I wasn’t kind enough to care about an evil spirit’s emotions. Taking advantage of his silence, I broke free from his control, turned around, and swung my sword, aiming directly at the vital point on his neck!

But my immortal-energy-infused blade struck against something as impenetrable as stone. With a “clang,” the rebounding force instantly split the skin between my thumb and index finger. Blood splattered, and my immortal sword was knocked away.

In the next moment, my sword was pulled back by some mysterious force, floating back to stop right in front of me. But… the tip was pointing straight at my throat.

The sword hilt was entwined with black energy, and at the other end of this energy was a blurry black silhouette in the darkness.

I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I could feel his bloodthirsty eyes. The black energy encircled me like a hungry, venomous snake, eager to devour me.

Zhu Lian controlled my sword, making the tip circle around my throat as if drawing, creating a dangerous tickle that left me uncertain whether he would pierce my throat the next moment or continue this irritating teasing to further jumble my thoughts: “You have his blood, yet you don’t know who I am?”

Blood?

That’s right, after returning here, Xie Zhuo had mentioned that as long as he didn’t feed me his blood during my ascension, our predestined marriage bond would be severed.

It seemed that this “he” in Zhu Lian’s words could only be Xie Zhuo, no one else.

But over the years, Xie Zhuo had given me so little information! What was special about Xie Zhuo’s blood? Why was it special? What would happen to me with his blood, and what was this Zhu Lian’s relationship with Xie Zhuo, and why did he know about this?

I knew absolutely nothing about Xie Zhuo’s world!

Damn you, Xie Zhuo! Fake marriage!

I controlled my emotions as I looked at Zhu Lian, well aware that this wasn’t a demon I could defeat by showing bravado. I had to retreat, but the darkness overhead had sealed off any escape. This formation had completely drawn me in, and it was impossible to break through with brute force…

With a crisp “crack” of breaking, daylight pierced through the darkness.

I looked up, and in a flash, a longsword descended from the sky, directly cutting off the sword tip that had been tickling my neck!

The light from outside entered with the longsword, driving back the surrounding gloom. Suddenly, I felt a heaviness beneath my feet—the formation had retreated, and I was once again standing on Kunlun’s soil.

The changes came too quickly. I couldn’t steady myself and staggered a couple of steps, but a slender hand from within a black robe steadied me.

I looked up and, as expected, saw Xie Zhuo’s back.

One moment, I had been threatening him with the stone to hand over the Pangu Fu, and the next, I was being rescued by him in a moment of crisis. I felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

As for the black shadow Zhu Lian across from us, though the formation had been cut in half and the black energy could only sustain half his body, leaving him floating and gradually dissipating in the wind, he still seemed quite at ease:

“Xie Zhuo, I didn’t expect that after our battle, you could still come so quickly today?”

Hmm? Battle with him?

Could it be that the one who fought fiercely with Xie Xuanqing and severely injured him was this Zhu Lian?

I sized him up. Based on the aura I felt in the formation earlier, this person was no pushover.

But now he was barely maintaining human form with a strand of black energy, struggling to sustain himself. It seemed that, like Xie Xuanqing, his body had been severely damaged.

What kind of evil spirit was he? Why was he enemies with Xie Zhuo, and why…

I touched Xie Xuanqing’s necklace hidden in my sleeve.

He had come to trouble me right after I got Xie Xuanqing’s necklace. He wanted to seize this necklace.

And both Xie Zhuo and Xie Xuanqing were guarding this necklace. So, for Xie Zhuo, this necklace wasn’t just a memento; it had some other important function…

Something so important, yet to sever our predestined marriage bond, he was willing to use it as a prop?

This…

How much must he regret having married me?

My thoughts raced in the blink of an eye. In front of me, Xie Zhuo raised his sword and walked toward Zhu Lian, but after just one step, he stopped and looked back at me.

He spoke four words with his usual calm composure: “Stand behind my…” The final word “back” wasn’t uttered as his gaze fell upon my throat and paused.

His expression darkened, his eyes became gloomy, and a murderous aura gradually rose around him. I had never seen Xie Zhuo like this before. I was a bit afraid… compared to the current Xie Zhuo, I was more grateful that the enemy I had faced earlier was Zhu Lian…

Somewhat bewildered, I raised my hand to touch my neck. The throat that had been teased by the sword tip felt a slight burning sensation when touched…

I was confused—was Xie Zhuo’s gaze focused on my injury? Just this little one? An injury that hadn’t even broken the skin?

“It was just the sword tip teasing…” I explained, about to lower my hand when Xie Zhuo finally spoke again:

“What happened to your hand?”

I looked down at my hand, still puzzled: “Oh, it got a bit split when he knocked my sword away…”

I hadn’t even finished saying the word “skin” when Zhu Lian directly exploded!

Yes, in the instant that Xie Zhuo raised his hand and I blinked, that terrifying black shadow just fucking exploded…

I covered my mouth, trying not to appear too inexperienced by not exclaiming at Xie Zhuo’s power.

It’s fine, it’s fine, Xi Wang Mu could do this too…

I had to invoke the main deity of my Kunlun just to find a bit of balance…

However, though the black energy had exploded, there was still a faint trace of the formation on the ground. From the mingling black and red energy rose Zhu Lian’s cold laugh: “Someone you’re so concerned about, yet you haven’t told her about your identity as a Snow Wolf Demon?”

Xie Zhuo waved his sleeve, and the formation on the ground instantly turned to dust, swirling up and dispersing toward the horizon. But Zhu Lian’s voice remained in Kunlun’s cool air…

Those four words, “Snow Wolf Demon,” were so clear.

I stared at Xie Zhuo’s back, somewhat incredulous.

As an immortal of Kunlun, I wasn’t familiar with matters beyond the Great Wilderness in the north, but I had heard of the Snow Wolf Demon clan in legends.

Legend had it they were descendants of an evil god, always silent, roaming the world to prey on various immortals and demons, extracting their soul power. All immortals and demons across the world feared them.

But many years ago, one Snow Wolf Demon went mad. He slaughtered his entire clan, seizing all their soul power. He became the only Snow Wolf Demon in this world, and he also became the existence in this world most similar to the evil god’s true form…

If Xie Zhuo was truly a Snow Wolf Demon, no wonder… he had concealed it from me for five hundred years.

But…

“Are you?” I asked him.

I looked at him standing in the never-melting snow of Kunlun. His silhouette was so lonely, as if about to transform and ascend, but he did turn his head back, his gaze calm as he looked at me.

“I am…”

He was the last Snow Wolf Demon.

Both of us were silent among the towering mountains.

Xie Zhuo didn’t offer me any more explanations. He turned toward me, his finger lightly brushing my throat. A coolness passed through, and the minor injury immediately disappeared. He also passed his magic over the split skin between my thumb and index finger, stopping the bleeding.

I let him minister to me, then spoke: “Then I’m not afraid of you either.”

Xie Zhuo’s body paused slightly, and he looked up at me.

Meeting his gaze, I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for him.

What kind of person was Xie Zhuo? Did I not know in my heart? I could believe he was cold, I could believe he was ruthless, but to say he slaughtered an entire clan for power—that I couldn’t believe. I had lived with him for five hundred years. Even if we hadn’t been proper husband and wife, we had still spent days and nights together.

I looked at Xie Zhuo, my lips twitching. The words “I don’t believe the rumors, I only believe in you” reached the tip of my tongue, but they transformed into a tease: “Don’t misunderstand, what I mean is, regardless of what you are, I still need to get the Pangu Fu from you. I won’t be intimidated by you.”

At these words, Xie Zhuo lowered his gaze.

I also turned my eyes away. There were many things I could even say to Xie Xuanqing, but I couldn’t say them to Xie Zhuo.

I was the one who cut off our predestined marriage bond with my own hands, and he was the one willing to use something as important as that stone to destroy our marriage fate.

Between us, it wasn’t a first meeting, nor was it seeing an old friend; we were parting ways.

We were playing out a scene of farewell. Forget comfort—all tenderness had to be measured, with proper advance and retreat…

I looked toward the distance: “No need to heal me, my wounds will heal on their own…”

As I spoke, I tried to suppress that small hint of melancholy in my heart, but when I saw another black figure in the distance slowly approaching us, my despondency instantly vanished.

Xie Zhuo was saying: “With the stone on you, he will still come, give…”

With a swift move, I pushed the completely unprepared Xie Zhuo off the mountaintop.

Then I immediately shouted into the distance: “Xie Xuanqing! Don’t come over!”

This sentence seemed too abrupt, so I added, “Wait for me to find you!”

After speaking, I stepped toward where Xie Xuanqing was. Before leaving, I turned my head and whispered to Xie Zhuo, whose figure was no longer visible: “Stay far away!”

Evidently, in a moment of crisis, even if Xie Zhuo was the only Snow Wolf Demon, or even if he was the Jade Emperor himself, I truly wasn’t afraid.