My dagger was taken by Xie Zhuo quite effortlessly.

But Xie Zhuo was furious enough. He stared at me intensely and called my name: “Fu! Jiu! Xia!”

I listened, knowing that not only could he not harm me now, but he had to protect me.

When I completely entrusted my life to Xie Zhuo, I discovered it felt more reassuring than entrusting it to myself.

So all my movements became calm and composed. I unhurriedly turned off the earring on my ear, and raised my slashed palm toward Xie Zhuo.

Magical energy gathered in my palm, and I sent a brilliant immortal spell shooting toward Xie Zhuo’s face.

I didn’t restrain my spiritual power; the light surged forth powerfully like an arrow shooting toward Xie Zhuo.

I certainly knew that such a face-to-face attack couldn’t harm Xie Zhuo. His reaction was extremely fast—with just a slight tilt of his head, the spell brushed past his temple and ear, shooting straight into the tribulation clouds above, forming a bright white light within them.

He frowned at me: “What exactly are you trying to do?”

This was finally his turn to ask me.

“Sending a signal to Xie Xuanqing,” I said, “So he can steadily feed a mouthful of blood to Xiaxia.”

Xie Zhuo’s gaze became even more dangerous. He stared at me, his pitch-black pupils seeming to contain a tribulation lightning storm about to strike.

Of course, he couldn’t return to Xiaxia’s side now.

His movements were fast, but weren’t Xie Xuanqing’s just as quick? They were the same person—how could one be inferior to the other?

Xie Xuanqing set off as soon as he received my signal, definitely reaching Xiaxia’s side before him.

If Xie Zhuo rashly went there now and the two met, if one were weaker, he would die; if Xie Xuanqing were weaker, Xie Zhuo would also die—after all, if his past self died, his present self couldn’t survive either.

No matter who died, Xie Zhuo would lose everything.

So now he could only stay here, angry but helpless.

Meanwhile, the spell I had sent into the tribulation clouds produced a subsequent reaction—the clouds in the sky, originally striking “me,” had been striking for so long, and “I” not only hadn’t weakened but had even given it a “heavy punch” in return. It was provoked.

It rolled and growled, just like the relationship between me and Xie Zhuo.

I wasn’t afraid of the tribulation clouds, because I knew Xie Xuanqing would follow our historical destiny and feed me a mouthful of blood. As for Xie Zhuo…

As long as Xie Xuanqing fed the blood, what did I have to fear?

Wind and clouds surged, and the tribulation clouds finally accumulated their “retaliatory” strike. A bright white light erupted, and a massive tribulation lightning bolt crashed behind me and him.

This was the largest bolt, and also the last. It tore the sky apart, burying everything in intense white light. In the past that we had both experienced, Xie Zhuo and I watched each other, each carrying our own emotions.

I was scornful, and he was angry, until the thunder and lightning completely disappeared.

The world seemed reborn, as rosy clouds broke through.

Both Xie Zhuo and I restrained our emotions and controlled our expressions. He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. I patted my clothes and stood up.

“Xie Zhuo, I’ll ask you just one question,” I stared at him. “Did you come back these five hundred years ago to kill me?”

Xie Zhuo opened his eyes and stared at me without any superfluous movements or words:

“I told you from the beginning,” he said. “I want to kill you.”

I nodded, calmly and firmly telling him: “Xie Zhuo, you’re a dog.”

Xie Zhuo accepted my insult with an expressionless face.

When he first came, perhaps he didn’t know why I was forcing him to come out. But now, with the tribulation lightning gone and my previous question, it was enough for him to understand what information Xie Xuanqing had told me.

“You almost made me kill myself with my own hands.” I even wanted to applaud Xie Zhuo’s tactics. “Good, really good!”

“All the suggestions were your own.”

Yes!

I closed my eyes and thought about all the scenes after arriving here, where I had suggested to Xie Zhuo how to separate Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing. I was truly stupid!

No wonder it’s Xie Zhuo! I was too eager to hand over the knife! If I hadn’t withdrawn at the last moment, wouldn’t I be dead by now?!

The only one who could defeat me was indeed myself!

Fu Jiuxia, the knife-hander! I willingly claim that title!

Thinking of this, my heartbeat became somewhat chaotic. I took several deep breaths, covering my chest to stabilize my emotions.

After a long time calming down…

“Forget it! I accept it! I don’t even want to ask anymore why you want to kill me. You surely have ten thousand reasons, but none of them matter now!” I gritted my teeth, sealing all my anger, dissatisfaction, and hatred for Xie Zhuo deep in my heart. “I acknowledge all your schemes, both overt and covert!”

Swallowing my teeth with blood, what else could I do if I didn’t accept it? I couldn’t kill him!

At least not here…

I glanced sinisterly at Xie Zhuo: “Now Xie Xuanqing has already fed blood to Xiaxia. Our destiny is finally set, and your plan has failed. Staying here any longer has no meaning.”

I extended my hand, “Take out the Pangu Fu and let’s go back.”

Xie Zhuo maintained his excellent tradition of not liking to talk.

That’s good, I thought. Now, if he wasted even one more word, I would jump up and fight him to the death.

He lowered his eyes, looking at the hand I extended toward him. The wound from the dagger in my palm had stopped bleeding. I don’t know what he was contemplating, but finally he raised his eyes to look at me: “If we did it again, would you still cut the red thread?”

At this moment, in this situation, he had the nerve to ask such a ridiculous question!?

Between us, did it even matter whether the red thread was cut or not? Our Kunlun red thread had no binding power over him! Was the relationship between him and me something that could be clarified by that red thread?

But these words, I now felt, would be like playing a lute to a cow, even if used to scold Xie Zhuo. I didn’t want to waste words with him, yet I couldn’t help but give a cold laugh: “If we did it again…”

“I’d. Take A. Knife. And. Chop. It!”

Xie Zhuo hadn’t turned off the earring image, so at this moment, I saw myself in his eyes within my mind.

I said those words so resolutely that even I thought it was too decisive when I looked at myself.

But the battle of wits and courage here had truly pushed my patience with Xie Zhuo to the limit. I couldn’t bear it anymore and urged him: “Take out the Pangu Fu!”

He lowered his head, and before long, with a turn of his palm, the Pangu Fu appeared in his hand.

Looking at this axe that almost cost me my life, my feelings were indescribably complex.

I rubbed my brow, urging Xie Zhuo: “Let’s go back, hurry up.”

I couldn’t help but say coldly, “I don’t want to be entangled with you for even a moment longer.”

I looked toward the distant place where the tribulation lightning had disappeared. There was my immortal residence, and there, Xie Xuanqing and Xiaxia’s relationship was just beginning. And here, my relationship with Xie Zhuo was finally ending.

Marriage bonds truly exhausted one.

“Fu Jiuxia, why do I want to kill you?” Xie Zhuo spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse.

I found it strange in my heart that this person would now explain the reasons for things himself. Had the heavenly tribulation finished by making the sun rise in the west?

“Because the moment you cut off the marriage thread…” Xie Zhuo’s eyes, like deep abysses, gazed at me. “I felt pain beyond compare.”

Hearing this, I finally glanced at Xie Zhuo again.

His complexion wasn’t good, just like the day I cut the red thread.

The Pangu Fu in his hand emitted a faint light as he continued, “My clan, cursed by an evil god, I feel pain when I speak. But at that moment, it was ten thousand times more painful than speaking.”

Xie Zhuo spoke very slowly. Rarely, I truly hear the emotion in his words, as if he were really in pain.

But…

“Why are you telling me this now? I not only don’t want to know about your clan’s affairs, but I also don’t want to know about yours. Whether you’re in pain or not has nothing to do with me, and I’m no longer curious about the reasons for your feelings.”

I sneered, “Could it be that after attempting to kill me, you still want to confess your feelings? No thanks, don’t pull this worthless act.”

I don’t know if Xie Zhuo took my words to heart. He remained silent for a moment, then continued speaking on his own, “That day I went back and thought for a long time…” He raised his hand, reaching toward me.

I frowned, wanting to step back, but an invisible force pressed against my back, preventing me from retreating. I turned my head to look and saw that Xie Zhuo’s barrier was already blocking me from behind.

In front of me, Xie Zhuo’s fingertips touched my cheek, then moved toward my neck. A feeling of threat instantly shot up to my brain, and my body almost immediately entered a state of alertness instinctively.

What the hell!? Didn’t Xie Zhuo say his bloodline power was restraining him, that he couldn’t kill me!?

The light from the Pangu Fu grew brighter and brighter, like a small sun, illuminating him and me within Xie Zhuo’s barrier.

I stared at him with suspicion and alarm. Xie Zhuo’s hand indeed came to rest on my neck: “If I killed you, would this pain finally end?”

Damn you, Xie Zhuo.

Are you stupid?

What kind of unique thought process is this?

His spiritual power expanded around him, compressing the space within the barrier. All my grievances were squeezed in my throat, and in the end, I only managed to squeeze out two words: “Of course…” The words “you can’t” simply couldn’t come out.

The spiritual power compressed my chest and throat, making those two words nearly suffocate me. I realized that there truly are times when speaking can be painful.

The feeling of suffocation made me cough as if retching.

In my heart, I cursed Xie Zhuo for being inhuman! Suddenly, Xie Zhuo also coughed once, and then directly spat out a mouthful of blood onto my chest…

I was shocked…

The pressure of the surrounding spiritual power instantly decreased. I looked up at him.

“So… harming you is even more painful… than that time…”

Hearing these words, my heart skipped a beat.

It’s hard for me to express exactly how I felt hearing this from Xie Zhuo.

I told myself to clearly understand Xie Zhuo—the pain he was speaking of now was not the kind of pain I was thinking of.

He was now purely experiencing real physical pain due to the restrictions of the bloodline power within his body.

Sure enough, Xie Zhuo’s next sentence was: “Breaking the blood oath, the pain would end.”

“Forget it, it’s useless,” I told him calmly and restrainedly. “Your plan has already failed! We’re all immortals and demons who have lived for hundreds of years. Divorce is just a matter of going our separate ways. Why make such a violent fuss about it?”

Xie Zhuo stared at me, like an unarmored soldier watching helplessly as an arrow flew toward him.

I continued: “This is not a problem that can be solved by killing me. This is your emotional issue; you need to deal with it yourself.”

Blood hung at the corner of Xie Zhuo’s mouth. His black pupils glinted coldly, like a wolf driven to a dead end, as if seeing no way out. His cool fingertips lightly traced over my neck.

“Fu Jiuxia, if only I had never met you.”

As he spoke, the Pangu Fu in his hand emitted a brilliant light.

He swung it lightly, once again splitting open time and space. The light of the time-space rift shot from behind me, illuminating his face. He gently pushed my neck, and I stepped back into the time-space crack.

The scene of Kunlun outside instantly receded, and everything around became strange, distorted lines.

Unlike the chaotic fall of last time, this time I saw the appearance of the split time-space. My figure seemed infinitely overlapped and elongated, extending into a deep abyss I couldn’t see the end of.

Xie Zhuo was at my side, his figure also cut into countless pieces. He said, “Go left, return by yourself.”

Leaving these words, he turned and went to the right.

Left was toward five hundred years later, right…

He hadn’t given up!? He wanted to try again!? He still wanted to stop Xiaxia and Xie Xuanqing!?

I watched him take a step forward and raised my hand to grab his sleeve, but Xie Zhuo didn’t want me to succeed. He swatted my hand away with one motion, his figure flickered, and he disappeared into the split time-space.

Although I didn’t catch him, how could I just let him run away like this? I followed his shadow closely and also stepped out of the time-space.

One before, one after, separated by just a moment, but when I emerged, Xie Zhuo was nowhere to be seen.

I stood on the ground and, familiar with Kunlun, knew that this place was where Xie Zhuo and I had just stood. But now, instead of the blooming flowers and flying birds of late May, it was a world of ice and snow.

This was… Kunlun in winter.

Xie Zhuo had gone back to an even earlier time, five hundred years ago. Could it be that he…

Wanted to sever our marriage bond before we even met!?

I thought the game was over, but you’re telling me it’s starting anew!? And you’re even starting a prequel story?!

What kind of Snow Wolf clan was Xie Zhuo? He was more like a dog! So single-mindedly wanting to kill me? Not resting until he achieved his goal?