The car had gone off route.
A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Pei Ying's back. Her dizziness suddenly intensified, so severe that her vision darkened in waves.
She had gotten into an unlicensed cab.
Recalling certain horrifying news stories, Pei Ying felt as if a handful of straw had been forcibly stuffed down her throat, choking her so much she couldn't utter a single word. Even every breath she took felt as though rough blades of grass were painfully slicing her windpipe.
Stay calm. Don't panic.
Her nails dug into her palms, leaving deep crescent-shaped marks. The ride-hailing app had a one-click SOS button, and Pei Ying trembled as she tried to tap it.
But she was so panicked that her trembling fingertips missed by a fraction, failing to hit it on the first try.
"Little girl, the road over there is hard to drive on, so I took a detour. We'll be there soon," the driver suddenly spoke up.
Pei Ying was startled into another shudder. Why would he speak up right now? Had he been secretly observing her through the rearview mirror and noticed her looking at her phone?
This speculation made Pei Ying's blood run cold.
The driver continued, "Little girl, don't report me, and definitely don't call the police. It really is just a bad road over there, I'm merely taking a detour. Sigh, as a mental patient, nobody else wants to hire me for other jobs. Sometimes I really want to kill all those snobbish bastards who look down on people. Besides, I heard that mental patients don't get sentenced to prison for murder. It's not easy for me to drive out and make some money. If I get reported and my pay is deducted, I won't be happy, and I won't be able to control myself. Who knows what I might do."
The driver's eerie voice drifted from the front seat, like the murmurs of a ghost.
Pei Ying completely froze.
He was threatening her.
The vehicle was still heading toward the direction of the unfinished buildings. Just then, there was a streetlamp ahead, casting a dim light into the car. At that exact moment, Pei Ying looked up and made eye contact through the rearview mirror with a pair of sanpaku eyes that seemed to gleam with a sinister light.
In that instant, Pei Ying felt as if she had been plunged into an ice cellar.
But perhaps her fear had maxed out, or perhaps certain things had become clear, she was actually calmer now than she had been a moment ago.
She had to call the police, but she couldn't just directly press the one-click SOS button.
She had never used this button before and didn't know if pressing it would immediately connect a phone call.
The man had already threatened her, even going so far as to claim he was mentally ill. If he found out that the second after he told her not to call the police, she dialed the emergency number, it might enrage him and push him to do something uncontrollable.
Pei Ying first took a screenshot of the page showing the license plate. Then she opened Ye Ziyi's chat box, sent the screenshot first, and typed:
[Yezi, I am in a rogue cab. Call the police for me.]
After typing that, Pei Ying also shared her real-time location. Worried that Ye Ziyi might not see it, she subsequently forwarded it to Tan Momo, Ming Yi, and Ji Chengguang.
Pei Ying tried her best to communicate with the man in the front using a calm tone. "Driver, you have gone way too far off the route. You said you are in a difficult situation, fine, I understand. I can choose not to report you or call the police, but you need to drive the car back to the city area immediately."
She thought this would temporarily steady him, but what happened next terrified Pei Ying so much her soul nearly left her body, making her feel that this man might truly be insane.
He was driving, but suddenly, he turned his head around.
It was not a slight turn of the head, but a complete twist. His face turned all the way to face the right rear door, his eyeballs staring intently at the phone in her hand.
"What are you doing! Look at the road!!" Pei Ying was going crazy.
How could this person dare to drive without looking at the road? If he swerved into the oncoming lane, wouldn't they crash?
"Why don't little girls nowadays listen? Didn't I tell you not to call the police? Didn't I tell you not to call the police?!" the driver suddenly roared hysterically.
Pei Ying tried to deny it. "I didn't..."
"I saw it all, I saw it all!" The driver abruptly reached over to snatch Pei Ying's phone.
Pei Ying never expected him to be so crazy. He was driving, yet he dared to take both hands off the steering wheel. Caught off guard, her phone was snatched away by him.
With her phone gone, Pei Ying didn't dare try to snatch it back. She stealthily touched the car door, thinking about opening it and jumping out. However, the car doors were centrally locked, and she couldn't open them manually.
At that moment, Pei Ying's phone rang.
Someone was calling her.
"You cross me, I cross you. You were the one who didn't listen first, little girl. You can't blame me." The driver threw Pei Ying's phone onto the floor mat of the passenger seat, then slammed his foot on the gas pedal.
Pei Ying heard a clank from the passenger seat, sounding like her phone had hit something.
The black sedan shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Behind the rogue cab, inside an Aston Martin.
Huo Tingshan, sitting in the passenger seat, furrowed his long brows. "Something is wrong. Go around from the side and brake hard. Force it to stop."
Just now, the black car had suddenly slowed down and swerved in a small S-shape. It was fortunate that it was late at night and they had already left the main city district, so it didn't hit any other cars.
But adding up all these strange occurrences, Huo Tingshan determined that the black car was abnormal.
Luoyun District was the most impoverished area of S City. Here, there were urban villages with cramped spaces and haphazardly strung cables, as well as unfinished buildings left behind by capital that had aggressively invested in real estate but failed to complete the projects.
This place wasn't close to S University. Did she live here?
While Huo Tingshan's thoughts drifted, the designated driver beside him was scared silly. Like a glitching voice recorder, he mechanically repeated a few words, "Wh-what? Force it to stop? H-how do I do that?"
Having to repeat such a clear instruction a second time made Huo Tingshan want to kick the man out and take the wheel himself.
After repeating his previous words, Huo Tingshan casually fabricated some background information. "My girlfriend had a fight with me and took a cab to leave on her own, but it seems she unluckily got into a rogue cab. Saving her is the priority. Even if this car is totaled in a crash, I won't make you pay for it."
The designated driver's bellyful of doubts instantly found a resolution.
No wonder this wealthy guy wanted to tail the black car. If his car wasn't so expensive, the driver would have thought he had taken an order from some perverted stalker.
So it was a conflict with his girlfriend, and the girlfriend had the terrible luck of getting into a rogue cab!
A sense of justice spontaneously welled up in the designated driver. His hands gripping the steering wheel immediately stopped being stiff. "Alright, I will force it to stop right now!"
Saying so, he also slammed his foot on the gas.
However, because they had exchanged a few words and delayed some time, coupled with the black car aggressively hitting the gas first, by the time the Aston Martin began to accelerate, the black car was only a short distance away from entering the unfinished residential complex.
Inside the black car.
The driver suddenly noticed the Aston Martin behind them. He glanced at it but initially didn't take it seriously.
S City was a major metropolis, ranking among the top in the entire country. It was perfectly normal to have damn rich people in the city.
But soon, the driver realized that this Aston Martin zoomed past him. After overtaking from the side, it actually swerved right in front of him and then rapidly decelerated.
The driver instinctively hit the brakes.
Screech— The frantically spinning tires were forcibly locked. The action was so violent that faint white smoke plumed out.
The speed of both cars slowed down, but no matter how slow, under the sudden hard braking, they inevitably collided.
A loud bang erupted between the front and the rear of the cars.
Pei Ying always had the habit of wearing a seatbelt when riding in a car, even when sitting in the backseat. When the two cars collided, the momentum threw her violently forward, only for the seatbelt to snap her back.
The impact was intense, but fortunately, she wasn't injured.
"Damn it, which son of a bitch dared to hit my car?" the driver cursed. He leaned over the passenger seat and pulled out a steering wheel lock from underneath.
This old-fashioned steering wheel lock was made of iron. It was heavy and clumsy, resembling a baseball bat, roughly the length of an adult's forearm. It secured the steering wheel using its hollowed-out grooves to prevent thieves from stealing the car.
However, with the changing times, many people had opted for smart locks, phasing out this heavy, detachable contraption that had to be lugged around.
When the driver picked up the long iron bar, Pei Ying's mind buzzed.
He had a weapon in the car!
But the driver, who was originally about to get out, suddenly put the iron bar back for some unknown reason. He plopped back into the driver's seat and actually started the car again.
He reversed, yanked the steering wheel, and slammed on the gas, speeding past the Aston Martin and slipping into the unfinished housing estate like a fish.
Pei Ying was stunned, unsure why he had changed his mind. Just a moment ago, she was thinking that as long as he got out of the car, she would scramble to take over the driver's seat.
Most people wouldn't take the keys out when getting out of a car in a hurry; she might have been able to make her move then.
But why did he suddenly sit back down?
Pei Ying turned her head to look out the window. This area of unfinished buildings had no electricity. The surroundings were pitch black, and the only light source, aside from the car's headlights, was the faint moonlight in the sky.
The black car's headlights swept forward and quickly moved away. Although it was only for a split second, it was enough for Pei Ying to see the man clearly.
The young man wearing a color-blocked trench coat was tall and well-built, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The night breeze lifted a corner of his coat, resembling the spread wings of a black eagle. Standing against the light, his profile was sharply outlined by the shadows, exuding an intimidating edge.
Pei Ying could not hide her astonishment.
Huo Junze? Why was he here?
Was the driver scared back into the car by him?
After the two cars collided, the designated driver wanted to get out and help, but just as his left foot touched the ground, he suddenly heard the roar of the engine starting.
To his utter shock, the black car actually sped away.
"Follow him." Three icy words struck him.
The designated driver shivered, snapped out of his shock, quickly pulled his foot back, and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Huo Tingshan had already returned to the passenger seat. "Force him into a dead end and pin him down."
A thin layer of sweat broke out on the designated driver's forehead. "I... I'll try."
The unfinished housing estate was completely unmanaged and abandoned, so naturally, no one cleaned up the construction debris. The roads here were uneven, and the car bounced and swayed violently as it drove in.
"Why do I feel like he's very familiar with this neighborhood? Could he be a homeowner who bought a place here?" the designated driver marveled.
Familiar indeed. Several times he thought he had cornered the man, only for another path to suddenly appear ahead.
The two cars chased each other until finally, with a screech, one of them stopped.
It was the black car that braked first, but it wasn't because the Aston Martin had forced it into a dead end; rather, it stopped on its own accord beneath a certain building.
The door of the black car opened, and the short, stocky man got out aggressively, wielding the iron bar.
As soon as the man got out, Pei Ying in the backseat immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and reached forward to hit the central locking switch. If she hadn't seen Huo Tingshan's face clearly, she really would have run away first.
The black car had been hit; maybe it was an enemy of this psychotic driver who came looking for him, and she could take the opportunity to escape.
But now she couldn't just ignore the situation. Pei Ying got out from the other side, ran around the short, stocky man, and shouted to Huo Tingshan as she ran, "Huo Junze, he just called for backup, and it sounds like there are quite a few of them. Run!"
They were outnumbered, and the opponent had a weapon. It wasn't wise to face him head-on.
However, by the time Pei Ying yelled this, the driver with the iron bar had already reached Huo Tingshan. "You ruined my plans. Go to hell!"
The iron bar weighed at least three or four pounds. If it struck a head, it would cause bleeding at best, and shatter the skull at worst.
Huo Tingshan did not run. He looked at the man swinging the iron bar as if looking at a chirping little bug. Just before the iron bar swung down, he struck out swiftly, accurately gripping the driver's right hand. The prominent veins on the young man's knobby fingers bulged slightly. As he subdued his opponent, he twisted the man's arm to the side.
A scream like a slaughtered pig rang out.
"Clang." A heavy object hit the ground.
The designated driver next to them was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected the aggressive, stocky man—who looked like he wanted to mash someone into meat paste—to be so weak. Not only did the iron bar fail to land, but his arm was also twisted.
The designated driver thought the matter should be settled and that they just needed to wait for the police. But the next second, he saw the young man who had captured the driver suddenly throw a punch at his opponent.
Every punch landed solidly on flesh, like hitting a punching bag. Amidst the screams, he beat the man until the thuds echoed. The short, stocky man staggered and was about to fall, but was yanked back up by his back collar.
The short, stocky man could no longer stand. His legs went limp, his head drooped, and his neck slid down to get caught at the collar. But because he was being held up by the back collar, he couldn't slip all the way down, causing the front of his neck to be squeezed deep red, faintly revealing a purplish hue.
The situation had reversed in a mere instant, so quickly that Pei Ying hadn't even reacted. Waking up from her daze, she ignored her fear and hurried to stop Huo Tingshan. "Huo Junze, stop hitting him. If you beat him half to death, you'll be in a lot of trouble. Besides, he called for backup. Let's get out of here."
Whether it ended up being justifiable defense or excessive defense, he would have to face a trial, and she didn't want that.
Pei Ying's fingertips touched the back of Huo Tingshan's hand. One was as cold as ice, the other burning like fire.
Huo Tingshan let go of the driver's back collar, allowing the man to slump down like a pile of mud.
The driver fell, but he landed right at their feet, almost touching the hem of Pei Ying's skirt. The young man's dark eyes swept downward, and without hesitation, he delivered a kick, sending the man rolling twice on the ground so he was finally out of the way.
Huo Tingshan grasped Pei Ying's hand, enveloping her icy palm within his own, and sighed softly. "It seems my lady was quite frightened."
Pei Ying had no time to mind his behavior, which exceeded the boundaries of platonic friends, nor did she have time to correct his form of address. "Let's leave here first. He has backup coming."
But he said, "Wait a little longer."
He wasn't in a hurry, but Pei Ying was burning with anxiety.
Wait a little longer?
Wait for what? For the police to arrive?
But it had been less than five minutes since she asked her friend to call the police. The police needed time to dispatch, and it was highly likely that the opponent's backup would arrive first.
The designated driver watched several dark silhouettes rapidly gathering toward them from a distance, and he started to stutter. "Hand... handsome, stop chatting. They're here. Let's... let's go."
Huo Tingshan turned his head and took a look.
One, two, three...
A mere eight people.
Huo Tingshan nonchalantly withdrew his gaze, then took off his color-blocked jacket and draped it over Pei Ying. Simply draping it wasn't enough; he bent her arms, helped her slip her hands into the sleeves, and zipped it up, making sure the jacket was worn properly.
"Go wait in the car." Huo Tingshan held her shoulders and guided her to the backseat of the Aston Martin.
The designated driver was already in the driver's seat, just waiting for Pei Ying and Huo Tingshan to get in so he could floor the gas pedal and make a swift escape.
Someone did get in.
But only one of them!
Huo Tingshan stood outside the car, looking down at her as she sat inside wearing his jacket. Sensing that he had no intention of getting in, she stared at him nervously with her watery eyes, clutching the hem of his shirt to pull him into the car. "Huo Junze, hurry up and get in."
The young man smiled and reached out to gently stroke the soft crown of her head. "Wait for me for a few minutes. I'll be right back."
He held the hand that was gripping his shirt and used a clever bit of force to make her let go. "Driver, lock the rear doors."
Bang. The car door was shut.
Pei Ying's heart gave a little shudder along with it.
After making sure she was safe, Huo Tingshan turned, took two steps, and leisurely picked up the old-fashioned steering wheel lock lying on the ground.
Inside the car, the driver tried to comfort a frantic Pei Ying. "Miss, don't be so anxious. Your boyfriend looks like he has some good moves. Has he trained before? He took down that guy just now with one strike. There might be quite a few of them right now, but, but if he breaks them up and defeats them one by one, it's not impossible to win..."
Although he was speaking words of comfort, his voice grew less confident the more he spoke. In truth, the driver was panicking too, even starting to mutter curses under his breath, complaining about Huo Tingshan showing off.
Guys in their early twenties loved playing the hero the most. Seeing their beautiful girlfriend getting bullied and looking over with teary eyes, the blood would rush to their heads in seconds, making them want to stand up for her regardless of the consequences.
But he didn't stop to think that there were quite a few opponents, and they might even be carrying knives. If he got stabbed in a vital spot during the fight, there was a high chance he'd be done for. Taking a step back, even if he luckily survived, what if he needed organs removed or something? For the rest of his life...
Before the driver could finish contemplating "the rest of his life," he saw a man kicked flying in the distance. It was a fierce kick, like kicking an empty trash can, sending the man rolling several meters away.
Two people attacked him from the left and right simultaneously. A glint of light flashed in their hands, but then came two clanging sounds. The flashes of light went flying out one after another, landing far away.
The driver gasped. "Holy crap, this bro is a badass!"
Pei Ying, who was in the middle of dialing for an ambulance, froze.
*
Not far away.
After knocking away two watermelon knives, Huo Tingshan took down several men in a row. His sequence of movements was extremely ruthless and flowed like water.
Seeing his own younger brother kicked until he howled, one man's anger finally overpowered his wariness and fear. He tightened his grip on his knife and charged forward.
Huo Tingshan merely swept his gaze over him, his face devoid of emotion. Calculating the timing, he dodged to the side while simultaneously grabbing the hand holding the knife.
The dark clouds in the sky completely parted, allowing the bright moon to shine. The moonlight fell onto the polished blade, reflecting a snowy white light, revealing its astonishing sharpness.
Huo Tingshan narrowed his eyes and suddenly guided the opponent's hand, bringing the knife down onto his own arm.
The knife was sharp enough. Blood immediately gushed out.
"Y-you madman," the man exclaimed in shock.
Just as he finished speaking, his neck was tightly gripped by a large hand. The force was so immense that he could faintly hear a clicking sound coming from his own neck.
A sudden, bone-chilling terror rose within him. This man wanted to snap his neck.
This man wanted to kill him!
"You're lucky you were born here. If you were born in the Great Yin dynasty, I'd have your nine generations executed." Huo Tingshan tossed the man away like trash.
The eight men had come aggressively with weapons, but in the end, they were either curled up on the ground like shrimp or scrambling away, stumbling and falling.
Huo Tingshan tossed aside the steel pipe in his hand and walked toward the Aston Martin. Before he could even get close, the rear car door opened, and a tall, slender figure hurriedly stepped out.
"Huo Junze, you..."
Pei Ying stared intently at his bleeding arm. He was wearing short sleeves underneath, and the bright red blood was now like a snake flicking its scarlet tongue, winding down his arm and dripping onto the ground. Just one glance made her dizzy.
There was no need to ask "Are you hurt?" anymore. Pei Ying quickly changed her words, "Do you have a first-aid kit in the car?"
Seeing the corners of her eyes turn red with anxiety, the frustration Huo Tingshan had felt from repeatedly failing to get her contact information finally dissipated a bit.
"No," he said, the corners of his lips curving up.
Seeing this man actually smiling, Pei Ying momentarily suspected that he might have been hit on the head with a club in a spot she hadn't noticed. Otherwise, how could he still smile when his arm had a cut over ten centimeters long and was covered in blood?
"Get in the car quickly, we're going to the hospital." Pei Ying hurriedly shoved Huo Tingshan into the car, closed the door for him, and got in from the other side.
Although they had already called the police, some things were more urgent than others. Right now, the priority was to get him to the hospital to stop the bleeding; giving a statement could wait.
Pei Ying searched for the nearest hospital on her phone. Just as she found the destination, her phone warned her of a low battery.
20% battery remaining.
At the same time, another call came in.
It was Ji Chengguang.
Huo Tingshan glanced at her caller ID. "Why don't you answer the call first? I have plenty of blood. Leaving it to bleed for a while won't kill me."
Pei Ying tapped the green answer button.
Huo Tingshan: "..."
"Senior Ji, I'm safe now, but my phone is about to die, and things are a bit complicated. I'll tell you guys later. Please tell Momo and the others not to call me anymore." Pei Ying spoke very quickly. Right as the car drove out of the unfinished residential complex, she handed her phone to the driver to use for navigation.
Pei Ying wanted to unzip the jacket and return it to Huo Tingshan. Losing blood would make him feel cold; he needed to stay warm now.
But halfway down, he stopped the zipper.
"You wear it." Huo Tingshan had a valid reason: "My arm isn't convenient, and it'll get the jacket dirty."
That last sentence left Pei Ying speechless. Even at a time like this, he was still a germaphobe.
"Miss, your boyfriend is really something..."
"I'm demanding a reward for saving your life. You should be able to give me your contact information this time, right?"
The first voice belonged to the driver, who was smiling as he looked in the rearview mirror, while the second belonged to Huo Tingshan, who was lazily pulling out his own phone.
The driver: "???"
Wait, aren't these two a couple?
Even if they had a fight, they should have just blocked each other on WeChat. How could they not even have each other's contact info?
Were they not even friends before this?
The driver felt a chaotic sense of his brain short-circuiting.
"Enter the number yourself." Huo Tingshan shoved the phone into her hand.
Pei Ying looked down at his still-bleeding hand, her eyelashes trembling slightly as she tapped the keys one by one.
Finished typing.
Huo Tingshan tapped the green dial button, and the phone mounted in the front for navigation started ringing. Satisfied, he hung up, then opened the WeChat page, tapped the search bar on the far right, and added a friend via phone number.
He had a very good memory. He flawlessly re-entered the number Pei Ying had just typed.
Once entered, a profile picture of a colorful little plump bird popped up at the bottom of the screen. Nickname: Yingyue.
Huo Tingshan enlarged the profile picture to look closely at the little plump bird and chuckled. "It actually looks quite like you."
Pei Ying: ...
There was no traffic late at night, and the unfinished building wasn't too far from the hospital. Twenty minutes later, Pei Ying and Huo Tingshan arrived at the hospital's emergency department.
The cut on his arm was thirteen centimeters long and required stitches. Pei Ying stayed by his side the entire time.
The patient getting stitched up didn't even bat an eye, while his companion looked pale. Huo Tingshan chuckled inwardly; it seemed her fear of blood had been around since she was young.
"Don't stare at the wound. Go accept my friend request," Huo Tingshan said, finding something to distract her.
The nurse bandaging the wound looked up in surprise.
Seriously? These two were strangers?
She had assumed they were a couple. The jacket the young woman was wearing was excessively oversized, with sleeves and a hem that were far too long, clearly a men's style.
"Family member, please go to the front desk to pay the bill first," the nurse said, handing the slip to Pei Ying.
Pei Ying hesitated, wanting to correct the nurse's assumption, but ultimately said nothing. She took the slip and left.
The curve of Huo Tingshan's lips deepened.
However, Pei Ying returned shortly after. While she had been pale when she left, her face was now flushed red, practically steaming. "Huo Junze, my phone died..."
The GPS had drained her battery, and her phone was quite old, so the remaining battery percentage was unreliable. Just as she scanned the QR code to pay, her phone tragically died.
Pei Ying had been completely dumbfounded. If the phone had lasted just ten seconds longer, she could have paid the bill, but it simply wasn't meant to be.
He had saved her tonight, got his arm injured badly enough to need stitches, and now he had to pay his own medical bills. Just thinking about it made Pei Ying die of embarrassment.
Huo Tingshan thought it was no big deal. He simply handed her his own phone. "The passcode is 121201."
Pei Ying froze. Her birthday was December 1st. It had to be a coincidence, right?
By the time she returned from paying the bill, Huo Tingshan's wound was fully bandaged. The nurse instructed, "Come back in ten days to get the stitches removed. Don't let the wound get wet for the next few days. You need to watch your diet and avoid spicy food or seafood. If the wound gets inflamed, seek medical attention immediately."
But tonight's itinerary wasn't over yet. They still had to make a trip to the police station.
As they left the hospital, an ambulance sped into the emergency department from the direction of the unfinished building, passing right by the Aston Martin heading toward the police station.
By the time they walked out of the police station, it was already 3:30 in the morning. Dark clouds obscured the bright moon, leaving the sky in pitch blackness.
Huo Tingshan: "Let's go, I'll take you home."
The designated driver had received a hefty fee and was more than happy to drive them around tonight. With Pei Ying's phone dead, calling a cab was impossible. Besides, even if she could, she wouldn't dare take one right now.
Hearing Huo Tingshan offer to take her home, Pei Ying said softly, "Thank you for tonight."
"I'm no charitable saint. I did all this just to be your boyfriend." Huo Tingshan looked at her unblinkingly. "Give me a chance, will you?"
Pei Ying avoided his gaze. "I only just met you today."
As expected, she didn't agree. Huo Tingshan smiled and nodded. "Alright, then you can observe me a bit longer."
After returning home, Pei Ying belatedly realized that she hadn't returned his jacket. She had worn it all the way back.
"My brain is rusting away," she said in frustration.
Pei Ying thought that with everything that had happened tonight, she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep. But as soon as she lay in bed, sleepiness washed over her like a tidal wave, quickly pulling her under.
Pei Ying had always enjoyed good sleep quality, usually sleeping soundly until dawn and rarely dreaming. Tonight, however, she had a dream.
She dreamt of being at the Fuxiang Bar, drinking a cross-armed toast with Huo Junze. She was so close to him that she only had to look up to see those long, narrow dark eyes.
The scene shifted, and she found herself in an unfamiliar yet incredibly festive place. She was wearing a traditional black and red ancient wedding gown, her hair styled in a complicated updo, and she was holding half of a hollowed-out gourd filled with wine.
Standing in front of her was a burly man. His long hair was tied up, and he was wearing a long black and crimson robe that clearly matched hers.
The man's face slowly materialized, turning into the familiar face of Huo Junze. Only, he was no longer young; after the baptism of time, a few fine lines marked the corners of his eyes.
Like her, he held half of a wine-filled gourd in his hand.
As husband and wife, they shared the sacrificial meat and drank from the unified nuptial gourds.
She heard herself whispering softly to the man, "Huo Tingshan, you must be tired tonight too..."
