Xun didn't remember the period after Tang Li's death very clearly. Many things became vague. He didn't remember the scene at that time, and he couldn't recall it. It was as if his body had its own consciousness and knew that the memory was too painful, so he subconsciously forgot everything.
During that time, he was recuperating in Dongcheng. He sat alone by the window of Wutong Guest House for a long time. Whether it was sunny or rainy, he just sat there without saying a word for the whole day. He had never experienced such a confused and painful moment. Nothing mattered. He didn't know what drained the strength in his body.
The wounds on my body are healing day by day, but the wounds in my heart never heal.
Yuwen Jin would come over occasionally, and he once asked him curiously: "Do you really love your wife that much? There are so many beautiful women in the world, but you only love this one. Why?"
Why? His encounter and love with Tang Li were too hasty, and their companionship was too short. During that time, Xun did not think about why, but just yearned for such days, because he felt satisfied with having such a person by his side, and could not think of anything else. Before meeting Tang Li, he had never loved anyone else, and did not know what it was like to love someone.
Maybe Tang Li showed up at the right time, or maybe she was too gentle... He had never met anyone like her.
Xun didn't know what words to use to describe Tang Li. He couldn't describe it clearly, but he remembered that when he woke up from the coldness of death, he clearly felt the warmth from Tang Li. She hugged him gently, full of cherishment and love.
This was something Xun couldn't understand. From the beginning, Tang Li treated him like a lover she had treasured for many years, taking care of him meticulously and carefully. They embraced each other in the cold and windy Ghost Crying Plain. Ghost Crying Plain was cold and scary at night, with all kinds of strange noises. It was a disgusting and unpleasant place, but Tang Li was here. She was out of tune with the environment, with a warmth that was completely different from this world.
Xun had heard her singing in his coma. She would occasionally hum some tunes softly, and those tunes reminded him of gentle breezes and drizzles or people in a tavern, fresh and intimate. Xun felt peaceful in his sleep, a calmness he had never felt before.
They are completely different. Xun had lived a lonely and hurried life in the first half of his life, and had never had any good things or feelings. It seemed natural that he would be attracted to Tang Li. He finally had what he wanted, and he wanted to take the initiative to pursue something.
If Tang Li didn't like him, perhaps he would stay with her and protect her well, just like guarding the most peaceful and gentle corner in his heart.
Fortunately, Tang Li also liked him, and they were together very smoothly. Xun decided to leave the Refining Domain, largely because of Tang Li. He didn't want the peaceful life created by Tang Li to be broken by the accident around him.
But in the end, she still left him. He experienced the most beautiful love in the world, but lost it suddenly. It was the only time in his life that he was completely defeated, so defeated that he couldn't even pick up a knife. The wounds on his body healed after two months, but it took him two years to stop indulging in pain.
After two years in Dongcheng to repay Yuwen Jin's kindness, he went to Beicheng again, determined to kill Xiahou Xuanyu, but Xiahou Xuanyu was not so easy to deal with, and they both suffered losses, so Xun had to leave. After that, he kept traveling around to practice, leaving all his focus on pursuing better swordsmanship.
After Tang Li left, Xun found himself more indifferent to everything around him than before, and could no longer invest feelings in anyone or anything.
He was disheartened.
And Tang Li came back, and the life was revived.
At the same time, he suddenly remembered clearly the circumstances of Tang Li's death. Not only that, it haunted him like a nightmare, preventing him from sleeping.
"I didn't mean to not sleep, I just couldn't sleep."
"I know you've come back, and I know you're not dead and are right next to me, but the image of you dying in my arms often appears in my dreams, and it terrifies me." The fear that came late, the tension of doubting that everything in front of me was not real.
Xun said hoarsely, "Maybe I am too nervous, but I can't control it."
Tang Li listened quietly to Xun's explanation of why he didn't sleep at night. She suddenly reached out and held his cheek, and said calmly: "Xunnu, in fact, your condition should be a disease called 'post-traumatic stress disorder'. It is because you witnessed my death that you have suffered mental damage, anxiety and tension. These are all very normal situations."
Xun didn't quite understand, "…what trauma or disorder?"
Tang Li: "To put it simply, you need treatment, and diet therapy will do."
Xun understood this time.
Tang Li: "So you still have to eat midnight snacks. Don't be afraid of gaining weight."
Xun: “… I don’t.”
Tang Li: "In fact, sword training is not the only way to exercise. There are other ways. Perhaps this method can make you feel more at ease and recover faster."
Xun didn't know what she meant until he was pulled into bed that night.
Xun: “…” In order to prevent Tang Li from getting used to the current situation, he restrained himself very much, but ended up being overtaken by his weak wife.
Tang Li was not afraid at all, and she hugged his neck to comfort him: "Cooperate with the treatment, and you will be fine soon. You must sleep well, otherwise you will be lack of energy and it will affect your health."
With Tang Li's all-round care, Xun's condition is indeed improving.
Yuwen Jin noticed how quickly they got along. When he came over to eat, he sighed to Tang Li, "You and Brother Xun are so quick. In just a few days, your relationship has become better and better."
Tang Li brought him a basket of steamed buns and said with a smile: "The worst thing in a relationship is hesitation and speculation. Even the best relationship will be worn away by doubts, so if you have any questions, you should ask them early and solve them together. Time waits for no one, so you should seize the present moment and not hesitate. No one knows if there will be any accidents while you are hesitating."
Yuwen Jin groaned, "But not everyone can be honest about their thoughts."
Tang Li smiled and lowered her head, scooped up a bowl of sweet soup and covered it with a white porcelain lid. "So Xunnu is so rare. As long as I ask, he never hides anything from me, and he doesn't doubt me. This kind of trust is absolutely impossible for other people." Otherwise, why would she like this person so much.
Picking up the food box, Tang Li said, "City Lord, continue eating. I'll go to the martial arts training ground to bring sweet soup to Xun Nu."
Yuwen Jin hesitated, swallowed a bun, called her, and said half-jokingly: "I say, sister-in-law, if you feed Brother Xun several meals a day like this, what if he gets fat? You'd better be careful. If you don't like Brother Xun anymore, Brother Xun will be very sad."
Tang Li looked at him in surprise, and after a while she suddenly laughed out loud, "Did the City Lord misunderstand what I said last time? The change I mentioned is not a change in appearance... The City Lord has not met the person he likes most, so he may not understand." Appearance may be one of the paths leading to a person's heart. Once you pass through it, enter that person's heart, and decide not to leave, then this path is no longer important, and it doesn't matter even if it is broken.
Yuwen Jin: “…” Suddenly feeling full
Xun agreed to stay in Dongcheng for fifteen years, during which time he had to protect Yuwen Jin and stay in Dongcheng. Yuwen Jin also asked him to train the palace soldiers, which was considered as asking him to officially become one of the martial arts instructors of Dongcheng. Xun also lived in Dongcheng for a period of time before, but at that time he was just a "guest" who lived in seclusion, not a member of the family. Now that his identity has been confirmed, everyone in Dongcheng will politely call him Mr. Xun.
Only Tang Li still called him Xun Nu. Xun had no objection to this, but he only allowed Tang Li to call him that.
As for the relationship between Tang Li and Xun, since they did not hide it at all, everyone knew it. Tang Li did not care what people said behind their backs, but at least no one dared to offend them openly, after all, Xun's deterrence was too strong. Qiu Tu and others who came to Dongcheng with Tang Li could only close their eyes and pretend to be blind these days, pretending that they were here for tourism. Anyway, they could not control it, so what could they do? They could only wait for Nangong Xian to come earlier.
Tang Li walked through the corridor to the martial arts arena and saw a group of palace soldiers practicing swords. She stood aside and waited for a while, then saw Xun coming over. He was wearing a short black martial arts shirt, his hair was slightly wet with sweat, and he took off his outer robe. His broad shoulders and long legs made his waist look particularly thin.
Tang Li glanced at his waist. In fact, she was looking forward to Xun Nu gaining weight, but he unexpectedly seemed to have a heavy burden on his image. He cared about it inexplicably. In recent days, he ate a lot and practiced swordsmanship very hard. Even the lazy soldiers under Yuwen Jin were complaining about the training.
"Are you tired? Actually, you don't have to be so serious. You can just rest more." Tang Li said tactfully.
Xun: “Not tired.”
"Well, actually I think they can't stand it any longer." Tang Li pointed at the dull-eyed soldiers. Yuwen Jin didn't dare to talk to Xun himself, so he came to her specifically hoping that she could help convey the appeal of 'not training the soldiers as killers'.
Xun shook his head indifferently, "It's outrageous." It was because of this that the military strength of East City had always been weaker than that of the other three cities. If it weren't for the Shangdao under its jurisdiction, something would have probably happened long ago.
Tang Li recalled that when Xun taught her, he was so strict even with her, let alone other people.
Xun listened to Tang Li's words to some extent and stopped torturing those guards. Whenever Tang Li came to him, he would let those guards go and follow Tang Li back as soon as possible. Therefore, after several times, those guards were most looking forward to Tang Li coming so that they could be liberated as soon as possible.
Not long after this, Xiahou Xuanyu and Nangong Xian arrived at East City.
Even though Yuwen Jin knew they had bad intentions, he still had to go to greet the two city lords who came in person. A large group of people passed through the martial arts arena of the East City Lord's Mansion and happened to see Xun and Tang Li walking by. Tang Li was wiping the sweat off Xun's forehead with a handkerchief. The two of them were talking in low voices as they walked. Anyone could see that they had a close relationship.
Yuwen Jin thought, this is just a coincidence, a slap in the face. He glanced at Xiahou Xuanyu next to him, and saw that the arrogant young man with his chin raised to the sky had a green face. Nangong Xian was calm and composed - Qiu Tu had sent him a letter a long time ago, and what he cared about now was not who Nangong Qin liked, but whether she really agreed to hand over the thing.
Tang Li and Xun also discovered this large group of people. When Xun saw Xiahou Xuanyu, the tenderness in his eyes was quickly replaced by murderous intent, and the veins on his knife bulged, and he subconsciously stopped Tang Li behind him.
Tang Li held Xun's arm and nodded to the others, "Uncle, City Lord Xiahou, you guys came faster than I thought."
Xiahou Xuanyu could no longer bear it. Seeing that her hands were always on Xun's hands, he wanted to chop off those two hands. He asked in a bad tone, "What do you mean? Are you going to betray me?"
Tang Li looked at him strangely, her tone full of disgust and malice: "What are you talking about, City Lord Xiahou? We have nothing to do with each other, how can you call it betrayal?"
Xiahou Xuanyu's eyes darkened, and he was so angry that he laughed, "It doesn't matter? You are my fiancée!"
"Not now." Tang Li smiled softly, "It's a pity that City Lord Xiahou came too early. If it was two months later, I would have been pregnant with Xunnu's child."
The author has something to say: I suddenly want to write a sequel after the main text of this article is finished, gathering the heroines of several short stories in this article, and let them travel to the horror world to fight monsters together. Miss Tang Li must be the team's big breasts, and she can go berserk when necessary. Then the salted fish and goose in the previous story can only be dragged by the teammates to win, lying behind Miss Tang Li, and can even be fed. The two of them can probably get along well. Miss Tang Li likes to take care of this kind of little fool the most.