Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 903 (2): Wipe That Area

This upheaval was a hidden blessing not just for Zhao Changhe, but also for the Ye sisters.

Even while split, they had been treading both sides of the river at the same time, and the crossing was only halted by their lack of completeness. Neither Zhao Changhe nor the sisters had ever believed that fusion was the only way to ascend. They had each been seeking their own path to a breakthrough. But now, that opportunity might finally be within reach.

Ye Jiuyou really did not want to be fused into one being with Ye Wuming, and Ye Wuming felt the same. The two had spent who-knew-how-many years disliking each other, after all. They did not have some cozy sisterhood like Piaomiao and Cui Yuanyang did.

Now that both had reached the Other Shore through their fusion, they naturally had the freedom to choose their own paths. Even if they could not retain the full strength of their fused form when they split apart, as long as they each could cross to the Other Shore, even the early stage, that would be enough.

“So...” Ye Wuming suddenly said, “Are we still hiding in the Night Palace? Shouldn’t we let the others come in to help take care of him?”

Ye Jiuyou shot her a glare. “Not until we at least turn his hair back. Do you want them to see him like this? Hair white, body shredded? The ones who never had a grudge against you might start wanting to tear you apart. How are you going to face them later?”

Ye Wuming blinked in surprise. She had not expected Ye Jiuyou to speak from the standpoint of protecting her.

Though, to be fair... Why do I need to get along with them?

She almost said it, but in the end, what came out instead was something she had not said in tens of thousands of years, “I’m sorry.”

Now it was Ye Jiuyou’s turn to look dumbfounded. “What are you apologizing to me for? Hurting my man?”

“No.”

“Then is it for our grudge? The enmity between us was born from someone forcibly splitting us apart. We still can’t stand each other, sure, but deep down, I’ve always known neither of us was truly at fault.”

“I learned the truth before you did... and even though we were meant to stand side by side as allies against a common enemy, I still treated you as one instead.”

Ye Jiuyou fell silent. After a long pause, she murmured, “It was only after meeting Changhe that I realized... there really is someone I could entrust my back to. Before that, my thinking wasn’t all that different from yours. In fact, I might have even been more extreme than you, so if you’re going to apologize, it should be to him. After all, you knew him long before I did.”

She’s really changed... The thought flickered through Ye Wuming’s mind, and with it came a sudden memory—Zhao Changhe’s early encounters with Xia Chichi.

The girl had once held a dagger, poised to stab Zhao Changhe in the back. He had seen it with the Back Eye, and the look on his face at that moment...

If Xia Chichi had not thrown away the blade in the end, and if Zhao Changhe had turned and struck her down instead, maybe he would have never trusted another soul again.

Oftentimes, the path a person walks is not just about the choices they make, but also about who they meet and what those people choose to do.

You knew him long before I did.

As Ye Wuming remained silent, Ye Jiuyou said quietly, “We both need to enter meditation to comprehend the Other Shore. However, Changhe still needs care. If we’re not bringing the others in, then let’s take shifts.”

Ye Wuming nodded in agreement. “Alright.”

“You first or me?”

“I can handle his care first,” Ye Wuming said calmly. “As long as I don’t kill him, it should be fine.”

“Heh...” Ye Jiuyou’s tone was ambiguous. “Do you even know how to care for a patient in this state?”

Ye Wuming replied, “Infuse energy, nourish the body, heal the wounds. That’s all, isn’t it?”

“The Night Emperor, aloof and high above all. You’ve been a divine being too long. That’s not what I meant at all. His body is filthy; it’s covered in blood and disheveled. His clothes have fused into the scabs. Someone needs to clean him. And in this condition, his body can’t stay clean on its own. Between internal secretions and external dust, he needs someone to wipe him down. All of him. That’s exactly what I had to do for the thirty years that he slept.”

Ye Wuming: “...”

Ye Jiuyou asked coldly, “So, can you do it?”

If Ye Wuming had a body right now, she might be scratching her head.

She honestly did not really know if she would be able to do it. But... it seemed like something she should do.

She sighed. “Go meditate. I’ll take care of him.”

Ye Jiuyou smiled faintly and slipped into a meditative trance.

Of course, she had not actually done it for thirty years. In fact, she had not even done it for thirty seconds. All of that was a calculated bluff, deliberately misleading Ye Wuming with this exaggerated “experience,” making her forget that, as cultivators, they could just use spells to handle such mundane chores. There was no need for hands-on cleaning like some mortal nurse.

She just wanted Ye Wuming to serve the man for once, wanting to see how long she could keep up that frosty Night Emperor persona.

Hah, it looks like Ye Wuming’s head really is all over the place right now... She seems to have even forgotten that Ling Ruoyu is still in the Night Palace, and she’s perfectly capable of tending to Zhao Changhe. Well, whatever, I’ll just tell that girl to go buy soy sauce for now.

* * *

Zhao Changhe slowly drifted back to consciousness, greeted by a sky filled with the moon and stars. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

For a moment, he was confused and wondered if it was night. But then he remembered that he was not in the outside world but the Night Palace. Here, it was always night. The starry sky above was not a part of nature; it was a projection of Ye Wuming’s Dao, a cosmic array she used to trace the flow of fate.

Judging by this, the Heavenly Dao had indeed been repelled, but whether he’d been entirely destroyed or merely wounded, Zhao Changhe could not say.

Either way, that was not his concern right now. His condition was disastrous to say the least. Every part of his body ached like it had been torn apart and reassembled, and even the slightest movement was excruciating.

Still, when he used inner sight, he could see that the foreign energy had been thoroughly purged, and his wounds were gradually beginning to heal. Someone had taken good care of him. At the same time, he had been injured so badly that vast portions of his body felt like... nothing at all. Many of his nerves were dead, leaving his limbs half-paralyzed. His internal organs had fared no better; barely any were intact.

When it came to surviving grave injuries, Zhao Changhe was arguably the foremost expert in the world. He could tell at a glance that a full recovery would take at least a year. Not even the Rejuvenation Art could fix this entirely.

This is quite troublesome...

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt a cool, damp touch on a patch of skin where sensation was beginning to return. He turned his head with difficulty and saw that Ye Jiuyou was seated quietly by his side, gently wiping his body with a damp cloth.

He had not noticed her before because she had been wiping the parts of his body that were still numb. From the look of it, she had been at it for a while. She was so absorbed in her task that she had not even noticed he had awakened.

Zhao Changhe’s heart softened. During those thirty years, I was asleep... Jiuyou must have done this many times, quietly, just like now...

“Jiuyou...” His voice was hoarse and weak as he spoke her name.

The figure beside him jolted in surprise, and her expression flickered oddly, but she remained silent.

Because, right now, she was not Ye Jiuyou but Ye Wuming.

Should I tell him?

Should he know that Ye Wuming, of all people, is kneeling beside him like some random housewife, wiping down his naked body?

The truth was, she had not been particularly focused a moment ago. Her hands had frozen not from concentration but because she had just removed his clothes.

She thought she would not feel anything. After all, she had seen him do all sorts of things—many times, from afar.

But this close? And actually touching him like this? It was a completely different experience. Her hands trembled as they held the damp cloth, unable to continue.

Wiping his body was one thing... but did she really have to wipe that part, too?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Zhao Changhe asked with some difficulty. “There really was no other way this time... Don’t be angry.”

Ye Wuming pressed her lips together, then finally said, “No other way? Did you really have no other way? You did all that for Ye Wuming again, didn’t you?”

Zhao Changhe sighed. “Well, dying together is ultimately the only really irreversible path, the one you take when there really is no other way out. I don’t know why she always insists on taking that path. It’s like she has no desire to live. But so long as there’s another choice, we shouldn’t think that way. Ye Wuming’s matters are ultimately matters of great importance to this world. They can’t be reduced to something as simple as love or hate between a man and a woman.”

That was not the answer Ye Wuming wanted. However, she understood that he believed that he was talking to Ye Jiuyou, and of course, that was the only kind of response he could give.

She shook her head and dropped the subject. Instead, she asked, “If you can talk this much, does that mean you’re fine now?”

Zhao Changhe replied, “Of course not, but you should still wipe that area for me. I need to check if anything’s broken... Uh... It’s very important.”

Ye Wuming’s hand froze. She stared blankly at him, completely stunned.