Chapter 38

#I saved you, not because I still care about you.

I sat down right where I was and touched my ear.

Among all those Immortals in the sky, someone must have seen my face. I couldn’t just leave—Xiaxia was still in Kunlun. I had to tell her what was going on.

I tapped twice on the Yin-Yang fish, linking the image in my eyes directly to her.

But unlike before, I waited a long time this time and still didn’t get a response. I was a little worried—had something happened to Xiaxia? Or was Xie Xuanqing awake, making it inconvenient for her to respond?

Before I could speculate further, Xiaxia’s voice sounded in my mind.

“Whoa…” At the same time, the Yin-Yang fish transmitted the image from Xiaxia’s eyes. She was squatting beside the still-unconscious Xie Xuanqing and seemed startled by what she saw on my side. Her gaze shifted, and she turned away, asking, “It hasn’t even been that long. What happened on your end?”

“I…” I’d only said one word when the image from her side suddenly started trembling, flickering in and out. “Xiaxia?”

“Hm? Why is your side… flickering like that…? I’m here—can you hear me?”

Her voice became intermittent too. I fell silent for a moment and glanced at Xie Zhuo, who was still bleeding heavily beside me. I muttered, “What a piece of crap—go a little too far and it becomes unstable.”

“Am I still there?”

In my mind, Xiaxia was still persistently asking.

“I’m here,” I said. Before she could respond, I went on, “Xie Zhuo took me away from Kunlun. We’re too far now—this Yin-Yang fish spell might be too unstable to maintain.”

After I finished explaining, Xiaxia asked “Are you there?” at least three more times. Then, after a long silence, she finally said, “Whoa! You left Kunlun!? Why would he do that?”

I was feeling a little exhausted with the Yin-Yang fish’s transmission, but being able to reach her at all was already a blessing.

I briefly explained everything that had happened tonight and also filled her in on the events involving Chief of Jingnan a few days ago.

Xiaxia listened quietly. I waited in silence on the snowy plain, the wind numbing my lips. After a while, she finally responded, “Wow… So that newly ascended Vine-Immortal was actually an evil being…”

“He probably has thoughts about Xie Zhuo.”

“What kind of thoughts?”

I shook my head, about to answer, when Xiaxia continued, “No matter what his intentions are, I’ll go tell the Queen Mother of the West! Let her deal with Chief of Jingnan.”

“How are you going to convince her? By telling her that Xie Zhuo and I split time apart with the Pangu Axe and traveled here from five hundred years in the future?

If she finds out, she might strike down Xie Xuanqing just to eliminate any future threat. Or worse, she might not believe you at all. After all, to everyone’s eyes, the one tainted with evil aura… is Xie Zhuo.”

Xiaxia scratched her head. “So… you reached out just to tell me to stay hidden and not let anyone in Kunlun find me, right…?”

“No…”

“I’m already hiding, and I’ve put up a barrier—I won’t leave. As long as that sly fox from Cuihu Terrace doesn’t sell me out… huh? No?”

I looked at Xie Zhuo again, thought for a moment, then said to Xiaxia, “I want you to drop the barrier and take Xie Xuanqing to seek refuge with Old Qin.”

She didn’t reply for a long time. I wasn’t sure if it was transmission delay or if she was too shocked to respond.

I didn’t wait. I laid out my reasoning: “I’m probably very far from Kunlun now. It’s dangerous outside, and who knows when I’ll make it back. Right now, every Immortal in Kunlun is searching for me and Xie Zhuo—in other words, for you and Xie Xuanqing. You can’t hide behind your barrier forever. Once the Kunlun defense force starts investigating, your spell will expose your location immediately.”

Xiaxia grew anxious. “If all of Kunlun is searching, what good would it do even if I went to that old fox outside?”

“Not necessarily,” I analyzed. “Xie Zhuo came five hundred years into the past seeking Old Qin’s help and even told him many ‘secrets.’ If he didn’t trust Old Qin deeply, he wouldn’t have done that.”

After all, there were secrets I didn’t even know, and we’d been married for five centuries.

“Besides, if Old Qin weren’t capable, he wouldn’t have dared to go alone to the military encampment to find me earlier, let alone stand his ground against an upper Immortal.

There’s more to this Cuihu Terrace boss than meets the eye. Asking him to protect you and Xie Xuanqing is a gamble—but it’s better than waiting to be discovered here.”

“There’s also that female fox demon out there!” Xiaxia reminded me.

I gritted my teeth. “When your life’s on the line, forget about love or fate for now. And besides, I believe in you!”

After a long pause, Xiaxia stood up on the other side. “Okay! I’ll go drop the barrier now.”

She took two steps, then stopped. “But… do you really trust Xie Zhuo that much?”

Her question caught me off guard.

“What if… what if Xie Zhuo really is an evil being? With those wounds of his, a normal person would’ve died long ago—even if he survived, it’d be impossible to resist the lingering evil aura for this long. You said his eyes are completely black—how could he still have a clear mind? That… that’s impossible. What if he’s already turned? What if… he really should be killed?”

I listened to her halting voice and looked at Xie Zhuo, who was still bleeding on the ground.

His blood had seeped through the snow, staining all the way to my feet.

I didn’t answer Xiaxia. Instead, I asked her back, “Do you think Xie Xuanqing would become an evil being?”

I waited for her response. I believed Xiaxia had already fallen for Xie Xuanqing—she would firmly say, “He wouldn’t.”

But after a long silence, she answered, “I don’t know.”

Those three words left me stunned.

“I… I think his eyes are very clear, and I believe he must be gentle deep down. But I don’t really know him yet. He’s fought evil beings for so many years, been injured so many times, and soaked in their aura for so long… It’s hard for me to believe he hasn’t been changed.”

Was I… that clear-headed back then?

Even when I’d already fallen in love, I still didn’t trust him much.

“Why do you trust him so much?” Xiaxia asked me in return. “You even got divorced.”

It was like something clogged my throat—I couldn’t answer.

So it turns out… even five hundred years ago, even when I liked him, I didn’t really trust him.

When we first met, there was joy in my heart, but trust was hard to come by.

But over these five hundred years, through all the resentment, the quarrels, the confrontations… now, I had unwavering faith in his character.

I believe that even if his eyes are pitch-black, there is still clarity in them. I believe that even if he’s tainted by evil, his heart still holds warmth.

I know—or perhaps, I just hope—that he won’t be changed.

“Divorce is divorce,” I told Xiaxia. “Trust is trust.”

After crossing five hundred years into the future, I always thought Xie Zhuo never told me anything, that our marriage was a sham. But at this moment, I finally understood—

These five hundred years of married life weren’t lived in vain—not for me. He did leave traces in the years I’ve walked through.

Suppressing the emotions in my heart, I looked into my mind. XiaXia had already hoisted Xie Xuanqing onto her back and was now removing the barrier.

“I trust my judgment.”

As XiaXia spoke, the barrier disappeared. Moonlight from outside streamed into the icy cave. Sure enough, Old Qin was still waiting at the cave entrance. When he saw XiaXia voluntarily carrying Xie Xuanqing out, he wore that familiar fox-like grin.

“What’s this? Your barrier wasn’t solid enough, so you heard the noise outside?”

“Cut the crap. The whole outside world’s after us. I’m just asking—are you helping or not?”

Old Qin glanced at the unconscious Xie Xuanqing and raised his fan to cover his face. “I charge for my services.”

I knew then—the deal was done.

“XiaXia, hide. Once I return to Kunlun—”

Before I could finish, the vision froze right on Old Qin carrying Xie Xuanqing away.

I patted the Yin-Yang Fish and spun in place a few more times, but the image remained stuck there. Helpless, I had no choice but to turn the Yin-Yang Fish off.

“How far exactly is this ‘inside Kunlun’… And weren’t you seriously injured? How are you still running like this…”

Muttering to myself, I looked toward Xie Zhuo—and then I saw the blood beside him start to turn black.

“Xie Zhuo?”

The bleeding hadn’t stopped?

Something felt wrong. I crouched down and turned him over.

That stone around Xie Zhuo’s neck—the one he didn’t let me touch—was exposed. It was now stained with his blood, and under the moonlight, it looked a little eerie.

I didn’t have time to worry about the stone anymore. I saw that none of his wounds had clotted at all. In just the past while, his blood had completely soaked his clothes. Just turning him over left my hands wet with his blood.

And what’s more, his blood was now laced with demonic aura, continuously flowing out.

“This isn’t right.” I tried to press on his wounds, but when I reached for the soul force in my body, I realized it was completely depleted. I’d used it all earlier to form the barrier to protect him.

Without any spiritual power left, I had to rip a piece of cloth from my clothing. I packed some snow into it to try and stop the bleeding, but it was completely useless.

The fabric was soon soaked through with blood too.

“Xie Zhuo…”

I pulled open his shirt and saw that all the wounds that had begun to heal had reopened. Each one was being forced open by the black demonic aura. The black tendrils of it were like invisible hands, prying his wounds apart, preventing them from healing.

The blood wasn’t clotting—it was pouring out. His blood turning black wasn’t due to anything else—it was simply that he was nearly bled dry. What little blood was left, mixed with demonic aura, was slowly seeping out.

If this goes on… he’ll bleed to death!

I had to get rid of the demonic aura in his body.

I racked my brain for any method I’d learned before. I could draw a formation, use soul force to activate it, and drive out the demonic aura—but I had no power left at all. I slammed my own head in frustration, cursing how slowly my body had recovered five hundred years ago.

Then I thought about medicinal herbs, but… in this vast snowy wilderness, where would I find any?

There was still another option: diversion. A rabbit, a pheasant, a deer—any living thing would do…

I looked around. Not a trace of life anywhere.

Except me.

I froze in place, staring at Xie Zhuo on the ground.

Other than me, there was no other living being on this snowy plain.

The blood on Xie Zhuo’s body had nearly stopped flowing. The demonic aura still twisted wickedly in his wounds, forcing each gash wide open. His face was paper-white, and his breath so faint he was like a corpse.

If this went on, he wouldn’t make it.

But I could. I still had the body of an immortal. I could fight this demonic force.

“Xie Zhuo…”

Taking a deep breath, I knelt beside him and raised my hand to bite into my own wrist. Blood began to flow.

In his unconsciousness, Xie Zhuo’s brow furrowed slightly.

I brought my bleeding wrist to his chest. The black energy roiling from his mangled wounds reacted as if it had sensed the scent of blood. It started to churn, layer after layer, trying to coil around my wrist.

“I’m saving you… only because of the wounds you’ve suffered fighting this evil.”

I pressed my wrist down.

With a soft whoosh, the demonic aura curled gently upward—like the hand of a wicked child—and touched my bleeding wrist.

Xie Zhuo’s frown deepened, and one of his fingers twitched slightly.

I watched him, letting the demonic aura crawl up my arm. As it burrowed beneath my skin, it felt like a needle piercing through my veins. It followed my bloodstream, slithering through my limbs and bones.

I clenched my teeth, ignoring the demonic energy, ignoring the veins beneath my skin that were darkening and bulging. I looked only at his tightly shut eyes and the trembling of his lashes.

“I’m saving you—but not because I still care.”