The little girl stood firmly in front of Xie Zhuo. Her eyes were wide open, unblinking, making her appear extremely eerie.

With her appearance, I heard more and more footsteps approaching us, rustling sounds that made the fog of the Undying City somewhat noisy.

“Get up…”

Xie Zhuo’s tone became commanding, just like when he would normally say “the ground is cold,” “don’t eat spicy food,” or “don’t run around.”

In the past, I would have scoffed at such commands, but now, despite the discomfort in my body, I quickly stood up and instinctively took a few steps to stand behind him.

In just a moment, the entrance to the alley and the surrounding walls were crowded with strange people. Some peered down from the walls, others crouched at the alley entrance, examining us with one eye.

“Why have they gathered here?” I asked Xie Zhuo softly.

Without looking at me, Xie Zhuo wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me tightly against him. “They want to transfer malevolent energy into you.”

I was stunned, suddenly remembering the strange, face-changing person from my dream who had said out of nowhere, “will give you more.” Did they want to… give me more malevolent energy?

Why were they so determined to turn me into a malevolent spirit?

Before I had time to think, the little girl in front of us suddenly moved. “Big sister, join us.”

As she spoke, her figure flickered like a ghost, suddenly lunging straight toward me.

Xie Zhuo didn’t waste words with her either. He raised his sword and slashed. I saw a flash of silver light, and the little girl let out a piercing scream that transformed into a beast-like howl at the end. Her arm flew off and dissolved into black smoke in the fog.

That howl was like a signal. All the malevolent spirits who had surrounded us began to move!

They surged forward. Xie Zhuo held me tightly against him, wielding his sword with one hand, not using any spiritual energy. I heard only shrieks and the sound of flesh tearing near my ears.

In an instant, Xie Zhuo had carried me out of the alley, leaving many malevolent spirits behind.

In this critical moment, Xie Zhuo practically tucked me under his arm as he ran. After covering some distance, he threw me onto his back. “Hold tight…”

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, my legs clamped firmly around his waist, securing myself on his back. I had no concern for how this position looked; I could only frantically look back.

Through the violent jolting, I saw at least hundreds of people chasing us through the fog.

First hunted by the immortals at Kunlun, now hunted by malevolent spirits here—we truly weren’t welcome anywhere!

But unlike at Kunlun, the malevolent spirits here all had human forms, regardless of their appearance. Each one ran with large strides, chasing after us. To an unknowing observer, this scene might have looked like a marketplace brawl.

“They aren’t using spiritual techniques either!”

After entering the snow barrier, Xie Zhuo had said that spiritual energy should be saved for more critical moments. It seemed that this Undying City not only imprisoned malevolent spirits but also sealed away spiritual techniques, preventing both cultivators and malevolent spirits from using them. Everyone in the city fought hand-to-hand!

“Put me down,” I told Xie Zhuo through the jolting. “When it comes to physical combat, I can fight too!”

“No fighting. Our goal is to make progress.”

“Even without spiritual techniques, I can still run!”

“Your legs are shorter. You’re not as fast as I.”

I…

I was speechless…

I wanted to refute him, but what he said was true. My legs weren’t as long as his!

I never would have imagined that in a place like the Undying City, our first escape would turn into a footrace!?

While I was still marveling at this absurdity, I suddenly heard the sound of something cutting through the air in the fog ahead.

“Watch out!”

Just as I finished speaking, an arrow pierced through the fog, coming straight at us! Xie Zhuo slightly tilted his face, precisely dodging the arrow. The feathered arrow whistled past and struck a malevolent spirit that was about to pounce on us from behind Xie Zhuo!

The arrow went through the malevolent spirit’s head. It fell to the ground and quickly dissolved into black smoke, which was immediately dispersed by the frantically pursuing malevolent spirits behind.

Xie Zhuo didn’t stop, continuing to run forward. I looked toward the fog ahead and saw a point of light appear within it.

The light didn’t stay in one place but raced toward Xie Zhuo and me at great speed. Through the foggy air, I could even hear the sound of hoofbeats!

As it drew closer, a large black horse burst through the fog. On its back was a figure wielding a spear and carrying a longbow, dressed in black armor.

He swept his weapon across the ground, its blade grinding against the broken, uneven flagstones, sending sparks flying in all directions. The light I had seen earlier came from this!

What kind of divine weapon was this?

Just as this question arose in my mind, another followed: “Is this a malevolent spirit?”

My question went unanswered, and all I got was the sound of the armored general galloping past. Riding his horse and gripping his spear, he charged into the growing number of malevolent spirits behind Xie Zhuo and me!

Xie Zhuo and the armored figure passed each other, shoulder to shoulder, as if neither had seen the other, completely ignoring each other.

Xie Zhuo didn’t slow down at all, continuing to carry me forward into the fog ahead. The black-armored general plunged into the crowd of malevolent spirits and began to kill them. In an instant, under the horse’s hooves and at the tip of the spear, there was nothing but the black smoke of shredded malevolent spirits.

But the malevolent spirits, like Xie Zhuo, didn’t linger to fight. While a few were detained, most circled the black-armored general and continued pursuing us.

At the same time, more and more sounds of arrows cutting through the air came from all directions.

I turned to look and saw countless arrows shooting from different places and angles in the fog surrounding us, from atop broken walls and ruins. Without exception, all the arrows were aimed at the malevolent spirits following us.

“These are…”

“Cultivators in the Undying City.”

My lips moved, but for a moment, I didn’t know how to describe the feeling in my heart.

In this Undying City, where malevolent spirits were difficult to identify, where people were full of suspicion and mistrust of each other, and as Xie Zhuo had told me earlier, where some cultivators were imprisoned forever because they had accidentally discovered the existence of the Undying City, there must be many people filled with resentment and hatred, and surely many who had already become malevolent spirits.

But there were still people who hadn’t given up the fight.

Even if they were alone, even if they might be wrongfully killed. Or… even if they had wrongfully killed others…

These arrows from all directions, that armored figure charging with his spear, still spoke of their clarity, their resistance, their refusal to submit.

I was moved, but after this wave of arrows, the number of arrows shooting from around us decreased significantly. Meanwhile, the sounds of fighting from distant parts of the fog-shrouded Undying City grew louder and more numerous.

“Have the cultivators who were shooting at the malevolent spirits been discovered by other malevolent spirits?” I asked Xie Zhuo.

“Attacking malevolent spirits reveals one’s position. Other malevolent spirits will attack them too. Once battle begins, it’s impossible to distinguish friend from foe.”

I bit my lip. “What about that armored figure from earlier? Should we… go back to help him?”

“It’s hard to tell enemies from allies.”

“He helped us.”

“It could also be a trap.”

Pretending to help us, gaining our trust, then catching us off guard with an attack?

It wasn’t impossible.

Thinking about it that way, if the armored figure was truly a cultivator not yet infected by malevolent energy, he might also suspect that we were pretending to be chased by malevolent spirits to gain his sympathy, only to seek an opportunity to assassinate him…

So earlier, when Xie Zhuo and he passed each other, neither acknowledged the other.

Even if they truly had the same goal, at this moment, they couldn’t trust each other. In this Undying City, the greatest form of trust was simply not killing someone.

My heart sank even further.

And it was at this moment, amid this panicked escape, that a jumble of voices suddenly appeared in my mind.

“Are… are… are you there? Can you hear me?”

It was Xiaxia’s voice, transmitted through the yin-yang fish and projected in my mind, making me feel as though I had crossed into another world.

“Oh, still can’t reach you? It’s been almost a month now. You haven’t gotten into trouble, have you?”

Xiaxia muttered on the other end. I released one hand from around Xie Zhuo’s neck and touched the yin-yang fish on my ear, wanting to tell Xiaxia we’d talk later!

But no matter how many times I tapped the yin-yang fish, Xiaxia on the other end didn’t seem to hear my voice.

I could only receive fragments of what she was saying, getting glimpses of her surroundings in my mind.

She was sitting in a room. From the décor, it seemed to be a room in Cuihu Terrace.

She was facing a mirror, one hand propping up her head. The quiet and leisurely scene contrasted sharply with my frantic escape.

“Did you return five hundred years later?” Xiaxia spoke to the mirror, talking to herself. “Did Xie Zhuo kill you? I won’t die at the hands of Xie Xuanqing five hundred years later, will I?”

Xiaxia looked somewhat worried.

Clinging to Xie Zhuo’s neck, I thought that I might die at the hands of the malevolent spirits behind us before I could die at Xie Zhuo’s hands…

I wanted to remove the yin-yang fish from my ear to prevent Xiaxia’s leisurely atmosphere from affecting me, but a malevolent spirit suddenly emerged in front of us, causing Xie Zhuo to abruptly halt.

“Hold tight!” he called to me.

I immediately hugged him, allowing him to carry me in several leaps up onto the rafters of the Undying City’s buildings.

He carried me along the rafters as we fled.

From this height, I could see that throughout the ring city illuminated by the never-extinguishing fires, there was fighting, killing, and conflict everywhere.

In my mind, I could faintly hear the sound of strings and bamboo flutes from Cuihu Terrace through Xiaxia:

“If you were still here, I’d ask you about this. Didn’t you say your relationship began with saving each other in times of trouble? It’s strange, though. It was clear that the female fox spirit who saved him, and he remembers it was the fox spirit who saved him, but Xie Xuanqing doesn’t seem to… like someone just because that person saved him.”

Xiaxia said. I clung to Xie Zhuo, able to see his profile from my vantage point—his wind-tousled hair, his solemn expression, and the beads of sweat on his neck.

“He seems to like listening to me talk!” Xiaxia’s eyes brightened. “People outside Kunlun are saying I’m in cahoots with demons, right? They’re searching everywhere for me and Xie Xuanqing! Lao Qin has hidden us well, though. I don’t know when we’ll be able to leave, so I’m bored every day and chat with Xie Xuanqing all the time. There’s not much to talk about. I just tell him about embarrassing and funny things that happened during my cultivation. He listens so attentively!”

As Xiaxia spoke, I watched Xie Zhuo dodge an arrow that flew in front of us. The Undying City had descended into chaos, with arrows coming from unknown directions, no longer aimed solely at the malevolent spirits behind us.

When an arrow grazed past my ear, Xie Zhuo hesitated slightly, raising his hand to protect my ear. The back of his hand was scratched by the arrow’s blade.

“He also likes the food I make! In the underground secret chamber of Cuihu Terrace, Lao Qin even set up a small stove for me.” Xiaxia counted on her fingers. “I made him steamed pears, date cakes, and braised pork knuckles. It’s a shame that this is the season for snow shoots, but we can’t go out to dig them up. If we could, snow shoots with spicy sauce would make Xie Xuanqing’s tongue tingle with delight!

Oh… I want to clear up all these misunderstandings quickly and make that Jingnan leader confess. I’ve promised that once we can leave, I’ll make him delicious food every day! When he heard that, his eyes sparkled with anticipation…”

In front of us, three or four malevolent spirits blocked our path. Xie Zhuo raised his sword, his eyes filled with killing intent. Before the malevolent spirits could attack, his blade had already taken their heads, his technique clean and efficient. He had been through countless battles, more practiced than I was at digging up snow shoots.

Was this the kind of life he lived before coming to Kunlun?

And after coming to Kunlun, did he continue to live like this?

The secrets he kept silent about in our marriage were the reason for our divorce, and also the reason why Kunlun was not like the Undying City…

I tightened my arms around Xie Zhuo’s neck.

He didn’t notice, continuing to carry me as he searched for a way out.

The malevolent spirits were all targeting Xie Zhuo. He must have secrets even greater than those of the Undying City. He lived a life more secretive and dangerous than those in the Undying City. Everyone knew that such a life should not have attachments.

That spider malevolent spirit who had once captured me from Kunlun had laughed at Xie Zhuo, saying he had found a weakness in himself.

I didn’t understand then, but I do now. Someone like me, kept in the dark, knowing only a fraction of Kunlun, should not have been involved with someone like Xie Zhuo.

But when I failed my ascension tribulation, he still saved me with his blood, becoming connected to me.

He must have fallen for me even then.

The answer I had been seeking from his lips for five hundred years, he had already shown me through his actions.

Only, he didn’t know it…

Just then, as Xie Zhuo killed the malevolent spirit in front of us, an arrow was suddenly shot from a distance. The arrow pierced through the malevolent spirit’s body and was about to hit Xie Zhuo’s neck! At that moment, Xie Zhuo’s sword was already swinging toward another malevolent spirit.

Almost instinctively, I raised my hand and caught the arrow aimed at his neck.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but at that very moment, the arrow, which should have been shot by a cultivator, suddenly turned into black smoke. The smoke swirled and entered my skin through my arm.

The black veins on my skin immediately began to surge violently.

I looked up and saw a person crouching on a high rafter in the distance. The person appeared to be a cultivator, with no trace of malevolent energy on them. He even smiled gently at me.

In the next instant, I saw his head cut off by Xie Zhuo’s sword. The sword spun in the air and returned to Xie Zhuo’s hand, but Xie Zhuo immediately planted it in the roof ridge nearby.

Xie Zhuo grabbed me as I lost control of my body and began to slide to the ground. “Fu Jiuxia!”

I looked at him, wondering why I hadn’t noticed so much fear and panic in his eyes before.

“I’m so sleepy…” I struggled to keep my eyes open. “This is not the time…”

He looked at me, gritting his teeth. “You can sleep, it’s okay, but you must remember.” He instructed me almost word by word. “Whatever you dream, don’t be afraid.” He said, “Don’t fear!”

As he spoke, I thought he looked much more afraid and fearful than I was.

I watched his mouth open and close, listening to Xiaxia’s incessant chatter through the yin-yang fish: “I think I… really have fallen for him, unavoidably. Maybe I should take a chance? What if I end up with a different outcome than you? Maybe I can tolerate him for five hundred years without divorcing!”

Xie Zhuo’s voice overlapped with Xiaxia’s words and the clamor of the Undying City. All sounds merged into a buzzing in my ears.

Yet the more chaotic it became, the more strangely calm my inner heart grew.

A thought seemed to sprout from the tip of my heart, which had already turned to stone.

If I survive this time, maybe I should discuss with him—the red thread may be cut, but the blood oath remains, right?

If he’s willing to admit he likes me, and if he’s willing to change his way of communicating with me in the future, then we could…

Try again?

But just as this thought emerged, my world had already sunk into darkness.