Xie Tao, upon seeing the blue light flying out of the woman’s hand, didn’t have time to think any further and almost immediately turned around to run.
The woman stood still, watching the girl’s retreating figure. She didn’t smile, and her expression was heavy.
If possible, she didn’t want to harm the life of such a mortal girl.
But she knew well that this matter had to be resolved.
Thus, she stretched out her hand, and a pale blue light wrapped around Xie Tao’s waist.
Almost instantly, Xie Tao’s body involuntarily moved backward, and she was brought right in front of the woman by the blue light.
At that moment, a thin thread of blue light bound Xie Tao’s waist.
The woman’s fingers around Xie Tao’s neck tightened a bit, but upon hearing Xie Tao’s muffled sounds, as she couldn’t speak, she subconsciously loosened her grip a little.
She closed her eyes.
Ending the life of the girl in front of her would be an easy task; she just needed to push her, sending her into the barrier set up temporarily, and into the flowing traffic.
Xie Tao’s eyes widened, her pupils constricted, not knowing what kind of magic the woman had used on her, as her mouth couldn’t open at all, not able to make any sound.
But the innate fear of death made her instinctively want to break free and escape when the woman was holding her neck.
Eventually, the woman still stretched out her hand, pushing Xie Tao away.
That instant, Xie Tao watched in horror as the distance between her and the woman grew, while she was bound by the blue light, unable to break free.
Her eyes reddened, Xie Tao used all her strength, but still couldn’t move.
She could feel the wind blowing her hair, sweeping across her cheeks, so biting and bone-chilling, just like the woman’s sympathetic gaze, making her afraid, even feeling despair in an instant.
Just as Xie Tao’s body was about to break through the barrier and fall into the street traffic, the woman’s hand tightened, her gaze fixed on Xie Tao, watching her reddened eyes.
Such an ordinary and innocent girl.
Seemingly only about eighteen years old.
At that moment, Wei Yun, in another time and space, holding the hairpin in his hand, felt as if he was pricked in his heart, his brows furrowed, standing there, his mind momentarily blank.
“Sir?” Wei Jing noticed his unusual behavior and hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong, sir?”
Wei Yun gripped the hairpin tightly, his face slightly pale, not even hearing Wei Jing’s words.
At this moment, Xie Tao felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart tightly, leaving no gap, almost suffocating her.
The immense fear had already caused her eyes to fill with tears.
But just as her body uncontrollably touched the barrier, at that moment, a gust of cold wind brushed past her face, stinging her cheeks painfully, and made her instinctively close her eyes tightly.
But when she opened her eyes, her feet were already on the ground.
And the woman was standing in front of her.
Xie Tao stood there, stunned, tears in her eyes, as if she hadn’t yet reacted, her whole body stiff.
And the woman standing in front of her suddenly squatted down, covering her face, “How can I be so weak, unable to go through with it…”
Her voice carried a mix of frustration and dejection.
This woman, it seems, has not revealed such a sorrowful side for a long time, as if those things that have settled over the past centuries, making them untouchable for her, were all torn open again at this moment, at her weakest moment, revealing a bloody mess.
She has never truly freed herself from the pain.
Xie Tao stood there, frozen, as she heard the woman’s restrained crying, as if she hadn’t come out of the life-and-death moment just now, or as if she was also shocked by the sudden sadness of the woman before her.
But it was only for a minute or two before Xie Tao saw the woman wipe away her tears and stand up.
Her lipstick was smeared, and much of her eye makeup had rubbed off, making her look a bit disheveled.
“Forget it… What does this have to do with you?”
She shook her head, her voice very low, as if murmuring to herself.
Wei Yun she dares to kill, but cannot kill.
And Xie Tao she could kill, but ultimately could not bring herself to do it.
Because she knew very well that the copper talisman was lost by her, and the phoenix tail scale also accidentally ended up in Xie Tao’s phone.
Xie Tao was involuntarily dragged into this matter.
For those who violate the rules of time travel or others with malicious intent, endangering the balance of time and space, she has never been lenient, but the girl before her was an innocent person.
Just because Xie Tao was innocent, just because Xie Tao had no choice in the matter.
So, she couldn’t convince herself to really kill this girl.
At this moment, Xie Tao finally understood that this woman had spared her.
As if hearing something, the woman looked at Xie Tao, said “I’m sorry” with particular complexity, and then vanished in a flash.
Just after she disappeared, Xie Lan’s figure broke through the barrier and rushed in.
“Are you alright, Tao Tao?!”
Seeing Xie Tao standing there dazed, Xie Lan ran up to her, holding her shoulders and asking urgently.
It was like being submerged under water, gradually overwhelmed by despair, and then suddenly being able to breathe air again, her mind was a blank, her soul still unsettled.
And at this moment, Wei Yun’s vision finally cleared.
It was as if the nearly suffocating feeling from before was just his temporary illusion.
The manager of Golden Jade Pavilion stood there, offering tea and carefully observing Wei Yun’s complexion.
“Do you feel any better, sir?”
Seeing his complexion seemed not as pale as before, Wei Jing spoke up.
Wei Yun nodded, but had no desire to speak.
He just took a silver note from his waist, threw it on the table where the teacup was placed, tapped the table with his knuckles, and then, holding the hairpin in his hand, stood up and walked out.
Wei Jing also hurriedly followed out.
As soon as he got into the carriage, Wei Yun said, “Back to the mansion.”
“Yes.”
Wei Jing quickly responded.
As soon as Wei Yun returned to the mansion, Wei Bo came up to greet him.
But he just nodded slightly and hurried towards the direction of the study.
There was always a bit of unease in his heart, the sudden discomfort also made him vigilant.
Upon returning to the study, he immediately locked the door and took out the copper pendant, placing it on the desk.
At this moment, Xie Tao should be at school.
But the uneasiness in his heart prompted him to pick up the pen and write a letter, placing it under the copper pendant.
He has yet to figure out a way to make the copper pendant display the light screen on its own, so he could only continue to contact her through letters.
At that time, Xie Tao had just been sent home by Xie Lan, sitting on the bed looking somewhat dazed.
“Did you have breakfast, Tao Tao? Want brother Lan to cook you instant noodles?” Xie Lan squatted in front of her, asking her carefully.
Xie Tao seemed to react after a long while, then slowly shook her head.
“Then you… must be thirsty, right? Wait, I’ll get you a glass of water!”
This time, Xie Lan didn’t wait for Xie Tao’s response and turned around to pour her water.
But he found the water was cold, so he quickly went to heat it up.
It was at this moment that Xie Tao’s phone vibrated a few times.
She still took a while to react before slowly taking out her phone from her coat pocket.
The screen lit up, showing a WeChat message from Wei Yun.
“What are you doing?”
These four simple words, for some reason, suddenly made Xie Tao tear up.
“Just got home.”
She managed to type a few words.
There was no reply from the other end immediately.
Xie Tao glanced at Xie Lan, who was waiting for the water to boil, wanting to talk to Wei Yun, but it wasn’t the right time.
But the next moment, she suddenly found her body being enveloped by a faint golden light, just like the golden powder scattering last night, gradually, her entire body became more and more transparent.
When Xie Lan turned around, he just caught the moment Xie Tao disappeared.
His eyes widened.
??!!
“Where, where is she?!” He was almost shocked to his core.
Even as the owner of the mysterious tavern for so long, he had never seen such a bizarre incident!
How could a living person suddenly become transparent and disappear?!
“My goodness, old Xi! Tao Tao is gone! Tao Tao turned transparent! She’s completely gone ahhh! She disappeared right in front of me!” Xie Lan frantically took out his phone, shouting into the phone at the person on the other end.
And old Xi, who received his call, rubbed his ears that were irritated by his loud voice, moved the phone a bit further away, drank a sip of tea very calmly, and simply said, “Come back first.”
Then he hung up Xie Lan’s phone.
Xie Lan held the phone, glanced again at the place where Xie Tao had disappeared, and hissed. “This old man actually doesn’t care about Tao Tao at all? And he hung up the phone on me?!”
At that time, in another dimension.
Inside the Imperial Advisor’s study.
The dense smoke dissipated, and the figure of Xie Tao gradually became clear.
A young master, tall and handsome, stood in front of her, still dressed in his dark purple gauze robe, which he hadn’t had the chance to change out of. A censer on the bookcase behind him still had wisps of light smoke swirling around.
The moment she saw Wei Yun, she couldn’t hold back the redness in her eyes.
The fear that had been suppressed in her heart seemed to lose control at the sight of him, the string in her mind that had been tightly wound suddenly snapped, and she couldn’t help but cry out, throwing herself into his embrace.
When she hugged his waist, his back involuntarily stiffened as usual.
But upon hearing her crying, he immediately frowned, quickly bowed his head, and asked, “Why are you crying?”
Xie Tao cried in his embrace, gasping for air.
Finally, Wei Yun extended his hand, very gently grasped her chin, then bent down, and with a soft call, he said, “Tao Tao.”
“Tell me, why are you crying?”
His hand gently stroked her dark hair, his cool voice softened with a hint of warmth, conveying patience and comfort.
Such close proximity made Xie Tao, with tears in her eyes, forget to cry.
The tears under her eyes hadn’t yet slid down to her cheeks before Wei Yun reached out to wipe them away.
Xie Tao was startled by his sudden touch, feeling a slight warmth on her cheeks, her lips trembled, “I,”
“I almost died today…”
Xie Tao had never experienced this feeling of being on the brink of life and death.
She could clearly see the flowing traffic, feel herself being uncontrollably pushed towards the street, but was completely unable to move or even utter a word, like a dying ant, devoid of any strength to struggle.
Upon hearing this from Xie Tao, Wei Yun’s brows and eyes suddenly turned cold, but he still softened his voice, asking, “What exactly happened?”
Wei Yun took Xie Tao to a table inside the inner chamber and handed her a cup of warm tea.
Holding the hot tea, Xie Tao sniffed, having calmed down a lot by now, and began to tell him in bits and pieces about the mysterious woman who had suddenly appeared on her way to school.
Indeed, as Wei Yun had feared.
The discomfort he had felt in Golden Jade Pavilion was not without reason.
It was still the doing of that mysterious woman.
But how dare she?
How dare she reach out to Xie Tao for a second time?
Wei Yun’s hand, hidden in his wide sleeve, gradually clenched tighter, his knuckles turning white. His handsome face showed no emotion, but his eyes shimmered with a bone-chilling coldness.
If she hadn’t retracted her hand in time, then whether it be Xie Tao or himself, they might have already been souls returned to the underworld by now.
It seems some matters can no longer wait.
Although clouds of gloom hung over his heart, Wei Yun’s eyes seemed to soften a bit when he looked at Xie Tao.
Having drunk the hot tea, Xie Tao’s body had warmed up considerably.
Then she heard Wei Yun say, “Leave this matter to me.”
When she looked up at him, she met his eyes, still carrying a clear gleam, soft light, like the reflection of riverside lamps on the water’s surface at night.
“Tao Tao, don’t be afraid.”
He even reached out and touched her head.
Xie Tao pursed her lips, her eyelashes trembling, not daring to look at him any longer.
Finally, she responded softly.
He was always a man of few words. In front of her, the comforting words he could manage were only to this extent.
But they were always from his heart.
Seeing the young girl with her head lowered, somewhat dazed, not as lively as usual, Lord Wei, who typically did not interact with women, found himself at a loss.
For a moment, he didn’t know what else to say.
Consoling a girl, it turned out, was much more difficult than killing.
But as if he suddenly remembered something, he stood up. Under Xie Tao’s puzzled gaze, he lifted the tasseled curtain and went outside, only to return after a short while.
He sat down in front of Xie Tao again and handed her a hairpin, his usually unflappable face showing some unease.
His ears involuntarily warmed.
He cleared his throat, trying to appear nonchalant.
“Just consider it a belated birthday gift,” he said.
Xie Tao stared at the gold wire and cinnabar jade hairpin, forgetting to take it for a moment until Wei Yun stood up and placed it in her hand.
Holding the hairpin, its cool temperature made her fingers flinch, but looking at Wei Yun and then at the hairpin in her hand, her eyes finally brightened.
She smiled, her eyes curving, the beautiful double eyelid creases unfolding.
“Thank you!” she said, as if she wasn’t the one who had been crying just moments ago.
It was then that her hand accidentally touched the teacup in front of her, about to fall off the table. Xie Tao hurriedly reached out to catch it, but the tea spilled over her, soaking her sweater and scalding her neck.
It wasn’t terribly painful, but it made her frown.
Wei Yun immediately stood up and went over to her, “How could you be so careless?”
He sighed, a bit more helplessly.
His brocade handkerchief gently covered her neck, carefully wiping it.
But seeing the large yellow tea stain, he frowned.
“Change your clothes,” he suggested.
“I don’t have any to change into…” Xie Tao said softly.
Wei Yun paused, also feeling somewhat troubled.
There were no maids in his house, naturally no women’s clothes; he couldn’t command Wei Jing to go buy some…
As if making a difficult decision.
Wei Yun spoke, somewhat unnaturally:
“Then… wear mine for now?”
“……Okay.”
Xie Tao didn’t know why, but her cheeks felt a bit warm.
“Wait here.”
Wei Yun touched her hair, admonished her with a sentence, and then turned around to walk outside.
Seeing him leave, Xie Tao sat on the stool, staring at the hairpin in her hand, touched it several times, and then inserted it into her ponytail, touched it again, and smiled with her eyes curved.
When Wei Yun came back, he lifted the fringed curtain and saw her inserting the hairpin into her braid. Since she couldn’t see, she could only touch it a few times herself.
A hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.
Xie Tao turned around and met Wei Yun’s eyes, her face reddened, she hurriedly took down the hairpin, placed it on the table, and sat upright, even placing her hands behind her back.
Like a well-behaved little student.
Wei Yun walked over to her, didn’t mention the scene he had just seen, and threw the inner garment and robe he was carrying into her arms, saying, “You can change behind the screen.”
“Then, what about you?” Xie Tao stood up with the robe, looking at him with a still somewhat red face.
Wei Yun, under her gaze, tilted his head slightly and coughed lightly, “I’ll be outside.”
With that, he turned around and lifted the curtain to go outside.
Seeing him leave, Xie Tao obediently took the robe behind the screen.
After taking off the wet clothes, Xie Tao wore his snow-white inner garment and spread out the crimson brocade robe.
This brocade robe, tailor-made for Wei Yun, fitted him perfectly, but on the petite Xie Tao, it looked like she was dressing up for a grand performance.
The robe dragged on the ground, she rolled up the sleeves a couple of times, and tied the belt.
“Wei Yun! I’m ready!”
She said and walked towards the fringed curtain.
Hearing her, Wei Yun put down the scroll in his hand, stood up, and walked towards the inner room.
Before he got there, he saw Xie Tao had already lifted the curtain and come out.
The crimson color made her skin appear even whiter and clearer, and her eyes still looked watery. When she smiled, a shallow dimple even appeared on her right cheek.
But… that robe was indeed a bit too long for her.
Now dragging on the ground, she looked like a child stealing to wear an adult’s clothes.
A smile couldn’t help but surface in the depths of Wei Yun’s eyes.
“Look!” In front of him, she shook off the sleeves she had rolled up earlier, swung them a couple of times, and laughed again.
Just as she was about to approach him, she carelessly stepped on the hem of her robe, losing her balance and was about to fall to the ground.
Wei Yun almost instinctively reached out to catch her, but in her panic, she grabbed onto the belt around his waist.
This caused him to lose his balance as well, and he lunged towards her.
The two of them fell to the ground together, bringing down a nearby lantern stand and causing a large number of items on the desk to fall as well.
At that moment, Wei Bo was just outside the door, not yet having asked if the adults wanted to have lunch, when he heard a loud noise.
His white beard trembled, and he called out with a strong voice, “Sir!”
Wei Jing hurried over, flying into the room.
The two of them kicked open the door of the study almost at the same time, just before Wei Yun could speak to stop them.
And so…
Wei Bo and Wei Jing stood at the doorway, almost popping their eyes out of their sockets.
In such a mysterious atmosphere, Wei Bo was even shocked into belching.
Good heavens!
Why was their lord lying on top of a young girl?!
Wait a minute!
Where did that young girl come from?!
When did their lord start keeping a concubine in secret?!
