I walked up to Xie Xuanqing.

Because Xie Zhuo had been nearby just now, Xie Xuanqing’s face didn’t look too good. He clutched his chest, unable to speak for a moment. Though I could be ruthless with Xie Zhuo, with Xie Xuanqing…

I felt sympathetic and guilty…

After all, between us, he had never done anything wrong.

I helped Xie Xuanqing up, but he immediately grabbed my wrist. I suppose… he was furious about me snatching his necklace, anxiously chasing after me all this way, desperately wanting to reclaim his stone.

But he was panting, slowly regulating his breathing, and temporarily unable to ask for his possession back. I took advantage of this time to think things through.

If I wanted to continue confronting Xie Zhuo to get the Pangu Fu back, then I needed this stone as my bargaining chip.

If I wanted to continue working with Xie Zhuo to destroy our predestined marriage bond, then I should throw the stone necklace down the deep ravine beside us, completely severing Xie Xuanqing’s attachment to me.

For either purpose, I shouldn’t return the stone necklace to Xie Xuanqing.

But suddenly, I wanted to use this necklace to exchange for something else from Xie Xuanqing, such as—

More of his secrets.

Xie Zhuo’s past, who Zhu Lian was, what the stone necklace was…

In that moment, I wanted to give up my chance to return to five hundred years later, and choose instead… to understand him better.

I knew full well that we had divorced, and I shouldn’t feel this way, but I couldn’t help it.

I opened my mouth, just about to use the necklace to coax some information from him, but unexpectedly, after Xie Xuanqing caught his breath a little, before even raising his head, he asked me: “Who was that?”

I was stunned…

“Huh? Who?”

“The person in black robes, who was that?”

Hmm? He saw Xie Zhuo fall? His first question wasn’t about the necklace but about Xie Zhuo?

Events were deviating from my expectations, and my mind raced to find suitable excuses.

“That was…” I certainly couldn’t tell him honestly that it was my ex-husband, who was also his future self five hundred years later, could I? Combining this with my previous need, I immediately devised a new approach: “That person called himself Zhu Lian!”

Xie Xuanqing suddenly looked up at me. I tried hard to make my expression appear serious, staring back at him solemnly.

Xie Xuanqing’s gaze contained shock and astonishment. After a moment, a hint of killing intent appeared.

Seeing the murderous intent growing in his eyes, looking as if he wanted to shake off my hand and drag his injured body to fight, I immediately held him back: “I’ve already driven him away.”

Xie Xuanqing turned back to examine me, from head to toe, very carefully.

The redness and swelling on my neck had already been healed by Xie Zhuo just now, but though the bleeding from between my thumb and index finger had stopped, a small wound remained.

Xie Xuanqing looked at my hand, and I quickly explained: “Just a small injury from gripping my sword too tightly. That evil spirit was very weak, no match for me. I’ve already beaten him away to who knows where. You should have seen it just now—that strike of mine must have shattered all his internal organs.”

Xie Xuanqing listened to my first three sentences and gradually relaxed his tense body. As I continued chattering, his body became increasingly relaxed. By the time I finished speaking, he seemed to have lost all strength, leaning against the mountain wall and slowly sitting down.

He rested his hand on his knee, his fingertips trembling slightly beyond his control. He sighed softly:

“That’s… good…”

The way he said these two words, it seemed as if he had chased all this way not for the necklace, but for… me?

Looking at Xie Xuanqing, I once again recalled why I had so confusedly married him back then, without asking a single question about his identity or background… because this demon’s words and actions were too bewitching.

“The necklace…” he finally mentioned these two words, “you cannot have it.”

“Why not?”

Given my usual behavior, first, I wouldn’t take someone’s belongings without reason; second, even if I had taken something out of urgent need, when asked to return it, I would promptly do so. There was no justification for boldly asking “why not.”

But today, I wanted to argue this “why” with Xie Xuanqing.

Xie Xuanqing looked up at me: “It’s not good for you.”

“How is it not good?”

My persistent questioning made Xie Xuanqing pause. He pressed his lips together and fell silent for a moment.

Thinking back over the past five hundred years, many times, conversations between Xie Zhuo and me had stalled in such silent intervals.

The longer the time passed, the less I understood him, the less I trusted him, and the greater the distance grew between him and my heart.

Today, I don’t know where this interest and energy came from. Despite being shown concern by Xie Xuanqing, I instead became aggressive, pressing him: “How can a necklace not be good for me? In what way is it not good? Why do you care so much about this necklace?”

Xie Xuanqing opened and closed his mouth. I knew he couldn’t answer so many questions at once, so I waited patiently.

Perhaps knowing he couldn’t avoid it today, he finally spoke, but still not directly answering my questions. Instead, he asked me one: “Jiu Xia, are you happy in Kunlun?”

I was taken aback, genuinely not expecting him to ask such an irrelevant question at this moment.

“Why are you asking this? Just answer my questions.”

He lowered his eyes: “If you’re happy, then don’t know too much.”

Xie Xuanqing’s words sounded familiar.

I remembered that shortly after marrying Xie Zhuo, he had said the same thing to me.

At that time, despite the opposition of many Kunlun immortals, I resolutely married Xie Zhuo. At our wedding feast, even Meng Meng was constrained by others’ pressure and didn’t dare attend, only secretly sending a gift in advance. Other immortals were nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, Xi Wang Mu sent someone with a congratulatory gift, signifying Kunlun’s acceptance of Xie Zhuo.

I had thought that although Xie Zhuo initially received the worst treatment in Kunlun, things would improve as he gradually became familiar with everyone.

But unexpectedly, life always launches surprise attacks. Shortly after our marriage, mysterious disappearances of immortals began occurring frequently in Kunlun.

As one of the leaders of Kunlun’s guard army, before I could enjoy a sweet married life, I became incredibly busy. But no matter how busy we were or how much we investigated, we simply couldn’t find any clues about the missing immortals.

As time passed, things only got worse.

People began finding the incomplete bodies of missing immortals in some remote corners of Kunlun. They all seemed to have been eaten by something terrible—some left behind a hand, some a leg, some only hair.

Most strangely, besides these remains, there were no signs of struggle or blood at the scenes.

We couldn’t find the true culprit, and the minor immortals of Kunlun began living in fear each day. Some said the evil god, imprisoned by various heavenly gods and Buddhas in the deep sea thousands of miles away, had emerged to cause havoc again. Others said Kunlun must have been invaded by some evil spirit. More and more people directed their accusations toward Xie Zhuo.

And Xie Zhuo never once defended himself.

I loved Xie Zhuo so much back then, of course, I couldn’t bear the groundless accusations against him.

To clear Xie Zhuo’s name, I took him on patrol every day. When people gossiped about Xie Zhuo, I would stand in front of him and curse back at them.

I told Xie Zhuo then: “It’s alright, if you don’t like talking, I’ll speak for you. If you don’t like defending yourself, I’ll explain for you!”

How Xie Zhuo viewed me then, I couldn’t tell, but he followed my arrangements every day, going out with me, investigating cases, patrolling together.

But I never expected things to be so coincidental: when I started taking Xie Zhuo out, the disappearances of Kunlun immortals mysteriously stopped.

This only made everyone’s suspicions of Xie Zhuo harder to control.

Some immortals who had lost their partners even came to curse at the door of my celestial mansion. One of them, overcome with emotion, smashed the door of my home. When I went to stop him, the broken wooden splinters hit my head.

Xie Zhuo was very angry that day. I still remember him grabbing that immortal by the throat and lifting him.

At that time, I didn’t know Xie Zhuo’s power was so immense. I persuaded Xie Zhuo to put him down, and then I saw the released immortal looking at Xie Zhuo with a pale face, no longer daring to make trouble.

I thought he was acting, deliberately creating a false impression that Xie Zhuo was terrifying. I scolded him thoroughly, telling him I understood his grief, but he shouldn’t take out his anger on me!

The immortal scurried away.

I then comforted Xie Zhuo, telling him that no matter what others thought or said, I believed in him.

That day, Xie Zhuo unusually took the initiative to ask me: “Jiu Xia, are you happy in Kunlun?”

I didn’t understand why he asked, and I scratched my head as I answered: “Although it’s been a bit upsetting lately, I’ve always been quite happy. Xuanqing, don’t worry, these rumors will eventually die down.”

I smiled and hugged him, “When the truth comes to light, I’ll take you to eat many delicious things in Kunlun.”

However, I was being too simplistic again.

The immortal who had been struck by Xie Zhuo disappeared the next day. Soon, he was found dead at the edge of the Black Water River on the west side of Kunlun. Only the lower half of his head and half his neck remained connected. His wide-open mouth still expressed his terror, and on the neck connected to half his head were bruise marks—the exact imprints from Xie Zhuo’s grip the day before.

Things became even more difficult to explain.

I believed in Xie Zhuo, but almost no one else in Kunlun did. I was even seen as a senior immortal who was sheltering a murderer.

People repeatedly petitioned Xi Wang Mu to have me and Xie Zhuo arrested and punished.

Xi Wang Mu had been suppressing the matter, but it was hard to appease everyone’s anger. Finally, she issued an order to place me and Xie Zhuo under house arrest in our celestial mansion until the truth was revealed.

Although I was indignant, I obeyed Xi Wang Mu’s command.

As for Xie Zhuo…

I don’t know when he left, but when I woke up one day, Xie Zhuo was no longer by my side.

I knew there were guards outside my celestial mansion, so I didn’t dare make a sound. Xie Zhuo had been gone for two days, and when he returned, it was during a rare thunderstorm night in Kunlun.

He was covered in blood, with the stone necklace around his neck exposed. The stone glowed blue in the night, like the moonlight beyond the thundercloud layer, silent and desolate.

He had evaded everyone’s notice, returning silently, but he couldn’t avoid me, who had been waiting for him.

I sat on the doorstep of our room, and when I finally saw him return, I was naturally delighted and excited. I immediately rushed up to ask him: “Where did you go?”

Seeing him covered in blood, I grew worried, “What happened to you? Are you hurt? Let me see…”

Xie Zhuo pushed me away.

That was the first time in my memory.

I was pushed out into the pouring rain beyond the eaves. He entered the house and locked himself in.

Standing outside, I didn’t dare knock too hard, only asking him over and over: “Xie Zhuo, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me. Where did you go?”

I told him, “Whatever happened, you can tell me. I’m willing to face it with you.”

I also said: “Let me in, it’s so cold outside.”

It rained all night, and Xie Zhuo never let me in. I tried to force my way in but was repelled by his barrier.

By the next day, the door finally opened.

Xie Zhuo stood inside, his expression as calm as usual. Looking at him, I had countless questions I wanted to ask, such as—where did you go? What did you do? Are the previous cases unrelated to you?

Or I could ask him—Why did you treat me like this? What couldn’t you tell me inside? What were you doing in there?

But when it came time to speak, I only said one thing: “Are you hurt?”

After a night in the cold, questioning until midnight, my voice was hoarse, and I could only produce a whisper.

Xie Zhuo heard and answered: “It’s fine now.” He raised his hand, attempting to place it on my cheek.

I turned my head, avoiding his hand: “Just like that?”

I looked up at him, “Is there nothing else you want to say?”

He was silent for a long time: “I want you to be happy. Not knowing makes you happy.”

I looked at him without speaking. I don’t know what expression or look was in my eyes at that time, but I saw Xie Zhuo blink twice.

As if his eyes were pained by my gaze.

He raised his hand again, placing it on my cheek, touching the corner of my mouth: “Jiu Xia, smile.”

I lowered my eyes, not responding to him.

I think that might have been the first moment in our marriage when I was disappointed in Xie Zhuo—I thought he had treated me like… a useless canary.

Later, a few days after, Xi Wang Mu discovered that the perpetrator behind this series of incidents was a senior immortal of Kunlun. Somehow, he had acquired this evil method of devouring other immortals to absorb their spiritual power. When Xi Wang Mu found him, he was already somewhat delirious, nearly fallen into the path of evil spirits. After he was executed, the matter came to an end.

But none of the immortals who had misunderstood Xie Zhuo came to apologize to him.

I had a cold war with Xie Zhuo for a period. Seeing that he didn’t care about these matters, I began to feel indignant for him again, feeling sorry for him.

Though this incident created a small rift between us, what couple is perfect? I consoled myself that Xie Zhuo must have had his reasons for keeping secrets.

We were married but still independent individuals. I couldn’t force him to show me everything…

I forgave him and continued being his wife.

Now, hundreds of years later, hearing this argument again, I really wanted to give Xie Xuanqing a slap across the face.

But I restrained myself, because I knew how strong he was. I couldn’t defeat him now, and probably couldn’t hurt him either, so I wouldn’t waste the effort.

But I still couldn’t swallow this anger. Almost instinctively, my gaze turned cold, my lips curled, I crossed my arms, twitched my leg, and let out a cold laugh.

What does it mean to be an old married couple? It means that when emotions rise, it’s hard to maintain a “proper appearance” in front of others.

So I immediately snapped at him: “What do you mean ‘If you’re happy, then don’t know too much’? Do I need you to make decisions for me? Whether I’m happy or not is my business—what right do you have to worry about it?

I think the more I know, the happier I am. My ears want to hear everything, my mouth can smile at anything I hear. Like your statement just now—it makes me laugh from the bottom of my heart at how ridiculous you are.”

After my burst of sarcasm, I saw Xie Xuanqing sitting on the ground, a bit helpless, a bit surprised, and somewhat stunned.

I paused for a moment.

Then I straightened my still sarcastically smiling mouth and stood a little more upright.

I had forgotten that Xie Zhuo was a husband who had seen every side of me, but this Xie Xuanqing before me…

He had only seen the “Xuanqing, Xuanqing, I’m here,” “Xuanqing, Xuanqing, look what I bought for you” version of me.

I cleared my throat: “How about it? Want to know why I just behaved that way? Want to exchange your secrets for mine?”

I came up with a perfect way to smooth things over: “You answer one question for me, I’ll answer one for you. Let’s play, shall we?”

Xie Xuanqing stared at me for a long while, then lowered his head: “No… let’s not play…”

I was a bit dissatisfied: “Then I won’t give you the necklace.”

Xie Xuanqing was forced to look up at me, somewhat helplessly: “Jiu Xia, this is not something to joke about.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore. I took out the necklace from my sleeve and held it in front of Xie Xuanqing: “Why?”

I spoke directly, “Is it related to your identity as a Snow Wolf Demon?”

At these words, Xie Xuanqing, who was about to grasp the necklace, suddenly looked up at me.

His eyes were filled with shock and astonishment. And even… like an illusion, I vaguely detected a hint of… fear…

“Xie Zhuo,” I could no longer contain my emotions, “what exactly are you afraid of, hiding everything from me?”