Ever since his rebirth, ever since seeing Su Qi again, Jiang Zuo believed the most important part of his return was that she was still here.

As long as Su Qi was here, his life had a different meaning than it did in his previous one.

The feeling of regaining what was lost made him terrified of losing it all again. And yet, he had just destroyed everything with his own hands.

’How could he possibly accept this?’

However, just as Jiang Zuo was overcome with fear, panic, and even despair...

Su Qi’s voice suddenly emerged from the center of the explosion. "Senior Sister, stop shouting. I’m not dead yet."

Jiang Zuo froze. Jingyue froze too.

’Not dead?’

Soon, Jingyue saw Su Qi walking out from the light.

The moment she appeared, Jingyue rushed forward and threw her arms around Su Qi, exclaiming, "You little whiner, did you come back from the dead? Don’t you dare suddenly die on me again!"

Su Qi laughed. "I don’t know what happened either, but I’m not going to die. I still have to go home."

"Right, right. Your husband is waiting for you at home, isn’t he?" Jingyue said, pulling Su Qi away from the area. "Come on, leave with me. I can’t let you take any more risks. You nearly scared me to death!"

Su Qi said in amazement, "I thought I was a goner for sure, but surprisingly, nothing happened to me at all. Does this attack have some kind of hidden effect?"

Jingyue said huffily, "As long as it doesn’t affect your ability to have children. And even if it does, I’ll find a way to cure you. Now get back inside and don’t come out again."

As long as they returned to the seventh floor, they would definitely be safe. The seventh floor was completely different from the levels below.

Jingyue really couldn’t bear to go through a scene like that again.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Jiang Zuo slumped to the ground.

’Su Qi’s okay. She’s okay.’

He was so incredibly relieved that Su Qi was unharmed. His heart was still trembling, the fear lingering.

His hands were trembling uncontrollably. He had just nearly killed Su Qi. He had been so, so close.

’Thank goodness she’s alright.’

He wanted so badly to go over and hold Su Qi, but he didn’t dare.

’And besides... Su Qi was very likely Jiu Xi.’

Even if she wasn’t Jiu Xi, he no longer had the heart to make a move. He didn’t dare. He was afraid.

If he hurt Su Qi, it would be too late for regret.

You don’t get a do-over every time, and he didn’t want a do-over now.

Jiang Zuo sat there for a long, long time, composing himself. When he finally regained some strength, he summoned Duan Qiao.

"I need to make a call. Get me a connection."

Duan Qiao said nothing. It was obvious this person’s emotional state was highly unstable.

’This was a time to do more and talk less.’

Soon, Jiang Zuo was dialing his aunt’s number.

"Jiang Zuo? What’s wrong? Did you evacuate with the others?" his aunt immediately asked.

In truth, if Jiang Zuo hadn’t called, she would have forgotten all about him. She had important matters to attend to.

Jiang Zuo ignored her question and asked directly, "Aunt, I need to ask you something. Does Su Qi have a Daoist name? What is it?"

"Huh? Didn’t that girl tell you? Su Qi’s Daoist name is Jiu Xi. You didn’t know? Jingjing’s Daoist name is Jingyue. It was originally supposed to be Bayue, but that little brat changed it," his aunt replied without thinking.

The light slowly faded from Jiang Zuo’s eyes. Su Qi’s Daoist name really was Jiu Xi.

’But how is that possible?’

’They’re not alike at all.’

Then Jiang Zuo asked another question. "So, Jingjing has two faces?"

"Oh?" Yue Xi said, surprised. "How did you know that? Did she transform in front of you? Well, it’s not really a secret. Xiaoyue is a Saintess, and a Saintess has two forms, meaning two different faces.

You don’t need to be so surprised."

’A Saintess has two forms?’

’Why did he never know about this?’

’No one ever told him.’

But even if a Saintess had two forms, how could Jiu Xi possibly be Su Qi?

If Jiu Xi was Su Qi, she could have just revealed her identity when they met. If only he had known Jiu Xi was Su Qi in his past life, things would have been completely different.

He wouldn’t have killed Jiu Xi. He wouldn’t have wiped out the entire Holy Land. He wouldn’t have annihilated countless Sects.

’Something must be wrong somewhere. Jiu Xi absolutely cannot be Su Qi.’

Knowing Su Qi’s personality, she would have definitely told him the truth.

Even if she was the first person he killed when he emerged, even if he had wiped out the entire Holy Land, even if he had slaughtered countless Cultivators.

But after so many years, any hatred or resentment should have faded.

By that point, almost no one from this era was still alive.

’Why hasn’t Su Qi told him the truth?’

After hanging up, Jiang Zuo was lost in a daze.

’If Jiu Xi is Su Qi...’

’...then what did he do to Su Qi in his past life?’

He had either killed her, imprisoned her, or experimented on her.

’What stupid things had he done? What hurtful things had he done to her?’

’Why hadn’t he noticed at all?’

’Who else but Su Qi would have pestered him like that? Who else would have dug up graves for fun? Who else would have made him check in with them every day?’

But he had never noticed. He had never once suspected that Su Qi was Jiu Xi.

Jiang Zuo felt himself start to break. He could no longer face the man he was in his past life.

He had built towering walls around his heart—walls that allowed him to remain calm, to face any crisis with composure.

Standing atop those walls, he could look down upon all creation.

But today, those walls had crumbled. He could no longer maintain that inner calm.

Duan Qiao watched from the side, not daring to speak. The man’s emotional state was truly off. At times his eyes were calm, at others, they were wild—and sometimes, they were a terrifying mix of both.

It was terrifying.

’Yes, terrifying. Fear was an emotion it rarely experienced. It didn’t know why, but just looking at him made it feel afraid.’

’Oh, this is bad, this is very bad. I’ve chosen the wrong master. My life is basically ruined now, with no chance of recovery.’

’It’s my destiny to be a fishing rod, I guess. I hope this guy dies soon so I can find a new owner. Only then will my life as Qiao Sheng have any hope.’

’I’ve got plenty of time. Waiting a few tens of thousands of years is no big deal.’

’I’ve never met a Cultivator who could outlive me.’

’There’s no Cultivator I can’t outlast.’

After a long while, Jiang Zuo stood up. He stared blankly at his surroundings and spoke, his voice hollow. "Was I... wrong?"

’You’re not wrong, I am! I beg you, please let me go! I don’t want your help anymore!’ Duan Qiao imagined itself saying.

But it didn’t dare to actually say it, because the man clearly wasn’t asking it.

Then Jiang Zuo spoke again. "No. There has to be a hidden reason. There must be some secret about the Saintess that I don’t know."

Jiang Zuo had no way of knowing what that secret was.

But he knew one thing: in this life, Su Qi must absolutely not be allowed to become the Saintess.

If the Holy Land dared to make Su Qi the Saintess, he would dare to crush the Holy Land under his heel.

Su Qi was his. In this life, she was his. She could not be allowed to become Jiu Xi.

Because in their past life, she must have been the one who suffered the most.

She was the one who felt the most pain, the most wronged, the most deeply wounded.

In this life, he would never make the same foolish mistake. He would never let Su Qi suffer the same harm, the same injustice.

Su Qi might be on the path to becoming the Saintess, but Jiang Zuo would absolutely not allow it.

Su Qi could only be his wife.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

Thanks to all you awesome readers for your donations, your "gentle" pressure, your subscriptions, and all your monthly and recommendation votes! Thanks to your support, I’ve successfully managed to release an extra Chapter.

Good night! (You can all go to sleep now.)