Chapter 168: Embrace

In the dim alleyway, those eyes were like stars, bright and pure.

Lin Hao wept, stunned.

It was him!

To her, those eyes were both blurred and profound.

Her thoughts had nearly stagnated at the moment of death, as had her five senses; separated by a past life and a present one, she couldn't even clearly describe the shape of those eyes.

But it was precisely because she had experienced life and death that those eyes were indelibly etched upon her heart.

The hand Lin Hao used to cover Qi Shuo's face trembled slightly, and her lips trembled as well.

He was the Prince Jing's Heir.

This discovery, this realization, hit her like a massive tidal wave—filled with shock, bewilderment, and the joy of everything finally coming to light.

It was as if he was always meant to be the Prince Jing's Heir—Qi Shuo.

Qi Shuo gazed at the young girl standing so close, his expression calm and gentle.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Hao lowered her hand, leaving his handsome face uncovered.

He was someone she knew, yet also someone she didn't know all that well.

The person who had died alongside her was the Prince Jing's Heir, and now, they were both living well.

A slight itch seemed to remain in her palm, the sensation of his shallow breath when she had placed her hand beneath his eyes just now.

Lin Hao struggled to widen her eyes, wanting to see the person before her more clearly.

Seeing her weeping silently, Qi Shuo felt somewhat helpless. "Lin—"

Suddenly, his chest was struck hard, and a pair of arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

Lin Hao hugged Qi Shuo, crying so thoroughly that she completely lost all sense of decorum.

Qi Shuo's entire body went stiff; after a long moment, he cautiously placed his hands on her back.

"A-Hao?" he called out tentatively.

Lin Hao lifted her eyes, her fan-like lashes hanging with crystalline teardrops. "Mm?"

Qi Shuo suddenly forgot his words, even feeling a flicker of regret.

A-Hao was hugging him; why did he have to speak!

Lin Hao finally snapped back to her senses. She wiped her tears messily against his clothes, took a step back to create distance, yet her eyes remained fixed on his face.

"I have something I want to ask you."

"Ask."

"That person... was it you?" When Lin Hao asked this, it wasn't to reconfirm that person's identity, but to know if the Prince Jing's Heir, like her, had also been reborn with those memories.

Under the girl's nervous and cautious gaze, Qi Shuo fell silent for a moment before nodding gently. "It was me."

Lin Hao took a deep breath, suppressing her surging emotions. "When... when did you come back?"

"I should have come back at the same time as you."

Lin Hao punched his arm, her face showing irritation. "Then why didn't you say so!"

This bastard! He had known she was reborn long ago, yet he had remained composed, watching from the sidelines with indifference, playing dumb while knowing everything!

When Lin Hao thought about how she had used "having a dream" as an excuse to warn Qi Shuo to watch out for the physiognomist Fang Chengji, she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

When he heard those words back then, he must have been dying of laughter inside.

And yet, he actually managed to listen with a serious face.

This hypocritical bastard!

Lin Hao's face felt hot enough to fry an egg, and she gave him several more hard punches.

Qi Shuo neither dodged nor avoided, a smile lingering on his lips.

Lin Hao stopped hitting him.

"Why did you stop?" Qi Shuo asked with a smile.

"I'm tired," Lin Hao replied irritably, though her mind was still full of questions.

Looking at the girl's feigned anger, Qi Shuo had never felt more secure.

That hug just now had finally confirmed her feelings, giving him confidence and courage.

He gazed at the girl he loved, the corners of his mouth never dropping.

Lin Hao's heart was stuffed full of various emotions, and it took a while for her to calm down. She glanced at the man before her, her gaze falling to the ground.

The ground in the long alleyway held a perennial dampness; the spring chill seemed to favor this place particularly.

Yet Lin Hao did not feel cold. She asked softly, "That night, why... why did you appear there?"

"I was fleeing for my life."

Lin Hao's guess was confirmed, so she asked, "Why were you fleeing?"

After a brief silence, Qi Shuo took a step closer, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear. "I killed the Crown Prince."

Lin Hao abruptly lifted her eyes, colliding with those bottomless depths.

Those eyes quickly filled with mirth—an undisguised sense of relief and joy. "That day was a lucky day for me. My great vengeance was avenged, and I was reunited with you."

Lin Hao could not bear the heat in those eyes for a moment. Her gaze drifted elsewhere, and a rosy blush quietly climbed her cheeks. "Then that really is a coincidence."

On a snowy winter night on the streets, they just happened to meet.

Wait.

Lin Hao lifted her eyes to meet Qi Shuo's, realizing something.

Did he mean that he had liked her for a very long time?

The atmosphere was just right, prompting her to ask.

Qi Shuo looked at her steadily and answered without hesitation, "Yes."

Receiving this answer, Lin Hao's face flushed slightly as she took two steps forward, then suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"That's not right," Lin Hao frowned. "Then the first time I fell off the wall, I remember you didn't even look at me before you left, letting me fall face-first into the dirt."

Qi Shuo's lip twitched. "It wasn't that tragic. You were quite cute when you fell."

"Don't change the subject," Lin Hao said, eyeing him sideways.

The difference between the two falls had once made her doubt whether the Prince Jing's Heir's warmth and friendliness toward her in this life was simply because she could speak now.

She had almost questioned his character.

"I was worried about affecting your reputation and causing people to gossip."

Lin Hao raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on her lips. "And you aren't afraid of affecting my reputation this time?"

Qi Shuo looked at her deeply and also smiled. "In the past life, I worried about so much, but we both died."

So why bother caring about anything else now?

That was something he only understood after losing her.

In this life, he only cared about her heart.

Hearing this, Lin Hao's nose tingled.

Indeed, it was because they had died that they could cast off the shackles of the secular world and live more powerfully.

She was like this, and so was the Prince Jing's Heir.

With the same bizarre experience, they were destined to be the two people in this world who understood each other best.

"What about you? How were you being hunted? I thought... you were long gone."

"I didn't die; I escaped the capital..." Lin Hao recounted that special experience. "Later, Emperor Ping Le dealt a fatal blow to Perfect Heart Daoist. I fled from there to survive and returned to the capital. But to Emperor Ping Le, I knew too much, so he sent people to hunt me down all the way. The leader among them was Chen Mu, the one who wants to blow up Jinxiu Street this time..."

The two stood in the long alley, whispering about the events of their past lives until the sky grew dark. Lin Hao frustratedly pressed her hand to her forehead. "Oh no, Baozhu must be anxious to find me, and I don't know how Jingma is doing either."

"Don't worry about Jingma. As soon as I discovered something was wrong, I sent people to help. If there were any trouble, they would have reported it long ago."

"That's good then." Lin Hao remembered belatedly, "How did you get here so quickly?"

"I was worried that any stragglers might harm you, so I told my subordinates to keep a close watch. That's why I arrived in time."

"I see. Then let's head out first." Lin Hao pointed toward the mouth of the alley.

"Alright."

The two walked forward, toward the bustling long street where the festive lights were just beginning to glow.

Qi Shuo scanned Lin Hao with his peripheral vision, his lowered hand quietly approaching, tentatively reaching out to hold her hand.

(End of Chapter)