I held Xie Zhuo’s collar, so angry I wanted to smash his head in.

But I restrained myself.

Although Xie Zhuo had become ten thousand times more hateful than before, his powers had also become ten thousand times more formidable!

Could I beat him? Did I have any self-awareness?

I asked myself these questions several times in my heart, then released his collar, even smoothing out the wrinkles I had caused.

I sat down, swallowing my pride, took a deep breath, and stabilized my emotions before speaking again: “So what do you plan to do?” I smiled at him, sure he could sense the overwhelming dissatisfaction beneath my stiff, fake smile.

He didn’t say anything more about me grabbing his collar, just straightened himself, leisurely took a sip of snow bamboo leaf tea, and uttered one word:

“Beat…”

I was stunned, took a moment to react, then slammed the table and stood up again!

“You dare to beat me!?”

No matter how Xie Zhuo had treated me, he had never hit me, which made my reaction to his words seem overly shocked and angry, as if he had already struck me…

He stared at me without speaking.

I glared at him furiously for a long time, then realized something.

Indeed, just as I couldn’t meet my past self, he couldn’t meet his past self either. So the only option was for us to meet each other’s past selves.

How do you make two people who already have an emotional foundation quickly come to dislike each other? One party must do something that the other could never forgive.

Hitting someone is a quick, convenient way to offend someone without investing too much effort.

And I… not only could I not beat the current Xie Zhuo, I couldn’t beat Xie Zhuo from five hundred years ago either, even if he was currently recovering from injuries.

Moreover, Xie Zhuo hitting me would be much more effective than me hitting him.

Xie Zhuo’s temperament was unpredictable—who knows, he might even be pleased if I hit him.

While I had a hair-trigger temper, notorious among Kunlun’s immortals for being hot-headed.

If Xie Zhuo dared to hit me, especially after I had cared for him for two or three months, beating me for no reason, I would be furious and would stop loving him.

Wouldn’t our marriage bond be “snapped” broken just like that!

So, having Xie Zhuo beat my past self, upon careful consideration, was indeed a simple, crude, yet overly effective method.

I stared at Xie Zhuo, and he stared back at me. Through this self-persuasion, I gradually calmed down and became rational.

Then I straightened my clothes and sat down again.

Although I was still angry and thought Xie Zhuo was despicable for coming up with such a damaging plan, I still believed that returning five hundred years later and restoring the Pangu Fu was most important.

My past self would just have to suffer this injustice. I forgave Xie Zhuo on my behalf!

“Fine, go ahead and beat me,” I said.

Xie Zhuo raised an eyebrow, seemingly never expecting I would agree so readily.

“Act quickly, preferably go and beat me up right away so we can return sooner,” I said without any psychological burden.

Xie Zhuo was silent for a moment, lowered his head to blow on the snow bamboo leaves in his cup, and said indifferently: “How generous of you.”

I glanced obliquely at Xie Zhuo and sneered: “The sun must be rising in the west for you to open your precious mouth and utter rare words to mock me? You know very well why I’m being generous. If it wasn’t for my Kunlun Xu, I would never be willing to take a beating from you and suffer this grievance. Hurry up…”

“I will not hit you,” he uttered five words, his pitch-black eyes fixed steadily on me.

His tone and gaze were so resolute that I was momentarily stunned.

I couldn’t meet his gaze, so I turned my head to look elsewhere.

Then I repeatedly told myself in my heart: Xie Zhuo and I are divorced.

After clearing my emotions, I turned around to face him, using my usual attitude and normal tone, asking: “Then who do you want to hit?”

“Meng Meng.”

Meng…

“What did Meng Meng do wrong!?” I protested on Meng Meng’s behalf. “If she were here, she’d be frightened to death by you. Five hundred years ago, she was still just a child. Why would you hit her? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”

“Also, Wu Cheng.”

Wu Cheng was my closest deputy in the Kunlun Guard five hundred years ago.

“You…” I was about to speak when Xie Zhuo continued listing names—

“Huan Huan, Li Shu, Gu Chengzhi.”

All were friends I was close with.

My expression gradually darkened.

“And, Xi Wang Mu.”

I “swoosh” summoned my immortal sword, directly piercing through the bamboo cup in Xie Zhuo’s hand from top to bottom, pinning it to the bamboo table in front of him.

Water steeped from snow bamboo leaked from the cup, dripping onto the ground with “plop plop” sounds. I stared expressionlessly at Xie Zhuo: “You dare…”

He looked back at me without retreating or avoiding: “I dare…”

“Xie Zhuo, I’ve told you many times, our separation is between the two of us. Don’t involve others.”

“In my eyes, I’ve never seen others.”

Yes, in Xie Zhuo’s eyes, he never saw others.

This was also one of the fundamental reasons why I quarreled with Xie Zhuo over the five hundred years. He never regarded the other immortals of Kunlun in his eyes, so to sever our marriage fate, he could disregard Kunlun five hundred years later, and he could directly move against my friends, even Xi Wang Mu.

“Xie Zhuo, if I hadn’t come here and couldn’t see what was happening, then indeed I couldn’t stop you. But now, I’m here, and if you move against them, I absolutely won’t let you succeed. Even if you wield the Pangu Fu, this Shuhe sword of mine will block you.”

He looked at me for a long while: “Block with your life?”

“Block with my life.”

He lowered his gaze.

“Fine.” During his brief contemplation, I don’t know what he thought about, but he compromised decisively. He said:

“I won’t go…”

I was a bit stunned because his quick compromise made my sword-stabbing-table action seem like an overreaction.

It was unexpected that he cared about my life… but his previous actions and words clearly showed he wanted to kill me…

I couldn’t understand this, Xie Zhuo.

I withdrew my immortal sword and sat back down.

The bamboo table was already a mess.

Xie Zhuo didn’t reach for the bamboo cup again, and for a moment, I didn’t know how to continue in this atmosphere where our argument had been halved and unexpectedly pacified.

But this matter still needed to be resolved. Every day delayed meant another day of chaos in Kunlun five hundred years later.

“How about…” I began awkwardly, “You just go hit me instead?”

Xie Zhuo raised his eyes: “Not possible…”

Now he was being persistent!

“Then think of other methods. Don’t always resort to fighting and killing. Use your brain!” I pinched my chin, turning my thoughts:

“Isn’t it just about making past-me utterly disappointed in you to the point of not wanting to see you again? Then say some hurtful words, like ‘What are you worth?’ or ‘You’re too ugly, don’t dirty my eyes,’ or ‘I don’t like you, I like someone else,’ things like that. After all, I was still a very innocent young girl back then. I probably couldn’t bear such grievances, so you just…”

Before I could say the word “do,” I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest, and the familiar feeling of physical weakness struck.

“Oh, when did such a house appear here?” From outside came a voice completely strange yet familiar to me, that was…

My voice…

I looked sharply toward the snow bamboo forest: “This is bad, I’m here… I’m here, I’m here, I found this place…”

With a deathly pale face, I mumbled words incomprehensible to anyone not in this situation, but before I could say much more, my body suddenly lost strength and fell toward the ground.

Swift as the situation was dire, Xie Zhuo caught me in one move.

But he quickly changed his posture, turning his embrace into a lift, directly raising his hand to throw me into my room.

My room door slammed shut with a bang.”

Xie Zhuo’s barrier enveloped me from the outside.

Suddenly, I felt the space-time tearing force on me lessen considerably. Just as I recovered my strength, I took a mirror and peeked outside the window. Through the reflected image in the mirror, I observed the scene outside.

Xie Zhuo’s courtyard was built in the snow bamboo forest, and in just a day and night, it had completely blended into the surrounding environment.

I watched as the past me, carrying a bamboo basket, looking around, walked into the front courtyard. The basket still contained a few freshly dug snow bamboo shoots. Finding food in such a remote place—it was me.

“This house is built quite nicely. I should build one for Xuanqing someday.”

Xuanqing…

I fell silent. So back then, I didn’t call him by his full name Xie Zhuo…

While that “me” was still examining the courtyard, Xie Zhuo walked straight out.

So directly that I found it unexpected.

He didn’t even wear a mask on his face! The current “Xuanqing” was still recovering from injuries!

Walking out like this, aren’t you afraid of having your identity exposed? How are you going to pretend to be your past self to deceive my past self later?

I watched anxiously.

The past me was also visibly stunned. She looked at Xie Zhuo in front of her, then glanced back in the direction behind her, which should be where Xie Xuanqing was currently recovering.

I watched as “I” showed a blank expression and asked in a confused voice: “Xie Xuanqing? You weren’t, you just… Huh? Your leg… your leg is healed?!”

I watched through the mirror as “I” happily circled Xie Zhuo, not taking my eyes off his legs for even an inch, even going up to touch them a couple of times. “Your leg is healed? Have you also recovered your magical arts?”

She accepted it without finding anything strange.

I fell silent…

So back then, I was this trusting of someone with Xie Zhuo’s face…

“You were just pretending to be sick earlier, were you trying to give me a surprise?” The past me patted Xie Zhuo’s shoulder once, joy overflowing in her expression.

Xie Zhuo looked at “me,” his lips twitching slightly. He held his breath for a long time, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:

“What are you worth?”

Me: “…”

Past me: “…”

Xie Zhuo stared intently at “me” and spoke again: “You’re too… ugly. Don’t dirty my eyes.”

The past me was completely dumbfounded, as if in a dream or seeing a ghost.

Honestly, I think Xie Zhuo applying what I just taught him so literally is unnecessary! Even those few sentences I said earlier weren’t well thought out. Couldn’t you think a bit more instead of using them all up at once?