The influx of troops brought the imperial city back to life. The scent of blood lingered in the air.

Earlier, when walking up the city wall, corpses were strewn everywhere. Even the firelight couldn’t illuminate the full extent of the carnage. Who knew what kind of hell would be revealed when dawn broke?

That man was leaning against the city wall, with the night draped over him, shrouded in darkness.

When Xiao Man held up a torch for her as they approached, he scolded with disdain: “Have you lost your mind? Want everyone to see me? Want me to die for nothing?”

Chu Zhao told Xiao Man to put away the torch and leave. She then felt her way to his side and leaned against the wall beside him.

Below the city gate, the sound of troops marching echoed. Fresh guards had taken positions on the wall. Despite the chaos and noise surrounding them, the two leaning against the wall seemed isolated from the world.

For a while, neither spoke.

Xie Yanlai was the first to break the silence: “Hey.”

They had to say something.

Otherwise, this atmosphere felt strange.

Once he spoke, Chu Zhao also opened her mouth.

“Xie Yanlai,” she said, “why did you throw me down the mountain that day?”

Xie Yanlai was both annoyed and amused: “What are you talking about!”

What timing was this? After everything they’d just been through? How could she never change this habit? Every time, during crucial moments with important matters to discuss, she’d open her mouth and say something completely irrelevant.

“How is this irrelevant?” Chu Zhao fumed, clenching her hands at her sides. “What if I had died from the fall?”

Xie Yanlai replied: “You wouldn’t have. Your mother was waiting to catch you. We had planned it all.”

“Planned it? In pitch darkness, with everything in chaos, who could guarantee nothing would go wrong?” Chu Zhao challenged. “What if I had died? Then what!”

She spoke as if she truly feared death. If she were so afraid of dying, why had she come back?

“You’re criticizing me? Why did you come back? Didn’t you know I was being used as a puppet here? You rushed in with all that fighting—what if someone had killed me?” Xie Yanlai raised his eyebrows and retorted.

Chu Zhao was angry, but inexplicably burst into laughter.

If he truly feared death, how could he have agreed to be a puppet?

She knew why he had done it.

Chu Zhao suddenly fell silent. Xie Yanlai was about to continue his sarcastic questioning, but swallowed his words.

He also knew why she had come.

There was so much to say, yet it felt like there was nothing to say at all.

“It wouldn’t have happened. We really had planned it,” he said softly. “Many people were hiding at the foot of the mountain, waiting with a net prepared. Even if your mother couldn’t catch you, you would have been safe. Think about it, didn’t you see the net when you fell?”

They were discussing this now? Chu Zhao’s voice was muffled: “I don’t know. I was so frightened I fainted. I don’t remember anything.”

Fainted from fear? Who could frighten her that much? She was just pretending to be pitiful. Xie Yanlai rubbed his chin: “Chu Zhao, don’t forget, you bit me first, leaving quite a scar. Yet I haven’t complained about it.”

A cool, soft hand reached out to cup his face, gently caressing.

“Really?”

The girl stood up straight to touch his face. Because he was so tall, she had to stand on tiptoe, and perhaps because she was too tired, she wobbled unsteadily.

Xie Yanlai quickly reached out to steady her waist.

She moved closer to him, reaching up to trace his chin, tilting her head to look more carefully.

“Did it leave a scar?” she asked with concern.

She had been poisoned at the time and nearly died. If she had broken the skin with her bite, A-Jiu would have been poisoned too, leading to infection.

He was leaning against the wall from exhaustion—the wall was his only support. He had no strength left to hold someone up, yet somehow, with this girl pressed against him, Xie Yanlai didn’t collapse. Instead, it felt as if he had found another source of support.

Slowly, he embraced the person before him, feeling his fatigue dissipate. The wall behind him no longer seemed necessary.

When he suddenly embraced her, Chu Zhao was startled.

“A-Jiu, A-Jiu,” she called out urgently.

She wasn’t a fool. His refusal to allow light wasn’t fear of revealing his identity—after all this bloodshed, who would care about identities? It was clearly because his wounds were too severe, and he didn’t want her to see.

“What should we do? What should we do?” Chu Zhao murmured.

Should she call for a physician immediately, or should she help him lie down first?

“What should we do?” Xie Yanlai felt the urge to smile.

Because he had suddenly taken her into his arms, the girl’s hands rested on his shoulders, bringing her even closer, her forehead pressing against his chin.

Xie Yanlai didn’t know what came over him when he heard himself say: “Then I should bite you back.”

And so he did.

He had intended to bite her chin, returning the favor in kind, but he lacked strength and his vision was unclear, so he missed his target.

This place was also flesh, but unlike her hands that had cupped his face, unlike the smooth skin that had brushed against his face.

It was soft and moist.

He had only planned to bite once, but upon contact, it was like juice bursting forth, instantly quenching his hunger and fatigue. He couldn’t help but greedily take a few more bites.

Strangely, after those additional bites, the hunger that had disappeared ignited like fire from deep within his heart, spreading throughout his body.

Intense, fervent, burning—he couldn’t help but suck forcefully, prying open the barriers of pearl-like teeth, drawing out more of that sweet juice.

Only when he heard a whimper from her and felt her hands beating against him did he suddenly come to his senses.

What was he doing?

He opened his eyes. In the dim night, he saw dark eyes—their lips were still joined.

In that moment, even breathing stopped.

The footsteps below the city gate, the voices, the flickering torches, the smell of blood—all vanished.

He could only hear heartbeats.

His, or hers.

Their bodies pressed together, making it impossible to distinguish whose heart was beating.

Xie Yanlai abruptly released her and tried to step back—

But the city wall was behind him. There was nowhere to retreat.

He bumped into the wall and then lurched forward.

Chu Zhao caught him and helped him lean against the wall.

“Are you… Alright?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Whether from being bitten or something else, her voice was different now, fragmented.

How should he answer? “Good” or “not good”—neither seemed appropriate. Xie Yanlai remained silent.

“Should I call for a physician?” Chu Zhao asked again, moving closer to him, her hands feeling his face, searching. “Where exactly are you injured?”

Xie Yanlai grabbed her hands and held her tight to keep her from moving around.

“No need,” he said, then paused. “The wounds are serious, but I won’t die without seeing a physician right away.”

Chu Zhao fell silent then, quietly letting him hold her.

Xie Yanlai loosened his embrace and said: “You’ve entered the imperial city. You should go tend to your duties.”

Chu Zhao’s voice seemed to contain a hint of laughter: “No need. Ding Dachui and Xiao Man are handling things, the city defenses have been taken over, and Zhang Gu’s men are watching the imperial garrison. Though there’s much to do, if I don’t attend to matters right now, the world won’t fall apart.”

“Inside the city,” Xie Yanlai also thought of something and said, “After I killed some people as a warning, that boy asserted his imperial authority and stabilized everyone. Even if I’m not by his side, he’s well protected.”

So there was no need to worry about Xiao Yu’s safety.

Therefore, they could steal this brief moment of respite and continue embracing on this dark city wall, surrounded by corpses.

Chu Zhao couldn’t help but smile, leaning against his chest. Suddenly, she asked: “Have you… ever… kissed before?”

What was she saying? Xie Yanlai felt his ears grow hot.

“I haven’t,” Chu Zhao continued without waiting for his answer. Her voice sounded strange, seemingly both happy and sad. “So this is what it feels like.”

In her previous life, Xiao Xun had been intimate with her but had never kissed her face, let alone her lips.

She had thought intimacy was just that.

But it turned out that a kiss could bring such joy.

“A-Jiu,” she raised her head.

Xie Yanlai responded with a soft “Hmm,” looking down at the girl’s bright eyes.

“Bite me again,” she said softly.

Xie Yanlai was both irritated and amused. Earlier, he had lost control and done such a thing. But shouldn’t they say something about it? How could she not say anything and just… continue like this?

Now the thick darkness had thinned, and being so close, he could see the girl’s small face and red lips. Even though he had just bitten them so fiercely, why weren’t they dry? Instead, they seemed even more juicy.

So be it.

He called out softly: “A-Fu.”

Then he lowered his head and gently took her lips in his.