Meng Lichun had been mostly searching for Shao Junkang during this period.
But Shao Junkang, as a soul traveler, was a firearms designer within a governmental agency in his previous life in the modern society.
Based on his previous life’s information, he was originally an orphan.
Therefore, facing the genuine love and care from Shao Anhe and his mother in this life, he felt the need to cherish this hard-earned affection even more.
He had intended to live as an ordinary person of ancient times, letting go of everything from his past life in the modern society, so he never did anything that would disrupt the spacetime order, and thus, the third spacetime’s surveillance never noticed him.
But his father was killed, his mother and all others in the Shao residence, except for him, were murdered overnight.
Only Shao Junkang was sent away by Shao Anhe ahead of time.
After listening to Meng Lichun’s words, Wei Yun understood the whole story.
Shao Junkang thought it was him who killed Shao Anhe.
But in fact, whether it was the death of Shao Anhe or the massacre of the Shao family, it was all orchestrated by the crown prince.
Zhao Zhengtan was also afraid that Wei Yun would find the roster in Shao Anhe’s possession, so he silenced them ahead of time.
However, later, when Emperor Qi He wanted to cover up this matter for the crown prince, he pinned the death of Shao Anhe on Wei Yun.
A decree was issued to all under heaven, proclaiming that the Imperial Advisor Wei Yun had meritoriously investigated the corruption case and personally executed the criminal Shao Anhe and his accomplices… Ultimately, this so-called “merit” was attributed to Wei Yun.
Unexpectedly, this led Shao Junkang to regard Wei Yun as his father’s real killer.
And in an era of cold weapons, the premature appearance of firearms was obviously a violation of the spacetime laws, especially since Shao Junkang intended to kill Wei Yun, a figure at the heart of the Great Zhou’s political system, destined to be recorded in history.
Moreover, Wei Yun had the magnetic fields of two spacetimes on him.
In a sense, he belonged to the Great Zhou and also to this spacetime.
As the only spacetime traveler, if he were to die by Shao Junkang’s gun, the stability that had been hard-earned in these two spacetimes could face unpredictable deviations and chaos, something Meng Lichun couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Death in accordance with the natural laws of spacetime, and death caused by actions beyond control, are two extremes that can never meet.
Wei Yun, as a spacetime traveler who could freely travel between two spacetimes, has been the only one for hundreds of years.
The variables he introduced could potentially lead to a spacetime disaster in the third spacetime that is completely unpredictable.
Due to the command from the third dimension, Meng Lichun tried twice to bind his fate to Xie Tao’s body, intending for him to die naturally through this method, thereby eliminating the time-space hazard.
This method is the best solution to avoid chaos in time and space.
However, Shao Junkang’s doing so was a serious violation of the time-space order.
“Don’t worry, I have sent someone to catch him…” After Meng Lichun explained everything, he glanced at Wei Yun’s expressionless face and added another sentence.
Somehow… She should be considered half a deity, yet when facing this ordinary mortal, she still felt inexplicably a bit scared.
The most important thing was that her neck felt somewhat chilly…
When Meng Lichun turned to leave, she paused in her steps, suddenly turned around to look at Xie Tao sitting by the bed.
This usually unserious woman’s expression finally had a few serious notes to it.
“I did do something thoughtless before.”
She lowered her eyelids, “I’m sorry.”
After saying that, she turned around, and in front of Xie Tao and Wei Yun, transformed into a faint blue light, silently passing through the glass window, soaring into the sky, and disappearing without a trace.
Xie Tao blankly stared at the glass window for a long while before turning back to look at Wei Yun lying on her small bed.
Her fingers still had his blood on them, now dried into some marks.
“Does it hurt?”
She didn’t dare to touch the wound on his shoulder, only holding his hand and gently asking.
Wei Yun’s eyes only softened when he looked at the girl in front of him.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
Even his voice carried an inexplicably gentle tone.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw tears suddenly falling from the girl’s eyes in front of him, unable to stop.
“Why are you crying again?”
Wei Yun reached out to touch her cheek, wiping away the tears, but couldn’t stop another from falling.
“I didn’t want to cry…”
Xie Tao wiped her eyes several times with her sleeve, her delicate and soft voice unavoidably choked up, “It just falls on its own…”
“I see…” Wei Yun could only smile helplessly, bending his lips.
“But, but you really scared me to death…”
She sniffled and couldn’t help crying again.
Xie Tao couldn’t describe how terrified she was when she saw Wei Yun suddenly appear in her little house and touched the fresh blood seeping from his scapula.
“Sorry.” Wei Yun had to patiently comfort her.
Just then, Xie Tao’s phone on the desk suddenly rang.
It was the alarm she set.
“It’s twelve o’clock…” Her eyes still misty, she murmured upon hearing the music from the phone.
Then she turned back to look at Wei Yun, and after a long moment, she managed to say, “What a unlucky birthday you have…”
As she spoke, she started wiping her tears again.
Seeing her like this, Wei Yun somehow felt like smiling.
Xie Tao, touching his wet sleeve, suddenly stood up, turned, and ran towards the wardrobe.
Wei Yun frowned as he watched her rummage through it, eventually holding a set of clothes and walking back to him.
“I’m glad I bought you clothes the day before yesterday…”
Xie Tao’s eyes were still a bit red, and her voice carried the delicate warmth and softness unique to someone who had just cried.
It was a very simple black shirt, along with a pair of black trousers.
Ever since she last saw him in a shirt, Xie Tao had been somewhat unable to forget about it.
Even in his own time and space, where opportunities to wear such clothes were rare, she still couldn’t resist using her saved money to buy him another set.
Xie Tao put the clothes aside and was about to untie the blood-stained brocade robe Wei Yun was wearing.
Wei Yun grabbed her hand, “…I’ll do it myself.”
Xie Tao frowned her delicate eyebrows, “How can you take it off by yourself? What if you hurt your wound?”
Since Wei Yun didn’t have much strength at the moment, even the grip on her wrist was very light, so Xie Tao easily broke free from his hand, ignoring his objections and reached out to untie his belt.
“Xie Tao!”
In a moment of urgency, Wei Yun’s pale face even blushed a bit.
But even such a reprimand was of no use to Xie Tao, who was determined to take off his wet clothes.
As she undid his belt and was about to help him pull his arms out of the sleeves, her movements were gentle and slow. However, because the dried blood had adhered his clothes to the wound on his shoulder blade, she clenched his clothes with her fingers, not daring to continue.
Seeing her hesitant look, Wei Yun gently said, “It’s okay, you… continue.”
“It will hurt a lot…” Xie Tao’s fingers trembled slightly.
He always looked at her with soft eyes, his voice involuntarily carrying a hint of coaxing, “This level of pain is nothing.”
Xie Tao knew that it was better to be decisive.
So, she closed her eyes and, with a burst of courage, pulled off the clothes that were stuck to the edge of his wound.
At that moment, Wei Yun couldn’t help but frown because of the pain.
Shao Junkang’s gun was indeed not to be underestimated.
Even with his internal strength, he couldn’t quickly dodge the bullets coming from the barrel of the gun.
Wei Yun was deep in thought when he saw the girl’s hand reaching for the belt of the black robe he was wearing underneath, causing his brow to twitch. He immediately stopped her movements, saying, “The rest, I will do myself.”
“But you…”
“Tao Tao.”
Xie Tao wanted to say more, but Wei Yun interrupted her.
“Turn around.”
Xie Tao was somewhat reluctant, “I’m afraid that your wound…”
“Xie Tao.”
Wei Yun called her name helplessly.
“…”
Xie Tao had no choice but to hold his wet brocade robe and obediently turn around.
Seeing her turn around, Wei Yun seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief. He propped himself up and slowly untied his own belt.
The outer robe was stuck to the wound, and naturally, the one underneath was no exception.
But Wei Yun did not treat himself with the same cautious delicacy that Xie Tao did towards him.
Without any hesitation, he directly took off his robe, disregarding the slightly damaged cloth sticking to the edge of his wound, his actions particularly decisive.
It seemed as though blood seeped from the wound again.
Wei Yun just frowned and had not yet reached for the shirt Xie Tao had folded and put aside when he heard the girl standing with her back to him ask, “Wei Yun, are you alright?”
“I…”
Wei Yun had just begun to speak, his words incomplete, when he saw Xie Tao already turning around.
His hand that had just taken the shirt stiffened, and then he quickly reacted and said, “Xie Tao…”
“Why is your wound bleeding again?”
Upon seeing the blood flowing down his fair back, Xie Tao hurriedly took the medicine Meng Lichun had left behind, then sat behind him, sprinkling the powder on his wound bit by bit.
Meng Lichun’s medicine was unlike ordinary drugs; almost instantly upon contact with the wound, it vanished without a trace but also stopped the bleeding.
Later, Xie Tao found a first-aid kit in the cupboard, took out the gauze and tape inside, and bandaged his wound.
Just as she was about to help him put on the shirt, she suddenly caught sight of his delicate collarbones, fair chest, and further down… the clearly defined abs. She abruptly stood up and turned around, touching her nose.
Wei Yun’s earlobes were already flushed, but seeing her suddenly turn away, he glanced at her momentarily, then suddenly curved his lips into a smile.
After finally changing clothes, Wei Yun drank a few sips of water handed over by Xie Tao, feeling his dry throat much relieved for a moment.
Just then, a rumbling sound came from Xie Tao’s stomach.
Immediately, it made Wei Yun look up at her, a smile lurking in his eyes.
“…Hungry?” he asked her.
Embarrassedly touching her stomach, Xie Tao’s cheeks reddened, “I haven’t had dinner, of course I’m hungry…”
Hearing this, a trace of apology flashed through Wei Yun’s smiling eyes, “I’m sorry, Tao Tao, I broke my promise to you.”
Originally, he was supposed to spend his birthday with her tonight.
But Xie Tao shook her head, ran to the other side to take the cake that was placed on the table, and opened it on a stool.
In the pitch-black night, she lit the candles one by one on the cake.
Then, she ran to turn off the light.
And then, Wei Yun saw, among the flickering flames, the girl lying by the bed suddenly called his name seriously, “Wei Yun.”
She said, “Happy Birthday.”
Despite the day being filled with such a perilous assassination.
Despite, at this moment, being wounded.
But this day, he came into Xie Tao’s world.
And at this moment, he was inexplicably touched by the girl’s simple “Happy Birthday.”
The moment the candles were blown out.
The room darkened, with only the neon lights from outside the half-open curtains casting a distant glow into the room, preventing it from being too dark.
Xie Tao felt her wrist being grasped.
The moment she fell into his arms, in the dim light, a warm and soft touch landed on her lips.
At that moment, Xie Tao’s eyes widened.
His kiss came very suddenly.
It carried a bit of restrained forbearance.
Later, lying in his arms, Xie Tao gently asked him, “Wei Yun, did you make a wish?”
“No.”
“Then, can you give your wish to me?”
“Mm.”
“My first wish is for you to be healthy and strong, ideally impervious to knives and bullets, with skin as tough as copper and bones as strong as iron!”
“…And the second?”
“The second… I want that bad guy who’s out to get you to explode on the spot!”
“…And the third?”
“The third, the third… wait, let me think, I haven’t figured it out yet…”
