The night was as dark as ink.
Chu Beihe stood before the bathroom mirror.
His hair was slightly damp, and a few stray droplets fell from the strands, landing precisely on his pale, firm chest. The lines of his muscles were smooth and definedsolid without being exaggerated, with not a trace of excess weight on his frame. Only a bath towel was tied around his waist, obscuring the better part of his long legs.
He looked at his reflection, his handsome, chiseled features showing little emotion.
After a long moment, he slowly turned.
As he turned his head, a golden birthmark shaped like a dragon was faintly visible through the swirling steam, covering nearly his entire back.
The young lady of the Jiang family had mentioned that he was shrouded in Golden Light. He suspected that this so-called Golden Light was likely connected to the birthmark on his back.
His dark eyes retracted their cold glint as he walked out of the bathroom and changed into his pajamas. He pulled the collar straight until there wasn't a single wrinkle before returning to the main room.
A file lay on the desk. It contained the information he had ordered someone to investigate regarding the Peach Wood Mark in his palm. Once he knew the mark was related to the world of Xuanmen, the investigation became much simpler.
The file held a printed page from an ancient text. The accompanying illustration featured a hand-drawn mark identical to the one in his palm, followed by a brief annotation:
The Peach Wood Mark, drawn with the stamens of a thousand-year peach blossom as ink. Those who possess matching marks are the fated persons of this lifetime.
The note seemed almost like a joke, the kind of thing someone might find in a pirated book meant to deceive the gullible. Previously, Chu Beihe would have dismissed such an explanation with a laugh.
However, after unexpectedly seeing the exact same Peach Wood Mark on Jiang Xuxu's left palm tonight, he felt this might not be a joke at all.
So, that person had left the peach branch there and placed such a mark in his palm just to let him know…
That Jiang Xuxu was likely his future Mrs. Chu?
Recalling that the girl was only eighteen years old, Chu Beihe couldn't help but frown. This was truly not a funny joke.
And yet, he found himself caring. Especially since the girl clearly knew the truth but had deliberately lied to him, claiming it was some kind of Protective Mark.
She was shunning him.
At that thought, Chu Beihe felt like letting out a cold laugh. Though he had no interest in "fated persons," he… he did not like being shunned.
In an instant, he reined in his expression. Thinking of Jiang Xuxu's deadpan face while she lied to him, he expressionlessly tossed the documents into his desk drawer.
Since she didn't want to acknowledge it, he wouldn't take the initiative to acknowledge her either.
He wanted to see exactly how this "fate" would play out while both parties were in a state of mutual avoidance.
Despite his thoughts, the very next day, a certain someone appeared before his villa again, staring at him with a look of utter frustration.
"Is something wrong?" Chu Beihe asked, raising an eyebrow.
Even knowing the truth about the Peach Wood Mark, he didn't intend to treat her any differently.
Jiang Xuxu, however, was looking at himor rather, the Golden Light surrounding himwith a heavy expression.
"There is."
Yesterday, she had been forced to accept the Little Infant Spirit into her care, so today she had planned to draw several Yin-gathering Talismans to nourish it. But just as she was bracing herself to start, she felt the Spiritual Qi gathered by the Spirit-gathering Array she had spent a fortune on… vanish!
Indeed. The Qi had gathered. But then it ran away!
And it didn't just go anywhere; it headed straight toward the Golden Light boss!
Jiang Xuxu had seen it with her own eyesthe Qi she had worked so hard to accumulate was entirely sucked away by this man!
But because she had seen it happen, she also knew he hadn't done it on purpose. Whether it was the little fox, the Little Infant Spirit, or the gathered Qi, they all seemed subconsciously attracted to him. And the man himself was clearly oblivious to it.
Though Jiang Xuxu felt explaining it was a hassle, she still detailed the situation to him.
Chu Beihe raised an eyebrow again. If he hadn't known she was truly skilled in Xuanmen arts, he would have suspected the mark was just an excuse to get close to him.
"So, what do you want to discuss?"
He hadn't felt any of this "Spiritual Qi." Even if he had sucked it away, he couldn't exactly give it back.
Jiang Xuxu stared at him for a long time before asking with total sincerity, "Do you have any plans to move house?"
After all, she had never encountered such a situation before. She figured it was simply a matter of distance.
Chu Beihe: "..."
His handsome face darkened under the shroud of Golden Light. He stared at her, then dropped two cold words: "I don't."
Jiang Xuxu wasn't surprised by his answer. Even she felt that demanding someone move house because they were interfering with her talisman-drawing was a bit unreasonable.
In that case, there was only one other option.
Jiang Xuxu pulled out her phone. "Add me as a friend. I'll confirm your location before the next time I draw a talisman."
She had just moved back to the Jiang family home and couldn't leave, and Chu Beihe wasn't going to move either. The only way was to time her work around him. It would only be for a while anyway; once school started, she wouldn't have much time to see him, let alone be affected by him.
Chu Beihe watched as she earnestly pulled up her WeChat QR code. His dark eyes flickered as they rested on her face.
He wanted to tell her that he didn't usually add strangers. But then, thinking of the Peach Wood Mark in his palm, he found himself moving as if possessed. Without a word, he pulled out his phone and added her.
Jiang Xuxu didn't show the slightest bit of excitement about adding the current head of the Chu family. She finished the process politely, thanked him, and then grabbed the Little Infant Spiritwhich was once again trying to hover near himbefore walking away quickly.
Chu Beihe watched her back, then looked at the new contact on his phone. His lips thinned, and his eyes betrayed no emotion.
After adding him, Jiang Xuxu watched Chu Beihe drive away and prepared to go upstairs to continue her talismans. However, she was stopped in the living room.
"Xuxu, the City Spokesperson project needs a set of promotional photos. Do you have time recently?"
The one speaking was Jiang Yutong. Normally, this wasn't his concern, but since he was in charge of the project and happened to see her, he asked in passing.
It took Jiang Xuxu a moment to register what he was talking about. Then it clickedthis was the very slot Guan Ruirui and Bai Shuqin had kicked her out of the house for.
In truth, she had no idea how the candidate had been selected. But since Guan Ruirui wanted it, she certainly wasn't going to give it up. Since it was just an ambassador role for Haishi, Jiang Xuxu didn't mind.
She nodded. "I'm free these next few days."
Jiang Yutong smiled warmly. "I'll have my assistant notify you of the specific shooting time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Cheng, who was standing nearby, suddenly spoke up.
"If I remember correctly, the City Spokesperson is supposed to be a representative chosen from the top students of prestigious universities, right? The list submitted by the schools is basically made up of guaranteed admission students from key universities."
Jiang Cheng knew this because Lu Xuexi was one of the spokespersons. He just hadn't expected Jiang Xuxu to be one as well.
With that thought, his gaze toward Jiang Xuxu became sharp and scrutinizing. "Which university gave you a guaranteed admission slot?"
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