As soon as she left, the candlelight flickered, and the quiet room fell completely silent.
Song Yao glanced outside and let out a long sigh. “A person really needs to have a skill to survive. Don't you agree, Fourth Senior Brother?”
Xie Zhou didn't answer immediately.
The candlelight cast half-light and half-shadow across his profile. After a moment, he spoke, his voice deeper than before, a chill seeping through his words. “Do you think you're so capable?”
Song Yao subconsciously looked up, her gaze colliding with his pitch-black eyes, which were drenched in coldness. Her heart trembled slightly, sensing that something was off with the atmosphere.
She hurriedly averted her eyes and tried to get up, laughing it off. “How could I? I was just talking to myself... I should write down the pill formula now, otherwise Sect Master Feng will give me trouble again tomorrow...”
Her voice came to an abrupt halt the moment Xie Zhou closed in.
A shadow spread over her with his movement, instantly blotting out all the warm light. He stood before Song Yao like an imposing statue, carrying an oppressive weight.
Song Yao was forced to halt her movement to get up.
Sensing that things weren't right, her eyes darted around. Not daring to look up, she tried to slip out from another angle.
But she didn't succeed. The moment she stood up even slightly, two pale gold talismans shot out from Xie Zhou's sleeve, wrapping around her ankles like thin ropes.
Caught off guard, Song Yao tumbled back onto the bed, feeling a sudden wave of panic.
No way.
What was wrong with him now?
Why was he acting crazy too?
Taking a deep breath to force herself to stay calm, she tilted her pale face up to look at him, speaking with a touch of annoyance, “Fourth Senior Brother, don't you think it's a bit inappropriate to trap your junior sister on the bed like this?”
Xie Zhou simply stared at her with his dark eyes, giving an irrelevant answer. “You were the one who activated the array core.”
“...”
When she activated the array core, Song Yao had already prepared herself to have her true identity exposed.
It was just that after waking up, she had been so overwhelmed by a chaotic mess of events that she had completely forgotten about it.
Now that Xie Zhou suddenly brought it up, her heart skipped a beat, her expression froze, and she silently swallowed her words of protest.
Why did it have to be Xie Zhou who pointed it out first?
And why did he have to bring it up under these circumstances?
Feng Qing had set up a barrier outside, which wouldn't be undone until she sent someone tomorrow morning. She couldn't even escape.
How was this any different from being a trapped rat?
Song Yao fell silent for a moment, then wriggled like a caterpillar toward the inner side of the bed, trying to distance herself from him. “What array core, Fourth Senior Brother? I don't understand what you mean...”
Xie Zhou merely leaned down slightly, unhurriedly catching her ankles and dragging her back.
Startled, Song Yao grabbed the quilt beneath her and tried to struggle. “Wait, wait, wait! Can't we talk this out nicely? Let's talk this out nicely!”
Her ankles were bound tightly, her body was weak, and her Fourth Junior Brother's strength was terrifyingly immense.
Song Yao was unable to offer any resistance at all, dragged right back in front of him along with the quilt.
At such a dangerously close distance, the warmth of his palm seeped through the thin fabric, burning with a heat that made her vaguely uneasy.
She stammered, “W-wait a minute, Xie Zhou, calm down.”
Xie Zhou acted as if he hadn't heard. Lowering his eyelashes, he unhurriedly removed the shoes he had just personally put on her, his tone flat. “There are only three people in the Nine Saints Hall who can activate the array core.”
“Master.”
“Zhu Zhao.”
He paused, then looked up at her, his dark eyes bottomless as they locked onto her face, leaving her with nowhere to hide. “Song Yao.”
Song Yao's struggles came to a sudden halt. “...”
Haha.
She was truly done for.
For a moment, she didn't know whether she should rescue her ankles from his grip first, or try to talk her way out of it.
After a fierce internal struggle, she suddenly felt a sense of despair.
She could neither save her ankles nor make up an excuse.
But treating a dead horse as if it were alive, she let out another couple of hollow laughs and continued to play dumb. “Fourth Senior Brother, I really don't understand what you're talking about.”
Xie Zhou kept his eyes on her. “Back then, when Master caught you secretly learning the array core techniques, you said that mastering them would allow you to hold the entire sect's lifeline. You said that sooner or later, you would blow up the Nine Saints Hall's lifeline. Yet now, you've exhausted half your life to save everyone. What is the reason?”
Song Yao: “...”
Well then.
Once her Fourth Junior Brother was certain of something, no amount of denial or explanation would work.
If she had known, she wouldn't have run to his room...
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Not knowing how to answer him, she parted her lips and mumbled softly, “The reason? Not everything in this world has a reason...”
Sensing the grip on her ankles loosen slightly, she immediately scurried to the very back of the bed, pressing her back against the cold wall and curling her legs up to shrink into a ball.
Xie Zhou didn't seem to care about her answer. He placed her shoes neatly by the bedside, and in the deep gloom, his gaze fell on her once more. “The Second Elder must have instructed you to rest well in your room. Why did you run around everywhere when you're practically on the verge of death?”
Song Yao buried her face in her knees, remaining silent.
She had escaped from Zhu Zhao's wolf den, only to run straight into Xie Zhou's tiger cave.
But Xie Zhou was a good kid, just like Wen Tang. A few words should be enough to pacify him.
Wait, no.
She still owed him the remains of his parents.
Maybe he wanted her to pay with her life.
Paying with her life would be fine too, she supposed.
Her mind spun with chaotic thoughts. Carefully choosing her words, she spoke with great difficulty, “Can... can you just treat it as if I've turned over a new leaf? Trading my single life to save so many others is a very good deal.”
Xie Zhou: “...”
A very good deal.
What a “very good deal.”
His hands hanging at his sides tightened slightly, his knuckles turning a pale, cold white.
The candlelight reflected in his eyes, showing only a dark, unreadable storm of emotions.
He hadn't intended to expose her today.
But she just had to repeatedly charge down a path to death. She had drained all her spiritual energy to activate the array core, and despite her meridians being in a complete mess, she had dared to sneak off to blow up the front hall. Just now, in front of Feng Qing, she hadn't held back at all, deliberately provoking Moqi with every word, as if she were terrified of not dying fast enough.
He was afraid that if he didn't speak up now, she would end up getting herself killed.
His gaze fell heavily upon Song Yao as he asked, “Song Yao, do you simply not want this life of yours anymore?”
Initially, Song Yao had been somewhat flustered by her Fourth Junior Brother recognizing her. After all, before her death, she had dug up his ancestral graves, unearthed his parents, and caused him to suffer a qi deviation. Reasonably speaking, now that he knew her identity, he should be seeking revenge.
But judging from his words now, he didn't seem to have any intention of killing her. Instead, much like Zhu Zhao, he seemed highly inclined to make peace with her.
He even seemed somewhat concerned about her.
Her heart put at ease, she actively scooted back toward her Fourth Junior Brother. Stopping right in front of him, she gave him her usual smile, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “If I don't want it, then so be it. It just so happens that I owe you a debt of gratitude. How about I give my life to you?”
She knew her Fourth Junior Brother very well.
This kid couldn't handle teasing; he would usually flush red and run away at the slightest tease.
However, things did not go as expected. After her words fell, her Fourth Junior Brother's gaze suddenly became dangerous, staring straight at her. “Give your life to me? Are you sure?”
Rate on N.U.
