After a Fake Death, the Emotionless Dao Senior Sister Became Obsessed - Chapter 8

Huaining was silent for a moment, and the peach petals scattered in the wind were also still for a beat.

“Ai…” The tree branch curled slightly, and the woman’s voice, thick and soft, held a trace of confusion, “Did I give you a branch? I think I might have forgotten.”

Si Jing suddenly opened her eyes.

But what emotions could a tree possess? It was clearly pretending to be oblivious, not intending to confess.

“Never mind.” She looked away.

The latter sentence was spoken in a lower voice, “Shishu and Shizun are both accustomed to this.”

Huaining heard it, her voice clearly filled with laughter, yet she didn’t say anything more.

The petals once again fluttered down slantwise, the drooping branches like a waterfall of floral curtains.

“Yingzhi, you’ve traveled through the Nine Provinces for quite some time now, have you ever heard of the Western Holy Buddha Land?” she asked.

Si Jing leaned against the tree trunk, already a little tired. She knew Huaining was using her spiritual power to soothe her meridians.

She maintained her meditation posture, only her eyes were lowered, “I’ve heard of it, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

“The world struggles to find the Buddha Land, and after great disappointment, they assume it’s just a lie, unaware that self-reflection is the true path.”

“That’s well said.” The wind gently lifted a strand of her hair, which Huaining tucked behind her ear.

“But the Buddha Land truly exists. Speaking of which, I came from there.” Her voice paused slightly, she covered Si Jing’s eyes and smiled.

“…No need to open your eyes, focus your mind, and then listen to me.”

Si Jing relaxed her shoulders and back, and closed her eyes again.

“It is truly as described in the scriptures. The heavens hang jewel canopies, the earth sprouts golden lotuses, and five-colored creeping vines bloom. Looking up, the eternal day is filled with endlessly rolling clouds and thousands of rays of ethereal light.” Huaining’s voice gradually drifted off into the distance.

“I was planted beside a lotus pond, where fish would occasionally create ripples—a fleeting glimpse of light on the water. A little further away, there was always the sound of chanting.”

“He said, Bonds are created by the mind, a single thought brings rest to the mind.”

“He means that there was once a deer that was extremely thirsty. As it ran across the plains, it saw the clear, shimmering dust reflecting the spring sunlight and mistook it for water, and it actually began to sip it.”

Huaining didn’t change her nature, her voice was soft and gentle, but laced with a hint of sarcasm, “What a foolish deer.”

Si Jing listened quietly. Unbeknownst to her, she had lowered all her guard and was resting her head on a curve of the peach tree’s roots.

“If there were no thirst, perhaps it wouldn’t have chased it. Upon encountering the shimmering dust, it would have turned its head and ignored it.” Huaining was still smiling, “What our eyes see is probably just what we want to see.”

“Just like… that branch of peach blossoms.”

“The kind of person you wish to meet is the person you will meet.”

Si Jing’s thoughts were muddled. Before drifting into sleep, she slightly lifted her eyelids and saw the boundless branches of flowers, almost completely obscuring the sky.

Through the branches, clear, snowy particles and dust brushed her face.

But if she had no intention, how could she be bound, and how could her mind find rest?

She was still lost in confusion.

Only the little red fish she had once cupped in her hands remained, becoming an illusion in her sea of consciousness, swimming restlessly, its trembling briefly transmitted through her skin.

The person resting beneath the tree’s breath gradually became steady, her sleeping posture peaceful, her snow-white sleeves, adorned with lotus leaves, neatly folded.

Huaining gently lifted a flower branch and poked Si Jing’s pale cheek.

She was softer than her usual cold and distant demeanor.

Good. A few made-up stories were all it took to finally lull her to sleep.

Sighing in relief, she stretched her limbs, and another thick layer of petals fell.

She let out a soft laugh and spoke to herself in a voice that couldn’t reach Si Jing’s sea of consciousness: “Younger than me, yet prone to worry and forgetfulness.”

“…Yingzhi, you’re always so easy to fool.”

Si Jing had that dream again.

She dreamt of a woman in scarlet robes, lying just like her beneath the towering, canopy-like peach tree, her eyelashes lowered.

A cinnabar dot was placed between her brows. Her posture was unrestrained and casual, showing not a hint of seduction, but rather a relaxed, transcendent ease.

At that time, the surroundings were filled with the songs of orioles and the spread of green life; there was no icy, snowy dust brushing her face.

The woman was sleeping deeply. Even when Si Jing approached and accidentally stepped on a branch, she didn’t stir.

The tassel sword knot, half-woven in her hand, slipped to the ground with the wind.

It was a dazzling, vibrant red, falling onto the pile of peach petals, hard-pressed to be outshone by the delicate pink color.

Si Jing couldn’t control her actions.

She bent down, picked up the sword knot, and held it in her palm.

But before she could examine it closely, the small object moved on its own, coiling tightly around her wrist like a soft snake.

Turning her eyes away in confusion, the woman in scarlet robes was already resting her chin on her hand, squinting and smiling as she watched her.

Her fingers wrapped a few times around the tassel, then with a pull, Si Jing was unable to struggle even slightly and fell into the soft embrace.

Si Jing felt the other’s slightly cool fingertips trace her lips, mingled with a breath like orchids that teased and provoked.

The woman was born beautiful and radiant. When she smiled, her long eyelashes were dusted with the dust of spring.

Her gaze froze; all thoughts stopped with the wind.

This was because the other person sipped her lips, the contact light, soft, and delicate.

The woman appeared poised, but her technique was extremely clumsy, and she was quickly overpowered.

All that remained in her vision were her own hands, bound by the red sword knot, and the scarlet-robed woman, her cheeks flushed pink, resting on the soft peach petals.

Si Jing knew that the woman seemed to be breathing heavily, at a loss.

But all her senses seemed to be covered in a layer of white mist, something her current self could not perceive. It was like drinking ice and snow, completely flavorless.

The person suddenly pulled her closer by her lapel, her eyes shimmering with moisture, her voice slightly wronged, “You bit me. It hurts a lot.”

“…” Si Jing didn’t know how she replied.

“So foolish, don’t you have a heart already?” The woman curved her lips, covering her eyes with her palm, signaling her to close her eyes.

“Then let me teach you.”

Her chest was burning, beating erratically. Meanwhile, the countless flying peach petals swirling around seemed to have become the flames that ignited the firewood.

Si Jing closed her eyes as instructed.

But when she opened them again, the peach tree was gone. All that remained in her sight were the other’s seductive, blood-red eyes.

She was still smiling, but it held a strong sense of mockery. “Now, do you understand?”

The pain cut deep into her bones, as if she had fallen into an ice cavern.

A scent of blood permeated the air. The scarlet-robed woman’s voice was gentle, yet she relentlessly twisted the dagger in her palm, slowly pressing, gouging, and carving it into her left chest.

Si Jing woke up with a start, her vision still hazy and out of focus, as if stuck in the dream.

She tightly pursed her lips, sat up straight, her sea of consciousness heavy and slow, before she belatedly realized that it was already dusk.

Huaining shook its weary branches, its voice a little sleepy, “You slept longer this time, Yingzhi, you…”

It stopped mid-sentence, realizing that the person who had been relaxed and comfortable was now silently retreating several feet away.

She was slightly bowed, thin beads of sweat on her forehead, her face pale.

Taking advantage of Huaining’s continued stunned silence, she spoke softly: “Shishu, it is late, I should go now.”

Huaining knew the other’s distant nature; anything she didn’t want to talk about would remain a secret no matter what.

It could only sigh softly, “It would be best not to encounter any more demons in the near future. Take a few days to properly recuperate.”

Si Jing nodded, indicating she understood.

After taking a few steps, she suddenly remembered something, “Shishu, Shizun is coming out of seclusion today. Should I inform her about your awakening…”

“No!” Huaining was particularly resistant, its branches and leaves trembling, immediately causing another shower of peach blossoms.

“Absolutely not! That drunkard, she should stay as far away from me as possible.”

She was either pulling its hair to brew wine, or getting drunk and going mad, climbing up and clinging to it, begging it to tell her storybooks.

Si Jing’s lips were slightly pale, but at that moment, a fleeting arch of a smile appeared.

“Understood,” she replied before leaving the courtyard.

The sun heavily sank into the clouds, casting a hazy glow. Amidst the mist, another thin layer of snow fell upon Jade-Green Peak.

The nightmare, like the wind brushing past her face, dissipated before her eyes and ears. She would forget it before long.

Si Jing stepped onto her sword, silently reciting the Gui Ji spell the whole way, sweeping the mountain path clean.

Upon encountering disciples who had finished their evening practice, they looked up and greeted her, their chirping voices ringing out, “Shijie, hello!”

“Shijie, can we learn to fly on our swords next class?”

“You can talk after you reach the Foundation Establishment stage.”

“Boohoo, stop scolding us.”

Si Jing nodded in agreement.

After acknowledging the young faces one by one, she left first.

It was early spring, and the wind was gradually growing milder, caressing the sparsely decorated sword hilt and causing the tassel on the faded sword knot to gently sway.

Just then, the message-transmitting jade slip lit up.

Si Jing gently pinched it and asked, “Yuan Ling, Su Su?”

After waiting for a few breaths, there was no response.

The jade slip did not emit any images as it usually did. The flowing cloud pattern, which had been streaked with flickering blue spiritual energy, suddenly went dark.

A gray crack rapidly spread from the center, and the thin jade slip crumbled into pieces in her palm.

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