Chapter 25

Chapter 25: She Was Beside Me All Along

Li Zhou Quan tilted his head and flicked a glance at his subordinate, the yamen runner.

The runner caught the meaning at once. He turned and hurried into the room next door.

A moment later, Li Zhou Quan heard a sudden, strangled scream from over there—“Ah—!”

“What is it?” Li Zhou Quan barked.

The yamen runner came rushing back, face drained, eyes blown wide.

He pointed at Xie Yu Chuan, tried to speak, couldn’t. Then his gaze jumped to the altar table with its offerings. His scalp went numb. He dropped to his knees with a heavy thud and slammed three solid kowtows in a row.

Li Zhou Quan hadn’t even gotten an answer yet when he saw his subordinate knocking his head like a man possessed. He snapped, lifted a foot, and gave him a sharp kick. “I asked you a question. What the hell is wrong with you?”

The runner jolted as if waking up. Realizing he’d offended his superior, he turned and knocked his head to Li Zhou Quan—thud, thud, thud.

Only then did Li Zhou Quan’s expression ease by a hair. “Speak.”

“That room!” the yamen runner blurted, gesturing wildly like his hands didn’t belong to him. “Those huge wounds—someone already bandaged them all up! And he’s still alive!”

Li Zhou Quan’s face changed. He glanced at Xie Yu Chuan, then strode into the next room.

Sure enough, Xu Su lay on the bed with his wounds fully wrapped. Even the blood on his body had been cleaned away. He looked like a man sleeping peacefully.

It was nothing like the state he’d been in half an hour ago.

Li Zhou Quan stepped closer and examined the bandages. White. Clean. Tough, with a springy strength. What cloth was this?

He’d never seen anything like it.

The largest wound had been pulled together with butterfly strips, the torn flesh neatly joined. It wasn’t as good as stitches, but it was far better than leaving the gash open to the air.

Color was returning to Xu Su’s face, slowly but unmistakably.

Li Zhou Quan’s heart lurched and pounded like a drum gone wild.

He turned on his heel and walked back fast, returning to the altar table. He looked left, right, up, down—like a man searching for a trapdoor in the floor.

The space in front of him was obviously empty, yet he suddenly realized something: Xie Yu Chuan, standing there, looked… oddly irresistible to befriend.

Then the rush cooled, and Li Zhou Quan forced himself to breathe. Caution returned.

No one had been in that room. Who knew what had truly happened?

This group had just arrived on Song Jiang soil and trouble already exploded. Li Zhou Quan decided it was safer to be careful.

But he was also burning with curiosity. He needed the most accurate answer—and only Xie Yu Chuan could give it.

Had the Deity come?

Tu Hua watched Li Zhou Quan’s face twist through half a dozen emotions. In the end, he forced on the smooth official mask—calm, polite, nothing showing.

Everyone in the room could read his thoughts.

Whether the Deity had come or not, no one would know better than Xie Yu Chuan.

Even Xiong Jiu Shan, who normally couldn’t care less about matters like this, found himself staring at Xie Yu Chuan, waiting.

Xie Yu Chuan drew a quiet breath through his nose. The scent of incense was still there.

That meant the Household God was still in the room—maybe even close.

Something shifted in his chest. He lifted his gaze toward where the scent seemed strongest, and his eyes landed right where Tu Hua stood.

Tu Hua jolted. “He can see me?!”

The System replied at once, as calm as ever. “He shouldn’t be able to. You can’t manifest a physical body here yet.”

Tu Hua stared at Xie Yu Chuan. Sure enough, he was looking her way, but his gaze didn’t lock. He wasn’t focusing on anything. It was like he was staring through fog.

“Maybe it’s instinct,” she muttered.

She thought it through and sent him a message: “Xu Su’s wounds are treated. I gave him fever reducer and anti-inflammatory meds to prevent infection. You should know fever medicine. Watch him tonight. If he stabilizes by tomorrow, he still has a chance.”

A familiar voice sounded by Xie Yu Chuan’s ear, clear as if she were standing beside him.

He listened to the Household God’s instructions from start to finish. The stone pressing on his chest finally shifted and slid away.

He answered silently in his mind, “Household God, you’ve worked hard. Yu Heng has no way to repay you.”

Tu Hua’s soft laughter brushed his ear. “Didn’t you set out offerings for me?”

The last thin ribbon of incense smoke curled upward. Tu Hua realized she was thirsty. She’d already used up the bottled water in her backpack, and having the System move water from her house would cost points.

Her eyes drifted to the bowl of clear water on the table.

She asked Xie Yu Chuan, “Did you pour that?”

He gave a slight nod.

“Then I’ll drink some.”

She asked the System, “Can I drink water from this side?”

“Yes,” the System said. “As long as it’s something Xie Yu Chuan offers to you.”

Tu Hua lifted the bowl and drank it dry.

To everyone watching, the bowl didn’t move. It sat steady on the table.

But the water inside it was suddenly gone.

For one heartbeat, the room froze.

Then everyone’s hair stood on end.

People who’d been breathing quietly stopped breathing altogether. Even swallowing sounded too loud.

Li Zhou Quan stared so hard his eyes barely blinked, his heart thundering up into his throat. He wasn’t imagining it, was he?

In the blink of an eye, the full bowl had become empty.

Xie Yu Chuan’s eyes darkened. Even he had been shaken in that instant.

He’d been told in advance that the Household God wanted the water, but hearing it and seeing it—those were not the same thing.

He lowered his gaze, steadied his mind, and absorbed the truth with a slow inhale.

So the Deity of the Xie family could truly walk through the mortal world.

Near enough to touch… yet far as the sky.

Xie Yu Chuan grew even quieter. Tu Hua glanced at him, trying to read his expression and failing.

She’d quenched her thirst, and honestly, she wanted to taste the fruits too. She was curious whether ancient produce was better than modern.

But then she saw County Magistrate Li Zhou Quan’s eyes—bright as flames—and Xiong Jiu Shan’s narrowed stare.

Better not push it.

A bowl of water vanishing could be believed or dismissed.

If they wanted to believe, then the Deity had been summoned by Xie Yu Chuan.

If they didn’t, then maybe Xie Yu Chuan had done a trick.

Either way, it gave him room to maneuver. A step forward, a step back—options.

Tu Hua had come late. She’d arrived and immediately started saving Xu Su. She hadn’t had time to learn what happened while she’d been away in the modern world. But she had a strong suspicion it was tied to “the Xie family Deity.”

Which meant it was tied to her.

She didn’t touch anything else—but she was fascinated by the small gold seal on the altar.

She messaged Xie Yu Chuan: “This seal… is it for me?”

Xie Yu Chuan came back to himself. The corner of his mouth lifted, just slightly, like he couldn’t help it.

He replied, “Yu Heng owns nothing of value. I only have this gold seal on my person. If the Household God doesn’t like it, I’ll offer something else another day.”

It had been an impulse, placing it there. And for a moment, he’d even wondered if gold and silver were too vulgar to catch an immortal’s eye.

He didn’t explain that part.

Tu Hua wanted to see it up close. She hesitated, then asked, “If I take it, will it affect you?”

Xie Yu Chuan didn’t understand at first.

Tu Hua added, “The Deity’s tablet is already destroyed. If that seal disappears too, is that… safe? Won’t it draw attention?”

Warmth settled in Xie Yu Chuan’s chest. Even now, she was thinking several steps ahead for him.

Gratitude rose—quiet, sharp, undeniable.

On his proud, cold-boned face, a trace of gentleness appeared.

Li Zhou Quan, watching from the side, saw Xie Yu Chuan go from deep focus to a sudden, bright smile. His own heart jolted. No wonder people feared the Xie family. Watching a man turn like that—silent one moment, smiling the next—was unsettling when you didn’t know why.

Xie Yu Chuan’s gaze sharpened, but his tone stayed light as he answered her.

“Sometimes what’s true and what’s false—what’s solid and what’s smoke—can all be a way out. Household God, don’t worry. Take it.”

Under everyone’s eyes, the gold seal vanished from the altar—lifted by an unseen hand.

Li Zhou Quan sucked in a sharp breath, loud in the sudden silence.