What If...I Remember?

Chapter 9

"Morning, Qian Qian."

Bai Qian knew he'd been watching her since he woke up, and she allowed herself to yawn, "You knew I woke up?" "Yes, I did." Ye Hua smiled, "I've been watching you as a snake until now. Of course I know you've woken up."

A snake? Since when had she ever-?!

Her eyes wide, Bai Qian turned to Ye Hua, before pounding his arm in embarrassment, "You were that little black snake?!" "Black dragon, to be exact. I still remember calling you atrocious when you tried feeding me the raw meat and kissing my head when I refused it." Ye Hua corrected, a smirk playing on his lips as he saw Bai Qian slowly grow redder.

"So I slept with you for weeks without knowing you were a deity! Never again, Ye Hua, never again!" Bai Qian jumped out of bed furiously, her nine tails appearing as a shadow, and even as Ye Hua watched her fit with amusement, Bai Qian obviously didn't not think it funny, and she sprinted away from him and back to the Fox Den, leaving Ye Hua chuckling to himself as he slowly walked in the direction she had gone in. I'll give her a while to cool off...Ye Hua picked a fallen peach, dusting the dust off on his sleeve, before he hid it in his sleeve, keeping it as a present for Bai Qian.

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"Husband, why do you look thus gloomy?"

Li Jing glanced at Xuan Nü, examining her face closely. Had she used an enchantment? How...did she look like his A-Yin, when they were obviously two different people? How had he even married her in the first place? No, no, this was all wrong. He was supposed to marry A-Yin, who would impose goodness over the vileness of the Ghost Tribe, and lead him away from evil.

He was supposed to marry his A-Yin, who called his poems cheesy but kept them, who said his bamboo trinkets were a waste of space but still kept them all in her dormitory, who fought alongside him against a Phoenix, who promised she would do anything for him if he didn't die.

A-Yin...who was less scheming than Xuan Nü, who showed her love in the way that it was hidden deep within and only taken out in moments that were dreary. She didn't fling her love at Li Jing like Xuan Nü did. No. She was heartbroken when he'd gone with Xuan Nü. She even came to beg him for the Soul Jade when Mo Yuan had first passed. Why couldn't he have given it to her back then? Maybe...he could've even gotten her to stay...

"Xuan Nü...I found someone who looks like A-Yin." Li Jing questioned the way he said the statement. No, not someone like A-Yin. Someone who was actually A-Yin. But somehow, he had a vague feeling that telling Xuan Nü who A-Yin was was not a good idea at all, and Xuan Nü looked indifferent, "I know that. It's my cousin. My distant cousin who is famous and apparently more accomplished than I am. Everyone calls her Gugu. But her name is Bai Qian."

Her cousin? Li Jing's face went blank. Had his reason to A-Yin about their separation not been that she was a Celestial? But she was actually a Fox from the Fox Tribe...and a white nine-tailed fox of Qing Qiu. He could only blame himself for his own preposterous presumptions that led to this downfall.

"What if I told you, A-Yin's real identity isn't Si Yin? What if I told you, there is a reason why you were sent to this Si Yin, other than her looking almost identical to your cousin?" Li Jing laughed sourly, grabbing a jug of wine then yanking off its cover and emptying its contents down his throat, and Xuan Nü felt a shiver down her spine. Could it be?

"Husband...what are you trying to tell me?" Xuan Nü stepped closer, flinching only when Li Jing threw the empty ceramic jar aside, watching it crash on the floor, before he pressed his face close to hers, "Xuan Nü, Si Yin is Bai Qian. Bai Qian is Si Yin. Si Yin wasn't a random celestial magical fox High God Zhe Yan found and sent here. Si Yin was Bai Qian's alter ego for her to go to Kun Lun Mountains and study under the God of War, High God Mo Yuan."