Divorce by Agreement C13

Chapter 13

#If I’m having a bad day, then no one gets to have a good one!

When I walked out of the cave, I tapped twice on my earlobe. A flash of warmth bloomed in my ear, and then—nothing out of the ordinary.

“See it?” I asked Xie Zhuo on the other end. I knew he must be seeing exactly what my eyes were seeing.

A soft “Mm” came from his side.

I sneered and curled my lips. “Then watch carefully.”

When it comes to bullying people, you think I’m worse than you?

I strode into the cave. As usual, Xie Xuanqing was sitting against the stone wall. But this time, he was holding a bamboo flute made from snow bamboo. Seeing me approach, he looked up and said, “Jiuxia, the snow bamboo you left here earlier, I still—”

Before he could finish, I pursed my lips, hardened my heart, and yanked the half-finished flute right out of his hand, then threw it.

The snow bamboo struck the stone wall—just like how Xie Zhuo had knocked over Xiaxia’s porridge.

Xie Xuanqing froze in place.

I took a deep breath. Without hesitation, I stepped forward, dropped to one knee in front of him, lifted both hands, grabbed the sides of his robe collar, and yanked hard—baring his chest right in front of me.

Not just his collarbones, chest muscles, and the rest… but also every new and old scar on his chest, all laid bare.

And of course, hanging from the black cord around his neck, that glowing blue stone…

Xie Xuanqing’s expression shifted from confused, to shocked, to stunned. Even someone as stoic as him couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath. Instinctively, his body leaned back, the back of his head pressing tight against the stone wall.

I took advantage of the moment—still gripping his collar—and reached straight for the stone, easily grabbing it and yanking hard. The black cord snapped. I’d seized the necklace.

His eyes widened. He finally reacted, reaching out to grab it back. “Jiuxia!”

I immediately rose and backed away two steps.

Xie Xuanqing reflexively moved to catch me, but his body still wasn’t fully recovered—his legs wouldn’t obey him.

He sat slumped on the ground, clothes slipping off one shoulder. One hand clutching his robe, the other reaching for me. “You can’t touch that.”

His eyes held a helpless, even pitiful look. “Don’t mess around…”

Looking at him now, I should probably feel a little sorry for him. But with his current state of undress…

Let’s just say it’s a different kind of pity.

I took another two steps back, putting more distance between us.

Xie Xuanqing frowned slightly—he looked a little nervous.

“Xie Xuanqing.” I held up the stone and deliberately taunted him. “If you’ve got the guts, come and take it back.”

I turned and ran. Behind me, I heard him shout my name—his voice held a rare note of panic.

I couldn’t help glancing back. Xie Xuanqing was bracing himself against the cave wall, trying to stand. He held himself up as he tried to follow me, and even his usually blank expression couldn’t hide the pain on his face. He must’ve been hurting badly just trying to walk.

I almost stopped. But then, right on cue, Xie Zhuo’s voice echoed in my mind—just one word, no nonsense:

“Run.”

Typical Xie Zhuo—ruthless with himself. Since he’s willing to go all in, why should I hold back?

I turned and bolted straight for the mouth of the cave. Just as daylight broke across my face, a black figure flashed in front of me. Before I could react, an arm wrapped around my waist.

The next thing I knew, my feet hit the ground—and the cave entrance was gone. Though we were still in the snow bamboo forest, we were now at its outer edge.

I looked up. Who else could that black-robed figure be but Xie Zhuo?

“What are you doing here?” I glared at him, angry. “Don’t you know showing up just makes things worse for him!?”

“What’s it to you?”

He snapped back at me…

I was speechless.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I tapped my earlobe three times to cut the connection with the yin-yang fish.

I spoke with a cold tone and expression. “I already got the thing. When Xie Xuanqing catches up, I’ll humiliate him properly. If he loses that necklace, don’t you think our tie will be broken for good?”

Xie Zhuo ignored my words and held out his hand. “Give me the necklace.”

I raised a brow. “Your necklace? Don’t you already have it on you?” I pointed at his neck.

But his hand stayed outstretched, silently insisting.

I slowly pulled the necklace out from my sleeve, all while thinking—Xie Zhuo had asked me to retrieve it to achieve his goal. But now he’d come the moment I got it and wanted to take it right away… this necklace must be truly important to him.

I didn’t know why yet. But—since both of us were getting serious, maybe I could use this to my advantage…

I dangled the necklace in front of him but didn’t let him take it.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied me, full of scrutiny.

I knew there was a massive power gap between us. Logically, I should be scared by that threatening look. But hadn’t he been repeating one thing over and over these past few days?

He won’t hit me.

In that case…

I let him see the necklace again, then stuffed it back into my sleeve. I stretched out my hand at him. “I’m done with this game. I want to go back. You can have the necklace—but you give me the Pangu Axe. Otherwise…”

Xie Zhuo stared at me in silence, dangerous and cold.

I braced myself and even tilted my head, provoking him. “Let’s drag this out then. Either hit me…”

I raised my voice recklessly. “Or beat me to death. Because you’re not getting this necklace any other way.”

We faced off at the edge of the snow bamboo forest. He clenched his fists at his sides—furious—but didn’t hit me. He didn’t bring out the Pangu Axe either. He tried reasoning:

“Even if you take the Pangu Axe, you can’t go back.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll explain everything to Queen Mother of the West. I may not be able to wield the axe and slice through space-time—but she definitely can. You’ll try to stop me, but she won’t.”

I gave a concrete plan and named a real heavyweight. Xie Zhuo’s expression darkened even more, but he was still struggling.

“That necklace isn’t something you should be touching.”

“Well, I already touched it. A little late for that.” I had already decided to take whatever came and deal with it head-on. I plastered a fake smile on my face and said, “Xie Zhuo, if I’m having a bad day today, then no one gets to have a good one!

Come on! Let’s drag this out! In a few days, ‘I’ will face tribulation. Worst case, we wait for Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing to ‘reunite,’ clear up their ‘misunderstanding,’ and get married ‘again’! By then, we can all ‘go down together’! Nobody gets what they want!

Xie Zhuo’s face turned thunderous—but for once, I was actually in a great mood.

Turns out, it doesn’t matter if it’s hundreds of years ago or hundreds of years later—everyone’s scared of someone who plays for keeps.

Me, Fu Jiuxia? Feeling great!

Thump!

Suddenly, my heart seized with a sharp jolt.

I clutched my chest. That familiar feeling made me instinctively scan my surroundings.

No way, no way—don’t tell me the me from five hundred years ago is about to crash the party now?!

“Xie Xuanqing!”—sure enough, the voice calling out to me came from the distance.

Panic surged in my heart, and I instinctively turned toward the direction of the voice. But before I could even turn my head, Xie Zhuo suddenly shoved my shoulder. A gust of wind rose beneath my feet, and my body was whisked away, flying through layer after layer of snow-laden bamboo forest into the distance. Just before I was fully swept away, I still heard Xia Xia questioning Xie Zhuo:

“Who was that girl just now…?”

It was me! It was you! Thank goodness I didn’t look at you, didn’t meet your eyes! You nearly killed yourself—do you even know that, you silly girl?

“Xie Xuanqing! So you do have something to hide…”

That was the last thing I heard Xia Xia say before Xie Zhuo sent me flying.

Perfect. A full-blown misunderstanding. We’re totally doomed.

Knowing myself, after Xie Zhuo suddenly lashed out and ruined the porridge Xia Xia had carefully cooked, once her anger, frustration, and tears subsided, she would definitely calm down and start wondering—why would this “Xie Xuanqing” suddenly act so strangely?

I suppose that’s why she came to find “Xie Xuanqing” in the Snow Bamboo Forest.

But once she saw another girl with “Xie Xuanqing”… well, the reason for the sudden change of heart became very obvious.

From then on, even if Xie Zhuo didn’t dig himself in deeper, he was already dead to Xia Xia.

Xia Xia’s storyline? Accidentally completed…

Now I just need to tie up the loose ends with Xie Xuanqing. Since that’s the case, I might as well follow through with my plan—go find Xie Xuanqing and chuck a rock at him to hurt his feelings.

I made up my mind. I wanted to jump off the wind Xie Zhuo had summoned, but to my surprise, I couldn’t shake off his magic with my own spiritual power.

The wind carried me like a rocket, blasting me straight through the Snow Bamboo Forest from one end to the other.

I figured Xie Zhuo must’ve acted a bit hastily with that push—it flung me way too far. But… maybe that was for the best?

Despite all our squabbles, at the crucial moment, Xie Zhuo still chose to protect my life.

I gave him a few points back in my heart.

Finally, not long after exiting the Snow Bamboo Forest, the wind died down and I landed. But I’d already been blown near the border of Kunlun. Just one more ridge to the west, and I’d be outside Kunlun’s domain, in the outside world.

The lands beyond Kunlun are filled with evil spirits. These days, Kunlun is protected by the Pangu Axe and a powerful barrier, but the borders are still frequently invaded. That’s why Kunlun stations guards for regular patrols. And those guards? Every single one of them knows who I am.

To avoid being seen and leaving behind any suspicious clues, I didn’t want to linger here.

I started to walk away, but as soon as I bent my knees, I felt a strong force yanking at my leg, stopping me from lifting it.

Startled, I looked down—only to be utterly shocked. At some point, a black array had appeared beneath my feet!

The formation glowed with dark red light—eerie and twisted. The deeper the magic and the more dangerous the demon, the darker and more intense the color of their spell arrays.

From the look of this one, there was no mistaking it—it wasn’t a formation set by any ordinary evil spirit!

This was still within Kunlun’s territory. When did…

No time to hesitate. I quickly formed a hand seal and summoned my celestial sword. Infusing it with immortal power, it gleamed with brilliant white light. With a low cry, I drove the blade into the dark array, trying to break it.

But I didn’t expect that the moment the blade struck, a gust of wind burst from the formation—lifting and holding the sword mid-air.

I poured in more power to probe it and realized—the wind was very similar to the one that had carried me here!

Could it be… the power that brought me here wasn’t Xie Zhuo’s?

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a strange, hollow voice emerged from the wind: “Shangxian.” It addressed me like that—meaning it had sensed my immortal energy during our clash…

Moments later, a gray figure started to flicker in the wind. I strained to see his face—only to freeze in place the moment I did.

That was… a Kunlun immortal?

He wore the familiar uniform of Kunlun’s patrol guards, his expression and bearing just like any ordinary celestial soldier. But then, chillingly, he opened his mouth and said:

“My lord requests your presence.”

I was certain—the “lord” he spoke of was definitely not Kunlun’s main deity, the Queen Mother of the West…

“I’m not going,” I said coldly, slashing my sword. The gray-clad soldier dodged to the side, but the array beneath my feet suddenly flared to life.

Black light surged into the sky, wrapping tightly around me. Or maybe… it wasn’t that the formation flew upward—but that I was being pulled into it.

Black waves rose up all around, like a sea crashing over from a thousand miles beyond Kunlun, ready to drown me.

I stifled my fear, held my breath, and began chanting a spell. Immortal energy surged around me. I prepared to break free with all my strength—but just before I unleashed it, I heard a low, scornful laugh.

It was barely there, brushing past my ear like a whisper—yet it stirred the deepest, most irrational terror in my soul.

Every hair on my body stood on end. My blood ran cold.

This was a fear I had never felt before—not even when I faced heavenly tribulation and ascended.

In the eerie silence of the darkness, I saw… I saw a pair of blood-red eyes.

He was right behind me. His body pressed against my back, staring straight at me. That chilling, damp breath—full of disdain and scorn—slid into my ear, pierced my mind, and jolted my spine, making me—

Shudder uncontrollably.

“Who…” I forced out the words, barely keeping my fear in check, tilting my head slightly, “…what demon?”

I whispered the question, and in return, a tongue like a snake’s—cold and slick—licked across my cheek.

He said, “My name is Zhulian.”

My lips trembled several times before I finally managed to stiffly spit out two words:

“Who’re you?”

And then Zhulian… said nothing.

Author’s note:

What, you think just saying your name means everyone automatically knows who—or what—you are? Pah! Edgelord.