Chapter 26: Life and Death Entwined

  "I don't know..." Xuan Yuan Mu replied, his eyes calm and steady.

  "How can you be certain that the prince will send someone to his house to silence him tonight? Why didn't the guards sent for rescue show any signs of a struggle?"

  "Snow!" Xuan Yuan Mu looked at me seriously, then touched my hair: "If Wang Li's mother was killed by someone I sent, would you hate me?"

  I guessed it was indeed correct, those guards came back so neatly, and there were no signs of fighting, it seemed that the battle wasn't very intense. A non-intense battle either meant low morale or hidden mysteries.

  I looked at Xuan Yuan Wu, my heart was complicated, and I couldn't tell what I felt now. He is the prince, the former crown prince, he has his own difficulties in this position, but what about Wang Li's mother? What did she do wrong?

  "Snow? Ling Xue?" Xuan Yuan Mo called out my name.

  "Ah, I...I just..."

  "Will you hate me?" Xuan Yuan Mu's face was icy cold, with a hint of yellow flashing in his eyes.

  I didn't nod or shake my head, I just stood there. I know that sometimes I have a stubborn temper, but that's just my personality and I can't change it.

  Xuanyuan's eyes changed from icy cold to frosty sternness, and with a final flick of his sleeve, he left the room.

  The next day, I didn't see Xuan Yuan Mu. The third day, I still didn't see him. After that, Xue Qiu Feng came to the Wang Fu, and Zhang Mama seemed to have already received news about Xuan Yuan Mu, arranging for him to be a book officer in the study room.

  "Older sister, older sister!" Xue Qiufeng saw me from afar and greeted me.

  "You're here!" I walked up to him.

  "Hmm! That's right, Mu Wangye is an undead corpse, isn't he? How come I didn't see him? Are you his personal maid? Aren't you the Ghost King's Consort? And..."

  "Don't ask anymore!" I was really afraid that others would hear our conversation, and couldn't help but nervously look around.

  "It's okay, I'll be careful. My master said that the place with the most resentment in Tiancang Kingdom is the imperial palace. When will you let the prince take me to the palace for a walk?"

  I watched Xue Qiufeng's mouth opening and closing non-stop, and couldn't help but regret, did I find trouble for Xuan Yuan Mu?

  At night, Xuan Yuan Mu returned. He saw my eyes flicker slightly and then suddenly remembered something and shouted loudly: "Where is Xue Qiufeng? All of you have become attendants by my side, why don't you come out to see me!"

  Xue Qiufeng rushed in quickly upon hearing the call, saw Xuan Yuan Mu kneeling tensely on the ground and paid his respects: "Your Highness, I am Xue Qiufeng!"

  "Uh, from now on, follow me closely, I trust you, and you must also trust me. Remember, we are comrades in arms!"

  Xuanyuan said these words looking at me, obviously saying them for my ears. How could I not know my situation? It's just that I didn't want his hands to be stained with too much blood. A person can die, but what about after death? I don't want him to not even be able to become a ghost.

  "Yes, yes, when I am alive, I am the king's man; when I die, I will be the king's ghost!"

  It can be seen that Xue Qiufeng was very happy when answering these words.

  "Alright, all of you can go down now. I want to be alone for a while!" Xuan Yuan Mu said as he turned around and walked towards the inner room.

  I followed Xue Qiufeng out of the room.

  "It really is, it really is..." Xue Qiufeng excitedly pulled on my sleeve.

  I frowned at him.

  "It's really an immortal corpse, Your Highness..."

  "Shut up..." I'm really angry, how can Xue Qiufeng be so unreliable? How could he say something like that "If you keep this up, I'll let Xuan Yuan Mo kill you!"

  I'm not scaring him, if he threatens Xuan Yuan's safety, I won't go easy on him.

  "Wow, Snow Sister, you don't think I'm that stupid, do you? I'm just excited... my master has never seen this in his life..." He carefully looked around and whispered: "No corpse, no breathing, no temperature, but with human emotions and thoughts. Is it a cat's surprise? The Tiancang Kingdom doesn't allow raising cats, does it? Ah, right, the king allowed it when he was alive, didn't he?"

  I gave him a white eye, too lazy to listen to his nagging, and returned to my own room.

  At night, under the hazy moonlight, I felt someone standing in front of my bed. A dark shadow stood there, staring at me. I wanted to move my body, but couldn't budge. I stared blankly at him, and the blurry shadow seemed so real.

  I struggled with this bound feeling, wanting to shout for help, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't...

  That person stood by the bed, staring at me coldly, as if looking at a lamb to be slaughtered. I felt like he could kill me at any moment.

  This fear is even more excessive than in the black bamboo forest, where I could still run and escape. But now, I can only lie on my bed, unable to move, with no ability to escape, and that dark shadow is still standing there, staring at me intensely.

  What does he want to do? Does he want to kill me, or dismember me, or drown me in the pond like Princess Yulan?

  "Lingxue, Lingxue!" Suddenly, someone woke me up and I was being held in their arms.

  I opened my eyes and saw Xuan Yuan in front of me, then nervously looked around my room, there was no one else.

  "Just now there was a dark shadow standing beside my bed! I thought he wanted to kill me, I wanted to wake up, but my body wouldn't listen."

  "It's nothing, just a paper man!" Xuan Yuan Mu hugged me, and from his arms, I saw a pile of paper ash on the ground, and there was still the smell of burning paper in the room.

  "Thank you, for always showing up when I'm in danger!" My nose turned sour, and I cursed myself for being more and more sentimental.

  Xuanyuan held me in his arms: "Because we are connected, life and death are connected..."

  Later, Xue Qiufeng learned about the paper people and set up a barrier in the Wang Fu, a special seal against possessed paper products.

  Watching his skilled movements, I had to admit that I misjudged him. Previously, I thought he was just a mediocre loafer, but it turned out he really has some skills.

  That morning, I went to Zhang's place to get breakfast. As I walked through the garden path, I was suddenly pulled into a nearby thicket by someone. I tensely kicked that person with my hand and turned around to shout, but then heard the other person exclaiming: "Ling Xue, it's me, it's me..."

  It turned out to be Tofu Maker Li Yue.

  "What are you doing here!" I shook off his hand and kept a distance from him.

  "I've heard that you were fixed by the king, and he even abused you, making you do hard labor, and sometimes beating you. Ling Xue, come with me, I may not have money, but I can give you a comfortable life, and give you everything you want..." Li Yue said firmly, as if taking an oath.

  "Hahaha......" Suddenly, someone was laughing from the direction of the thicket.

  I pushed aside the trees and saw Xue Qiufeng practicing sword in an open area under the sunlight, laughing loudly at Li Yue's words.