Yang Guo travels back in time to become Duan Yu, a different kind of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

Chapter 73 Fate Plays Tricks

Before long, two eunuchs led the way, passing through layers of palace walls in the inner palace, around the waterside pavilions of the Imperial Garden, and finally arriving at the gate of Yaohua Biedian.

The eunuch stood outside the hall with his head bowed: "Your Highness, please enter. We await your orders here."

Yang Guo slowly stepped into the hall.

Zhao Shuhuai had her back to him. Hearing footsteps approaching, she didn't turn around, her voice as calm as water: "Why has Your Highness entered my Yaohua Palace today?"

Yang Guo stopped in his tracks, suppressing the turbulent thoughts churning within him, and slowly spoke: "Your subject has come today only to seek confirmation of one matter."

Zhao Shuhuai's body stiffened slightly, and her shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly. She slowly turned around and said softly, "Please ask, Your Highness."

Yang Guo asked in a low voice, "Where did the princess learn the Jade Maiden Sword Technique that she practiced that night?"

A hint of surprise flashed across Zhao Shuhuai's eyes. She slowly lowered her guard and looked calmly at Yang Guo, slowly revealing the secret buried deep in her heart: "When I was twelve, I was seriously ill and on the verge of death. I was unconscious and lay in a daze for a long time. It wasn't until half a year ago that I regained consciousness, but I had no memory of anything that happened in the past thirteen years. My memory only goes back to before my serious illness at the age of twelve."

"As for the Jade Maiden Sword Technique you mentioned, it was a sword manual that I found by chance in a dark drawer of the dressing table by my bed after I woke up. Out of curiosity, I started to practice it. Strangely enough, I had never been exposed to any martial arts before, but this sword technique seemed to be already very familiar to me. I didn't need to struggle to figure it out, and I quickly found the knack for wielding the sword."

Yang Guo was taken aback at first, then his heart skipped a beat, and his expression became solemn: "Princess, may I have the honor of taking a look?"

His request was truly abrupt. The strict separation between men and women was evident, especially since the other party was the eldest princess of the imperial family. Such an action had already exceeded the usual boundaries between ruler and subject.

"it is good."

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shuhuai was not at all hesitant. With a frank expression, she slowly raised her right hand, her snow-white wide sleeve sliding down her forearm slightly, and presented her fair and jade-like wrist to Yang Guo.

Yang Guo's gaze fell on her hands.

Her snow-white sleeves cascaded down, revealing half of her jade-like wrist. Her ten fingers were slender and beautiful, her skin smooth and translucent, the result of over twenty years of life in the luxurious palace. Only on her fingertips were a few very faint calluses, so thin they were almost invisible.

It must have been from frequent sword practice, but lately I've rarely held a sword, and as the years have passed, the calluses have gradually faded.

"Princess, please forgive me."

Yang Guo bowed slightly, gathering all his strength, and extended his right hand, gently placing the tips of his middle and index fingers on Zhao Shuhuai's right wrist, which was exposed outside her wide sleeve. The two fingers touched her wrist with extremely light force, almost just lightly brushing against her skin, without any intention of being frivolous or offensive.

Yang Guo focused his mind and channeled his inner energy, probing into the other's meridians through his fingertips. Ordinary palace nobles had never practiced martial arts, so their meridians were soft and relaxed, and their blood and qi flowed slowly along the veins of an ordinary person's body, just like the emperor before he had practiced Quanzhen internal energy.

But the pulse under his wrist was completely different. A clear, cold, dense and long internal energy was hidden deep in his meridians. Its flow path was in line with the breathing method of the Ancient Tomb Sect's internal energy. It traveled through the twelve meridians, calm and not agitated, gentle and restrained. It was indeed the foundation of the Ancient Tomb Sect's internal energy.

After a moment, Yang Guo slowly withdrew his two fingers, took a half step back, and, adhering to his duty as a subject, no longer touched her skin.

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear: "I have figured it out. The internal energy in your body is indeed the internal energy of the Ancient Tomb Sect. I see that you have mastered the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, the highest mental technique of the Ancient Tomb Sect. This skill requires two people to practice together. The Wang woman I met earlier who knows the martial arts of the Ancient Tomb Sect is probably the one who practiced the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra with you."

"Ms. Wang, are you referring to Jinshu? No wonder you were able to find your way here; it seems you've already met her." Zhao Shuhuai's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Yang Guo cupped his hands and said, "I met a woman in Xinyang who possessed the skills of the Ancient Tomb Sect. She should be the Jinshu that the princess mentioned."

Zhao Shuhuai nodded slightly, a hint of tenderness appearing in her eyes: "Jinshu was assigned to serve me by my mother when I was ten years old. She is five years older than me, and although she is a servant, she treats me like a sister. Half a year ago, I woke up with such a strange secret. I was afraid that if this matter were to be exposed, it would endanger her life, so I asked the Emperor for a decree to allow her to leave the palace and return to her hometown."

She paused slightly, then looked up at Yang Guo, her tone filled with a mixture of confusion and longing: "Young Master Duan, in your opinion, is it really possible for a soul to leave its original body and enter into the body of another stranger?"

""

Yang Guo's breath hitched suddenly, his mind racing, as if he had finally made a major decision.

There are ears on the walls here, and some things must never be revealed. He used his superior internal energy to transmit his voice secretly, sending his voice only to Zhao Shuhuai's ears, and slowly recounted how his soul came to this world and became Duan Yu of Dali.

Zhao Shuhuai listened quietly, her expression changing repeatedly, her heart deeply shaken. She had always thought that she was the only one in the world to have encountered such a bizarre and strange changes, but she never imagined that the prince of Dali before her would also have such an extraordinary background.

After Yang Guo finished speaking, she spoke softly, so that only the two of them could hear: "When we first met, you seemed to call yourself Yang Guo," so that must have been your original name.

Yang Guo nodded slowly, a sense of loss creeping into his heart. He had traveled thousands of miles, following clues all the way to Bianliang, hoping to finally reunite with Xiaolongnü, but in the end it was all for naught. The real Long'er had already left this world.

Where did Long'er go? Did she go to another world, or did she return to her original world?

Does this mean that I too will have to leave this place one day?

Pulling himself back to reality, Yang Guo bowed respectfully, his voice filled with deep regret: "Thank you for your frankness today, Princess. It's just a pity that we were ultimately unable to find any trace of Long'er."

As the appointed time for their meeting drew near, Yang Guo was about to rise and take his leave when the Princess called out to him, "Wait a moment!"

She turned and went into the inner room, then came out a moment later, holding a thin book with a silk cover. She presented it to me with both hands: "This should be a note left here by a wisp of Xiaolongnu's soul. I originally intended to keep it as a memento, but since you've come today, I should return it to you. The last few words on the last page were probably left for you on purpose."

Yang Guo reached out and took the booklet, flipping through it. The first few pages were filled with the sword techniques and internal energy cultivation manuals of the Ancient Tomb Sect, the handwriting elegant and refined, exactly the style he had been pondering day and night. Turning to the last page, a few lines of small characters leaped onto the paper: Time and space shift, the martial world is vast, encounters are predestined, and cannot be forced.

The moment Yang Guo saw these words, his eyes welled up with tears, which he finally couldn't hold back and let fall. It turned out that Long'er had truly been here, waiting for him for thirteen years, but fate had played a cruel trick on them, and the two of them had passed each other by.

Just then, a eunuch's soft voice came from outside the hall: "Young Master Duan, the half-quarter-hour time limit has been reached. Please move out of the palace."

The palace rules were strict, and no transgression or delay was permitted.

Zhao Shuhuai spoke slowly, her voice tinged with a faint sigh: "Young Master Duan, my relationship with that Miss Long was quite a strange one. If you happen to encounter any clues related to her during your future search, please let me know."

"I, Yang, thank the Princess for her kind words."

This time, he referred to himself as "Yang," no longer using the title of "outer minister," indicating that he had already set aside his identity as a subject of a vassal king and regarded Zhao Shuhuai as a confidant with whom he could confide. After speaking, he concealed all the deep affection and melancholy in his eyes, and once again transformed into the composed and respectful prince of Dali, turning around and slowly stepping out of Yaohua Villa.

The palace doors slowly closed behind her. Only Zhao Shuhuai remained in the hall. She let her right hand hang down, gazing at the back of her slender, snow-white hand. The faint warmth from when her fingers had touched remained on her fingertips, and her mind was in a daze.

She murmured softly to herself, her voice as light as a sigh: "Little Dragon Girl—Yang Guo—So it turns out that in this world, there really are such encounters and partings that transcend mountains and seas, and are unwavering even in the face of death."