Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Red Thread Binding (II): Sharing Life and Death Qiao Ying had told a monumental lie. One careless move, and she would die. But she could not think of a second solution. With her life hanging on the edge of a sword and the disparity in strength between them so vast, any struggle would be futile. All she could do was make a desperate gamble. Using the motion of lowering her head to wipe away her tears, she viciously pinched her own thigh in a blind spot beyond Cen Yunyu’s line of sight. Pain exploded through her, and tears instantly filled her eyes. When she raised her head again, she had already adjusted her expression. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide open, glistening with tears as she tried her best to look sincere and pitiful. “Yulang~” The single call was filled with twists and turns. Cen Yunyu furrowed his brow, and the fingers gripping his sword tightened almost imperceptibly. Qiao Ying struck while the iron was hot, speaking faster. “Yulang, whether you believe me or not, this is the truth. I actually came back from several decades in the future.” She took a deep breath and spoke as smoothly as if reciting from memory: “Several decades from now, we’ll already be married, living in a little courtyard in Jiangnan filled with peach blossoms. You’ll love me so much that you’ll be willing to wash your hands and make me soup. You’ll love me so much that every morning, you’ll pick the freshest peach blossom and tuck it into my hair. You even said that if I died, you absolutely wouldn’t go on living alone—” She paused to observe the boy’s expression. Seeing his eyes darken slightly, she assumed her words had taken effect and continued to embellish the story. “Although you don’t have feelings for me right now, you’ll truly, truly love me in the future. So you can’t kill me. You have to understand that my life actually isn’t important. What matters is that if I die, you’ll be heartbroken!” She practically shouted the final sentence, so impassioned that she was almost moved to tears by her own performance. Oh heavens, to care nothing for your own life or death and care only about whether the other person would be sad—what a world-shattering—no, earth-shaking love story this was. Looking at her tear-streaked face and the absurd sincerity of her expression, Cen Yunyu’s brow twitched violently. She spoke with such conviction that, if he had not been reborn from several hundred years in the future, he might truly have been deceived by this nonsense. However, even though a century had passed, he still clearly remembered how his ghost-marriage bride had become a soul beneath his sword without even managing to let out a cry of surprise. There had been no such farce, nor such an absurd lie. A variable? Interesting. A trace of amusement flashed through Cen Yunyu’s eyes. He quietly watched her, waiting for her performance to end. Qiao Ying was calculating in secret. The current Cen Yunyu had only just transformed into an evil spirit. He was merely an eighteen-year-old boy, and his temperament had not yet become twisted to the extreme. With her tears and sorrow poured out like this, she ought to be able to fool him. As soon as he let her go, she would immediately flee as far away as possible. Whatever cultivation world and villain plot there was, all of it would have nothing to do with her. As for enlightening and redeeming the villain or winning him over—what a joke. Those were things for the sunny heroine to do. Qiao Ying was a creature of the night with a dark heart. At most, her appearance was somewhat deceptive; she could not act out the role of a saintly savior. At this thought, she could not help wondering what this body looked like. If it resembled her original appearance, her words ought to be twice as convincing. Her fantasy was beautiful. Little did she know that the “boy” standing before her housed the World-Destroying Evil Spirit who had slaughtered the Three Realms, grown tired of the game, and destroyed himself before being reborn. Seeing that Cen Yunyu remained silent, Qiao Ying softened her voice even further. “I know you don’t believe me right now. It’s all right. The time for us to meet hasn’t arrived yet. I can leave first. When the thread of fate draws us together again, I believe you’ll definitely fall in love with me.” After speaking, she pretended to wipe away her tears, rose to her feet, straightened her wedding robes, and turned to leave. “Wait.” The boy’s voice rang out, clear and cold as shattered ice. Qiao Ying’s steps halted, and her heart leaped into her throat. She slowly turned around and forced a smile. “What is it? Could it be that you’ve already sensed our love?” To make her performance even more flawless, she took the initiative to grab his sleeve and gazed at him eagerly. Cen Yunyu lowered his eyes to look at the hand clutching his sleeve. Her fingers were slender, with a faint flush of pink. He looked up at her with a half-smile. “You say you’re my future wife. Then you ought to know me inside and out. Do you have any proof?” Here it came. She had been waiting for him to ask that. Qiao Ying’s heart jumped, but not the slightest trace of panic showed on her face. Instead, her smile deepened. Fortunately, when she had drawn his character illustration, she had studied him from head to toe, inside and out. “Of course.” Her tone was certain. “I know you love black clothes with red accents, because blood won’t show on them. You like collecting rubies, especially pigeon blood rubies. You said that color looked like congealed blood, and that it was beautiful. You actually hate drinking alcohol, but you’re especially fond of fruit wine brewed from wild berries….” Her speech was steady as she listed the details one by one. “You usually wield a sword with your left hand, but use your right hand in front of outsiders. There’s an old scar on your waist, left by an iron chain when you were seven. You also once kept a snow ferret named Tuantuan, but later it was…” She stopped at just the right moment and watched his expression. Cen Yunyu’s eyes darkened completely. Some of the things she mentioned were preferences, some were habits, while others were secrets that could never have been known to outsiders—the sword in his left hand, the scar on his waist, and the snow ferret. Could she be a reborn person as well? But even if she were reborn, she could not possibly know so much. Seeing his expression shift, Qiao Ying assumed she had struck a chord and added more fuel to the fire. “Of course, I only learned all of these things after we got together. You may not have developed these habits yet.” Her eyes turned, and she suddenly thought of something else. “Oh, right. I also know that you have a cinnabar mole on the outside of your thigh!” The moment those words fell, the air froze. Killing intent burst from the depths of Cen Yunyu’s eyes. The chill seemed almost tangible, frightening Qiao Ying into stumbling back two steps and nearly falling. “You—you were the one who asked me to say it,” she protested weakly. “I’m your wife. It’s perfectly normal for me to know.” Cen Yunyu stared at her silently for a long while. The silence lasted so long that Qiao Ying thought his gaze would turn into a sword and slice open her throat the next moment. Then he suddenly smiled. The smile was like a blood lotus blooming in an abyss—bewitching and dangerous, beautiful enough to make one’s heart tremble. “Of course I believe you,” he said, his voice so gentle that it was eerie. “You’ve gone so far as to say all that. How could I not believe you?” The heart hanging in Qiao Ying’s chest finally settled, and she let out a long breath. “Then you’re not going to kill me now, are you?” “How could I?” Cen Yunyu sheathed his sword. Its scabbard was a black umbrella with red patterns. “You’re my future wife, the person I love most. How could I bear to kill you?” Qiao Ying relaxed completely, and her smile became far more genuine. “That’s good. Actually, I’m not afraid of dying either. I’m only afraid that if I die, you’ll be lonely for the rest of your life. Compared to death, I’m more afraid of you being sad.” Cen Yunyu raised a brow. “You love me to such an extent?” “Of course.” Qiao Ying nodded emphatically, her gaze “sincere.” “I love you just as much as you’ll love me in the future, beyond life and death. I know you’re not used to it yet. It’s all right. I can wait. When the time is right, we’ll meet again.” As she spoke, she turned and prepared to leave once more. This time, her steps were light and quick, almost breaking into a run. It was almost over. As long as she left this residence and got away from this evil spirit, she would be free— An umbrella was held horizontally in front of her, blocking her path. Qiao Ying turned back in astonishment. Cen Yunyu stood beneath the moonlight, dressed in red with black hair, his smile peerlessly beautiful. Yet there was not the slightest warmth in his eyes. “You believe me now, don’t you?” Qiao Ying forced herself to maintain her smile. “Then why are you still—” “Precisely because I believe you, I can’t let you leave.” Cen Yunyu walked toward her slowly, his voice gentle. “You feel so deeply for me and are so devoted. How could I let you down? Naturally, I must keep you by my side at all times and take good care of you.” Qiao Ying gave a fake smile. “There’s no need to trouble yourself. I know you don’t have feelings for me right now. I love you, so I don’t want to bind you with emotions—” Inside, she was roaring: Let me down! Let me down terribly! Hurry up and let me go! Cen Yunyu shook his head and waggled his index finger in front of her. “No. Although I have no memory of it, I can’t become a faithless man.” He suddenly reached out and seized her wrist. Before Qiao Ying could react, a flash of cold light appeared. A dagger in his other hand sliced across her palm. Blood welled up. Qiao Ying sucked in a painful breath. Before she could cry out, she saw him calmly cut open his own palm as well. He pressed their palms together, fitting the wounds against each other. Cen Yunyu began chanting in a low voice, ancient incantations spilling from those exquisitely colored lips: “Red cord binds the bones; fate decrees the bond. Blood as the medium, soul as the proof. With this contract sealed, life and death share one fate. Master and guest established, loyalty undivided. Red thread connected, never forsaken for all eternity.” The instant his voice fell, crimson light erupted all around them. Countless scarlet threads appeared from thin air. Like living creatures, they wound and intertwined, wrapping around the two of them layer upon layer. The light was blinding. Qiao Ying closed her eyes, feeling a scorching heat around her wrist. When the red light faded, she opened her eyes. A fine red mark had appeared around her wrist, like a thread embedded in her skin. Its other end was connected to Cen Yunyu’s wrist. The mark glowed faintly before disappearing, leaving behind only a pale impression beneath her skin. The wounds in their palms had already healed, leaving behind only thin red lines. Qiao Ying was stunned. Red Thread Binding. Of course she knew what this was. It was the dao companion contract mentioned repeatedly in the original novel. It required blood as the medium and soul as the proof, and once the contract was formed, neither party could betray the other for all eternity. There was also a distinction between master and guest. If the guest developed treacherous intentions or attempted to flee, they would suffer backlash and face soul scattering. Anyone could figure out who was the master and who was the guest. This was a contract formed only by loving dao companions, but now… “You—you?” Qiao Ying’s voice trembled. “You formed Red Thread Binding with me?” Cen Yunyu smiled as he moved his wrist, the red mark flashing beneath the moonlight. “Since we’ll become husband and wife sooner or later, whether we form it early or late, it’s still going to be formed. What is it, wife? Aren’t you happy?” Qiao Ying looked at his bewitching face, then at the red mark that had already vanished from her wrist. The good news was that he had truly believed her nonsense and taken her for his future wife. The bad news was that she could no longer leave him. She was definitely aboard this pirate ship now. Qiao Ying forced out a smile more miserable than a cry. “I’m happy. I’m so happy I could almost cry.” The night wind swept past, carrying the heavy scent of blood. Several crows called in the distance, their cries as mournful as a dirge. Cen Yunyu reached out and brushed his fingertips across the tearstains on her cheek. His movement was gentle, but there was no warmth in his eyes. “That’s good. From now on, our lives and deaths will share one fate. We will never part.” Qiao Ying closed her eyes, her heart turned to ashes. It was over. It was all over.