After Feng Xun hugged Xie Xuan, he was stunned. He didn't expect that in his helplessness, he would do such a thing. What should he do now?
Moreover, he was surprised to find that Xie Xuan, whom he held in his arms, had stopped moving.
This was indeed a completely new experience for Xie Xuan. Before, when she was in a state of confusion, Feng Xun held her to prevent her from falling into the abyss of consciousness—that had been a kind of confinement. But now, as he held her, it was a real embrace.
This hug worked better than any spell.
Feng Xun didn't move again, and Xie Xuan also quieted down. The two remained in this stalemate for a long time.
It wasn't until Feng Xun's breathing calmed and he recovered from his nervous and shy state that he realized he had been holding a girl for so long.
"Sorry." He quickly released Xie Xuan.
As soon as Xie Xuan was out of his embrace, her eyes turned cold. She attributed her earlier tension and stiffness to Feng Xun's magic. He must have cast some kind of divine spell on her to make her so motionless.
"Feng Xun, what kind of magic is this?" Xie Xuan found something that interested her and forgot about the argument earlier, asking directly.
Feng Xun was helping her adjust her clothes when he heard her question, and his fingertips paused—she actually thought it was magic. That was... kind of cute.
He was a good person and didn't usually lie, but now he wanted to tease her.
He nodded firmly. "Yes, do you want to learn?"
Xie Xuan pondered that if she could learn even a move or two from Feng Xun, she would have more means of revenge when she returned to the mortal realm.
So she nodded blankly.
Feng Xun curled his fingers and gently tapped her forehead. Instantly, he snapped back to reality, realizing he shouldn't tease her like that. So he composed himself, his face now bearing a faint, compassionate smile, making him look once again like the pitying deity from before—rather than the nervous and helpless boy who had embraced Xie Xuan.
"I was just kidding. This isn't magic; it's a hug that humans use to express goodwill," he explained earnestly to Xie Xuan.
This time, Xie Xuan didn't believe him. She thought he was lying to her, so she lowered her head and thought for a long time, recalling all the details of Feng Xun hugging her just now. If he didn't tell her, couldn't she learn it herself?
At this moment, Feng Xun turned around, folded the blood-stained white handkerchief in his hand, and put it away. The hot water on the table had cooled, but Xie Xuan hadn't drunk it yet. Fortunately, she seemed to have recovered quite well.
He was lost in thought and paid no attention to the rustling sounds behind him. He was only thinking about going to see King Qin Guang later and telling him to let Xie Xuan see less of the mortal world in the future.
At this moment, Xie Xuan had already sprung up from the bed. She adopted a hunting posture, truly intending to use this "magic" to attack Feng Xun.
So she spread her arms and pounced on Feng Xun from behind, wrapping her frail body around him.
This embrace felt like a curse to both of them. Feng Xun's hands, which were holding the teacup, froze, and he stopped all movement, just like Xie Xuan had moments before.
She was very light, landing behind him like a bird perching.
Xie Xuan was very pleased with herself. Seeing Feng Xun's reaction, she thought the "magic" she had learned had worked.
"Feng Xun, if you don't teach me, I'll learn by myself." She was actually quite happy, a faint smile curving her lips—she didn't know it was a smile, but this emotion was causing her face to move.
This was the first time Feng Xun had ever seen such a foolish soul. He looked down at Xie Xuan's hands wrapped around his front and sighed softly.
Fine, I'll just go along with her. The more I deny it, the more she takes it seriously. She never listens to me anyway.
"You've learned well," he said softly, straightening his back.
A crimson blush spread beneath the black demon mask, a faint red reaching the tips of his ears, yet his tone remained gentle and calm.
"This spell is very dangerous. Don't use it outside in the future." He habitually taught Xie Xuan the principles, but forgot that she never listened to him.
Xie Xuan rested her chin on his shoulder, her fingers restlessly scratching at his chin, her soft yet mischievous voice ringing in his ear.
"Feng Xun, just you wait, I'm going to wreak havoc in Fengdu." That's what she thought to herself, but she said softly, "Okay."
Feng Xun's throat bobbed slightly, but he didn't actually shake off Xie Xuan's fidgeting hands.
After a long while, Xie Xuan felt she had imprisoned Feng Xun long enough before she released him. When he left the room, his steps were somewhat flustered.
King Qin Guang sighed several times in his mansion. The last time he took Xie Xuan to the Mirror of Karma, she almost lost her soul. This matter was neither a big deal nor a small one.
On a small scale, Xie Xuan was an evil ghost whose name was not recorded in the Book of Life and Death, and her soul's disintegration would not be a pity. But on a larger scale, this person was a soul that the Ghost King of Fengdu wanted to convert, and he had almost caused her soul to scatter—a truly heinous crime.
King Qin Guang covered his face with his palm and rubbed it. Feng Xun did not punish him, which meant the matter was over. After all, Xie Xuan had insisted on seeing that glimpse of the mortal realm, so it was not King Qin Guang's fault. But only he knew that he had not taken Xie Xuan to the Mirror of Retribution to fulfill her wish, but out of his own selfish curiosity.
The human world is too vast, and there are countless living beings. King Qin Guang had ruled the underworld for too long, and over time, he had lost his compassion for any particular soul within it.
After Xie Xuan's accident, he suddenly felt like going to take a look at the Bridge of Helplessness.
King Qin Guang took off his imperial robes, put on the linen clothes that an ordinary old man would wear, and with a pot of wine hanging from his waist, walked into the heavy snow of Fengdu.
The Bridge of Helplessness spanned the River of Oblivion, and on the other side lay the boundless city of Fengdu. The bronze-armored general guarding the underworld stood majestically, his giant axe radiating a chilling light.
Between life and death, there is the most separation and reunion, joy and sorrow. In a single day, King Qin Guang saw an elderly man send off a young child. He saw lovers who had vowed to stay together for life separated by death. He saw a local official who insisted on speaking out for the people travel thousands of miles to the capital, only to be framed and imprisoned, his head rolling down the execution ground with his blood. He saw the wicked get punished, and thousands cheered. He also saw fish that traveled thousands of miles against the ocean currents to mate and spawn in their birthplace, dying in the spring. He saw plants growing in caves chasing the sunlight, their wildly growing vines withering and dying just before they touched the light of day.
King Qin Guang sat by the Bridge of Helplessness, sighing deeply. He wasn't born a god. Many years ago, he seemed to have walked among mortals, drinking the homemade wine that hung at his waist. He seemed to recall why he had long resided in the void, no longer looking down upon the mortal world. Life and death were the greatest suffering, and for a god like him, too much emotion would affect the fairness of the underworld.
Perhaps he should be like the Mirror of Retribution—a cold, lifeless object, mechanically and fairly fulfilling his duties, King Qin Guang thought.
He touched the wine flask at his waist, wanting to drink more, but found that the flask he had retrieved was empty. He had already finished the aged wine.
In a daze, he recalled the fine wine Xie Xuan had given him before. That jar of wine was made by Feng Xun and was truly fragrant and intoxicating.
Without wine, King Qin Guang sat alone before the Bridge of Helplessness, his old and hunched body looking somewhat forlorn.
Amidst the swirling snowflakes, Xie Xuan stood outside Fengdu City, tiptoeing to gauge the size of the bronze-armored general guarding the city. No, this thing is too big—too difficult to carry. Xie Xuan decided to skip her first target for now.
When the bronze-armored general saw Xie Xuan, he was so angry that the soul lamp in his body lit up several times. Last time, it was she who put the dream snake into his body, which almost caused his soul lamp to shatter. He never expected that the wise lord would save her.
He glared angrily at Xie Xuan as she walked away but remained where he was, steadfastly upholding his duty.
Xie Xuan saw a familiar figure outside Fengdu City. It was King Qin Guang, the old man named King Qin Guang.
"This annoying old man will do," she thought.
Xie Xuan quietly approached King Qin Guang—she was trying her best to tiptoe and not attract her prey's attention. King Qin Guang was still lost in his own sorrow, and when he looked up and saw that it was Xie Xuan, he didn't react much. This was the evil spirit that Feng Xun wanted to save. In the underworld, she could go wherever she wanted, so why should he care?
"Little devil, it's you..." King Qin Guang sighed and rambled on like an ordinary old man. "Has your soul recovered from its previous disintegration? Next time you know there's danger in the human world, don't go looking again. The Lord won't let you go out and do evil..."
Xie Xuan was annoyed by his words and prepared to take action directly. She simply bent down, sat down next to him, and put her arm around the heartbroken old man.
Suddenly, she felt something was strange. Holding a sad old man with unknown teardrops on his face felt completely different from holding Feng Xun.
King Qin Guang had been the high and mighty King of the Underworld for a long time, and this was the first time in ten thousand years that someone had comforted him like this. You must know that in the past, when he was sad, he would cry while holding the Book of Life and Death.
"You little devil, you—" King Qin Guang was stunned for a moment.
Xie Xuan thought that the magic she had learned was not working, so she forcefully pressed King Qin Guang's head onto her shoulder.
"Sigh—" King Qin Guang sighed, recalling the scenes he had witnessed in the human world. Xie Xuan's embrace at this moment was enough to heal many sorrowful emotions—look, even an evil spirit has come to comfort you.
Overwhelmed with grief, he grabbed Xie Xuan's sleeve and forcefully wiped away his tears, thinking to himself that if he had a granddaughter now, she would surely be about the same age as her.
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