After that day, Xi Shen never tried to approach Zoe nor Zoe took the initiative. Instead, he began to prepare for the future.
Having memories from the three-life time, Zoe made use of all information. In his list, what came first was to become immune to poison. He began prepare poison, so he can slowly build resistance by taking small amounts each day.
This time, his plan to live a long life was not merely dependent on a fate rather he was willing to fight for it.
Every night, when the side effects kick in, Zoe rolled around in pain on the bed. Sometimes, he felt like his whole body being torn apart, many times his willpower was shaken by the pain, then two faces came to his mind, Yuzhen and Yuan.
Those faces give him encouragement to keep going. At least this time, he wants to change his ending.
But sometimes a fear also crept inside his heart. Now with such an uncertain future ahead, would he still be able to be with Yuzhen?
Unlike before, when Yuzhen was an adoptive child of a noble family or his disciple, now he is a crown prince of both the Demon realm and Dragon realm. He had a family, status, power... There would be countless women fighting for him in the future.
What if he fell in love with a woman? With that handsome face of his, Zoe was sure no women could resist Yuzhen.
And what he surer was, if ever his fear came true, that be the end of Yuzhen in this life.
…
Slowly days turned into months, and months into years. Five years just passed like that.
Eventually, Chen Ling arrived.
Just like before, this time also, Chen Zeon brought his five-year-old daughter to the sect under his older brother's pressure. Knowing the secrets of past, Zoe couldn't help but feel pity for his uncle.
Because of Zoe's grandfather's schemes, Chen Zeon had been separated from the man he loved most. Later, he helped a woman who had nowhere to go, to protect her reputation, he lied to be her husband and take responsibility of Chen Ling who have no blood ties with him.
Even in Xi Shen's matter, Chen Zeon never tried to told the truth, as he was given up on explaining things to others who never listens.
"Brother Zoe—" Chen Ling's voice interrupts Zoe's thoughts.
Because of this five-year-old follower, Zoe's peaceful life became a mess. To get some peace, he even sacrificed his comfy bed and choose a tree branch to rest.
"Brother Zoe—" she called again while searching around. Seeing the sad look on her over not seeing Zoe after searching for hours, his heart softens.
"Hey, you dummy!" Zoe called out.
She looked around in confusion.
"Up here. Look up."
"Brother! What are you doing up there?" she asked in surprise. "How did you climb so high?" Then she puffed out her chest proudly. "I'm good at climbing too! Wait there!"
Before Zoe could stop her, she had already started climbing the tree.
"Wait! Stay there—I'll come down!" Being worried over seeing the fragile body climbing such big tree, Zoe spoke.
"Don't worry, Brother," she said confidently. "I'm really good at climbing trees!"
Unfortunately, just as Zoe feared… After climbing a little higher, her foot slipped. She fell.
Zoe panicked, but what happened next shocked him even more. She stopped in mid-air. It was as if an invisible hand had caught her. At that moment, Zoe felt a strange sensation as his energy was being drawn out.
'This… was the power Xuan Yu possess. The ability to control things with his will. But how was I using that power now?' Zoe got confused.
Before he could think further, the connection break and Chen Ling dropped to the ground. Fortunately, she only suffered a few scratches.
Zoe quickly jumped down from the tree and carried her to the physician. Hearing the reason behind the injuries, the physician scolds them for being reckless. They quietly left the room, but the second they stepped out, burst into laughter while looking at each other.
Later that night.
Zoe sat on the bed, tried to test his power again. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing happened.
'How does it even work?' Confused, Zoe mutters.
"Senior…" A voice came from the window. When Zoe turned around, he saw Rui awkwardly climbing through it. "Help…"
Zoe walked over and pulled him inside.
This kind of night visit had become part of Rui's routine. Because of this, most of the time, Zoe simply left the window unlocked.
"What's that smell?" Zoe asked as a delicious aroma reached his nose.
"Tada!" Rui proudly took out a small packet from his pocket and opened it.
"Fried pork!"
"It was today's special at home," he said proudly. "I saved some for you." Zoe grabbed the packet and immediately started eating. It tasted amazing.
"Is something bothering you?" Rui asked suddenly.
"How did you know?"
"You always frown when you're thinking about something troublesome," Rui replied casually. "If it's something that can be solved by sharing, I'm all ears."
Zoe thought for a moment. "If you insist… throw these daggers at me." Then handed him three small daggers.
"Why?" Rui asked suspiciously.
"Just throw them."
"Should I throw them all at once or one by one?"
"One by one." Zoe wants to check his suspicions were true or not.
"Fine," Rui said. "Ready."
Rui threw the first dagger. However, out of instinct, Zoe caught it with his hand.
"This time, throw it without warning," Zoe said.
But the second dagger flew past Zoe—almost ten inches away. "Where are you aiming?" He scolds Rui.
As Zoe turns to pick the dagger up from the floor, Rui threw the third dagger without giving any warnings.
Seeing that Zoe hadn't noticed, Rui quickly shouted Zoe's name. He turned around and this time…
It worked.
The dagger suddenly stopped… hanging in the air as if time itself had frozen.
"Is there a ghost in this room?" Rui asked nervously, slowly walking closer. He even waved his hand between Zoe and the floating dagger.
Zoe calmly grabbed the dagger from the air. A victorious smile slowly spread across his face.
"Senior... Blood…"
"Huh?" Only then Zoe realize that blood was dripping from his nose. This human body wasn't ready to handle such a powerful ability.
"Rui… whatever happened here… keep it to yourself," Collapsing into Rui's shoulders, Zoe spoke.
"Senior!" His panicked voice echoed in Zoe's ears. He wanted to tell him not to worry. But his body had no strength left to respond.
Soon… His consciousness completely faded away.