“I… I once saw it in a dream…”
Huo Ci stared fixedly at Jiang Xingyan, trying to find a trace of embarrassment or awkwardness in her eyes.
But all he saw was openness and calm.
“Yan’er, from beginning to end, my feelings for you have never wavered.
I only want a fair chance to compete with him.
Yan’er, I’m begging you.”
Once again, Jiang Xingyan felt the heart trembling within Huo Ci’s body.
“You haven’t wavered, but you never gave me much of your heart either.
In your heart, there’s your devotion to the country and its people, the prestige and honor of the Huo family, your Huo family army, and the filial piety you hold as your highest principle.
And only after all of that… comes me.”
Her expression was faint.
It wasn’t a bitter complaint, nor was it a lofty accusation.
It was more like a conclusion drawn from a peaceful parting.
Huo Ci opened his mouth to refute, but found himself at a loss for words.
Before the soul swap, that was indeed how he had been.
“Yan’er, I… I’m not like that anymore…”
Jiang Xingyan let out a soft laugh and simply walked out of the room into the courtyard.
A crescent moon hung in the night sky.
Huo Ci followed behind her, feeling that whenever Yan’er looked at the moon, she seemed close, but when she looked at him, she seemed so distant.
“You’re just inside my body, feeling my pain firsthand, and your conscience is pricking you into repentance.”
Before Huo Ci could deny it, Jiang Xingyan continued in a matter-of-fact tone:
“Once we swap back, you’ll once again be the Great General Huo, revered by all.
Even the princess of Great Xia has fallen for you.
You’ll have so many things to do every day: military strategy, court affairs, martial arts training, drilling soldiers…
By then, will you still be thinking the way you do today?
You and I have always been completely different kinds of people.
It’s better to part ways sooner rather than later, so we don’t end up loathing each other at the sight.”
Huo Ci’s tears suddenly streamed down his face.
He had confirmed it time and again, only to be met with despair each time.
His Yan’er really didn’t want him anymore.
“Only after I became you did I realize how vast this world truly is for you men.
But you wouldn’t even grant me the cramped, narrow confines of the inner courtyard.
You kept saying you cared for me, but when you married me, did you take me as your wife, or as a servant to attend to your mother?”
Huo Ci felt he had no way to defend himself.
If she was his wife, why hadn’t he given Yan’er the authority to manage the household?
If she was a servant to attend to his mother, that was an insult, not affection.
“So, even without Brother Yun, even if I had to live out my life with Xiao Ya alone, I would never, ever turn back.”
Jiang Xingyan turned to look at Huo Ci, whose face was streaked with tears, but there wasn’t a single trace of lingering affection in her eyes.
“I once cared for you, but that was only in the past.
Now that we’ve spoken plainly today, I don’t want to hear you say such misleading words again.
What’s between you and me has nothing to do with Brother Yun.
Take care of yourself, Huo Ci.”
Jiang Xingyan walked straight back to the main house without sparing Huo Ci another glance.
After all this delay, Brother Yun must have been waiting anxiously!
She quickly closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
But that night, Brother Yun wasn’t waiting for her in her dreams.
——-
Huo Ci stood in the courtyard, his heart twisting in agony.
He had cared for her so much, yet he hadn’t seen his own feelings clearly sooner.
He had only evaded, only let opportunities slip away.
He was the most pathetic coward in the world!
“Huo Ci, do you know your wrongs?”
Suddenly hearing someone shout his name, Huo Ci’s head snapped up.
He saw that his surroundings were no longer the courtyard of the side residence but the main hall of the General’s Mansion.
Beside him, bodies lay scattered haphazardly on the ground, their blood pooling together into a small stream flowing toward the lower ground.
Huo Ci was utterly shocked.
Wasn’t this exactly the scene from his previous life when Yun Chunfeng had come for revenge?
He looked down and saw that he was himself, except his form was faint, with light passing through his body.
He had experienced such a situation before and knew this was his soul.
He looked up to see Yun Chunfeng, his hair grown out and unbound, dressed in black, pointing his sword at the heart of another Huo Ci.
That was his previous self.
The previous Huo Ci’s eyes were bloodshot, tears of blood streaming down.
“How dare you?!
You killed my mother!
Did Jiang Xingyan send you?
That vile woman!
She abandoned her own daughter without a care, and still dares to come and bother me!
I should have done as my mother said and had a master disperse her soul so she could never reincarnate!”
Huo Ci was completely stunned.
Yun Chunfeng raised his hand and delivered a sharp slap to the previous Huo Ci’s face out of thin air.
His lip bled from the strike, yet he kept cursing incessantly.
He looked like a man possessed, completely out of his mind.
Yun Chunfeng sneered. “Fine, then let me see today whether you even have a heart!”
The sharp tip of the sword pierced the previous Huo Ci’s heart.
The blade twisted once, carving out a freshly beating heart.
Yun Chunfeng tossed it behind him, and a wild dog gnawing on silver beads immediately turned and snatched it away.
“A filthy heart,” Yun Chunfeng said.
Then the sword continued to carve.
“Rotten lungs.”
“Wicked liver.”
“Despicable spleen.”
“Dead kidneys.”
“Filled with filth from head to toe, no wonder you’re as stupid as a pig!”
The previous Huo Ci refused to relent. “I, Huo Ci, stand tall for my country and my family. What wrong have I done?!
I’m a hundred times better than that pampered lady who lazes about at home, demanding my mother wait on her hand and foot!
She gave birth but refused to raise her own child, unworthy of being a mother!
Even if she died by throwing herself against a pillar, it was all for show.
You slaughtered my entire loyal Huo family for someone like her—heaven will never forgive you!”
Before Yun Chunfeng could respond, the Huo Ci of this life had already lunged forward.
“You’re blind and heartless, you fool!
Open your eyes and look at Yan’er!
She suffered so much, how could you—”
His soul form passed through the previous Huo Ci’s bloody body and collapsed onto the ground.
Suddenly, a pair of cloud-pattern silk shoes appeared before him.
He looked up to see another Yun Chunfeng, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips as he looked down at him.
His gloomy pupils were brimming with murderous intent.
Huo Ci turned his head, and the scene behind him froze on Yun Chunfeng piercing the previous Huo Ci’s body with countless sword energies.
Memories slowly faded, and he found himself back in the courtyard of the side residence.
He knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly.
So in his previous life, he had died without ever realizing his mistakes.
His slander and contempt for Yan’er sent chills down his spine.
Had he really been so despicable back then?
No wonder Yan’er would never turn back.
“General Huo truly has a short memory.”
Yun Chunfeng spoke calmly, struggling to suppress his surging murderous intent.
Huo Ci felt such shame he wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground.
“Asking the young lady to give you another chance—how could you say something so shameless?
What gives you the right, huh?”