Chapter 27: Two Memories

“A Lian… hold me…”

In the warm afternoon sunlight, within the small courtyard, Shen Qingyi shyly reached out her hands to Su Qiulian, looking into her eyes with both fear and a hint of anticipation.

Su Qiulian was struck right in the heart by this scene—she almost spat out the tea she had just sipped.

She cleared her throat twice.

Although she understood what Shen Qingyi meant, she still pretended to be somewhat puzzled and asked, “What is it, Little Shen? The weather is pretty good now, isn’t it? It shouldn’t be cold!”

“You!”

Sure enough, Shen Qingyi was so annoyed by her attitude that she turned away.

But after pouting for a moment, she turned back again.

Clutching the sleeve of Su Qiulian’s robe, her face flushed even redder as she whispered, “I mean… that…”

“Which ‘that’?”

Su Qiulian leaned in close to Shen Qingyi’s ear with great interest, teasing her.

Shen Qingyi’s face turned even redder, her small fists pounding on Su Qiulian’s chest in mock anger, but all it managed was a few DuangDuang sounds on Su Qiulian’s chest.

It bounced in a funny way.

After a moment’s silence, she glanced at Su Qiulian’s cheek and chest, then quietly asked, “What do you think…?”

“What do I think? I think I have no idea, Little Shen. Why don’t you say it yourself?”

Su Qiulian replied with a smile tugging at her lips.

“You!”

Shen Qingyi puffed up her cheeks in anger again, turning away and huffing, “If you don’t want to, then forget it!”

With that, she stood up to leave, but Su Qiulian grabbed the hem of her robe and pulled her right into her arms.

“Ah!”

Shen Qingyi let out a soft cry, finding herself suddenly sitting in Su Qiulian’s lap.

Looking up, she saw Su Qiulian gazing at her playfully.

Fuming, Shen Qingyi was about to resume her little punches, but Su Qiulian caught her hand and, rising, swept her up in a princess carry.

Holding Shen Qingyi’s slender waist, Su Qiulian leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Is Little Shen ready?”

As soon as she said this, Shen Qingyi’s already red ear tips became even redder, as if they might bleed.

Lowering her head, Shen Qingyi tried her best not to meet Su Qiulian’s gaze and quietly nodded.

Then Su Qiulian chuckled softly and carried her into the house.

Fallen leaves fluttered in the courtyard, two birds chirped crisply in harmony, and a scene of peace and harmony unfolded.

***

Shen Qingyi was a bit bewildered.

She had no idea where this memory came from, nor could she deny it, because it felt so damn real.

Her shyness in the memory, the feeling of Su Qiulian’s arm around her waist, and everything Su Qiulian did after carrying her back to the room—

She could feel it all!

It was as if she had truly experienced it, yet she wasn’t blind in that memory.

That shouldn’t have been her!

But such a memory wouldn’t appear out of nowhere, right?

And that familiar feeling toward Su Qiulian—could it be that she really shared a bond with her in a previous life?

Was this her past life’s memory with Su Qiulian?

But for crying out loud, wasn’t she from Blue Star in her previous life?!

Shen Qingyi really wanted to complain.

Couldn’t a System pop out and tell her what was going on?

Forget it, she’d just have to guess on her own.

If what Su Qiulian said was true, then what she had just seen should be her so-called past life’s memory.

But the problem was, her previous life should have been that Blue Star life.

Could it be that she had lived another life when she transmigrated here, and the memory only just awakened now?

The only explanation was that, after first transmigrating to this world, she and Su Qiulian had shared a lifetime together, then she died, and the memories of that life didn’t carry over to this one.

It sounded far-fetched, but often the more far-fetched it was, the closer it was to the truth.

If that was really the case…

Then what about Su Qiulian?

How could she bring her memories into a new life?

She couldn’t, so why could Su Qiulian?

Wasn’t this sort of thing supposed to be the privilege of a Transmigrator?

Shen Qingyi couldn’t make sense of it, and the more she thought, the more her head hurt.

She’d barely managed to keep her composure before, resisting waves of emotional turmoil, nearly to the point of mental collapse.

Now, with a new memory suddenly surfacing, she was at her wit’s end.

Shaking her head, Shen Qingyi tried to distract herself, but the moment she did, she slipped into another memory.

***

At Tianyi Sword Sect, atop Lingtian Cliff, Bai Luoshuang led Shen Qingyi by the hand to the entrance of a cave dwelling and introduced, “Xiao Yi, this is where I used to go into secluded cultivation. From now on, you can come and go here as you please!”

Squeezing the hand in hers—the hand of a sword cultivator, strong and powerful—Shen Qingyi said joyfully, “Then thank you for your favor, Sword Sovereign Luoshuang!”

“Not at all…”

Bai Luoshuang replied.

Suddenly, she seemed to become like a little girl again… no, perhaps she had always been like that in front of Shen Qingyi.

She leaned in close to Shen Qingyi’s ear and whispered, “Xiao Yi, there’s a spiritual spring bath on the cliff, and many Spirit Flame Stones set in the bottom. Even in winter, it’s never cold. When the time comes, we can both be in the pool…”

At that, Shen Qingyi hurriedly covered Bai Luoshuang’s mouth, stopping her from saying anything more outrageous.

“What is Sword Sovereign talking about?! How could we… do that!”

Shen Qingyi said, her face reddening with embarrassment.

But Bai Luoshuang grew anxious.

“Why not? Does Xiao Yi not want to?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to… it’s just that for Sword Sovereign to say it so directly is really embarrassing!”

Shen Qingyi replied, unable to meet Bai Luoshuang’s eyes.

“Embarrassing? Why? Hasn’t my Life-bound Sword Qinxue already been in—mmph…”

Shen Qingyi covered Bai Luoshuang’s mouth again, her own face turning even redder.

“Sword Sovereign might not be embarrassed, but I am! This kind of thing…”

But this time, before Shen Qingyi could finish, Bai Luoshuang scooped her up, embracing her and heading toward the bath, saying, “What’s wrong with it? Has Xiao Yi forgotten, I’m the only one with a cave on Lingtian Cliff? From now on, this entire mountain is just for the two of us—what’s so embarrassing about that? If anything, this Sword Sovereign wants to do this right now. Do you really think you can escape, Xiao Yi?”

Shen Qingyi could not resist at all, nor did she really want to.

She just buried her red face against Bai Luoshuang’s chest, not daring to look up.

Snapping out of her recollections, Shen Qingyi was utterly alarmed.

Bai Luoshuang?

The Lingtian Cliff of Tianyi Sword Sect?

Did she really have a connection with the Sword Sovereign of her previous life?

Wait a minute!

Didn’t that mean Su Qiulian really was that Demon Emperor?

What the hell is all this?!

I don’t even know you people, okay?!

I, Shen Qingyi, am just an ordinary person!

How did I end up as the darling of both the Demon Emperor and the Sword Sovereign?!

***

In the outside world, Su Qiulian had just responded to Shen Qingyi’s call, hugging her tightly and eagerly anticipating a response from Shen Qingyi’s rosy lips.

But just as Shen Qingyi puckered up to kiss her, her tone suddenly changed.

Shen Qingyi’s lips, having almost touched Su Qiulian’s, suddenly called out a new name.

“A Shuang… slow down…”

Su Qiulian: ?