That night, Xie Tao slept deeply.
Her dreams seemed to be adorned with the stars from the eaves, and the moon spread a soft silver light throughout the courtyard.
The young gentleman beside her hastily threw off the cloak draped over her, standing there, blurred by the lamp’s light and shadow, making it difficult for her to see the redness of his ears clearly.
When Xie Tao was awakened by the alarm clock, she opened her eyes and stared blankly at the snow-white ceiling for a while before yawning lazily.
Reaching out to grab her phone, she instead touched a silky brocade pouch, feeling something hard inside.
Upon inspection, it turned out to be the bag of gold ingots she had forgotten on the desk in the study yesterday.
“… He’s really persistent.”
Xie Tao let out a gentle sigh, but her eyes curved with a smile, unable to suppress the laughter at the corners of her lips.
After lounging in bed for a while, Xie Tao got up to wash and get ready. She changed into her school uniform, packed her bag, and left the house. She bought buns and soy milk at a breakfast shop before heading to the bus stop.
Once on the bus, Xie Tao found a seat by the window.
At one stop, a woman dressed in a black dress with bare legs, only covered by a coat, sat next to her. Perhaps it was her cold-weather attire or her strikingly beautiful face, but as soon as she boarded, she drew the attention of many, including Xie Tao.
Xie Tao sneaked a peek at her, only seeing her profile and the purple crystal earrings sparkling in the early morning light. Because the woman was wearing sunglasses, Xie Tao couldn’t see her expression or know that behind those sunglasses, the woman was also secretly observing her.
The woman was conflicted.
The girl in front of her seemed so innocent and harmless, just a normal human girl, yet the opportunity she possessed was beyond what a mere mortal could handle.
Wei Yun was never one to be trifled with.
Since she couldn’t take his life herself, she had to start with the girl in front of her to break the deadlock.
When Xie Tao got off the bus, the woman followed.
But as she followed her onto the sidewalk, her high heel got stuck in a crack between the paving stones.
“…?” A look of frustration crossed the woman’s face.
Stuck there, she attracted the stares of passersby, some of whom couldn’t help but laugh.
Embarrassed, she bent down and after a couple of tugs, freed her heel.
Perhaps because she was too hasty, her heel broke off.
The woman’s lips twitched, and holding her broken high heel, she looked up to see Xie Tao’s figure getting further away. She frowned, decided to take off her other high heel too, and started running barefoot towards Xie Tao.
As she was about to catch up, she slowed down and a dark blue light emerged from her hands, enveloping both her and Xie Tao.
Xie Tao was about to cross the street, but suddenly, everything around her became blurry and dark.
Xie Tao’s eyes widened.
What was happening?
“Xie Tao.”
Suddenly, a woman’s voice came from behind her.
Clear and distinct, it stood out in the dark space.
Xie Tao turned around and saw the woman who had been sitting next to her on the bus. Now without her sunglasses, her eyes were a light shade, especially beautiful.
“Who are you?” Xie Tao’s heart tightened inexplicably as she grabbed her backpack and stepped back a few steps.
“A beautiful woman.”
The woman curved her red lips into a smile and winked at her.
“…”
Suddenly, Xie Tao was thrown a flirtatious look, making her involuntarily step back two more steps.
The woman lifted her chin, crossed her arms, and stood there, seemingly taking a detailed look at Xie Tao from head to toe. The smile on her lips gradually faded, and her expression suddenly became very complex.
“Why do you know my name?” Xie Tao looked at the strange woman who appeared suddenly with caution.
Looking at her, the woman said with a hint of indescribable meaning, “Because you have done something you shouldn’t have.”
Done something she shouldn’t have?
Xie Tao couldn’t understand what she meant at all.
“Xie Tao, originally, I could have saved your life, but now,”
The woman said, shaking her head, “I must kill you.”
The method of binding life fates is always extreme.
Initially, she hadn’t planned to take this girl’s life.
Even if she binds the fate of others to herself, if she faces a threat to her life, that person will also feel what she feels, even amplifying some sensations.
That person might die, but not necessarily Xie Tao.
Moreover, from the beginning, she had been determined to save Xie Tao.
But that opportunity was ruined by someone unknown, and now to re-establish the binding of fates, the fate between Xie Tao and Wei Yun would become even more closely intertwined and difficult to separate.
If Wei Yun dies, Xie Tao wouldn’t survive either.
From the start, the woman couldn’t bring herself to harm Wei Yun, so, her target could only be Xie Tao.
She originally didn’t want to involve this innocent mortal girl’s life, but Xie Tao has now fully discovered the mystery of the phoenix tail scales and has even traveled to another dimension through Wei Yun’s means.
Xie Tao has become an unstable factor.
And for the greater good, she must do this.
Upon hearing the strange woman utter these words, Xie Tao’s grip on her backpack strap tightened, her eyes filled with shock.
“Why… do you want to kill me?”
Xie Tao stood there, having already seen the flickering pale blue light between the woman’s fingers, resembling the shape of ice spikes, sharp and pointed.
Her whole body became somewhat stiff.
For a moment, her mind quickly flashed back to a previous scene in the dimly lit classroom, where she was choked by Zhao Yixuan, and behind Zhao Yixuan, she caught a glimpse of a bit of pale blue light.
She thought it was just an illusion at the time.
But in just a moment, all the images in her mind flashed by rapidly.
Could it be that the woman in front of her was the one mentioned by Old Xi, the one who controlled Zhao Yixuan?
“Picking up something you shouldn’t have picked up, meeting someone you shouldn’t have met, that is your misfortune.”
The woman’s gaze suddenly became fleeting.
“Little girl, Wei Yun is not from your world. He is sinister, skilled in killing, and naturally indifferent. If there’s anything he would love in this life, it’s probably only power. And you, you are never on the same path as him.”
In order to eliminate Wei Yun, she had thoroughly researched this person’s background.
It was precisely because she understood his past and present that she knew his ambition might not be satisfied by a mere Great Zhou; he was born as a hidden danger that shouldn’t exist.
He was a bug she must eliminate.
As for how much Wei Yun truly cared for this girl named Xie Tao, or was it all just for some ulterior motive?
That was something no one could be sure of.
But she felt it was the latter.
Wei Yun now knew about the otherworldly matters, perhaps only using Xie Tao to understand everything about the other world, turning all its exploitable aspects into stepping stones for achieving his own goals.
Xie Tao did not expect that the woman in front of her seemed to know so much about her and Wei Yun.
It was something she and Elder Xi had not yet spoken openly about.
But from Elder Xi’s reaction, it seemed he knew something as well.
How did they come to know of it?
“It’s too late to say anything now…”
The woman suddenly sighed deeply, her face, which was usually not serious, now showed a bit of pity and seemingly also some reluctance, “Actually, I didn’t want to do this either, but there’s no choice. I’ve already made a mistake once, and I don’t want to let such a thing happen a second time… So, I’m sorry, Xie Tao.”
Xie Tao watched as the pale blue light between the woman’s fingers gradually became brighter, and the blurred scenery behind her seemed to suddenly reveal a glimpse of the outside world.
It was the street bustling with traffic in front of the school gate.
And the blue light in the woman’s hand was about to hit her, pushing her to break through the barrier and step into the flow of traffic.
Only in this way, to the outside world, this would just seem like an ordinary traffic accident.
By then, Wei Yun had already left the court, walking down the white jade steps from the Golden Luang Hall along with a group of officials.
This morning, Crown Prince Zhao Zhengtai was confined to his palace by Emperor Qi He for intervening in a case handled by the Ministry of Justice under the Emperor’s watch, openly using his power to pressure others. However, because the newly appointed Minister of Justice, He Mingrui, was a man of integrity, this incident caused quite a stir both inside and outside the court.
Emperor Qi He, due to the surface implications and still annoyed by the Shen Anhe incident, simply punished the Crown Prince.
Wei Yun, for the first time, took notice of this newly appointed Minister of Justice.
Perhaps noticing Wei Yun’s gaze, He Mingrui passed by Wei Yun and, for a moment, showed a look of conflict on his face. However, he eventually gave Wei Yun a perfunctory salute, calling him “Lord Wei” before leaving promptly.
Clearly, he was reluctant to have any involvement with the rumored “sorcerer” Imperial Advisor.
At this moment, watching the man’s straight back, Wei Yun’s lips twitched slightly, his expression indifferent.
He Mingrui might not realize what kind of monarch he was dealing with.
After leaving the palace in his carriage, Wei Yun felt unusually restless for some reason.
He frowned slightly and, as he casually lifted the curtain, happened to see a shop by the roadside. After a brief thought, he told Wei Jing, “Stop the carriage.”
“Milord?” Wei Jing stopped but was somewhat puzzled.
Wei Yun got off the carriage and walked straight into the shop.
???
Wei Jing was completely dumbfounded.
Until he saw the name of the shop – Golden Jade Pavilion.
???
Does the lord want to buy a jade pendant?
But when Wei Jing followed inside, he was horrified to find that in Wei Yun’s hand, there was a hairpin made of gold-threaded lizhi jade.
The, the lord is… picking, jewelry?!
