Qing Han's Past

Zhao Huai was also taken aback when he saw Yu Qinghan.

Why had his wife come back again?

"Wait."

Yu Qinghan was only surprised for a moment before her expression quickly turned solemn again.

Her phoenix eyes narrowed, seeing through every subtle detail.

Holding a long halberd, she slowly walked toward him.

Zhao Huai had intended to go forward and greet her, but the instant they met face-to-face, he felt an overwhelmingly powerful pressure! His heart skipped a beat.

His wife hadn't mistaken him for the Fox Demon, had she?

If she had, then he was in real trouble.

Yu Qinghan paced back and forth with her halberd in hand, her pair of phoenix eyes fixed on Zhao Huai's as her expression remained utterly serious.

Though Zhao Huai felt helpless inside, he obediently cooperated, standing still with his hands spread open.

His eyes were like clear springs, limpid and bright, meeting hers directly.

Clang.

Before long, Yu Qinghan released her halberd and pounced forward, throwing herself into Zhao Huai's arms as she choked out, "Husband. It really is you."

"It's wonderful that you're all right!"

Only at this moment did Yu Qinghan finally confirm that the Zhao Huai before her had not been transformed by some demon or monster.

Feeling the warm, delicate body in his arms, Zhao Huai gave a faint wry smile and comforted her. "I made you worry, wife, but it's all over now. Everything's fine."

Yu Qinghan lifted her head from Zhao Huai's chest, her gaze full of curiosity. "Husband, how did you end up here?"

Zhao Huai had already prepared his explanation. He sighed and said, "Wife, it's a long story."

He embellished and polished the tale of why he had gone out and how he had arrived at the Drunken Flower Pavilion, then told Yu Qinghan everything.

After hearing him out, Yu Qinghan nodded. After pausing for a moment, she said, "Husband, you mean that you saw another me and chased after her, only to encounter demons and monsters? Fortunately, a cultivator happened to pass by and save you?"

"That's right. She seemed to be a sect disciple. I was worried about your safety, wife, so I asked her to come look for you." Zhao Huai smiled.

Hearing this, Yu Qinghan could not help feeling moved.

She could already imagine Zhao Huai's anxious expression at the time, exactly the same as hers.

Hadn't she come out to find him because she saw a demon disguised as her husband? "Wife, why are you here?"

Zhao Huai stroked Yu Qinghan's oval face and asked seriously.

Yu Qinghan pondered for a moment before saying, "My experience was more or less like yours. That demon was a fox that could disguise itself as many people, swindling and abducting others before devouring them."

"When I saw it disguised as you, husband, how could I swallow that anger? So I tracked it back to its lair."

Zhao Huai remained outwardly composed after hearing this, but inwardly, he was rather surprised.

Their experiences were similar. It seemed this Fox Demon had even gone looking for trouble with his wife.

So the story he had made up on the spot actually matched? But after thinking about it for a while—

He realized the key point. The Fox Demon had wanted to disguise itself as him, trick his wife out of her skin, and then deal with him. Instead, it had gotten a thorough beating.

Thinking about it that way, this Fox Demon had truly brought this upon itself.

"Husband, you must be more careful from now on. Don't fall into the traps of demons and monsters. I've fought them quite a few times myself. Every last one of them is crafty beyond measure."

Yu Qinghan spoke with her lips pursed. Where was the cold and aloof woman who had just burst through the door?

Zhao Huai honestly held her hand and promised with a smile, "Mm, I'll be more careful in the future. Still, wife, your cultivation is so formidable—it's far beyond anything I expected."

Seeing Zhao Huai ask about it, Yu Qinghan explained with a smile:

"When I was twelve, Father sent me into a sect to cultivate for a time so that I could improve my martial arts. The sect elders said I had spiritual roots and was a heaven-sent genius. I ended up staying there for several years, so my cultivation is somewhat higher."

"Oh? That's a good thing. Seeking immortality and pursuing the Dao—I tried it too, but unfortunately, my aptitude wasn't enough."

Zhao Huai gave a bitter smile.

"But later, I left and followed Father into the army. Together with my two elder brothers, I campaigned south and fought north." Yu Qinghan recalled.

Zhao Huai asked curiously, "Why didn't you stay in the sect, wife? It was free and unrestrained there. Wouldn't that have been wonderful?"

Yu Qinghan shook her head. "The decision was not mine. It was the middle of a troubled age then. Great Yan was declining, and chaos had just begun. My father joined the rebel army."

Zhao Huai was quite surprised, his eyes flickering. "The rebel army? Their momentum back then was no small matter."

He knew Yu Qinghan came from an Aristocratic Clan of military officers, but this was the first time he had heard her mention such details. At first, he had thought her family was one of the military households that had accepted imperial amnesty. He had never expected them to be a branch of the rebel army.

Seeing the strange look on Zhao Huai's face, Yu Qinghan softly said, "Husband, it seems you have some opinion of the rebel army."

"I wouldn't call it an opinion. It's just that my parents died in the chaos of war, and it had something to do with the rebel army. It's hard not to carry it in my heart."

Yu Qinghan froze, only then realizing what she had said. She murmured, "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. It was a troubled age, after all. Such things were unavoidable. So many years have passed—I've long since let it go."

Zhao Huai smiled optimistically, indicating that he had not been affected.

The truth was, he had never taken Great Yan's affairs to heart in the first place. But he could not appear too indifferent. When an ordinary person's parents died, there had to be some reaction. Otherwise, it was not optimism—it was heartlessness.

Besides, Yu Qinghan was merely the daughter of a general, not some major figure. Before the tide of the times, everyone was but a chess piece. There was nothing she could do; she could only be pushed about by others.

If he really had any emotions about it, it was probably just speechlessness.

Back when he had taken over this mess, he had even thought that as long as Great Yan did not fall, he could muddle through his days as a carefree crown prince.

But that dream had already been shattered three years ago.

Yet the speaker had no intention, while the listener took it to heart.

Zhao Huai's casual words, however, sank deeply into Yu Qinghan's mind.

She pondered them inwardly, seeming to come to an understanding.

So the reason her husband had such a tranquil, accepting nature might be because he had witnessed the turmoil of war before, which was why he longed so dearly for an ordinary life.

If that was so, he must surely hate joining the army.

Then she had to guard the secret of her identity even more carefully.

Her husband could barely tolerate the daughter of a fallen military household, but who could guarantee that he could tolerate the real her? If they truly traced it back, wasn't she the one who had set this war in motion?

Thinking this, a faint sense of guilt rose in Yu Qinghan's heart.

Seeing that she was still blaming herself, Zhao Huai smiled lightly, took her hand, and said with a smile:

"Come on. It's getting late. Let's go home. We've been busy for so long tonight—you must be tired, right?"

"I'll make you noodles to eat."

Yu Qinghan softly murmured, "Mm," her eyes brimming with smiles.

No matter what, the past was already past.

It was better to live the present well first.

At this moment, the moon shone bright and the stars were sparse. The night was quiet in every direction, with only the chirping of insects.

Hoot, hoot!

A hunter moved through the pitch-black mountain forest.

He held a torch in one hand and a long blade in the other, stepping over the grass with soft rustling sounds.

"Strange. Where did that porcupine go just now?"

The hunter muttered in confusion.

"If I catch that beast, my livelihood for the next few days will be settled. I can't let this fall through."

Porcupines slept in their burrows during the day and only came out at night to forage in the darkness. Their fur and tusks could fetch quite a bit of money at the pawnshop.

Suddenly, the hunter's eyes lit up.

Because he saw the porcupine's black fur.

It was inside a cave as tall as a person.

"So it's here!"

The hunter did not hesitate, stepping forward with delight on his face.

The moment his front foot stepped inside, a gust of sinister cold wind blew from behind him, extinguishing the torch in his hand.

"Hm?"

Having lost his vision, the hunter felt a flicker of panic.

But he quickly cast it aside, because he saw the porcupine right at his feet.

When the hunter crouched down to examine the porcupine, he discovered that its corpse had already shriveled up, and it was covered in sticky fluid.

"How did it die?"

The hunter asked in shock.

The next second, a massive white web appeared, tightly binding him.

Within the shadowy darkness behind him, eight enormous eyes suddenly lit up.

They were a ghastly green, chilling and terrifying.

"Mmff, mmff."

The hunter's mouth was sealed tight with spider silk. His eyes bulged wide, his face filled with terror.

In the span of a single breath.

His body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye, just like the porcupine's corpse moments earlier.

After his body collapsed limply to the ground, a mature, beautiful woman emerged from the cave. She licked her lips, seemingly very satisfied with the taste just now.

She wore a Black Silk Cicada Dress. Her long hair, draped over her shoulders, was secured with a Spider Silk Hairpin adorned with several little bells. Every step she took radiated seduction.

Feeling the injuries within her body, the beautiful woman gazed toward Jin Province City and snorted coldly.

"Hope Immortal Sect, Black Wind Cave will surely avenge tonight's humiliation someday!"

After saying that, she transformed into a cloud of black mist and swept away, vanishing from the spot in an instant.

Only the extinguished torch remained on the ground, quietly giving off black smoke.

PS: There'll be another update a little later. As always, please keep reading. ==