I walked barefoot on the snowfield. Above my head, snowflakes fluttered like petals, gently falling one by one.
Gu Yuan quickly stepped forward, grabbed my hand, and led me away from this place of flying snow.
"Are you cold?" Gu Yuan asked.
I bit my lower lip, suddenly lowered my head, and didn't answer him.
"Is it warmer here?" He draped his coat over my shoulders, his eyes full of tenderness.
I forced a smile at him and said in a low voice, "Much better. Thank you."
Hearing me say thank you, Gu Yuan frowned so tightly that his eyebrows almost turned into a knot.
"Do we need to be so polite with each other?"
I pursed my lips and lowered my head without saying another word.
"Lan Lan, actually, I have so much to say to you. But recently, you've always been avoiding me. So, I had no choice but to forcefully bring you into my inner realm."
I don't know why, but the gentler he was to me, the more uncomfortable I felt. I just didn't know how to face him.
"It seems we have nothing left to talk about."
"I want to talk to you about Bai Qi." Gu Yuan looked at me seriously, emphasizing the name "Bai Qi".
Hearing Bai Qi's name, my eyes trembled slightly. Then I looked up at Gu Yuan.
Yes, Bai Qi had been dead for a long time. Until now, I still hadn't figured out why he left a letter and ran away, and why he appeared beside Gu Yuan.
There were so many mysteries I hadn't solved. In the end, it was just that I didn't want to face it. I didn't want to admit that he was killed by the man I loved the most.
Since Gu Yuan brought it up on his own initiative, I might as well listen to his explanation.
"What on earth did Bai Qi say to you that made you do such a cruel thing to him?" My eyes were blood - red as I tried my best to hold back my tears.
Seeing the hatred on my face when I spoke, Gu Yuan tightened his fist. He wanted to press on his chest but held back.
He was in pain too. But if he knew this would happen, why did he do it in the first place?
Gu Yuan lowered his voice and told me exactly what had happened that day.
That day, when Bai Qi stabbed Gu Yuan in the heart with a knife, he felt something was wrong.
So, when he said he had something to do that day, he actually went to Gu Yuan to find out the truth.
Although Gu Yuan didn't tell him much, Bai Qi was a smart man. He could tell at a glance that there must be something more to it.
He had his own plan. After playing with me for a day, he left a letter and ran away. At that time, I just thought he wanted to go out and relax.
Who would have thought that he went to find Gu Yuan again and made an appointment to meet him in the Blood Pool. However, this time, he wasn't looking for Gu Yuan to find out the reason for leaving me.
Instead, while Gu Yuan wasn't prepared, he used an ancient secret spell, trying to forcefully draw Ying Gou, who was suppressed in Gu Yuan's body, into his own body. Then he planned to use another secret spell to drag Ying Gou into the Blood Pool.
He was on a path of death. Of course, Gu Yuan wouldn't agree. But once the secret spell was activated, there was no way to take it back.
Ying Gou was forcibly pulled out of Gu Yuan's body. Bai Qi's magical power was still a bit weak. Instead of absorbing Ying Gou into his body, he was backfired by it.
Seeing this, Gu Yuan forcibly summoned the Heavenly Thunder to strike Ying Gou and sealed Ying Gou in his body again.
However, this time, he was also seriously injured, and Bai Qi was even worse off.
That day was the fifteenth. Gu Yuan had just summoned a bolt of Heavenly Thunder, and the Heavenly Soldiers from the Celestial Realm had already rushed over upon hearing the sound.
Gu Yuan didn't have time to heal Bai Qi's wounds, so he took him to the cave where he was going through his tribulation.
After that, I and Jun He rushed over and saw Gu Yuan holding a sword and Bai Qi seriously injured.
He originally wanted to explain, but who would have thought that Xi Nu would also follow. What happened next was beyond Gu Yuan's expectation. He didn't expect Bai Qi to die.
Bai Qi did die at Xi Nu's hands. He wanted to stop it, but at that time, he was also seriously injured from summoning the Heavenly Thunder.
After Bai Qi died, he couldn't avenge Bai Qi. She was his mother. What could he do?
I witnessed everything that happened later with my own eyes.
He couldn't deny that Bai Qi died because of him. But how could I be blameless?
Everything Bai Qi did was for me. He knew I loved Gu Yuan deeply. He wanted me to be happy and wanted to help us. So he chose to sacrifice himself and bear everything, just to help the two of us.
It was clearly me who killed him. Until his death, he never complained about me. Every word was full of concern, and he still wanted me to be with Gu Yuan.
Just thinking about this made my heart ache like it was being pricked by needles, so painful that I could hardly breathe.
Seeing this, Gu Yuan quickly stepped forward to support me. His fingers touched my forehead, and I felt a warm current spreading from my forehead to my whole body. The pain gradually disappeared.
My body relaxed, and I slightly lowered my eyes, looking at the broken tree.
"That tree is Ying Gou and also your inner demon, right?" Gu Yuan supported my shoulder with one hand and looked down dejectedly.
"This is the price you paid for not handing over the snake scale, isn't it?"
Gu Yuan was silent, but I already had the answer in my heart.
Years ago, the snake scale went missing. Gu Yuan didn't hand it over. He used his true form to carry Ying Gou's soul and summoned the Heavenly Thunder to suppress it. In fact, he only suppressed a part of it.
Another part was that he had to freeze his inner world. He couldn't fall in love. Once he did, the inner demon would revive, and Ying Gou would also wake up.
So Gu Yuan voluntarily erased that memory and forcibly froze his emotions. But the snake scale was his knot. So, without that memory, he searched for a thousand years before finding me in this life.
Bai Xiangjun was the same. He searched for the snake scale so hard just to let Gu Yuan absorb the powerful magical power of the snake scale. Only in this way could Gu Yuan defeat Ying Gou and pull the Heavenly Emperor down from his throne.
I told Gu Yuan everything I had just guessed. Gu Yuan frowned tightly, which meant that my guesses were all correct.
But there was one thing I didn't guess right. The tree was clearly flourishing before, and Ying Gou had been completely released. Why was it frozen again and broken into pieces? This meant that the inner demon had been solved, or Ying Gou had left his body.
"How did that tree die?" I asked weakly.
Gu Yuan followed my gaze and looked at the broken pieces on the ground and replied, "Give him what he wants, and he will naturally leave."
I didn't understand what he meant and continued to ask, "What he wants is the snake scale, right? But the snake scale is clearly..."
Gu Yuan raised his finger and pressed it against my lips. His fingertips smelled faintly of gardenia. I took a deep breath. The refreshing smell calmed my annoying mood a bit.
"From today on, there is no snake scale in the Three Realms. I've already given the snake scale to Ying Gou. I, Gu Yuan, have never had any extravagant hopes. I just want to live a peaceful life with my wife. But I've waited for a thousand years. This time, I really don't want to miss it again."
Gu Yuan's eyes were full of affection. Ripples appeared in his deep eyes. I saw longing and yearning in them. Finally, I saw my own reflection in his bright eyes.