Zhang Yuehui seemed to have lost his soul, trembling hands piecing the jade bracelet back together, piece by piece.

The shattered jade could still vaguely be assembled into its past wholeness.

All the blood in his body rushed to his brain, and his hand gripping the table corner used such force it seemed ready to break the wooden board.

“Master… Master?” The guard called to him strangely.

“Get out!”

The guard nearby was startled. Just moments ago the master’s face had been gentle as a spring breeze, but suddenly showed an unprecedented strange expression.

His composure had been possessed by something else – no one had ever seen Zhang Yuehui like this. Everyone exchanged suspicious glances, not daring to speculate, all tactfully withdrawing.

The broken jade bracelet was still carefully preserved by her, carried with her… Had she also been waiting to meet him? After all these years, she should have sold the jade bracelet and forgotten him, this heartless and faithless man.

The short dozen meters of corridor felt like half a lifetime for Zhang Yuehui to walk. He stood at the cell door, looking at Nanyi curled up unconscious on the ground, his mind completely blank.

Meeting again after years, in such a scene. That girl’s lively face he had seen countless times in dreams had now lost its vitality.

What was he doing?

How could he do such an absurd thing to her?

Fate had played such a huge joke on him – precisely when it was too late to undo anything, his wish had been granted in such an absurd way.

He knelt beside her, reaching out his hand but not knowing how to touch her.

He had always been someone who never looked back, but at this moment he felt unprecedented regret. He truly didn’t want anything anymore. He was willing to let go of hatred, return to that southern small city from years ago. He wouldn’t leave, wouldn’t push her away – he would take root there. He wanted to tell her he had lots and lots of money, could give her a good life. She wouldn’t have to wander anymore, wouldn’t have to steal things, wouldn’t have to fear this damned chaotic world.

He was willing to repent, to exchange everything for time to flow backwards, even if just seven days – he would trade everything for it.

But time was such a fair thing, showing mercy to no one.

He finally realized that at the gambling table, the biggest house was fate itself. He wanted to defeat heaven by half a move, treating everyone as chips, but fate was also toying with him.

Clearly it was his fault, so why punish her?

He reached to support her shoulder, but the moment she was touched, her whole body trembled. She was still unconscious, but her features scrunched together, her expression very uneasy, murmuring lowly.

“Don’t hit me…”

A tear fell from Zhang Yuehui’s eyes. His hand froze helplessly in midair, caught in a dilemma.

Half-conscious, Nanyi felt someone touch her. She thought the endless interrogation was about to begin again. Her body was extremely exhausted, unable even to open her eyes, but her consciousness was the first to feel fear.

They had clearly seen that Xie Queshan didn’t care about her at all – why were they still asking? But she had already been beaten into fear. She desperately wanted to say something that would satisfy them. The instinct to fear pain squeezed at her, making her rack her brains to think about the relationship between her and Xie Queshan.

She was nothing more than a dog Xie Queshan had picked up. When he was happy, he would pet her fur; when unhappy, he would use and discard her. Perceiving her ambition and disloyalty, he would kill her without hesitation.

How could she be worthy of any relationship with him… But when a person was stripped of all pretense and thinking purely on instinct, she vaguely felt there might be another answer, only this answer was something even she was desperately denying and avoiding, hidden in the very deepest place in her heart.

And now, she had been forced to stand before the door of this answer.

Open it… a voice urged her. That was the human instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm, to survive. If she just said an answer that satisfied them, could she avoid being beaten?

She suddenly pulled open that door, but the scene behind it surprised even herself.

She thought she should see raging seas and storms, monsters with bloody maws lunging at her, but in an instant she only saw a clear, tranquil pond, spring sunshine, as peaceful as a paradise.

She finally remembered.

Having seen so much of Xie Queshan’s cold gaze, she had also occasionally been immersed in the warmth of his palm. It wasn’t because he wanted to kill her that she wholeheartedly hated him, but because she had expectations of him. She thought he would be a good person, but in the end he disappointed her so much.

She always felt that although they were worlds apart, they were so similar in certain ways. He wasn’t that good to her, but he gave her shelter from wind and rain, let her live like a human being. In this man-eating world, having just gained her footing, she couldn’t wait to give back to him, to give him something… Subconsciously, she even hoped more than he himself that he could receive some love from others.

Zhang Yuehui noticed she was delirious and leaned over to listen.

“I’m just a little thief… but wanted to save him…”

Zhang Yuehui was stunned. Wasn’t this exactly the confession he most wanted to hear before coming? Proof that there was a connection between her and Xie Queshan. But at this moment, sour and regretful emotions surged up. In all the years he’d been absent, what exactly had happened?

She and Xie Queshan…

Now he desperately hoped their relationship wasn’t what he had imagined. He hoped Xie Queshan wouldn’t come – he could compensate by giving up the entire Homecoming Hall.

He tightly gripped Nanyi’s ice-cold hand.

Nanyi instinctively grabbed onto that hand. She was like a traveler trekking through endless snowy mountains – her life was always about resisting severe cold, and any bit of warmth was precious to her.

She drowsily opened her eyes and saw the man’s face so close – the appearance that had become somewhat blurred in memory was now incredibly clear. But she just stared blankly, then showed a bitter smile.

“Why even in my dreams do you come so late…”

She hadn’t expected to still dream uselessly of Zhang Yuehui at this time. But what use was it? Better not to look, lest it generate useless longings.

She closed her eyes heavily again… She just wanted to shut off her five senses and sleep through wandering dreams, so she could forget pain and troubles.

Zhang Yuehui’s heart was extremely bitter. He was always a late person.

At this moment, someone dressed as a guard ran quickly into the dungeon to report, with some burn marks on his body.

“Master, Huachao Pavilion above is on fire.”

Zhang Yuehui’s heart sank – he had hoped desperately that Xie Queshan was heartless and faithless, but he had still come.

He prepared to pick up Nanyi and leave, but the guard stepped forward.

“Master, let this subordinate do it.”

That guard’s voice was deep, his face stained with dirt, standing in darkness with almost no presence if one didn’t look carefully.

Zhang Yuehui faced away from him in silence for a long time, finally rising and stepping aside, only saying: “Fine.”

The guard cautiously lowered his head and stepped forward, carrying Nanyi on his back. His movements were somewhat excessively careful, afraid of touching Nanyi’s wounds.

Zhang Yuehui turned his head, walking toward the direction opposite the dungeon entrance, only dropping a seemingly teeth-gritting sentence: “The entrance is dangerous, go this way.”

He led the way, and the group wound their way deeper and deeper into the dungeon.

The guard’s footsteps remained normal, but his hand had already quietly moved to his sword hilt.

This was Xie Queshan in disguise.

Xie Queshan had only himself and one sword, so when coming he chose the fastest method – setting Huachao Pavilion on fire to throw the ambushing troops into chaos. Even so, the dungeon was in the deepest part of Huachao Pavilion with ambushes all along the way. Fighting his way in alone was still extremely difficult.

Just when Xie Queshan felt overwhelmed, things took a turn. He discovered a guard hurrying toward the dungeon, reportedly because Zhang Yuehui was still inside, so he cleverly escaped from the pavilion and followed that person into the dungeon.

Xie Queshan had already guessed tonight’s layout – most ambush troops were set outside, while the final dungeon should be full of deadly mechanisms. But seeing that guard’s tense, urgent expression, Zhang Yuehui being in the dungeon might be unexpected. He couldn’t figure out what Zhang Yuehui wanted to do.

But no matter what trickery was inside, he would charge through mountains of blades and seas of fire.

He killed the guard who was going to report and changed into his clothes, entering in this risky way to rescue Nanyi. Until she was truly lying on his back, in this instant, regardless of whether he lived or died afterward, his heart settled.

If Zhang Yuehui acted strangely, he was ready to strike at any moment.

Zhang Yuehui led them into an unremarkable cell and reached out to push a brick on the wall.

“Don’t move.”

Xie Queshan pressed his sword tip against Zhang Yuehui’s back. Unease made him decide to act and seize the initiative.

But Zhang Yuehui ignored him and still pushed that brick. Immediately, the sound of mechanisms turning came.

Zhang Yuehui turned around facing the blade, his eyes deep, his tone containing hidden mockery: “I was wondering how long you could keep pretending.”

Xie Queshan’s expression turned fierce, directly pushing the sword tip an inch into Zhang Yuehui’s chest: “You don’t have much chance of winning now either.”

Blood flowed from Zhang Yuehui’s chest, the wound not fatal but highly threatening.

Zhang Yuehui neither dodged nor evaded, only staring at Xie Queshan, not yielding at all: “Do you want to save her and get out, or die together here?”

At this time, the mechanism had finished turning, the cell wall separated to reveal a dark tunnel behind.

Xie Queshan frowned. He hadn’t expected Zhang Yuehui to give him these two options. He truly didn’t understand the current situation – since Zhang Yuehui had recognized him, why bring him to this deserted place?

Even if there were deadly mechanisms here, he could immediately kill him.

In this game, he might not leave alive, but Zhang Yuehui wouldn’t win either.

Something was very strange here.

“What exactly do you want to do?”

Zhang Yuehui laughed mockingly. What could he do?

Of course, the trap he made had caught himself too, leaving him in a dilemma.

Wanyan Jun was still outside waiting for Torch Bureau members to be caught. If he wanted to activate mechanisms to capture Xie Queshan, he would inevitably have to hand over Nanyi too.

Absolutely impossible.

Despite the extreme reluctance in his heart, Zhang Yuehui still quickly made his choice.

Currently, Nanyi’s safety was most important in his heart – at least Xie Queshan wouldn’t harm her. Even temporarily shaking hands with the enemy wasn’t impossible.

He had tricked others too many times – now it was his turn to trick himself. After such a huge detour, he had to hand over the beloved he’d found back to someone else.

Though he understood clearly, seeing Xie Queshan carrying Nanyi on his back, he still couldn’t control a trace of resentment and jealousy – if it weren’t for this turtle grandson Xie Queshan, how could he have done such things to Nanyi!

But he clearly knew these things couldn’t be blamed on Xie Queshan at all. He was the one courting death, and he should be the one punished.

His heart seemed to sink into an endless deep sea again, his expression instantly dimming as he said without beginning or end: “I regret it.”