Huang Rang had already prepared to spend this wind and snow night alone when suddenly, by her ears resounded the cries of thousands upon thousands of people. The Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needle on her head seemed to be burning hot, gradually becoming like red-hot steel needles and branding irons.

A force pulled at her consciousness, as if trying to tear her apart. Huang Rang saw boundless darkness. The darkness surged toward her, and within it, dense and indistinct, were countless people’s faces.

Huang Rang wanted to shout and struggle, but she couldn’t make any sound, and her body completely refused to obey. Her soul tumbled within her body, as if wanting to break free from the shackles of her physical form.

Pain—that tearing pain swept over her. The darkness catalyzed by the Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needle was like countless vengeful souls and fierce ghosts. Their eyeballs were blood red, teeth and claws bared, mouths only wailing—some resentful, some hateful, some frightened, some terrified. This mighty force like an overturning ocean surged violently toward her.

Huang Rang was submerged within it, countless voices rising and falling in her mind.

No, she couldn’t go mad. Otherwise, what were ten years of persistence for? She took a deep breath and refused to merge with the darkness. Xie Lingbi was still living well and sound. Xie Lingbi… She chanted this name, maintaining her sanity in the endless purgatory-like darkness.

—Xie Lingbi, one day, I will return to you all my pain, all my resentment, all my fear, every bit of it.

I want you to know what kind of person Huang Rang is.

Around her, wind raged and rain pelted, while her will was like a remaining thread of candlelight.

Huang Rang didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly, she felt her body lighten! Her entire being, as if being pulled, abruptly separated from her body. The scene before her eyes suddenly changed—it was no longer Di Yiqiu’s bedroom.

All around was snow, and in the snowy ground stood a golden pagoda in silent silence, like a stern giant, expressionlessly looking down at her. Where was this? Huang Rang walked around the pagoda, seeing only eight-sided jade steps at the pagoda’s base, nine stories high.

Why was she here?

A dream?

Huang Rang, step by step, walked to the base of the pagoda. At the pagoda’s top, a person wore black and white Daoist robes, standing in the falling snow. The distance was too far for Huang Rang to see his face clearly. He watched Huang Rang like a deity watching an ant.

“A clever child like you should know what to do, right?” His voice was also like this snowy night—both cold and light. He took something from his sleeve, casually tossed it, and the object fell down, landing right in front of Huang Rang.

Huang Rang picked it up and discovered it was clearly a… tea needle? The tea needle was like glazed glass and icy jade, with a carved flower handle and sharp head, made of very hard material—not an ordinary object.

“Cherish your time and do what you want to do.” The person at the pagoda’s peak flicked his robe sleeves. “When the ice melts, the dream should awaken too. Time is precious.”

What did that mean? Huang Rang wanted to speak, but before her the nine-story pagoda was imposingly majestic, and the person at its peak was even more like a descended deity. She, a small earth spirit, couldn’t speak.

She gripped the ice needle tightly. A thunderbolt suddenly struck the tall pagoda, and ten thousand zhang of brilliance scattered toward her. Before Huang Rang’s eyes, white light crisscrossed. The scene immediately became completely different!

Huang Rang used her hand to block the strong light before her eyes. When she could see again, she was already standing beside a triangular pavilion. In the small pavilion were several exquisite dishes and pastries. Just a few steps away was a pool, with a plum blossom tree planted by the pool’s edge—only right now it had no flowers or leaves, looking rather desolate.

—It was precisely that tree of Thinking of Your Peace.

Huang Rang’s heart shook violently. This place—she was too familiar with it, because every blade of grass and tree, every stone and water here came from her own hands. This was Yuhu Xuanzong’s Qilu Terrace. After marrying Xie Hongchen, she had lived here for a hundred years.

Standing before her was none other than Xie Hongchen. Huang Rang’s consciousness was chaotic. In a trance, her own voice was saying, “Husband, have you ever thought about paying attention to Old Ancestor’s movements? Some days ago I discovered something and have felt uneasy in my heart. I always feel that husband should go alone to Anlei Peak to take a look.”

No… don’t say it, he won’t listen.

But these words still came out after all.

This must be a nightmare—it was ten years ago, the last time she saw Xie Hongchen.

By the time she completely merged with her body, the words had already been spoken. Before her indeed stood Xie Hongchen, and Huang Rang’s hands were arranging his clothing for him.

He still wore white like clouds, jade crown binding his hair, ornaments hanging at his waist. Yuhu Xuanzong revered jade, and he was the most flawless jade in the entire immortal sect.

Huang Rang’s gaze fixed steadily on him, while Xie Hongchen’s brows furrowed. He brushed away Huang Rang’s hand that was tying his sash for him, already displeased and annoyed. His expression became stern, his voice even carrying the intent of reprimand: “This is not something you should be inquiring about. As a junior, you gossip about your elders behind their backs and sow discord. Is this how Huang Shu taught you?”

These words he spoke with severity and harshness. Huang Rang had nothing to say in response. The feeling of unreality was so strong.

She stared at Xie Hongchen before her and actually felt her eyes redden. Xie Hongchen didn’t feel compassion because of her pitiful appearance. A hundred years as husband and wife, he had always been guarded, absolutely refusing to fall into any of her “gentle traps.”

Tears were useless—Huang Rang had long known this. So after their long separation and reunion, she endured all emotions.

Thus, Xie Hongchen flicked his sleeves and left. Moreover, he wouldn’t come again for a long time.

Huang Rang walked a few quick steps, silently seeing him to the entrance of Qilu Terrace. He wouldn’t look back. Over all these years, toward her, he never showed any lingering attachment or favoritism. Not once.

Huang Rang took a deep breath. Only after his figure disappeared among the winding mountain paths did her long lashes crush a bit of tears, scattering a bay of scattered stars and moon.

Qilu Terrace was so silent it seemed soundless.

Huang Rang turned back to the triangular pavilion and saw the pastries on the stone table in the pavilion—no one had touched the chopsticks.

Ten years—how could she still remember what delicacies she had made back then? So these were what they were?

She picked up chopsticks, took a piece of crystal cake, and put it in her mouth. The pastry was sweet and fragrant, melting on contact, instantly softening her taste buds. So she ate those pastries piece by piece, finally not even using chopsticks anymore. She directly grabbed them with her hands and stuffed them in her mouth.

However delicious the pastries were, stuffing them in her mouth like this still made them dry and crumbly. Huang Rang choked, and tears finally flowed like water.

She covered her mouth with both hands, shrinking into a corner of the pavilion, even crying quietly, tears overflowing through her fingers, yet without sound.

After crying, Huang Rang stood up and walked to the edge of Bailu Pool to wash her hands and face clean.

Bailu Pool silently reflected her current appearance.

Because Xie Hongchen was coming today, the clothing on her body was truly revealing. Inside was a white chest wrap, below was a gauze skirt reaching to her ankles, and outside the gauze skirt was an outer skirt strung with black scales. The outer skirt tied at the waist was only a train—naturally not very secure—so the near-transparent advantage of the thin gauze became apparent.

Huang Rang was born beautiful. Such clothing could create the feeling of having legs from the neck down. Add to that her expertise in maintenance, and over these years her figure had even surpassed that of before her marriage.

She looked at herself in the water and smiled with upturned lips. So the person on the surface of Bailu Pool also smiled back at her.

Huang Rang took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Now was not the time for sorrow. The urgent matter was to figure out the truth. Why had she appeared here so inexplicably?

In her memory, it was after this conversation with Xie Hongchen that Yuhu Xuanzong’s Old Ancestor Xie Lingbi suddenly attacked her. He said nothing, only pierced the Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needle into Huang Rang’s skull, then casually tossed her into the deepest secret chamber of Anlei Peak.

From then on, Huang Rang disappeared from the mortal world for ten years.

No one would search for her.

Her former old friends, because she had married into the immortal sect and contact was inconvenient, gradually lost touch.

Though the disciples of Yuhu Xuanzong also respected her, if Xie Hongchen and Xie Lingbi joined hands to conceal the truth, what could they do?

As for her own brothers and sisters, needless to say—they wished she would die early. Her father… her father would probably inquire, then knowing she had disappeared, would make extravagant demands of Xie Hongchen.

—Who knew what benefits he obtained this time. Huang Rang thought with a face full of sarcasm.

She entered the room, wanting to change into a different dress—she truly had many dresses.

She looked for a while. There was a set in light gold that was her favorite before she married. She didn’t know why, but she thought of Si Tianjian’s Di Yiqiu’s aesthetic sense. The corner of her mouth twitched—this set then.

She removed the clothing on her body. Suddenly, something fell from her sleeve. Huang Rang looked down and saw it was an ice-carved tea needle. The tea needle was transparent, held in hand as if about to melt, which made it seem especially cold and sharp. Huang Rang held this tea needle in her hand but couldn’t see any sign of it melting. But… she remembered the words of that person at the pagoda’s peak—when ice melts, dreams awaken.

Like Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly.

Huang Rang changed into this dress. The light gold was warm and bright, dignified and generous, making her warm and gentle like sunshine. The tea needle was awkward to carry, so she simply inserted it in her hair as a hairpin ornament.

Time was precious and couldn’t be wasted.

Huang Rang found a food box, arranged the pastries she had just grabbed into disorder neatly and placed them inside, conveniently taking along the wine on the table.

Coming out from Qilu Terrace, Yuhu Xuanzong began to have all kinds of sounds. Disciples coming and going saw her and all bowed respectfully. Huang Rang also smiled and returned the courtesy. Then she encountered another person—Xie Jiu’er.

Seeing her, Xie Jiu’er’s brows furrowed slightly, but she still cupped her hands and said, “Foster Mother.”

Huang Rang walked slowly before her, sneering inwardly, yet reached out her hand and lovingly patted her head.

Xie Jiu’er wanted to dodge but still endured it—with people coming and going, she feared inviting gossip. So she could only smile reluctantly and say, “Why does Foster Mother have free time to come out today? I just saw Foster Father go by and thought Foster Mother would keep him company, that old man.”

Compared to her, Huang Rang’s smile was much more sincere. She said, “He’s always very busy, as you know.”

Xie Jiu’er smiled unnaturally and said, “That’s true. Then Foster Mother, you’re busy. If there’s anything, you can call for Jiu’er.”

Huang Rang deliberately intended to disgust her and patted her head again, saying, “Good. My Jiu’er has grown up and become sensible too. Since Jiu’er wants to do something for mother, then help mother wash the clothes at Qilu Terrace.”

Xie Jiu’er’s expression showed a moment of shock, obviously not expecting Huang Rang would truly make such a request of her. After all, she was young and couldn’t hide her feelings. She was stunned for a moment before stammering, “Oh… oh, alright.”

Huang Rang looked gratified and instructed, “Good child, mother has many dresses and skirts. Quite a few have been stored away so long they’ve gathered dust. Your filial heart is precious. Mother wouldn’t want to stop you. When washing, be careful not to hurt your hands.”

Xie Jiu’er’s expression immediately became quite splendid. She reluctantly agreed with an affirmative and could only head toward Qilu Terrace.

Huang Rang watched her departing back and couldn’t help but smile with curved brows.

Xie Jiu’er was her and Xie Hongchen’s adopted daughter. Back when Huang Rang married Xie Hongchen, she perceived that Xie Hongchen was neither cold nor warm toward her. To consolidate her position, she once proposed to Xie Hongchen that she wanted a child.

Of course, Xie Hongchen refused.

—Xie Hongchen often refused her requests. So much so that Huang Rang had grown accustomed to it. So she settled for second best.

One day while sitting idly drinking wine with Xie Hongchen, Huang Rang captured a golden cicada and spread open her palm to show Xie Hongchen: “Hongchen, look, this golden cicada is quite beautiful. We happen to have no children yet. Let’s take it as an adopted son, how about it?”

This was of course to deepen the bond between her and him, but ultimately it also had no harm. So Xie Hongchen finally relented and agreed.

Huang Rang was happy for a time. Holding Xie Hongchen’s hand, she named this golden cicada Jiu’er.

As the adopted child of Xie Hongchen and Huang Rang, Xie Jiu’er was raised on immortal elixirs and spiritual medicine from birth.

So she awakened to spiritual intelligence early. When Huang Rang saw she was a daughter, the adopted son naturally became an adopted daughter. Initially, Xie Jiu’er was very affectionate with her, but later, this child gradually discovered that mother didn’t have father’s deep favor either.

Even more, because of her intimacy with Huang Rang, Xie Hongchen was correspondingly very cold to her.

At such a young age, she was already shrewd. So gradually, she cultivated seriously and rarely went to Qilu Terrace anymore. Even when she saw Huang Rang, she was very reserved and aloof. Sure enough, because of her estrangement from Huang Rang, Xie Hongchen instead showed her more care.

Everyone up and down Yuhu Xuanzong truly regarded her as a little princess.

Thinking of these things, Huang Rang gently shook her head. This child was still too young after all, not steady enough, and couldn’t hide her thoughts.

She carried the food box and continued walking down.

Ahead sounded familiar footsteps. Huang Rang froze. She looked up and saw a man also descending the mountain. He wore purple official robes, a golden fish pouch at his waist, official boots on his feet, his waist ramrod straight, his figure tall and slender.

It was Di Yiqiu!

Huang Rang unconsciously quickened her pace. When she walked forward, only then did she freeze.

Actually, she and the person before her didn’t have much interaction. If not for those days at Si Tianjian, it could even be said she had long forgotten this person’s affairs to the ninth heaven. So now, standing before Di Yiqiu, she actually had nothing to say.

Di Yiqiu stopped in his tracks, obviously appraising her. When he looked at people, his gaze was very sharp, always giving a feeling of interrogation and forced confession.

Huang Rang stiffened in place. Finally, she could only smile and say, “Jianzheng, recently I newly brewed wine. Happening to encounter you is also fate. I’ll gift a pot to you. Please don’t disdain it.”

As she spoke, she truly opened the food box, took out that pot of wine from within, and handed it with both hands to Di Yiqiu.

Di Yiqiu’s gaze coldly watched the wine pot in her hands. After a long while, he said coldly, “This seat disdains it!”

Having said this, with a sidestep, he brushed past her fingertips.

—Damn bastard, you’re… quite… aloof…

Huang Rang gnashed her teeth inwardly.

If not for the fact that this old lady’s time is precious… I’d definitely get you in hand one way or another…

Huang Rang watched him leave. He moved swift as wind, and before long had disappeared from her line of sight. Though Huang Rang was displeased, fortunately she didn’t care. After all, the impression Di Yiqiu left on her was too faint.

Perhaps those days at Si Tianjian were only a dream? Or he was purely just trying to dig out Xie Lingbi’s secrets? Or still holding a grudge about her marrying Xie Hongchen? Or even, he just liked women who couldn’t speak or move?

Who could say for sure?

From her father Huang Shu to her numerous brothers and sisters, then to Xie Hongchen, and finally to Xie Jiu’er—in Huang Rang’s life, she had never seen any true human sentiment.

Naturally, she also didn’t believe such a thing existed in the world. The world’s people bustled about for fame and profit. Where was there any genuine sincerity that, after enduring wind and rain, remained unchanged as before?