Chapter 179

Ah Li? My wife?

My first reaction was that they had mistaken me for someone else, right?

Liu Junyan and I are actually a couple… although we haven't gotten our marriage license yet.

Besides, we probably couldn't get that marriage license either—I'm not yet of legal marriage age, and he… he doesn't even have an ID.

Although I couldn't see the other person's face clearly, from their build, attire, and tone of voice, it definitely wasn't Liu Junyan.

Then I thought of another possibility and said, "Sorry, you might have mistaken me for someone else—I'm not Feng Lishu."

"Ah Li," the person raised a foot and walked toward me, saying as they walked, "Although you and Feng Lishu are twin sisters, you sisters are completely different; my own fiancée—I wouldn't mistake her."

His steps were light and quick, almost like he teleported over.

Getting closer, I saw the man's face clearly.

He had the standard refined appearance of Chinese aesthetics: a full forehead, a bridged nose, long brows and curved eyes, plump eye bags, and red lips with white teeth.

He stopped less than three meters away from me and gave me a slight smile.

That smile was sunny and bright, and his whole body exuded a warm aura.

My head swelled with waves of dizziness again, as if something wanted to jump out from my dust‑sealed memory, but I couldn't grasp it.

Who is he?

Is he really my fiancé?

No, even if he were, that happened in my past life—what does it have to do with this life?

I instinctively stepped back two paces, putting distance between us, and emphasized again: "I'm not Ah Li; I'm Xiao Jiu."

Regardless of my past life, in this life I only acknowledge the identity of Xiao Jiu.

"You have undergone a reincarnation; you don't remember anything from your past life, and I don't blame you." The man was still smiling, looking in a good mood, "Ah Li, we once exchanged Birth Characters; our fiancé‑fiancée relationship was acknowledged by the whole clan. Although you failed Nirvana and died in your previous life, as long as you are reincarnated, you will always be my fiancée—nothing will change."

"Ah Li, I owe you a wedding. Come back with me; let us start anew."

He said this, reaching out his hand, looking at me earnestly.

He was waiting, waiting for me to place my hand into his palm.

But how could I easily believe his one‑sided words?

To me, he was utterly strange.

Moreover, why did I come here? Why did I meet him as soon as I arrived?

Could there be no connection at all?

"Ah Li, have you forgotten me?" the man said, somewhat hurt, "Have you forgotten the oath we swore beneath Mount Cangwu? You said, for a lifetime, lifetime after lifetime, you would only be Brother Qiu's wife…"

Brother Qiu…

That title—I feel like I've heard it somewhere before.

I irritably shook my head, trying hard to search for useful information.

Suddenly I remembered—it was Feng Lishu!

Feng Lishu had once hysterically shouted at me the name 'Brother Qiu'.

I abruptly lifted my eyes to the man before me—so, what he said was likely true?

The man never got a response from me; he finally lost his patience, stepped forward a few steps, and reached out to pull my hand: "Ah Li, come back with me—we've really been looking for you for a long time, hiss…"

Just as his hand was about to touch mine, a copper coin shot out of nowhere and struck his hand precisely.

My heart stirred; I turned my head toward where the coin came from and saw two people and a cat standing on the endless yellow‑sand road.

The Xuan cat leapt a few times and was already before me; I reached out and steadied it in my hands.

The Little Guy, for the first time, let me hold it willingly; it found a comfortable pose lying in my arms, but its head was upright, its pair of dark‑green cat eyes fixed unblinkingly on the man before us.

"Xiao Jiu," Liu Junyan's voice came over as he waved at me, "Come here."

Meanwhile, beside him, Hu Yulin had his fan unfolded and was making hand seals, seemingly maintaining something.

So, did Liu Junyan track us down here by getting Hu Yulin's help?

I held the Xuan cat and lifted my foot to go toward Liu Junyan.

But the man shifted his steps to block my path and reached out to pull me.

At that moment, the Xuan cat suddenly puffed up in my arms, let out a sharp meow, then bared its teeth and lunged at the man to tear at him.

The man was agile and dodged in an instant.

If he hadn't dodged quickly enough, that swipe of the Xuan cat would surely have scratched his face.

At the same time, Liu Junyan flashed over, shielding me in his arms, and called out, "Cat Tan, go back."

I glanced at Liu Junyan in surprise—he actually called the Xuan cat 'Cat Tan'?

The Xuan cat is the Disaster‑averting Cat Tan.

"Ah Li!"

The man behind me shouted again in haste, but at that moment Hu Yulin flipped the fan in his hand; a powerful Fǎzhèn descended from above my head, I felt my vision blur violently, then my body lightened, and the wind roared past my ears.

Immediately, I fell into Chaos once more.

This time, I slept for a very long while.

When I woke again, I was in my own room.

Outside the sky was completely dark; only the bedside lamp was on in the room, its dim light casting a hazy glow over everything.

I opened my eyes to see Liu Junyan, his hand propping up his chin as he stared at me.

He gazed at me as if entranced, wondering what he was thinking, his brows tightly knit.

When I moved, he snapped out of it: "Xiao Jiu, you're awake."

He drew closer, examined my condition carefully, and after confirming I was unharmed, he took my hand and said, "Thank goodness you're all right—just come back."

I still remembered what had happened before, so I asked, "Where was that? Do you know?"

"The Yellow Springs Road." Liu Junyan said, "You were ambushed on the back hill of Tafengcun; your soul was dragged into the Netherworld by a great force. I used a Soul-Chasing Talisman but couldn't catch up to you. Later I found Hu Yulin, who used the Fox Clan's unique Charm Spirit Tracking Technique to trace your soul's trail. Fortunately, we arrived in time."

I was astonished—could that endless yellow sand road actually be the Yellow Springs Road?

I thought about it again—could that distant river and the bridge on it be the Wangchuan River and the Naihe Bridge?

Heavens!

Doesn't that mean I've died once already?

This time, knowing there are tigers on the mountain, I still go to Tiger Mountain—my purpose is to uncover the mystery of my origins.

But now I feel that the further I go, the more misty and confusing it becomes.

What's going on with the formation array on Qilin Mountain?

Who is that great power pulling me coming from?

The man I met on the Yellow Springs Road seemed to have been waiting there, knowing my soul would be taken away.

That great power… could it have originally come from him?

The more I thought about it, the more alarmed I became. I looked at Liu Junyan and asked, "When you found me, did you know the man standing before me?"