What Yue Liangze saw now was what Ling Luo saw.
At the end of their lives, they witnessed the Four Directional Forbidden Beasts and the black flames covering the mountain.
So Wusheng had indeed been unsheathed before.
When Ling Luo awoke, she frowned, momentarily confused.
She was no longer in front of the Zhao family’s door but in a small room. The room was somewhat dim, with only a corner of the curtain lifted, and a figure standing there blocked even more light from entering.
Ling Luo blinked and looked at the person by the window. She had just returned from the memory dream of the Suffering Flower when she saw him.
With his back to her standing by the window, Yue Liangze looked very much like when he stood before Mount Tianzhao—his posture upright, carrying a sense of vigilance and protection.
Ling Luo observed his profile.
He was the kind of person with clean features, yet also extraordinarily handsome, especially those eyes—black pupils, calm and cool. Even when not looking at you or speaking, his quiet presence was hard to ignore, yet without seeming aloof.
Ling Luo had once called Yue Liangze a beauty.
Not just his appearance, but also his bearing and temperament.
Outside the window, the sky seemed near dusk. The orange-golden light that sneaked past the man carried a decaying scent, giving her a sense of tragic beauty as if reaching the end.
Reaching the end.
Ling Luo blinked softly and reached to touch her heart. There was still blood on her clothes, but the wound was almost healed, with only a slight pain.
Starting over again—the Heavenly Dao didn’t kill her but saved her instead. How could such a good thing happen?
It must have ulterior motives.
What did it matter showing her Yue Liangze’s memories? Did it want to persuade her to turn back?
Impossible.
Ling Luo said softly, “Why are you here?”
Yue Liangze turned around, his brow slightly furrowing when his eyes met Ling Luo’s gaze. He let go of the curtain and walked toward the bed, asking, “How are your injuries?”
Ling Luo blinked without answering, and asked again, “Why am I here?”
Yue Liangze explained quietly, “I followed the killing aura to Shunyi Town. The ghost town had no ghosts but had regained its former prosperity. While patrolling, I encountered Qin Yuan bringing you, injured, to find an apothecary.”
Qin Yuan.
He must know her too.
Yue Liangze said, “You looked severely injured at the time.”
“I didn’t die,” Ling Luo pressed her lips together, somewhat annoyed at her carelessness for being wounded.
“You seem fine now,” Yue Liangze glanced at her wound. “I went to the Zhao family place Qin Yuan mentioned but didn’t see any sword light when I entered. There was no one inside.”
Of course, you couldn’t see the sword light; that sword intent only slays demons.
Ling Luo thought privately, then asked, “Where’s Qin Yuan?”
“Guarding the Zhao house with Mu Xujing,” Yue Liangze added, “This is a room in the medicine shop.”
Ling Luo was a bit surprised: “Mu Xujing is here too?”
Yue Liangze said, “He came with me.”
Ling Luo smiled mockingly, “You look after him everywhere.”
Yue Liangze didn’t take offense but asked, “Can you get up?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to,” Ling Luo clutched the blanket and asked, “Did Qin Yuan say anything when she left?”
Yue Liangze thought for a moment, then answered, “She asked me to take good care of you.”
Ling Luo tilted her head and looked him up and down for a while. “She told you to, and you just obeyed?”
Yue Liangze remained good-natured: “You did need to be taken care of at the time.”
“Give me your hand,” Ling Luo said.
Yue Liangze looked at her, and though he didn’t know why, he extended his hand to her.
Ling Luo grasped his hand, which was somewhat cool. She sat up, and when Yue Liangze lowered his gaze to look at her, she pulled him down onto the bed with her.
Yue Liangze had no defenses against her. As he fell, his other hand supported her shoulder to prevent her from bumping her wound.
He was only somewhat puzzled.
His bright black eyes quietly reflected her face.
The woman’s long hair fell beside his shoulder, a strand lightly brushing across his cheek, cool to the touch.
Ling Luo placed her palm over his heart, feeling the heart beating beneath his clothes. The person before her could speak, could blink, could catch her from falling.
He was alive.
“Yue Liangze,” she tapped his heart and said, “If you have to die, die by my hand. Why give those useless people the satisfaction?”
Yue Liangze was confused by her words.
He said, “I don’t intend to die.”