After the Soul Huntress, Luo Xuezhi

At that moment, Zhou Zitian suddenly shouted, “Who dares to disrupt Luo Xue’s wedding!”

As soon as he spoke, a streak of red light shot from his hand. Nangong Mo cried out, “Princess, look out!”

Zheng Fanren’s reaction was swift. Before Nangong Mo’s warning had fully left his lips, he yanked “Dongmei” aside. Yet the red light was as swift as an arrow; before he could dodge, it had already pierced straight into his chest.

Simultaneously, Dongmei collapsed to the ground with a thud. Nangong Mo darted forward to help her up, asking anxiously, “Are you all right?”

But Dongmei, barely on her feet, immediately cried, “Master, are you hurt?”

The entire incident transpired in a mere few breaths, leaving the onlookers little time to react.

Although Luo Xue had been dazed, she snapped to her senses at that moment. With a sudden burst, she appeared before Zhou Zitian, seized him by the collar, and, lifting him, hurled him to the ground.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Zhou Zitian executed three consecutive backflips before he managed to steady himself, but the front of his robes was torn open, revealing five crimson marks just beneath his throat—clearly left by Luo Xue’s grip. It was the first time he had witnessed Luo Xue’s strength, and he cried out, “A Body Profound Master?”

Zhou Zitian was a Tool Profound Master, yet before Luo Xue he hadn’t even had a chance to summon his artifact—a most humiliating predicament for someone of his kind.

Luo Xue had no patience for his pointless questions. She said coldly, “If anything happens to him, you’ll pay back tenfold.”

Feigning outrage, Zhou Zitian retorted, “What could possibly happen to him? I only wanted to push that woman aside to help you complete your wedding.”

Everyone turned to where Zheng Fanren stood, only to see him standing steadily behind Luo Xue. The Taixuan Princess clutched his arm, asking nervously, “Are you all right? Do you feel unwell?”

Zheng Fanren knew that red light was not so simple, yet he could find no sign of injury, not even the slightest pain.

Nangong Mo had stepped between Luo Xue and Zhou Zitian, gazing at Zhou Zitian with severity. He said coldly, “Don’t you know who she is? She’s the Taixuan Princess.”

Feigning surprise, Zhou Zitian exclaimed, “Ah, she’s the Taixuan Princess? I truly didn’t know!”

He then shifted sideways to get a better look at Dongmei, bowing as he said, “Princess, I truly don’t recognize you. I apologize—I had no idea it was you!”

As the princess seldom left her home, few knew her face, and so none doubted his words. Those who had been panicked before were startled anew, secretly thinking, “So she’s the Taixuan Princess—I’d better get out of here…”

Zheng Fanren realized that further argument would be fruitless. Zhou Zitian had clearly come prepared, and his real goal was the red light.

But why would he dare attack the Taixuan Princess?

He thought to himself, “No, his real target was me. If he truly meant to strike the princess, he wouldn’t have bothered with a warning—he counted on me to save her!”

Things were more complicated than they seemed. Zheng Fanren quickly thought of the Saintess: “The only reason the Zhou family would target me is because of her. I’m not worth such trouble otherwise. Zhou Zitian is too calculating to act so rashly over Luo Xue.”

What he didn’t know was that Zhou Zitian’s intent was indeed revenge, and that the Zhou family’s so-called scheme had already collapsed since the Sacred Academy hadn’t intervened in the wedding. By a twist of fate, he had still failed to avoid that powerful Soul Hunt Mark.

With this in mind, he said gravely, “Whether or not you know the princess, she is my friend. You’d do well to remember that.”

Zhou Zitian sneered inwardly, “Once the Soul Hunt Mark fully fuses, I’ll see to it that you can neither live nor die at will!” Outwardly, he replied sincerely, “Forgive me. I thought the princess meant to disrupt the wedding. I acted in haste.”

Then, turning to the crowd, he said, “My apologies, everyone. My rashness startled you all.”

The more sincere Zhou Zitian appeared, the more Zheng Fanren understood the red light was no ordinary thing. But he knew that if the Zhou family dared act so boldly, they must have ensured any common means of detection would be futile. Best to end this farce quickly.

Just then Dongmei stepped forward. “Please leave now.”

Zhou Zitian showed no intent to stay. Bowing once again in apology, he turned and left, a sinister smile curling at his lips.

…

Thus the wedding ended in discord.

Nangong Mo lingered; the Nangong family’s plan had failed with the appearance of the Taixuan Princess, but Zheng Fanren’s close relationship with her was something he could not comprehend, so he was reluctant to go.

Luo Xue looked at Zheng Fanren and asked, “Do you know who she is? Do you really think being together will be easy?”

Zheng Fanren smiled. “Identity? To me, identity is just the composition of one’s body—first belonging to her parents, and after marrying me, naturally to me.”

He was so fond of this phrase that he felt almost proud of himself.

So when he looked at “Dongmei” again, he couldn’t help but gently ruffle her hair. Only when her hair became slightly disheveled did he realize how intimate the gesture was, and seeing the girl make no move to avoid it, he found himself a little embarrassed.

Luo Xue could hardly bear to watch and said sternly, “Why did you have to do this at the wedding? As the Taixuan Princess, she could have taken you away at any time.”

Zheng Fanren hadn’t intended to answer in front of everyone, but he knew he could not avoid it. With a wry smile he said, “Perhaps there’s a word you don’t know: it’s called freedom. Maybe it’s because I was once a servant that I value it so highly—even a little constraint makes me especially sensitive.”

After a moment’s silence, he continued, “You insisted the wedding must go on, so I gave you a failed wedding. I consider that fair.”

He said “you” rather than “you alone”—Nangong Mo blushed instantly. So he had known all along!

Before he could say anything, Zheng Fanren turned to him and said, “You ought to respect Luo Xue. For a woman, marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime event.”

He paused, then added, “Give my regards to the old master. Farewell.”

With that, he took Dongmei’s hand and left—back to his own home, their little home as husband and wife.

Luo Xue and Nangong Mo each sighed, unable to find words.

Only then did Nangong Mo realize why the Nangong patriarch cared so much for Zheng Fanren. He recalled how the old man would often bring up Zheng Fanren in their conversations, sometimes muttering inexplicably, “Could there really be someone born with innate knowledge?”

That very person had now returned to Moxi.

As soon as the two entered their small courtyard, they saw a young man and a Han man glaring at each other with hostility.

It was Gao Xian—had Zheng Fanren arrived a moment later, the two would surely have come to blows. He feigned alarm and cried, “We all know each other—don’t be reckless! Recklessness is the devil’s work!”

The scene set Dongmei giggling uncontrollably once again.