The smile at the corner of Yun Chunfeng’s lips deepened.
His young lady was truly intelligent, and she genuinely held him in her heart.
A wave of sweetness spread through his chest, and with a lift of his hand, the Soul-Guiding Incantation was already cast.
He pulled Jiang Xingyan’s soul into his embrace in one swift motion.
“Young Lady, if your Yun Ge’er were to become an ordinary mortal who could do nothing, would you still take care of him?”
Jiang Xingyan looked up, her eyes already brimming with tears.
The memories that Yun Ge’er had once sealed away with his magic suddenly came flooding back.
It was Yun Ge’er!
Her second chance at life, the opportunity to rewrite her fate—it was all because of him.
He had been her master’s most gifted disciple, with the talent to attain sainthood through sheer physical cultivation.
Yet, for the sake of reversing the course of fate, he had resolutely given it all up.
“Yun Ge’er, tomorrow—whatever you do, you must not—”
“Young Lady, tomorrow is the final trial. Yun Ge’er will not let any harm come to you!
Otherwise, wouldn’t everything Yun Ge’er has sacrificed be for nothing?”
Jiang Xingyan sobbed uncontrollably in Yun Chunfeng’s arms.
“But Yun Ge’er will—”
“Yun Ge’er promises you, Young Lady, that he will come back alive.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
“Yun Ge’er wants to truly taste what his Young Lady is like.”
Her tears not yet dry, Jiang Xingyan’s cheeks flushed red all over again. She lightly pounded his chest in mock reproach.
But her hand was caught firmly by Yun Chunfeng, who deepened the kiss.
Before the two could lose themselves in the moment, the cry of a young child broke through their warmth.
“Mother!”
Jiang Xingyan jolted awake from the dream, pulling Xiao Ya into her arms.
“Xiao Ya, don’t be afraid. Mother is here, and Uncle Yun is here too.”
Yun Chunfeng, who had also awakened at the same time, felt no trace of annoyance—only an urgent anxiety.
Xiao Ya’s crying was unusual.
Over the past days spent with her day and night, Yun Chunfeng had already noticed something unusual.
Xiao Ya possessed a perception far beyond that of an ordinary child.
Though she seemed to grow more slowly than other children her age, that was precisely because of her extraordinary gifts.
Ever since they had left the capital, Xiao Ya had never once cried or fussed.
Every day, she either curled up in his arms to sleep or nibbled on her favorite pastries like a little hamster.
Sometimes, she would curiously observe her surroundings with wide eyes.
Even during the night raid by Beiluo’s forces, the explosions of black powder hadn’t made her cry, nor had they even woken her from her sleep.
For her to suddenly burst into tears like this meant she must have sensed something.
Could it be that something would happen to the Young Lady tomorrow?
But tomorrow, he would not be able to stay by her side at every moment.
Seeing Xiao Ya clinging tightly to Jiang Xingyan, her little hands gripping so firmly that they couldn’t be pried loose—
Yun Chunfeng tried several times to take her into his own arms, but to no avail.
His heart only grew heavier.
It seemed that the one who had come from beyond the heavens would certainly make a move tomorrow.
Otherwise, why could he sense nothing at all?
With Jiang Xingyan’s gentle coaxing, Xiao Ya gradually fell asleep—though her little hands never slackened their grip.
Yun Chunfeng gave Jiang Xingyan a reassuring look.
“It’s all right, Young Lady.
Xiao Ya must just have missed you and wanted you to stay with her.”
Jiang Xingyan affectionately nuzzled the chubby side of Xiao Ya’s face.
Over the past month or so, she truly hadn’t spent much time with the little one.
Even little ones get jealous, don’t they?
“Young Lady, why don’t you lie down with Xiao Ya and sleep? Yun Ge’er will make a round of the camp and be right back.”
“Yun Ge’er, be careful in everything.”
That night, Huo Ci could not shake a persistent, unsettling dread.
He kept feeling that something major would happen tomorrow. Several times, he wanted to go ask A Yan about it, but held back, afraid that he was simply worrying over nothing.
About an hour ago, he finally couldn’t resist and paced over to A Yan’s tent—only to see her already fast asleep in her bed.
Yun Chunfeng was also leaning back in a nearby armchair, his right hand propped against his temple, dozing.
He let out a quiet breath.
It really was just his imagination.
If something were truly amiss, wouldn’t Yun Chunfeng have already foreseen it?
What place was there for him to meddle?
It must be that, after tomorrow’s victory, they would swap back their souls—and he simply couldn’t bear the thought.
Huo Ci trudged back to his own tent, his spirits low.
Lying on his camp cot, he suddenly jolted with the realization: A Yan must be meeting Yun Chunfeng in their dreams right now.
In that moment, an unbearable bitterness swelled in his heart.
After tomorrow, they would no longer be confined to dreams alone.
Just as he was thinking this, the tent flap was suddenly thrown open.
“Who goes there?!”
“It’s me.”
“Yun Chunfeng?! How did you—”
“Save the nonsense!
Huo Ci, listen to every word I say—and remember it well!”
Yun Chunfeng’s tone had lost its usual calm command, barely masking a deep, hidden panic.
Huo Ci felt the unease from earlier surge back like a tide, swallowing him whole.
“Tomorrow, no matter when or where, you, Huo Ci—you must not leave the Young Lady’s side for even a moment!”
Huo Ci stiffened. “You mean—A Yan is in danger?!”
Yun Chunfeng suddenly stepped closer, a storm gathering in his eyes.
“All we can do now is pray to the heavens that this is nothing but groundless fear.
But I cannot afford to gamble on that! Do you understand?!”
His eyes were rimmed red, like a cornered lion with no way out.
“Then what about you? What are you going to do?”
“There is a duty that only I can fulfill.”
“Let me do it!”
Yun Chunfeng started. “What did you say?”
Huo Ci’s gaze was resolute. “Whatever it is you have to do—it must come at a great cost, doesn’t it?
Let me take your place.
You go protect A Yan.
She needs you.”
Yun Chunfeng looked at Huo Ci’s earnest expression and let out a faint laugh.
“You are but a mortal—how could you stand beside the divine?
That task is mine alone.”
He turned to leave, but paused to add one last warning: “Protect the Young Lady.”
Huo Ci scoffed inwardly: Did you really need to say that?
Never in his life had he imagined that the one urging him to protect A Yan would be his greatest rival.
Yun Chunfeng, too, had no one else to turn to—otherwise, why would he give the former husband, who still harbored lingering feelings, a chance to play the hero?
Especially when that former husband had clearly not given up.
The two of them let out a simultaneous “Tch,” followed by an equally synchronized sneeze.
Each of the three faced tomorrow with a different heart—but all, in their own worries, gradually found their resolve.
Since they had to face it sooner or later, they might as well be prepared!
Who would emerge victorious was still anyone’s guess!
High above the clouds, their master, who had been watching all along, let out a soft sigh.
“Little Nine, I hope you will never regret this.”
Beside him, two dark, shadowy figures also spoke:
“Master, we don’t regret it either.”
The master rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, the two of you certainly got your money’s worth.
One for five hundred taels, the other for a thousand—and you both nearly got struck into charcoal by heavenly lightning.
If it weren’t for my Heart-Protecting Pills, your cultivation would have dropped by ten thousand years—and here you are, still running your mouths!”
“We’ve offered it all up to you, Master, haven’t we? Boohoo.”
The master sighed again, reaching out to pop open two medicinal gourds. She aimed the spouts at the mouths of Daoist Zhuihua and Daoist Wumian and pressed them in with a soft pop.
The two puffed out their cheeks and gulped down the pills.
Were all her disciples this foolish?
According to fate, the Huo family’s army would have suffered at least eighty thousand casualties before reaching Beiluo’s capital.
And those two had taken the brunt of it all.
Struck by heavenly lightning until they were barely recognizable as human.
But tomorrow’s karmic consequences—even she could not bear them. It all depended on her disciple’s wife’s own fortune now.
