Chapter 80: part 3

These days, he had secretly been following Yiling.

It wasn’t like that day at the teahouse when he could only hear her voice from behind a wall.

He had found several opportunities to clearly see her every movement, every smile, under the daylight.

She was so much like her; it was almost unbelievable.

He had never seen anyone in this world who resembled another so much, even down to the rhythm of their speech.

If it weren’t for the fact that this woman’s face was entirely different, if she weren’t Xie Hengzhi’s wife…

But that unique catchphrase and the throw-and-habit move he had taught her alone… there would never be another person like her!

And when he called out her childhood name from behind the tree that day, her reaction confirmed his guess—

She was clearly his fiancée, who had died in Qingyang!

But he didn’t know why she had turned into this or why she had become Xie Hengzhi’s wife.

When he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to ask her the reason, what did he see?

He saw her running into Xie Hengzhi’s arms when she was afraid.

He saw her and Xie Hengzhi watching fireworks by the river and even saw her sitting by the window, gazing out for Xie Hengzhi’s figure!

Tonight, when Xie Hengzhi hadn’t come back, he even saw the endless worry on her face.

Those expressions, he had longed to see from Yiling for so long.

Now, she had poured them all into Xie Hengzhi.

Xiao Mi could not accept everything he saw.

He even wished Yiling really had died rather than being with the person he hated most every day.

But at this moment…

Hearing Yiling say that she was forced into it and crying as she asked him where he had been all these years, endless self-blame surged up in his heart.

Could it be that because he hadn’t gone to find her, she had gone through all these changes and was trapped by Xie Hengzhi?

“Did Xie Hengzhi do all this? Did he force you to stay by his side like this?”

Xiao Mi gripped Yiling’s shoulder even tighter. “You’re not willing, are you?”

Yiling, trembling all over, exhausted all her strength just to nod her head weakly.

“Of course!”

After speaking, she turned around and glanced at Yiyun, and tears began to fall uncontrollably.

“Brother Shaoyan, do you know that I’ve been living in constant torment all these years? If something were to happen to Yiyun… I honestly wouldn’t know how to live anymore!”

As she finished speaking, Xiao Mi’s grip on her slowly loosened.

His gaze was filled with shock, and he seemed lost in thoughts about how Xie Hengzhi had harmed Yiling.

But at that moment…

The wooden door of the side room was suddenly kicked open, and Xiao Mi turned around, alert.

The dawn was approaching, and the sky was faintly lightening.

Xie Hengzhi stood at the doorway, his entire body as cold as ice, alone.

At almost the same moment, sensing Xie Hengzhi’s murderous aura, Xiao Mi tightened his grip on Yiling with one hand and, with the other, raised a knife towards Xie Hengzhi.

“Don’t move!”

Xie Hengzhi indeed stopped in his tracks.

His chest rose and fell violently, and beads of sweat dotted his forehead from the long ride on horseback.

But when he saw that Yiling was unharmed, he closed his eyes.

His breath steadied in that brief moment, and when he opened his eyes again, there was only a chilling coldness in his gaze.

“Xian Shaoyan,” he said, each word deliberate. “You’re not dead.”

Seeing the look in his eyes, Xiao Mi’s blood boiled.

He had been waiting for this moment.

Waiting for Xie Hengzhi to come alone so that blood could be repaid with blood.

But just as he was thinking about how to deal with Yiling and then kill Xie Hengzhi before fleeing with her, he felt a disturbance beside him.

He turned his head and saw that Yiling, whose wrist he had been holding tightly, could no longer stand.

At the moment she saw Xie Hengzhi, all the pretense she had been holding up collapsed, and her body, as if boneless, collapsed onto the floor.

Her tears broke free again, and one hand still gripped by Xiao Mi, her body uncontrollably leaned toward Xie Hengzhi.

She was terrified. Finally, when Xie Hengzhi appeared, she cried out loud.

Between sobs, it seemed to say—

“You’ve finally come.”

Xiao Mi, seeing that Yiling’s eyes were fixed only on Xie Hengzhi, felt his pupils violently contract.

She had deceived him.

She had been deceiving him all along.

It turned out she had been waiting for Xie Hengzhi to rescue her!

In the fleeting moment of Xiao Mi’s broken expression, Xie Hengzhi rushed toward Yiling.

But he wasn’t a martial artist accustomed to combat. In the brief moment they brushed past each other, Xiao Mi pulled Yiling out of the way.

“Xie Hengzhi!” Xiao Mi shouted coldly, “If you move another step, I will kill her!”

The cold blade was suddenly pressed to Yiling’s neck.

Xie Hengzhi immediately stopped in his tracks.

At this moment, he had no choice but to obey Xiao Mi.

He even opened his arms to show that he was unarmed.

“Let her go,” he said, his gaze fixed on Xiao Mi. “I’ll let you do whatever you want with me.”

But when Xiao Mi heard this, he laughed.

Truly, love runs as deep as the sea.

He turned his head to look at Yiling, who was still in his grasp.

This woman, whom he had thought about day and night, had actually become Xie Hengzhi’s wife after he “died.”

She didn’t even look like she was being forced by Xie Hengzhi.

She clearly was willing, and to buy time for Xie Hengzhi, she had even pretended to deceive him!

Everything he had seen these past few days wasn’t an illusion.

His fiancée, the woman he had loved with all his heart, had fallen for the enemy who had framed his entire family!

At this moment, Yiling didn’t even feel Xiao Mi’s gaze on her.

All her thoughts were focused on Xie Hengzhi. She knew that since he had come, there must be a way, so she kept looking towards the corner—

Save Yiyun, save Yiyun first!

“Ning Ning, you want to save Yiyun, don’t you?”

The cold voice of Xiao Mi suddenly rang in her ears.

Yiling’s gaze froze, and she dared not make any move.

At that moment, the knife pressed against her neck suddenly loosened.

Xiao Mi shoved her at the waist, pushing her towards Xie Hengzhi.

Already weakened, Yiling was pushed and nearly fell to the ground.

Xie Hengzhi immediately rushed forward to catch her.

But Xiao Mi’s push was so strong that both of them almost fell to the ground together.

When Xie Hengzhi tried to steady Yiling and help her stand, he realized that her legs had no strength left.

Yiling was trembling all over, her face pale as she looked at Xie Hengzhi, her eyes swollen from crying.

Her throat had gone silent from the extreme tension, and she couldn’t say a word, only gazing at Xie Hengzhi in a silent plea.

Save Yiyun.

She had to save Yiyun.

Xie Hengzhi simply looked at Yiling quietly, saying nothing.

He then let her sit down on the ground, standing up by himself.

Turning around, he saw that Xiao Mi had pressed a knife to Yiyun’s neck.

Yiyun had no idea what was happening, and with his mouth still gagged, he could only stare wide-eyed at the scene unfolding before him.

“Xian Shaoyan, what you want to kill is me.” As he spoke, Xie Hengzhi subtly shifted a step to the left. “I’m unarmed; I can come over and exchange myself for Yiyun.”

Xiao Mi didn’t respond, just staring at Xie Hengzhi, smiling like a madman.

No one knew why he had pushed Yiling aside and taken Yiyun hostage instead.

But it no longer mattered.

At that moment, Xie Hengzhi had already reached the right front of Xiao Mi.

If he moved another step forward, they would expose the window behind them.

One signal, and the best archers outside would have no trouble shooting an arrow into Xiao Mi’s throat.

“Yiyun has no enmity with you. You don’t need his life.”

As the words fell, Xie Hengzhi took a step forward, his right hand hanging at his side, about to make a gesture—

“Ning Ning, kill him.”

Xiao Mi’s voice, laced with a smile, echoed.

Xie Hengzhi’s movements froze.

The room was eerily quiet, save for Yiyun’s labored breathing.

When Xiao Mi smiled, the scar on his lips was horrifying.

He watched Yiling’s trembling gaze, a perverse pleasure rising in his heart.

The most absurd thing in this world was that the woman he loved the most had fallen in love with the man he hated the most.

They had fallen in love.

Xiao Mi’s smile became even more savage.

What was the point of killing Xie Hengzhi now?

Yiling would hate him for a lifetime; she would hate him forever for killing Xie Hengzhi!

So, he wanted Yiling to kill Xie Hengzhi with her own hands.

They would all walk toward destruction, together sinking into eternal, unending pain.

Xiao Mi threw a dagger at Yiling. “Kill him, and I’ll let your brother go!”

At the words “your brother,” Yiyun, who had nearly passed out, suddenly opened his eyes wide again.

What did he mean…

How could he say this to this woman…

The dagger landed at Yiling’s feet.

What did this mean?

She had to kill Xie Hengzhi with her own hands for him to let Yiyun go.

Her eyes seemed frozen, not even blinking, staring vacantly at Xiao Mi.

In this suffocating, dilapidated room, Yiling felt as if a massive stone were pressing on her, unable to move.

Seeing Yiling still unmoving, Xiao Mi slit Yiyun’s neck.

“Kill him!”

Yiyun’s painful grunt shattered what little rationality Yiling had left.

She looked up, meeting Xie Hengzhi’s gaze.

When their eyes met, Xie Hengzhi simply stared at her, not knowing what he was thinking or making a move.

In that instant, Yiling’s mind flashed with fragmented memories.

She remembered the time when they were young, traveling to capital with their parents, and little Yiyun always liked to sleep in her arms.

She remembered the year after Xin Shaoyan died, when a young man slandered her for bringing bad luck to her husband, and Yiyun fought with him, getting his head smashed open in the process.

…
Amidst these memories, Xie Hengzhi’s face always flashed by.

But Xiao Mi wouldn’t let Yiling recall any further.

“Kill him! Otherwise, I’ll make you watch your brother die!”

Yiling’s body trembled as she picked up the sharp knife and stood up.

It took all her strength to turn her body.

She looked into Xie Hengzhi’s eyes, tears streaming as she shook her head, unable to say a word.

One was her blood-related brother; the other was a sworn enemy who had caused her near death; she should have no hesitation.

As she stepped closer, Xie Hengzhi not only did not retreat but, for a moment, seemed distracted.

“Kill him!” Xiao Mi screamed from the shadows, “Avenger!”

When the words “avenge” entered Yiling’s ears, distant memories suddenly burst into her mind.

The memory she was about to forget—

Underneath Qingyang City, amidst yellow sand, the arrow shot towards her chest.

As Xiao Mi’s screams urged her on, Yiling kept telling herself.

Avenge… she had to avenge!

But it wasn’t until she heard Yiyun’s painful grunt again—

Yiling closed her eyes tightly, gripped the hilt, and forcefully stabbed towards Xie Hengzhi’s chest. The sound of the blade piercing flesh was clear.

He didn’t dodge. He didn’t avoid it.

All sounds around her suddenly became distant.

The early morning breeze swept through the room, lifting Yiling’s hair.

At the moment Yiling stabbed Xie Hengzhi, several arrows shot through the window, piercing Xiao Mi’s throat.

His ecstatic expression remained on his face, unable to even close his eyes in time.

Yiyun, with a cloth in his mouth, stopped breathing, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.

It seemed like a long, long time had passed.

Yiling felt as though a thousand-pound stone was pressing down on her eyes, unable to open them.

Her nostrils and throat felt clogged, her breath and sobs freezing within her body.

Until the warm blood flowing from Xie Hengzhi’s chest soaked into her hands.

Yiling finally opened her eyes.

Xie Hengzhi was still looking at her, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Unfortunately, he could no longer speak. Before he collapsed, he only managed a faint, relieved smile.