Since morning, Li Jun has a strange urge to go to Wu Yixing's house. He hasn't seen his friend since the wedding. Marrying Mo Qian to deal with the empress? Li Jun is worried. He doesn't trust Mo Qian even if she is related to the witch. He finally gives in to the compulsion and leaves to visit his friend.
He stops the carriage in front of the gate. On the opposite side of the road, a small figure is drawing circles on the ground. A figure he would recognize anywhere. He takes long strides in her direction. She lifts her head and widens her eyes. Under the nest of tousled hair, her face is ghastly pale.
Isn't she a witch? She looks like she is on the verge of death from starvation.
She crawls backward with a haunting look in her eyes. "Why are you here?"
He squats down in front of her. She squeezes her eyes shut when he touches her cheek with his palm. Her skin is cold as ice. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing." She seems embarrassed. "I am looking for my brother, Mo Qian."
"Where have you been all this time?" His expression darkens. This witch is in trouble. Who is doing this to her?
She doesn't answer his question. "I want to see my brother."
"Come with me."
She hesitates to follow him inside. The servants stare at the young boy and General Li, but they know better than asking questions. In the main room, she sits far from Li Jun. The servants place the snacks and teas in front of them. Li Jun notices that she isn't touching the food.
"Eat." He glowers at her. "Do you intend to die of starvation?"
"I am not hungry," She sighs and tells him.
He squints at her. "Eat if you want to meet your brother."
"Xiao Wei?" Wu Yixing enters the room. He is surprised to see Li Jun's witch. "You are alive."
"Yes." She smiles at him awkwardly. "Do you know about my brother?"
"Your brother is here." He looks at his servant and gives him a nod.
"Li Jun, where did you find her?" Wu Yixing asks Li Jun.
"Outside your home." Li Jun doesn't explain more.
"I didn't know whether I should come or not." Kyuri fidgets under Li Jun's gaze. "You are a real prince."
"Xiao Wei, you are welcome to come here any time." Wu Yixing tells her with a kind voice, "You are unusually pale. Let me check."
"No... I -" Kyuri tries to protest, but Wu Yixing is fast in his actions.
Wu Yixing grasps her wrist and tries to listen to her pulse. To his surprise, he can't hear anything. It's as if a dead person is walking in the world of the living. He stares at her. She is looking at him with pursed lips.
"Your pulse is weak. Have you not been eating well?" He smiles widely and pushes the plates of snacks in front of her. "A young boy shouldn't be picky. From today, you will stay here with Mo Qian."
She relaxes her tensed shoulders. Wu Yixing can see that she has no intention of staying here.
Yoori barges into the main room. She gasps when she sees Kyuri. She didn't expect that her niece would come back for her. Seeing that Kyuri is still wearing the same clothes, she guesses that she hasn't left this era. "Xiao Wei!"
"Elder brother?" Kyuri blinks at her with surprise. "You look nice."
"Long story." Yoori notices Li Jun in the room. "Wu Yixing, I am taking my brother with me. You have a chat with your friend."
She doesn't wait for Wu Yixing to answer. She grabs Kyuri's hand and leaves the main room straight away.
"Your witch doesn't have any pulse. Her heartbeat is gone," Wu Yixing tells Li Jun calmly. "Seems like she is poisoned or dead."
Being a master of poisons, Wu Yixing knows that there are some poisons that can give this effect to a human body. Then, the girl is a witch. He is a bit clueless when it comes to witches. Since she doesn't have any bad intention and she is pretending to be human, he let her be.
Wu Yixing notices Li Jun's expression. He feels bad for the 13th princess. Li Jun is worried about a dead witch more than a living human.
Li Jun looks at the untouched snacks. "Prepare the antidote for the poison in her body."
"I need her blood for that." Wu Yixing is also interested in studying the poison in her body. "Let's see her before she leaves."
***
After hearing her story about how she ended up as Wu Yixing's wife, I am not surprised. Like I and Li Jun are connected in a strange way, Wu Yixing and my aunt are connected by fate. In the original timeline, she became Yu Chen and helped Wu Yixing before she went to defend the borders. Now, she is Feng Lingxin, his wife who will help him deal with the empress. She has an important role to play in Wu Yixing's life.
I am sure that Wu Yixing already knows that she is a woman like he knew in the original timeline. I wonder if I should tell her.
I decide not to. If I tell, things might become bad. I am not an anomaly. She isn't an anomaly yet. Let it happen the way it should be.
When she hears my story, my aunt exclaims in horror. "How could this happen?"
"I don't know either." I sigh, feeling hopeless. "Aunt, don't take the damned time crystal if you ever get one. You might turn out like me."
"You can't use any of your ability?" She asks me to reconfirm. "Second or third one?"
"None." I keep my voice neutral. She is already upset. "I don't feel hungry or sleepy. I don't feel tired. I wonder if I am already dead."
"It must be because of that purple smoke. You were doing perfectly well before you were poisoned. It happened because of Wu Yixing." She curses Wu Yixing. "We will run away from this place and find a solution to your problem. You will become normal again."
"Aunt. You and I were never normal." I don't want her to hate Wu Yixing because of me. I already approve of him as my uncle. He can protect my aunt from the timekeepers. When she was Yu Chen, I am sure that the timekeepers were also trying to get to her along with the Yu family.
"You will stay here. I will look for the way. You need the daily antidote for your poison. I also think that it's better if you don't get involved with me. It's not Wu Yixing's fault that I became like this. It's happening because I have decided to fight my fate."
She doesn't look convinced. There is a knock. The servant girl appears and informs us about Wu Yixing and Li Jun's arrival. We go out of the bedroom and find them waiting for us.
My aunt is infuriated when she sees him. I squeeze her hand and shake my head.
"Xiao Wei, I think that you are poisoned." Wu Yixing throws the bomb without any warning. "I want to study the poison in your blood. I might be able to prepare the antidote."