Chapter 26

#You’re taking revenge on me.

Of course I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

For a married couple to reach the point of separation… isn’t it because all the warmth and passion have been exhausted?

Besides, Xie Zhuo had once threatened to kill me with such certainty.

This request of his was truly baffling.

So I looked at him in silence, just as he usually looked at me—quiet and unreadable.

He stared at me for a long time before finally speaking.

“Fu Jiuxia, are you playing a game… thinking that if I treated you like that, then one day, you’d treat me the same way?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re taking revenge on me…”

I froze. Then I saw Xie Zhuo slowly close his eyes. The strength finally left his hand; he let go of me and his arm dropped. His injuries were too severe—he could no longer hold on and truly lost consciousness.

I thought, Xie Zhuo must be delirious from the pain. What he said… it sounded like a child complaining about being wronged.

I stood still, staring at the unconscious Xie Zhuo for a long while. Thinking about the time and place, a hundred different emotions surged in my chest.

I had come to bring Xie Xuanqing and Xiaxia together. Yet at this crucial moment, Xiaxia wasn’t here, Xie Xuanqing wasn’t here either—only Xie Zhuo and I, a pair of ill-fated ex-lovers, bizarrely reenacting the same events from five hundred years ago.

Fate’s arrangements—no matter how hard I racked my brain—I never could’ve predicted this.

But after that brief moment of reflection, a flash of clarity struck me.

What am I sighing over? What am I grieving for? This… this is a heaven-sent opportunity!

Shouldn’t I take this chance to steal his Pangu Axe!?

Although I hadn’t yet brought Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing together, it was still better for the space-time weapon of mass destruction to be in my hands than in Xie Zhuo’s!

Since arriving five hundred years in the past, I had never once been able to match Xie Zhuo in power—let alone snatch something from him. If I didn’t act now, then when?

I immediately crouched down and started by checking his sleeves. Then I felt around his waist, patted down his pant legs and shoes. After a full body search, aside from getting a handful of blood, I didn’t find a single weapon on him.

After a moment of thought, I simply grabbed his collar and pulled his entire upper garment off…

Once the clothes came off, I froze.

Xie Zhuo’s body was covered in scars.

Aside from the wound near his heart, which I knew the origin of, the rest—large and small, old and new, shallow and deep—were all unfamiliar to me.

Even more terrifying, every one of these wounds had been inflicted by demonic energy.

Scars left by demons are more gruesome than those from normal immortal weapons. In addition to the wounds themselves, the surrounding skin would bear spiderweb-like lacerations, easily identifiable…

Mouth slightly open, I stared at his body in a daze.

Not long ago, I had seen Xie Xuanqing’s body in this very cave. His didn’t look like this. He wasn’t perfectly unblemished—there were occasional scars—but nothing like this…

So many, it was terrifying…

Xie Zhuo…

What exactly has he been through…?

I couldn’t help but lift my hand, carefully avoiding the newer wounds, letting my fingers trace over the old ones.

So many gashes and gaping wounds… If it were anyone else, they would’ve died long ago. Yet Xie Zhuo endured it all without letting me know a thing…

This monster… doesn’t he feel pain?

It felt like my brain had just been struck like a bell—ringing dully in my skull. Amid the buzzing, fragments of memories flashed—moments from the past five hundred years, the reasons behind some of our arguments.

It always started with Xie Zhuo’s sudden disappearances.

He never gave me any warning. He’d vanish out of nowhere. On several occasions, I thought he had abandoned me and run off.

But after a while, Xie Zhuo would return quietly, as if nothing had happened.

Of course I questioned him, argued with him, cursed and threatened him.

But he never gave a straight answer. Where had he gone? What was he doing? Why did he keep doing this? Would it happen again…?

Over time, as it kept happening, I grew tired. I gave up. I became indifferent.

Eventually, I no longer cared where he went. I only asked that he not question my whereabouts.

But of course, he never let me go without asking…

That, too, became one of the reasons for our eventual separation.

I didn’t marry Xie Zhuo with the intent to divorce. But the emotions stirred up by everything that happened after our marriage pushed me down this path—a path that, built on our personalities and history, became inevitable.

It led to only one ending—

Divorce.

So…

Those times Xie Zhuo disappeared—was he actually out fighting demons?

But why didn’t he tell me?

And how could there be so many powerful demons in Kunlun? Enough to injure Xie Zhuo like this?

If such dangerous beings were truly this rampant, how could Kunlun remain so oblivious? In five hundred years, no one—high or low—showed the slightest sense of crisis.

The high immortals immersed themselves in cultivation, the lesser ones tended flowers and sought joy. The Queen Mother even opened east and west markets… Kunlun was basically a cultivation utopia straight out of mortal legend.

Could it be that my ex-husband Xie Zhuo was off in another world fighting evil?

I couldn’t figure it out…

If, in the beginning, he hid his identity as a snow wolf demon so I wouldn’t fear him—

Then for all these five hundred years, hiding these scars… what reason did he have?

My finger accidentally brushed against his skin. I quickly pulled back, but the cold clung to my fingertips. His body was icy—as if he no longer had the strength to maintain his own temperature.

If I could cast a spell to stabilize his heart meridian, maybe he’d feel a little better…

Suddenly, my spiritual sense was jolted by my own angry voice:

“Damn it! You think you’re the only one who can be reckless? Why’d you drag me here!?”

Xiaxia was awake.

The yin-yang fish on her ear was still active, so I could once again see what she was seeing.

She had just kicked Wu Cheng hard in the rear, sending him sprawling on the ground.

Mengmeng stood nearby, stunned, then quickly stepped between them to break up the fight:

“Jiuxia! Someone reported that you’re practicing demonic techniques!”

“Reported me!? Demonic techniques!? Why not believe I’m practicing beauty techniques instead!?”

Xiaxia stomped right over Wu Cheng’s back and raised her hand to summon wind—clearly remembering the task I had given her.

But Wu Cheng grabbed her leg:

“Boss! Don’t go astray!”

“Get lost! You’re just making things worse!” She kicked Wu Cheng away.

Rising with the wind, Xiaxia suddenly remembered me and called out:

“Are you still there? Is time up? Is it too late? Can I still be saved?”

I glanced at Xie Zhuo, then tapped my ear twice so Xiaxia could see what I was seeing.

Her flight slowed immediately—clearly relieved.

“You went in my place? Good… Smart. That’s my girl.”

“This is Xie Zhuo,” I told Xixia. “Xie Xuanqing couldn’t be found.”

Xixia was startled, clearly dazed for a moment, then cut straight to the point without a single wasted word: “You’re not going to stab him right now!?”

Me: “……”

Between the two of us, I guess I’m the one who holds back more.

Seeing I hadn’t made a move, Xixia looked a little stunned. “You’re seriously not killing him? I told you last time—killing him is the cleanest, most straightforward solution. No need for the Pangu Axe, no need to chase down Xie Xuanqing. You told me before this path wouldn’t work because Xie Zhuo was too strong, couldn’t be killed. Well? Isn’t the chance right here?”

I took a deep breath. “I won’t kill him.”

“Why not?”

“Did you see the wounds on his body?”

I stared at Xie Zhuo’s body. Xixia fell silent for a moment. Though she hadn’t yet become an Immortal, and wasn’t in command of the Kunlun Defense Forces, she had served in the military. She recognized those wounds.

“In the next five hundred years, he frequently fought against dark forces?” Xixia asked. “Did he do great deeds for Kunlun?”

“I don’t know whether he’s done great deeds for Kunlun,” I said. “But with injuries like that, no Kunlun cultivator should kill him.”

Fighting against the dark forces isn’t just the duty of the Kunlun Defense Forces—it’s the mission of all cultivators across the Great Wilderness.

Anyone who’s risked their life to destroy evil doesn’t deserve to die at the hands of private grudges—no matter what kind of conflict they may have with me.

“Besides…” I said, “he once saved my life.”

“He would actually save your life?” Xixia clearly found it hard to believe.

Of course he would…

I looked at the scar on Xie Zhuo’s chest, lifted my fingers, and channeled a spell gathered at my fingertips. Through the touch of skin, the energy entered his body.

A glow flickered as I protected the vital meridians around his heart.

After seeing the wounds all over Xie Zhuo, even Xixia—who had just cried out “why not kill him already”—didn’t stop me anymore. She just looked puzzled. “A monster who wanted to kill you right after your separation would actually save someone?”

“Four hundred years ago… which would be about a hundred years from now for you. There was abnormal movement from the dark forces at the northern mouth of Kunlun. After I ascended to the rank of Immortal, I was put in charge of the Kunlun Defense Forces. I went to guard the northern mouth, and Xie Zhuo went with me…”

“Huh?” Xixia looked speechless. “You… You were already commander of the Kunlun Defense, and you let your husband go to the front lines with you? Didn’t all those bastards mock you for it?”

“Bastards” was what we affectionately called the other generals in the defense force.

Back then, when Xie Zhuo came with me to the front lines, I was absolutely mocked just as Xixia said.

At the time, I had only held the commander position for a hundred years. Kunlun hadn’t seen any major battles, so I hadn’t truly earned my standing. Many of the generals had grown into their roles alongside me, and still treated me as more of a peer.

That was fine in peacetime, but in wartime, it was a real problem.

My orders were often poorly executed at the front, and some generals didn’t take my words seriously.

In their eyes, I was just a lucky young woman who happened to ascend before them—nothing more. And when Xie Zhuo came to the battlefield, the disrespect only worsened.

They saw me as an inexperienced girl, newly ascended, relying on her silent, brooding demon husband for courage.

I tried again and again to persuade Xie Zhuo to go back. But his only reply to me was ever the same: “Whoever’s coming isn’t friendly. Be careful…”

At that time, the scouts we’d sent out hadn’t returned. We knew there were signs of dark activity beyond the northern mouth, but didn’t know what kind of enemy we were facing.

No one believed Xie Zhuo’s words—not even me. But his presence undoubtedly created complications for me.

Since I couldn’t get rid of him, I often had to send him off on errands, keeping him away from my side, while I dealt with those unruly generals alone—until they eventually realized I didn’t need anyone’s backing to keep them in line.

But then… just as I was solidifying internal control, the dark forces beyond the northern mouth suddenly launched an assault.

That day, I went to inspect Yang Peak at the northern mouth—it’s the highest point in the area and provides a clear view of what lies beyond. It’s within Kunlun’s borders, protected by the Pangu Axe’s barrier, and should’ve been perfectly safe.

Xie Zhuo only left obediently to check on the wounded returning from the vanguard after I told him where I’d be going.

No one expected that this time, the invading dark force would be exactly as he warned—exceptionally dangerous. It breached the Pangu Axe’s barrier, headed straight for Yang Peak, ignored all other key areas of Kunlun, and grabbed me without hesitation—dragging me out of Kunlun…

It was the first time in my immortal life… that I left Kunlun.