Inside the dilapidated temple.
In the Void Space, the Celestial Beast’s urgent voice sounded: 【Stop killing, stop killing! Jun Qi is here. What should we do? How do we handle this?】
Gu Xi also frowned slightly, her eyes flickering rapidly.
She immediately tousled her hair, took off the golden hairpin from her head, and with a swift motion, stabbed it into the scarred man’s fatal point.
The scarred man’s eyes widened, and he stopped breathing.
The door of the dilapidated temple was pushed open.
Jun Qi walked in.
Everything inside the temple came into his view—
On the tattered straw mat, Gu Xi’s hair was slightly disheveled. Her hands trembled as she clutched the golden hairpin, her face deathly pale. She was shaking all over with fear, curled up on her knees, her frail body looking as though it might collapse at any moment.
Drops of blood dripped from the hairpin, and below it lay the scarred man on the ground.
Seeing that Gu Xi’s clothes were intact, Jun Qi let out a sigh of relief.
It was good that she was unharmed.
Even he himself hadn’t noticed that the moment he walked in, his fingertips had paused briefly—something unusual for someone who rarely showed emotion.
He stepped forward and softly called out, “Your Highness.”
In that instant, Gu Xi recoiled like a startled bird, shrinking backward. Her face turned as pale as paper as she clutched her head tightly, trembling uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Jun Qi took another step forward. “Your Highness, it’s all right now…”
Only then did Gu Xi seem to come to her senses. Her body trembled even more violently, her lips pale and quivering as she repeated the same words over and over, “Blood… blood… I killed someone… I killed someone…”
Jun Qi reached out to her, but she seemed lost in fear, retreating several steps.
“Don’t come closer! Stay away!”
“Blood… so much blood…”
“I killed someone…”
Seeing her like this, Jun Qi glanced at the lifeless scarred man on the ground and lied to comfort her, “Your Highness, don’t be afraid… He isn’t dead. You only wounded him…”
Tears fell one after another from Gu Xi’s cheeks. She sobbed, looking like a helpless and pitiful little beast. “Really?”
“Yes, really, Your Highness.”
Jun Qi reached out to her, intending to gently take the hairpin from her hand. “Your Highness, you didn’t kill anyone. Please give me the hairpin, so you don’t hurt yourself.”
Only then did Gu Xi release her tight grip on the hairpin.
As if clutching at a lifeline, she threw herself into Jun Qi’s arms, wrapping her arms around his waist, and burst into tears. Her sobs echoed through the temple as tears fell from her reddened eyes onto the ground.
Jun Qi’s body stiffened.
He wanted to reach out…
But Gu Xi was crying too bitterly, and her old illness flared up. She began to cough violently, her entire body swaying unsteadily.
If he pushed her away, she would undoubtedly lose her balance and fall to the ground.
In Jun Qi’s arms, Gu Xi had already become a weeping mess. Tears welled up in her eyes, growing heavier and heavier until her eyelashes could no longer bear the weight, and streams of tears cascaded down her cheeks.
“I didn’t mean to do it.”
“He tried to…”
“I only stabbed him with the hairpin when he wasn’t paying attention.”
“My body is weak. My father taught me that if I’m ever in danger, I must strike a fatal point when the other person is unprepared to survive…”
“I really didn’t mean to…”
She kept shaking her head, tears falling onto Jun Qi’s wrist and silently soaking into his sleeve.
Jun Qi withdrew his hand and instead gently patted Gu Xi’s back.
“I know, it’s alright, Your Highness, it’s alright…”
Moonlight streamed through the window, spilling into the dilapidated temple where the two held each other tightly.
Inside the Void Space, the Celestial Beast silently glanced at the cold, lifeless corpse on the ground.
The Little Beast then looked at the two embracing each other.
Inner thoughts:…
One lies saying he isn’t dead, the other pretends to cry saying it wasn’t intentional.
Really…
The Little Beast didn’t even know what word to use.
Back in the temple, Gu Xi cried until she was exhausted, gradually losing strength and falling asleep in Jun Qi’s arms.
Her face was stained with tear tracks, her nose red from crying, her complexion so pale she looked like a foolish rabbit frightened into fainting. Jun Qi’s gaze darkened for a moment beneath his lashes.
On the spot.
Jun Qi wanted to pick up the unconscious Gu Xi but considered it somewhat inappropriate.
In the end, he carried her on his back.
On the street.
Jun Qi carried her toward the direction of the palace.
The moonlight stretched their silhouettes, long and distant…
Gu Xi opened her eyes just as they were nearing the palace.
Celestial Beast: [I suspect you fainted just to make Jun Qi carry you on his back.]
Gu Xi kicked it flying.
Noticing movement from the person on his back, Jun Qi asked gently, “Your Highness is awake?”
Gu Xi lowered her head slightly. “Young Master Qi.”
“Hmm?” Jun Qi looked up.
Gu Xi forced a smile, as if selectively forgetting that unpleasant memory.
But Jun Qi would never forget the sight of Gu Xi trembling all over when he first entered the temple.
So much so that later, much later, when he witnessed Gu Xi slicing off someone’s head without even blinking, the moment the head rolled on the ground, Jun Qi was stunned for the first time.
But that was all in the future.
A gentle breeze swept through the main street.
Gu Xi leaned close to Jun Qi’s ear, gazing at his face, her voice soft and lingering like a tender breeze. “Young Master Qi, thank you for carrying me, and…”
Her warm breath brushed against Jun Qi’s neck, the distance between them closing in an instant.
As if just a little closer, Gu Xi could touch Jun Qi’s face. “And, Young Master Qi, I really like you. Could you like me too?”