Divorce by Agreement C15

Chapter 15

#If You’re Happy, Don’t Learn Too Much

I walked up to Xie Xuanqing.

Because Xie Zhuo had just been nearby, Xie Xuanqing’s expression wasn’t looking too good right now. He was clutching his chest and didn’t speak for a moment. Though I had been ruthless enough toward Xie Zhuo just now, when it came to Xie Xuanqing…

I felt a bit guilty and sorry.

After all, this man had never done anything wrong between us.

I helped steady Xie Xuanqing, and he immediately grabbed my wrist in return. Clearly… he was infuriated by me snatching that necklace, and had chased after me the whole way, desperate to get his stone back.

But he was gasping for breath, slowly calming down, and hadn’t yet managed to open his mouth to ask for it back. I took that chance to think things through.

If I wanted to continue going head-to-head with Xie Zhuo to reclaim the Pangu Axe, then I needed this stone as my bargaining chip.

If I wanted to continue cooperating with Xie Zhuo to destroy the marriage bond, then right now, I should just toss the stone necklace off this cliff, letting Xie Xuanqing give up on me completely.

No matter the purpose, I shouldn’t return the stone necklace to him.

But suddenly, I wanted to use this necklace to exchange for something else from Xie Xuanqing—like…

More of his secrets.

Xie Zhuo’s background, who Zhu Lian was, what this stone necklace really was…

In that instant, I wanted to give up my chance of returning to five hundred years later and instead… get to know him better.

I knew very well that we had already divorced—I shouldn’t be like this—but I couldn’t help it.

I opened my mouth, just about to use the necklace to fish some answers out of him, but to my surprise, before he even looked up, Xie Xuanqing asked:

“Who was that?”

I was stunned.

“Huh? Who?”

“The man in black—who is he?”

What? He saw Xie Zhuo fall? And his first question wasn’t about the necklace, but about Xie Zhuo?

This was going off-script. My mind raced, searching for a good excuse.

“That was…” I couldn’t exactly tell him the truth—that it was my ex-husband, who was also himself from five hundred years in the future, right? So I combined it with what I wanted to find out just now and came up with a new direction on the spot. “That man called himself Zhu Lian!”

Xie Xuanqing suddenly looked up at me. I did my best to appear serious and looked back at him earnestly.

His gaze showed both confusion and shock. A moment later, a trace of killing intent appeared.

Seeing that look intensify in his eyes, and how he seemed like he wanted to break free of my grasp and go fight with that weakened body of his, I quickly held him back. “I already drove him off.”

Xie Xuanqing turned to examine me carefully, from head to toe.

The redness on my neck had already been healed by Xie Zhuo just now, but the skin between my thumb and index finger, while no longer bleeding, still had a small cut.

Xie Xuanqing looked at my hand. I quickly explained, “Just a tiny wound. I was gripping my sword too hard. That monster was weak—no match for me. I have no idea where I beat him off to. You must’ve seen it too—my palm strike just now must’ve shattered all his internal organs.”

Xie Xuanqing relaxed little by little as he listened to the first few lines. With each word that followed, his tension eased further. By the time I finished, it was as if all his strength drained away—he leaned against the mountainside and slowly sank down to sit.

His hand rested on his knee, fingertips trembling slightly. He let out a soft sigh:

“As long as you’re okay…”

When he said that, it really sounded like… the whole chase wasn’t about the necklace, but about… me?

Looking at him, I remembered once again why I had so blindly married him back then—why I had never even asked about his background or family. It was because this demon’s words and actions were too misleading, too disarming.

“The necklace…” he finally brought it up. “You can’t have it.”

“Why not?”

Normally, I wouldn’t just take someone’s belongings for no reason, and even if I did in an emergency, I’d return it when they asked. It’s not like me to question them so boldly.

But today, I just wanted to debate it with Xie Xuanqing.

He raised his head and looked at me. “It’s not good for you.”

“What part of it isn’t good?”

My persistent questioning seemed to catch him off guard. He pressed his lips together and fell silent for a moment.

Thinking back to these five hundred years, there were so many conversations with Xie Zhuo that ended in silences just like this.

The longer time went on, the less I understood him, the less I trusted him—and the further he drifted from my heart.

I don’t know where I got the interest or energy today. Even though Xie Xuanqing had shown he cared for me, I somehow grew more aggressive instead. I pressed further: “How can a necklace be bad for me? What’s bad about it? Why are you so concerned about it?”

Xie Xuanqing opened his mouth, but he wasn’t a talkative person, so I knew he couldn’t answer all that in one go. I waited patiently.

Perhaps he knew he couldn’t avoid it this time. He finally opened his mouth—but instead of answering directly, he asked me a question: “Jiuxia, are you happy in Kunlun?”

I blinked. I hadn’t expected such an irrelevant question at this moment.

“Why are you asking that? Just answer my question.”

He lowered his eyes. “If you’re happy… then don’t learn too much.”

That line… sounded familiar.

I remembered. Not long after Xie Zhuo and I got married, he had once said the same thing to me.

At the time, despite all the objections from the immortals in Kunlun, I had insisted on marrying Xie Zhuo. At the wedding banquet, even Mengmeng, pressured by others, hadn’t dared to attend—only sending me a gift in advance in secret. The other immortals were nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, Queen Mother of the West sent a congratulatory gift through a messenger, as a gesture that Kunlun accepted Xie Zhuo.

Back then, I thought that although he was initially treated poorly in Kunlun, things would get better once he got to know everyone.

But I didn’t expect life to strike so unexpectedly. Not long after our wedding, Kunlun began experiencing a string of mysterious disappearances among the immortals.

As one of the commanders of Kunlun’s guard forces, I hadn’t even had time to enjoy a sweet newlywed life before becoming swamped with work. But no matter how hard we searched, we couldn’t find a single clue to the immortals’ disappearances.

And things only got worse over time.

Some immortals’ remains were eventually discovered in remote corners of Kunlun. Their bodies were incomplete, as if something terrifying had eaten them. Some were just a hand left behind, others a leg, or merely strands of hair.

Strangest of all, aside from the leftover body parts, there were no signs of struggle or blood at the scene.

We couldn’t find the culprit. The junior immortals of Kunlun began living in fear. Some said that evil gods trapped beneath the deep seas had escaped to wreak havoc. Others said Kunlun had been infiltrated by demons. And more and more people began pointing fingers at Xie Zhuo.

But Xie Zhuo never said a word in his defense.

I had loved Xie Zhuo deeply back then—how could I possibly tolerate others slandering him without proof?

To clear Xie Zhuo of suspicion, I took him out on patrol with me every day. Whenever people gossiped about him, I’d step in front of him and curse them out on his behalf.

Back then, I told Xie Zhuo, “It’s fine. You don’t like to talk, so I’ll speak for you. You don’t like to explain yourself, so I’ll explain for you!”

I don’t know how Xie Zhuo felt about me at that time, but he followed my arrangements every day—going out with me, solving cases together, patrolling together.

What I didn’t expect was how coincidental it all seemed. As soon as I started taking Xie Zhuo out with me, the mysterious disappearances of Kunlun immortals suddenly stopped.

That only made the suspicion surrounding Xie Zhuo spiral even further out of control.

Some immortals, having lost their Dao companions, even came to my Immortal Residence to curse me. One of them was especially agitated and smashed my front gate. When I tried to stop him, flying wood chips from the broken door even hit me in the head.

Xie Zhuo was furious that day. I still remember it clearly—he grabbed that immortal by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

I hadn’t realized how strong Xie Zhuo was until then. I said a few words to calm him down and asked him to put the man down. When he did, the immortal looked at Xie Zhuo with a pale, terrified face, not daring to act up again.

I thought he was faking it, trying to make Xie Zhuo look scary on purpose. I even scolded him, telling him I understood his grief, but that didn’t give him the right to take it out on me.

He fled in disgrace.

Afterward, I comforted Xie Zhuo. I told him that no matter what others thought or said, I believed in him.

That day, Xie Zhuo asked me—rarely taking the initiative to speak—“Jiuxia, are you happy in Kunlun?”

I didn’t understand why he was asking, and I scratched my head and answered, “Even though things have been a bit rough lately, I’ve still been pretty happy overall. Xuanqing, don’t worry. These rumors will pass someday.”

I smiled and hugged him. “When the truth comes out, I’ll take you around Kunlun to try lots of good food.”

But once again, I’d thought too simply.

The immortal Xie Zhuo had fought with went missing the very next day. Soon after, his corpse was found on the banks of Blackwater River to the west of Kunlun—only half his head and neck remained attached. His mouth was still stretched in a silent scream of terror. The bruises on his neck matched the very marks left by Xie Zhuo’s grip.

Things became even harder to explain.

I still believed in Xie Zhuo, but nearly everyone else in Kunlun didn’t. And because I stood by him, I was now labeled an accomplice to a murderer.

One after another, people petitioned the Queen Mother of the West to arrest us and punish us.

The Queen Mother tried to suppress it at first, but the outrage grew too strong. In the end, she issued a decree placing both me and Xie Zhuo under house arrest in our Immortal Residence until the truth came out.

Though I felt wronged, I obeyed her order.

As for Xie Zhuo…

I don’t know when he left. One morning I woke up, and he was simply gone.

I knew there were guards posted outside the residence, so I didn’t dare raise the alarm. He was gone for two days. When he returned, it was during a rare thunderstorm night in Kunlun.

He was covered in blood, his stone necklace hanging visible around his neck. The stone glowed faintly blue even in the dark, like the moonlight above the storm clouds—silent and desolate.

He slipped back in without anyone noticing. But he couldn’t slip past me—I had been waiting for him.

I was sitting on the threshold of our room when I finally saw him return. Of course I was overjoyed and rushed to him, asking, “Where did you go?”

When I saw all the blood on him, I got worried. “What happened? Are you hurt? Let me see…”

But Xie Zhuo pushed me away.

That was the first time, as far as I can remember.

He shoved me into the pouring rain outside and went inside, locking the door behind him.

I stood there in the rain, not daring to knock too hard. All I could do was ask over and over, “Xie Zhuo, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me! Where did you go?”

I told him, “Whatever happened, just tell me. I’ll face it with you.”

And I said, “Let me in. It’s so cold out here.”

The rain poured all night. Xie Zhuo never let me in. I tried to force the door open, but his barrier repelled me.

It wasn’t until the next day that the door finally opened.

Xie Zhuo stood there, calm and composed. I looked at him, so many questions on the tip of my tongue. Where had you gone? What did you do? Were you really not involved in those cases?

Or even—Why would you treat me like this? What couldn’t you say to me face to face? What were you doing behind that door?

But when I opened my mouth, all I could manage was: “Are you hurt?”

After a night of cold and questioning, my voice had gone hoarse—I could only whisper.

Xie Zhuo listened, and replied, “It’s over now.” He raised a hand, as if to touch my face.

I turned my head to avoid his hand. “That’s it?”

I looked up at him. “You have nothing else to say?”

He stayed silent for a long time before saying, “I just wanted you to be happy. Not knowing makes it easier to be happy.”

I stared at him and didn’t speak. I don’t know what expression I had, or how I looked at him—but I saw Xie Zhuo blink, twice.

As if my gaze had stung his eyes.

He raised his hand again, touched the corner of my lips, and said, “Jiuxia, give me a smile.”

I lowered my eyes and didn’t respond.

I think that might’ve been the first time in our marriage I felt disappointed in him—I thought to myself, he sees me as… a useless caged canary.

Later, just a few days after, the Queen Mother uncovered the truth: the real culprit behind everything was an upper immortal in Kunlun. Somehow, he had come across a twisted, forbidden method—absorbing the spiritual power of other immortals by devouring them. By the time he was discovered, he had already lost his mind and was on the verge of falling into the demonic path. He was executed, and the matter was finally settled.

But none of the immortals who had wrongly accused Xie Zhuo ever came to apologize.

Xie Zhuo and I had a cold war for a while. Seeing that he didn’t seem to care about any of it, I started feeling bad for him again. My heart ached for him.

This whole thing had left a small crack between us, but what couple is ever truly perfect? I told myself, at the time, Xie Zhuo must’ve had something he absolutely couldn’t tell me.

We were married, but still two individuals. I couldn’t force him to show me everything…

So I forgave him, and stayed his wife.

Hundreds of years later, hearing that same old reasoning again, I really wanted to slap Xie Xuanqing right across the face.

But I held back—because I knew how strong he was now. I probably couldn’t beat him, or even hurt him. No point wasting my hand.

Still, I couldn’t swallow my anger. My expression went cold, my mouth curled into a smirk, and I crossed my arms, shook my leg a little, and let out a sharp, derisive laugh.

What’s “old married couple” supposed to mean? It means when the emotions flare up, it’s hard to keep any kind of “dignified” behavior in front of each other.

So I snapped right back at him: “What do you mean, ‘if you want to be happy, don’t learn too much’? Do I need you making decisions for me? Whether I’m happy or not is my business—who asked for your opinion?”

I feel like the more I know, the happier I am. My ears want to hear everything, and my mouth can laugh at anything I hear. Just like your sentence right now—it genuinely makes me find you ridiculous.”

After I let out all my sarcasm in one breath, what I saw was Xie Xuanqing sitting on the ground, looking a little flustered, a little surprised, and a bit dazed.

I paused for a moment.

Then I adjusted my still-mocking smirk and straightened up slightly.

I had forgotten—Xie Zhuo was the husband who had seen every side of me. But this person in front of me, Xie Xuanqing…

He had only seen the me who said, “Xuanqing, Xuanqing, I’m here,” and “Xuanqing, Xuanqing, look, I bought you something.”

I cleared my throat and said, “So? Want to know why I was acting like that just now? How about trading your secret for mine?”

I came up with a perfect way to smooth things over. “You answer one question of mine, I answer one of yours. Let’s play?”

Xie Xuanqing stared at me blankly for a while, then lowered his head. “No… not playing anymore…”

I was a bit annoyed. “Then I won’t give you the necklace.”

Forced to look up at me, Xie Xuanqing looked a bit helpless. “Jiuxia, this… isn’t something to joke about.”

I really couldn’t hold back anymore. I took the necklace out from my sleeve and placed it in front of Xie Xuanqing. “Why not?”

I said it plainly, “Is it because it’s related to your identity as a member of the Snow Wolf Demon Clan?”

As soon as those words left my mouth, Xie Xuanqing, who had been about to take the necklace, suddenly looked up at me.

His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. And even… maybe it was just my imagination, but I vaguely sensed a trace of… fear.

“Xie Zhuo,” I could no longer suppress the turmoil in my heart. “Why have you kept everything from me? What exactly are you afraid of?”