“Shopkeeper, what’s the meaning of this?”
Xu Songhe’s gaze snapped up as the scattered beads rolled to her feet. She realized the man in front of them was trying to cheat them out of their payment.
“This is a new low,” she said, glaring at him as he threw things and tried to kick them out.
“You promised us payment once the job was done. You’re not going to stiff us now, are you?” She crossed her arms, her voice firm. “I don’t mind, but my husband just took your abuse for no reason. I’d be failing him if I didn’t get our silver.”
“Are you looking for trouble?” The shopkeeper snorted and clapped his hands.
Immediately, several burly men surrounded them. “I don’t want to cause a scene and scare off my customers. Don’t make me use force. Get out of here now!”
The customer, a man named Mr. Zhuo, was a nightmare to deal with. Though he only visited a few times a year, he pulled rank every time, leaving the tavern in shambles.
The shopkeeper had hoped the two strangers would fail to manage him, if they did, he wouldn’t have to pay them a dime. But to his dismay, they had actually succeeded.
Now that the job was done, the shopkeeper realized he couldn’t afford to pay them. His best bet was to kick them out. And if they insisted on the money…
…He would have to send his men to deal with them permanently.
Xu Songhe didn’t back down for a second. She beckoned them forward with a confident smirk. “You lot couldn’t even touch one of my husband’s fingers. Right, husband—”
She turned around, her smile instantly freezing. The rest of her words died in her throat.
There was no one behind her. Where was her husband?
Xu Songhe stiffened, cold sweat breaking out on her back. Where did that powerhouse go? I finally convinced him to back me up, and he just runs off?!
“Little girl, your backup has abandoned you,” the shopkeeper laughed, clutching his stomach. Two tears of mirth squeezed out of his wrinkled eyes. “It’s too late to beg now. Stay and wash a few dishes, and I’ll let you go. How about that?”
“Fine.”
Xu Songhe suppressed her fear, glaring at the smirking brutes surrounding her. Her gaze flicked to the serving cart they had pushed toward her.
I was a corporate slave in my past life. Do I really have to wash dishes even after I’ve died?
“Wash what dishes?” she fumed, grabbing a dirty plate from the cart and hurling it at the man in front of her.
He dodged it easily, and the plate smashed on the floor, splattering grease everywhere. “You refuse to pay me for a job I already did, and now you want to exploit my labor?”
Crap, I missed. I should’ve calmed down.
Xu Songhe scanned her surroundings, trying to figure out which direction gave her the best chance of escape. Suddenly, her gaze locked onto a red figure.
A young man turned his head slightly, idly twirling a bow in his hand. A faint, ambiguous smile played on his lips.
“How dirty,” he remarked, flicking a speck of filth from his sleeve.
Xu Songhe felt like she’d found her savior, and tears welled up in her eyes.
The brutes stared in confusion. The girl who had just hurled a plate at them was now sobbing.
Wiping her eyes, she pointed at them and cried, “How could you go too far like this? It’s one thing to bully me, but why did you get my husband’s clothes dirty?”
The brutes were speechless. You’re the one who threw the plate!
“Is that so?”
Qi Wuyang lazily raised his hand, casually picked up a leaf from a table, and notched it on his bowstring.
“Who’s this kid? You think you can take us down with a leaf?”
One of the men roared with laughter. But before the sound could even fade, it was cut short. His eyes rolled back in his head as the leaf grazed his neck, leaving a thin, blood-red line behind.
It all happened in an instant. No one had even seen the young man move.
Xu Songhe’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at him. She quickly covered her mouth, afraid to even breathe too loudly. These men were bad, but they didn’t deserve to die…
This was the first time she’d seen a living person die right in front of her. She crouched down stiffly, utterly lost on what to do.
I don’t want the money anymore, she thought desperately. Just let me go home. I really want to go home.
The rest of the customers, horrified by the commotion, dropped their meals and snatched up their children to flee.
“You… You dare kill my men in my own shop? You scared off my customers!” the shopkeeper roared, his face livid with rage. “Get him! Whoever takes his head will be richly rewarded!”
“Are you sure about that?”
Qi Wuyang’s gaze fell on the trembling figure huddled in the corner. This time, he didn’t use any projectile, only plucking the bowstring empty.
The men who had recklessly charged him immediately collapsed like bags of cotton.
By the time Xu Songhe snapped out of it, the young man had vanished. All that remained was the shopkeeper groaning on the ground and the mess scattered across the floor.
“H-husband?”
She scrambled to her feet and rushed out the door. The bright sunlight outside stung her eyes, but she frantically scanned the crowd. Fortunately, his red robe stood out starkly, and she spotted him almost immediately.
“Husband! Husband, wait for me!”
Seeing that he wasn’t slowing down, she waved her arm and hurried to catch up.
“Out of the way! Get out of the way!”
Suddenly, a dull thunderous crash erupted nearby, shaking the pebbles on the cobblestone street. Xu Songhe spun around to follow the sound and saw a carriage careening wildly straight toward her.
A man leaning out of the carriage window roared, “I told you to stop! Are you deaf?!” The driver strained against the reins, but the horses refused to slow down.
Xu Songhe froze. The memory of her past life—of a runaway truck hurtling toward her just before she died—flashed vividly in her mind. She knew she had to move, but her legs felt like jelly. The carriage was already closing in.
She shut her eyes tight, bracing for the impact.
But the expected pain never came.
Did I… survive?
Xu Songhe opened her eyes to a clear blue sky. All she could hear was the sound of hurried footsteps.
“Young lady, are you alright? Oh dear… Young Master, could she have been knocked senseless?”
Knocked senseless? Who was being knocked senseless?
Xu Songhe rubbed her head and pushed herself up to a sitting position.
She stared blankly at the white-bearded man before her. A dull ache finally registered in her arm, making her realize she had been hit by the horse—and yet, she was still alive.
Her head, however, was throbbing.
“What’s all the shouting about? She’s clearly not dead,” the man from the carriage said as he stepped out, his voice tinged with panic.
Xu Songhe recognized him as the customer from the wine shop.
The commotion had drawn a growing crowd. Fearing that a scandal would reach his father, Zhuo Zixun wanted to settle this quickly.
“Say it,” he urged. “What do you want? As long as you agree not to let this matter escalate, I’ll give you anything.”
Anything?
Xu Songhe looked up, and before her mind could fully clear, the words escaped her: “Even a house? Can you give me a house?”
Zhuo Zixun’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t expected her to make such an outrageous demand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw passersby gathering, and he already heard whispers of “a Young Master from the Flowing Cloud Sect hitting someone.”
His father had just warned him this morning that the sect was finalizing an alliance with another faction—any scandal now would be disastrous.
Xu Songhe realized her demand had been outrageous. Just as she was about to take it back, she saw him frown and grit his teeth.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Which house do you want?”
See? I knew he’d refuse…
Wait—what?
Xu Songhe’s eyelid twitched violently. She wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her. Then she saw him take a step forward and drop a heavy string of keys in front of her.
“That’s your house now.” He pointed toward an old tree nearby. “But we have a deal. Whether you’re injured or not, you will not spread a word of this.”
Zhuo Zixun scanned her from head to toe. Her simple, worn clothes suggested she had no powerful backing. He breathed a secret sigh of relief—giving her a house like that would both settle the matter and avoid a major loss. It was a win-win.
Xu Songhe snapped out of her daze, quickly scooped up the keys, and nodded vigorously.
Are houses really things you can just give away?
She couldn’t wrap her head around it. But by the time she stood up, the man was gone. The crowd had also dispersed, and the street had returned to normal.
Once she regained her composure, Xu Songhe carefully tucked the keys into her robe. Her first instinct wasn’t to go see her new “home,” but to stumble off and find someone.
No matter what, she owed her survival in this world to him. Now that she was doing well, she couldn’t just abandon him.
Xu Songhe walked in the direction he had disappeared, but she didn’t see a trace of him even when she reached the city gate they had passed through earlier.
The two guards who had been knocked unconscious had recovered and were now standing watch at the gate, swords drawn.
Xu Songhe paused, hesitating whether to step out. What if I can’t find him outside and get blocked from coming back in?
As she wavered, a thought struck her: the whistle.
If I blow it now, will he come?
A few white flakes drifted down in front of her. She reached out to touch one and realized it was a snowflake.
It had started snowing.
The sound of galloping hooves grew louder.
“There she is! That’s the one—her aura is unmistakable. She must be working with that Devil. Grab her!”
Xu Songhe turned around, her eyes reflecting the chaotic figures emerging from the snow.
The wind whipped the snowflakes against her face with a bone-chilling cold. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her breath caught in her throat.
They look so aggressive… Are they coming for me?
Before she could process what was happening, a flash of white light streaked past her, and a long sword plunged into the ground right in front of her.
Xu Songhe stumbled, falling to her knees, her face turning deathly pale.
Why? Why are they trying to capture me?
Before terror could paralyze her, she scrambled to her feet and bolted, ignoring the guards. She ran like a frightened animal, charging blindly into a grove of withered trees. Branches scraped her cheeks, leaving stinging scratches.
The sound of galloping hooves drew closer. She couldn’t outrun them on foot.
A blade whistled through the air above her head.
It’s over. This is the end…
She crouched down, covering her head with her arms and praying the weapon wouldn’t strike her. Instead, a series of muffled thuds echoed in her ears.
After a long moment, she opened her eyes to find the pursuers lying dead in the snow, a thin red line slashed across each of their throats.
The galloping stopped abruptly. The remaining riders pulled tight on their reins, refusing to advance.
The wind whipped the scent of blood toward her.
Xu Songhe shook the snow from her clothes and looked up, her eyes glistening.
A young man in red robes stood before her, his figure swaying gently in the breeze. The falling snow seemed unable to touch him.
He lowered his hand and chuckled softly, his bowstring still quivering. “Weren’t you trying to catch me? Why stop now?”