Extra Chapter 3: Ruyi

Another year had come, and the mountains were sealed beneath heavy snow.

A full thirty-four years, three months, and five days had passed since that earth-shattering battle against the System.

Snow blanketed the vast plains.

Heaven and earth were wrapped in silver, frozen for a thousand miles. Ye Shu’s wives were all huddled inside their little wooden cabin, wrapped in quilts, sipping hot tea as they watched the Spring Festival Gala airing on the newly released fantasy television.

“Say, does anyone know where my hubby went?”

Sitting in the middle, Lin Qingxue suddenly realized something. She turned her head from side to side, but Ye Shu was nowhere to be seen.

“Who knows?”

Xia Hanmo spread her hands helplessly. “Maybe he went out to build snowmen with the kids? It couldn’t possibly be that he’s gone out to bring back another little sister for us, could it?”

Her eyes flicked meaningfully toward Li Qingran.

“If he brings back one more, this little cabin really won’t have room for all of us.”

“What are you looking at?”

Li Qingran shot back without yielding an inch. “I had a childhood betrothal to that guy. If we’re being technical, you’re the ones who barged in afterward as mistresses.”

“Who are you calling a mistress? Who are you calling a mistress?”

At those words, Zhao Zhixia got upset too. She sprang from her chair and glared at Li Qingran. “I’ve been with Brother Ye longer than anyone else! Did you even know Brother Ye before I did? Huh?”

“By seniority, you should be calling me big sister!”

“Me, call you big sister?”

Li Qingran immediately exploded, pointing at Zhao Zhixia’s nose as she snapped, “What the hell are you supposed to be? Back when I visited the Ye family, you didn’t even dare make a peep!”

“What did you say?!”

Zhao Zhixia’s eyes widened as she fixed Li Qingran with a furious stare. Rolling up her sleeves, her chest heaving, she declared, “Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson and make you recognize who the true principal wife is!”

“The principal wife? Naturally, that would be this young lady!”

Lin Qingxue slapped the table and rose to her feet, sweeping her gaze across the women. “In terms of seniority, my relationship with that Heartless Man, and the help I’ve given that Heartless Man—which one of you can compare to me?”

“Who says we can’t compare?”

The moment the claim of being the principal wife was made, several of the women who had not wanted to speak up stepped forward as well.

Xia Hanmo puffed out her chest and spoke first. “If I hadn’t given that Heartless Man the poison-proof pill, he would have died in the Danguer Desert long ago!”

“When it comes to favors owed, I’m number one!”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m number one!” At that moment, Medusa slammed her hand on the table and stood up as well. “Then I have something to say too! Who was it that gave that lecherous scoundrel his first child? Who was it that painstakingly raised the child?”

“All of you, move aside!”

“Didn’t the two of us have that child together?”

Danxia, standing beside Medusa, quietly tugged at her sleeve. “Isn’t it a bit unfair for you to take all the credit yourself?”

“Shut up. We’re on the same side!”

Medusa whispered sharply, “When the time comes, you can be underneath, and I’ll be on top. That work for you?”

Danxia thought about it. Being underneath did sound less tiring.

“Fine.”

“Having a child means nothing!” Lin Qingxue lifted her chin, spittle flying as she spoke. “It’s not like I don’t have one too. My child is far more obedient than yours!”

“Um... um...”

Just then, a small hand suddenly shot up into the air.

Everyone turned to look, only to see Ye Xiaosu huddled in a corner, timidly raising her hand with a frightened smile. “Actually... I was the first one to do it with Young Master.”

“So...”

“Kid, get out of here!”

The women shouted in unison, startling Ye Xiaosu into hurriedly withdrawing her hand and curling back into the corner, where she clung to Xiao Qingli for warmth.

“I’m the principal wife!”

“No, I am!”

“I am!”

…

While the women argued heatedly, two figures were making their way, one after the other, across the snow-covered mountain on the grasslands toward a cave halfway up the slope.

Inside the cave stood an ice coffin.

“Holy Maiden?!”

Aqi, who had followed Ye Shu inside, cried out in shock when she saw the person lying within.

Ye Shu walked up to the ice coffin, glanced at Liu Ruyi in her crimson wedding dress, then turned back to Aqi. “You seem surprised.”

“I just...”

Aqi opened her mouth, unsure how to put it into words. “I just never expected that you would still preserve the Holy Maiden’s body, Master.”

“It isn’t a corpse.”

Ye Shu spoke with complete calm. “She is still alive. Her body remains dead, but her soul has not perished.”

“Ah... I see...”

Aqi stood there, stunned and unable to understand. “But Master, with your current strength, reviving the Holy Maiden should not be difficult. Why have you delayed bringing her back for so long?”

“Your subordinate can tell that you miss her deeply as well.”

“Oh? Even you can tell?”

Ye Shu burst into laughter. “Then that only proves I did the right thing.”

“This time, I have come to atone for her sins.”

“Atone?”

Aqi’s confusion deepened. “But, Master, haven’t you already revived everyone the Holy Maiden killed?”

“Why did you have to wait until now?”

Ye Shu looked at Aqi and spoke slowly. “The dead may have been revived, but if it were that simple, how could it be called atonement? Remember this, Aqi: atonement is not as simple as you punching me once, and then me punching you once in return.”

“That absolutely does not count as atonement.”

“If you kill someone today and revive them ten years later, it may appear that nothing has changed—that you have redeemed yourself. But in truth, that person’s family and friends must endure the grief of separation and bear ten years of longing and resentment.”

“Ten years is enough for seas to turn into fields and for all things to change beyond recognition.”

“If you do not experience their suffering, how can you understand their pain? And how can you speak of atonement?”

At those words, Aqi immediately understood.

“So, Master... are you doing this in order to experience the anguish of longing that those people once suffered?”

Ye Shu sighed and gently stroked the ice coffin. “It can hardly be called experiencing it. Their pain rested on the belief that the dead would never return—that was true suffering. But I have a definite time limit in mind. How could I possibly claim to feel the same pain?”

“But this is all I can do.”

With that, he tapped the ice coffin lightly with his right forefinger, a faint smile curling at his lips. “As I said before, life rarely goes exactly as one wishes. All one can do is keep a clear conscience.”

Knock!

His knuckles rapped sharply against the ice coffin.

The next moment, crisp cracking sounds rang out from the coffin. Fissures spread across its surface, swiftly covering the entire thing—then, with a loud bang, it shattered into pieces.

Liu Ruyi slowly opened her eyes within.

The first thing she saw was a handsome young man dressed in bright red wedding robes. Standing amid the shards scattered across the floor, he gazed at her with a gentle smile.

“I... you...”

Liu Ruyi was still lost in overwhelming bewilderment.

But Ye Shu had already extended a hand toward her, smiling as he said, “It’s time to come home with me.”

“My wife.”