Knowing I would help him, Xie Zhuo no longer flew off on his own. But he also refused to help me, not even willing to offer support, letting me struggle with my weakened body, stumbling along behind him.

We walked in silence to the snowy bamboo forest below Kunlun’s peak.

Even without him turning around, I could sense from his aura… he was wearing a sour face.

Staring at the back of his head, I pondered the whole way, feeling utterly confused.

Had I said something wrong earlier?

Wasn’t he the one who said he wanted to break the marriage bond? So why did he seem angry when I offered to help him?

“What are you upset about?” Having been husband and wife for so long, I wasn’t going to humor him when I didn’t understand. I asked directly, “You took the Pangu Fu, causing such a commotion. Who knows what chaos has befallen Kunlun five hundred years later? But you said you wanted to break our marriage bond before returning, fine, fine, fine… So let’s break it. I’m being kind-hearted by helping you resolve this matter—I’ve been as considerate to you as possible, right? Yet you’re still unhappy…”

He walked while I talked, just like our countless everyday moments as an old married couple—one chattering non-stop, the other silent as a chicken. But today, Xie Zhuo suddenly stopped in his tracks.

I bumped into his back.

I looked up at him, but he hadn’t turned around.

Today, he seemed unwilling to be the silent chicken in response to my chatter.

I took two steps back, maintaining a relatively safe distance. Considering his power so far exceeded mine, seeing his brooding silhouette made me somewhat afraid.

I forced myself to finish what I was saying: “Anyone willing to help me do this, I’d be secretly delighted…”

He turned his head, his gaze carrying a murderous intent. The moment he looked at me, his aura exploded outward, causing the surrounding snowy bamboo to tremble. The bamboo was resilient and didn’t break, but the white snow covering it rustled down.

Why was he so angry…

After staring at each other for a moment, I retreated two more steps: “Did I say something wrong?”

He still didn’t speak.

Used to his silence, I began to guess his meaning: “Or… do you feel this is something you must do yourself? You don’t want me to interfere?”

Guessing this far, I realized, “Oh, you just feel that since I was the one who cut the marriage thread, you’re feeling unbalanced, right? Fine, fine. Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, you can do whatever you want. I’m not trying to compete with you, and I don’t have any demands. I just hope you hurry up. The Pangu Fu…”

Return it quickly…

Before I could finish speaking, Xie Zhuo suddenly took two steps forward toward me. His movement was so fierce that when he raised his hand in front of me, I thought for a moment he was going to hit me!

I couldn’t dodge his movement at all. I saw his exceptionally long fingers stop beside my cheek. I thought, with his strength that could grasp the Pangu Fu and cleave through time and space, he could easily crush my skull…

And in that moment when I was caught off guard, with lightning speed, he… pinched my cheek.

It was that kind of… using his bent index finger and thumb to pinch the flesh of my cheek kind of… cheek-pinching…

I looked at him silently.

He returned my gaze with a vicious, murderous glare.

But… my ex-husband, are you serious?

I thought you were going to crush my skull, yet you chose to humiliate me by pinching my cheek?

He pinched me for quite a while, not even hard enough to redden my cheek, yet his expression was one of murderous intent.

I began to hesitate, thinking my previous judgment might be wrong. Xie Zhuo…

He might truly have gone mad!!

Otherwise, how could he be so self-contradictory?

But thinking carefully, throughout these five hundred years, Xie Zhuo had never raised a hand against me. Even during those few times when I couldn’t stand it anymore and tried to fight him, he would always dodge my attacks.

So much so that until now… I couldn’t tell what kind of demon he was, nor did I know he could be so formidable…

“Fu Jiuxia,” he called me by my full name, each word deliberate, “is this marriage bond so worthless to you?”

I was stunned…

Only then did I belatedly realize that Xie Zhuo…

Was he heartbroken?

Because I unhesitatingly told him I could help break our past connection, showing no trace of cherishing or caring about it, so he felt… hurt?

“But…” I allowed him to continue pinching my cheek, responding in a relatively calm tone, “Didn’t we already get divorced before?”

After I chased him to fight (though I never actually landed any blows).

I immediately proposed divorce to him and even took him to see Xi Wang Mu together.

Since Xi Wang Mu was the supreme deity of Kunlun, and it was she who had allowed Xie Zhuo and me to marry in Kunlun back then, according to Kunlun’s rules, we needed Xi Wang Mu’s approval for our divorce as well.

I still remember that day in the great hall, with Xie Zhuo, me, and all the immortals present. Xi Wang Mu, hearing the report that Mount Buzhou had been tilted another three degrees, rubbed her throbbing temple and asked Xie Zhuo: “What do you think?”

Xie Zhuo looked at Xi Wang Mu once, then turned to look at me.

I was still angry at that time and didn’t want to acknowledge him. I crossed my arms, turned my head away, not even willing to glance at him.

After a while, Xie Zhuo just said one word: “Fine…”

The hall erupted in an uproar.

This demon Xie Zhuo was incredibly sparing with words. In front of others, he would only say “Mm,” “No,” or “Fine.”

These words resolved his communication with most people, and outsiders rarely heard anything else from him. So much so that after living in Kunlun for so many years, many immortals still thought Xie Zhuo was mute.

It was only with me that he would say a bit more, and even then it was just phrases like “This is not allowed,” “That is not good,” “Cannot do,” “Don’t go out”—all these negative, commanding short phrases…

The day of our divorce was probably when he spoke the most…

At that time in the hall, some immortals were surprised that Xie Zhuo spoke, but more were shocked that we were divorcing.

Xie Zhuo and I had initially come together despite universal opposition.

Back then, no immortal in Kunlun had ever married a demon. Everyone opposed me, but Xie Zhuo and I still firmly held hands. Perhaps it was our determination that made many immortals reconsider their position, and gradually, there were quite a few who supported us.

Not long after, Xi Wang Mu made a special exception for us.

From then on, Kunlun’s immortals could marry freely according to their wishes, regardless of whether their partner was an immortal, demon, or spirit. As long as the partner of Kunlun’s immortals was willing to integrate into Kunlun and be benevolent to all immortals, they could enter our Kunlun.

In the eyes of many young girls, Xie Zhuo and I were often described as having “what the fuck kind of divine love story is this?!” level of romance.

And now, this fucking divine love story had fucking shattered.

Because I, as a fucking revered immortal, really fucking didn’t want to endure this completely controlled life anymore.

Starting from the day Xie Zhuo responded “Fine” in the great hall, we began preparing for our divorce, step by step, following Kunlun’s rules in an orderly manner. Throughout this process, which took almost half a month, Xie Zhuo never raised any objections to the divorce.

On the day of the divorce, it was Xie Zhuo who took the initiative to come to Meng Meng’s residence and call me to go to the wishing tree in front of Yue Lao’s temple for the divorce.

I had always thought that Xie Zhuo, even if he found the divorce sudden or unsatisfactory, should have come to terms with it.

How was it that on the evening we cut the marriage thread, he suddenly became so distraught?

Using the Pangu Fu, cleaving through time and space, coming back to change fate… each action more breathtaking than the last.

I sighed: “I never thought our marriage bond was worthless, Xie Zhuo.”

I looked into his eyes earnestly, “Back then, I truly, truly, truly… liked you very much.”

The murderous intent in his eyes gradually dissipated, and he lowered his hand that had been pinching my cheek.

I continued: “It’s just that by now, parting on good terms is the best outcome I could hope for.”

I told Xie Zhuo what was in my heart, “So if you want to cut off our marriage from its source, and if this is your true desire, of course I’m willing to help you. Because even now, Xie Zhuo, I don’t hate you.”

His expression, which had just softened, suddenly became cold and distant again.

After a moment of silence, he replied with three words: “But I hate…”

“Uh…” I fell silent, feeling a bit panicked, “You shouldn’t hate me that much… You can say you don’t like something, I can understand if you can’t tolerate some of my small flaws, but can these trivial life matters justify hatred?”

I thought to myself, could eating spicy food and drinking alcohol in secret make him unable to tolerate me to this extent?

If so, we should have separated earlier! What if one day he couldn’t stand it anymore and crushed my skull while I was sleeping? What would I do then?

“What have I done in these five hundred years that could make you hate me?” I asked him, suppressing my unease.

Xie Zhuo didn’t answer me further. He waved his hand, and wind blades like knives created a series of crackling sounds as they cut through many of the snow bamboos around us. With a sweep of his sleeve, the broken bamboo was enveloped in a strong wind, spinning twice in the air. In just a moment, a small bamboo hut was built among the bamboo forest.

Xie Zhuo no longer looked at me. He turned and walked toward the bamboo hut: “If you want to help me, then come.”

Leaving these words, his black-robed figure walked toward the hut. The broken bamboo followed his footsteps, forming a small fence around the hut. The bamboo gate remained open after he entered, swaying with a “creaking” sound, making it seem like the mouth of a monster.

Combined with Xie Zhuo’s words just now, it felt as if entering his bamboo hut would be like walking into some trap he had set.

But…

For the Pangu Fu, for Kunlun five hundred years later!

I steeled my heart—let’s do this!

Xie Zhuo, no matter how much you hate me, didn’t you still save me earlier? You’ve never even hit me, would you take my life?

As long as I can stay alive, what am I afraid of?

Let’s just do it…

I stepped forward, directly entering the small hut that Xie Zhuo had built in this rarely visited snow bamboo forest below Kunlun’s peak, five hundred years in the past.

I hoped that in the coming days, Xie Zhuo and I would work together to successfully destroy what we once, no matter what, refused to let go of…

Our marriage bond.