“No!”
Xia Lingshuang sat bolt upright in bed as if waking from a nightmare. Her dark, short hair, soaked in cold sweat, clung to her forehead, and her eyes were filled with uncontrollable terror. What met her gaze was not a mangled corpse, but walls made of fine pear blossom wood. The scent lingering at the tip of her nose was not the sickening smell of blood, but a fresh, soothing incense.
Under the influence of the incense, Xia Lingshuang slowly calmed down from her state of panic.
After putting on her shoes, Xia Lingshuang began to pace around the room.
A set of tables and chairs, a divider curtain, a wooden bed covered with a layer of soft fluff, and a mirror were the few pieces of furniture in the room.
She walked to the mirror, but the face reflected in it was different from what she had imagined.
Although the woman in the mirror looked slightly haggard and the lotus mark on her forehead was somewhat dim, this weariness did not diminish her beauty. Instead, it added a sense of fragility to her cold, distant countenance, making one feel an even stronger urge to protect her.
The woman in the mirror was indeed herself, but it was the self from the past. In her memory, the mark on her forehead had disappeared the moment the sect was destroyed.
And the culprit behind it all…
“Wu Yan.”
Xia Lingshuang gritted her teeth as she uttered the name, the killing intent in her eyes surging.
She gripped the corner of the table so hard her knuckles turned white. A bone-deep hatred churned in her chest. In her previous life, she had treated Wu Yan as her own child, giving her everything even when heavily injured. But in return, she received nothing but betrayal and the slaughter of her entire sect!
“Knock, knock—”
Before Xia Lingshuang could think further, she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Who is it?”
“It is I, Master. Yu Qingyao.”
Yu Qingyao, her youngest disciple, was exceptionally gifted. After the sect was destroyed, she had luckily survived and risen from the Foundation Establishment Stage to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage at a speed unattainable by ordinary people, fighting alongside her against that monster until the very end.
“It’s Qingyao. Is something wrong?”
“Eldest Senior Sister Wu Yan has caused trouble again. Please come and take a look, Master.” Yu Qingyao’s voice sounded somewhat urgent outside the door, but if one listened closely, they would find that there wasn’t much worry about the trouble in her tone. Instead, it carried a hint of cold indifference, as if she were watching a play.
***
Piaomiao Sect, Martial Arts Platform—
The atmosphere was so heavy it felt as though it could drip like water.
Wu Yan was dressed in white as pure as snow, holding a sword in one hand as she stood quietly in the center of the platform. The wind whipped her hem and long hair, but no expression could be seen on her stunningly beautiful face.
In the eyes of ordinary people, she was the proud Eldest Senior Sister.
But in Wu Yan’s own vision, a translucent soul dressed in red with an enchanting appearance was floating beside her, coiling around her shoulders like a snake.
She was Wu Yan, and the other was also Wu Yan.
“Hee hee, little Wu Yan, look at that old thing’s beard. It’s twitching from anger.”
The red-clothed Wu Yan pointed at the furious Sun Elder, laughing so hard her body shook. Her tone carried a chilling madness. “Why don’t you give the body back to me? I promise I’ll use a single ‘Blood Shadow Hand’ to rip out his heart. That image would be absolutely beautiful~”
“Shut up. This is the Piaomiao Sect, not your slaughterhouse.”
“Tsk, why act like such a man of virtue?” The red-clothed Wu Yan floated to Wu Yan’s ear and whispered with pure malice, “Don’t forget, who caused Master’s current injuries?”
“It was me~ which means it was you. The poison currently in that woman’s meridians was planted by my own hands. Don’t you feel disgusted acting like a good person now? Don’t forget, my sins are your sins!”
Wu Yan’s hand gripping the sword tightened slightly, her knuckles turning white.
Yes, she knew.
From the moment she came to this world;
From the moment she and the other were born from their mother;
From the moment she watched her commit those mistakes but was unable to stop her;
She already knew: she could not escape the karma left by this body.
Two Souls One Body, born together and sharing the same sins.
“Sun Elder, please step aside.”
“Miss Wu Yan, enough is enough!” Sun Elder roared in fury.
“Enough?” Wu Yan shook her head upon hearing this. “He killed a mortal.”
With those words, Wu Yan swung the long sword in her hand again, and a purple-red sword qi surged from the blade.
Sun Elder blocked Wu Yan’s move. Although Wu Yan had only recently entered the Golden Core Stage, the sheer violence of the attack surprised even an old Golden Core cultivator like him.
Staring into Wu Yan’s emotionless eyes, Sun Elder was livid. He pointed at his nephew, Wang Teng, whose limbs were twisted behind him, and shouted sternly, “Wang Teng already explained! She was just a mortal girl who might have been a Demon Sect spy, and he killed her by mistake! How can you be so heartless as to break his limbs? Do you still respect the sect rules? Do you still respect me as an Elder?!”
Wu Yan looked up, her gaze passing through the phantom of the red-clothed Wu Yan to land calmly on Sun Elder.
“Killed by mistake? A Demon Sect spy?”
She turned her gaze to the bloodied Wang Teng behind the Elder.
That terrified and hideous face overlapped with the image of the strong girl in her memory.
It was a rainy day at the market at the foot of the mountain.
Wu Yan had gone down the mountain back then to look for a medicinal herb that often appeared in mortal pharmacies. She had accidentally seen a frail girl leaning against a dilapidated oil-paper umbrella.
In the rain, her large, broken bamboo basket held some herbs and woven goods. There was a visible crack at the bottom of the basket, and several damp herbs were falling out.
Wu Yan didn’t know her name; she only knew that the passersby called her Liu’er.
According to the passersby, Liu’er’s father had been afflicted by a cold chill and was now bedridden, desperately needing Heart-Warming Grass to recover.
But Heart-Warming Grass was extremely precious. To a mortal, the cost of a single stalk was equal to a month’s worth of expenses for a family of three.
They discussed the young girl’s critically ill father and lamented the girl’s tragic fate, yet not a single person lent a hand.
But Wu Yan did not blame anyone, for that was the way of the world.
Those passersby had their own livelihoods to worry about.
“Hehe, what a pitiful little girl. Selling medicine outside in such heavy rain.” As always, the other Wu Yan floated on Wu Yan’s shoulder, her every word and action filled with uncontainable malice.
“I have a kind heart and can’t bear to see the little girl suffer.” Her tone was as crazed as ever. “How about you give the body back to me? I’ll send this little girl on her way. This human world isn’t worth it, hee hee~”
Although Liu’er’s face was haggard from the burden of life, her eyes were clear and resilient. She constantly wiped the sweat from her forehead, occasionally looking into the distance with anxiety.
Wu Yan stood not far away. In that moment, she felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if time and space had become distorted.
Before transmigrating to this cultivation world, she had also been an ordinary wage slave on Earth.
Her mother had been just like this when her father was seriously ill, running through the streets just for a single chance at her father’s survival.
Back then, the exhaustion and resilience in her mother’s eyes were exactly the same as Liu’er’s.
“I’ll take this Hemostatic Vine.”
Wu Yan’s voice was very soft, yet it carried an indisputable calmness.
Liu’er looked up and saw a tall, slender woman looking at her. The jade pendant at the woman’s waist was a constant reminder that this was a Fairy Sister from the mountain.
“Fairy Sister, do you want to buy it? My Hemostatic Vine is high quality…” Liu’er hurriedly introduced her wares.
Wu Yan pulled Liu’er into a deserted alleyway and took a jade box from her sleeve. The box emitted a faint spiritual aura, appearing like a celestial object to a mortal.
Wu Yan opened the jade box. Lying inside was a spirit grass emitting a warm aura, its medicinal power contained within. It was exactly what she needed: Heart-Warming Grass.
“I will use this to trade for your Hemostatic Vine.”
Liu’er was stunned, then she shook her head violently, tears welling in her eyes. “No! No! Fairy Sister! This… this is too precious! I can’t take it! I can’t take such a huge advantage of you!”
Wu Yan did not say much, her gaze carrying a forceful refusal to take No for an answer.
“I need your Hemostatic Vine, and you need this. It is a trade.”
She placed the jade box on Liu’er’s straw mat.
Liu’er looked at the Heart-Warming Grass in the box. It was the hope of saving a life. Hesitation and struggle were ultimately overwhelmed by her love for her father. Her hands trembled as she handed all the Hemostatic Vine to Wu Yan.
“Thank you… for Fairy Sister’s great kindness. Liu’er will never forget it…” Liu’er bowed deeply to Wu Yan, her voice choking with emotion.
Wu Yan accepted the Hemostatic Vine. Seeing Liu’er’s face—filled with hope and turning from tears to smiles—she merely gave a slight nod and turned to leave.
She had thought that this unequal trade would bring hope to the young girl’s family and allow them to live a good life.
She never expected that when she went down the mountain again, she would receive only tragic news.
“Sigh, what a shame about Liu’er’s family. Old Liu had finally managed to recover his health, only to end up offending an immortal. Sigh…”
“Shh! Keep your voice down! You still dare to talk about this? Didn’t you see what happened to Old Liu’s family? They couldn’t even piece together Old Liu’s corpse. As for Liu’er, her whereabouts are still unknown! If you don’t want to end up like them, keep this buried in your stomach!”
“Sigh, I know, I know. I was just saying…”
As they spoke, the passersby walked past Wu Yan.
“Hee hee, didn’t I tell you? The human world isn’t worth it. You should have given me the body earlier so I could send that girl to her next life. That way, she might not have encountered any of this! It’s all your fault, hee hee hee~”
The other Wu Yan’s voice was as piercing as ever.
After making several inquiries, Wu Yan finally learned the full story.
After Liu’er’s father recovered, he went back to his job of gathering herbs on the mountain. But a day ago, while he was gathering herbs, he happened to run into an immortal from the mountain and accidentally dirtied the immortal’s clothes.
Despite Old Liu’er’s father’s repeated apologies, his limbs were broken by the angry immortal, and he was discarded on the mountain. Upon hearing the news, Liu’er rushed up the mountain to find him, only to disappear as well.
The people in town estimated that the father and daughter had long been eaten by wild beasts until nothing was left.
Although everyone was intimidated by the immortal’s power and did not describe his specific appearance, Wu Yan was still able to deduce exactly who the so-called immortal was based on the timing of his descent—
Wang Teng.
“Hee hee hee, little Wu Yan, why don’t you go up the mountain now? Maybe their bones haven’t been fully digested by the demon beasts yet~”