Facing each other

As night fell, the stars and moon began to appear. The afterglow gradually dimmed, and shadows gradually appeared all around. The mountains were exceptionally quiet, without even the usual chirping of insects or birds, only the unbridled howling of the mountain wind.

The three of them each went to bed early, trying to fall asleep. Ah Li huddled in his arms, covering herself tightly with the quilt, with only her head exposed to breathe. She couldn't stop thinking about the thing in the tree. Fear filled her, and she felt that the surroundings were extremely "lively".

In the middle of the night, sleepiness hit A-li hard, her head felt dizzy, and her eyelids were drooping. This sleepiness came suddenly and violently. A-li sensed something was wrong, but she couldn't force herself to wake up, and eventually fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Cha Suxun, who was standing by, suddenly heard a female voice calling his name. The voice was sometimes near and sometimes far away, sounding somewhat desolate and mournful, and he could not make out what it was saying.

Until a light suddenly appeared in the darkness before him. He walked towards it as if his steps were uncontrolled. As he got closer and closer to it, Cha Suxun finally saw the back of the figure clearly.

It’s her, Li Wan.

He hadn't dreamed of her for a long time.

Cha Suxun joyfully called out to Wanwan, and upon hearing his voice, she shifted her steps and slowly turned around. Tears streamed down her face, and her sorrowful eyes stared at him. She remained silent, weeping.

He habitually reached out to wipe away her tears, held her in his arms, patted her back gently, and spoke soothing words, his movements smooth and continuous.

"Are you already that close to her?"

Quickly reacting, Cha Suxun faced her question and explained, "But isn't she you?"

"Cha Suxun, I'm already dead. My soul is trapped in the formation. It's devouring me bit by bit. It hurts so much. I'm dead. I'm trapped there forever, waiting for my soul to disintegrate. I can't reincarnate anymore. How can she be me?"

"No, Wanwan, I have collected as many of your soul threads as I could and placed them in the sea of ​​red spider lilies. Nian Dai and I have been together for ten thousand years, so there can be no mistake. Once all the soul hairpins are collected, I can extract all your memories from them and let you remember them."

Even though he knew that she was just a dream, he still answered patiently.

"Haven't you been to the stone formation? Didn't you feel my response? Could it be that Ah Cha didn't come here to rescue me from the stone formation?"

"Wanwan, I..."

"Acha, there's no need to explain. I know I'm a dead man now, and Acha shouldn't be stuck in the past. After all, I was the one who abandoned Acha and broke off the engagement. Karma has its consequences, I accept it... For over 30,000 years, I thought you would come to save me, just like before, but it turns out I'm the one stuck where I am..."

Li Wan struggled from his embrace, her eyes filled with disappointment and anger, yet she felt helpless as she turned and walked away. Cha Suxun tried to catch up with her to explain, but he couldn't. In his panic, Cha Suxun was suddenly stopped by someone behind him. He turned around and saw Li Wan standing behind him again, still looking disappointed and angry.

Cha Suxun held her hands tightly and said, "It's not like that, Wanwan. It's not like that. I have never thought of marrying anyone else. In all the worlds, you are the only woman I love. I once felt resentful when you broke off the engagement, but even so, I still love you. I will save you. Believe me, I will soon be able to restore your memory with the jade hairpin. I will save you."

The more Ali listened, the more heartbroken she became. Her husband, who had slept in the same bed with her and was her childhood sweetheart, suddenly became such a stranger at this moment.

"So much has happened in the years since we last met that I can't describe it all in a short time. When we meet again, I will tell you everything without missing a word. Wanwan, believe me, we will meet again."

She wanted to ask him who the Wanwan he was talking about was. Or why, after being engaged to her, he would be engaged to another woman? In his heart, who was more important, her or Wanwan? She was speechless with so many questions in her mind, but she didn't know where to start.

It is said that sleepwalkers should not be awakened hastily, so Ah Li could only whisper calmly: "Go back to bed, it's late."

Cha Suxun was stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to react, somewhat flattered. He only dreamed of Li Wan once in a while, but whether it was real or not, Li Wan, who still had memories, would never say those words to him. He tentatively called Li Wan "Madam," but she showed no surprise, let alone attacking him.

He followed her to the bed and sat down. She didn't speak to him anymore, but just lay down on the bed with her back to him and slept on her side. He pinched himself hard, and the pain hit him. Only then did he realize that he had separated his dream from reality.

Suddenly, a woman's agonizing screams echoed from upstairs, the sound sharp and piercing. Then, outside, leaves rustled and wooden signs clashed, the two sounds alternating, and in between, there seemed to be a whisper of human voices.

Cha Suxun lay down in the quilt, lying on his side close behind her, holding her in his arms, surrounding her with the quilt and his arms.

"Sleep peacefully. I'll wait until you fall asleep before I fall asleep."

Chi Li listened to the ghosts and wolves howling outside, without any fear, and even found the noise annoying. The sound of Wan Wan kept repeating in her mind, and Chi Li subconsciously moved away, deliberately not getting too close to him.

Feeling her distance, Cha Suxun immediately moved closer to her, got closer again, and hugged her even tighter.

"Ma'am, are you... angry with me?"

"Yes. Think about what you did wrong and what you've been hiding. If you haven't thought of what to say, just shut up. I'll only give you one chance, so think it through."

"Did you hear it, Madam?"

"So, it's all true?" A'li's voice trembled when she said this.

After a long silence, Cha Suxun admitted, "It's true, but I can explain it."

"What explanation do you need? Explain why you're engaged to me and yet you're still engaged to another woman?" Chi Li sneered and said self-deprecatingly, "The sun and the moon can bear witness, heaven and earth can bear witness, I dare not have any second thoughts... It turns out it was all fake."

"Wanwan, it's true. The oath I made to you and my love for you are all true. It was impossible to express it in words before, and now there are just as many constraints and restrictions. The time is not right, so I can't say it. You, my lady, just remember that throughout history, there has only been one woman I've ever loved, and you are the only one. You and I have lived together since childhood for over a decade. You know me best, don't you?"

"When is the right time? After I die?"

For a long time, he didn't answer. Ah Li didn't want to ask any more questions. This marriage wasn't a natural outcome of mutual affection. Without love, there would be no sadness. But she was angry. They had been childhood sweethearts, and now they had such a big secret.

Now it seems that my inappropriate and rash action at that time has only separated the two lovers.

"The rules of Jiwang Valley cannot be broken. Men in the valley are only allowed to have one wife and are not allowed to have concubines. After all, we are from the same family. Take her back to Jiwang Valley. It is safe there. When you and I give birth to a son to reassure our parents, we will divorce."

"Divorce? My wife makes it sound so easy. As expected, you still... don't like me at all."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the strange noises stopped abruptly. Just across the wall, Heqi asked through telepathic communication, "What happened? Why did you suddenly use your power?"

"Search the mountain! Immediately! Capture the evil creature that haunts this place alive, and hand it over to me personally when I return to the underworld."

He Qi asked anxiously, "Did it hurt my sister?"

"No, A'li is safe. Deal with the evil monsters and troubles on the mountain as soon as possible and return to Jiwang Valley. Did you encounter any unusual things tonight? Have you dealt with the things in the wall? If not, leave them to their own people."

"Didn't you suddenly stun everything around you? How could it dare to come out and provoke me? But, you've alerted the snake by doing this."

"Now that A'li and I have revealed our mortal identities, Tianshu is naturally free of suspicion. Hand him over. Let him personally see the strangeness of the stone formation that seals the Evil Abyss. He'll understand. Let the Celestial Realm handle these evil spirits. The area around A'li will soon be filled with spies from the Celestial Realm. Unless it's absolutely necessary, you and I shouldn't intervene."

"I'll be back soon."

After saying that, Heqi rushed back to the Demon Realm without stopping.

Tianshu was lying in a rocking chair basking in the sun. Various fruits and snacks were placed on the small coffee table beside him, and there was a stunned little boy making tea for him. He was living a very leisurely life.

A leaf fell, and Heqi didn't even raise his eyes. The leaf flew towards the child at a rapid speed. The moment it hit him, the child turned into a ball of white smoke and disappeared, leaving only a wild fruit.

"How dare you pick the wild fruits in this yard at will!"

Tianshu closed his fan, pressed it against the longsword Heqi held at his neck, and explained, "You, Demon Lord, are wrong to blame me. You casually threw these wild fruits into my room before you left. I conjured these fruits, food, tea, and other things to quench my thirst. I didn't touch your sister's things."

Heqi closed his eyes and concentrated, sensing all the objects around the hut. After confirming that nothing was different from before he left, he put away his sword.

"Get up and follow me."

"If I don't leave, I'll be arrested and put in jail."

"The divine trace of the Star Lord Yuanli has appeared, and she is now in a bandit stronghold in the mountains of the mortal world with her mortal husband. While patrolling the territories of the major demon kings, my people discovered that there were evil spirits causing trouble around the Star Lord Yuanli, and the bandit leader was raising little ghosts in extremely cruel ways, intending to harm her. Brother A'cha has returned to the netherworld to meditate on the method of probing the fate of the Star Lord Yuanli, fearing that he will die an untimely death. Also, A'cha wrote to report that the stone formation suppressing the evil abyss may have moved. Why didn't you in the heavens discover it immediately! Was my sister's life sacrificed in vain? The stone formation belongs to your heaven, and you should know more about it than Brother A'cha if you go down and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Tianshu immediately stood up and took Heqi to the stone formation.

"You guys in the Heaven Realm still won't send anyone to guard it? It's a treasure after all, right?" He Qi scoffed. "I thought you deliberately didn't send anyone to guard it, expecting my sister to die in your Emperor's place. It turns out you're truly useless."