I sat down on the ground and touched my ear.
Among the countless immortals in the sky, surely someone had seen my face. Now that I had left, Xiaxia was still in Kunlun—I had to tell her about the current situation.
I tapped the yin-yang fish pendant twice, directly connecting the images from my eyes to the other side.
But unlike before, this time I waited for a long while without receiving a response from the other end. I grew concerned—had something happened to Xiaxia? Or was Xie Xuanqing awake, making it inconvenient for her?
Before I could speculate further, Xiaxia’s voice sounded in my mind.
“Whoa…” The yin-yang fish also transmitted the image from Xiaxia’s eyes. She was crouching beside the still-unconscious Xie Xuanqing and seemed startled by the image from my side. Xiaxia turned away and asked, “It’s only been a short while. What happened on your end?”
“I…” I had barely uttered a word when the image from Xiaxia’s side in my mind began to inexplicably tremble, then fade in and out. “Xiaxia?”
“Hmm? Why is your side… flickering… Hmm? I’m here, can you hear me?”
Xiaxia’s voice also became intermittent. I remained silent for a moment, glanced at the bloodied Xie Zhuo beside me, and muttered: “What a poorly made thing. It becomes so unstable with distance.”
“Can you still hear me?”
In my mind, Xiaxia continued to ask persistently.
“I’m here,” I said, and without waiting for Xiaxia’s response, I continued, “Xie Zhuo has taken me away from Kunlun. The distance is too great, so perhaps the spell maintaining the yin-yang fish has become unstable.”
After I finished speaking, Xiaxia asked, “Are you there?” at least three more times, then after a long silence, finally said: “Ah! You left Kunlun!? Why did he do that?”
I felt somewhat exhausted by the yin-yang fish’s transmission effects, but being able to maintain contact was already good enough.
I briefly told Xiaxia about the events of tonight, along with what had happened with Jing Nanshou in the past few days.
Xiaxia listened quietly. I also waited quietly in the snowy wilderness. By the time the wind had numbed my lips, Xiaxia finally responded: “Goodness, so that newly appointed Immortal Tengluo is an evil spirit…”
“He must have some intentions toward Xie Zhuo.”
“What intentions?”
I shook my head, and before I could answer, Xiaxia continued: “Whatever his intentions, I should go tell Xi Wang Mu about this! Let her deal with that, Jing Nanshou.”
“How will you convince Xi Wang Mu? By telling her that Xie Zhuo and I have come here from 500 years in the future by splitting time and space with Pangu Fu?
If Xi Wang Mu knew this, she might first kill Xie Xuanqing with one strike to prevent future trouble. More likely, she simply wouldn’t believe you. After all, in everyone’s eyes, the one possessed by an evil spirit aura is Xie Zhuo.”
Xiaxia scratched her head: “Then… when you contacted me, you wanted to remind me to stay put and not be discovered by the people of Kunlun, right…”
“No…”
“I’m already hiding here and have put up a barrier. I won’t go out. As long as that old fox from Cuihu Pavilion doesn’t betray me… Hmm? No?”
I glanced at Xie Zhuo again, thought for a moment, then said to Xiaxia: “I want you to open the barrier now and take Xie Xuanqing to seek refuge with Lao Qin.”
There was no sound from the other side for a long time. I didn’t know if the yin-yang fish had delayed the answer or if Xiaxia was too surprised to respond immediately.
I didn’t wait and explained my reasoning: “I’m probably far from Kunlun now. It’s dangerous outside Kunlun, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to return. Now all the immortals of Kunlun are looking for me and Xie Zhuo, which means you and Xie Xuanqing. Your barrier alone can’t hide you for long. Once the Kunlun Guard starts searching for you, your spell will immediately reveal your location.”
Xiaxia sounded anxious: “If all of Kunlun is searching, seeking refuge with that old fox outside won’t help either.”
“Not necessarily,” I analyzed. “Xie Zhuo came to this time 500 years ago, sought Lao Qin’s help, and told him many ‘secrets.’ He wouldn’t have done this unless he completely trusted Lao Qin.”
After all, there were secrets that even I, his wife of 500 years, didn’t know.
“Moreover, if Lao Qin didn’t have some special abilities, he wouldn’t have dared to come alone to the Guard camp to find me earlier, let alone confront an immortal.
The owner of Cuihu Pavilion must be more than what he appears to be on the surface. Having him protect you and Xie Xuanqing is risky, a gamble, but better than sitting here waiting to be caught.”
“Besides Lao Qin, there’s also that female fox demon outside!” Xiaxia reminded me.
I gritted my teeth: “In the face of life and death, let’s put aside all talk of fate and marriage for now. Besides, I believe in you!”
After a long wait, Xiaxia stood up on the other side: “Alright! I’ll remove my barrier now.”
She took a few steps, then stopped again. “But, do you trust Xie Zhuo so much?”
This question caught me off guard.
“What if… Is Xie Zhuo an evil spirit? With those wounds, an ordinary person would have died long ago. Even if they survived, they couldn’t possibly resist the remaining evil spirit aura for so long. You said his eyes had turned completely black—how could he maintain a clear mind? This… is impossible. What if he has become an evil spirit? What if… he really should be executed?”
I listened to Xiaxia’s fragmented words and looked at Xie Zhuo, still bleeding on the ground.
His blood had seeped through the snow and spread to my feet.
I didn’t answer Xiaxia but instead asked her a question: “Do you think Xie Xuanqing will become an evil spirit?”
I waited for her answer. I believed that Xiaxia had already fallen for Xie Xuanqing and would firmly tell me that Xie Xuanqing would not.
But after a silence, she replied: “I don’t know.”
These four words startled me.
“I… I think his eyes are very clear, but I still don’t know much about him. I believe he must be a gentle person inside.
But I’m not so certain. He’s fought evil spirits for so many years, suffered so many wounds, been contaminated by evil spirit aura for so long… It’s hard for me to believe he… won’t be changed.”
Was I…
Was I that clear-headed back then?
Even though I had fallen for him, I didn’t trust him that much.
“Why do you trust him so much?” Xiaxia asked me in return. “After all, you’ve already separated from him.”
I felt as if my throat was blocked. I couldn’t answer.
So, 500 years ago, even though I liked him, I didn’t trust him.
At our first meeting, joy arose in my heart, but trust was difficult.
But in these 500 years, through complaints, arguments, and confrontations, I have come to have unwavering faith in his character.
I firmly believe that even with pitch-black eyes, clarity remains in his gaze. I firmly believe that even contaminated by evil spirits, warmth still exists in his heart.
I know, or at least I hope with beautiful expectation, that he won’t be changed.
“Separation is separation,” I told Xiaxia. “Trust is trust.”
Having come through 500 years, I always felt that Xie Zhuo never told me anything, that I was bound in a false marriage. But now I suddenly understood—
These 500 years of married life were not wasted on me. He had indeed left his mark on my years.
Suppressing the emotions in my heart, I watched through my mind’s eye as Xiaxia had already hoisted Xie Xuanqing onto her back and was removing the barrier.
“I trust my judgment.”
As Xiaxia spoke, the barrier disappeared. Moonlight poured into the ice cave. As expected, Lao Qin was still waiting outside the entrance, watching as Xiaxia voluntarily carried Xie Xuanqing out. Lao Qin still wore his fox-like smile.
“What’s this? Your barrier wasn’t strong enough, and you heard the commotion outside?”
“Stop the nonsense. Everyone outside is hunting us. I just want to know, will you help or not?”
Lao Qin glanced at the unconscious Xie Xuanqing and hid his face behind his fan: “I charge money for my services.”
I knew the matter was settled.
“Xiaxia, hide for now, until I return to Kunlun…”
Before I could finish, the image froze on Lao Qin carrying Xie Xuanqing away.
I tapped the yin-yang fish pendant a few times and turned in circles, but the image remained stuck. With no other option, I turned off the yin-yang fish.
“Just how far are we from Kunlun… Aren’t you severely injured? How did you manage to run so far…”
I muttered, looking toward Xie Zhuo, and then I noticed that the blood beside him was turning black.
“Xie Zhuo?”
The blood hadn’t clotted?
Sensing something was wrong, I immediately crouched down and turned him over.
The stone on Xie Zhuo’s neck, the one he wouldn’t let me touch, was now exposed. Stained with his blood, it looked somewhat sinister in the night.
At this moment, I had no time to worry about the stone. I saw that all the wounds on his body showed no signs of clotting in the time that had passed. Blood had soaked through all his clothes. Just turning him over had left my hands wet with his blood.
Moreover, his blood was now mixed with an evil spirit aura, continuously flowing outward.
“This isn’t right.” I wanted to cover his wounds, but when I tried to summon the soul power in my body, I found not a drop remained—I had used it all to create the barrier to protect him earlier.
Unable to use any spells, I tore off a piece of my clothing, wrapped some snow from the ground in it, and tried to stop his bleeding, but it had no effect.
My clothes quickly became soaked with his blood.
“Xie Zhuo…”
I pulled open his clothes and discovered that all his previously healing wounds had reopened. Each wound was stretched open by a black evil spirit aura. Those black vapors were like invisible hands, keeping his wounds open, preventing them from healing.
The blood wasn’t clotting on his body; it was all flowing outward. Now his blood was turning black, not for any other reason than that it was almost drained—the last of his blood, mixed with evil spirit aura, was slowly seeping out.
If this continued… he would die from blood loss!
I had to remove the evil spirit aura from his body.
I racked my brain for methods I had learned before. I could draw an array and use soul power to activate it, driving away the evil spirit aura, but my soul power was now depleted, with nothing left… I struck my head hard in frustration, lamenting how slowly my body was recovering at this time, 500 years ago.
I thought of using medicinal herbs, but… in this vast snowy wilderness, where would I find herbs…
I could also use transference—rabbits, pheasants, deer, any living creature would do…
I looked around; there was no sign of life anywhere.
Except for me…
I stood frozen, looking at Xie Zhuo on the ground.
Besides me, there was no other living creature in this snowy plain.
Blood had almost stopped flowing from Xie Zhuo’s body, but the evil spirit aura still ferociously gripped his wounds, keeping each one stretched wide open. Xie Zhuo’s face was as white as paper, his breathing extremely faint—he already resembled a corpse.
If this continued, Xie Zhuo wouldn’t last, but I could. I still had the body of an immortal; I could fight against this evil spirit aura.
“Xie Zhuo…”
I took a deep breath, kneeling beside him. I raised my wrist to my mouth and bit it open, drawing blood.
In his unconscious state, Xie Zhuo’s brows furrowed slightly.
I placed my wrist on Xie Zhuo’s chest. The black vapors emanating from the hideous wounds on his chest seemed to be summoned by the scent of fresh blood and began to surge, layer upon layer, trying to coil around my wrist.
“I’m saving you because of those wounds you received fighting evil spirits.”
I lowered my wrist.
With a soft “whoosh,” the evil spirit aura gently coiled, like the hand of a demon child, touching my bleeding wrist.
Xie Zhuo’s brows furrowed even more, and his fingertips at his side twitched slightly.
I gazed at him, allowing the evil spirit aura to travel up my wrist and burrow beneath my skin. Once under my skin, the black vapor instantly became like a needle, piercing through my blood vessels and then following my blood to spread throughout my body.
I clenched my teeth, not looking at the evil spirit aura or my darkening, bulging veins beneath my skin. I only looked at his tightly closed eyes and slightly trembling eyelashes.
“I’m saving you, not because I still care about you.”