Chapter 80 (End)

#Final Chapter – Part Two – “Get up, the ground is cold.”

At long last, I reclaimed my body.

In a place I had never imagined, in a form I never anticipated, once more, I entered this fleshly vessel of mine.

Blood and spiritual energy coursed through my limbs and bones in the way I knew so well.

I opened my eyes and looked upon the familiar Kunlun.

It now appeared before me in an unfamiliar form.

In the sky above Kunlun, formations that never lit up under normal circumstances now glowed brightly. Outside the formation, the sinister aura, like black serpents, attacked the barrier in a frenzy.

On the ground of Kunlun, chaos reigned. Strands of sinister aura weaved through the panicked crowd trying to escape.

One of them even lunged straight at me!

I drew on the soul power within my body and waved a hand to sever the aura. Sounds began to return to clarity in my ears.

Clamor, chaos, screams—all unending.

The sounds and sights made everything feel real.

After a brief moment of disorientation, I finally confirmed—this wasn’t a dream. After drifting for thousands of years, I had finally achieved my goal!

Just then, the formation in the air above Kunlun suddenly flickered violently.

Everyone cried out in shock, “Is the barrier about to break!?”

“Someone has touched the Pangu Axe!”

“Look at the peak of Kunlun!”

I followed the trembling glow of the formation, and sure enough, I saw a familiar mass of black mist at the summit of Kunlun.

Xie Zhuo, you son of a—don’t tell me you’re actually trying to go back five hundred years again to sever that damned bond?

Or… is he truly being controlled by the sinister aura now? After all, when I left him just now, he was still wrapped in a thick cloud of it.

I cursed inwardly but didn’t charge forward recklessly.

The peak of Kunlun—regardless of whether it’s Xie Zhuo activating the Pangu Axe—heading there alone now would be the worst choice.

After a moment of thought, I decided to find Queen Mother of the West first.

When I arrived at the main hall, Queen Mother of the West was nowhere to be seen. All the high immortals of Kunlun had already been drawn to the summit, leaving the hall completely empty.

But outside, I hadn’t seen her either. With all this chaos going on, there’s no way Queen Mother of the West wouldn’t know—much less hide.

There was only one place I could think of…

I turned my gaze to her throne. Without hesitation, I climbed the steps and reached out to touch the back of the seat.

In the next instant, a burst of light flashed.

When I entered the secret space, I heard someone saying, “He suddenly caused such a stir in Kunlun—he must be scheming something.”

I looked closely. Sure enough, within the stone mirror of Kunlun, nine figures floated—projections of the main gods!

Queen Mother of the West was standing alone outside the mirror.

When she saw me, her brows twitched slightly. “Jiuxia?”

“I know it’s strange for me to suddenly show up here, but Queen Mother, I don’t have time to explain everything to you.” I told her, “Please, you must believe me. This time, the Evil God is not plotting anything. He has no preparation. All he wants now—is to kill me.”

Queen Mother of the West frowned.

I didn’t know if the sinister aura would follow me here, so I had to speak quickly:

“The Evil God returned through the Snow Wolf Clan Chief, who used the entire land of the Mirrorwood Forest as a sacrifice, extracting all the turbid energy from that ground to summon a sliver of his soul. The only way to kill the Evil God now is to return all the sinister aura across the world—back into that land! And only Xie Zhuo can do this!”

At these words, all the main gods froze in shock.

Queen Mother of the West stared at me in disbelief. “How do you know…”

One of the gods in the mirror immediately said, “Kunlun is currently tainted with sinister aura. Beware she may be possessed. Just recently, Kunlun’s Wood Immortal Jing Nan was the very cautionary tale.”

I glanced at that god. “I understand your concerns.”

I scanned the mirror and spotted the figure of the god Ji. Although his appearance had completely changed from the Ji I once knew.

“Lord Ji, on the night the Undying City was founded, I stood in front of you. Kunlun heart method, spirit-form body, entered the body of a young soldier from Que Mountain—you must remember me.”

God Ji paused, stunned. “You…”

I bowed deeply. “I beg you all—please believe me!” I stood straight and looked sincerely at Queen Mother of the West.

“Xie Zhuo is now on the peak of Kunlun, about to activate the Pangu Axe. If he’s not trying to bring me back to sever our bond, then he’s truly been overtaken by the sinister aura and wants to destroy the formation. Queen Mother, right now, only you can help me! We must awaken Xie Zhuo.”

Queen Mother of the West was silent for a moment. “How can I help you?”

“Help me draw out the sinister aura within Xie Zhuo’s body.”

The mirror gods all erupted in alarm—except for Ji, who remained calm.

“Not using your body to draw it out!” I immediately clarified. “My soul wandered the world for thousands of years. I know—flowers, stones, even mountains can bear souls. This sinister aura is very similar to soul power. Queen Mother, you only need to help me guide a portion of the aura from Xie Zhuo into the stones of Kunlun. If he regains just a sliver of consciousness, I’m certain I can pull him back—or rather…”

I looked at Queen Mother with burning eyes. “He’ll pull himself back.”

All the gods fell silent.

Queen Mother of the West pondered briefly, then turned to look at God Ji in the mirror.

All eyes shifted to him.

He gazed at me, and after a brief pause, nodded. “I choose to believe her.”

A weight lifted from my heart.

God Ji added, “Though your words match what I’ve pieced together, they’re still shocking. When all is said and done, we’ll expect you to give an explanation to the gods.”

“No problem!”

Not daring to delay, I grabbed Queen Mother of the West’s hand. “We really don’t have time—please, let’s go now!”

When it came to spellcasting, Queen Mother of the West moved fast. With her leading me, we reached the summit of Kunlun in an instant.

At that moment, there was no protective barrier around Xie Zhuo, only a swirling vortex of black mist.

Just as I expected, none of the Kunlun immortals could match him. They were all lying unconscious on the ground.

When we landed, Queen Mother of the West and I saw him at the vortex’s center—Xie Zhuo, his clothes in tatters, left hand resting on the divine artifact, the Pangu Axe.

No time to get emotional. Just seeing him again with my own eyes, my heart could only shout in joy—

He hasn’t swung it yet!

“Xie Zhuo!” I shouted his name, testing how lucid he was.

He looked at me, but said nothing, gave no response.

The last time Xie Zhuo split time and space to travel back five hundred years, he still had reason. He could communicate, express himself—albeit full of resentment, but not like this.

This Xie Zhuo…

He had clearly been far more affected by Kunlun’s sinister aura.

Both his eyes were pitch black now.

The Evil God had gone all in, pouring every drop of his malevolent power into Xie Zhuo’s body.

Perhaps the Evil God also understood—today’s battle was do or die.

If Xie Zhuo woke up, and turned against him, then it really would be over.

When Queen Mother of the West saw Xie Zhuo like this, she was clearly taken aback as well.

Her expression darkened, and she formed a hand seal, channeling her divine power across the distance directly into the Pangu Axe.

The Pangu Axe was originally a divine artifact of Kunlun, and Queen Mother of the West, being the chief deity of Kunlun, was naturally in perfect harmony with it. Her divine power surged, instantly blasting Xie Zhuo away from the axe.

That overwhelming divine energy surged up from the axe’s blade and shot straight into the sky. Not only did it reinforce the array above, but it also instantly swept away all the demonic miasma within the Kunlun barrier.

As expected of the chief deity!

I really was smart to call her in!

I glanced at Queen Mother of the West and thought to myself, “The last time Xie Zhuo tore open space-time, was she also caught up in a meeting with the other chief deities? Is that why she was late?”

Good thing I called in reinforcements early this time. Otherwise… we might’ve been too late again…

“Queen Mother of the West, please stand next to the Pangu Axe,” I told her. “No matter what, don’t let Xie Zhuo touch it…”

We can’t let him destroy the Kunlun barrier or give him a chance to tear open space-time again.

Queen Mother of the West, of course, was reliable.

Before I even finished speaking, she had already flashed over.

The noble goddess grabbed the axe that had split heaven and earth.

The scene was a little wild, but watching it, I felt an indescribable relief.

Now this is how it should be!

Even before I could give her any further instructions, Queen Mother of the West had already slung the Pangu Axe over her back, formed another hand seal, and began chanting a spell to guide the demonic miasma out of Xie Zhuo!

As expected of Kunlun’s chief deity!

I love her!

Xie Zhuo furrowed his brow, his body trembling slightly, as the demonic miasma began to pour endlessly from him, absorbed into the stones atop Kunlun’s peak.

The sheer speed and ferocity of the transfer were completely beyond the reach of someone like me, an Celestial immortal.

Seeing everything progressing so well, I felt a wave of joy in my heart.

But just then, something happened that I hadn’t anticipated—the demonic miasma drawn into the mountain stones by Queen Mother of the West didn’t stay there!

It began to rampage wildly and even started to gather together and attack Queen Mother of the West.

Only then did I realize: when my spirit had entered flowers and plants, it was because I wanted to be there. That’s why I stayed.

But this demonic miasma was under the will of the Evil God—it had no desire to remain within stone. Queen Mother of the West could extract it from Xie Zhuo’s body, but she couldn’t force it to obediently remain trapped.

Still, this was only residual miasma left behind by a sealed Evil God over many years—it wouldn’t be able to truly hurt Queen Mother of the West. That didn’t worry me. What did concern me was that it was interfering with her ability to keep drawing the miasma out.

I looked at the blackness in Xie Zhuo’s eyes—one eye had already cleared, but the other was still dark and bestial.

Then I turned to Queen Mother of the West, still guarding the Pangu Axe and fighting off the miasma while continuing to extract it.

Maybe… this is enough.

He can’t tear open space-time with his bare hands anymore.

So what am I afraid of?

I walked toward Xie Zhuo.

He stood there, clutching his still-dark eye, his expression torn.

He seemed to hear my footsteps approaching. He looked up and glared at me, hatred and unwillingness shining in his eyes.

He didn’t want me to get close. So with a wave of his hand, a sword appeared in his palm.

I’d seen him wield this sword before—in Undying City, when he carried me on his back and fought his way through the siege, slaying countless foes.

“Jiuxia! Get back!” Queen Mother of the West called out, worried, and cast a spell toward Xie Zhuo.

I raised my hand and, using my power as an Celestial immortal, blocked the chief deity’s blow.

Queen Mother of the West froze. Even Xie Zhuo, still in the chaos, seemed stunned.

I continued walking toward him, fearless.

It would’ve been trickier if he hadn’t drawn his sword. But now that he had—I was completely unrestrained.

Why?

Because…

Our fate as husband and wife hasn’t been severed, has it?

Our blood oath—this is exactly when it should come into play, right?

I walked straight toward the tip of his sword, not dodging in the slightest, until the blade rested against my chest.

“Xie Zhuo,” I called to him, meeting his gaze, “the divorce was my fault.”

He stood still, staring blankly at me. Both his clear and his chaotic eye froze.

“I know your past now. I understand why you kept it from me.”

He didn’t lower his sword, but I saw the corner of his mouth tremble.

While he was distracted, I suddenly took a step forward.

The sword immediately pierced my clothes and skin. With a soft sound, blood flowed out and stained my robes red.

A desperate move…

Of course it hurt. But I could see—it hurt him too.

He took a step back, withdrawing the blade. His expression wavered. The chaos in his remaining dark eye began to falter.

The blackness started to recede, and emotions—pain, sorrow, disbelief—surfaced in his gradually clearing gaze.

“Xie Zhuo, I love you deeply.”

I stepped forward again, closing the distance.

Xie Zhuo stumbled back another step, his eyes wide with shock.

The hand holding his sword dropped.

Seizing the moment, I lunged forward and grabbed his left hand.

Because his right arm was severed…

I couldn’t bear to hold that hand.

Once I gripped his left, the sword fell from his grasp and vanished a moment later.

“We’re not divorcing anymore.” I made my demand, leaning close to him. “Okay?”

Xie Zhuo was completely stunned. He stared at me, ignoring the demonic miasma still fighting Queen Mother of the West, ignoring the monstrous black mist slamming against the barrier outside Kunlun.

He looked only at me—his eyes clear now—as the dark marks on his face and neck slowly shrank and faded away.

“The red thread… was cut,” his lips trembled for a long time before finally uttering four words.

“We’ll tie it back.” I said.

“If the Kunlun red thread is broken… it can’t be rejoined.”

“Starting today, if the Kunlun red thread breaks, then it must be able to be tied again,” I said. “The rules—I’ll change them. Queen Mother of the West has already approved.”

My soul had traveled with him for so long—not just to be defeated by a thread of fate.

“We’re not divorcing,” I repeated, “Okay?”

He just stared at me, speechless.

And looking at Xie Zhuo, so close before me, I didn’t want to say another word.

I grabbed his torn collar and gently pulled him forward, finally doing what I had wanted to do for so many years—

I kissed his lips.

And he didn’t resist.

He seemed stunned, unable to respond in any other way.

Meanwhile, all I could think was: once this is over, I need to tell Xie Zhuo—intimacy, closeness… those should happen when we’re both awake.

Not like how he did it for the past four hundred years—quietly, silently, without ever telling me.

I kissed him with focus, like savoring tea, wine, all the beauty and joy this world had to offer.

In that moment, all the demonic miasma on Xie Zhuo vanished, as if driven away, fleeing from his body in an instant.

Beneath the torn fabric I had pulled, the black marks on his skin—those traces of demonic miasma—retreated entirely back into the scars on his body.

At the peak of Kunlun, the malevolent aura that had been entangled in fierce battle with the Queen Mother of the West suddenly vanished without a trace, as if it had laid down arms and gone silent.

The evil aura of the Evil God had always been intertwined with Xie Zhuo’s emotions. Now that Xie Zhuo had regained clarity once more, the Evil God, already sealed, naturally could no longer stir up trouble.

Outside the Kunlun barrier, the massive black tentacles were gradually shattered under the assault of the formation.

Everything seemed to have calmed down.

And I… was still kissing Xie Zhuo, not even minding deepening it further right in front of the Queen Mother of the West…

Just then, Xie Zhuo suddenly pushed me away.

I was stunned, unable to react, when Xie Zhuo seized the initiative. He grabbed my wrist with his left hand, yanked it down, pulling away the hand that was clutching his robe.

He held onto me, his clear gaze filled with complicated emotions as he looked at me.

“You… were you invaded by the evil aura?”

“Me?” I stared at him blankly. “No, I wasn’t.” I said, “It was you who got invaded! I was here to save you! How can you just wipe your mouth and pretend it didn’t happen?!”

I was shocked.

Xie Zhuo frowned, scrutinizing me.

And I thought, fair enough.

To me, I had traveled thousands of years to arrive at this point, each step a long and arduous emotional journey.

But to Xie Zhuo, I was just the irritable wife who, only days ago, had been shouting about divorce—then suddenly, one night, I calmed down and even said I loved him.

The contrast was too abrupt, too strange.

“Regardless…” the Queen Mother of the West’s voice cut in from the side. “Jiuxia, there’s much you need to explain to us.”

I turned my head and glanced at her.

She had already been considerate enough not to interrupt earlier. Now, it was time for me to reciprocate and lay everything out clearly.

I grabbed Xie Zhuo’s hand.

“Wrap up that severed right hand of yours,” I said. “This is a complicated matter. I’ll only explain it once. How about you listen too?”

Naturally, Xie Zhuo wouldn’t refuse.

After he’d wrapped up his hand, we went together into the hidden chamber behind the Queen Mother of the West’s main seat.

Within the stone mirror, the nine chief gods hovered silently, already waiting for us.

At this moment, there was no longer any need to conceal anything.

I openly recounted the memories held within my soul.

As I spoke, the scenes from my memory were projected onto the stone mirror.

Every image, as I spoke, felt both familiar and foreign.

From my separation with Xie Zhuo, to traveling five hundred years through time, my second transmigration, our journey to the Undying City, witnessing Xie Zhuo’s death, the destruction of Kunlun, and then my return to thousands of years ago—to the time of Xie Zhuo’s childhood…

With each step forward, the expressions of Xie Zhuo and the gods grew darker.

When the scene in the mirror showed me merging into ice and snow, candle flame and summer blossoms, Xie Zhuo beside me trembled slightly.

When “Little Wolf” appeared and disappeared again, I didn’t even dare look at Xie Zhuo’s face.

Recounting all of this in front of him again—I felt a little embarrassed.

After finishing the events at Que Mountain, I quickly skimmed over what came after.

“And then, here we are.”

Once I finished, the ten chief gods fell into a heavy silence.

After quite a while, the Queen Mother of the West stepped up beside me and gently embraced me. “Jiuxia, both Kunlun and this wilderness owe you a great debt.”

Held in her arms, I didn’t speak. But over her shoulder, I saw Xie Zhuo, who had been standing silently behind her all this time.

His dark eyes seemed to be gazing into mine—and also, as if staring into the depths of my soul.

He said nothing, but I felt as though he had already spoken a thousand words.

It was as if I could hear him speaking of love and hate, life and death, vows and oaths.

His words seemed to stretch across time, across mountains and seas—from the past, all the way to this very moment.

I patted the Queen Mother of the West, and she released me.

I walked over to Xie Zhuo and hooked his little finger with my index finger. I could feel the trembling in his body transmitted to my fingertip.

Still silent, he simply wrapped his entire hand around mine.

“Xie Zhuo, the Evil God must be destroyed.” At this moment, I finally spoke, pulling him out of his thoughts. “And right now is the best time.”

At the mention of this, the expressions of the chief gods turned solemn once again.

“Today, he stirred up such chaos in Kunlun but still failed to control Xie Zhuo. He must’ve suffered a heavy loss and serious damage to his essence. Now is the perfect time to send his soul back into the abyss and reseal him.”

As I spoke, the chief gods all nodded.

The Queen Mother of the West said, “There’s no time to waste. We mustn’t give him even a moment’s rest. Today, I shall depart for the Mirror Forest.”

The other gods voiced their agreement one after another.

I held Xie Zhuo’s hand. “Let’s go together. This time, with the gods present, they can share your burden. You won’t have to go through what you did last time…”

“You can’t go.” Xie Zhuo interrupted me.

I froze. “Why—?”

“This trip to the Mirror Forest—aside from the chief gods and me, no one else can go.” Xie Zhuo looked at me, his dark eyes full of my reflection. “We can’t give him any opportunity to exploit again.”

Just like before—with Zhulian…

Or perhaps, Xie Zhuo was still afraid something like “Little Wolf” might happen again.

I stayed silent, unable to find a single argument.

In the stone mirror, the chief god Ji said softly, “General Jiuxia, right now, your soul contains lingering traces of evil aura. I fear you’re also unfit for this journey.”

It’s true. That happened when I seized my body and killed myself…

“Stay in Kunlun and purge the evil aura from your body first,” the Queen Mother of the West advised. “We’ll protect Xie Zhuo for you.”

Unconsciously, I gripped Xie Zhuo’s hand tighter. Even though I was deeply unwilling, I suppressed all the emotions in my heart.

“All right,” I nodded rationally. “You go…”

“Then we move out at once,” the Queen Mother of the West said. With that, the light in the stone mirror faded.

The secret chamber dimmed. She turned back and gave Xie Zhuo and me one last look. “Xie Zhuo, I’ll be waiting outside. Jiuxia, until we return, stay here and focus on your cultivation. It’s safer here than outside.”

I nodded…

The Queen Mother of the West turned and left, leaving the space to Xie Zhuo and me.

I turned to look at Xie Zhuo.

I said nothing, and neither did he. Our eyes locked, silently watching each other. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled me into a forceful embrace, clutching me tightly against his chest. His arms and chest wrapped around me, as if trying to squeeze out even the space to breathe.

“Fu Jiuxia,” his voice was hoarse, almost gritted between his teeth, whispering into my ear, “How did you survive all these years?”

“Without a word, without anyone knowing…”

“How did you…”

He seemed to ache for me so deeply that he couldn’t even finish a full sentence.

His arms tightened more and more, as if he wanted to fuse me into his body.

Through all those years, all that time—I had never really thought about the question he was asking.

How did I survive all those years?

I just kept walking—because I was with him.

Laughing through crises, fighting through despair.

Because—

“Wasn’t I with you the whole time?”

“You only have me left.”

“Snow Wolf Tribe and Que Mountain are all part of your past. I don’t know the full story behind everything, but even so, I would have cut the red thread myself. So before I see you again, I cannot die. I must live—to see you, to love you. I have to be like this, standing in front of you, I…”

Xie Zhuo cupped the back of my head with his hand and kissed me, urgent and almost hysterical.

There was no restraint, no calm.

In that moment, Xie Zhuo seemed like he wanted to devour me whole, his emotions overwhelming and intense.

I had never felt the bitterness of these years.

But it was his burning lips that shattered all my strength in an instant.

Tears streamed uncontrollably from the corners of my eyes.

I had finally explained everything clearly, finally told him plainly how sincerely, how passionately I had loved him—from the past to this very moment.

And yet the tears wouldn’t stop.

It was as if, in that moment, every grievance, every moment of silent endurance, every soft and vulnerable feeling in my heart spilled out all at once, completely laid bare.

Thousands of years, full of twists and turns, hardship and drifting—only to lead to this moment of embrace.

But I knew, once this brief embrace ended, he would shoulder his destiny again and go fight the final battle.

“Xie Zhuo…” I choked out between sobs, pushing him away. “You must come back. The red thread hasn’t been reconnected. We’re not done yet.” I hit his back hard, as if branding him.

“You must come back!”

Finally, through heavy breaths, he whispered in my ear.

“I will come back. I swear.”

As if staying any longer would make him unable to leave.

Xie Zhuo released me and left the secret chamber.

I watched his figure disappear, then sat down cross-legged.

I began to chant the Kunlun Heart Technique.

It felt like that night before the founding of Undying City all over again.

Within the flow of the heart technique, I lost all sense of time. I didn’t know how long had passed when I suddenly felt the strand of evil energy that had always entangled my soul start flowing out of my body.

I opened my eyes and saw the evil energy leaving me.

It drifted out, winding and twining, toward the outside of the chamber.

Realizing what was happening, I chased after it.

The Kunlun main hall was empty.

I followed it outside and saw the strand of evil energy rising rapidly into the air.

And then I noticed—across the skies above Kunlun, more and more strands of evil energy were gathering, faster and faster, until suddenly they all vanished.

The evil energy in the world… was gone.

Did Xie Zhuo and the others succeed?

I stood outside the main hall, unable to move.

The evil energy had vanished, but Queen Mother of the West and the others had not returned.

More and more immortals noticed something strange and came to report to the Queen Mother, but all they saw was me. After asking a few puzzled questions and getting no response, they all left again.

After all, the disappearance of evil energy wasn’t a bad thing.

Only I remained outside the hall, gazing up at the sky, waiting.

I waited from daylight to sunset, then to a sky full of stars, and then to daylight again.

A full day and night, without moving an inch.

I knew the divine powers of the Main Gods—if they wanted to return, it would only take an instant.

But a day had passed since the evil energy vanished, and they still hadn’t come back. Neither had Xie Zhuo.

Time ticked on. By the second night, Qin Shuyan came.

He looked at me solemnly. “Jiuxia, come with me to the Mirror Forest.”

On the way to Mirror Forest,

Old Qin told me:

The Main Gods and Xie Zhuo had successfully set up a formation in the Mirror Forest, drawing all the world’s evil energy into it. Xie Zhuo had taken the center position of the formation, while the Main Gods helped him bear the burden.

Then, all the evil energy was channeled deep into the earth of the Mirror Forest.

The forest began to regain its color.

When the formation ended, the evil energy disappeared completely.

But Xie Zhuo remained sitting at the core, unmoving.

He was like the final gate keeping the Evil God from the world.

The Main Gods said that inside his body, Xie Zhuo was now locked in battle with the Evil God, trying to shut that last door. They had tried everything but couldn’t help him at all.

By the time I arrived at Mirror Forest, this land that had been his childhood home had already recovered its rightful colors. The bright summer flowers from outside seemed a little less dazzling once they drifted into the forest.

I followed the trail of summer blossoms to find Xie Zhuo, sitting at the heart of the formation.

The Main Gods surrounded him, pouring divine power into his body without stopping. Even if they didn’t know what was happening inside him, even if it only helped a little—they weren’t willing to give up.

“Xie Zhuo,” I called his name softly.

I didn’t dare hope for a response. But in the next moment, I saw his tightly closed lashes tremble slightly.

My heart leapt. “He moved…”

Old Qin, who had brought me here, looked at me with sympathy. “He hasn’t moved for days. Maybe you imagined it? If he really wakes up, it would mean the evil scourge has been completely defeated. It’s not that simple…”

“No! He moved!”

I said as I rushed toward Xie Zhuo.

“Jiuxia!” Old Qin tried to stop me, but I shook him off. Lifting my skirt, carried by wind and flower petals, I ran to Xie Zhuo.

I knew he had never lost to the Evil God—not then, not now.

And besides, he had promised me. He would come back.

“Xie Zhuo!”

I called his name, disrupting the gods feeding him divine power.

Old Qin shouted behind me, but I didn’t hear him. All I saw was Xie Zhuo, sitting there—slowly opening his eyes.

And in those black pupils, I saw my reflection.

With the wind and the flowers, I threw myself into his arms.

I hugged him tightly.

But he didn’t react. As if what I had seen earlier was only an illusion…

And just as I started to doubt myself—those warm hands gently touched my back. His palms were scorching hot.

So hot, it felt like the warmth could seep all the way from my spine to my brow, making my eyes water.

“Jiuxia,” he said, “get up. The ground is cold.”

In that moment, in the sunlight, in the breeze, I held him and both cried and laughed.

“Let’s go home…” I whispered into his ear, barely able to speak. “Remarry… throw a banquet, a hundred tables! Announce it to the world!”

And he replied with all seriousness—

“We don’t have that many friends. One table is enough.”

Honestly, not even one is needed.

As long as I have you…

——

Author’s Note:

“This time, for our wedding night, I want ten whole days and nights.”

“Okay…”

——

This chapter was so long!!

At last, the main story is finished!!

Ahhh!!

Started in August 2020, finished in April 2022!

A year and eight months—thank you for waiting, my precious readers!

Also: every time I finish a story, I always feel like there are a thousand things I want to say to you all, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to express them properly, so I end up deleting a lot of what I write.

All in all, every time I write a book, it feels like I’m sharing a part of my “soul” with you. That “soul” might be a recent insight, or a summary of some part of my life I’ve experienced.

I’m truly happy that this part of my life was seen by you.

I hope that while reading, you enjoyed this time we shared—though strangers, our souls were in tune.

————END————