Duan Xu lowered his eyes and said softly, “Nightmare?”

“Perhaps you feel a bit sad now, but in a few months, you’ll come to terms with it. Young General Duan is such a talented youth, what beauty in the world couldn’t you marry? After you return to the human world, if you face disasters or need any help, just call my name and I’ll come find you—though I won’t help you for free, you’ll still need to trade your senses with me.” He Simu’s smile was faint, her tone gentle.

She had spoken to him pretending to be fragile, probing, threatening, arrogant, and calm before, but this was the first time her tone was so tender. Not as the Ghost King or contract holder, but as someone communicating with a person who had given and received genuine affection.

Duan Xu raised his eyes to look at her, at her calm and gentle gaze, and asked, “This world of evil spirits you’ve shown me, is that a trade too?”

“No, it’s a token of gratitude. Because the human world you let me experience was much better than I expected, so this is my way of thanking you.”

“I heard you went to the Nine Palaces Maze to save me. During my unconsciousness, you stayed in my room, and whenever I called you, you would come hold my hand.”

“No need to thank me. I brought you into the ghost realm, so this was my responsibility.”

“I kissed you, embraced you, and you never truly punished me. You knew perfectly well that I could do many things myself, but whenever I asked you, you always softened.”

“You’re indeed quite good at acting spoiled and shameless.”

“Don’t avoid the important issue.”

“What important issue am I avoiding?”

Duan Xu stepped forward, staring into her eyes at a distance close enough to feel each other’s breath, and asked deliberately, “Do you not like me at all?”

He Simu gazed into these bright eyes that she liked very much. His eyes contained a layer of moisture, trembling slightly, with shocking emotions and desire inside, telling her this was a question of vital importance to him.

In all the terrifying illusions, nightmares, or before enemies, he was always confident, determined, and arrogant, with a kind of self-destructive toughness. But only in front of her, when calling her name, he seemed like a wild beast offering its neck, exposing its belly.

He Simu still remembered when he finally regained consciousness in the illusion, calling her name over and over. He said, how wonderful, He Simu has come to get me.

His voice was weak yet certain as if He Simu had become a spell for him, replacing “Duan Xu,” capable of awakening him from layers of illusions.

The day he raided the enemy camp, sitting on the ground covered in blood and reaching out his hand to her, she saw that he seemed to be yearning for something, but she didn’t understand the meaning of that yearning—perhaps he didn’t understand it either at the time. Now she gradually realized that he wasn’t just reaching out his hand to her; he was offering his heart.

That heart, broken and riddled with holes, which he had collected the pieces of and glued back together, beating fervently with countless old scars. He had placed this heart in her hands.

Since then, his gaze toward her always seemed to say: you can hurt me easily, I’m giving you that power.

Jiang Ai had asked her, you’re so good to him, why not accept him, what are you afraid of?

She had just realized that she was indeed afraid. She feared she couldn’t hold this heart properly, that it would fall from her hands and shatter—which was almost inevitable.

This young man was the most special, unique mortal to her in this world. She wanted to protect him from the sufferings of the human world, to prevent this heart from acquiring new scars. The best life for a mortal is to achieve scholarly success, have a joyful wedding, be surrounded by children and grandchildren, and fulfill ambitions—not to be entangled with evil spirits.

She needed to return this heart to him intact.

He Simu smiled gently, reaching out to poke Duan Xu’s shoulder, pushing him away.

“You’re not within my consideration, and I don’t want to consider you. After all, before long, I will forget even your name.”

Duan Xu’s eyes trembled as if something had fallen to the ground, cracking into fissures.

He Simu then reached out her hand to cover his eyes. He didn’t avoid it, allowing her cold hand to cover his eyes.

In the darkness, Duan Xu heard He Simu say, “Go ahead and cry if you want, but not in front of me. You are the only contract holder I’ve ever had, and I hope all your wishes can be fulfilled, but I am a wish you cannot realize. Remove me from your wishes.”

She slowly removed her hand from his eyes. His eyes had become very deep in color, a hint of moisture visible. But he didn’t cry, just stared at her without blinking.

She didn’t want to see him cry, and he truly didn’t shed tears.

He Simu’s hand traced his face, then rested on his shoulder. She smiled brightly and said, “I hope you grow wings, and transform into a fish of the northern sea.”

As she finished speaking, a thunderclap sounded. Her hand flinched on his shoulder, then retreated into her sleeve. She stepped back twice, then turned and left, walking neither fast nor slow, her red dress sweeping across the verdant grass, never looking back at him.

Duan Xu kept staring at her silhouette until it disappeared at the edge of the mountain. Then he looked up at the gloomy sky and said with a light laugh, “So she’s afraid of thunder.”

He had learned one more thing about her.

Just at this moment.

Duan Xu bit his lip, his eyes completely red but without tears. He remained silent for a long time. When it started to drizzle, he walked to the first grave marked by a maple tree, crouched down to look at it, and displayed a smile that could even be called bright as he said, “She’s a jerk, isn’t she?”

Jiang Ai and Yan Ke watched this scene from a distance. Jiang Ai sighed with folded arms, “So the Right Chancellor has gotten her wish.”

“Just a mere mortal, I knew it would turn out this way.” Yan Ke’s expression was calm, but he noticeably breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone could see how special Duan Xu was to He Simu during this time, and he had been worried.

Jiang Ai shook her head and said, “Not just a mere mortal, this child is different.”

She had asked him why he had risked his life to help her when Bai San Xing attacked her in the Nine Palaces Maze. The child had smiled brightly, only saying he didn’t expect Bai San Xing to be so powerful. When she pressed him further, he finally said he felt she was quite close to Simu.

—”Simu is too lonely. You are a ghost she trusts, and I hope you can always stay by her side.”

—”I know my life is short. I don’t know what I can give her in such a brief life, but I want her to experience the happiness of the human world.”

—”Simu is a very stubborn girl. She inherited from her parents a backbone that cannot be crushed. A heart full of passion, warming the world—I like her this way.”

The child had also asked her with a smile if he was the first person whose soul candle was extinguished yet still managed to come out of the Nine Palaces Maze. Jiang Ai told him no, before him there was an evil spirit who had also come out despite having their soul candle extinguished—He Simu.

Years ago, when He Simu ambushed Bai San Xing in the Nine Palaces Maze, she destroyed Bai San Xing’s soul candle, but her own was also extinguished by Bai San Xing. The two strongest evil spirits were both lost in the Nine Palaces Maze, but three days later, He Simu walked out of the maze and relit her soul candle—truly a miracle.

Without desire comes strength. Evil spirits become evil because their attachments are too deep, so they cannot break free from the illusions of the Nine Palaces Maze. But He Simu was different—she wasn’t formed from a living person’s attachment; she was born from the love between her parents.

This child she brought wasn’t trapped by the illusions either. They were very similar.

Jiang Ai couldn’t help sighing, “This child understands Simu well.”

Yan Ke frowned, dismissively saying, “What could he possibly understand?”

Feeling it impossible to discuss emotional matters with a jealous man, Jiang Ai changed the subject, pointing toward the Nine Palaces Maze.

“But how could Bai San Xing still be there? His soul candle was extinguished, and in the Nine Palaces Maze, it should only take a hundred years to wear away into nothingness. How come he’s still fine after three hundred years?”

Yan Ke was silent for a moment, then said, “The explanation for this is simple; there aren’t many possible answers.”

Jiang Ai knew what he meant. If Bai San Xing hadn’t perished after three hundred years, it meant his soul candle hadn’t been extinguished. He must be like those evil spirits banished to the Nine Palaces Maze, with his soul candle lit somewhere outside the maze.

“That’s strange. We witnessed Simu extinguish his soul candle back then. How could there possibly be another one burning outside?”

“I don’t see why not. Didn’t that mortal’s soul candle get relit? He could relight his soul candle probably because he’s infatuated with Simu, and as for Bai San Xing…” Yan Ke’s gaze turned to Jiang Ai, making her feel uneasy.

Jiang Ai said, “Kid, what do you mean?”

“It’s common knowledge that Bai San Xing was madly in love with you.”

“Nonsense, that’s ancient history from a thousand years ago. Before he entered the Nine Palaces Maze, he wanted nothing more than to cut me into pieces—you know that too. Why would I go out of my way to light his soul candle? I’m not crazy.” Jiang Ai spat.

Yan Ke neither agreed nor disagreed, saying, “This matter is very strange and may bring trouble in the future.”

Three days after He Simu and Duan Xu’s conversation at the graves, Duan Xu left Yu Zhou City. He asked Jiang Ai to send him to Nan Du, leaving quietly without even saying goodbye to He Simu. When Jiang Ai returned to tell He Simu about this, seeing He Simu’s surprised expression, she suddenly realized, “He didn’t tell you he was leaving?”

He Simu shook her head and pressed her forehead, saying, “What kind of game is he playing?”

She was about to continue processing official business when Jiang Ai took out a scroll from behind her and handed it to her, saying, “This is a gift that the child prepared for you. He asked me to give it to you.”

He Simu glanced at the scroll and took it, weighing it in her hand—it was quite heavy.

“He said to take care of yourself.”

After saying this, Jiang Ai bowed and withdrew. The excitement she had enjoyed for over half a month had been quite enough; it was time to leave well enough alone.

He Simu placed the scroll on her desk and continued looking at her documents. Her gaze lingered on the documents for a long time, but she couldn’t absorb a single word. Her hand gripping the documents tightened, and her eyes occasionally glanced at the scroll. After such a stalemate for half an hour, she finally sighed, put down the documents, and reached for the scroll on the desk.

She thought she was merely curious about what gift he could have prepared for her.

She untied the string binding the scroll, and this map of Yu Zhou City slowly unfolded before her, covering the entire desk. The proportions of streets and districts were drawn very precisely, with large and small pavilions and buildings vividly depicted on paper. Duan Xu had added annotations to all the streets, alleys, and mountains.

His handwriting was that kind of spirited, unrestrained style, written so small as if aggrieved, squeezed tightly together.

At the foot of Xu Sheng Mountain, he had drawn a small lamp, beside which was written: “Firefly larvae can be found here. In midsummer, they become dots of light, yellowish-green in color, like jade with light shining through. The ancients said, ‘Rain cannot extinguish the lantern, wind makes its color brighter. If not ascending to heaven, it must become a star beside the moon.'”

At the corner of Water Row District, right after turning from the royal palace, he had drawn a rose, beside which was written: “There’s a cluster of roses by the wall. In the third month during the flowering season, the fragrance is intense and hits the nose. The flower stems have thorns that hurt people. The color is crimson with varying depths like morning glow or evening clouds, complimented by banana plants. As the saying goes, ‘In the deep courtyard behind lowered blinds, people nap during the day, red roses on trellises with emerald banana plants.'”

In this way, he had meticulously marked thirty to forty places on the map, narrating to her the Yu Zhou City through his eyes, describing colors, scents, and textures in great detail, presenting a completely different world to her. It seemed to be prepared for when she exchanged her five senses with him someday, so she could rediscover Yu Zhou City.

He Simu’s fingers traced over the map as she laughed softly, “As expected of the second-place scholar, using his talent for this—isn’t it a waste?”

Jiang Ai had told her that Duan Xu thought Yu Zhou City was like a large coffin. Yet he had managed to find signs of life within this large coffin to give to her.

He Simu lowered her eyes, her thoughts drifting far away with this map. She thought aimlessly of the world she had initially experienced, recalling the feel of Duan Xu’s skin, the beating of his pulse, the brush of his breath, and the fragrance of his body—each sensation had first come from him.

And his smile that always seemed carelessly innocent, his pale and sweaty face when he was ill, and his bloodshot eyes when enduring pain.

Such vivid memories—how long would they remain in her mind?

She wondered if he had cried after she left that day.

—Do you not like me at all?

He Simu rested her chin on her hand, slowly rolled up the scroll, and sighed, “Little Fox Duan.”

Why must you care for me so deeply?