He knew
*
"Grab her!"
The deep, gentle voice, like a poisoned ice pick, instantly pierced the silence of the cave.
Xu Qingyao's heart tightened, and without hesitation, she stuffed the recording stone into her bosom and rushed out of the cave.
Footsteps and shouts rapidly approached from behind, accompanied by a deep, cold, and stern command: "Live!"
The dark passageway became a race track for life and death.
With the system's precise navigation, Xu Qingyao dashed through the intricate caves, trying to shake off her pursuers.
However, the other party was clearly very familiar with the terrain, and their footsteps followed closely behind.
"Bang!"
A crossbow bolt grazed her ear and embedded itself in the stone wall, sending shards of rock tumbling down.
[Warning! Guards are positioned at the three-way intersection ahead!]
The system issued an urgent alarm.
Xu Qingyao gritted her teeth and abruptly turned to the narrower passage on the right.
Just when she thought she had temporarily shaken off her pursuers, a faint light suddenly appeared ahead—
It's for export!
But the moment she rushed out of the cave, her heart sank to the bottom.
Before them lay not the free forest, but a precipice with a rushing torrent below. The pursuers had closed in from behind, their torches illuminating the murderous faces of the pursuers.
Shen Rou slowly walked out of the crowd, her red lips curving into a smile beneath her hood: "What a pleasant surprise. Xu Qingyao, you're still alive."
With her back to the cliff, Xu Qingyao forced herself to remain calm: "I'm sorry to disappoint you."
“No,” Shen Rou chuckled, “quite the opposite. You came to me of your own accord, saving me a lot of trouble.”
She toyed with a strange bone bell between her fingers. "Tell me, how did you survive the Soul-Sinking Abyss? What secrets are you hiding?"
Xu Qingyao remained silent, her mind racing as she considered a way to escape.
Jump off a cliff?
The system calculated that the survival rate was less than 10%.
Just as Shen Rou was losing patience and signaling her men to grab the person—
"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"
Several arrows pierced the air and accurately shot down the first few guards!
"Who goes there?!"
He spoke with a gentle yet firm tone.
Several figures appeared on the opposite cliff. The leader was dressed in black and held a longbow. Even through the darkness and fog, Xu Qingyao recognized his deep eyes at a glance.
Xiao Zhouyan!
What is he doing here?!
"How dare you touch my wife?"
Xiao Zhouyan's voice was as cold as ice, and his movements of nocking the arrow and drawing the bow were fluid and graceful, with the arrow tip pointing directly at Chen Rou's brow.
Shen Rou's expression changed drastically, and she quickly retreated into the guard's protective circle: "Withdraw!"
In the chaos, Xu Qingyao seized the opportunity and slid down the steep slope to the side.
She must leave now and not be caught by Xiao Zhouyan.
"Qingyao!"
Xiao Zhouyan's shout carried an unusual urgency.
She rushed into the dense forest without looking back, the sound of clashing weapons coming from behind her, clearly Xiao Zhouyan's men fighting against Shen Rou's guards.
She ran for an unknown amount of time until she was sure there were no pursuers behind her, then she leaned against an ancient tree and gasped for breath.
My heart was pounding, I couldn't tell if it was from the danger of the escape or because of the man who shouldn't be here.
[Host, the probability of Xiao Zhouyan appearing is less than 0.01%. It is recommended to reassess the current situation.]
Xu Qingyao slid down to the ground with a wry smile.
Yes, why would he come?
Hasn't a cenotaph already been erected? Shouldn't we believe she's dead?
The night was deep, and rustling sounds came from the woods.
Xu Qingyao looked up alertly, only to find a figure in black standing in front of her at some point.
Xiao Zhouyan looked at her quietly, his eyes swirling with emotions she couldn't understand.
He spoke slowly, his voice hoarse:
"Xu Qingyao, you've deceived me so badly."
*
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows on Xiao Zhouyan's dark robes.
He stood three zhang away from her, not getting any closer, just staring at her intently, as if trying to etch her disheveled appearance into his very bones.
Xu Qingyao felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing her heart, making it difficult to even breathe.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found her throat too dry to make a sound.
Lie to him?
Yes, she did lie to him.
From the concealment of Wolf Howl Valley to the meticulously planned escape from death, everything was a deception.
But when he actually stood before her, looking at her with eyes that were a mixture of pain and questioning, all the words she had prepared seemed pale and powerless.
"I……"
She finally managed to squeeze out a word, her voice so low and hoarse it was almost inaudible.
Xiao Zhouyan took a step forward, the moonlight illuminating his taut jawline and the suppressed redness in his eyes.
“A cenotaph…” His voice was even hoarse, with an almost broken mockery, “I guarded that mound of yellow earth, suffering day and night… Xu Qingyao, tell me, I’ve been like a fool, haven’t I?”
The pain in his eyes was so real, like a red-hot iron branding Xu Qingyao's heart.
She instinctively stepped back, her back hitting the rough tree trunk, with nowhere left to retreat.
"I'm not..."
She wanted to explain, but didn't know where to begin.
Should I tell him that she is a time traveler with a system that foresaw a tragic future and had no choice but to fake her death to escape?
"Not what?"
Xiao Zhouyan took another step closer, so close that she could feel the oppressive aura emanating from him, carrying the chill of the night dew.
"Didn't you fall off the cliff on purpose? Didn't you escape like a cicada shedding its shell? Didn't you deliberately... leave me?"
He spoke the last three words very slowly, with a sharp edge.
Xu Qingyao suddenly looked up and met his unfathomable eyes.
She knew that any weak explanation would be useless at this moment. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Since she couldn't avoid it, she had to take the initiative.
"Yes, I faked my death."
She admitted it, her voice calm and resigned, "Because I have to leave."
Xiao Zhouyan's pupils contracted slightly, seemingly not expecting her to admit it so readily.
"Why?" he pressed, his gaze fixed on her, allowing her no room to look away. "Because of Shen Rou? Because of those so-called illusions of the future? Or because..."
He paused, his voice lowering, "You never loved me?"
That last sentence was like a needle, precisely piercing the most hidden corner of Xu Qingyao's heart.
She looked away, avoiding his overly sharp gaze:
"Some things are safer to know the less you know. My leaving is the best choice for both of us."
"The best option?"
Xiao Zhouyan chuckled softly, as if he had heard an absurd joke, but there was no warmth in his laughter. "Watching me grieve for you, watching me search like a walking corpse along the Fallen Soul Ravine, is this what you call the best choice? Xu Qingyao, what is your heart made of?"
His accusations grew heavier with each one, making it almost impossible for Xu Qingyao to breathe.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her flesh, using the pain to maintain her last vestiges of consciousness.
"And what about you?" she suddenly asked, looking up at him with a resolute determination in her eyes. "Why are you in Nan Yue? Don't tell me it's just another coincidence."
General Xiao, having relinquished his military duties, has not chosen to recuperate in the capital but has instead traveled a great distance to these remote mountains of southern Yue. Could he truly be here for sightseeing?
She stared intently into his eyes: "You've been investigating me all along, haven't you? You never truly believed I was dead! You tracked me here to capture me and take me back, or to uncover the secrets surrounding me?"
The forest was deathly silent, with only the rustling of the wind through the leaves.
The two faced each other a few steps apart, the air thick with silent tension.
The warmth of the past intertwined with the suspicion, pain, and concealment of the present moment, weaving together a vast net that tightly binds the two of them within it.
Xiao Zhouyan looked at her wary and distant gaze, which seemed to have drawn a deep chasm between them.
The emotions churning in his eyes slowly subsided, transforming into a deep, unsettling calm.
He spoke slowly, enunciating each word clearly: "Yes, I didn't believe it."
“You’ve been acting strangely ever since Wolf Howl Valley. The fall off the cliff was too coincidental, and the fact that no body could be found only made me suspicious. I came to Southern Vietnam to investigate.”
He admitted it readily, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, "But I never intended to take you back. I just wanted to ask you one question myself..."
He paused, his voice low and clear:
"Xu Qingyao, in your heart, am I, Xiao Zhouyan, your husband, or someone you can abandon at any time, someone you must guard against... an outsider?"
Xiao Zhouyan's question echoed in the night, carrying a heavy weight that almost crushed a person.
Xu Qingyao's breath caught in her throat.
Husband? Or a stranger?
This question was like a key, unexpectedly trying to pry open the tightly closed door to her heart.
She instinctively wanted to retaliate with sharper words, to continue building a high wall of indifference, but when she met his unfathomable eyes, which seemed to hold too many emotions she didn't know, the words got stuck in her throat.
His eyes...were not just questioning and pain, but something deeper, a kind of sorrowful acceptance that she couldn't understand.
It was as if he had already stood at a height she didn't know, seeing through many illusions, yet he still felt sad for her current estrangement and concealment.
"I..." she opened her mouth, her voice dry, "I just don't want to drag you down with me."
This is still an excuse, but compared to the previous vigilance, it seems that a slight gap has been opened.
Xiao Zhouyan looked at her quietly for a moment, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate her feigned calm and see the unease and struggle deep within her heart.
He did not immediately refute her weak "I don't want to be implicated," but slowly took a step and approached her again.
This time, his steps were slow, carrying an irresistible determination, yet strangely without much of a sense of oppression.
Until they were only a step apart, he could clearly see the dirt and grime on her face that she hadn't wiped off, and her eyelashes that were trembling slightly.
He didn't touch her, but simply looked down at her, his voice deep and clear, carrying a certainty that transcended time:
"The Gobi Desert's wind and snow didn't kill me, and I also survived the deadly trap in Wolf Howling Valley."
He paused, his gaze falling on her unconsciously clenched right hand, as if he could see through the skin to the non-existent dark osmanthus blossoms on the inside of her wrist. "Xu Qingyao, what do you think could be more of a burden than losing you?"
Xu Qingyao suddenly looked up, her gaze meeting his deep, dark eyes.
Gobi Desert snowstorm? How could he...?
She never mentioned it to anyone.
That bizarre encounter, the girl who called herself "A-Yue," possessing strange medical skills and a seven-colored glass bottle, and the cave where only the two of them lived...
Everything was as blurry as a bizarre dream she had.
She couldn't even be sure if it had actually happened or if it was a hallucination she experienced while she was critically injured and near death.
But Xiao Zhouyan's eyes at that moment clearly told her that he knew.
He knew about that past that she had buried deep inside, a past she even doubted her own existence.
Her heart felt like it had been hit hard by something, making her eardrums ring.
Fragmented images flashed uncontrollably through my mind:
Cold snowflakes, biting wind, a warm bonfire, and...
A deep voice murmured "Ah Yue"...
Could it be... that wasn't a dream?
Seeing the sudden surge of turmoil and disbelief in her eyes, Xiao Zhouyan felt a deeper sting in his own eyes.
He was right...
The quirky "A-Yue" who saved him in the Gobi Desert, the girl with the dark osmanthus flower on her wrist and an object that didn't belong to this era, that's her.
For some reason, she seemed to have forgotten that memory, or... she mistook it for a dream.
He had been searching for her, from the Gobi Desert to the capital, until they finally reunited on the Qixi Festival.
He recognized the face, but felt that the soul was completely different.
He thought he had lost her again.
It wasn't until later, through her unusual words and actions and her extraordinary understanding of certain things, that he gradually became convinced that his "A-Yue" had returned in another way.
But he couldn't say anything, couldn't ask anything.
He was afraid of disturbing her, afraid that she would disappear without a trace like last time.
He could only keep this secret, cautiously approaching her, hoping that one day she would open her heart to him.
However, what awaited him was her repeated concealment and, ultimately, her resolute "death."
Xiao Zhouyan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging bitterness in his heart, and spoke very softly, as if afraid of scaring away a frightened bird: "I will not ask where you come from, nor will I ask about the secrets you carry."
He looked at her, his gaze calm and tolerant. "I only ask you, Xu Qingyao, before you decided to shoulder everything alone, did you ever think... that perhaps I would also be willing to walk with you to the end?"
"No matter if the road ahead is through snowy deserts or deep ravines."
The night breeze carried the unique, damp scent of vegetation from the jungles of southern Vietnam.
Xu Qingyao stared blankly at the man in front of her. The amount of information in his words was so great that it almost overturned her understanding.
He didn't come to interrogate her, nor to take her back; he might even... know her biggest secret?
An unprecedented panic and an indescribable sorrow gripped her at the same time.
She always thought she was fighting alone, guarding an unspeakable secret and bearing the fear of foreseeing the future.
But it turns out that there was someone watching her from the shadows all along, knowing part of the truth about her, but choosing to remain silent and wait.
He was sad not because of her deception, but because she "was unwilling to share anything with him and carried everything on her own."
Looking into Xiao Zhouyan's eyes, which seemed to be filled with starlight and the frost of time, and now reflected only her figure, Xu Qingyao's tightly guarded heart finally cracked a tiny crack.
She opened her mouth, her voice trembling with a sob and confusion she herself was unaware of:
“Xiao Zhouyan…I…”
"I think I'm... lost..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
