“Husband, you do not recognize me either?”
When Ji Youyou heard those words, her eardrums and pupils seemed to tremble violently. Her husband was actually another man’s husband.
Ji Youyou was holding Yunu’s hand, and it stiffened as well. She slowly turned her head in shock and looked up at the beloved man who had shared her bed. With great difficulty, she asked, “Husband, who is this man?”
It was the scorching heat of August. As usual, Ji Youyou had gone to bring tea to her husband, Yunu, who was working in the fields, so they could return home together for lunch.
She never expected that as soon as she arrived home, she would see seven or eight extraordinary men and women standing beside the bamboo fence at the entrance of their house.
Yunu’s hand was as cold as jade. He held Ji Youyou’s hand tightly, his long brows drawing together as he spoke to the man before him without the slightest courtesy.
“I am sorry, but you have mistaken me for someone else. I do not know you. The woman beside me is my wife. Please do not ruin our relationship.”
“Heh.”
Xie Lin let out a cold laugh. His features were beautiful and delicate, and when he smiled coldly, he seemed even more sinister and unapproachable.
He wore a peacock feather cloak over a crow colored robe, while a magnolia flower sash looked strangely out of place around his waist. His appearance was both elegant and refined, yet his beauty was so breathtaking that he looked like an enchanting demon capable of stealing one’s soul.
Xie Lin toyed with the black jade ring on his finger, rubbing it repeatedly as though he found the situation immensely amusing. His voice was deep and seductive as he quietly instructed the only woman behind him.
“Si Yirou, you know what to do.”
Si Yirou, the deputy sect master of Yuheng, nodded slightly before walking toward Yunu and Ji Youyou.
Yunu stepped in front of Ji Youyou. His long brows furrowed as he warned Si Yirou, who continued approaching.
“Miss, please do not come any closer.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Si Yirou raised her hand and swept her sleeve through the air. A cloud of powder flew out from within her sleeve.
The powder dispersed through the air, and both Yunu and Ji Youyou inhaled some of it.
Ji Youyou coughed several times.
She suddenly felt Yunu pull his hand away and shake hers off, as though he desperately wanted to sever all ties with her.
Ji Youyou looked at Yunu and saw that he was already standing beside Si Yirou and Xie Lin. His expression toward her was cold and unfamiliar.
She did not understand what was happening and asked in confusion, “What…?”
The person who answered her was Yunu, his voice cold and distant as he pushed her away completely.
“Miss Ji, I am sorry. I am actually Yuheng’s Sword Sect Master, Yuxuanhe.
That day, I was poisoned with the seductive poison of the Five Ghost Sect and fell from a cliff. You saved me. That poison causes a person to become crazily infatuated with whoever is beside them. That was why, through a twist of fate, you and I became…”
Seeing Xie Lin standing nearby, Yuxuanhe swallowed the words “husband and wife.”
“That was how this ill fated relationship between us came to be.”
Yuxuanhe.
That name made Ji Youyou feel as though she had fallen into an icy abyss.
Her heart had also been struck with tremendous force.
The husband she had spent a year with, the man she had rescued beneath the cliff when they were both on the brink of life and death, was actually telling her that everything had happened by accident.
That theirs was an ill fated relationship.
Ji Youyou was furious and heartbroken, standing there as though she had been turned to stone.
“By a twist of fate? Then what am I?”
Si Yirou was the deputy sect master of Yuheng. She was beautiful and alluring, and she had always looked down on Ji Youyou, who possessed nothing but the body of an ordinary mortal.
Finding Ji Youyou troublesome, Si Yirou did not even look directly at her as she replied, “Miss, I am the deputy sect master of Yuheng, while Yuxuanhe is the Sword Sect Master and the son of the immortal crane under the Heavenly Dao. Besides, we are cultivators, while you are not one of us.
You should at least preserve some dignity as a woman. Yuxuanhe and Xie Lin are cultivation partners chosen by our two great sects. You should give up your foolish obsession. However, it is true that you saved Yuxuanhe. If you want gold, silver, and jewelry, we will compensate you accordingly. But if you insist on pestering him, we will not be polite and allow you to continue bothering us.”
Si Yirou was also annoyed by a woman like Ji Youyou and wanted to preserve the righteous image of Yuheng.
Ji Youyou was rendered speechless.
She had nothing in her hands, while everyone standing before her possessed magical powers. She was clearly in a completely disadvantaged position.
But what about the feelings they had shared for an entire year?
Ji Youyou looked at Yuxuanhe and Xie Lin.
So they had originally been a pair, while she had been nothing more than an accident.
“Fine. Then I want money.”
No matter how terrible Ji Youyou felt, she could not cling to her pride and foolishly refuse money while she was emotional.
If the man was gone, she at least had to have the money.
Si Yirou gave a cold hum before taking a teleportation talisman from her sleeve. After reciting an incantation, several boxes of gold appeared in Ji Youyou’s already small farmyard.
Although Si Yirou’s tone was sharp and mocking, she still wore a welcoming smile.
“You are a smart woman. Take this one hundred taels of gold.”
Just as Si Yirou arrogantly prepared to leave, Xie Lin stepped forward and stood in front of Ji Youyou. He scolded her.
“Si Yirou, do you think you are some living Bodhisattva? You just casually gave this woman one hundred taels of gold? My husband let her sleep with him for an entire year. Does that not mean she already got the better end of the deal? Besides, Yuxuanhe is the son of an immortal crane. Sleeping with Yuxuanhe can increase a person’s cultivation and lifespan. How many people would beg for such an opportunity? Why are you giving her money as well?”
Xie Lin moved closer.
Ji Youyou met his eyes and could not find the words to speak.
After all, if love was a matter of who came first, Xie Lin had indeed been there first.
Si Yirou was inexplicably reprimanded and felt somewhat awkward. She coughed twice, not knowing what to say.
Xie Lin gave a sinister smile. His eyes scrutinized Ji Youyou once more before his expression turned cold again.
“You occupied my husband for an entire year. The fact that I have not demanded your life is already generous enough. And you still want money?”
Si Yirou wanted to say something and act as a mediator, but she did not dare offend Xie Lin, leaving her caught between both sides.
Yuxuanhe’s cold voice brought the argument to an end.
“That is enough. Stop arguing. It is only money. Mortals believe that one day as husband and wife creates a bond of a hundred days. Take the gold and keep it. From this moment onward, you and I have nothing to do with each other. But if any rumors spread from your mouth, I will personally kill you.”
“What…?”
Tears were already gathering in Ji Youyou’s eyes, but she stubbornly held them back. For the sake of her final shred of dignity, she choked out the words.
“You would… kill me?”
Xie Lin smiled triumphantly before turning around and walking back to Yuxuanhe’s side. He looked at Yuxuanhe affectionately.
Xie Lin said smugly, “Since my husband has said so, it does not matter if we give you some money as charity. But if you continue pestering him or spread rumors that damage my husband’s reputation, I will not spare you either.”
Si Yirou still had some kindness left in her heart. She spoke gently.
“Miss, try to let it go.”
How could Ji Youyou possibly let it go?
Not only had she become the other woman, she was now also being threatened with death.
Ji Youyou wiped her tearful eyes and secretly glanced at Yuxuanhe.
Yuxuanhe still had a face as beautiful as jade, with an air of purity and elegance, but he did not spare Ji Youyou even a single glance.
“Let us go.”
Yuxuanhe’s voice was as cold as piercing ice. Whether he despised her or simply wanted to sever all ties with her completely, she could not tell.
In the blink of an eye, it was as though they had never been there. The people in the farmyard transformed into several wisps of blue smoke and vanished without a trace.
Ji Youyou felt a chill creep down her back and collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
Silence descended upon the empty courtyard.
In the past, although this vast mountain forest contained only her and Yuxuanhe, they had been loving and happy together. Having someone by her side meant she never felt lonely.
But today, she was alone.
She looked around and only then realized how enormous and quiet the mountain forest truly was.
The mountains and forests were terrifying.
What difference was there between her current situation and that of a woman who had been kidnapped and taken deep into the mountains?
She had no one to rely on.
She had crossed into this world.
All she had done was watch a video. She had come across a promotional account with millions of views that had edited together a melodramatic plot summary of a tragic male love story. Out of curiosity, she clicked on it.
The video was about the story of the male lead, Xie Lin, and the second male lead, Yuxuanhe.
Yuxuanhe had always secretly helped Xie Lin and had even given his life for him. Yet Xie Lin had done countless wicked things and still said that Yuxuanhe deserved to die.
Ji Youyou had been moved by the plot edited together by the promotional account, so in the comment section with millions of comments, she had left a message.
“Xie Lin does not know how to appreciate someone. Yuxuanhe loves him so much. He might as well love me instead.”
The moment she finished posting the comment, her phone exploded.
When she woke up after crossing into this world, she was already beneath a towering cliff.
Beside her lay a bloodied man with an extraordinary appearance.
The man was severely injured and kept calling her wife while refusing to let go of Ji Youyou’s hand.
Although she was terrified, Ji Youyou had always been an optimistic person, so she quickly accepted the fact that she had crossed into another world.
She had originally not wanted to save anyone, but the man held onto her desperately. In the end, her heart softened, and she saved him. She then found an abandoned wooden house nearby and settled there with him.
After the man woke up, he told her that he had completely forgotten his background and origins. He only remembered that his name was Yunu.
He also told her that he was her husband and even described a love story between the two of them.
Ji Youyou actually began to believe that the body she had crossed into had truly been married to him.
She spent half a year with him.
Yunu was not only considerate and attentive, but also handled every household chore and all the farm work outside. Ji Youyou gradually fell for him as well.
And Yuxuanhe possessed the bearing of an immortal crane. When night came and they were intimate, he was also…
Astonishingly good.
It was very difficult for Ji Youyou not to like him.
Yet she had never expected that Yunu was actually Yuxuanhe.
A prophecy fulfilled itself.
Yuxuanhe had truly “fallen in love” with her.
She should have realized it from the beginning.
She had not crossed into some beautiful pastoral world of ancient farm life.
She had crossed directly into that male love story.
That promotional account had ruined her life.
What mattered most now was that she had never read the original book.
She had only watched the edited video. What would happen next in the story?
Even if there was some future development, what use could a woman possibly have in a male love story?
What was most infuriating was that she had become the other woman.
She had become a cannon fodder character.
Ji Youyou thought of Yuxuanhe again.
After all, they had still been affectionate with each other over breakfast that very morning.
It hurt.
Along with the heartbreak, Ji Youyou felt a terrible pain in her chest.
If she had to describe the sensation, it was like something she had once read about in a book. It felt as though there were a bullet lodged in her chest, with its fragments endlessly exploding outward.
She wanted to take a knife and stab herself in the chest, using physical pain to suppress the pain in her heart.
The pain left her without even the strength to cry. Only her tears continued to fall, one after another.
At the summit of the snowy mountains beneath the dome of Yuheng stood Yuxuanhe’s residence, the Moon Gazing Palace.
Immortal cranes loved the cold and the ice, so the Moon Gazing Palace was covered in snow that had remained unmelted for ten thousand years. It made Yuxuanhe seem even colder and more heartless.
“Yulang, this is the Forgetting Love Soup I had the Medicine Immortal prepare. Once you drink it, everything that happened in the mortal world beneath the mountain will turn into smoke and vanish.”
Xie Lin had been called Yuxuanhe Yulang since they were children. After finally regaining him, he had become even more attached to him.
Holding a jade bowl, Xie Lin watched the medicinal soup ripple at the bottom of the bowl, its surface reflecting the sharpness in Yuxuanhe’s eyes.
“What? Do I need to drink Forgetting Love Soup? I would never develop feelings for a mortal woman.”
Yuxuanhe was seated at the pearwood writing desk, holding a brush and concentrating on a letter, yet he still spared enough attention to answer Xie Lin calmly.
“Yulang, I believe you. But we are about to get married, are we not?
Besides, does your sword cultivation not require you to sever love and emotion? I am only thinking of your well being. I am afraid… I am afraid you might suffer a cultivation deviation…”
There was clearly a flaw in what Xie Lin said.
If sword cultivation required one to sever love and emotion, then how could he and Yuxuanhe possibly have feelings for each other?
What Xie Lin feared was simply that Yuxuanhe had truly developed feelings for that mortal woman.
The dose of Forgetting Love Soup had been prepared specifically to make Yuxuanhe forget everything that had happened during that year.
Yuxuanhe put down his brush and accepted the jade bowl. He drank the Forgetting Love Soup in one go.
“I am tired. Leave. As for the wedding… you and Father can arrange it.”
After saying this calmly, Yuxuanhe closed his eyes and gently rubbed his temples.
Xie Lin could not say anything more. He reluctantly left and closed the door behind him.
The moment the door closed, the gentle and obedient person who only showed tenderness in front of Yuxuanhe disappeared. A murderous aura returned to Xie Lin’s face.
Si Yirou was waiting outside the door.
Xie Lin’s expression was gloomy.
“Si Yirou, find a few rough men. Have them thoroughly ‘play with’ that woman who had an affair with Yuxuanhe, then kill her…”