My mission had failed before it even began. I was left somewhat dazed by Xie Xuanqing’s unexpected behavior.

So much so that on my way back, I was too confused to find the entrance to Xie Zhuo’s barrier.

I wandered blindly through the snow bamboo forest, as if trapped in a ghostly maze. But unexpectedly, after a short while, I encountered Xie Zhuo, who was returning equally bewildered.

By the looks of it, he also seemed to be searching for the entrance to the barrier.

We chanced upon each other in the forest. I stared blankly at him, and he silently gazed back at me.

I didn’t understand: “The barrier was set by you. Understandably, I can’t find the entrance, but how is it that you can’t find it either?”

Xie Zhuo didn’t answer me. He raised his hand and finally located the entrance to the barrier: “Let’s go back first…”

He led me into the barrier, back to the Snow Bamboo Courtyard. We both flopped down onto chairs, simultaneously sprawling out, our appearances lacking all the confidence we had when leaving this morning.

I had no idea what Xie Zhuo had experienced today…

“You go first,” I prompted Xie Zhuo. “What did my past self do to you?”

Xie Zhuo said nothing but pulled out a bamboo dragonfly from his robes.

I raised an eyebrow: “Oh, I gave you a gift for your recovery, didn’t I…”

Before I could finish, Xie Zhuo promptly produced a rattle drum, a qiankun bag, a jade crown band… and even half an uneaten roast chicken…

An array of miscellaneous items quickly filled the table.

Me: “…”

Looking at the tired-faced Xie Zhuo, I suddenly understood. I must have taken him shopping for an entire day to have bought so many random things. I rummaged through the trinkets on the table and clicked my tongue: “I was pretty nice to you.”

Hearing this, Xie Zhuo leaned back against the bamboo chair and uttered just three words: “Eight streets…”

That’s only about ten kilometers…

Xie Zhuo was formidable, but like all husbands of Kunlun, he wasn’t particularly skilled at shopping. Eight streets were indeed a bit much for him. But…

“That just proves how good I was to you. These things may seem random at first glance, but they show how much I cared about you. Look, the rattling drum and bamboo dragonfly—you could play with them when you’re alone.

And the qiankun bag and jade crown—one for carrying things, one for appearances. Thoughtful, attentive, how nice. Why hasn’t another me bought me all these things…”

Xie Zhuo remained silent, probably exhausted from today.

I sorted through the items and finally pushed them toward him: “So, our objective? Did you achieve it?”

“Uh…” He pressed his lips together, silent for a moment, “We’ll continue tomorrow.”

Alright, I understand. He got sidetracked by Xiaxia.

I don’t blame him. I know how formidable I can be; this situation was actually within my expectations.

“Then take all these things with you tomorrow and smash them in front of Xiaxia,” I advised him. “The more expensive ones should be smashed even harder.”

Hearing this, Xie Zhuo was stunned. He silently looked at the jumble of items before him and unconsciously picked up the rattling drum, shaking it a couple of times. The childlike ding-dong sound of the drum seemed somewhat out of place in the pristine snow bamboo wooden cabin.

He didn’t agree to my suggestion.

Watching his silence, for some reason, I felt something unusual stir within me.

“You can’t bear to?” I asked, my voice tinged with inquiry, involuntarily harboring expectations I shouldn’t have.

As if awakened, he suddenly looked up at me. His slightly pursed lips swallowed his emotions. After a moment, he reached out and pulled off one of the small drumsticks from the rattle drum in his hand.

Casually tossing it aside, the small drumstick landed on the floor. He looked at me coldly: “I know what to do.”

I glanced at the childlike object on the ground and slightly pursed my lips. I thought to myself that I was overthinking things. What kind of person was Xie Zhuo? Did I not know him well enough? Would he be reluctant?

“Your turn,” he said.

“Me?” I let out a cold laugh, crossed my arms, and sprawled even more inelegantly in the bamboo chair. “If I hadn’t gone back five hundred years, I would never have known how you deceived me before we got married.”

He narrowed his eyes: “Deceived you?”

“All that about not drinking and not eating spicy food. The current you in the cave doesn’t have these taboos. Why did you have to control me after we got married?”

“Not good for you.”

Again, those four words—the same old tune he’d been playing for hundreds of years.

“Fine, fine, I’m not here to argue about this today.” I crossed my legs and bounced them anxiously. “Spicy food and alcohol don’t stimulate the current you; tomorrow I’ll need to find another method…” I looked at Xie Zhuo, whose mouth seemed sewn shut. “Give me some suggestions.” I tapped the table and pointed at the pile of objects. “I know what my past self disliked. You should also know what would make you angry.”

He lowered his gaze, pondering for a while.

I waited until the candle had burned down considerably.

I tapped the table: “Are you thinking about it?”

After holding back for a long time, he finally said, “Go earlier tomorrow.”

“Hmm?” I leaned in closer to listen to his explanation.

He slowly explained, “During recovery, rest is needed. Don’t let him sleep, that should…”

He didn’t finish, but I thought I understood. I slapped the table and acknowledged: “I can do that. I’ll make sure you can’t rest properly.”

Xie Zhuo: “…”

Ignoring Xie Zhuo’s speechless expression, I confirmed my strategy, regrouped, and stood up to go to bed. But as I rose, I accidentally bumped the table.

The mountain of items on the table scattered instantly, with many about to roll off. I was still in a daze when I saw Xie Zhuo, with lightning speed, catch all the falling items.

He held an armful of inexpensive trinkets, not letting a single one break on the ground.

I looked at Xie Zhuo, and he seemed to realize something and looked up at me, too.

The things Xiaxia had given him, the things I told him to smash, the things he denied being reluctant to part with—now all safely caught in his arms…

To be honest, at that moment, my emotions stirred. This stirring was like a habit; when Xie Zhuo showed this kind of seemingly caring behavior, I still couldn’t help but… feel moved…

But I still held back, because restraining this kind of emotion was also the best way I had learned over these hundreds of years to protect myself.

Not letting myself be moved meant I wouldn’t be disappointed.

Pretending to be indifferent, I picked out a small jade pendant from the pile of things in Xie Zhuo’s arms.

The small yin-yang fish jade pendant was a trinket from Kunlun that could be split apart, allowing the holders of the black and white fish to communicate with each other: “Good catch, this is a useful item that we can put to good use right now.”

As I spoke, Xie Zhuo’s eyes dimmed slightly. He placed the items in his hands back on the table.

I split the yin-yang fish pendant, tucked the white one into my pocket, and handed the black one to him. “When you go out later, take it with you, hang it at your waist. Press this fish eye, and we can contact each other. If anything unexpected happens, remember to contact me anytime.”

Xie Zhuo was silent for a moment, then wordlessly accepted it.

I stretched my body: “I’m going to sleep. You use your judgment tomorrow.”

I returned to my room and closed the door, no longer paying attention to Xie Zhuo outside.

The next day, I woke up very early. Without greeting Xie Zhuo, I pattered straight to the cave.

“Xie Xuanqing!” As soon as I reached the entrance, I started calling him. Calling out as I walked in, sure enough, Xie Xuanqing woke up.

But he looked like he hadn’t rested enough—the whites of his eyes were streaked with blood, and his expression was somewhat dazed. He struggled to sit up and looked up at me: “Jiu Xia, you’re early today.”

“I can’t wait to share some joy with you!”

Curious, he tilted his head to look at me.

“I learned a tune, listen to it!”

I directly pulled out a suona horn from my bosom and put it to my lips.

Xie Xuanqing: “…”

He wasn’t much of a talker, so I simply didn’t give him a chance to speak. I sent him straight to heaven with a suona melody.

But the suona, a thing mortals play, was something I hardly knew how to use. Forget about playing a tune—I could barely make it sound. This “music” echoed in the cave, and before long, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stopped and rubbed my ears.

I turned to look at Xie Xuanqing. He was staring at me blankly. My suona blare had jolted him awake and stunned him—possibly even deafened him.

“Was it good?” I shamelessly asked him.

“Good…” His voice trembled slightly. He said one word, then closed his mouth, silently rubbing his ears. I suspected he probably couldn’t hear his voice due to the ringing in his ears. After he recovered a bit, he gave me his evaluation: “Loud…”

I lowered my head to look at the suona in my hand, thinking that I only wanted to keep him from sleeping; there was no need to harm him so much while harming myself.

“It is a bit noisy in the cave,” I said as I put away the suona.

As I placed the suona behind my back, from the corner of my eye, I saw Xie Xuanqing quietly breathe a sigh of relief. He must have been quite frightened just now, but he still hadn’t gotten angry.

I needed to try harder: “Let me switch to something else.”

Xie Xuanqing: “…”

I pulled out a bamboo flute from my pocket.

Just as I put the bamboo flute to my lips and blew, there was a “crack” sound—the bamboo flute split, and the air I blew into the damaged flute turned into a hoarse “hiss.”

Oh? Broken?

I looked at Xie Xuanqing.

Xie Xuanqing looked at me with a serious face: “It’s broken, don’t play it anymore.”

I inwardly sneered. You think you can save yourself with this trick? I smiled brightly: “No worries, there’s a snow bamboo forest right outside. I’ll go pull one back, and we can make one together!”

“Jiu…”

I’ll count it as my loss if I can make out even one word of your protest!

I ran straight out of the cave. Outside, I picked a suitably thick snow bamboo. Just as I pulled it up, I suddenly felt a stabbing pain in my chest.

This feeling was familiar—it was the sensation I got when Xiaxia was nearby.

I clutched my chest, cursing Xie Zhuo for being useless. How could he not even stop one version of me?

This was bad. I couldn’t meet Xiaxia. If Xiaxia entered the cave and exchanged words with Xie Xuanqing, our entire plan would be exposed! Moreover, Xie Xuanqing would become wary of me afterward, making it much harder to achieve our goal of cutting the matrimonial ties!

My gaze swept through the snow bamboo forest, and I quickly spotted a figure in a thin green garment bouncing over.

It was me…

Blissfully unaware, happily walking this way.

The pain in my chest left my limbs without strength. I couldn’t move my feet, and the snow bamboo in my hand felt as heavy as iron, crashing directly to the ground.

This commotion immediately caught Xiaxia’s attention.

Her gaze began to search through the forest. Just as she was about to look in my direction, suddenly, a hand pressed down on my head.

A warm sensation transmitted from the top of my head to my body, instantly making my stiff, powerless limbs feel much better. I was gently pressed down onto a small slope in the bamboo forest. A black figure flashed by and stood on the small slope in front of me.

I hid in his shadow, also under his protection.