Love Beyond the Grave

On a quiet spring afternoon, Chen Ying was still sound asleep nearby, so Duan Xu kept his voice low, like a whisper in the ear, yet each word was exceptionally clear.

To swear by everything the name Duan Xu possessed in this world—that was a heavy oath indeed.

He Simu gazed into his eyes, then after a brief moment, smiled and pushed him away. "If it's not, then it's not. Why such a big reaction? You even got angry. This is the first time I’ve seen you truly angry. Interesting."

He hadn’t been angry when Commander Qin abandoned him in the Northern Territory, when Wu Shengliu questioned him, or when Commander Qin’s subordinates ostracized him. Yet he got angry over such an ordinary question.

Duan Xu pressed his lips together, his gaze flickering away before returning. Just as he was about to speak, the figure before him flashed, and in an instant, he was pinned against the wall by his throat. He Simu, clad in a thin white robe, lifted him effortlessly with one hand. Tilting her head, she smiled and said, "But we still have unfinished business. What was it you said? That you’d only live for ten more days?"

It seemed the Ghost King still held a grudge from the day she regained her sense of touch.

Duan Xu gripped her wrist, struggling to speak. "Your... injuries..."

"You should worry about yourself first." He Simu leaned in, her eyes locking onto his. Duan Xu simply met her gaze in silence.

The sunlight was warm, the room quiet.

He Simu was surprised. "Aren’t you usually full of sweet words? Why so quiet now?"

Duan Xu smiled faintly, tightening his grip on her wrist as he obediently said, "I beg... the Ghost King... to spare me..."

"Dare to do it again?"

"..." Duan Xu blinked but didn’t answer.

Quick to admit fault, but bound to repeat it.

He Simu narrowed her eyes. It was clear he was taking advantage of her reluctance to kill him, brushing her off like this. Being manipulated by such a little fox wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Yet now, he looked up at her with an expression of pure sincerity, his eyes filled with nothing but her.

—Those who always protect others are very lonely.

He Simu suddenly recalled these words, relayed by Chen Ying. Her grip on Duan Xu’s neck faltered, then loosened.

When Duan Xu landed on the ground, he had the presence of mind to cushion his fall silently, ensuring Chen Ying remained undisturbed. Even his relieved cough was stifled. Bent over, coughing, he raised his eyes to He Simu with a smile. She looked down at him dismissively, waved her hand, and walked to the bed to sit down. With a snap of her fingers, the heavy ancient book fell back into her hands.

"So, what exactly happened?" Duan Xu acted as if nothing had just occurred, sitting down beside He Simu on the bed. Her eyes remained fixed on the Ghost Records as she recounted the events indifferently.

Now that Ming Feng Daoshi and the fake Qiao Yan had been burned to ashes by her, Duan Xu could spin whatever story he pleased. He Simu had no interest in holding grudges against mortals. For her, the real targets of punishment were those in the Ghost Realm who sought to overthrow her.

Duan Xu chuckled. "What’s wrong with your subordinates? They’re so disrespectful."

"Not surprising. They’ve been eagerly waiting for me to fall from grace for a long time now." He Simu flipped through the Ghost Records without looking up. "Whether in the human world or the Ghost Realm, the throne has always been like this."Duan Xu fell silent for a moment, his gaze lingering on the crisscrossing scars on her arm.

He Simu looked up at Duan Xu, following his line of sight to the scars on her own body. With a sigh, she flicked her sleeve to cover her arm. In the past, she hadn’t thought much of the fresh and old wounds covering Duan Xu’s body, but now that she had truly experienced the pain herself, she realized how unbearable it was. These mortals living in the world were truly fragile.

So she said, “If only I had discovered you when you first entered Heaven Knows. Then you could have suffered fewer injuries and endured less pain.”

Duan Xu seemed to consider this seriously for a while, then a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes. In a tone that was almost teasing, he said, “No. If you had met me back then, you definitely wouldn’t have been interested in me. Meeting you now—I think it’s exactly the right time.”

During his time in Heaven Knows, he had been at his most lost and tormented, living in constant fear, his heart already a furnace with no room left for love. He was grateful she had met the present version of him—because now he had found clarity, his convictions were firm, and he no longer needed saving.

“You don’t wish I had gone to save you sooner?”

“No.”

I would willingly fall into hell, endure hardship, reshape my bones, change my nature, and awaken to the truths of this world—all to become who I am.

Only then to meet you.

When Chen Ying woke up, he found himself in Duan Xu’s room. He was still groggy when he saw Duan Xu push the door open and step inside. His elder brother, the general, was clad in light armor, as if he had just returned from the training grounds. Seeing Chen Ying, he smiled and said, “You must have been so worried last night that you didn’t sleep at all. You’ve slept straight through till evening.”

Chen Ying’s eyes landed on the light armor Duan Xu was wearing, and he immediately jumped out of bed. He ran up to Duan Xu and asked, “Elder Brother General, when can I go to the battlefield with you?”

Duan Xu crouched down to meet his gaze and said, “You’re still too young. When you’re thirteen or fourteen, I’ll definitely take you to the battlefield. How does that sound?”

Chen Ying lowered his head dejectedly, then raised it again. “Little Sister Xiaoxiao is a ghost… Will she stay with us forever? Will she ever leave us?”

At this question, Duan Xu fell silent.

Chen Ying grew anxious. In his heart, He Xiaoxiao and Duan Xu were the two most invincible people in the world, so Duan Xu’s silence now felt like an admission that there was no room for negotiation. In his urgency, he grabbed Duan Xu’s hand and said, “Little Sister Xiaoxiao likes you very much. She… she’s even lovesick over you! Don’t you like her too? If you both feel the same way, then she’ll stay with us, right?”

Duan Xu froze, his expression turning slightly odd. “Lovesick? She told you that?”

“Mhm!”

“Hahahahaha…” Duan Xu’s expression shifted several times before he finally couldn’t hold back his laughter. Lowering his voice, he said, “She really will say anything, won’t she?”

Chen Ying stared at him in confusion. Duan Xu placed a hand on his shoulder and met his eyes. “I need to tell you something. Can you keep a secret for me?”

Chen Ying nodded eagerly, like a little chick pecking at rice. “I won’t tell anyone.”"Alright." Duan Xu spoke slowly and earnestly, "He Xiaoxiao might often say she likes or adores me, but all of that is fake. In truth, she doesn’t actually like me—she just says it for fun. To her, I’m just a somewhat special mortal, special enough for her to tolerate some liberties, but not special enough for her to love me."

Chen Ying looked bewildered.

Duan Xu paused for a moment before continuing, "I’ve never said I like her. But the truth is, I really do like her. Sincerely."

Chen Ying stared at Duan Xu in surprise. Before he could voice his thoughts, Duan Xu placed a finger to his lips and smiled. "You promised to keep my secret. You absolutely cannot tell He Xiaoxiao."

Still confused, Chen Ying nodded solemnly. His eight-year-old mind couldn’t quite grasp why someone would like another person but not want them to know. He was even more baffled by how Duan Xu’s account completely contradicted what he had understood!

Duan Xu nodded in satisfaction and patted Chen Ying’s shoulder. "From now on, don’t call me ‘General Brother.’ Since you’re my sworn brother, you can call me ‘Third Brother,’ just like my sister does."

Chen Ying’s eyes lit up, and he stammered out, "Third Brother..." Then, in a small voice, he asked, "Third Brother... does this mean you’re really my brother now?"

Duan Xu nodded firmly. "As long as I’m still in this world, as long as you call me Third Brother, I’ll be your family."

What Chen Ying had always wanted was simply a promise that he would never be abandoned. As he sat by He Xiaoxiao’s bedside while she lay unconscious, he had wondered why he kept losing the people who were kind to him.

Fortunately, he hadn’t lost Sister Xiaoxiao—and now, he had gained a brother.

Chen Ying suddenly hugged Duan Xu, so overjoyed he felt like he could fly. But this time, he held back his tears. He resolved to grow up quickly so he could protect all the people who had been good to him.

Originally, the farce involving collusion with Evil Ghosts had General Yin accusing Duan Xu of killing Ming Feng Daoshi to silence him, while Duan Xu countered that General Yin had tried to use Ming Feng Daoshi to harm Seventeen, only to end up worse off. The standoff continued until Qiao Yan woke up.

This time, Qiao Yan was truly awake.

The sight of her mother and brother nearly scared her into fainting again. Then, in front of everyone, she tearfully confessed that her family had tried to sell her to an old man as a concubine. Unable to bear the humiliation, she had fled, and she begged the authorities not to send her back into that living hell.

She also claimed that her mother and brother had conspired with Ming Feng Daoshi to have her possessed by an Evil Ghost, framing Duan Xu and attempting to harm Seventeen, only to lose control of the ghost and be devoured by it instead.

Of course, this version of events was fabricated by Duan Xu and relayed through Qiao Yan.

Naturally, General Yin denied everything, but with Ming Feng Daoshi dead and the key witness Qiao Yan retracting her earlier statements, Commander Qin and Zheng An ruled that, with war imminent, the matter would be dropped to maintain morale. Thus, it was left unresolved.

This was likely the outcome all parties preferred.

But when He Simu saw Duan Xu casually remark—"This isn’t over yet"—she could already foresee that General Yin’s future would not be a pleasant one.Here, Great Liang and Danzhi were once again officially at war. Duan Xu's Treading White Army was originally dispatched to feign an attack on Youzhou, while the main forces launched a surprise assault on Luozhou. Though assigned this thankless task yet again, Duan Xu didn't complain and led Treading White into action.

He dutifully drew Danzhi's firepower in Youzhou, allowing the Accomplishing Victory, Su Ying, and Fengxi armies to breach Luozhou's defenses. However, the battle in Luozhou soon reached a stalemate, and General Yin even perished in the chaos.

When He Simu heard this news, she found it hard to believe Duan Xu had nothing to do with it.

With the Accomplishing Victory Army's lieutenant general proving incompetent and the three armies on the verge of retreat in Luozhou, Duan Xu was urgently transferred to take command of Accomplishing Victory, leaving Wu Shengliu and Xia Qingsheng in charge of Treading White.

Upon arriving, Duan Xu swiftly issued numerous military orders. During strategy discussions with the generals and Commander Qin, he abandoned his usual compliant demeanor, adopting instead a sharp, uncompromising stance. Faced with dire circumstances and an Imperial Decree pressuring them to capture Yunzhou and Luozhou within two months, Commander Qin had no choice but to let Duan Xu take the gamble.

Unexpectedly, the results were remarkable.

Duan Xu, intimately familiar with Yunzhou and Luozhou's terrain, lured enemy forces into ambushes and harassed them with flanking maneuvers, wearing down Luozhou's troops. He also employed tactics from the Scripture of Azure Words to unsettle Danzhi's soldiers, waging psychological warfare—true to his unconventional, cunning style.

Bit by bit, Yunzhou and Luozhou fell. Meanwhile, the Danzhi Royal Court's succession struggle continued, and the court didn't consider these two regions crucial, suspecting Great Liang still coveted Youzhou. Thus, their elite forces remained stationed around the Upper Capital and Youzhou, refusing to reinforce Yunzhou and Luozhou. Without adequate supplies or reinforcements, the defending generals eventually crumbled under the pressure, retreating steadily.

With everything aligning in their favor, Great Liang's armies seized Yunzhou and Luozhou within two months.

Duan Xu became the commander of both Accomplishing Victory and Treading White.

After securing defenses in the two regions, Great Liang's forces temporarily ceased hostilities, ending the nearly half-year campaign that had shifted from defense to offense. Duan Xu was to return to the Southern Capital with Commander Qin to report on their campaign—a journey that would take roughly a month from Yunzhou.

"Wasting a whole month on travel—what a waste," remarked He Simu, who could traverse a thousand miles in a day and appear anywhere in an instant. She reminded Duan Xu, "You still owe me a senses-exchange transaction."

Finishing his memorial, Duan Xu set down his brush and replied, "When would you like to claim it?"

"Now." He Simu stepped closer, smiling. "Young General Duan, how about spending this month exploring the Ghost Realm?"