A blood-stained sleeve slowly extended, shielding Yu Tuan'er and Liu Yan behind it. Tang Lici coughed once more, spitting out another mouthful of blood. Chen Langhun stared fixedly at Liu Yan, who swayed unsteadily as he pushed himself up from the ground with the help of a table and chairs. He shoved Yu Tuan'er aside. "A-Li, don't stop me."
Tang Lici leaned on the table with his right hand, his left sleeve still blocking Liu Yan's path.
With a loud "thud," Liu Yan violently shoved Tang Lici aside, sending him crashing into a wardrobe. Yu Tuan'er and Shen Langhun froze in shock as Liu Yan strode over to Chen Langhun. "I killed your wife. If you want to kill me, then do it. Don't involve others."
Despite his limp, Liu Yan walked with an unnaturally straight posture. Chen Langhun's raised palm hesitated for a fraction of a second before striking down. Just as his palm was about to land on Liu Yan, a dark shadow suddenly flew toward him. Chen Langhun, his mind set on killing, showed no mercy. With a deafening crash, the shadow was sent flying by the force of his palm, smashing through half the furniture in the room.
"Sister A Shui!" Yu Tuan'er screamed, rushing toward the shadow. Midway, she abruptly turned to Tang Lici, raised her hand, and delivered a sharp, resounding slap across his face!
The crisp "smack" echoed through the room. Chen Langhun's lethal strike had missed Liu Yan entirely, leaving both men stunned. For a moment, they forgot even what shock felt like, staring dumbfounded at Tang Lici.
The shadow that had flown through the air was A Shui.
Just moments ago—Tang Lici, too severely injured to stand, had grabbed A Shui from the nearby bed and hurled her at Chen Langhun. Chen Langhun's palm strike had sent her flying, but in taking the blow meant for Liu Yan, she had spared his life.
"You—you—" Yu Tuan'er glared at Tang Lici, her rage beyond words. "You monster! Monster, monster, monster! Just die! Die, die, die! Why didn't you throw yourself instead? You—you—" She suddenly burst into loud sobs, turning toward where A Shui had fallen. "Sister A Shui..."
Chen Langhun stared blankly at Tang Lici, who lay on the ground, unable to rise. He had actually used A Shui as a hidden weapon, flinging her through the air... He could hardly believe it. Tang Lici had always treated A Shui differently, and she had cared for him with the utmost tenderness and caution, doing everything she could for him. Yet when the moment came, he had thrown her like a human shield, like a table or a chair...
And she was still gravely injured, not yet out of danger, yet he had hurled her without hesitation.
Liu Yan swayed heavily. He had meant to take a step toward Tang Lici but paused, then turned and walked straight toward A Shui. Yu Tuan'er was already cradling her, weeping. "She's dying, she's dying... What do we do? What do we do?"
Liu Yan's voice was hoarse. "She won't die. She's a good person. Heaven doesn't forsake the good." Yu Tuan'er wailed, "You're lying—you're lying—why did he throw Sister A Shui? Why didn't he throw himself? Does Heaven harm people like this? Why doesn't Heaven rain hail to crush him to death right now? Ahhh..." She trembled violently as she held A Shui, her cries shaking her entire body. Liu Yan reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Don't cry, don't cry..." But even as he urged her to stop, his own eyes reddened at the sight of A Shui's pale, lifeless face in Yu Tuan'er's arms.A Shui had suffered a knife wound to her chest and was struck in the abdomen by Chen Langhun, leaving her with unimaginably severe injuries. Yet, her eyes remained open, and she hadn’t lost consciousness. Seeing Yu Tuan’er utterly heartbroken, she faintly moved the corners of her lips into a weak smile. “Little… sister…”
“A Shui, jiejie…”
“I… am willing…” A Shui murmured softly, “gladly… willingly…”
Before Yu Tuan’er could fully grasp her meaning, Liu Yan’s expression darkened. “You—!”
“Cough… cough…” A Shui suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The knife wound, aggravated by the force of the palm strike, had damaged her lungs. “Cough… cough… cough…”
Liu Yan’s eyes turned crimson. “You say you’re willing? You say you’re willing to let him throw you like this? You don’t hate him, don’t blame him, don’t feel heartbroken? Have you gone mad?”
“I… don’t know…” The blood at the corners of A Shui’s lips drowned out their natural color, making them appear vividly beautiful. “I’m at peace… I’m not… useless…”
Her voice was as faint as a thread, yet everyone in the room heard it. Liu Yan turned to glare at Tang Lici and suddenly roared, “Did you hear that? Did you hear her? You wanted her to die willingly for you—and in the end, she was still willing to die for you! No matter how reluctant or resentful she once was, you still made her love you so devotedly that she’d die for you, sacrifice for you, without even a trace of hatred! Are you happy now? Have you gotten what you wanted? Are you satisfied?”
Tang Lici slowly pushed himself up, his long, ashen hair spilling onto the floor, tangling with the dust. From where he lay, he couldn’t see A Shui’s condition—collapsed furniture blocked his view, and no one had approached him. He coughed softly, reached into his robes, and slowly withdrew a bundle of soft yellow silk.
Chen Langhun, who had been stunned, suddenly snapped to attention at the sight of the silk. A flash of realization struck him, and he rushed over to take it. “What is this?”
“The Great Restoration Pill,” Tang Lici murmured, pointing toward A Shui. “Warm water…”
Chen Langhun swiftly poured warm water from the teapot—fortunately, Yu Tuan’er had left a pot of hot water for A Shui before she slept, and it was now just the right temperature. Unwrapping the silk, he found three pale-yellow pills inside. He dissolved them in the water and, without hesitation, poured the mixture down A Shui’s throat.
Liu Yan unwrapped the bandages around A Shui’s chest. Her wound, previously treated with high-grade medicine, had torn open again from the impact. He took out a bottle of brown liquid from his own robes—a disinfectant he had developed while refining antidotes—and gently applied it to her injury. Instead of rebandaging it, he pressed a clean white cloth against the wound. Yu Tuan’er carefully supported A Shui while Chen Langhun moved with lightning speed, sealing several of her Major Acupoints with precise strikes.
The three of them worked desperately to save A Shui, who lay dazed in Yu Tuan’er’s arms, as though she might dissipate into a wisp of spirit at any moment. After the chaos, the room fell into an eerie silence. Feng Feng sat on the bed, his earlier cries ignored. Now, he clenched his fists tightly, staring intently at A Shui without moving a muscle.
Only after Chen Langhun finished channeling his energy to expel the stagnant blood from A Shui’s chest did the three of them finally turn their gaze toward Tang Lici.Tang Lici still sat in the corner, only having changed his posture—now hugging his knees, his gray hair spilling onto the floor, still tangled with dust and the fragments of broken furniture, trembling faintly in the wind.
Liu Yan staggered toward him and knelt before him. "A-Li..."
Tang Lici remained motionless, not even a flicker in his gaze.
"Let me die," Liu Yan whispered. "I beg you."
Still, he gave no answer, staring fixedly at the dust swirling in the lamplight before him.
"At Good Cloud Mountain, you refused to kill me. To save me, you were willing to make enemies of the entire martial world. To save me, you treated A Shui like nothing more than a tool, throwing her away like that..." Liu Yan grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. "What worth do I have to you? I’ve killed who knows how many people. I ordered those ignorant young girls to murder and burn. I threw Chen Langhun’s wife into the Yellow River. I don’t deserve to die just once. Now that the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill is no longer an incurable poison, I can finally die. Let me die, I beg you. You force me to live—do you want me to suffer a fate worse than death?"
Tang Lici’s bloodless lips cracked slightly. He moved them, but no one could make out what he said. Liu Yan shook him harder. "Give up! Let me die! The more you save me, the more pain I feel. The more I suffer, the worse my days become. Why do this? Why? Why?"
"...I owe you."
Tang Lici’s lips moved faintly, and this time, everyone heard him. Liu Yan stared at him in shock. "You owe me? What do you owe me? When did you ever owe me anything?"
"I owe all of you." Still hugging his knees, he gazed at the shattered furniture on the ground, his voice distant.
You owe us? For a moment, Liu Yan felt the world spin around him. "Is it because of that night at the Silver Pavilion... that’s why you..."
Tang Lici’s jade-white fingers released his knees and clutched his head instead. "I was wrong," he murmured. "I have to change... I must change. You can’t die, Fang Zhou can’t die, even Fu Zhumei can’t die... If you won’t let me save you, I’ll go mad..." His fingers dug into his gray hair, and suddenly, he smiled—a pale, fragile thing. "I’ve made another mistake, haven’t I?"
You...
Liu Yan gripped his shoulders tightly. So, even now, he was tormented by regret over that night at the Silver Pavilion when he had set a deadly trap to kill Fang Zhou, himself, and Fu Zhumei—the very night an accident had sent them across time to another world a thousand years in the past. Did Tang Lici truly believe, stubbornly, that Fang Zhou’s death and his own downfall were entirely his fault? That it was all because of him—and so he would stop at nothing, using every means possible to make amends?
If he even wanted to save the dead, how could he let a living person like him die?
A-Li’s way of atonement, his way of caring for others, had always been this extreme—laced with an overwhelming desire to control and protect, acting solely on what he believed was right and good, without explanation. He never justified his actions to anyone, leaving no one able to understand him. On this path of redemption, on this road to prove himself, he strayed further and further, until he stood alone, isolated and helpless, forced to draw closer to the monstrous."There are so many things that aren't your fault," Liu Yan said hoarsely. "Don't take responsibility for other people's choices. You're not that great—you just made one mistake. Fang Zhou died because he was injured. I became what I am today because I was stupid! What does any of that have to do with you? I don't want you to save me! I don't need your atonement, and I don't care for it!"
Tang Licheng clutched his head. He wasn't listening at all. He had always been trapped in his own world, never stepping out of it, never letting anyone in.
"Why did you throw A Shui over here? She could die—you know that—or do you really see her as nothing more than a table or a chair, something you can casually smash?" Liu Yan's eyes were bloodshot. "Why would you do such a thing? You harmed her to save me—do you think that would make me happy? Would it make you happy? Would everything just fall into place without any loss? Do you really think you won't be hurt? That your heart won't ache? That you won't think about how innocent she is, how devastated she would be?"
"Cough... cough..." Tang Licheng coughed lightly but said nothing.
"Do you really have the heart to let her die? Do you truly believe trading her life for mine is worth it?" Liu Yan's voice was ragged. "I'm begging you, let me die! Let me die! If you keep saving me like this, I'll go mad before you do!"
Shen Langhun stood to the side. At this moment, he could have killed Liu Yan a thousand times over, yet he remained silent, watching Liu Yan's outburst. Yu Tuan'er held A Shui in her arms. Her face had been streaked with tears, but now they fell like broken strings of pearls, one after another onto her clothes. At first, she had cried for A Shui, then for herself. The righteous fury in Liu Yan's tone, the madness in his demeanor—she had never seen him like this before.
No matter how much joy or sorrow she felt, Liu Yan would never erupt with such emotion for her. Because to him, she would always just be a child. Always just a child.
"Shh..." Tang Licheng whispered. "Can you... just let me have a moment of quiet?"
Liu Yan slowly unclenched his fingers one by one. Tang Licheng sat motionless, watching the dust dancing in the lamplight and the shattered remnants of the broken tables and chairs.
He was like a silent statue, devoid of thought, devoid of soul.
Liu Yan turned around. Shen Langhun stood right behind him.
"Kill me," he said, lifting his chin. "To die by your hand—Liu deserves it. I have no complaints."
Shen Langhun stared coldly at him. After a long pause, he said, "You're already living a fate worse than death. Killing you would be letting you off too easy." He exhaled deeply and added flatly, "I won't kill you."
Utter despair flashed in Liu Yan's eyes—a sorrow so intense it felt almost tangible, sharp enough to pierce the skin. Yu Tuan'er shuddered in alarm. "Don't kill yourself!" She set A Shui down and crawled over to clutch at Liu Yan's sleeve. "Don't kill yourself. If others don't want you, I do. You're good, so good. Please... don't abandon me."Liu Yan let her cling to him, his face suddenly contorting with extreme anguish. "I... I'm not the kind of person you imagine me to be." He shook his head. "You don’t understand anything. You just haven’t met other men. There are many better men in this world than me." Yu Tuan'er tightly gripped his sleeve. "Don’t die! You never tell me anything—how could I understand? I don’t want to understand! Don’t think you’re so terrible that you have to die! You’re not that bad, really not! Really not..."
"Waaah—" Fengfeng suddenly burst into loud sobs, trembling all over. Yu Tuan'er followed suit, wailing alongside him. Shen Langhun stood motionless as Liu Yan, dragging Yu Tuan'er along, turned to pick up Fengfeng from the bed. The cries of the woman and child were unbearably distressing. He stood by the bed, momentarily at a loss for what to do.
"Heh..." Shen Langhun let out a low, bitter laugh and took two steps back. The laughter was desolate. This man had no great virtues, nor any great vices. He had a sworn friend willing to risk his life for him and a woman who wept for him—two things countless wandering men in the jianghu envied. Yet he couldn’t keep them.
He couldn’t keep this sworn friend, nor could he keep this woman. Watching that grotesque face twist in agony, Shen Langhun suddenly threw back his head and laughed loudly before turning and striding away.
His vengeance was already settled. As for the rest, he no longer cared. Tucked in his robes was the Spring Mountain Beauty Hairpin that Tang Licí had given him—plucked from Yu Konghou’s hair during that night raid and later gifted to Shen Langhun at Wangting Villa. At this moment, only one thought occupied his mind: return to the Broken Tower, exchange this with the tower master for He Niang’s corpse, and give her a proper burial.
This jianghu, these grudges and grievances, all these notions of justice—bearing them was too heavy, transcending them too hard. Seeing Liu Yan in living torment, seeing A Shui barely clinging to life, seeing Yu Tuan'er heartbroken, all he wanted was to bury He Niang properly. From this life onward, keeping company with a loved one’s gravestone would be far better than drifting through the jianghu.
He still owed Tang Licí a blade’s debt—and fifty thousand taels of gold.
But his heart was weary, his grudges faded. Some things, once branded into shape, could never be repaid.
Shen Langhun leaped out the window. He wouldn’t kill Liu Yan, but neither could he share the same roof with him. So he chose to leave.
"Brother Shen..." Yu Tuan'er’s sobbing voice drifted on the night wind. A Shui lay quietly on the ground. Tang Licí slowly raised his head, coughing softly as he gazed at the empty window. No one could guess what thoughts churned in his heart at this moment.
This was a night where inner demons ran wild.
Everyone was going mad.
She felt as though she had floated in mist for an eternity, so long she thought she had passed through several cycles of rebirth. When she slowly opened her eyes, A Shui almost mistook herself for an infant newly born.
But upon opening them, what she saw was Yu Tuan'er’s face. The fleeting relief of release vanished, replaced by a heaviness that weighed down her entire body. Even blinking her eyelids felt exhausting. Staring blankly at Yu Tuan'er’s ecstatic expression, all she could think was that the days ahead still stretched on... and would be long.
"Sister A Shui, are you still in pain? Amitabha, you’re finally saved! Hey! Hey!" Yu Tuan'er jumped up. "Don’t leave! Sister A Shui is awake—won’t you talk to her?"There aren't many people who could make Yu Tuan'er call out "Hey." A Shui smiled at the awkward figure standing by the bed. Liu Yan wasn't dead—that meant Shen Langhun ultimately hadn't killed him. That was good.
Liu Yan stood by the bed leaning on his crutch, silent for a long while. "I..."
A Shui looked at him with sincere, gentle eyes, devoid of any resentment.
"I always... end up hurting you..." Liu Yan murmured softly. "I'm always letting you down."
She slowly shook her head.
"If I hadn't abducted you from Hao Wenhou back then, perhaps..." he said quietly, "you might have had a better life than now."
She shook her head again, her gaze still calm. After a moment, she asked, "What about Young Master Tang?"
Liu Yan froze for a moment. She bore no resentment toward him, nor toward A'Li—as if A'Li using her as a human shield to save his life had left no mark on her heart. "He..."
A subtle shift flickered in A Shui's eyes, a faint but unmistakable hint of concern. He didn't want to say it, but he had to. "He had urgent business elsewhere. He's no longer here."
A Shui trembled slightly. "How long was I asleep?"
"Two days and two nights."
"He left?" She was quiet for a while before asking softly, "How are his injuries?"
"He..."
It would have been easy to say, "His injuries aren't serious," but under A Shui's gaze, he faltered—once he hesitated, the lie became impossible to voice. After a long, stiff silence, Liu Yan still hadn't answered. Yu Tuan'er couldn't hold back any longer. "He was badly hurt, but he just left! He wouldn't even say where he was going—"
"Shut up!" Liu Yan snapped in a low voice, but Yu Tuan'er ignored him and kept talking. "There's no one in the world more heartless than him! After hurting you like this, he didn't even stay with you for a single night—he left almost immediately, without even a single word! Do you know that? You treated him so well, cared for him so much, and after he nearly got you killed, he didn't even ask once, 'How is she?' Didn't even glance at you! And then he just left! I... I..." Her face flushed red with anger. "I wish I could strangle him, tie him up, and whip him right in front of you! How can someone like that even exist?"
Liu Yan frowned, exhaling the breath he'd been holding in his chest. He turned his head away, unable to look at A Shui. He had always believed Tang Lichen needed A Shui—that was why he had urged her to let go of everything and love him. But in the end, Tang Lichen had discarded her like trash, indifferent to both her life and her feelings.
"He's very busy." A Shui's gaze remained gentle, still calm. "What about Brother Shen?"
Yu Tuan'er froze again. Tang Lichen had abandoned her and left, and all she said was, "He's very busy," before moving on so easily? "Brother Shen left too," she said, her eyes reddening with reluctant sorrow. "I'm really grateful to him."
A Shui smiled faintly. "Yes, Brother Shen has had it hard..." Her lashes lowered slightly, her voice soft and weak from her injuries. "Little sister."
"Hmm?" Yu Tuan'er stepped closer and took her hand. "What is it?"
A Shui curled her fingers around hers and closed her eyes. "When Young Master Tang threw me away, I realized something.""What?" Yu Tuan'er was astonished. In that split second, did she even have time to think about anything?
"I... in my heart..." A Shui said softly, her voice calm, "I truly care for and like Young Master Tang very much."
Yu Tuan'er tightly grasped her hand, while Liu Yan's eyes were filled with sorrow. Both listened intently as she continued, "I truly don’t blame him, so please don’t say he’s heartless or indifferent. It pains me to hear that." She slowly opened her eyes again, her gaze clear and bright. "Young Master Tang never promised me anything. There are so many women in this world who admire him—why should he feel obliged to treat me well? It’s my fault. Even though everyone else could see my feelings for him, I refused to acknowledge them myself." She sighed softly. "If I had realized and admitted it sooner, Young Master Tang might not have found A Shui so extraordinary. Perhaps we would have already forgotten each other, and things wouldn’t have come to this."
"You… how can you say that?" Yu Tuan'er widened her eyes, only half understanding. "Even if he doesn’t like you, he shouldn’t have just thrown you over—"
"Silly girl," A Shui smiled faintly. "He threw me over, and because of that, Liu Yan was saved. But you all resent and blame him—do you think he isn’t hurt by that?"
Yu Tuan'er looked utterly bewildered. "Didn’t he disregard your safety? If he doesn’t care about you, why are you defending him?"
A Shui studied her for a long moment, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks. "I don’t blame him. Even if I died because of this, I would still forgive him."
Yu Tuan'er stared at A Shui in disbelief, stunned for a while. "Is this what you truly think, or is it what Young Master Tang wants you to think?"
A Shui met her gaze. "I don’t know," she whispered. "But I really don’t blame him."
Yu Tuan'er bit her lip. "Does he really not love you at all?"
"Probably…" A Shui replied. "He doesn’t."
"Then how could he be hurt? A Shui, you’re just making excuses for him—nonsense!" Yu Tuan'er frowned. "If he doesn’t love you, he wouldn’t even care if you died!"
A Shui shook her head slowly. "A man as lofty as Young Master Tang, who would only save a life by exchanging another… he could never accept that." She coughed lightly. "Even if he knows I don’t blame him, this matter will haunt him, piercing his heart day and night."
Yu Tuan'er shook her head. "I don’t understand!" After a pause, she added, "All I know is that you’ve been so good to him, and he’s been so terrible to you."
"He hasn’t been terrible. Young Master Tang has always treated me well." A Shui smiled. "You just don’t understand."
"Of course I don’t! Why should I?" Yu Tuan'er glared, then suddenly laughed and jumped behind Liu Yan. "As long as you’re at peace with it, that’s all that matters. Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"
He had always treated A Shui well.
Though his "kindness" to others was merely a means to win their affection—not born of benevolence or tenderness, but more like a trap.
She had once feared this "kindness," resisting it with all her might, hoping only to remain unharmed and leave unscathed.
Liu Yan remained silent. But perhaps, in the moment Tang Lici cast her aside, what she thought of wasn’t just escape—but also how to comfort the man who had abandoned her.
Or rather… she was desperate to comfort the man who had abandoned her.
He had always known A Shui could never break free from Tang Lici. But he never realized she had sunk so deep, submerged beyond salvation, her soul and bones branded inside and out by Tang Lici.
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