Sharing One Life with My Nemesis - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

That word, “again,” was colder than any blade.

I looked at Lu Xingzhou.

“You were reborn too?”

He swung down from his horse. His cloak was damp with morning dew, and he looked like a graceful young master stepping out of an old dream.

“I woke earlier than you two.”

His voice was very soft.

“A full seven days earlier.”

No wonder.

No wonder he had been able to take Ah Man ahead of time, knew about the ruined temple, and had been waiting here.

Xie Huaiyan stepped forward, blocking my side.

Lu Xingzhou looked at him and smiled.

“Brother Xie, you died such an ugly death in our last life. Are you still going to stand in the way this time?”

Xie Huaiyan said, “Force of habit.”

Lu Xingzhou’s gaze darkened.

“What I hate most about people like you is how well you pretend not to care.”

He turned to me, his tone softening again.

“Tingyun, come here.”

I didn’t move.

He sighed.

“The Soulbound Gu is in you. If you don’t come with me, when he hurts, you hurt too.”

Xie Huaiyan said in a low voice, “You were the one who planted the Gu.”

Lu Xingzhou did not deny it.

“In our last life, one of you died at the execution ground and the other slit her wrists, wasting all my efforts.”

He lifted his eyes to me.

“This time, I naturally had to be more careful.”

I tightened my grip on my blade.

“Why did you destroy the Jiang Family?”

Lu Xingzhou looked as if he had heard something absurd.

“The Jiang Family was in the way.”

“In whose way?”

“The Crown Prince’s. And mine.”

He said it calmly.

“The military authority of the Northern Frontier was in your father’s hands. The Crown Prince could not sleep easy. If the Dingguo Duke Mansion wanted credit for backing the future emperor, the Jiang Family had to fall.”

I heard my own heartbeat, each beat heavier than the last.

“So your proposal to me was part of the scheme too?”

Lu Xingzhou frowned slightly.

“Tingyun, I truly did want to marry you.”

I laughed.

“Kill my whole family, then marry me?”

“I could have protected you.”

At last, impatience entered his voice.

“As long as you behaved and handed over the military report’s Draft Manuscript, the Jiang Family’s death sentence was already set. I could have changed your fate to exile. After the storm passed, I would have brought you back.”

Xie Huaiyan suddenly gave a cold laugh.

“Brought her back as a concubine?”

Lu Xingzhou looked at him.

“Better than dying with you.”

I raised my hand and hurled my blade.

Lu Xingzhou tilted his head aside. The blade grazed his face, carving out a streak of blood.

In the same instant, pain flashed across my own cheek.

Xie Huaiyan looked at me, his expression sinking.

“Don’t use your blade.”

I wiped the blood from my face.

“Don’t worry. It won’t kill me.”

Lu Xingzhou touched his cheek, and the last trace of warmth vanished from his eyes.

“Seize Xie Huaiyan.”

The Black Armor Guard charged into the ruined temple.

Xie Huaiyan dragged me back behind the Buddha statue and kicked over the incense table.

Dust exploded into the air.

In the chaos, I shoved a pill into his mouth.

Caught off guard, Xie Huaiyan swallowed it. His eyes changed.

“What did you make me eat?”

“Mafei Powder.”

“Jiang Tingyun!”

“Don’t shout.”

I clutched the Gu Thread at my shoulder, the pain nearly driving me to my knees.

“Your injuries are too serious. Pain will only slow me down.”

He was so furious he wanted to curse me.

But as the medicine took effect, half his body went numb, and all he could do was let me drag him into the hidden passage behind the Buddha statue.

This hidden passage was where I used to hide when I skipped lessons as a child.

Xie Huaiyan didn’t know about it.

Neither did Lu Xingzhou.

Before the entrance collapsed behind us, I heard Lu Xingzhou shouting from outside.

“Tingyun, you can’t escape.”

I dragged Xie Huaiyan deeper into the tunnel.

Leaning against the wall, he asked in a low, hoarse voice, “Just how many holes did you hide in as a child?”

I panted for breath.

“Enough for you to die ten times over.”