The four locked eyes, their tempers flaring—tension between the two factions was about to explode into a full-blown battle.
"Old Six, watch out for that she-male's poison," Butterfly Rogue whispered a warning. Sure, his own lightness skill was top-notch, but their opponents were a martial arts master and a poison expert—he and Ethan didn’t exactly have the odds in their favor.
"Poison? We'll see if his toxins are faster than my sword." With that, Ethan drew his blade from his waist, his sharp gaze fixed on Lucian, clearly unimpressed by Lucian’s poison arts.
Seeing this, Butterfly Rogue quickly patted Ethan’s shoulder and nodded, "Good bro, that she-male is all yours!"
Hearing this, Adrian Night curled his lip in disdain and shot Butterfly Rogue a scornful look. "So you think I’m easy to deal with, huh?"
"Adrian Night, you're famous as an executioner, but no matter how strong your martial arts are, your lightness skill is still your weak spot." Butterfly Rogue grinned slyly, looking like he was up to no good.
Adrian frowned slightly. "So you’re saying you’re going to wear me out by running circles with your lightness skill?"
"Exactly, you got it!" Butterfly Rogue declared without a shred of shame. "So what if your martial arts are amazing? My lightness skill is number one! I might suck at fighting, but I’m a pro at running away. I refuse to believe I can’t dodge you—chase me all you want, but I bet you’ll run out of steam first!"
"Scoundrel!" Lucian Vane couldn’t help but sneer from the sidelines.
"If he’s a scoundrel, then you’re shameless!" Ethan Chu immediately jumped in to back up Butterfly Rogue.
"What do you mean by that?" Lucian Vane glared at Ethan Chu, demanding an explanation.
"Sure, his move is kind of shady, but you guys aren’t saints either. He relies on lightness skill, you use poison—aren’t you all just as bad as each other?"
"Old Six, you’re awesome! That’s exactly what I wanted to say!" Butterfly Rogue exclaimed gratefully—Ethan really was his lucky star today!
"Lucian, quit wasting time arguing with them. Just teach them a lesson already," Adrian Night cut in, too lazy to keep bickering with the two junior husbands.
Meanwhile, standing off to the side, Ivy Shen felt a headache coming on. Ugh, what now? Shen Bingxin, what am I supposed to do in this mess? If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
‘Be yourself.’ The sudden thought made Ivy Shen shiver. She tried to listen closely—was the old Shen Bingxin still lurking inside? But after a while, she heard nothing more. Still, she was sure she’d just heard those words: Be yourself!
Was that her own thought? Be yourself... be yourself...
Yeah, Shen Bingxin probably attracted all these guys because she was so blunt and ruthless. If she went back to being herself... they’d be shocked and probably just give up, right?
She took a deep breath and thought about it. How long had it been since she remembered who she really was? Ever since she inherited Shen Bingxin’s memories, life had felt exhausting. Her old self was fading, almost to the point where she forgot she’d transmigrated here from another world.
Living like this, she felt crushed by pressure every single day—revenge, plotting, war... none of it needed to be so heavy. Someone once said, ‘A happy day is a day, and a sad day is also a day. So why not choose happiness?!’
So, if that's the case, then a happy revenge day is just as much a day as a miserable revenge day—why choose the gloomy route? The days after revenge are probably the sweetest, but if she died before finishing her revenge, wouldn’t that be a total loss? After living so long as the cold, ruthless Bingxin, she was exhausted. Better to go back to being her cheerful self and live a little more freely—even if she failed, at least she’d be happy!
With that thought, everything suddenly became clear. The weight on her heart was really just herself—she’d been holding herself to impossible standards, afraid of not living up to the old Bingxin. But she was Ivy Shen from the 21st century, not some ancient martyr. She could choose her own life and fate, and she could change them, too!
Because she wasn’t anyone else—she was Ivy Shen from the 21st century. The silly, happy, death-fearing Ivy Shen!
"Come on, show me your best moves!" Adrian Night challenged the other two, ready for a showdown.
"Who’s afraid of who?" Ethan Chu shot back, not backing down at all.
Just as the fight was about to break out, Ivy Shen suddenly smiled—she knew exactly what to do now. She’d be herself, and the only way to make them stop fighting was... to forget.
With that, she lightly leaped to a spot a bit farther away, then struck her own chest with her right palm. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but of course she hadn’t really hurt herself—she wasn’t stupid enough to go all out for real.
"Ah—!" Her sharp scream made the four men, who were already stepping forward to fight, freeze in their tracks. The next moment, they all rushed toward her at top speed.
"Xin’er—!" For the first time, all four men shouted her name in perfect unison.
"Xin’er, Xin’er, what happened to you?" Adrian Night was the first to reach her, quickly supporting the fainted Ivy Shen and calling out anxiously.
"Xin’er, Xin’er, you’re bleeding! What happened? Which bastard hurt you?" Butterfly Rogue shouted, panic written all over his face.
"Move aside, let me check." Lucian Vane quickly reached out to take her pulse, his frown deepening by the second.
Seeing this, Ethan Chu barked, "Are you even competent? If not, I’ll do it!" With that, he grabbed her other wrist and started checking her pulse himself.
"Old Six, do you even know medicine? How’s Xin’er doing?" Butterfly Rogue chattered anxiously, his face full of worry.
"What’s going on?" Lucian Vane and Ethan Chu exchanged glances, blurting out the question in unison.
"What’s wrong, you guys?" Adrian Night didn’t bother arguing anymore—he was way too worried about Ivy Shen and immediately pressed for answers.
"Xin’er’s suffered a major trauma—her qi is all messed up. She must’ve just run into a top expert," Lucian Vane said anxiously, then called softly, "Xin’er, Xin’er, wake up!"
(This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading!)
"I’ve never seen an injury like this—it’s seriously weird," Ethan Chu admitted, baffled about what to do next.
"So what do we do now?" Butterfly Rogue asked urgently. Why were these two so clueless? What was he supposed to do about Xin’er?!
"Let’s channel some internal energy into her first. What happens next depends on how she responds," Lucian Vane said quickly.
Everyone immediately lined up, ready to send their true qi into her.
Just as they were all set to pour in their qi, Ivy Shen suddenly frowned and let out a soft groan.
"Xin’er—!" Instantly, the group crowded around, calling out her name.
Feigning a troubled look, Ivy slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was unusually blank, which made them all even more worried.
"Xin’er, how are you feeling? Where does it hurt? Tell me!" Lucian Vane asked, clearly nervous. He’d never seen this kind of injury before, but he was determined to help however he could.
"Yeah, if you feel anything weird, just say it—I’ll help you!" Ethan Chu chimed in, having picked up some medical skills from Physician Cheng over the years.
"Xin’er..." Adrian Night supported her, his voice soft and full of worry.
"Uh?"
"Tell me, did anything just happen? Are you okay now?"
"Uh? I don’t know!"
"Did someone ambush you? How did you end up here with such serious injuries? Was it Poison Queen Yin?" They really couldn’t think of anyone else capable of hurting her.
At that, Ivy Shen pouted and said innocently, "Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t see anything. Brothers, what’s wrong? What happened?"
"Brothers?!" All four men exclaimed in shock at the same time.
"Xin’er, what’s wrong? Who are you calling brother?" Adrian Night asked anxiously, while the other three looked just as worried.
"Big Brother, what’s wrong? Of course I’m calling you guys that. Ugh, why does my head hurt so much?" she said, pretending to rub her forehead, looking as innocent and naive as possible.
"Xin’er, are you saying we’re all your brothers?" Lucian Vane asked in disbelief.
"Second Brother, what are you talking about? Of course you’re all my brothers. Huh? Why are we here?" She tried to stand, but her body was still weak. Adrian Night quickly helped her up.
"Xin’er, we’re not your brothers—we’re your husbands! I’m your dashing husband!" Butterfly Rogue blurted out. Adrian Night didn’t even bother to argue; the most important thing now was making sure she knew he wasn’t her brother, but her husband!
"What’s wrong with you guys? Are you all sick or something?"
"Xin’er, look at me," Adrian Night said, making Ivy Shen face him before asking, "Tell us, do you still recognize us? What are our names?"
"Of course I do, you’re my real brothers! You’re Big Brother Shen Qingcheng," she said, then turned her head, "You’re Second Brother, Shen Yaomei; you’re Fifth Brother, Shen Hudie; and you’re Sixth Brother, Shen Meng." Suddenly, she tilted her head in confusion and looked at Adrian Night. "Where are Third Brother Shen Moxuan and Fourth Brother Shen Qingyan? Why aren’t they here?"
Hearing this, the four men were completely dumbfounded. What was wrong with Xin’er? Had she lost her mind?!
*****
PS: Only one update today, sorry! I’ll make it up to everyone next time. Tomorrow’s update will be late too—I have to go back and take my baby to the hospital. My grandma—my baby fell off the bed and broke her arm, I’m so upset, crying my eyes out. I’m really sorry for these few days!