Chapter 73: Guardian

I opened my eyes, saw a swaying silhouette before me, and asked, "How many days have I slept?"

The silhouette paused, came to me, and an aged voice sounded, "One day and one night."

I was startled. "Master?" A smile involuntarily appeared on my face. "When did you return, Master?"

My master glared at me irritably, yet his expression was far more familiar than when we were in Qimeng City, "I only came back yesterday, and the young master seized me to look after you! Your airs are truly something!"

I forced a smile and apologetically said, "Sorry to trouble you, Master. You should rest first; I'm fine now."

My master nodded, showing a kindly smile, "I'll go inform the young master first…"

"No need!" I hurriedly objected, then covered it with an awkward cough, "Master, I want to see Xin Hui. Could you call her over?"

My master stared at me for a while, let out a long sigh, and nodded.

When we reached the doorway, he couldn't help but turn back and say, "Xiao Ruo, I can see the young master likes you a lot. You like him too, right? Otherwise he wouldn't have personally tended to his stomach ailment…"

"Master," I smiled, interrupted him, and sincerely said, "I understand." We only have one knot left to untie. Whether it's a dead knot or a living knot, no one knows.

"Miss," Xin Hui called, walking into the room. I propped myself up and saw her swollen red eyes, and behind her, a large group of inexplicable people.

"Hey, Xiao Ruo, you woke up fast this time," said Wen Ruobin in a voice that seemed to beg for a beating.

"You useless stupid woman, always getting hurt, making Ran brother worry!"

"You may not insult the miss!"

These two voices were identical, yet the tones were completely different—little devils—who else besides Xiao Chi and Xin Luo could it be?

"Miss—" Xin Luo shouted happily, lunging into my arms, but a fluffy little thing snatched the spot ahead.

I lifted Xiao Yin, pushed the pouting Xin Luo a foot away, and laughed, "Xin Luo, stop smashing my wound again; I don't want to lie down for a few more days."

"Miss…" Xin Luo's eyes reddened, clutched my arm, and hoarsely said, "Xin Luo misses you so much!"

My chest swelled with emotion, just as I was about to speak, Xiao Chi snorted coldly, "Always crying at the drop of a hat, like a woman!"

A thought stirred in me; I looked up at Xin Hui, "What on earth is going on? You know Xin Luo is here? And that Qi Ran is forcing him to kill?"

Xin Hui shivered all over, her face turned ashen as she nodded, but said nothing.

I turned back to see the added melancholy between Xin Luo's brows, sighed, my throat feeling stuck, "Then why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you stop it?"

"Miss, I… I…"

"It was I who wouldn't let her speak," a warm, pleasant voice rang from the doorway. My heart skipped a beat, and I lowered my head. Not avoidance, I told myself, I just don't want to touch that deep blue now.

"How's your body?" Qi Ran sat at the foot of my bed and asked gently.

My chest tightened, my arm tightened as well, transmitting Xin Luo's fear and attachment, and I whispered hoarsely, "Miss… I'm scared…"

"You idiot!" Xiao Chi leapt forward, pointing at Xin Luo's nose, shouting. The originally gold‑silver eyes, for some reason, had the silver hue deepen slightly, leaning more toward gold, "Ran brother does this for your sake. If you don't become stronger, more ruthless, you'll someday die at my hands!"

I was startled, lifted my head, meeting Qi Ran's peerless visage and his deep blue… I calmly averted my gaze.

Shock also filled Xin Luo's eyes; clutching my hand, cold sweat soaked through my clothes, and after a long moment she trembled, "Why… why do you want to kill me?"

Xiao Chi snorted, furrowed his brows tightly, and turned his head away. I did not overlook the fleeting resentment, pain, and loneliness in his eyes.

"Alas!" Wen Ruobin let out a cool sigh, leisurely leaning on a chair and sitting down, saying lightly, "One after another, you and I—annoying, aren't we? Anyway, there are no outsiders here, so let me explain!"

"Xiao Ruo, are you clear on the background of the Bingling Kingdom?"

I glanced at the stark white hem of Qi Ran's robe and nodded.

"The Bingling has long lacked a fixed territory and a strong army; at most it possesses vast wealth and has persisted for centuries like a hidden myth. Even when a once‑mighty ruler poured a nation's resources into trying to annihilate us… they failed. Do you know why?"

"You mean… every country has Bingling people existing? How is that possible?" I couldn't help exclaiming, "Centuries of inheritance—where is loyalty? What… what threat could they use?!"

"Xiao Ruo, you truly are clever," Wen Ruobin chuckled bitterly, then said dejectedly, "Back then, our ancestor Xiao Ruo founded the Bingling Kingdom. He wanted the nation to endure forever, yet he understood that all glory must wane, so he eventually conceived an ethereal underground kingdom like a myth."

"However, a nomadic court cannot house an army, and he feared that a future powerful nation might be threatened by Bingling and decide to eradicate it. Thus, he placed a 'Zhong Gu' on every soldier and officer."

"Zhong… Zhong Gu?" My mouth twitched. Ancient gu were indeed varied. That blood gu still makes my scalp tingle when I think of it.

"Yes, the Zhong Gu was eradicated by Xiao Ruo himself three hundred years ago. Yet the soldiers and officers implanted with Zhong Gu, and their descendants, must remain under its control for generations, loyal to Bingling."

I sighed inwardly, is Bingling truly powerful? Or is it merely a hundred‑legged worm, dead yet unyielding?

"In fact, triggering the Zhong Gu in these people isn't easy. Besides having someone poisoned by gu nearby, three conditions must be met simultaneously."

"Which three?"

Wen Ruobin glanced at Qi Ran, said lightly, "The Four Sacred Stones, a Bingling Guardian, and… the Bingling King's blood. As for how to mobilize them, only the current emperor and the Guardian know."

"You mean Xin Luo and Xiao Chi—they are the Bingling Guardians?"

Wen Ruobin shook his head, "Not yet. The Bingling Guardian is someone else. One of the two will become the next generation's Bingling Guardian."

"But Wen Ruobin, you've said so much and still missed the point! What Guardian, if Xin Luo has no interest in being one, then what are we choosing?"

"Your patience is truly limited," Wen Ruobin shifted to a comfortable sitting posture, gave me a withering look, and continued, "Periodically, Bingling must search the heavens and the continent for a new Guardian, then the Bingling King or the previous Guardian personally cultivates and trains them."

I was stunned, "Is the selection factor… gold‑silver eyes?"

Wen Ruobin nodded approvingly, "Exactly! Each Guardian has a single trait: before sixteen, they possess gold‑silver pupils. They are called—World‑Ending Demon."

At those words, Xin Luo beside me, Xiao Chi and Xin Hui in front of me couldn't help but tremble.

"World‑Ending Demon?" I glanced at Xin Luo and Xiao Chi, and couldn't help sighing softly, "What a trendy time‑travel term!"

From a modern scientific perspective, this is not hard to grasp. The so‑called gold‑silver eyes are mostly caused by genetic mutations, which is why they often possess powers beyond ordinary people—that is, superpowers.

In ancient times, being labeled a World‑Ending Demon was unsurprising.

However, finding one every so often seems far‑fetched, right? Does the heavens and the continent mass‑produce super‑powered beings?

I was muttering in my head, not noticing the fleeting doubt flash in Wen Ruobin's eyes, nor Qi Ran's eyebrows slowly tightening.

Wen Ruobin narrowed his expression, continued, "This was Bingling's highest secret, because each generation's Guardian, even within Bingling, cannot reveal their identity. Therefore, aside from the Bingling King, no one knows who this Guardian is or where they are. They will forever hide in the shadows, protecting Bingling from appearing in the world or entering the world. Until this"

"The selection of the Guardian suffered a massive flaw, so even Bingling's secret was leaked out."

I looked at Xin Luo and Xiao Chi's identical faces, and at the increasingly deep silver in Xin Luo's eyes; suddenly I recalled his fever when his eyes turned completely silver. I realized, "Is it because they're twins, so the gold‑silver eyes and abilities are split between the two of them?"

Wen Ruobin paused, admiration slowly appearing in his eyes, and said solemnly, "Xiao Ruo, it seems I previously underestimated you! Indeed, it's the issue of abilities being divided, so neither of the two can become a true Guardian."

"At that time, the emperor was also shocked, having never encountered such a case. After deliberation, he decided to raise one himself, and entrust the other to this generation—that is, the then‑twenty‑year‑old Guardian—to train. But…"

I glanced at Xin Hui and Xin Luo, frowned, and asked, "Did Xin Luo disappear after being taken by the Key King on the way?"

Wen Ruobin lifted the corner of his mouth, drew a cold sneer, and said, "What could that idiot Fu Jing possibly do to snatch someone from Bing Ling's hands? At the time, no one even knew their identities."

"It wasn't Xin Luo who vanished, but this generation's Guardian. He took the five‑year‑old Yin Tong and the girl assigned to look after him from the people the Emperor sent, then sold him and the world‑destroying demon's secret to Fu Jing, only to be surrounded and killed by Bing Ling at a cliff, ultimately falling to his death."

"What?" No way—after all that it turned out to be a massive blunder. I suddenly admired this generation's Guardian for daring to openly confront the perverse father Qi Ran; that's guts! Too bad he still died in the end.

The girl who was supposed to care for Yin Tong is probably… Xin Hui, right?

"These past years, the Emperor has been both trying to retrieve Xin Luo and the Guardian, and training Xiao Chi, yet he was surprised to see Xiao Chi's eyes gradually change from pure gold to gold‑silver pupils, his abilities steadily improving, but never breaking that boundary."

"So…" I sneered, "He concluded that Xin Luo must be killed to make up for that shortfall?"

"Not only that!" Wen Ruobin looked at them with pity, sighed at length, "Because they're still far from sixteen, the Emperor decided to retrieve Xin Luo, re‑train him, and then… let them kill each other. Only then can a truly outstanding—Bing Ling Guardian—be forged."

Pervert! He really is a pervert. I was too shocked to utter a word; such a huge secret that Wen Ruobin kept from Xin Hui, even if it were Qi Ran it would be understandable—why would Wen Ruobin spill it so easily in front of me?

I've always felt his suspicion toward me never fully faded. A vague, intermittent fear lingered in my heart, and for some reason the words Qianqian said before leaving floated up in my mind.

"Ying Ruo, you must remember: unless absolutely forced, never get close to people like Bing Ling, and especially never pour your feelings into them. Otherwise, one day you'll become a pawn for others, and the ending—either you die or he dies!"

"Enough already?" Qi Ran's cold voice rang out, his tone light yet oddly intimidating, "Everyone out."

Only he and I remained in the room, and a restless flame seemed to flicker and leap in the air.

I slumped weakly against the bedside, lowered my head, my mind empty yet somehow full of everything.

"Bing Yi…" Qi Ran moved closer, wrapped his arm around my shoulder, gently cradled me and murmured, "Don't avoid me, and don't worry about all this. I can't imagine what I'd become if I lost you again…"

A pang of ache rose in my chest; I lifted my hand, trying to return the embrace, but it hung uselessly in mid‑air.

Why did you have to force Xin Luo yourself, and why build this nation? I…

"Qi Ran," I withdrew my hand, gently pushed his arms aside, "Tell me how you spent the past year, okay?"

Qi Ran's body jolted, a flicker of vague fear and palpitations flashing in his eyes; turning his slightly pale face away, he said lightly, "Nothing much to say. I didn't ask you about the past year either…"

My heart grew cold, sinking heavily to the valley's bottom, my whole body trembling with a chilling shiver.

I pulled my hand from his arm, pushed him away sharply, and said coldly, "Sorry, I need to rest. Please leave."

Before I could lie down again, I was thrust into a scorching embrace; Qi Ran's burning lips brushed my ear and neck, searing my skin with waves of pain.

"Bing Yi, you're mine! You're not allowed to push me away!!"

"I belong to no one!" I shoved him hard; the wound on my chest tore with a sharp pain, dark red blood slowly streaming down my smooth torso, staining my white shirt.

Gasping for breath, I ignored the startled pain in his eyes at the sight of blood and snarled, "I'm my own! Love isn't one‑sided. Do you think I'll be happy when you're not?" I braced one hand on the bedside, pressed the other to his heart, "Do you think when your heart hurts, turning away where I can't see will make it stop? Binding me to you, only letting me see the side you want me to see."

"Such love is too selfish, too fragile. I—would rather not!"

Qi Ran's eyes were hollow, vacant, filled only with lingering sorrow, like endless snowflakes drifting across a deep blue sky, covering his whole gaze, as if ready to ruin the world. He spoke, his voice clear as a stream yet cold as frost.

He said, "Do you even hate the current me now?" A bleak, self‑mocking smile spread at the corner of his mouth, his voice laughing yet sounding like crying, "Even you… want to abandon me?"

He released his grip on me, stood up, his smile turning cold and faint, "I should have seen this coming. Anyway, it's just as you wished—to return to Wei Lingfeng's side, continue being your empress…"

"Xiao Qi Ran—" My face turned pale with anger, my whole body trembling; I grabbed something nearby to throw, then slowly set it down. My chest ached, inside and out. I closed my eyes, suppressed all feeling, and coldly spat, "Get out of my way!"

From recognition to love, Qi Ran and I spent only four short days before slipping into an endless cold war.

(End of chapter)