist. She fell to the floor, crying desperately. Her body seemed like a leaf in the autumn wind, violently trembling.
"A"Chu!"
Yan Xun called out her name right next to her year, yet all she felt was an ear-piercing sound instead. She suddenly turned her head around, stopped crying, and stared at him coldly.
What kind of an expression was in those eyes?
Anger, hatred, disappointment, sadness, all pa.s.sed through her eyes one by one. Finally, there was only pain and despair left. She stared at him, tears trickling down one by one. Years of hope completely shattered; all persistence and aspirations disintegrated into flying ash.
The anxiety, fear, and distress that Yan Xun had previously felt finally cooled down with the cold look she was giving him. He awkwardly let go of his hands, stood up, and condescendingly looked down at her.
A piercing cold wind blows strongly, causing the little bits of white snow to cover her eyes. Her consciousness was slowly leaving her, and in her trance-like state, she felt as if she could again see those dark eyes in the depths of the water.
Live on, live on, live on………
Somewhere, a deep and heavy voice sounded by her ears. She closed her eyes in despair, completely collapsed to the ground, falling into a boundless darkness, hoping to enter a long dream and to never wake up.
Cold winds continue to blow, snowflakes falling, slowly covering the frozen lake"s broken surface. Desolate skies and earth, so close to the world of the dead.
This is the latter half of the chapter. The first half of the chapter is all the fighting before Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao fall into the frozen lake. I will update that soon.
—springbreeze