The Marriage Knot - Chapter 5

His sister had left, but the seafood she’d brought was delicious. Without noticing, I ate far too much.

Ao Ye looked at my bulging belly and, apparently on a whim, dragged me out for a walk to help me digest.

He led me through one turn after another for quite a while. When I noticed dusk approaching, I urged him to head back. But I turned around again, and he was gone.

“A-Ye? Where are you?”

I searched the woods for ages. Yet somehow, no matter where I went, I ended up back where I’d started.

Night fell. A bewildering mist rose among the trees. I grew more and more frantic.

“A-Ye! Where are you?”

Through the haze, I saw a figure with a build like his. Only when I drew closer did I realize it was a skeleton in a black cloak.

Before I could react, the monster began trying to suck out my soul.

I raised my arms to shield my head and screamed in terror.

But a long moment passed without the sensation of my soul being torn apart. I cautiously opened my eyes. The bracelet his sister had given me glowed red and blasted the creature far away.

I took my chance and ran.

For some reason, more and more monsters came after me. A dense black mass surrounded me.

The bracelet formed a protective barrier. From inside it, I watched an endless swarm of skeletons reaching for me with their claws.

Ao Ye had abandoned me deliberately. I should have known.

He wanted to leave the underworld. He thought I was trouble. He wanted me… annihilated.

I’d known he didn’t like me. I hadn’t realized he hated me enough to deny me even another life.

The red light weakened. Suddenly, it went out. The bracelet crumbled to dust, and the skeletons surged toward me.

Was I going to be devoured by these ghosts, cut off from reincarnation, and trapped in eternal damnation?

Then the sky changed. Bolt after bolt of thunderous lightning struck, hitting the monsters squarely and reducing them to ash.

Ao Ye hurried over and helped me up. “Are you all right?”

I pulled away from him and walked on alone without a word.

“Hey, Xiaoxiao! Are you hurt?”

I stopped and turned back. “I’m fine. Disappointed?” I asked bitterly.

His face darkened. Then he said, “Xiaoxiao, let me explain.”

Explain what? That you hadn’t left me in the woods on purpose? Or that you’d never thought of using those soul-devouring ghosts to get rid of me?

“Fine! I admit I wanted to leave you behind. But I didn’t mean to really hurt you. I thought once I got home, I’d find a spiritual treasure to put your soul back together.”

“Then I heard that souls devoured by those ghosts can’t be restored, so I rushed back to save you.”

Rushed back? Without his sister’s bracelet, would he have made it in time?

I still wouldn’t smile at him. I turned and left.

He chased after me. “Look, nothing happened to you. Why are you still angry?”

Shouldn’t I be angry? Wasn’t I allowed to be angry? I’d nearly been condemned for all eternity!

Everything you said was always so absolute. You were always so full of yourself, never considering anyone else’s feelings.

“Since Your Highness hates me so much, let’s have nothing more to do with each other.”

He shook the red thread on his wrist helplessly. “We can’t cut ties!”

“Once I’m reborn, the marriage knot will break on its own. Until then, please stop bothering me, Prince Ao Ye.”

With that, I walked away without looking back.

He followed me all the same, leaving only after I’d gone inside A-Fei’s house.