Could this… really be him?
She studied him warily, then shook her head inwardly, dismissing the thought.
How could she possibly link two people with completely different faces just because their voices sounded familiar?
“If you’re going to eat me, just do it,” she said, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle a sob. “I’m just a girl alone in the wilderness. Please, stop scaring me. What kind of monster are you? Did you eat that Young Master too?”
“Your fear is completely unnecessary,” he said, a smirk playing on his lips.
The moonlight masked the mockery in his eyes. “No one would bother eating the body of someone with such low cultivation.”
He knows me.
In this place, the only person who knew her was that young master. It had to be him. She must have been overthinking it—it was normal for someone to wear a mask or change their appearance.
“Husband, is it really you?” Xu Songhe lowered her hand and looked up at him, her eyes searching.
Seeing he was unharmed, she felt a surge of relief and joy.
Suddenly remembering the system’s warning, she acted without thinking and grabbed his hand. “Those monsters are coming back… we can’t stay here…”
Wait.
What was she holding?
“Your… your hand… how is it—?”
A slender, perfectly intact arm hung naturally from his sleeve, showing no sign that it had ever been severed.
Xu Songhe felt her brain short-circuiting. She completely forgot about the monsters. How could a human arm be cut off so easily and then grow back as if nothing had happened?
“What? Is it that strange?”
Qi Wuyang’s brow furrowed slightly, as if annoyed by her alarm. But he quickly masked the look with a false smile.
Oh, right. She realized that she might be the only ordinary person in this world who couldn’t do anything. Her future husband had just strangled a huge monster with his bare hands. For him to grow a new arm didn’t seem that strange anymore.
Xu Songhe blinked, a stray tear from her lashes wetting her cheek.
She looked down at the severed arm she was still clutching and hesitated. “Um, do I still need to keep this?”
Running around in the middle of the night with a severed arm—anyone who saw her would have thought she was possessed.
As she asked, she noticed a flicker of contempt in the young man’s eyes.
Don’t look at me like I’m an idiot, she thought.
It was her first time seeing a human arm grow back so perfectly and quickly.
Xu Songhe found a hole, buried the arm, and stood up to brush the mud from her skirt. When she looked up again, she saw a flash of white as the young man moved away from her line of sight.
“Husband—” she called out, the word slipping out naturally. “Hu—”
The young man stopped abruptly and shot her a cold glance.
“…” Xu Songhe fell silent and quickly hurried to catch up. “Are we going back to your home, Young Master?”
“I don’t have a home,” he replied casually.
No… home?
Xu Songhe froze, her confusion vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. It was one thing for her—a transmigrator—to have nowhere to go, but how could he, a native of this world, have no home?
The woods grew darker as they ventured deeper. Xu Songhe stepped over the shadows cast by the moonlight, following the young man tremblingly. The constant chirping of insects grated on her ears.
Her fear mounted, threatening to swallow her whole, until he finally stopped in front of her.
Xu Songhe scanned the dark, empty clearing. Then she looked at the young man, who had already found a spot to sit.
“Y-Young Master,” she stammered, “can we move somewhere else?”
He looked at her with an amused smile. “Are you scared?”
“I don’t feel safe here,” she admitted.
She turned to the System. Will those monsters come back?
[Don’t worry, Host], the System replied.
[Their scent is gone. They were likely just the stragglers from the day’s attack, passing through while fleeing for their lives.]
“I’m the only one here,” the young man said, lifting his head.
His eyes weren’t exceptionally beautiful—certainly not as stunning as the faces she’d seen in the monster’s lair—yet for some reason, the more she looked at him, the more she felt her soul being drawn in.
Qi Wuyang lowered his gaze, his smile tinged with a hint of malice. “If you’re looking for someone, you’d better leave soon. Otherwise, you’ll be the one collecting your partner’s body.”
Xu Songhe choked. What partner?
After a long moment, she carefully sat down beside him, resting her chin on her hands as she stared at him.
He turned to meet her gaze. “What are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at you,” Xu Songhe replied. She thought for a moment, then added, “And wondering about a few things.”
“What things?”
“Were you wearing a mask in the monster’s lair today?” she asked curiously.
He didn’t answer, instead smiling as he asked, “Do you want to see my real face?”
Xu Songhe stared at him, hesitated for a second, and then nodded honestly.
For some reason, even though she had never seen his true appearance, she was certain her future husband would be exceptionally handsome.
“No one in this world has ever seen my real face,” the young man said, suddenly leaning in. His low chuckle tickled her ear like a feather.
Xu Songhe flinched reflexively, then heard him murmur, “Because they’re all dead.”
A shiver ran through her, and her heart hammered against her ribs.
“Then I… I won’t look. You should keep your mask on.”
As long as he lets me survive, she thought, who cares what he looks like?
She had no intention of risking her life for a glimpse of his face.
“Scared already?”
Qi Wuyang’s interest vanished. He casually broke off several branches, piled them in a messy heap, and snapped his fingers. A flame instantly erupted from the wood.
The firelight illuminated their surroundings. Xu Songhe found herself leaning closer, feeling the fear and chill that had gripped her just moments ago vanish in its warmth.
The heat was so intense it stung her palms. Just as she was about to pull back, a faint scent wafted past her nose—not the raw smell of plants or damp earth, but a cloying, powdery sweetness mixed with the stench of rotting wood.
What is that smell?
Before she could figure it out, the stinging in her palms faded. She looked down and saw the fire extinguish itself, even though there was no wind.
Darkness rushed back in. Xu Songhe held her breath and turned to the young man leaning against the tree.
But all she saw was a flash of a white dress.
A pale, clawed hand shot out of the shadows, aiming for Qi Wuyang’s face. It stopped just short of him, the sharp talons hovering inches from his skin.
“Watch out!”
Mustering a sudden burst of courage, Xu Songhe grabbed a stick from the ground and swung it at the attacker. The embers on the wood were still glowing, and they instantly ignited the female ghost’s dress.
“Aah—!”
The female ghost had completely ignored Xu Songhe. Caught off guard by the sneak attack, the flames now tore through her sheer white dress, scorching the fabric.
Xu Songhe’s mind was still racing. She rushed to Qi Wuyang’s side, her voice filled with worry. “Young Master, are you hurt?”
The young man glanced at her, the playful glint in his eyes fading like mist in the wind.
Seeing herself ignored, the female ghost shrieked, her voice piercing with rage. “You killed so many of my companions! Do you really think you’ll leave here alive?”
Before she even finished speaking, she flung her arms wide. Countless black, shimmering hairs shot from her sleeves, coiling toward them like venomous snakes.
Xu Songhe grabbed whatever she could find on the ground—stones, branches, a knife—and hurled them. But the moment they flew out, they were swallowed whole by the darkness.
“Sys—System! You said they wouldn’t come back!”
But the system played dead at the critical moment, leaving only the sound of short-circuiting static in her mind.
Slash! Slash!
The darkness suddenly tore open. Xu Songhe looked up in shock. A single, unremarkable leaf drifted past, and in an instant, the hairs were sliced to shreds.
The female ghost’s pupils dilated in shock. She clutched her chest and spat out a mouthful of blood, glaring hatefully at her attacker. “Do you know whose territory this is? Do you know who I serve? If Lord Nine-Tails finds out you’ve harmed me, he will make sure you suffer a slow and agonizing death!”
“Ah, Lord Nine-Tails,” the young man said, tossing the fallen leaf in his hand.
He finally looked at her directly, as if savoring the name. “Did he teach you such pathetic combat skills? With a useless subordinate like you, he must be nothing more than a mediocre fraud.”
“How dare you!” the ghost shrieked. “How dare you insult Lord Nine-Tails! You’ve clearly grown tired of living!”
Just as her resentment surged, an invisible gust of wind extinguished it. Her already lifeless eyes grew even more vacant. Her frail body was swept up by the wind, teetering before falling down the mountainside.
Qi Wuyang lowered his hand, having timed his strike so she would end up dangling from a tree rather than losing her life.
“What are you staring at?” he asked, glancing at Xu Songhe, who stood frozen beside him.
The night was too dark to tell if he was smiling. “Do you want to end up like her?”
Xu Songhe shook her head vigorously, forcing out a few dry words of praise. “Young Master, thank goodness for you. Otherwise, I’d be in her stomach by now.”
She really did think so. Her voice had been so strained because she was still reeling from the sheer terror of it all.
The campfire crackled back to life. The young man leaned against his original spot, arms crossed, as if nothing had happened.
Xu Songhe placed a piece of tree bark on the ground and sat beside him, hugging her knees and staring blankly into the distance. Now that the sudden chaos had settled, his words kept echoing in her mind.
I have no home.
Xu Songhe sniffled and glanced at him.
He’s incredibly powerful, but why does he seem so pitiful?
Has he never had a home? Or did those demons destroy it? She sighed. This place is so dangerous. Without a secure home, there’s no sense of safety at all. Out here in the wilderness, what if he gets ambushed again like he did just now?
And what if the next demon they encounter is a hundred times stronger than the one today? What will he do then?
Her mind raced, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She stood up and looked down the slope from their high vantage point, then turned back to the “fast asleep” young man.
“Husband, are you awake?” she asked softly.