Chapter 25

#Why are you so badly injured?

I hurried toward Xie Xuanqing’s location, Yin-Yang Fish in hand—I still needed to monitor Xiaxia’s condition at all times.

If she woke up, I might still have a chance to swap places with her. After all, the most dangerous part of me pretending to be Xiaxia right now was—

I carried Xie Zhuo’s blood.

Xie Zhuo’s cultivation technique far surpassed mine, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t completely mask it.

Last time, Xie Xuanqing said that he’d noticed something strange about me the very first time we met.

But back then, he already knew Xiaxia, so he didn’t do anything to me.

This time, though, I had returned to a point before our first meeting. A complete stranger, carrying his blood, approaching him—he would definitely be suspicious.

It was best to avoid giving Xie Xuanqing a bad impression right from the start. But this wasn’t something I could dodge. My only hope was that he was too badly wounded, too dazed, too out of it to recognize anything.

If I could just muddle through today, then over the next ten-plus days while he was unconscious, I’d have plenty of time to figure something out with Xiaxia.

It was a reckless move, but the situation was urgent, time was tight, and I had no other options. Instead of waiting to die, I might as well gamble everything. Who knows? Maybe a small millet could still become a big goose!

I checked the time, rushed ahead, but never heard Xiaxia’s voice in my head. In the end, I had no choice but to move forward like a duck being shoved onto a perch.

I arrived at the place I remembered Xie Xuanqing being. Ahead of me was a small slope that blocked my line of sight. According to my memory, once I crossed this slope, I would see him—sitting against two intertwined bamboo stalks.

When I found him before, I had wanted to run. But Xie Xuanqing had pulled me back, just before a sudden silver hidden weapon struck.

He had pulled me into his arms, helping me narrowly dodge the deadly silver light.

That day, he saved me. That was why I didn’t report the “monster” to Queen Mother of the West and the other immortals, but chose to secretly take care of him.

By calculation, our first meeting should be right around now. And given how injured he was, he definitely wouldn’t have the strength to see me clearly.

While this first encounter mattered, what would really build our bond was what came after—when he woke up after days of unconsciousness and found me taking care of him.

After all, how many mortal romance stories had said the same? A girl saves a boy, but if the boy wakes up to see another girl, he ends up falling for that one.

I had to stay by his side until he woke, so he would know the debt he owed me! That was the most important part!

Today was just a performance of a chance encounter.

I had to be confident that Xie Xuanqing wouldn’t catch on to anything strange!

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, then stepped up the snowy slope.

Just like in my memories, there he was at the base of the hill. Dressed in black, Xie Xuanqing sat against the twin bamboo stalks, his body wounded and bleeding, staining the white snow around him red.

The scene was perfect! A complete match! No doubt—it was Xie Xuanqing!

I had to get down there fast. If the silver weapon came, I might not make it in time!

I rushed down the slope toward him and even thoughtfully positioned myself where it would be easy for him to grab my hand. Then I waited for him to look up at me—or for the silver attack to come.

But I stood there for a while…

Time passed, light shifted, the wind blew cold through the snowy bamboo forest, making me shiver.

No silver light came.

And Xie Xuanqing didn’t pull me.

What I got instead—was him opening his eyes.

Those dark, deep eyes, like an abyss, stared right at me.

I looked at him. He looked at me.

The moment was quiet. A little awkward.

I couldn’t help but tilt my head slightly, glance up at the sun—did I come too early?

That couldn’t be. Today was the day. The time was now. I even turned my head slightly to the side, thinking—if the silver light came from someone trying to kill him, I kinda wanted to urge them to hurry up already.

If no one made a move, this scene wouldn’t match my memory anymore!

But still, nothing happened.

Only Xie Xuanqing leaning against the bamboo, silently looking up at me. I looked back. Blood stained his lips. He didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Are you…”

Was he Xie Zhuo?

That suspicion sprang into my mind, but I didn’t dare ask. If he wasn’t Xie Zhuo, if he really was Xie Xuanqing, then asking that would only bring trouble!

How could someone I just met know his name? The moment I asked, I’d make myself suspicious! That would only cause problems for Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing’s future relationship!

I bit my lip, holding myself back from ruining everything, and instead frantically analyzed in my mind: was he, or wasn’t he…

After some internal struggle, I decided to take the safest route and approach things indirectly.

I crouched down to his level, making eye contact and lowering any sense of threat. I softened my voice and asked gently, “Why are you so badly injured?”

His black eyes flickered slightly.

He stared at me. In those dark pupils, I saw only my own reflection.

“Does it hurt?” I asked again.

I figured, if he was Xie Xuanqing, there was nothing wrong with how I spoke. It might even help build his goodwill toward me.

Though… I wasn’t sure if, after staring at me for so long, he’d noticed the presence of his own blood on me. But then again, this place was already covered in his blood. I could deal with it later…

If he was Xie Zhuo, then it was even more fine.

Xie Zhuo knew he’d kidnapped Xiaxia, so he could easily guess it was me standing here. Hearing me speak like this, he’d probably be dying to mock me.

As soon as he opened his mouth, I’d know who he was.

But… he didn’t say a word.

Whether it was Xie Zhuo or Xie Xuanqing, neither of them were the talkative type.

I accepted that…

I kept thinking, was there another way to figure out who he really was without exposing myself? Before I could come up with anything, he moved.

He lifted his hand. Maybe he’d been sitting in the snow too long, because the movement looked a little labored. Just raising his hand made him exhale, his breath turning to white mist in the cold air. Then, finally, he took my hand.

I froze for a moment. Then realized what was happening.

Was this it? Was this the moment? Was the silver light finally coming?

As I waited, the man before me—Xie Zhuo or Xie Xuanqing, I still wasn’t sure—pulled me forward.

I fell into his arms and smelled the scent of blood and wind and snow.

But I didn’t hear the sound of a silver weapon slicing through the air.

My face was buried in his chest, blocking my view. All I could hear was his breathing above me and the beating of his heart.

Then I felt… his other hand wrap around me from behind, holding me close.

His arms were trembling, slightly tight.

His embrace was damp and cold.

I didn’t dare make a sound. Didn’t dare ask. I stayed silent for a long while. Only when his grip slowly loosened did I look up.

Sure enough, he’d passed out.

Huh?

Suddenly it matched my memory again? But I looked around and couldn’t find any sign of that silver attack. Why did he pull me into his arms, then? Was it just… to hug me?

But… whether it’s Xie Zhuo or Xie Xuanqing, neither of them should just purely want to hug me, right?

I couldn’t figure it out.

But I’m more inclined to believe that he’s Xie Xuanqing.

Because, judging by Xie Zhuo’s goal, he came to stop Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing from meeting. If the person in front of me were Xie Zhuo, then he’d definitely know that his goal had been achieved.

Xiaxia never met Xie Xuanqing, and afterward, there would be no talk of feeding her his blood. The only thing left for him to do would be to take me back five hundred years later.

As long as I return to five hundred years later with him now, our history would be successfully rewritten by him. The moment I arrive in the future, there will no longer be his blood oath in my body, and he’ll be able to achieve his ultimate goal—killing me.

But as long as we remain five hundred years in the past, there’s still room for change. I can still find a chance to make Xiaxia meet Xie Xuanqing, let them build a bond, and have Xie Xuanqing feed her his blood.

Following that logic, if the person in front of me were Xie Zhuo, he should be desperate to take me back to five hundred years later and claim his prize.

But this person, who’s looked at me and hugged me, still hasn’t taken me away. That must mean—it’s definitely Xie Xuanqing.

I took another look at the unconscious Xie Xuanqing, and then confirmed—his injuries were all real.

If Xie Zhuo had been putting on an act to fool me, he wouldn’t have needed to go this far. Someone who knows the past wouldn’t be this badly injured.

So, putting it all together, this person must be Xie Xuanqing!

No longer hesitating, I picked him up and, relying on memory, carried him back to that cave I’d become familiar with all over again.

“Xie Xuanqing,” I said to him, “Before you wake up, I’ll make sure Xiaxia comes to see you.”

I placed him in the familiar spot inside the cave and helped tidy up his clothes. “This fate,” I told him, “I said it wouldn’t be broken—and it won’t.”

Suddenly, my hand froze at his collar.

For a moment, I seemed to… see something…

An inexplicable feeling rose in my heart. I followed his collar and pulled open the front of his shirt. On that solid chest, identical to Xie Xuanqing’s, was a scar—one that Xie Xuanqing absolutely shouldn’t have.

I recognized the scar on his chest. It was from four hundred years ago, when Xie Zhuo was attacked by an evil spirit outside Kunlun while saving my life. A sword wound.

And right now, that clear scar on his chest reminded me that all my seemingly reasonable deductions just now were wrong.

The man in front of me was truly this badly injured, and he truly hadn’t rushed to take me back five hundred years later.

He’d orchestrated it so Wu Cheng took Xiaxia away, used some unknown means to remove the real Xie Xuanqing who should’ve appeared here, and who knows what kind of brutal event happened to leave him so gravely wounded, eventually dragging himself to the Snow Bamboo Forest—this place where we had first met.

Then he waited for me. And just now, he really did…

Hug me…

But he… why…

I stood up, in disbelief, unable to make sense of it.

I took a step back, but the supposedly unconscious Xie Zhuo suddenly grabbed my hand.

I was startled. “Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!”

My rationality was immediately yanked back by this sudden “corpse revival.” Was this it? Was this the moment? Was Xie Zhuo about to drag me back five hundred years later and claim his prize?

He took a breath and leaned his head weakly against the stone wall.

“Fu Jiuxia,” he said. “Let me ask you one more thing…”

“What?”

“I’m badly hurt… ask me… if it hurts…” He held onto my hand, his gaze fixed on my stunned face. “You haven’t asked me that… in a long time.”