Jiang Xingyan’s heart jolted with alarm. She tried to turn back, but her arm was quickly hooked by Fourth Senior Brother Zhuihua, who had transformed back into the beautiful woman.
“Don’t worry, Junior Sister. We’ll make sure to fix him up nice and proper for you,” she said with a smile.
Jiang Xingyan’s throat tightened as she began to grasp the true meaning behind the word “fix.”
Hurriedly, she fished out the two gold ingots from the pouch that Shangguan Hanshan had given her as compensation and pressed them into Daoist Zhuihua’s hand.
“Please, Senior Brothers, go easy on him.”
Daoist Zhuihua’s eyes lit up, and the gold vanished instantly into his storage pouch.
Satisfied, he reached out and patted Jiang Xingyan on the shoulder. “Rest assured, he won’t die from it.
We’ll return a brand-new, sturdy Yun to you in no time~
Here, why don’t you catch up with an old acquaintance to pass the time?”
Zhuihua cast a meaningful, amused glance toward Huo Ci.
In all his long years, this was the first time he’d seen such a perfectly matched destined love be ruined by one’s own actions.
He truly deserved it.
Zhuihua pursed his lips in a smile, turned, and slipped back into the tent, which was now shielded by a barrier.
Startled, Jiang Xingyan looked over and saw Huo Ci standing right there outside the tent.
“What are you doing here?”
Huo Ci felt a sharp pang in his chest.
She didn’t ask why he was still up so late.
She didn’t ask if he had something to tell her.
It was just a cold, offhand question. Whether he answered or not, it clearly didn’t matter to her.
He watched her anxious eyes dart repeatedly toward the tent, her worry for Yun Chunfeng spilling out uncontrollably.
And his own heartache spilled out right along with it.
He had once thought he possessed so much.
He never imagined he would end up with absolutely nothing.
A sudden, overwhelming desire surged within him—to just switch back, to let Ayan be with Yun Chunfeng.
Let them ride off into the sunset together, while he met his end on the battlefield. That would at least count as atonement.
“Ayan, the envoys from Beiluo arrive in the capital tomorrow. With the three powers converging, things are bound to get chaotic and treacherous. You must be careful.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Xingyan didn’t even turn her head. It was unclear if she’d heard him at all. Her hands were clasped tightly together as she paced back and forth, occasionally peeking into the tent.
She looked exactly like a nervous husband waiting outside a delivery room.
Huo Ci stared at his own body acting this way and felt a moment of surreal disorientation.
If Ayan had been giving birth back then, and he had been by her side, would he have been just as anxious and worried?
But then, memories of his past life flooded back—him on his deathbed, still consumed by hatred for Ayan.
In an instant, infinite self-reproach and regret crashed over him like a roaring tidal wave, dragging him, standing alone on the shore, into the abyss.
How could he have been so stupid and dull-witted in his past life?
“If you’ve got nothing else to do, go inside and rest. What are you doing, just standing there catching the draft?”
Jiang Xingyan found a moment to snap at him.
Huo Ci flinched. A dense, prickling pain spread throughout his entire body.
But he forced it down and managed to pull a smile from the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, I’m going in soon.
It’s just that Ayan hasn’t finished hearing what I need to say.”
Jiang Xingyan frowned. He was acting so strange again today.
“What is it?”
Huo Ci took a deep breath. “Tuoba Hongxue is my sworn enemy. He knows me just as well as I know him.
His apology visit tomorrow is a minor affair. But if he discovers that Ayan is not me, things could get complicated.”
Jiang Xingyan calmed her mind and thought it over briefly before countering,
“Since you know him so well, if you were in his shoes—knowing your greatest rival had swapped souls with a woman from the inner courtyard—what would you do?”
Huo Ci paused. “Naturally, I would seize the moment and strike as quickly as possible, before he can switch back.”
Jiang Xingyan nodded. “Exactly.
So, if he notices anything amiss, not only will he refrain from shouting it out, he’ll actually help keep it a secret.
He’ll secretly send word by the fastest horse to the King of Beiluo.
By then, if they bypass Daxia’s mediation and launch a private attack, they will surely enrage Shangguan Hanshan.
Whether he chooses to stand by or intervene himself, it will plunge Beiluo into eternal damnation.
We just need to prepare accordingly, and we can annihilate Beiluo once and for all.
Isn’t that exactly what we want?”
Huo Ci stared blankly at Jiang Xingyan.
She had only discussed military strategy with Yun Chunfeng a few times, yet her growth was visibly rapid.
This wasn’t a conclusion he couldn’t reach himself.
It was just that… he had finally found a topic to talk to Ayan about, and he’d rushed over without thinking it through.
He lowered his head and gave a bitter smile.
Did this just make him look like a fool?
Fortunately, Jiang Xingyan had no time to notice his dejection, because the tent flap was suddenly lifted from the inside.
Daoist Zhuihua emerged, unable to suppress a wide grin.
“Junior Sister, Junior Brother Chunfeng is all better now. Come in and see for yourself.”
Jiang Xingyan answered hurriedly and rushed straight in.
Right then, even if Huo Ci had told her the sky was falling, she wouldn’t have spared him a single backward glance.
The tent flap fell shut.
It cut off the dim, yellow lamplight from inside.
Huo Ci was swallowed back up by the darkness.
Only a crescent moon and a single wisp of cloud kept him silent company.
The moonlight was cold and clear as snow, pouring over his entire body.
He stood there for a long, long time, until the sound of Ayan’s delighted, joyful exclamation drifted out from the tent. Only then did he turn and walk away in silence.
Up on that wisp of cloud, two ethereal figures looked down at his lonely figure and let out a scoff that said “he had it coming.”
“Tsk, tsk. Look at that. That’s what we call ‘the sins you commit will be your own undoing.'”
“Master, your disciple observes that the thread of obsession in his love karma is no longer tangled. Why haven’t their souls switched back yet?”
