Chapter 32

#Today, the only woman who can stay by this Snow Wolf demon’s side—can only be me, or you.

Xie Zhuo touched his Yin-Yang Fish. He was likely communicating with Old Qin.

I couldn’t hear what Old Qin was saying from the other end, and neither could Xiaxia, who was connected with me from a different place. She jumped in fury, yelling, “This bastard’s still pretending! Who the hell is he talking to?!”

“Cut the act!” I also shouted at Xie Zhuo. “Don’t try to push the blame on someone else. I’m asking you—who at Cuihu Terrace caught your eye?! You’ve been cheating on me for five hundred years!”

Xie Zhuo looked like he was barely holding back a flood of emotions. He took a deep breath, and a flash of spell light passed over the little square on his ear. In the next moment, the cave lit up as a beam of light shot out from that square, projecting a faintly glowing figure between us—it was Old Qin.

Old Qin’s fan was folded and rested lightly against his lips. His fox-like features curved into a smile as he narrowed his eyes. “Oh my, what’s going on here?”

“Why are you projecting Old Qin?!” I glared at Xie Zhuo.

Surprisingly obedient now, Xie Zhuo explained, “I’m not acting. I’ve projected the current image of Qin Shuyan through the Yin-Yang Fish. Whatever I ask, he answers. You can see it all.”

I paused, then decided—given how cooperative he was being—I could suppress my emotions for now.

I asked, “Then have him say—who’s the fox demoness?”

Xie Zhuo looked at Old Qin with a cold gaze. “Speak…”

But Old Qin didn’t answer right away. He opened his fan with a snap and leisurely waved it. “I just left for a moment, and you two are already fighting? What fox demoness? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I immediately turned to glare at Xie Zhuo.

Xiaxia cursed in my ear again, “It’s that dog Xie who found the fox demoness!”

Xie Zhuo’s jaw tightened slightly, his face darker than coal, voice low and edged with warning: “Qin Shuyan…”

The name alone made Old Qin visibly shrink back.

“Alright.” He folded his fan and put on a conciliatory expression. “Fine, I admit it. The fox demoness really was my doing. But wasn’t it you who asked me for help?” He looked innocent. “On the tenth of the second month, you came looking for me through wind and snow. The moment you walked in, you told me to go save someone on the twelfth.”

Tenth of the second month?

I counted on my fingers. I landed in this timeline on the eleventh. Xie Zhuo had arrived before me. So it made sense that he went to Old Qin on the tenth to arrange the rescue.

That means—on the tenth, he met with Old Qin and gained his trust, asking him to save Xie Xuanqing on the twelfth. Then, on the eleventh, Xie Zhuo sent a secret message to Wu Cheng, telling him to intercept Xiaxia in the Snow Bamboo Forest on the twelfth.

And on the twelfth, Xie Xuanqing was rescued by “someone else,” while Xiaxia was held back by Wu Cheng in the Snow Bamboo Forest.

Only the “fake” Xiaxia and the “inferior” Xie Xuanqing met at the right time, in the right place—but under the wrong circumstances.

Xie Zhuo’s plan had actually worked. Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing still hadn’t met. If Xie Zhuo could bring me back five hundred years at this moment, maybe our blood vow would already be dissolved.

I was impressed by how meticulous Xie Zhuo’s planning was—and also relieved he was seriously injured right now. But amid this mix of emotions, an unease slowly crept into my heart.

I couldn’t help but wonder—how could someone like Xie Zhuo, who came from the future, end up so badly wounded?

Logically, there’s another solution to our meeting: Xie Zhuo could have simply helped Xie Xuanqing overcome his crisis. Then Xie Xuanqing wouldn’t have been injured, wouldn’t have stayed at Kunlun, and wouldn’t have needed me to save him.

If Xie Zhuo had resolved the issue for Xie Xuanqing, our entire bond wouldn’t have happened.

Unless—there’s only one possibility—Xie Xuanqing’s crisis was truly unsolvable.

Even with Xie Zhuo, who knew the future, the only way for Xie Xuanqing to survive was by paying a devastating price.

So… what kind of enemy was it, exactly?

Lost in thought, I was suddenly pulled back by Xie Zhuo’s furious shout.

“I told you to save him!” Xie Zhuo barked, face black with fury, enunciating every word to Old Qin. “You. Were. Supposed. To. Save him.”

Old Qin smiled. That smile was exactly the same as when I went to Cuihu Terrace last time and told him I was going to drive Xie Xuanqing away.

He said, “I know. But I also knew what you really wanted. You wanted to sever your bond with her. And the best way to do that—it’s not to avoid meeting her. It’s to meet someone even better.”

I knew it!

That old fox always hit where it hurt.

Xie Zhuo pursed his lips. “I don’t need that.”

Xiaxia, still connected through my Yin-Yang Fish, was livid. “What does he mean?! What does that fox demoness mean?! Huh?! Someone better?! The hell does she think she is? He doesn’t want Kunlun’s business anymore or what?! Just throw me into the glacier and call that someone better?!”

Only after hearing Xiaxia did I realize what Old Qin had said was out of line. But by now, I had calmed down from the shock of being “cheated on.”

I knew this was probably just a misunderstanding. Whatever Xie Zhuo had done to earn Old Qin’s trust, their interaction didn’t feel like that between a client and a brothel manager.

I relaxed a little, telling myself—there’s no way I was unknowingly cheated on for five hundred years.

Now that my mind was clear, it was time to plan for the future.

“Stay quiet for now.”

I turned my head, hair partly shielding my mouth, trying to speak to Xiaxia without Xie Zhuo noticing.

I whispered, “Once your wound is bandaged, head back. You’re ready now. That fox demoness is just some random woman from Cuihu Terrace—she’s no match for you in a straight fight. Find her, drive her off. Before Xie Xuanqing opens his eyes, you must be the one by his side. You must make sure the first person he sees—is you!”

Xiaxia immediately understood my intention.

“Got it! The fight’s not over—I’ll go back and tear that fox demoness apart!”

She took off right away, heading back along the frozen river.

But as she moved, Xie Zhuo’s eyes flicked over to me.

Old Qin also chuckled and said, “General Jiuxia, it’s not that big a cave. No matter how quietly you talk, I can still hear you. And don’t forget, this one’s in the same space as you.”

Xie Zhuo had already recovered his calm, returning to his usual demeanor. He waved his hand and dismissed the projected image of Old Qin.

The cave dimmed again, and only Xie Zhuo’s voice echoed:

“Qin Shuyan, go back. Block her.”

I resumed my confrontational tone. “So you do know how to talk to people. You sure told Old Qin plenty.”

I threw shade at him, then turned to Xiaxia on the other end of the Yin-Yang Fish and urged, “You heard him.”

No longer bothering to hide it from Xie Zhuo, I simply shouted, “This is urgent. Move!”

Xiaxia didn’t hesitate. She immediately activated her technique and flew up the steep cliffs.

Facing me, Xie Zhuo was also remotely “controlling” Old Qin: “Qin Shuyan, hurry up.”

In my mind, I watched the scene on Xiaxia’s end shifting, and I could only wish I could take her place: “Focus your core, steady your breathing, channel your qi into your dantian.” I started teaching on the spot right in front of Xie Zhuo.

After five hundred years, seeing the “me” of the past again—when “I” used soul power to perform techniques—the bad habits and flaws were painfully obvious.

I kept reminding Xiaxia to pay attention to her breathing. And she didn’t let me down—right at the critical moment, she held her ground flawlessly. She learned fast, and I could see her wind-riding speed picking up.

With a leap, Xiaxia jumped off the frozen river into an ice cave in the mountainside.

A thin, pink barrier covered the entrance—clearly the spellwork of a fox demon.

Through Xiaxia’s eyes, I saw the startled female fox demon inside the barrier—and behind her, slumped against the icy cave wall, was Xie Xuanqing, unconscious!

Finally!

I finally found you!

Xie Xuanqing!

“Xiaxia,” I said in a low, firm voice, commanding her, “Break that fox demon’s barrier and kick her out of the ice cave!”

As I stared at the unconscious Xie Xuanqing through the vision in my mind, in this dark cave on my side, I locked eyes with Xie Zhuo.

“Today, the only woman who gets to stay by this snow wolf demon’s side is either me—or you.”

No one touches my prey!