Zhao Guanren explained that the bleeding from all seven orifices was due to the body's inability to withstand the sudden awakening of War Ghost powers. The War Ghost Clan undergoes a power awakening at the age of twenty-five, and many clan members perish because their physical bodies cannot endure the immense surge of energy.
Lu Qianqiao was currently in this extremely perilous phase.
"So—young lady, your willingness to stay during this critical time and choose to remain by the general's side fills me with admiration as boundless as an endless river..." Zhao Guanren wept with emotion, clutching Xin Mei's hand tightly. "Rest assured! Even if it costs me all my energy, I will write a heart-wrenching, earth-shattering classic operatic script for you two! Would you prefer both protagonists to die? Or one dead and the other driven mad?"
Xin Mei pulled her hand back. "...Can't they both live happily ever after?"
"That wouldn't be poignant or moving at all!" Zhao Guanren widened his eyes.
"Then go be poignant and moving by yourself!"
Si Lan, unable to tolerate it any longer, dragged him out and slammed the door shut. He then sat heavily beside Xin Mei, silently gazing at Lu Qianqiao's pale face on the stone bed. The bleeding had stopped, but he still hadn't woken up—this was the third day.
Turning to Xin Mei, Si Lan noted that while the general had been unconscious for three days, she had also sat by his bedside for three days. She didn't appear heartbroken, merely staring at the figure on the bed with a deep frown.
"You..." Si Lan hesitated before speaking. "If your feelings for the general... haven't reached that point yet, there's no need to force yourself. I know the marriage was decreed by the emperor, and perhaps you or your family couldn't refuse... But given the general's condition... some things shouldn't be treated lightly. If you leave now, none of us would blame you."
Xin Mei looked at him blankly. "...What do you mean, 'haven't reached that point'?"
"Like... a love that pierces the heart and bones..." Si Lan shifted uncomfortably. "You seem completely oblivious. If you're staying out of gratitude because the general treated you well, that's unnecessary. I believe the general acted willingly... and... he wouldn’t want you to see him in such a state, nor to be implicated because of him..."
"I don’t care. I want to stay," she replied without hesitation.
"That’s exactly what I mean!" Si Lan sighed in frustration. "Do you really love the general that deeply? I don’t see it at all! The general... had almost let go, but then you stepped in and reignited his hopes... Not that it's a bad thing, but..."
After a long silence, she murmured, "I don’t know."
She didn’t know what it meant to have a love that pierces the heart and bones. Tales of living and dying together only existed in operatic scripts—she had never experienced anything like it in her life.
"Are you saying I should hug him, wail dramatically, and then throw myself into a river to follow him in death?"
Isn’t that how it always goes in the operas?
Si Lan felt a vein throbbing in his forehead. "Who told you to do such ridiculous things!"
Her father must have endured countless trials to raise her to adulthood without mishap. The memories must be filled with blood and tears."I actually want to leave too!" She frowned, looking troubled. "These past few days I've often thought about going home. You know, being a widow probably isn't very pleasant, though remarriage is an option... Well, that's not the point. Every time I tell myself to go home, I feel like there's something I can't let go of—like being hungry but unable to find food! How could I possibly let myself go hungry?"
...What kind of nonsensical reasoning was this?
"I don't know what you mean by 'bone-deep memories,'" Xin Mei said as she took out a damp cloth to gently wipe Lu Qianqiao's face. "But I do know one thing—Lu Qianqiao won't die. I'm not leaving."
"Where... where does this confidence of yours come from...?"
"It's not confidence... It's what I choose to believe." She turned to look at him, her gaze clear. "I believe he definitely won't die. We can deal with everything else later."
Si Lan retreated under her overwhelming aura of determination. "Anyway... forget it... Take good care of the General. I think he'd be happy to see you first when he wakes up..."
He closed the door, only to find Zhao Guanren leading a group of little Demons eavesdropping by the crack. With one sweep of his hand, he shooed them all away.
What were bone-deep memories? What was love to the point of madness?
Xin Mei propped her chin on her hands as she lay by the bedside, lost in thought. Those things sounded inseparable from tears, falling petals, and drizzling rain. But here there was only the gloomy Underground Palace and a General lying unconscious on a stone bed—no wonder such tender emotions couldn't be nurtured.
Suddenly, Lu Qianqiao on the bed stirred. His long lashes lifted, revealing blood-red eyes that stared blankly at the tomb ceiling.
"...Si Lan, why aren't the lights on?" he asked hoarsely.
Xin Mei started slightly and quickly brought the candle closer. "Lu Qianqiao, I've brought the light. How are you feeling now? Is there anywhere that hurts?"
He didn't move, only his trembling lashes betraying any reaction. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Xin Mei... you're still here?"
"Mm, I stayed to take care of you."
Surely he'd be moved to tears, right? Zhao Guanren had said her actions seemed quite noble—usually the male lead would be so touched he'd weep uncontrollably, then pledge his life or even his body in return... But his expression looked completely calm, with no trace of emotion at all.
Lu Qianqiao closed his eyes, looking weary. "...I want to sleep a little longer. You can leave if there's nothing else."
Huh?
Xin Mei was slightly taken aback. Zhao Guanren had gotten it wrong again!
"Then... would you like some water or something..." She set the candleholder on the table and carefully poured a cup of warm water. "You haven't drunk anything in days—you must be uncomfortable, right?"
He didn't answer, only hesitantly reached out to take the cup. It landed lightly in his palm, then tipped over onto the stone bed with a crisp shatter. The sound left them both stunned.
"Uh, it's fine... I'll get another cup." Xin Mei quickly swept the fragments to the floor and poured another cup.
"No need." He shook his head. "My eyes... I..."
This time it was blindness. Next might be deafness, then muteness—until finally becoming a living corpse devoid of all senses. This was the process of a War Ghost's power awakening. So wretched, so weak, yet exposed before her. It filled him with more despair than death itself."Drink some water."
As if oblivious, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, propped him up, and brought the teacup to his lips.
He didn't move.
What should she say at a time like this? Xin Mei pondered for a while before stammering, "W-well, I don't mind... You don't have to take it to heart. Oh! In my heart, you'll always be the most capable and the greatest!"
Was this the right reaction?
He kept his eyes tightly shut, not uttering a word.
How could this be?! Xin Mei sighed helplessly, gently laying him back down. Sitting by the bed, she rubbed her hands together and hesitantly whispered, "Lu Qianqiao, I've never been in this situation before, so I... I don't know what to say. That earlier remark was wrong of me—I shouldn't have spoken so lightly. Losing your sight... it must be really hard to adjust, right?"
There was no response from him.
Xin Mei reached out and lightly grasped his sleeve. After a moment's thought, she continued, "I saw you at your lowest, so you should let me see you at your brightest too. That's only fair, don't you think?"
Still no reaction.
"People should try to stay optimistic. If you keep thinking you're going to die, you might really not make it. Look at me—I never dwell on my 'husband-killing fate.' I believe I definitely don't have one, so you definitely won't die. You should learn from me in this regard... Hey, if you keep ignoring me, I'll start overthinking! Give me some face, will you? Tell me it's not my 'husband-killing fate' that brought you such bad luck?"
Finally, Lu Qianqiao turned toward her with resignation, his unfocused red eyes meeting hers. "You talk too much."
"They say couples should complement each other. Since you refuse to speak, I have to do the talking." Xin Mei suddenly clapped her hands. "Oh right, we're not really husband and wife yet—we never had our wedding night. You just took a couple of bites out of me, then started bleeding from all orifices and passed out."
Bites...
A long-absent flush finally appeared on his pale face as he abruptly pulled the blanket over his head. "...I'm hungry."
She immediately stood up. "What would you like? I'll make it for you."
After a long pause, his muffled voice emerged from under the covers. "Tofu General."
She laughed.
Dinner turned out to be two tofu figurines—one of the Tofu General and one of Tofu Xinmei—one steamed, the other drizzled with sauce.
With ruthless cruelty, Xin Mei used her chopsticks to behead her own tofu likeness and offered it to Lu Qianqiao. "Here, eat my head."
...Why did he find this so hard to swallow?
Then she mercilessly decapitated the general's tofu head and declared, "I'll eat your head."
Haha, this felt like sharing a wedding cup! Xin Mei beamed, convinced that this tofu dish was the most successful culinary creation of her life, utterly delicious beyond compare.
Lu Qianqiao, still unaccustomed to his loss of sight, ate painfully slowly, leaving two grains of rice stuck at the corner of his mouth. She leaned over and gently brushed them away with her fingers, only for him to unexpectedly grasp her wrist.
"Xin Mei, come sit here."
Obediently, she settled beside him. The next moment, his warm, slightly rough hand gently cupped her face, his thumb tracing her eyebrows with slow, tender strokes before finally coming to rest on her soft, full lips. His movements grew even slower, the heat of his skin palpable against every fine line of her lips, that strange, unfamiliar sensation creeping back once more.Xin Mei's heart began to race wildly, though she didn't know why herself.
His lashes lowered, his face so close that his rich breath mingled with hers... Was he going to kiss her? Was he?
After rubbing for a long time, his thumb finally picked off another grain of rice. Lu Qianqiao smiled mischievously: "...You had rice by your mouth too."
"..." Could she punch him?
"Xin Mei, I can't give you anything right now." His voice suddenly dropped. "But you being here is already..."
Her presence here, her not leaving—that was her greatest gift to him.
She nodded: "Mm, I'll stay with you. Don't worry."
His fingers suddenly tightened, then loosened again. He opened his arms and hugged her tightly.
A scalding tear seemed to fall on her neck—or maybe it was just her imagination.
Xin Mei patted his back: "Lu Qianqiao, you will definitely survive."
July 15th—the day the Ghost Gate opens.
While the vengeful spirits in the sacrificial pit reveled madly, those sent by the War Ghost Clan quietly infiltrated the Underground Palace.
Of course, Xin Mei knew nothing of this. Hidden in the most secretive, hardest-to-find room, she ate melon while asking Si Lan: "Why are you hiding me? Afraid I'll ambush Lu Qianqiao?"
Was it because she'd tried a few times to share a wedding cup with him? But... wasn't that normal? They were already married but hadn't shared the ceremonial wine or consummated their marriage. According to her father, this marriage was hanging by a thread!
Si Lan seemed nervous, as if wary of something: "It's for your own good... Anyway, the General has lost all five senses—he's no different from a living corpse now! What would ambushing him accomplish?!"
"Can I go see him tonight?"
Only after midnight each day would Si Lan relax and take her to Lu Qianqiao's room to see him. Five days earlier, Lu Qianqiao had lost all five senses due to the Transformation Tribulation—he couldn't hear, see, feel, or speak. Truly no different from a living corpse.
But apparently, whether pure-blooded or hybrid, over eighty percent of War Ghosts underwent these changes. Everyone took it calmly, so she did too.
Before Si Lan could answer, a string of dark bronze bells on the door suddenly jingled urgently. His expression changed drastically as he stood immediately.
"Stay here! I beg you by the General's life—do not leave this room!"
With that, he sprinted away.
Note: The "five senses" refer to: touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight.
Lu's current condition includes no conscious activity either—aside from heartbeat and breathing, he's essentially a corpse, commonly called: a vegetative state.
The "five senses" are used here to broadly describe his condition, not as precise medical terms.
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