Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Everyone in the Qingxu Sect said Gong Hegui was insane.

At that moment, I also felt he had truly lost his mind.

Master said coldly, “Chu Liuying is a disciple of my sect. What does she have to do with your Zhen’e Palace?”

Gong Hegui waved the Marriage Contract in his hand, his expression indifferent. “From this day forth, she has nothing to do with you.”

The Sect Leader laughed out of pure rage. “You think you’re worthy of coming to the Qingxu Sect to snatch someone away based on a single piece of paper?”

“By the fact that she saved my life, and by the fact that my Zhen’e Palace dares to protect her.” Gong Hegui looked up. “And by the fact that if you keep her trapped for another three days, her dantian will completely collapse.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Even I hadn’t realized that myself, yet he knew.

Master was about to speak again, but I spoke first. “I’m going with him.”

A massive uproar broke out among the crowd.

Jing Qingyao stood at the back of the group, his face pale, yet his gaze toward me remained soft. “Little Junior Sister, don’t let him deceive you.”

I stared at him and suddenly asked, “Senior Brother, did you really not know the sect wanted to use me to refine pills?”

The gentleness on his face froze for a fleeting second.

That one second was enough.

I turned and left.

As we passed the Sect Gate, Gong Hegui handed me the Marriage Contract. I looked down and saw it was written with utmost formality; the signature was even stamped with the Zhen’e Palace’s Young Master’s Seal.

“When did you prepare this?” I asked in a low voice.

“Last night.”

“You used a Marriage Contract to blockade my Sect Gate?”

“Yes,” he replied righteously. “It was less trouble than hacking the Sect Gate down.”

I almost laughed in frustration.

After the Flying Ship set off, I discovered the cabin was stocked with a full chest of Warming Nurturing Pills, and even the silver needles I usually used were all there. Gong Hegui sat opposite me, his back perfectly straight, looking as if he hadn’t done a thing.

I stared at him for a moment before getting straight to the point. “Why did you come to save me?”

He remained silent for a while before saying, “The Soul-Extinguishing Arrow wasn’t aimed at the child.”

“The person below the stage that day truly wanted to kill me. The arrow was engraved with the hidden markings of the Qingxu Sect’s inner treasury.”

“Your act of cutting out your Golden Core to save me wasn’t an accident. Someone wanted to use your hand to tie both of us into this scheme.”

As the Flying Ship passed through the sea of clouds, a chill ran down my spine.

So that arrow on the Cold Soul Platform wasn’t just meant for his life-it had been calculated to include mine from the very beginning.

Gong Hegui and I had been rivals for three years.

He couldn’t stand me smashing people with my cauldron, and I couldn’t stand him drawing his sword at the slightest disagreement. Every time we met during the Immortal Sect Tournament, we would trade barbs in front of everyone. Everyone thought we would eventually kill each other.

Now, we were sharing a Flying Ship, pretending to be a fake cultivation couple.

“The Marriage Contract is just a cover,” Gong Hegui said, as if reading my mind. “Zhen’e Palace has a Breath-Avoiding Restriction that only those with a Dao companion bond can enter together. You’re temporarily under my name so the Qingxu Sect can’t openly snatch you back.”

I said slowly, “So I’m just a spouse in name only?”

He glanced at me. “If you want to tear it up, you can do it right now.”

I gripped the Marriage Contract but ultimately didn’t move.

The Flying Ship had just left the borders of the Qingxu Sect when three streaks of sword light chased after us from behind. The pursuers were masked, but I recognized their sword styles at a glance-they were from the Qingxu Sect’s Law Enforcement Peak.

“The sect’s affection for me is truly deep and weighty,” I sneered.

Gong Hegui didn’t respond, drawing his sword to meet them.

The moment he struck, a sharp pain shot through my chest. That pain wasn’t mine, yet it transmitted through the half of the Golden Core, feeling as if someone were slicing through my ribcage with a blade.

I was stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening.

We shared a Golden Core; our spiritual breaths were already intertwined. He wasn’t the only one getting hurt-I would feel it too.

I raised my hand and flicked out three Meridian-Sealing Needles, pinning the meridians of the enemy attacking from the right. He swung his sword, the light blocking a cold arrow shot from the shadows. For the first time, the two of us didn’t argue or bicker, coordinating with almost instinctive precision.

After the pursuers had all fallen, I searched one of them and found a wooden token from the Qingxu Sect’s Apothecary Hall in his sleeve.

The evidence was colder than anything else.

That night, the Flying Ship stopped at Duanyue Ridge. Gong Hegui had a deep wound on his back. As I stitched it for him, my fingers trembled slightly.

“Scared?” he asked.

“No,” I said, keeping my head down. “I just suddenly feel that when I used to call you a madman, I was being too light on you.”

He actually let out a low chuckle.

When I looked up, I caught him watching me. The firelight reflected in his eyes, softening much of the coldness within them.

“Chu Liuying,” he said suddenly, “I didn’t go to blockade that Sect Gate just to repay a life.”

“Then what else?”

He didn’t say anything more, simply pulling his clothes back over his shoulders. He said softly, “When you no longer want to run away, I’ll tell you.”