Chapter 558

It was Bai Qi; Bai Qi gave me strength, but I threw that sword off the cliff, and the time Bai Qi supported me was still limited. When Bai Qi returned to my body, I finally had strength.

I opened my eyes to see Yirong with pear blossoms and rain; the alluring charm of the Nine Heavens Maiden was gone, and Yirong had returned to her own purity.

"Don't cry; seeing you cry makes my heart ache." I touched Yirong's cheek, and this sudden touch left her unable to react.

After the surprise, Yirong happily shouted at me, "Are you okay?"

"No, it's just that Bai Qi is attached to my body, giving me a chance to talk with you one last time." I shook my head and said.

"So you're still going to die," Yirong said, trembling as she placed her hand on my empty chest, then she suddenly slapped my face hard, crying and scolding: "You bastard, why didn't you kill me? Why did you throw away that sword? Why"

"Alright, stop crying." I grabbed her hand, looking at her pear-blossom-and-rain face, and smiled, saying: "This is because I have this confidence."

"I believe you love me. I'm confident I hold an important place in your heart. So when I die, you will surely wake up."

"You should have picked up that sword and stabbed me to death. You died and left me alone, making me live a lifetime in nightmares and pain—what's the point? You bastard, how cruel your heart is." Yirong sobbed and cursed me, but I instantly covered her mouth.

"Don't say such foolish things; live well. No matter where I am, I will follow and protect you." I stroked Yirong's cheek, hesitating as I asked: "Can I... kiss you?"

"Mm..." Yirong softly closed her eyes and actively brought her lips to mine. That faint, tender feeling made me want to keep kissing forever, until the seas run dry and the rocks crumble, until the earth ages and the heavens grow old.

"What, you plan to abandon me and leave alone?" Yirong lifted her head, tears in her eyes, and asked me.

"Mm, from now on you promise me you won't be so willful anymore; my brother and I won't be by your side, so you must take good care of yourself." I stroked her hair, and as I said this, a bad premonition flashed in my mind—this premonition came from the question Yirong had just asked.

Yirong wiped her tears, leaned toward me, and whispered in my ear; at this moment she returned to her former playful self.

"I don't want to; I want to stay willful. I not only want to be willful, I want you to watch me be willful." Hehe. Though she tried to sound playful, she couldn't hide her determination.

A faint sound, like a metal object piercing **, rang out; I lowered my head and saw Yirong holding a sharp awl, piercing her own heart.

"If you just leave like this, who will indulge me when I'm willful in the future?" Yirong's playful voice sounded in my ear; she lifted her head, and I saw in her eyes a tenderness like flowing water.

"Yirong," at this moment I shed no tears, holding her hand as we gently gazed at each other.

After a long while, I actively brought my lips to hers and kissed her. At this moment, I had no regrets; I stopped on my path of inquiry, yet I gained something more important.

At this moment, Bai Qi also left my body. My consciousness gradually faded, and I slowly closed my eyes.

I have always been grateful that we did not forget each other in the world of martial arts, but instead we moistened each other like fish in water, holding hands until death; even facing death, we remained together. The one I love has always been by my side.

The desolate battlefield shifted in an instant, flags collapsed, and the battlefield returned to its original state on the scar-covered Guiling Mountain. Two bodies, breathless, lay in the center—a man and a woman gently kissing each other's lips, hands clasped tightly, as if telling the world we would never part, forever.

Under a tangle of wild grass on the mountainside stood a tall, martial man holding a two-person trident, one eye on his forehead flashing a fierce light that made one dare not meet his gaze.

After a long while, the mighty man who overlooked the mountains and rivers weakly collapsed to the ground, his imposing form instantly turning into a tall man with a slightly fat belly—Pangzi.

From the moment he became an ordinary person, his skin aged rapidly, his face filled with old wrinkles, and his black hair gradually turned white.

He gazed at the distant mountain, tears streaming, and heaved a deep sigh. Then he struggled to rise, his elderly body climbing to the summit, where he crouched beside the two corpses, weeping and choking.

"Chen Hai Sheng, we agreed to go through knife mountains and fire seas together, to live and die together, yet you abandoned me, you bastard—egg, salted duck egg, you scoundrel!" Pangzi threw his head back and let out a long wail, tears streaming down his face.

Beside this one person and two corpses stood a tall phantom. Gazing at this vast, desolate battlefield, he murmured to himself, "Now that this is over, I should also take Heng'er to be reborn."

He turned around, looked at the anguished, tearful Pangzi and the two corpses lying peacefully on the ground, ultimately let out a helpless sigh, and slowly faded into the void.

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Twenty years later, on a bustling, prosperous street, an old house stood at the center of the street; its appearance was antiquated, clashing with the nearby skyscrapers.

The owner of this house is a man in his early thirties, yet he has a full head of white hair—prematurely aged. Above the door hangs a signboard bearing the three characters "Zen Easy Hall."

This man is a doctor; in an era when Western clinics were everywhere, he refused to follow the norm, insisting on treating people with Chinese medicine and never giving injections or IV drips.

Yet the white-haired doctor's medical skill was superb, his reputation renowned throughout the city. Even people from other provinces flocked to this city, crowding into this dilapidated house to seek his treatment.

That night, as the white-haired doctor was about to close up, Zen Easy Hall was burst into by a woman holding a child.

"Doctor Wang, quickly look at this child—he's been bitten by a dog." The woman is a volunteer at the nearby orphanage; the doctor knows her, and he assumes the child she brought must be an orphan from that orphanage.

"Being bitten by a dog, don't panic; I'll first use a coin with Chinese medicine to scrape him, see if I can dispel the toxin; if not, I'll have to give him acupuncture.? Pangzi, cigarette in mouth, asked as usual: "When was this child bitten by a dog, how long ago?"

The volunteer auntie hurriedly said: "It just happened; this child might have offended the heavenly dog this year, being bitten by dogs twice."

The first time, I was holding a child from the courtyard who was a bit younger than her, going to buy candy, and he followed behind me. As a result, the big dog kept by the restaurant across the street broke free of its chain and bit him on the butt.

The second time, this was even more sinister. He saw a dog on the street, got scared and ran into the orphanage. As a result, the big wolfdog loitered at the orphanage gate for a moment, then actually rushed in and bit him on the butt, after which it dashed out again.

When the volunteer auntie explained the situation, Pangzi's brush snapped instantly. In his muddled mind, a figure slowly emerged.

He vaguely remembered that guy saying that when he was very young, he had been bitten by dogs twice in a row. The first time, as he passed someone's house, the dog darted out from the fence and bit him on the butt; afterward, the big wolfdog snorted disdainfully, complaining that his butt smelled.

The second time, a big wolfdog ran to his door looking for food; while he was tidying up straw, he got scared and ran inside the house. But that wolfdog outside suddenly burst into his home, bit him on the butt, then swayed its big tail and swaggered out of his house leisurely.

How similar these experiences are! Pangzi felt a bit uneasy; he rubbed his head hard. He forced himself to calm down, vigorously self-hypnotizing: 'Impossible, impossible, this must be a coincidence. Logically speaking, even if that guy were reincarnated, heaven wouldn't be so blind as to send him to me.'

"Doctor Wang, why don't you take a look at this child?" Under the volunteer auntie's anxious urging, Pangzi finally turned his eyes to the child.

But upon seeing this, Pangzi couldn't help but widen his eyes, suck in a breath of cold air, and stagger backward repeatedly.

On the child's shoulder, he saw a purple birthmark. This birthmark, though naturally formed, resembled a person's bite mark so clearly it looked as if it had just been made.

"Spicy Next Door, I finally found you, you bastard. I've waited for this day for twenty years." Pangzi cried out loudly to the sky, excited.

"Thanks to Heaven for giving me stewed meat—no, I mean giving me my enemy." Pangzi laughed with a sinister tone, cracking his knuckles, his face turning grim. Under the volunteer auntie's puzzled gaze, he slowly walked toward the child who was wailing loudly.

The child's butt had a red bite mark from a dog bite. Pangzi looked at the mark, rubbed his hands, spat, and said: "In your past life you liked to attract dogs; I never expected you to still like attracting dogs in this life." He raised his hand, preparing to strike the child's butt.

"Pfft"—an extremely inappropriate sound rang out, a puff of gas drifted from the child's butt and blew onto Pangzi's nose.

Pangzi spat, and amid the volunteer auntie's loud laughter, he staggered toward the well in the rear hall.

Behind him came the child's unrestrained laughter, as if mocking Pangzi's silliness.

"Wuu, you bastard, you screwed me over in your past life, and in this life you keep doing it—let you suffer a bit in my hands. Are you going to die?"

Pangzi raised his head, gazing at the lonely, snow‑like bright moon overhead, and choked back tears without shedding any.