Li Meirong came back to the cabin alone. She had left Chou and Ben Mo inside the dimension after dropping Mo Jing over at his residence in the Herb Caretakers division.

She wasn't planning on staying at home for very long, and was glad for this moment of solitude. Providing herself with ample time to clean and freshen up before the morning classes she had intended to attend. It would be a welcome respite after her trying ordeal.

The dried blood stuck uncomfortably to her figure, her hand balled into a fist, gripping the side of the tattered robe in a poor attempt to retain a semblance of modesty. She held onto her clothes in a way that would conceal the pale skin peeking through the tears on her chest where Liang Rou Yan had shoved a blade through, as well as a hole that revealed a tad too much skin on the upper thigh.

She opened the door to her wooden house and left it hanging ajar. The sight before her eyes left her jaw hanging, much like the door. She lost her meagre grip on the robe as though she had received an electric shock.

He simply sat there on the edge of her bed, cloaked in the darkness of the room, his presence gracing the place with his absurdly good looks, lean frame and godly height. He was all poise and grace, carrying the natural air of nobility. His long, silver hair was left unbound, spilling around him in a glorious, fountain of silken strands that fell to the mattress like coiling snakes. The collar of his dark tunic was left slightly open and might have been perceived as a casual, disorderly appearance, were it not for the subtle, crafty smile playing upon his lips, hinting that everything she was seeing was a very deliberate attempt on his part to look alluring.

Though, she couldn't fathom the reason why he'd even want to.

His eyes were the same shimmering, golden orbs she had remembered, and his gaze contained a heat that caused her to go weak at the knees. It was as if no time had passed at all since their last rendezvous. As if she had seen him only yesterday, and he waited patiently for her return.

Li Meirong crossed the doorstep hesitantly. "Zhu Qingyue?" she asked. His name came out of her lips as a whisper of disbelief.

After months of disappearing, Zhu Qingyue suddenly reappeared out of the blue.

The small smile was wiped right off of Zhu Qingyue as he assessed Li Meirong from head to toe. His chiselled face immediately became grim.

"Wife," Zhu Qingyue said, rising to greet her. He crossed the room in two strides. "Who dared to hurt you?"

He sounded clearly distraught, the rumble of his deep voice filled with concern, and underneath it, barely contained rage.

Li Meirong stiffened. She had planned out the things she would say to him when he returned, one thousand or more times. But as soon as he stood in front of her, words failed her.

'I might have nearly died, but the one who hurt me more was you! You hurt me. You left me, again.' She wanted to scream, to pound her fists on his chest, but in the end, she turned her back to him and coldly replied, "It's no concern of yours."

Zhu Qingyue reached for her then, his warm palm lightly grasping her shoulder. "You must tell me what happened to you."

Li Meirong jerked away from him. "Don't you think that you should be the one giving me an explanation for your disappearance first?"

His silence was deafening.