Star Eyes Beyond the Shores of Time - Chapter 10

No way out? The window…

Pain burned at the bite mark on Tong Youxun’s hand. She had only come to work, and now she was trapped with a lunatic—had she just walked into a tiger’s den?

Suddenly, Zuo Shihan pinched something in the air—a spark flared between his fingers.
“How about we burn together?” he said, his voice twisting into a laugh. “Just like back then… hahaha…”

Her heart pounded wildly. Back then? she echoed nervously, “There was a fire here before?”

“…I often hear screams in my dreams… so hot… save me… hahahahaha… Shiyun, brother brought you a cute little girl… to keep you company… hahaha!”

His laughter was sharp and crazed. The flame slipped from his fingers, landing on the thick carpet beneath his wheelchair. In an instant, fire began to spread.

He was insane—completely, irredeemably mad.
He wanted to bury her with his dead brother. The thought made her skin crawl.

Tong Youxun considered stamping out the flame—it was still small—but then she noticed the wheelchair. It had been crudely modified. Beneath each armrest gleamed the edge of two hidden blades.

So his illness hadn’t robbed him of all mobility after all.
She froze. “Zuo Shiyun… was it you who pushed him into the water?”

“Hahahaha—yes, it was me!” he laughed manically, his face contorting with exhilaration, as if murder gave him pleasure. “And I still want to kill you… and also…”

“Also who?”

“My mother… that hypocritical woman…”

It was worse than she thought—matricidal madness. Or maybe, Zuo Xiaotao had raised a monster all along.

The bl00d on Tong Youxun’s hand only seemed to drive him deeper into his frenzy.

There was no saving a man like this. He was already a waste of flesh. Tong Youxun withdrew the leg she had poised to stomp out the fire, turned sharply, and climbed onto the windowsill. Thank goodness this was only the second floor—still survivable.

“Don’t jump! I’d rather kill you myself—if you fall, that pretty face will be ruined,” Zuo Shihan hissed, regret flashing across his eyes. If not for his crippled legs, he would’ve already buried that knife into the little beauty’s chest and twisted—slowly.

The smell of bl00d thrilled him.

Just as Tong Youxun was about to leap, a gust of wind swept over her head, and something tightened around her waist. Before she could even gasp, they had already landed safely on the ground.

She looked up. The third-floor window curtains flapped wildly in the wind. Impossible.
Her rescuer had jumped down from there.

“You—you’re human? You jumped from that high and still caught me?” she stammered, in awe.

Standing beneath the tall parasol tree, Guan Nuoyin was dressed in all black. His silhouette merged with the dancing shadows—mysterious, calm, and untouchable.

“Human?” he repeated. “Humans are pathetically weak.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am human,” he said quietly, “but people like me… aren’t supposed to exist.”

She understood the hint—he wished to stay hidden—so she didn’t press further.

The wind howled. Flames leapt from Zuo Shihan’s room, the situation worsening fast. People from the Tuo household finally noticed. Someone called 119, someone fetched water, someone kicked at the burning door.

Zuo Shihan was rescued in time, his face blackened with soot.

Tong Youxun said nothing.

Leaning lazily against the tree, Guan Nuoyin asked, “Why didn’t you let me save him?”

“You’re not a savior. You’d get tired,” Tong Youxun smiled faintly. “Besides, I don’t want to be a self-righteous saint anymore.”

Guan Nuoyin tossed something to her. “Gu Xihen told me to give you this.”

Then he turned and walked away from the mansion.

She fumbled the catch and had to bend down awkwardly to pick it up.

The fire was quickly put out—luckily, it hadn’t spread. Still, Tuo Wuyang was furious and summoned everyone to the hall.

“What’s going on today? Trouble after trouble! Can’t anyone bring me peace of mind?”

Zuo Xiaotao blinked her cross-eyed gaze pitifully. “No one would set fire to themselves! Shihan can barely move—it must be that girl! Just like last time, when she pushed Shiyun into the pool—”

“You must be Mrs. Tuo?” Tong Youxun interrupted evenly. “Mr. Tuo’s a respected man; you should at least act like the woman behind him. Making baseless accusations without evidence—some ‘virtuous wife’ you are.”

Zuo Xiaotao gaped. “Who said you could talk—”

“Enough!” Tuo Wuyang snapped. “I’ve already called the police. We’ll wait for the investigation before we judge.”

Tong Youxun’s calm expression only made Zuo Xiaotao angrier. She spat venom, “You wretched girl! What are you so smug about? Ever since you came, it’s been disaster after disaster!”

“I still have your son’s bite marks,” Tong Youxun replied coldly, raising her injured hand. “You can have them examined. He tried to kill me.”

The sight of the dried bl00d shut Zuo Xiaotao up—she knew her son’s temper well.

“I’m firing you! Get out of my house!”

“Your son’s insane, and you dare blame me?” Tong Youxun’s tone was sharp now. “If I leave, I’ll look guilty—and by the way, you signed a labor contract yourself. You’re Party A, I’m Party B. If you terminate me without cause, you owe me one hundred times my salary in breach penalties.”

She pulled out the document Guan Nuoyin had handed her earlier—the contract from Gu Xihen’s errand service.

Gu Xihen… what kind of person are you? she wondered. What leverage did you have over her to make her sign something so absurd?

She had considered quitting, but something about this place held her back—the familiar layout, the dolphin statue in the hall, the strange glances from Mr. Tuo, the fire from long ago mentioned by Zuo Shihan…

Everything in this villa whispered to her.

Who am I? Where did I come from? My family… where are they?

The answers felt just out of reach.

Tuo Wuyang, as the head of the house, finally said, “Zuo Xiaotao, you’ve gone through so many maids, one after another. This girl’s done nothing wrong—stop making trouble.”

Zuo Xiaotao pouted, her voice turning sickly sweet. “Tuo-gege, you’ve changed… You used to do everything for me. That girl’s bewitched you—just because she looks like her, right?”

Like her? Tong Youxun blinked. Who?

Zuo Xiaotao’s voice quivered. “You used to call me your little girl… if I wanted sweet-and-sour ribs, you’d never make braised ones. If I said east, you’d never go west. But now—what happened to you?”

What happened indeed? Tuo Wuyang didn’t know himself. He should have been patient with his pregnant wife, yet the first time he saw Tong Youxun, his heart had lurched. She looked exactly like his daughter—his daughter who had died ten years ago, only older.

People always cherish what they’ve lost.

“Enough. Let her go get a tetanus shot. I’ll cover her medical and work expenses. Sister Yu, take over her duties for the day.”

A blessing in disguise—early dismissal. Tong Youxun blew on her wounded hand, wincing.

“I saw a clinic around here the other day…” she muttered. “Where was it again? Ugh, my sense of direction…”

“Get on.”

“Huh?” she blinked. Before her stood a man dressed head-to-toe in black, face half-hidden under a mask.

“I’m Guan Nuoyin,” he said, straddling a black heavy motorcycle—sleek, powerful, and striking.

So much for keeping a low profile.

“You didn’t go back?”

“Was waiting for you.”

“Where are we going?”

“Idiot. To the hospital.”

“If I don’t get the shot, will I get rabies?”

“You were bitten by a man, not a dog.”

“Will it be expensive? Big hospitals always are.”

“Someone will reimburse it.”

“But… you’re broke too, aren’t you? This bike looks pricey.”

“Gifted.”

“How long have you been waiting?”

“If his teeth were venomous, you’d die of talking too much.”

“…Fine. I’m getting on.”

She climbed on carefully. Guan Nuoyin’s coldness she could handle—but kindness without reason made her uneasy.

Sitting stiffly behind him, she murmured, “Thanks for answering all my questions.”

He was always so quiet, so unreadable.

“Hold on,” he said.

She hesitated—then the bike roared to life. The sudden burst of speed nearly threw her off, and she instinctively grabbed the edge of his jacket.

After a long round of medical checks, Guan Nuoyin began leading her through the lively streets of the small town. Everywhere, the aroma of food drifted.

“Spicy hotpot, fish noodles, snail rice, fried rice stalls, Peking duck… I’ve never tried any of these,” she said, eyes wide with childish excitement.

“I’ll take you,” Guan Nuoyin said, parking the bike.

“No, no…” She tugged his sleeve shyly.

“Don’t act so stingy. Get down.”

“You work so hard for your money—I’ll pay you back when I get my wages!”

“…”

He said it was to accompany her, but soon he was the one eating with enthusiasm—fifteen different snacks later, he still wasn’t done. Tong Youxun, meanwhile, was stuffed to the brim, clutching skewers of spicy chicken and a bowl of stinky tofu, pleading for mercy.

“I can’t anymore… I’m gonna explode…”

“Come on, one more—durian mille crepe.”

“You just had braised pork intestine!”

“…”

He stabbed a cube of tofu and devoured it. Soon the plate was empty.

The aloof, untouchable image he usually had was completely shattered—especially since everything he liked had such strong smells.

“Still not full,” Guan Nuoyin muttered. “When I used to deliver food, I’d watch everyone else eat. Now it’s my turn—I’ll eat until I’m satisfied.”

He didn’t look like someone who’d ever gone hungry.

After some thought, Tong Youxun smiled. “Then I’ll risk my life to keep you company.”

She didn’t ask for details—so he spoke on his own.

“Have you heard of the Six Tribulations of Mortal Life?” he asked. “Zeng Guofan once said they are: poverty, failure, death, obsession, desire, and illness.”

“The Six Tribulations?”

“To escape the endless cycle of suffering, one must cultivate, reach nirvana, transcend the wheel of rebirth.”

“So… the first tribulation is poverty?”

“No. The first is love. Like a novel’s prologue.”

“Then you’ve already passed your love tribulation, right?”

He had rejected Qi Yuwei over and over. Surely that was easy for him.

“To pass the love tribulation, one must be chosen—and one must have love in their heart,” he said quietly. “If you fail… you’re erased—body and soul.”

“I grew up alone, cold, detached, without desire or greed. I’m no chosen one. My tribulations come in reverse. I’m enduring the tribulation of poverty now—and it’s nearly complete.”

Starving by day, sleepless by night. Six part-time jobs at once, all year round. The little he earned, he gave away—to someone connected deeply with the girl before him.

Tong Youxun’s voice softened. “Maybe Qi Yuwei isn’t your true fate.”

Guan Nuoyin smiled faintly. “Then what—you are?”

Her cheeks turned scarlet. “Don’t tease me! I don’t want your money, your fame, or anything else. I’m too easy to chase, and I’d never burden you… Besides, you’d never look at someone like me. How could I be your love tribulation?”

“If we weren’t bound by fate,” he said, “we wouldn’t have met.”

“But you became Qi Yuwei’s love tribulation…”

He said nothing, only murmured, “Sixty years… gone in a blink. A single jiazi. If that counts, then I’ve already fallen into love’s hell.”

So he had rejected countless admirers—his face too fine, his spirit too rare. That burn on his cheek? Perhaps heaven’s way of keeping him from perfection. Maybe it wasn’t even real—his power made it seem deliberate, too precise to be a simple scar.

And he’d mentioned sixty years… a full cycle.

Tong Youxun frowned. “Wait, are you saying you’re sixty years old?”

He looked like a man in his early twenties—skin flawless, eyes bright, posture sharp.
If he was sixty, she’d gladly stab her own eyes for doubting her sanity.

Flirting with a grandfather… I’m going to hell, she thought.

“I made that up,” Guan Nuoyin said, his tone faint. His gaze dimmed. “I’m off to work.”

He turned to leave, voice drifting back to her. “Born to be a beast of burden. Back to reality. In the end, we all chase money.”

So the dream’s over? she wondered. Which parts had been true, and which lies?

“You said your tribulation’s almost complete,” she called softly. “Doesn’t that mean it’s ending?”

He didn’t turn back. “Who said completion means the end? Maybe it’s just… the beginning of the next one.”

Tong Youxun stared after him, baffled.

Can you speak like a normal person for once? Are you saying you’re here to ‘cultivate’? You’re not human? A god in disguise?

If so, then maybe your body stays young forever—the moment you ascended, you froze in time.

What are you really, Guan Nuoyin? You say everything and yet… nothing at all.

So after spending an entire afternoon with him—
She realized it had all been one long sermon of cryptic nonsense.