Chapter 5: Oh Ho, Your Wife Threw It Away!

“Brother.”

Inside the carriage, Yun Luoyi spoke angrily, “Why did you stop me today? That half-demon should have died by my sword!”

“Are you truly this foolish, or are you pretending to be?” Yun Lanci looked at her. “No matter what, A Shang is now Xie Hengyu’s cultivation partner. If you had killed her right in front of him, do you think you could have walked away unscathed?”

Yun Luoyi pouted. “But earlier, when Brother Yanzhi saw me about to kill that half-demon, he didn’t intervene either. Doesn’t that mean he doesn’t care at all? Maybe if I helped him get rid of her, he’d even thank me.”

“…” Yun Lanci pinched the bridge of his nose, too tired to argue further with his airheaded younger sister.

“Brother, do you think that rumor is true?” Yun Luoyi suddenly lowered her voice, as if struck by a thought.

Yun Lanci: “What rumor?”

“That rumor! I heard that the reason Brother Yanzhi married that half-demon is because he was cursed by her with a love curse.”

Yun Lanci’s hand paused mid-motion. “A love curse?”

*

Behind A Shang’s residence was a secluded spirit spring, abundant in spiritual energy. Due to its remote location, it was rarely visited by anyone.

A Shang bathed in the spirit spring, and by the time she emerged, the sky had already grown dark.

She returned to her residence. When she had left earlier, it was still evening, and no lights had been lit inside the house.

As she pushed open the door, A Shang almost instinctively sensed an unusual presence in the room. In her previous life, she had spent her final days being hunted as a traitor by the sect. The moment she detected something amiss, her body reacted faster than her mind.

“Who’s there?”

As soon as she spoke, spiritual energy in her hand condensed into an invisible blade, which she hurled toward the figure in the darkness.

The cool blade sliced through the shadows, but it seemed to be blocked by something, stopping just a finger’s breadth away from the man’s face before vanishing without a trace.

By the time A Shang recognized the person sitting there as Xie Hengyu, a candle had already been lit. The flickering, dim light of the flame illuminated the man’s profile.

Seeing A Shang return, Xie Hengyu set down the blade he had been examining and looked up at her.

A Shang had just climbed out of the spirit spring. Her long hair was still wet, and she wore only a thin white undergarment, which had become slightly translucent where her damp hair clung to it.

Xie Hengyu could even see the faint bruises on her chest beneath her damp clothing. He calmly averted his gaze.

Noticing Xie Hengyu’s glance, A Shang looked down and realized her current attire was inappropriate. She quickly grabbed an outer robe and draped it over herself.

“Do you know how to use a blade?” Xie Hengyu asked.

A Shang, who had her back to him as she put on the robe, heard his question from behind. She recalled that he had been holding her blade earlier.

“Yes,” A Shang replied softly, then bent down to put on her shoes. She had walked in barefoot earlier.

Xie Hengyu didn’t say anything more, and A Shang remained silent as well. The room fell into quietness.

In truth, the two of them had little to talk about. In her previous life, Xie Hengyu rarely initiated conversations with her. Back then, because she had feelings for him, she was usually the one who started conversations.

Now that she no longer took the initiative, there was naturally nothing to say.

Xie Hengyu watched A Shang’s back as she put on her robe and bent slightly to slip on her shoes.

A Shang had waist-length black hair. She hadn’t dried it after her bath, and now her hair was still dripping. Water droplets rolled down her long locks, soaking into her outer robe.

For some reason, Xie Hengyu found the sight slightly irritating.

The next moment, he stood up and placed a small white porcelain bottle on the table. “Apply it three times a day.”

A Shang looked at the bottle and realized he had come to deliver medicine. She was somewhat surprised.

However, she glanced at her arm. After applying the Golden Jade Ointment earlier, the wounds inflicted by Yun Luoyi’s sword aura had almost healed.

“No need, it’s almost healed,” A Shang said.

Xie Hengyu stared at her, and for some reason, A Shang suddenly felt his gaze was unusually intense.

Then she noticed his eyes shift downward as he spoke in his usual cold tone, “Not for your arm.”

His voice was as calm and detached as ever, nothing out of the ordinary.

Not for her arm? Then what was it for?

A Shang looked at him, meeting his cool, indifferent gaze, but she didn’t understand.

Xie Hengyu added, “I have a pure yang constitution. You have half-fox blood. You may not fully withstand my essence. Applying this will make it easier for you.”

After hearing Xie Hengyu’s explanation, A Shang finally understood where the medicine was meant to be applied.

He had seen it today—seen how, during her fight with Yun Luoyi, her discomfort had prevented her from dodging the sword aura in time.

Yet, even though he had witnessed Yun Luoyi trying to scar her face, he had remained indifferent, coldly observing everything.

A Shang clenched her fists tightly. How stubborn had she been in her past life to believe that such a heartless man could ever love her?

“Mm, thank you,” A Shang said softly.

Xie Hengyu’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly at her words of thanks.

His gaze lingered on A Shang’s face. It was the same face as before, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something about her had changed.

Xie Hengyu’s eyes slowly traced the contours of A Shang’s face, as if this were the first time he had truly looked at her—the first time he had truly examined the woman who had become his cultivation partner. Her once indistinct features gradually sharpened in his vision.

His gaze was intense, carrying a hint of scrutiny.

A Shang felt his gaze and met it head-on. The two of them stared at each other in silence until A Shang, unable to endure the strangeness of his look any longer, finally spoke:

“Do you have anything else to say?”

Her tone carried a hint of dismissal.

At that moment, Xie Hengyu finally realized what had changed about her—it was her eyes.

In the past, whenever he appeared, her gaze would immediately settle on him, her eyes filled with a smile as if he were the only person in her world.

When he approached her, she would blush.

When the effects of the love curse took hold, and he treated her roughly, she would bite her lip and endure the pain in silence.

But now…

Without another word, Xie Hengyu turned and left.

He didn’t bother to ponder why she had changed.

Xie Hengyu had come like a passing breeze and left just as swiftly.

After he was gone, A Shang glanced at the small porcelain bottle he had left on the table, her heart a tangled mess of emotions.

Even though she knew his act of bringing her medicine might have been nothing more than a passing whim, her heart still couldn’t help but be swayed by his actions.

A Shang hated Xie Hengyu for this, but even more, she hated herself for it.

In the next moment, she picked up the small bottle from the table and threw it out the window.

She didn’t want anything of his.