With this “my lady” uttered, Jiang Zhaoxue was somewhat dazed.

It wasn’t until he carried her back to the sleeping quarters and placed her on the bed, beginning to channel spiritual power into her, that Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly reacted and pressed against him: “Don’t do anything rash! I’m fine—I just need to recover!”

He cultivated the Jiuyou Realm’s techniques. To channel spiritual power, he had to first convert it to immortal energy—a method with extremely high consumption. Since she was now safe, there was naturally no need for such expenditure.

Her hand pressed against him. He made no sound, only raising eyes that struggled to suppress his emotions. Those eyes still carried lingering fear, making Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart panic.

Knowing she was in the wrong and not wanting any more misunderstandings with him, she immediately explained: “Today’s events weren’t deliberately concealed. I discovered that every time you had feelings for me, Xin Luoyi would find out. I suspected she could check on your side…”

Jiang Zhaoxue’s voice grew quieter as she spoke. After a long while, she also felt there seemed to be no need for explanation.

Which time did she do something without a reason?

She fell silent, letting Pei Zichen observe her. After a long time, she said softly: “I’m sorry.”

“Are you wrong?”

He asked in return. Jiang Zhaoxue paused, not knowing how to respond.

Was she wrong?

She didn’t think so. Every decision was the best decision she could make at that moment with her perspective. If repeated ten thousand times, it would be the same. Since it was the best decision at the time, what wrong did she commit?

But she still said this apology because she knew that regardless of right or wrong, the person before her had been hurt.

She remained silent. Pei Zichen looked at her, remembering the scene he saw upon entering her sea of consciousness.

She had been so close to following that “Pei Zichen” in the illusion and leaving.

He suppressed the lingering panic from watching her reach out, gripped her hand, struggled to control his emotions, and finally asked: “Why?”

Jiang Zhaoxue looked at him blankly. She saw his eyelashes tremble slightly as he said in a low, hoarse voice: “I remember back then in the Spirit Void phantom realm, the Spirit Void Fan said your willpower was extremely strong and you didn’t need the illusion to satisfy your wishes. Why were you confused by Xin Luoyi today and created such an illusion? When I was still here…”

Pei Zichen couldn’t continue, didn’t know how to speak.

He was clearly alive.

He was still alive, right behind her, yet she had almost followed a person in an illusion and left.

He couldn’t help but look up at Jiang Zhaoxue: “Why?”

“Because…” Jiang Zhaoxue hesitated. She found it difficult to speak, but knew she shouldn’t hide it. She struggled for a long time before looking up at him: “Because I’m afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Pei Zichen,” Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyelashes trembled uncontrollably as she said in a low voice, “I watched you die right in front of me with my own eyes.”

Pei Zichen gripped her hand. Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart ached as she said softly: “I watched you die. I summoned your soul. I’m not heartless, it’s just… it’s just that I have to live on.”

As she spoke, she didn’t know why, but tears welled up in her eyes: “I owe you too much. If you really died, if you couldn’t come back, what would I do? But if you could live, then I should think of every possible way to bring you back, rather than feeling sorry for myself and wasting time. I felt I should live better. I thought if it were Pei Zichen, he would definitely want me to live better.”

Speaking the name “Pei Zichen,” tears fell uncontrollably. She didn’t want to cry in front of this person, yet knew if she didn’t speak, they would forever remain knotted.

So even if it was embarrassing and undignified, she still forced herself to continue: “I know I’m arrogant and selfish. I also know I’m domineering and rude. But I always felt the Pei Zichen I knew would want me to live well, so I shouldn’t let him down, and shouldn’t let others worry. Besides, if you would come back, I should be full of hope. If I was sad, that would mean I had tacitly accepted that you truly died and your soul could never return. I came to the Jiuyou Realm for Pei Zichen. I approached Li Xiuji also for Pei Zichen. But in the end you told me Pei Zichen was Li Xiuji’s reincarnation, and now your soul has returned—”

Through blurred tears, Jiang Zhaoxue looked at the person before her, both strange and familiar: “Your soul has returned—are you still Pei Zichen?”

Pei Zichen listened, vaguely understanding her meaning, as he heard her say: “Pei Zichen would give up a divine artifact for me. Would you? In Pei Zichen’s heart, the Jiuyou Realm was the enemy. What about you—are you? Pei Zichen loved me. Do you love me? I don’t know.”

Jiang Zhaoxue sobbed quietly, tears falling on the back of his hand: “I could only verify again and again, search for traces of you both again and again. I just like seeing you care about me. I just want to find Pei Zichen’s shadow in you. Sometimes I even thought I’d found it. I thought if you were him, a little coaxing after jealousy would do, but… but…”

As she spoke, she finally couldn’t help but cry out in embarrassment: “How could Pei Zichen detest me? When you were clearly the one who taught me—” She raised her tear-filled eyes, carrying both grief and anger: “You were clearly the one who taught me!”

This questioning mixed with crying startled Pei Zichen. He froze in place, at a loss.

The person before him had never lost composure like this in front of him before. Jiang Zhaoxue also felt embarrassed and turned her head away, not wanting to look at him.

But once she started crying, she couldn’t quite stop. She sobbed continuously, raising her hand to wipe her tears, wanting to flee but knowing she couldn’t.

And Pei Zichen, listening to all this, took quite a while to recover.

He couldn’t help but move forward, raising his hand to wipe away her tears: “Don’t cry anymore.”

“Don’t touch me!”

“Pei Zichen will never detest you.”

As soon as his words came out, Jiang Zhaoxue froze. She looked at him in confusion, only to see Pei Zichen’s face carry some bitterness as he smiled lightly: “What I detest is myself.”

“What?”

Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t quite understand. But Pei Zichen’s eyes showed resignation as he said softly: “When I said I detested you, it was false. I don’t detest you—I like you.”

With that, he gently brushed her hair behind her ear and said in a low voice: “Knowing you deceived me, knowing I’m only an obligation to you, knowing your feelings for me are far less than mine for you, I still can’t help but like you. I can’t control these feelings. I want you to return the same feelings, but I also know I can’t wait for that, so resentment grows in my heart and I speak harshly.”

“But I do like you…”

“I can’t sense it.”

Pei Zichen interrupted her. His eyes carried desolation as he said in a low voice: “Jiang Zhaoxue, I’m not as magnanimous as you imagine. I know you think it’s because I’m currently within Li Xiuji’s body without a divine core that I can’t sense emotions, but I know myself clearly. In my memories, my resentment is real, my sadness is real. From the past to this moment, I know you may have liked me, but your affection always had a barrier. I don’t know what it was, but I know you’ve never wholeheartedly liked me. And what I want—”

Pei Zichen’s eyes hid sorrow as he said hoarsely: “Is precisely wholehearted affection.”

He was never tolerant, never magnanimous.

He was more narrow and harsh than she imagined. He wanted her as a person, wanted her with what could be called insatiable greed.

Even with their dao companion bond, even with her saying she liked him, he always felt it wasn’t enough—never enough.

Resenting why she couldn’t love him as he loved her.

Hating why she couldn’t wholeheartedly have only him.

Yet all this resentment vanished the moment something happened to her.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

He spoke wearily, lowering his head to wipe away tears on the back of her hand, seeming indifferent: “Now I don’t care either. Nothing is more important than you. All along that way, I was full of regret. Whether you like me, don’t like me, how much you like me—none of it matters. You living well is more important than anything.”

“But I do like you!”

Jiang Zhaoxue blurted out. Finally realizing where Pei Zichen’s mental block lay, she hastily gripped his hand and said seriously: “Pei Zichen, I used to think like you that I wasn’t clear whether I liked you or not. But when you died in my arms at Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, I realized my feelings for you were indeed affection.”

“That’s guilt.”

“That’s not guilt—I don’t feel any guilt toward you!” Jiang Zhaoxue spoke loudly. “You killed me!”

Pei Zichen was shocked. He looked up at her to see Jiang Zhaoxue say seriously: “I saw a book. That book wrote about all of us. You were the main character of that book. You and Shen Yuqing both liked Mu Jinyue, and because I formed a synchronized heart contract with Shen Yuqing, Penglai was forced to constantly oppose you. In the end, you became the demon lord of the Jiuyou Realm and counterattacked into the True Immortal Realm. In the book, you destroyed Penglai and killed me. I still remember that feeling even now.”

Jiang Zhaoxue raised her hand to her neck, suppressing the fear in her eyes as she said urgently: “I remember the feeling of you snapping my neck and killing me. I was pregnant then. I knew you would destroy everything I had, so I don’t feel guilt toward you!”

Pei Zichen stared at her blankly. Tears welled up in Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes: “There’s no guilt toward an enemy. If guilt arises, it’s because of love.”

Because she fell in love with this enemy, she sought every possible excuse to forgive him, searched for ways to let him live.

The deeper the love, the more she gave up.

That’s why in the end, when she should have opened the Spirit-Locking Formation to take everything from him, she chose to let him go.

“When I married Shen Yuqing, it was to let you live. If the Spirit-Locking Formation opened, you had to die. But if it didn’t open, I couldn’t break the synchronized heart contract with Shen Yuqing. And you went to the Jiuyou Realm—everything as the book foretold. I didn’t know if I would die at your hands. So I had to choose to let you go, marry Shen Yuqing to break the contract, save my father and the True Immortal Realm. I never thought you would come back…”

“I thought you would be like in the book—go to the Jiuyou Realm and become the demon lord. You say you can’t sense my love. You say you always felt there was a barrier between us. You’re right about everything. But it’s not because I don’t have you in my heart—it’s because you, Pei Zichen, are a sharp blade hanging over my head.”

Jiang Zhaoxue stared fixedly at him: “How could I like someone who would kill me in the future? And how could I be certain you wouldn’t fall for Mu Jinyue? Pei Zichen, I’m not twenty years old.”

She spoke seriously: “I’ve liked someone before. I’ve already lost once. I can’t afford to lose again.”

“Then now you…”

Pei Zichen couldn’t quite react and instinctively spoke, but before he could finish, Jiang Zhaoxue interrupted.

“I concede defeat.”

He froze, looking at Jiang Zhaoxue staring steadily at him.

“Pei Zichen, whether you kill me in the future or fall for Mu Jinyue—no matter what the future holds, I want to like you.”

She said this very calmly.

But never had any words carried such weight for him.

He listened to his heartbeat, heavy and slow. His entire being seemed deeply submerged in her eyes, unable to escape.

Having said these words, Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart finally settled. She took a deep breath, knelt on the bed, gripped his hands, and said seriously: “I know you may not believe me right now, but every word I said is true. If you don’t believe me today, that’s fine—I can keep waiting until you do. Your semi-divine body is formed from resentful energy. If you’re devoured and become an evil god, Heaven won’t tolerate it and you’ll face a death tribulation. I’ll help you condense a divine core, help you return to Pei Zichen’s body to become a god. When that time comes, whether you like me or not, as long as you live well and do as you wish,” she looked up at him, “anything is fine.”

Pei Zichen didn’t speak. He quietly looked at Jiang Zhaoxue.

After Jiang Zhaoxue finished speaking, she realized these words were too familiar—it seemed Pei Zichen had just said something similar. Her body stiffened as she quickly said: “I’m not copying what you said…”

“Then what should I do?”

He spoke. Jiang Zhaoxue froze, only to see him quietly looking at her, saying gently: “To have a divine core so I can thoroughly remember the beautiful times with you—what should I do to make it faster?”

“Just,” Jiang Zhaoxue hadn’t expected him to be so cooperative. Her mind buzzed as she instinctively said, “do what you’ve forgotten, or what you liked doing most.”

“For example?”

Jiang Zhaoxue stiffened. Pei Zichen watched her reaction, thought for a moment, and said softly: “Let me look at your injuries.”

“I don’t have any injuries.”

“You do.”

Pei Zichen gripped her ankle, decisively.

Jiang Zhaoxue’s body froze as she watched Pei Zichen pull her ankle, drawing her leg from the bed onto his own leg, lifting her skirt to reveal her fair, slender calf.

As he lifted the skirt, his fingers inadvertently brushed over her leg bone. The coolness made Jiang Zhaoxue tremble slightly, but she quickly stopped, secretly glancing at Pei Zichen’s expression. She saw him sitting sideways on the bed edge, hand gripping her ankle, eyes lowered looking at her calf with a clear gaze and composed expression.

She didn’t dare guess his thoughts, afraid of provoking him again. She could only feign composure and say unconvincingly: “See, I told you there was nothing, right?”

“The demonic energy is still there.”

Hearing her words, Pei Zichen didn’t respond. He only raised his hand to tap lightly on her leg. In an instant, streaks of red-black energy appeared on her leg, wrapping around her calf.

Seeing that energy, Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t care much and only said: “Just this little demonic energy—I can expel it myself tonight through meditation. No need to worry.”

“It still needs to be dealt with.”

Pei Zichen spoke. As he said this, he raised her ankle and pulled it aside. Before Jiang Zhaoxue could react to what he was doing, she saw him turn his head and kiss the inside of her calf, gently sucking.

Jiang Zhaoxue’s breathing hitched. The gauze skirt slid down as her leg was raised. His lips seemed to follow the gauze skirt, kissing and sucking the demonic energy while sliding upward.

Throughout this, his expression remained clear, but Jiang Zhaoxue’s muscles tensed and her breathing grew heavy.

She didn’t dare speculate on Pei Zichen’s intentions, only letting him kiss bit by bit to deeper places, asking hoarsely: “Didn’t you say the injury was here?”

She heard the sound of fabric tearing. The other seemed to examine carefully, then she felt her waist sash being forcefully yet slowly torn open, kisses reaching her abdomen: “Or is it here?”

She couldn’t speak. She instinctively wanted to curl up, but he gently pressed her shoulder, spreading her entire body out, saying calmly: “Still treating injuries. Don’t move.”

She couldn’t move. Her entire person was stripped bare, sinking into layers of clothing, experiencing his serious and focused “treatment.”

With precedent, she didn’t even dare imagine whether boundaries were being crossed. She could only force herself to think of it as “treatment,” letting Pei Zichen dissolve her into a pool of spring water, completely collapsing on the bed, only able to bite down hard and not dare speak.

When he pressed against her to kiss her mouth, taking the last trace of demonic energy from her tongue, he finally untied his waist sash.

As skin touched skin, some familiar memory flashed by. He was only dazed for a moment before sliding to the entrance.

Jiang Zhaoxue cried out, grabbing his arm before quickly stopping.

Pei Zichen’s lower back went numb. He hastily stopped, breathing heavily as he looked up to see Jiang Zhaoxue’s face flushed red as she turned her head away. She struggled to suppress her breathing, seeming unable to believe it, trembling as she said: “Still… still treating injuries?”

Hearing this “treating injuries,” Pei Zichen couldn’t help but laugh.

He paused for a moment, slowly sinking down with his waist, following memory fragments to lower his head and kiss her neck, laughing softly: “Mm, still treating injuries.”

Hearing his tone, Jiang Zhaoxue knew he was joking. Yet words were difficult to form. She could only speak brokenly: “Pei… Pei Zichen… you… didn’t you… didn’t you say you didn’t want this…”

“I don’t understand what Immortal Jiang is saying.”

Pei Zichen moved, finding it all extraordinarily familiar. He only closed his eyes, following the rhythm in his memory, supporting her waist as he fully indulged, saying: “But since the Immortal asked me to examine her injuries today, I must ensure the Immortal is fully satisfied.”

“Pei Zichen!”

Jiang Zhaoxue finally confirmed he was using “treatment” as an excuse to do bad things, even bringing up her rejected seduction attempt. She couldn’t help but grow furious, struggling to kick, only to have her legs held and become even more subject to his whims.

He leaned down to kiss her. Jiang Zhaoxue felt she should refuse to preserve some dignity, but seeing the amusement in his eyes, she was dazed for a moment, and he took advantage of the opening.

His spirit form was extraordinarily cool, but was slowly warmed by her.

She gradually softened, completely abandoning everything. Her entire being rose and fell in the clouds, only knowing to enjoy, humming and whimpering.

Pei Zichen watched this person immediately become arrogant again after gaining benefits and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

But seeing her intoxicated because of him, his heart was filled with something.

He watched the person before him with infatuation, unable to help lowering his head again to kiss her.

“Yaoyao,” an extremely familiar term of endearment surfaced in his mind, “I’m sorry. I’m very happy.”

Knowing her sadness shouldn’t be cause for joy.

But knowing she was sad for him, he still couldn’t help but feel joy.

“I’m sorry.”

He apologized while unable to control himself, completely pressing close to her amid her scolding, thoroughly possessing her, all of him intertwined with her as he poured out all his love: “I love you.”