Sang Dai grabbed his wrist, and there was a dense dark aura surrounding him.
She pressed his hand onto the corpse.
The dark aura immediately covered the entire corpse, and the body, which had been preserved by the mysterious ice, quickly turned to bones. The ice shattered little by little, and the light faded.
The situation was so sudden that the man in black blinked in confusion.
Sang Dai let go of his hand.
She stood coldly by the ice bed and spoke indifferently, “This corpse should have died long ago. It lived for a hundred years on his blood—that’s enough. Why should he treat my body this way?”
“He still wants to form a soul-binding marriage with a corpse? A madman. How could I possibly marry him when I hate him so much? He’s dreaming.”
“Disgusting. A demon, and he wants to die with me. I’m even more disgusted. After death, I don’t want to see him. If he dares disturb my peace, I can’t just ignore it.”
“He doesn’t deserve me.”
“I hate him.”
Sang Dai turned and left the palace.
The sunlight fell on her, and she tilted her head back. Her small face almost seemed transparent in the light.
Everything in front of her blurred, gradually making her dizzy.
“Dai Dai!”
A voice pierced through her eardrum.
In the dream, she closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering. In reality, she opened her eyes in confusion.
The little fox’s eyes were filled with worry as it half-supported its body, holding her in its arms and kissing her forehead.
“Darling, what’s wrong with you? I can’t wake you up.”
Sang Dai covered her eyes, choking on her words, “I’m sorry…”
Su Xuan was stunned. He sat up and held her face-to-face in his arms.
“You saw something, didn’t you? Dai Dai, those are things that haven’t happened yet. The old destiny has already been changed, we must look forward now.”
He gently patted her back, softly comforting her.
Was that the old destiny?
Sang Dai didn’t know.
The old destiny hadn’t occurred yet; they had already changed it. But the images the Weisheng family contract imprint made her see were so real, as if they had already happened.
It really seemed like it had already happened.
Was it a changed destiny, or was it something that had already happened in the current world?
If it had happened, she should have been dead by now. Why was she still alive? The dead cannot return to life, time cannot flow backward.
She clung tightly to Su Xuan, burying her face in his neck. His body was still warm, and there was still a faint scent of grass and wood about him. His heartbeat was still strong and steady, and around him was pure, powerful spiritual energy—not that blood-red evil aura.
The Four Sufferings had long been washed away from him, and they hadn’t consumed his humanity, driving him mad. The Four Sufferings didn’t make him the brutal, murderous ruler he once was. His inner demons had deepened with each passing day, and his humanity had become increasingly fragile, leading him to choose to bind himself to her corpse before he lost his sanity.
Even if he went mad and forgot to extend her life, when Sang Dai’s body decayed, no matter where Su Xuan was in the world, he would follow her in death.
He was clearly such a gentle and pure person. How could he be the one who would stand by and watch a young boy die before his eyes without caring?
Su Xuan’s Yaoshan County had countless children. He was truly kind-hearted.
Sang Dai couldn’t hold back her emotions.
She had destroyed her own corpse, and Sang Dai knew why the version of herself in the dream did it.
By destroying the body, she cut off his attachment. Su Xuan wouldn’t bind his life to a body that would eventually perish. He wouldn’t continue to feed her with his blood, nor let his soul power weaken and be consumed by his inner demons.
He should be looking forward.
But he returned that night, the night he was supposed to marry her, only to find a pile of white bones.
He went mad. He grabbed a jug of wine and went to the Sword Sect’s back mountain. On her one hundredth death anniversary, he died at the hands of Shen Ciyu and the Heavenly Dao.
Su Xuan’s death was something she had set in motion.
“I’m sorry, I never meant for you to die…” Sang Dai clung to him, her tears falling into his neck, trickling down his collarbone.
“I didn’t know you would harm yourself. I didn’t know, Su Xuan, I really didn’t know…”
Destroying the body was meant to make him forget, to let him look forward. Her mere existence was his inner demon, the driving force behind his madness.
But by destroying the body, she had also destroyed the heart that kept him alive.
The Sang Dai in the dream didn’t know how much Su Xuan loved her.
Now, after spending months with Su Xuan, Sang Dai understood that the version of herself in the dream was completely wrong.
“Dai Dai?”
Su Xuan helplessly held her tight, lightly patting her shoulder, rubbing her head. “Dai Dai, no matter what you saw, it’s already been reset. We’re here with each other now. Look at me—am I still alive and well?”
But Sang Dai seemed to have truly seen something terrifying. She kept holding him, tightly apologizing over and over. She kept apologizing.
Su Xuan’s heart ached terribly. He revealed his tail to comfort her, but she didn’t even look at it, only holding him tighter.
Even his tail couldn’t comfort her; his sword cultivator really seemed to have been scared.
Self-harm. Sang Dai said he had harmed himself, and this indeed seemed like something Su Xuan would do. If she died, he would certainly not survive.
She saw events that were after her death.
Su Xuan didn’t know what had happened. He couldn’t see it—only the Weisheng family contract imprint allowed Sang Dai to witness these visions.
He could only hold his sword cultivator tightly, cupping her face and kissing her gently.
“Dai Dai, look at me.”
Sang Dai raised her head. The little fox’s eyes were filled with gentle affection.
The Four Sufferings hadn’t consumed him, and the inner demons hadn’t destroyed him.
Sang Dai went to kiss his lips, pecking them softly, one after another. “Su Xuan, I’m really sorry. I won’t let anyone die.”
The Weisheng family contract imprint had given her a second chance. She would change everything.
At least, she had already washed away the Four Sufferings from Su Xuan. He wouldn’t be consumed by them, edging toward madness.
“Dai Dai, as long as you live well, none of this will happen.” The little fox cupped her face and kissed her lips, murmuring against them, “Sweetheart, as long as you live, I’ll have the courage to do anything. I’ll live well, no matter how hard or painful. Your master will live, the Beast Realm will be fine, and the ones you care about, the ones I care about, will be safe.”
In some mysterious way, Sang Dai had already changed many things.
Ying Heng didn’t die. She found Ying Heng and learned many things.
Su Xuan didn’t go mad. She had washed away the Four Sufferings from his body. He wouldn’t be corrupted by them, losing his humanity and becoming a cold-blooded killing machine.
Everything would change.
As long as she lived, everything would change.
Sang Dai clung to his neck, tilting her head back to kiss his lips.
The little fox’s lips were still warm, the breath clean and pure, without a trace of bloodlust.
The cold wind outside knocked against the window, but inside, several Hellfire orbs provided warmth like spring. It was still raining tonight, but unlike the rain in Sang Dai’s earlier dream, she didn’t feel the bone-chilling cold.
After a long while, their lips parted. The little fox licked the water off her lower lip, then kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose.
“Tell me, what did you see?” Su Xuan still held her, letting her sit in his lap. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and the little fox’s voice was light. “Did you see me again?”
“…Yes.” Sang Dai’s emotions had stabilized. She wrapped her arms around his neck and softly spoke. “Su Xuan, I think… I know that man in black.”
Su Xuan’s body stiffened.
Sang Dai looked into his eyes and repeated everything she had seen in the dream, word for word.
The little fox’s palm rested against her lower back, and upon hearing this, his expression grew slightly serious. He leaned against the bedpost, allowing her to rest in his embrace.
“You said that was after your death, but Dai Dai, if someone with a Heavenly Grade Spiritual Root awakens and dies without becoming a ghost cultivator, their soul should disperse. Are you a ghost cultivator?”
Sang Dai shook her head. “No, I’m not. If I were a ghost cultivator, you wouldn’t be able to see me. I wouldn’t have a body. I wouldn’t be able to touch you, and you couldn’t see me. That man in black said I exist because of your obsession.”
“…If you’re not a ghost cultivator, your soul should have dispersed after death. Why then am I still seeing you by my side?”
Sang Dai said, “I don’t know. That man in black is the same. You can’t see him. He’s very strange, and I’m strange too.”
“You know him?”
“It feels like we’ve known each other for a long time.”
“…You were at the Sword Sect earlier, so you must have known him after death.”
“Maybe.” Sang Dai tightened her hold on him, pressing her ear to his chest. After hearing his steady heartbeat, she felt increasingly at ease. “The Weisheng family contract imprint shows me memories where, after I died, I should have been familiar with him. It seems like I slept for long periods of time due to health problems, and then I would wake up again.”
Su Xuan continued gently patting her back to comfort her. “What do you think he is?”
“I can’t say. There’s only that one memory. I can’t tell if he’s kind or not. It’s just… very strange.”
Her cultivation was advancing further, and the Weisheng family contract imprint grew stronger, allowing Sang Dai to see more things.
But the memories she saw were fragmented, never fully connected, never showing the beginning to the end.
All she knew now was that the Weisheng family contract imprint showed that she was familiar with that man in black, and their relationship seemed close.
Su Xuan lowered his long lashes, kissed Sang Dai’s earlobe, and softly said, “Dai Dai, maybe he never wanted to kill you.”
Sang Dai looked up at him.
Su Xuan brushed aside her hair and said, “Don’t you notice? Everything he did along the way looks like he’s trying to kill you, but he always helps you at the crucial moments. First the Tianyu Stone, then the Snow Owl’s Guixu spiritual power, and even finding Ying Heng, you obtained two segments of an Immortal Monarch’s spiritual root, and you also got the Guixu Spirit Vine. It’s like all of this is helping you.”
“Dai Dai, do you think he wants to kill you?”
This was something Sang Dai had wondered about a long time ago. Although the journey had been difficult, there had been so many coincidences. It felt like she was always presented with opportunities.
Sang Dai pursed her lips and asked, “But why does he know so much? If all of this was arranged by him, then it means he knew that Senior Ling Yin would help me, knew that Snow Owl’s obsession hadn’t been fully removed, knew that the Weisheng family contract imprint would help me find another path to break through the Grand Ascension stage.”
He really knew so much.
Su Xuan rubbed the back of her head. “Dai Dai, there are things we don’t understand right now. The third segment of the Immortal Lord’s spiritual root hasn’t been found yet, and Shi Yao isn’t dead either. I’m sure he still has plans. Let’s go to Guixu. Maybe we’ll find the answers there.”
Sang Dai stayed silent, holding Su Xuan tightly.
Guixu. It was the foundation of the Four Realms.
Sang Dai held him for a long time, and his warmth gradually reassured her. The sword cultivator said, “The rain’s getting heavier, Su Xuan.”
“It’s fine. I’ll stay with you while you sleep.”
The little fox turned and kissed her lips.
“Can you sleep?” Su Xuan asked, supporting himself above her. “If you can’t sleep, how about we dual cultivate?”
Sang Dai glanced out the window. The rain seemed to be pouring even harder, making it difficult to sleep. Her mind was a mess right now.
“Dual cultivating would leave me no time to think about anything else. It’s just past midnight, and it’s still far from dawn.”
—
Su Xuan didn’t give her any time to think. They only had one sex before bed, and his hand naturally pushed aside the robe she had loosely gathered around herself.
Sang Dai didn’t struggle. She lifted her waist, allowing him to undress her.
She looked at his face, but it was hard to recognize any trace of the person from her memories.
He was still the Beast King praised by all in the Beast Realm, a powerful heavenly-grade spiritual root awakener, a proud and cute little fox.
The little fox’s voice was hoarse as he wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Dai Dai, look, I’m still by your side. We’re still together, and we’ll always be together. You won’t lose me, nor will you lose anyone else. Don’t think about other things, okay?”
Sang Dai wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “Su Xuan, I want to kiss you.”
Su Xuan was of course happy to oblige. He lowered his body and brought his lips near hers. Sang Dai kissed his lower lip, feeling his presence and the vibrant life force within him.
The Guixu spiritual power was activated by him, circulating between their meridians. Dual cultivation was an excellent method, especially for two heavenly-grade spiritual root awakeners who inherently had a strong perception of Guixu spiritual power.
Sang Dai’s mind was in a muddled state, and she truly didn’t have the energy to think about anything else.
Her heart was entirely filled with him, and she couldn’t focus on anything else. It was still early before dawn, and since she couldn’t sleep, the little fox didn’t intend to let her either. Drowsy, she allowed him to use the marriage contract to channel the Guixu spiritual power. After the tribulation, there was still a vast cultivation gap to overcome, and Sang Dai wasn’t sure if she could slay the heavens.
But Su Xuan was still by her side, and everyone she cared about was with her.
She hadn’t died, and neither had they.
Everything was different from what she had seen.
“Su Xuan…”
In her dazed state, a faint osmanthus fragrance seemed to fill the air around them.
In Sang Dai’s chaotic consciousness, the golden osmanthus contract imprint grew brighter, and at the same time, the red flower on the Guixu spirit vine, placed behind the screen in a wooden box, trembled more noticeably. The golden spiritual power seemed to be summoned, shooting out from the flower and creeping down the wooden table, disappearing into the curtains.
It entered their hearts, and Sang Dai’s brow furrowed tighter as the osmanthus contract imprint in her sea of consciousness became even more radiant.
She was unaware, but the Guixu spiritual power seemed to never be depleted. It only grew, circulating in their meridians, channeled by Su Xuan through the marriage contract.
She opened her eyes. The little fox’s sweat dropped onto her, and Sang Dai absent-mindedly reached out to wipe it away. Her glazed eyes were full of lust.
Her hand, however, touched his chest. She had just seen it—there seemed to be something there.
The golden osmanthus contract imprint appeared for a moment on his chest, only to vanish quickly.
She wanted to get closer to see, but the little fox suddenly became heavier, and Sang Dai’s mind grew dizzy again.
Was it an illusion?
How could there be a Weisheng family contract imprint on his chest?