When Meng Ruji woke the morning after the wedding, she felt something scratching at her wrist.
The flower bracelet had withered overnight. Petals had fallen away, leaving only bare branches twisted into a circle around her skin. She tried to pull it off, but when she attempted to break the dried branches, they emitted a strange glow.
It wouldn't break.
Who cast magic on it?
She looked up and found Mu Sui beside her, arranging his clothes. On his left wrist was an identical circle of dead branches.
"You." Meng Ruji called out. "Did you do something to my flower bracelet?"
Mu Sui glanced at her with indifferent sarcasm: "Isn't this the wedding gift Madam gave her husband? Naturally, it must be well preserved."
His familiar tone was irritating. Meng Ruji smiled without warmth. "Wedding gifts are worn during the ceremony. Take it off for me. Now."
"Can't take it off."
"Why not?"
"Magic has already been used."
"Then undo it!"
"This magic cannot be undone."
Meng Ruji stood to face him directly. "What do you mean?"
His expression remained calm. "Literal meaning. The wedding gift you gave me, I cast magic on it. Neither of us can remove it."
Meng Ruji studied him for a moment. "You don't do meaningless things. Give me a reason and I won't argue."
Mu Sui raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. He spoke in a low voice: "Zhuliu City has changed. We need to scout the surrounding villages, but the situation is uncertain. Tuzi and I can't show ourselves."
Understanding dawned. "You need me to scout first?"
Mu Sui nodded. "This magic allows me to know your location and contact you. If something happens to you, I can arrive immediately."
Meng Ruji let out a scoff and patted her money pouch. "I have silver. What could happen to me? Besides, since you won't agree to divorce, we're tied together like grasshoppers on the same rope. Your position as city lord concerns my life-saving money. I accept this bracelet."
She raised her hand and pulled off some small thorns that had been pricking her skin, then used them to prick the back of his hand playfully.
It didn't hurt—barely a tickle. It was presumptuous, perhaps, but somehow...
Cute.
Mu Sui looked at her, and she looked up at him. "When you cast the spell, couldn't you have removed the thorns? Don't they prick your hand?"
He hadn't felt them before. His wrist skin had long ago become immune to such light scratches. But now, with her reminder, he felt that circle beginning to itch.
Mu Sui raised his hand and rubbed the branches vigorously against his wrist. The skin immediately turned red from the friction, but all the small thorns were removed.
Meng Ruji watched and drew in a sharp breath. Then she heard him ask: "Does Madam need her husband's help?"
"No need. Take care of yourself." She began pulling thorns from her own bracelet. With each one she extracted, Mu Sui watched and felt the skin on his hand that she had pricked earlier begin to itch unbearably.
He turned away, straightened his already neat collar, and stepped forward to leave. But Meng Ruji called out: "Wait."
She turned to face him. "You used the money Miaomiao left me for the spell, didn't you?"
Facing the accusation, he remained composed. "Gift money is shared between husband and wife. I used it—so what?"
"Nothing," she said, pursing her lips. "You can use it, but the money stays with me. I'm mainly afraid you'll spend it recklessly." As she spoke, she examined his sleeves and belt for hidden silver. "You returned it, right?"
Very exasperating words. He shouldn't have answered, but he still spread his arms and looked at her. "Want to search me?"
Meng Ruji let out a scoff. "If it weren't you saying this, I'd suspect you were trying to seduce me." She counted the money in her pouch. "The main amount is here. If you've hidden private funds, keep it hidden. I'm not that petty."
In the distance, Tuzi pulled the wooden cart while Ye Chuan returned with fruit.
Meng Ruji waved: "Let's eat while we travel."
Mu Sui watched her retreating figure, scratched the back of his hand, and followed.
They came to a village beside Zhuliu City. Though small, it rivaled the town where Meng Ruji had first worked in the Land of No Return.
At the village's edge, Tuzi and Mu Sui put on hats and face coverings, obscuring themselves as much as possible. Meng Ruji and Ye Chuan did the same, keeping low profiles.
But the closer they approached, the more wrong it felt.
The road leading into the village held few people, few carriages. The village itself was eerily quiet—almost uninhabited.
Meng Ruji called for everyone to stop at an appropriate distance. "We scout first," she said to Mu Sui. "Wait here. If anything happens, use the magic to contact me."
Mu Sui nodded, expecting her to leave. Instead, she withdrew two pieces of silver from her pouch and placed them in his hands. "Private money for you. If you're discovered, run first."
Mu Sui was startled. The moment she withdrew her hand, his fingertips tightened, grasping hers.
The grip made her want to laugh. "Husband, there's no need to be so affectionate. I have little green pills from Miaomiao. It's foolproof. Rest assured." She broke free, patted his palm, and turned to leave with Ye Chuan.
Mu Sui watched her figure disappear. Beside him, Tuzi hesitated several times before finally speaking: "City Lord, are you really... toward this bad woman..."
Mu Sui turned, glancing at Tuzi indifferently.
Tuzi flinched immediately. "I overstepped! I shouldn't have asked! City Lord, please don't punish me!"
After apologizing without hearing any response, Tuzi secretly looked up and saw Mu Sui gazing in the direction Meng Ruji had left.
"She's not bad," Mu Sui answered.
Tuzi: "Huh?"
Not angry about the overstepping—angry about calling her a bad woman?
Tuzi's heart tightened, tiger eyes welling with tears as she stared at Mu Sui: "City Lord, you're confused!"
Mu Sui looked at Tuzi with disgust. "Stop saying meaningless things. Wipe your tears and follow me to look around."
"But... aren't we supposed to keep a low profile?"
"No need to worry about people." Mu Sui held the silver, formations of light spinning across its surface. "There's no one here. But the atmosphere is wrong."
Meng Ruji and Ye Chuan walked the village's main street. It clearly had many merchants normally, but today it looked empty and desolate.
Every household had tightly closed doors and windows. Only one decent inn had its door slightly ajar. Meng Ruji knocked and pushed it open.
The owner inside shrieked with terror: "No money left! No money left! Masters, please don't rob us anymore!"
"I'm not here to rob you."
Seeing a young woman and a simple-looking servant, the owner breathed a sigh of relief: "What's wrong with you two? How dare you still walk toward Zhuliu City? We're all planning to escape."
Meng Ruji inquired: "Why? Because of the new city lord? Has he extorted your money so severely in just a few days?"
The owner sighed heavily: "Every day, guards come to rob us. If we don't pay, they beat us. They were never like this before. When Qianshan Jun ruled, the city had rules and the soldiers were good. Now..." He shook his head. "I don't know what changed. If I'd known what would happen after he left, I would have moved immediately."
Meng Ruji found this strange: "Why did they all change their nature when the city lord changed? Didn't anyone oppose this new ruler?"
"I don't know. I've seen strange auras around the guards, but I don't dare look closely. We're safer being outside Zhuliu City now."
Meng Ruji exchanged glances with Ye Chuan: "Changed nature with strange auras—that sounds familiar."
Ye Chuan became serious and continued asking: "Have you seen the new city lord? What does he look like?"
"Never seen him, but... I seem to have heard his name..."
Outside the inn, a breeze slowly blew in, mixed with a trace of black aura. Meng Ruji immediately sensed danger. She turned to look behind her...
Outside the village, across empty fields where crops grew lushly from careful tending, Mu Sui surveyed the area with the silver's light continuously emitting formations. Suddenly, a raggedly dressed man jumped from the field.
"City Lord!"
He shouted.
Tuzi, startled, gasped: "Ah! Chensha!"
"Everyone, be quiet," Mu Sui commanded, and both fell silent.
Chensha ran over frantically, falling to one knee in a bow: "This subordinate failed in his duties! Please punish me, City Lord!"
"Don't say useless things," Mu Sui said coldly. "After Tuzi left Zhuliu City, what exactly happened?"
Cold sweat broke out on Chensha's body. He hadn't felt this oppressive presence since Mu Sui paid a thousand gold to leave the Land of No Refuge.
Chensha answered with difficulty: "That day... the City Lord ordered me to sever the Marriage Tree's connection using one gold. When I was handling it, Tuzi..." He glanced at Tuzi.
Tuzi immediately knelt with a thud: "City Lord, I've known I was wrong for a long time."
"Continue."
"After Tuzi left, I saw your name appear on the Marriage Tree with another woman's name. Although the one gold blocked some connection, making the traces faint, they were still visible. This subordinate was extremely regretful, so I tried to dig off the names... but just then..."
Chensha's voice shook. "A person I had never seen, carrying a black aura, ambushed me and snatched away the Golden Staff. I fought him but was completely outmatched. Nearly killed. I had no choice but to flee and have been lurking outside the city, waiting for your return."
Chensha raised his head, tears streaming down his face. "I finally waited for you!"
But Mu Sui was unmoved by the emotion. His expression remained ice-cold, his voice carrying killing intent: "What is the newcomer's name?"
Chensha thought carefully: "It seems... his name is Zhan Ye."
Mu Sui's eyes narrowed sharply. "Zhan Ye?"
Inside the inn, a loud crash erupted.
Ye Chuan's figure was suddenly blown backward, sent flying like a fallen leaf and slammed hard into a table!
Meng Ruji's hand instinctively reached into her money pouch, preparing to form an array with silver to fight. But in the next instant, an extremely pale hand grasped her wrist.
"Meng Ruji."
At that moment, she heard a voice she would still hear in nightmares.
"Long time no see."
Meng Ruji looked at the person before her, her clenched jaw making a grinding sound.
"Zhan Ye..."
The name hung in the air like a curse—like a door opening onto a past she thought she'd escaped, a threat she'd hoped never to face again.
Previous/Next
.jpg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)