Killing the Fated One would take time and planning. For now, the most important things were Chi You’s recovery and retrieving Teng Bi’s body.
“Does that heart I took have any use for you?” Jiang Luo suddenly asked.
Chi You raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Jiang Luo continued, “If we had the last Yuan Tian Bead, would it help repair your soul?”
Chi You gave Jiang Luo a once-over, then suddenly chuckled softly. “Yes.”
Jiang Luo nodded calmly, told Chi You to rest well, and stepped outside to make a call. He arranged a meeting location with Wenren Lian.
Now that Chi You had woken up, Jiang Luo no longer needed to be so on edge. He set the meeting place far from the dragon vein, near Dawu Mountain. Wenren Lian suddenly lowered his voice and said, “Jiang Luo, those people Chi You brought with him, no one knows where they went. Except for Daoist Elder Wei He and a local guide, only Ge Wuchen was carried back by Ge Zhu.”
“You probably don’t know yet, but Ge Zhu and Ge Wuchen cleared up their misunderstanding and made up. According to Ge Zhu, he secretly followed you all into a tomb and personally saw Ge Wuchen disappear ahead of you. He panicked and searched the tomb for a long time before he found Ge Wuchen. By the time he found him, Ge Wuchen had gone mad—hugging a rock, crying and calling Ge Zhu’s name, probably mistaking the rock for him. No one knows what exactly happened between them in that tomb, but when Ge Zhu came back, his eyes were red from crying.”
Maybe the news was just too shocking—Wenren Lian, usually tight-lipped, couldn’t stop talking. “We didn’t know where you’d gone, so Daoist Elder Wei He and Ge Wuchen just stayed with us. Later, we followed Ge Zhu to try and find that tomb, but somehow it had collapsed. Do you know why it collapsed?”
“Oh right—where’s Teng Bi?” Wenren Lian asked next. He glanced back at Lu Youyi, who was picking mushrooms with Ye Xun, and then walked further away. “Did he go with you? If he’s with you, I won’t worry. I’m just afraid he’s still in the mountains and might suddenly bump into Lu Youyi. You don’t know this, but when you all went up the mountain before, Lu Youyi almost saw him. Luckily, I blocked Lu Youyi’s binoculars in time, or he would’ve seen Teng Bi for sure.”
Jiang Luo’s mind went blank for a second. He suddenly felt an ache in his chest and asked in a low voice, “You saw us when we went up the mountain?”
Wenren Lian said, “Yes.”
Jiang Luo: “If you hadn’t blocked him, would Lu Youyi have seen Teng Bi?”
Wenren Lian answered firmly, “Yes.”
Jiang Luo didn’t know what to say. He saw a lighter on the kitchen stove, walked over, picked it up, and began flicking it over and over.
Click. Click.
The flame flared up, then died.
His throat felt choked. In that moment, Jiang Luo suddenly understood how devastating it would be if he told Lu Youyi that Teng Bi had died.
The most unbearable thing in the world is a missed encounter caused by fate’s mistake.
Who would’ve known?
Who would’ve known that the single glance Wenren Lian blocked… might have been the last chance Lu Youyi ever had to see Teng Bi?
He could’ve seen him—but missed him due to a twist of fate. That kind of mistake could destroy a person in an instant.
Jiang Luo thought he understood what Teng Bi meant in his final words: “If… forget it…”
“If only I could see him one last time…”
“If only I weren’t dead…”
“If only I had apologized earlier…”
Just four short words, but they carried all the unspoken regrets in Teng Bi’s heart.
Jiang Luo’s voice turned hoarse. “He’s not with me… and he won’t suddenly show up anymore. When I get back… I’ll tell you everything.”
From his tone, Wenren Lian sensed something was wrong. He paused for a moment and said, “Alright.”
Jiang Luo hung up the phone, stood there dazed for a while, then went to borrow a pack of cigarettes from the host family.
The eldest son of the household was in the room whispering sweet nothings to his wife. When he heard the knock, he rushed out, face flushed, one hand in his pocket, the other shoving a pack of cigarettes into Jiang Luo’s hand. He stammered, “No need… no need to return it.”
Jiang Luo’s gloom lifted a little. When he returned to the room, he met Chi You’s gaze. Jiang Luo walked to the bed and sat down casually. Opening the cigarette pack, he gave a soft laugh—it held only one cigarette left.
He lit the last one and took a slow drag. The cigarette wasn’t high quality; it burned quickly and was harsh, a single puff taking off a chunk the size of a fingernail.
Chi You reached out, pale fingers brushing the cigarette. Jiang Luo passed it to him.
The two of them smoked the last cigarette together. Then, suddenly, Jiang Luo climbed onto the bed and pinned Chi You down. Two equally striking faces stared at each other across the rising smoke.
The smoke obscured the faint expressions on Jiang Luo’s face, and it did the same to Chi You’s—hiding the vulnerability neither man wanted to show.
“What happened after I died?” Jiang Luo pressed closer, his voice muffled by the smoke.
Chi You slowly exhaled the last puff of smoke and said in a faint voice, “I pulled you out. Teng Bi gave you his last breath of life.”
Jiang Luo paused and whispered, “Say it more clearly.”
Chi You met his eyes.
Every flicker of emotion in Jiang Luo’s black eyes was captured by Chi You. Perhaps Jiang Luo didn’t even realize it himself—just how much guilt and pain those eyes held.
Chi You extinguished the cigarette in his hand. Then he lifted his left hand and pressed Jiang Luo’s head down—through the sharp, spicy smoke, Jiang Luo’s face emerged.
Chi You said nothing and kissed him directly, lips still tasting faintly of smoke.
***
The next day, Jiang Luo and Chi You arrived at the meeting spot on time.
Teng Bi’s large blade was in Jiang Luo’s hands. Before leaving, he borrowed a piece of black cloth from the host and, just as Teng Bi had done in the past, wrapped the saber in it like a sheath.
From a distance, Jiang Luo could already see Wenren Lian and the others gathered together.
His vision had become much sharper than before—at such a distance, he could already make out the expressions on his companions’ faces, whether anxious or relaxed. He scanned across everyone, finally settling on Lu Youyi.
Lu Youyi was standing with Ye Xun, the two of them watching with great interest the interaction between the brothers Ge Wuchen and Ge Zhu, their eyes shining with gossip-loving excitement. Ge Wuchen’s handsome face was dark with irritation, yet he was forcing himself to wear a kind and benevolent smile.
Soon, the people on the other side spotted them as well. Ge Zhu and Lu Youyi enthusiastically raised their arms in greeting, and upon seeing Chi You, Ge Wuchen also stood up immediately with respect.
“You’re finally here,” Lu Youyi shouted. “Where the h*ll have you two been these past two weeks? We nearly turned the whole mountain upside down looking for you!”
By the time he finished speaking, Jiang Luo and Chi You had already reached them.
After confirming that Jiang Luo was unharmed, Wenren Lian and the others subtly shifted their attention to Chi You.
Over the past two weeks, Ge Wuchen had been relentlessly preaching day and night about how Jiang Luo and Chi You were a perfect match, trying to convince everyone to help bring them together. His obsessive efforts had started to affect even Ye Xun and the others. Now, seeing Jiang Luo and Chi You standing side by side, they really did seem… quite well matched.
Looks aside—both were strikingly attractive. Their heights were perfectly complementary too. When they stood together, it was like two sharp, gleaming weapons—sword and spear—each drawing out the most captivating edge in the other, clashing and yet somehow harmonizing.
Rumor had it Chi You had even gone up against the Lian family for Jiang Luo’s sake. Compared to the Chi You who once loved Jiang Luo so much he wanted to kill him, the current Chi You clearly couldn’t bear to hurt him anymore. And as long as Chi You didn’t intend harm, Ye Xun and the others had no reason to stop Jiang Luo from being with him.
After all, before Chi You turned into a ghost, he had been someone they admired. And Jiang Luo wasn’t exactly a normal human anymore either—he and Chi You were a fitting pair.
Everyone was now eyeing Jiang Luo and Chi You with high interest. Lu Youyi, who had cried over their tragic love story more than once, gave a goofy smile and nudged Ye Xun.
Ye Xun cleared his throat and played along, “You two were alone for two whole weeks?”
Looking at their carefree, happy faces, Jiang Luo felt that the words he wanted to say suddenly became unbearably heavy. He laughed bitterly to himself in his heart—Teng Bi, wouldn’t it be better if you just came and said it yourself?
You could apologize to Lu Youyi in person. At worst, he’d beat you up.
But if I tell him… I might completely shatter that carefree light in his eyes.
Jiang Luo couldn’t bring himself to do it. He tugged up the corners of his mouth into a meaningless smile.
Ge Wuchen stepped forward and greeted Chi You politely, then looked around and asked curiously, “Master, where’s Teng Bi? Didn’t he come with you and Benefactor Jiang?”
The smile on Jiang Luo’s lips instantly froze.
Lu Youyi, who had been making faces at Jiang Luo, paused in confusion. “Teng Bi?”
He knew Dead Ghost’s full name was Teng Bi.
The smile slowly faded from Lu Youyi’s face. A slow-burning anger began to rise, like a slow-motion scene playing out. His eyes lit with fire, fists clenched as he rolled up his sleeves, shouting, “Where is that b*stard Teng Bi? Tell him to get his *ss out here! I will beat him up today!”
Ye Xun watched calmly and didn’t stop him—in fact, he even added fuel to the fire in a cool tone: “Just one beating? That enough?”
He fully supported Lu Youyi giving Teng Bi a proper thrashing. It wasn’t like he could beat him to death. Might as well let Lu Youyi blow off some steam.
But Jiang Luo stayed silent, saying nothing.
The malicious ghost cast a blank, expressionless glance at Ge Wuchen.
The sudden silence quickly spread to everyone present.
Lu Youyi’s fist froze in midair, his anger stuck somewhere between high and low. He looked at Jiang Luo, who still said nothing, and then at Chi You, equally silent. Hesitantly, he asked, “Did he leave? Jiang Luo, what’s with that expression?”
Jiang Luo finally moved. He stepped heavily, one foot at a time, until he stood beside Lu Youyi, raising the black-cloth-wrapped blade in his hands.
“Lu Youyi,” he said in a low voice, “do you recognize this blade?”
Lu Youyi recognized it immediately. He didn’t know what had happened, but the atmosphere made him uneasy. He awkwardly lowered his hand, speaking with a forced smile, anxious but honest, “Yeah, that’s Dead Ghost’s blade.”
He paused, then couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you have his blade?”
Jiang Luo opened his mouth. “…He asked me to give it to you.”
Lu Youyi’s eyes widened. Jiang Luo pushed the blade toward him, and Lu Youyi instinctively took it. The chill of the metal seeped through the cloth into his hands, deepening his unease. He forced a laugh, “Is he trying to give me the blade as an apology? No way I’m accepting that! Back when he was crashing at my place, eating my food and sleeping in my bed, he didn’t have a single cent on him and already pawned this blade to me as a deposit. Sure, he was still using it, but it’s been mine for a while now. Giving me the same blade again just to apologize—he’s trying to cheat me with a duplicate gift! Jiang Luo, get him out here. I don’t want the blade, I just want to punch him!”
For the first time, Jiang Luo found speech to be incredibly difficult. He couldn’t bear to look at Lu Youyi’s expression, so he lowered his gaze to the wild grass beneath their feet. “He had one last message he asked me to deliver to you.”
“He said, ‘I’m sorry. Happy New Year.’”
Jiang Luo pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry, Lu Youyi.”
“Teng Bi is dead.”
