After returning to her room, Li Ying buried her head in the blanket and began to cry.

How could she describe the feeling in her heart? She had seen Cui Xun at Luoyan Ridge, seen him in Turkic lands. She knew all his struggles and pain from six years ago. Then, as time moved forward six years later, he had finally returned to the Great Zhou, but she discovered that his circumstances hadn’t improved much. They had become even more unbearable. Here, the omnipresent malice and overwhelming insults completely engulfed him. What was more frightening was that this malice and these insults seemed endless. Every day he lived, they were like soft knives cutting into his flesh, slowly grinding him down.

The common people of the Great Zhou prayed every day for him to be tied to the execution platform and sliced to death. But who knew that, in fact, every day he was already suffering the pain of slow slicing?

The fact that he hadn’t gone mad was truly a miracle.

But Li Ying was on the verge of madness. She didn’t know when it had started, but seeing others humiliate him made her heart ache. When Lu Huai described him as “beautiful” and humiliated him by treating him like a woman, she felt pain. When Ashina Wuduo deliberately called him “Lotus Slave,” reminding him of his shameful past in Turkic lands, she felt pain. When He Shisan and other families of the Imperial Force Army threw stones at him, cursed him as a murderer and traitor, she felt even more pain. Especially when she saw the scar on his forehead from the pebble, and remembered the scene of him bending down at Sheng Yunting’s grave to pick up copper coins one by one to support the families of the Imperial Force Army, she truly almost went mad.

She had always said she wanted to save him, but now, she found herself not as powerful as she had imagined. She was just a lonely ghost, invisible to the world. How exactly could she save him?

And how many more six-year periods would this life of his continue?

Her heart was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness and confusion. She didn’t know how to describe this helplessness. She only knew that after her journey to the netherworld, learning everything that had happened at Luoyan Ridge, and knowing Guo Qinwei’s words to Cui Xun—”You cannot die, you must live to find the murderer who killed us”—combined with the image of He Shisan and those youths grinning as they threw stones at him, her heart ached unbearably.

Because the person she liked had once again been hurt by the people he cared about most, she felt heartache and pain.

Yes, the person she liked.

She liked Cui Xun.

It wasn’t the initial curiosity, nor the initial sympathy, but the current affection—an affection that came from seeing all his past, understanding all his resentment and forbearance, and feeling heartache to the extreme.

He had a pure heart. He deserved a better life. Why did the world treat him this way?

Li Ying buried her head in the blanket and cried disconsolately for a long time.

For the next two days, Li Ying remained listless in her room, wrapped in blankets but unable to sleep well. During these two days, she hadn’t gone to see Cui Xun. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him; it was that she didn’t dare to see him. She feared that once she saw him, seeing the scar on his forehead, she would again be unable to hold back her tears.

But Cui Xun didn’t understand her thoughts. He only knew that previously, when she was at the Cui Residence, she would always take the initiative to seek him out and would never go two consecutive days without seeing him. Cui Xun finally could no longer contain himself. He originally didn’t want to step out of his room at all, because the clanking shackles on his hands and feet would make him feel ashamed in front of her. But now, he still made up his mind and stepped out of his room.

The chains on his feet dragged on the ground, making an extremely loud noise. To make the sound as minimal as possible, he walked very slowly. When he reached the front of Li Ying’s room, he hesitated for a long time but still couldn’t bring himself to open the door.

When he finally gathered the courage to knock, the wooden door creaked open on its own. Li Ying, wearing a white immortal-style dress, her eyes red and swollen, looked up at him.

Cui Xun initially felt a bit awkward, but upon seeing her swollen eyes, he couldn’t help but ask, “What… what’s wrong?”

Li Ying didn’t answer, only staring at his thin figure in prison clothes. She pressed her lips together and said, “It’s cold outside. Come in first.”

Actually, in the fourth month, it wasn’t cold at all. But Cui Xun, having been tortured for three years, was in terrible physical condition. Even in the scorching heat, he would feel bone-chillingly cold. Cui Xun nodded slightly and followed Li Ying into the room.

Li Ying closed the doors and windows tightly, only opening a small latticed window for ventilation. She lit some charcoal, and gradually the room became extremely hot. Fortunately, she was a ghost, so her body temperature was much lower than that of ordinary people, and she didn’t feel the heat. She put down the copper fire tongs she had used to adjust the charcoal and asked, “Not cold, right?”

Cui Xun shook his head. “Not cold.”

There was another period of silence between them. It was Cui Xun who spoke first: “Princess has been secluded in her room these past two days. Is there something troubling you?”

On Li Ying’s desk was the grass grasshopper Cui Xun had given her. Looking at the emerald-green grasshopper, she said, “I suppose there is.”

“May I ask… what is troubling you?”

Li Ying bit her lip and didn’t speak. She raised her head and looked at the scar on Cui Xun’s forehead. The wound hadn’t been properly treated. After two days, it was still somewhat red and swollen. Li Ying sighed slightly. Rather than being concerned about her troubles, couldn’t he think of himself first?

She stood up and took out a white porcelain medicine bottle from her sleeve. “I had the paper maid bring me some medicine. Let me apply it for you.”

Cui Xun was momentarily stunned. He instinctively reached to take the medicine bottle. “I’ll do it myself.”

Li Ying didn’t give it to him. “I’ll apply it for you.”

Cui Xun still said, “It’s just a small wound. No need to trouble the Princess.”

Li Ying had already knelt in front of him. She removed the wooden stopper from the medicine bottle and poured out a small amount of white ointment. “For you, it’s a small wound. For me, I don’t want to see you suffer any harm.”

Her words were direct, and Cui Xun was instantly stunned. Li Ying mixed the ointment with her finger, then straightened up slightly to apply it to the scar on his forehead.

When she first touched the scar, Li Ying saw his eyelashes tremble slightly, but his face showed no sign of pain. He had always been skilled at enduring pain. That time when he received a hundred strokes of the bamboo rod, when they applied medicine for him, he didn’t make a sound. But in this world, who isn’t afraid of pain? Who is truly made of iron?

Everyone is mortal flesh.

Li Ying was afraid of hurting Cui Xun, so her finger movements were very gentle. She was very close to Cui Xun, so close that he could see his reflection in her clear eyes. She was genuinely focused on applying medicine for him, her eyes and heart filled only with him. He suddenly felt dazed. In this world, there was such a person who cared for him, worried about him, and didn’t want him to suffer any harm.

Perhaps he had encountered too much malice; he began to feel apprehensive. He even thought that this might all be a dream, or that Li Ying might be his dream. Perhaps ghosts didn’t exist in this world, nor did such a flawless soul. Perhaps he was just too tired, and he imagined someone to accompany him, to walk with him through the remainder of his short life. Thinking this way, he began to feel a sense of unreality.

Li Ying had finished applying the medicine for him. She put the white porcelain medicine bottle aside and wiped the remaining ointment from her hand with a handkerchief. Cui Xun, however, still seemed dazed. Li Ying softened her voice and asked, “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you just now?”

Cui Xun finally came back to his senses. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. “No.”

“Then what are you pondering about?”

Cui Xun looked at her jade-like face. His earlier chaotic thoughts were now too embarrassing to voice. Li Ying sighed, “How unfair. I apply medicine for you, but you won’t even tell me what you’re thinking.”

Cui Xun was somewhat unconvinced. “Earlier, I asked you what has been troubling you these past two days, and you also didn’t want to tell me.”

Li Ying said, “Fine, you tell me first, then I’ll tell you.”

Cui Xun was caught off guard by her response. He was momentarily stunned. Could he tell her about those chaotic thoughts? Cui Xun lowered his head, his ears turning slightly red. Li Ying said, “Well, if you won’t tell, then I won’t tell either.”

Cui Xun heard this, but he genuinely wanted to know why she had secluded herself for two days. He hesitated, then spoke with difficulty, “I… I was just thinking, are you real?”

“Hmm?”

“What if tomorrow, when I open my eyes, I discover this was all a dream?” Cui Xun said. “You never existed, and I never met you.”

Li Ying smiled slightly. “So that’s what you were thinking about.”

She suddenly reached out, wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned against his chest. “Then now, am I real?”

Cui Xun hadn’t expected her to suddenly embrace him. His entire body stiffened, and he didn’t know where to put his hands. Li Ying’s body was much warmer than his. Being held by her, with the burning charcoal in the room, he felt a thin layer of sweat forming on his back. He didn’t know if it was from the heat or nervousness.

Li Ying held him and whispered in his ear, “Cui Xun, am I a dream?”

Cui Xun could barely speak clearly: “No… no…”

He added, “You are real.”

Li Ying’s hands slowly moved from his waist to his back. His back was particularly thin, with his shoulder blades slightly protruding like butterfly wings. Li Ying didn’t move her hands any further. She released Cui Xun, her voice carrying a hint of tears: “Cui Xun, why are you so thin?”

Cui Xun, seeing the tears in her eyes, was stunned.

She was crying for him.

Several small teardrops hung on her long lashes, about to fall. She smiled through her tears and said, “Cui Xun, didn’t you want to know what has been troubling me these past two days? My trouble is that I’ve been sad for you.”

She looked up at his wound, which, despite the ointment, was still visibly red and swollen. “For you, I have cried for two days.”

A teardrop slid down her jade-like face. Cui Xun stared at it, instinctively raising his wrist to wipe the tear from her face, but the clanking sound of the shackles quickly brought him back to reality. He sighed, “Why bother?”

Li Ying lowered her head, staring at the black shackles on his wrists. Cui Xun felt uncomfortable under her gaze. He tugged at the sleeve of his prison clothes, trying to hide the shackles, but Li Ying reached out and gently took hold of the shackles. She said, “Do you think in your heart that, with your tarnished reputation and half a lifetime of hardship, you’re not worth my tears? But I feel that in this world, no one is more deserving than you.”

She said, “Cui Xun, I don’t want to investigate my case anymore. I don’t want to reincarnate anymore. I want to stay with you always.”

Cui Xun was dumbfounded.

She said she didn’t want to reincarnate anymore? But wasn’t reincarnation her greatest dream all along? She initially came to find him for this purpose. But now, she was no longer willing?

Why was she no longer willing? Cui Xun dared not think.

Li Ying seemed to have more to say, but Cui Xun couldn’t bear to hear it. He said, “Please, say no more…”

If not said, his dream could last a little longer.

Li Ying stubbornly said, “No, I must say it.”

Cui Xun didn’t dare to listen. He wanted to get up, to leave this place, but the shackles on his hands were held by Li Ying, and he couldn’t even escape.

Li Ying said word by word, “I want to finish what I have to say. Cui Xun, are you wondering why I don’t want to reincarnate? No, perhaps you’ve already guessed, but you don’t dare to say it. But I dare to say it. I don’t want to reincarnate because I like you, I admire you, I don’t want to leave you again!”

She finished in one breath, tears already welling in her eyes. She smiled and said, “Cui Xun, did you hear me? I, Li Ying, have feelings for you, Cui Wangshu. Even though we walk different paths as human and ghost, my heart will not change.”