"Is this the safe place you were talking about?" I stared at the dilapidated thatched cottage before us, complete with a massive hole in the roof. "Are you sure this isn't some rural tourism experience?"
Lin Chaoying kicked me. "Shut up! Even Wang Chongyang doesn't know about this place!"
Xiao Longnü had already nimbly vaulted through the window to check the interior. Yang Guo hurried over and whispered, "Brother Huanxi, Founding Grandmother's temper isn't great, so you'd better keep your mouth shut."
"I can tell." I rubbed my kicked backside. "Are all MIT PhDs this hot-tempered?"
"What's an MIT?" Yang Guo asked, looking curious.
"It's... just a really prestigious school." I gave a vague excuse, then remembered something. "By the way, where's your aunt?"
Just as I spoke, Xiao Longnü poked her head out of the window. "Safe."
We filed into the cottage. The inside was neater than I expected, featuring a simple bed and cooking utensils, with a stash of dry rations piled in the corner.
Lin Chaoying lit an oil lamp and began drawing strange symbols on the floor. "The Spacetime Administration people can track the energy fluctuations of time-travelers. I have to build a shielding device."
As I watched her drawings start to resemble a circuit board, I couldn't help asking, "All this knowledge of yours... don't you feel stifled in ancient times?"
Her hand paused, and she looked up to glare at me. "Stifled? This lady almost got burned at the stake as a witch!" She lowered her head and went back to drawing. "Luckily I ran into that idiot Wang Chongyang, who was actually willing to listen to my nonsense."
Xiao Longnü was tidying the bed, and at this she asked softly, "Senior Lin, you and Daoist Master Wang..."
"Children shouldn't pry into adult matters!" Lin Chaoying's earlobes flushed slightly as she rudely cut her off.
I snickered to myself. It seemed overachievers from any era couldn't escape romance troubles.
Suddenly, the sound of barking dogs echoed from the distance. All of us instantly tensed up.
"They found us this way?" Lin Chaoying's expression shifted, and she quickly blew out the oil lamp. "Out the back door!"
We slipped out of the thatched cottage in the dark and plunged into the bamboo grove behind it. The night wind made the bamboo leaves rustle, masking the sound of our footsteps.
"Where are we going?" I asked, out of breath.
"Passionless Valley," Lin Chaoying dropped the bombshell.
"What?!" Yang Guo and I exclaimed at the same time.
Xiao Longnü also stopped in her tracks. "Senior Lin, that place is dangerous."
"The most dangerous place is the safest place," Lin Chaoying explained. "The Spacetime Administration would never expect us to go there. And..." She gave me a meaningful look, "Passionless Water might be able to mask your time-traveler aura."
My heart skipped a beat. "We have to drink that stuff? Didn't they say it makes you forget love?"
"In theory, yes." Lin Chaoying blinked. "But I've analyzed the composition; as long as the dosage is controlled..."
"You're treating me like a lab rat!" I protested.
Xiao Longnü suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Someone's coming after us."
We instantly fell silent. Sure enough, the chaotic sound of footsteps and muffled voices drifted from outside the bamboo grove.
"Split up." Lin Chaoying made a decisive call. "Yang Guo and I will draw them away. The two of you head to Passionless Valley."
"No way!" I instinctively objected. "It's too dangerous!"
"Shut up!" Lin Chaoying smacked the back of my head. "If you want to live, do as I say!" She pulled out a embroidered pouch and shoved it into Xiao Longnü's hand. "Open this when you get to Passionless Valley."
Without waiting for us to react, she grabbed Yang Guo and bolted in the opposite direction, intentionally making a huge commotion.
"Over there!" The pursuers were successfully drawn away.
Xiao Longnü dragged me and sprinted in the opposite direction. I looked back as we ran, my heart pounding wildly. "Will they be all right?"
"Senior Lin's martial arts are formidable, and Guo'er is resourceful." Xiao Longnü's tone was calm, but the grip on my wrist betrayed her tension.
We dashed all the way out of the bamboo grove and arrived beside a small stream. Xiao Longnü suddenly stopped, vigilantly scanning our surroundings.
"What is it?" I panted heavily.
She didn't answer, suddenly tackling me down into the grass. The next second, an arrow hissed past the exact spot where we had just been standing!
"There's an ambush!" Cold sweat broke out all over me.
Xiao Longnü had already drawn her sword to meet the figures in black lunging out from behind the trees. In the moonlight, her white figure fluttered like a ghost, and wherever her sword light reached, men in black fell to the ground.
I stood there dumbfounded. Although I already knew her martial arts were formidable, witnessing combat of this caliber firsthand was still intensely shocking.
When the last man in black fell, Xiao Longnü drifted back down to my side, not a single drop of blood staining her white garments.
"Let's go," she said briefly, pulling me along as we resumed our journey.
Being dragged along like dead weight left me full of frustration. "If only I knew martial arts too..."
"You have Congenital True Qi inside your body," Xiao Longnü said suddenly. "You just don't know how to use it."
"Really?" My eyes lit up. "Then can you teach me?"
She glanced sideways at me. "Bite off more than you can chew."
"...Fine."
At the break of day, we finally spotted the boundary marker of Passionless Valley. The valley entrance was shrouded in mist, exuding a gloomy aura.
"They really know how to pick a spot," I muttered. "They wouldn't even need set dressing for a horror movie."
Xiao Longnü opened the pouch Lin Chaoying had given her, which contained a note and a small porcelain vial. The note read in scrawled handwriting: "Antidote for Passionless Flower poison, take it first. Find Gongsun Lü'e once inside the valley."
"Gongsun Lü'e?" I frowned. "That name sounds kind of familiar..."
"Gongsun Zhi's daughter," Xiao Longnü explained. "She's said to have a kind heart, unlike her father."
I recalled the plot of The Return of the Condor Heroes. There did seem to be a character like that. But in the original story, her ending...
"Are we really going in?" I swallowed hard. "What if Gongsun Zhi..."
"Since Senior Lin arranged it this way, she has her reasons." Xiao Longnü popped the cork of the porcelain vial, poured out a pill and swallowed it, then handed it to me. "Yours."
I stared at the suspicious-looking black pill. "Are you sure this is an antidote and not poison?"
Xiao Longnü grabbed my chin and shoved the pill straight in. The movement was smooth and practiced, leaving me no chance to resist.
"Cough, cough... You..." I swallowed the pill with a bitter expression, my throat burning.
"Let's go." She turned and entered the valley, her back radiating the message of "waste more breath and I'll beat you."
I rubbed my neck and followed along, though my heart felt inexplicably sweet—could this count as a quirky form of care?
The mist in the valley grew thicker, visibility dropping below five meters. We carefully descended along the stone steps. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, devoid even of insect chirping.
"This place..." I lowered my voice. "Why is it like a ghost movie..."
Xiao Longnü suddenly covered my mouth and pulled me behind a massive boulder. A moment ago... wait, a moment later, footsteps approached from afar.
"...Father has been acting stranger and stranger lately," a young woman's voice said.
"Don't worry, Miss, the Valley Master is just preoccupied with valley affairs..." another voice consoled.
Once the footsteps faded away, Xiao Longnü released me. "That must have been Gongsun Lü'e and her maid."
"Then we..."
"Follow."
We trailed the two of them to an exquisite courtyard. Gongsun Lü'e dismissed her maid and entered the study alone.
Xiao Longnü motioned for me to wait outside while she silently vaulted through the window. I nervously crouched beneath the window, straining my ears to listen to the movement inside.
"Who's there?" Gongsun Lü'e gasped in shock.
"Lin Chaoying sent us to find you," Xiao Longnü's voice replied.
After a moment of silence, Gongsun Lü'e lowered her voice. "You... are you from the Ancient Tomb Sect?"
"Yes."
"My father is searching everywhere for you people..." Gongsun Lü'e sounded anxious. "You shouldn't have come here!"
"We need Passionless Water."
"What? No! That stuff..."
"Just a small amount will do," Xiao Longnü interrupted her. "Lin Chaoying said you could help."
Another stretch of silence. Sweat beaded on my palms from nervousness, terrified that Gongsun Lü'e would shout for help.
Finally, she spoke. "I can take you to the spring, but you have to promise me you'll leave Passionless Valley immediately."
"Deal."
The window opened slightly, and Xiao Longnü motioned for me to come in. I climbed clumsily through the window and almost tripped flat on my face, but Xiao Longnü caught me by the back of the collar and hauled me inside.
Inside the study, Gongsun Lü'e stared at me with wide eyes. "This is..."
"Huan... Huan Tiehu." I randomly made up a fake name.
Xiao Longnü: "......"
Gongsun Lü'e looked me up and down suspiciously. "You want Passionless Water too?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Why?" she pressed. "Drinking that stuff makes you forget the person you love, unless..."
"Unless what?" I asked, curious.
"Unless you love them so deeply that the romantic poison has seeped into your bones." Gongsun Lü'e gave a bitter smile. "In that case, Passionless Water actually becomes a catalyst for love."
Xiao Longnü and I exchanged glances; she quickly looked away.
"Anyway..." Gongsun Lü'e took a scroll of maps from the bookshelf. "This is a map of the secret passages. It will help you avoid the patrols. We move at the hour of Zi."
We hid in the study's hidden compartment to wait for nightfall. The cramped space forced the three of us to press closely together; squeezed between the two young women, I barely dared to breathe.
"Um..." I tried to ease the awkwardness. "Miss Gongsun, why are you helping us?"
Gongsun Lü'e fell silent for a moment. "My father... has changed. Ever since those men in black appeared, he's grown increasingly unhinged." Her voice trembled. "They said they were looking for a time-traveler... that's you, right?"
My heart skipped a beat. "What did they... what did the Spacetime Administration people say to your father?"
"They said you can neutralize the side effects of Passionless Water." Gongsun Lü'e looked at me. "For years, my father has wanted to drink Passionless Water to forget my mother, yet he's terrified of losing his emotions entirely... Those men in black told him your blood could counteract the toxicity of the Passionless Water."
A chill ran all over my body. "So they're hunting me down to... draw my blood?"
Xiao Longnü's hand suddenly gripped mine—cold, but firm.
Gongsun Lü'e nodded. "I overheard their conversation. They said you're a 'spacetime anomaly' and your existence will disrupt the course of history."
"Bullshit!" I couldn't help cursing out loud. "I'm just an ordinary otaku, what history could I possibly disrupt?"
"Shh!" Xiao Longnü covered my mouth. "Someone's coming."
We held our breath and heard Gongsun Zhi's voice from outside. "Lü'er, are you in there?"
"Father, I'm reading," Gongsun Lü'e replied calmly.
"Has anyone strange been by?"
"No. Why?"
"...Nothing." Gongsun Zhi didn't seem entirely convinced. "The valley has been restless lately, don't go out much."
Once his footsteps faded, Gongsun Lü'e let out a breath. "We have to move quickly."
At the hour of Zi, guided by the map, we navigated the secret passages to the edge of the Passionless Spring. The water gleamed with an eerie blue light under the moonlight, and not a blade of grass grew around it.
"This is it." Gongsun Lü'e pulled out a small jade vial. "You can only take a tiny bottle; any more and it will be discovered."
Xiao Longnü took the jade vial and carefully scooped up some spring water. Right at that moment, an alarm sounded in the distance!
"Oh no!" Gongsun Lü'e's face turned ashen. "The secret passage has been discovered!"
"Split up." Xiao Longnü made a prompt decision. "Miss Gongsun, pretend you caught us."
"But you guys..."
"Huanxi, give me your outer robe," Xiao Longnü ordered.
Though I didn't understand why, I quickly took off my outer garment and handed it to her. She draped her white gauze robe over it and propped my clothes up on a wooden post.
"Take him through the eastern path," she told Gongsun Lü'e. "I'll draw the pursuers away."
"No way!" I grabbed her. "It's too dangerous!"
Xiao Longnü looked at me, her eyes exceptionally bright in the moonlight. "Trust me."
Before I could say anything else, Gongsun Lü'e was already pulling me and running east. "Hurry up! Otherwise neither of us gets out!"
Looking back, Xiao Longnü's white figure darted in the opposite direction, a large group of men in black hot on her heels. My heart twisted into a knot, but I had no choice but to keep running with Gongsun Lü'e.
"There's a cave ahead!" Gongsun Lü'e pointed not far away. "We can hide there temporarily!"
The moment we ducked into the cave, a torrential downpour started outside. The sound of thunder drowned out the footsteps of our pursuers, granting us a temporary reprieve.
"She'll be fine... right?" My voice shook.
Gongsun Lü'e didn't answer, simply handing me a handkerchief. "Wipe your face."
Only then did I realize that tears were streaming down my face without me noticing.
The rain poured for the entire night. By daybreak, Gongsun Lü'e went out to scout the situation and returned with a grim expression. "The valley is on lockdown. There are patrols everywhere."
"What about Xiao Longnü?" I asked urgently.
"She wasn't captured," she reassured me slightly. "But... my father personally led a team out of the valley to hunt her down."
I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms. "I have to go find her!"
"No!" Gongsun Lü'e blocked me. "If you go out there now, you're walking to your death!"
"I can't just hide here and wait!"
"Wait..." She suddenly remembered something. "Didn't Lin Chaoying say Passionless Water would mask your aura? Now that we have the spring water, should we..."
That reminded me of the vial of Passionless Water. Xiao Longnü had shoved it into my hands before she left.
"But this stuff..." I stared at the small jade vial. "Will drinking it actually work?"
"In theory, yes," Gongsun Lü.e wasn't entirely certain either. "But the risk is huge..."
I gritted my teeth. "Better than sitting here waiting to die."
Pulling out the stopper, I took a deep breath and tilted my head back to drink the entire vial of Passionless Water!
"Wait! You can't drink that much!" Gongsun Lü'e cried out in alarm.
But it was already too late. The spring water hit my throat—first icy cold, then instantly turning into a ball of fire that burned all the way from my throat to my stomach!
"Ah—" I dropped to my knees, my internal organs feeling as though they were being carved up by a thousand knives.
Gongsun Lü'e spun around frantically. "Throw it up! Hurry up and throw it up!"
Rolling on the ground in agony, my vision began to blur. In my fading consciousness, I seemed to hear Xiao Longnü calling my name...
When I woke up again, I was lying on a soft bed. Turning my head, I saw Xiao Longnü slumped asleep beside the bed, her long hair scattered and dark circles prominent under her eyes.
"Long..." I tried to call out to her, only to find my throat too hoarse to make a sound.
My slight movement woke her up. She snapped her head up, her eyes flashing with pleasant surprise. "You're awake!"
I tried to sit up, but my limbs lacked all strength. Xiao Longnü helped me prop myself up against the head of the bed and handed me a cup of water.
"What... happened to me?" After drinking the water, my voice recovered somewhat.
"An overdose of Passionless Water." Her brows furrowed tightly. "If Senior Lin hadn't arrived in time..."
"Lin Chaoying? Is she okay? What about Yang Guo?"
"They're both safe," she answered briefly. "We're in the Tomb of the Living Dead."
Only then did I look around; it was indeed the familiar stone chamber.
"Gongsun Lü'e..."
"After helping us escape, she stayed behind to clean up the mess," Xiao Longnü said with a trace of admiration in her tone. "A very brave young woman."
I nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "The Passionless Water... doesn't seem to have worked? I still remember you."
Xiao Longnü's expression froze. "You... how much do you remember?"
"All of it." I looked at her with puzzlement. "From the first time we met, until..."
Before I could finish, Lin Chaoying burst into the room like a whirlwind. "Awake? How do you feel?"
"Alright..." I moved my arms. "Just lacking strength."
"Normal." She took my pulse. "The Passionless Water almost cost you your life; surviving at all is a miracle."
My heart tightened. "Then why..."
"Why aren't you amnesiac?" Lin Chaoying raised an eyebrow. "Because you love her deeply. Didn't Gongsun Lü'e say so? For those whose romantic poison has reached their bones, Passionless Water turns into a catalyst instead."
I peeked at Xiao Longnü. She turned her face away, her earlobes burning red.
"Ahem..." Lin Chaoying tactfully stood up. "I'll go check if the medicine is done. Dragon Girl, take care of him."
After Lin Chaoying left, the room fell into an oppressive silence.
"Um..." I mustered up my courage. "While I was unconscious, I thought I heard you say..."
"I didn't say anything." Xiao Longnü quickly cut me off.
"But I clearly heard..."
"Auditory hallucination." She stood up. "You should rest."
I grabbed her sleeve. "Xiao Longnü!"
She froze in place, neither turning back nor shaking off my hand.
"I..." My throat was dry and raspy. "I like you. Whether the Passionless Water works or not, that fact isn't going to change."
Her shoulders trembled slightly.
"I know this is absurd, we come from different eras, different worlds... but I just..."
"Enough," she said softly. "Don't talk nonsense."
"It's not nonsense!" I grew anxious. "I'd even risk my life..."
"That's why it's nonsense." She finally turned around, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I'm not worth you doing this."
"Whether you're worth it or not is for me to decide." I stubbornly tightened my grip on her hand.
She looked at me deeply, then suddenly leaned down and lightly brushed her lips against mine before pulling back. "...Get some rest."
I stood there dumbfounded, touching my lips and watching her graceful retreating figure vanish, my heart beating so fast it felt like it was about to leap out of my chest.
What... what is the meaning of this?!
Lin Chaoying returned carrying a bowl of medicine, and seeing my dazed expression, she sneered, "Look at that pathetic look on your face."
"She kissed me!" I stammered incoherently. "Did you see that? She kissed me!"
"Didn't see it, but I guessed it." Lin Chaoying rolled her eyes. "Drink your medicine!"
I obediently drank down the bitterly foul herbal juice, yet felt a sweetness straight to my heart.
"Right," I suddenly remembered something. "The Spacetime Administration people..."
"We shook them off for now." Lin Chaoying's expression grew solemn. "But they won't give up. Your existence truly disrupts the spacetime order."
"How so?" I frowned. "I haven't changed any major events..."
"You've already changed them." She said seriously, "According to original history, Xiao Longnü should be with Yang Guo."
I was struck as if by lightning. "What?"
"But now..." Lin Chaoying gave me a meaningful look. "Yang Guo calls you brother, and Xiao Longnü kissed you. History has already deviated from its track."
My brain buzzed. "So the Spacetime Administration wants to... correct history?"
"That's right," she nodded. "They must ensure history develops along its established path."
"Then what about Xiao Longnü and Yang Guo..."
"They were supposed to be a match made in heaven," Lin Chaoying sighed. "Now, though..."
A heavy ache gripped my chest. So... I became the third wheel breaking up the canon pairing?
"However..." Lin Chaoying abruptly changed the subject. "Who says history can't be changed?"
"Huh?"
"Spacetime is multidimensional; every choice spawns a new timeline." She said excitedly, "In theory, we can create a new parallel universe!"
I looked at her blankly. "Speak human?"
"Human language is—" She patted my shoulder. "You can be with Xiao Longnü, as long as you don't affect the critical nodes of the main timeline!"
"Then how do we do that?"
"First..." She smiled mysteriously. "We need to go meet the head of the Spacetime Administration."
Right at that moment, Yang Guo's panicked cry came from outside: "Grandmother! Brother Huanxi! This is bad! Auntie was captured by the men in black!"
Lin Chaoying and I jumped up simultaneously and rushed out. Yang Guo ran over covered in blood, stumbling as he came. "They... they suddenly appeared... Auntie protected me..."
"Which direction did they go?" I grabbed his shoulders, my voice trembling.
"Passionless Valley..." Yang Guo cried. "They said... they want to trade Auntie for Brother Huanxi!"
Everything went black before my eyes, and I almost passed out again. Lin Chaoying steadied me. "Calm down! This is obviously a trap!"
"We still have to go!" I shoved her aside. "I can't let her..."
"What's the rush!" Lin Chaoying snapped. "I have a way!"
She pulled a metallic object from her bosom—it turned out to be a miniature Spacetime Compass!
"Even though the lab was destroyed, I still had a backup plan," she said smugly. "Enough for us to pull off a little spacetime jumping trick!"
My eyes widened. "You mean..."
"That's right."