After My Death, the Female Lead Breaks the Heartless Path - Chapter 29

As soon as the words “Her Majesty” were spoken, Yin Ruolan, as expected, saw Wen Banxia’s face darken further and guessed what was troubling her.

This person is she still so fixated on Xu Jingqiu? Yin Ruolan shot her a displeased glance. It seemed that Xu Jingqiu’s earlier remark, “One moment of affection is enough,” had completely severed someone’s inappropriate thoughts.

At this thought, Yin Ruolan’s mood, already soured by the appearance of the fox-person, worsened. She directly addressed Wen Banxia’s feelings: “You like her? But you’re her sister.”

“I know,” Wen Banxia sighed with a bitter smile. “Even without that reason, she wouldn’t like me, would she? You can rest assured.”

Yin Ruolan snorted coldly. “Whether I rest assured or not is one thing; whether someone covets my queen is another.”

Since Xu Jingqiu wasn’t present and Yin Ruolan had already seen through her, Wen Banxia no longer hid it: “Yes, I like her. Perhaps it started a long time ago, back when you weren’t around, and she wasn’t either.”

Yin Ruolan knew she was referring to Xu Jingqiu’s childhood, before she left the Duyun Sect, a time when only Wen Banxia was by her side. But so what? In the end, didn’t she still end up with nothing?

“But she left, pushed away by you. So now, you shouldn’t delude yourself any further.”

Without any mercy, Yin Ruolan mocked her, and it struck a chord this was Wen Banxia’s eternal pain.

If only she had been more resolute back then, perhaps the outcome would have been different?

Wen Banxia lowered her eyes and whispered, “Perhaps? But do you know? I truly have felt unwilling. We both made mistakes, yet in the end, you can still stand by her side. Why is that?”

Yin Ruolan chuckled lightly, crossing her arms with composure. “Why? Shouldn’t you ask yourself? I think you know the answer. Weren’t you alone with her for a while before? Since then, there’s been a distance between you two, even though we haven’t been apart much.”

“You could even notice that? Then can you tell why?” Wen Banxia was somewhat surprised, thinking back carefully. Indeed, after her conversation with Xu Jingqiu, a sense of estrangement had settled between them. Neither she nor Xu Jingqiu had noticed, but Yin Ruolan had sensed it.

Her observation was sharp, just as she now stated plainly: “Why? You feel guilty, and not just about one thing.” That was what Yin Ruolan said.

It was true, it wasn’t just about that one abandonment in the secret realm. There were also instances of favoritism, whether willing or not. She truly had no right anymore.

Yin Ruolan looked at her with a hint of danger in her gaze and asked seriously, “So, what exactly are you thinking now?”

Wen Banxia: “Is that important to you?”

Yin Ruolan’s lips twitched. “What do you think?”

Faced with Yin Ruolan’s accusatory and wary gaze, Wen Banxia let out a soft laugh. She recalled the days of their childhood and the words Xu Jingqiu had spoken in the secret realm, which ultimately converged into one sentence:

“I’ve already given up. There was never any possibility for us from the start.”

“But I won’t give up watching you,” Wen Banxia’s tone shifted as she stared at Yin Ruolan. “I assume you haven’t forgotten what you’ve done either? If I discover even the slightest way you’ve wronged Xiao Qiu, I will take her away.”

“I am her sister that will never change.”

Yin Ruolan raised an eyebrow but made no further comment. After speaking her piece, she leaned back and closed her eyes to rest, waiting for news from Xu Jingqiu.

After some time, she heard Wen Banxia ask, “What are you afraid of?”

Yin Ruolan opened her eyes and replied calmly, “Why should I be afraid?”

“If you weren’t afraid, you wouldn’t refer to yourself as ‘this venerable one,’ nor would you be waiting here.” Wen Banxia’s words struck right to the heart of the matter.

Yin Ruolan: “I’m just worried that those people might panic and disrupt the treatment. Don’t overthink it.”

Wen Banxia let out an “Oh” and nodded. “Is that so? I thought you might have done something to feel guilty about, especially since you’re not even anxious about Xiao Qiu going off alone with that fox-person.”

“You’re just overthinking it.” With that, Yin Ruolan closed her eyes again to rest, though her clenched fists betrayed her inner turmoil.

Meanwhile, after Xu Jingqiu followed the fox-person this time, the latter refrained from making any suggestive remarks, quietly leading the way instead. The little white tiger trotted alongside, occasionally letting out a soft cry to assert its presence.

Just as Xu Jingqiu’s mind began to drift, the fox-person suddenly spoke: “The young clan leader likes you very much. You’re the second person, aside from the clan leader, whom she’s so attached to no, I should say she’s even more affectionate and clingy with you than with the clan leader.”

Xu Jingqiu was slightly surprised. “Really?” She glanced down at the little white tiger by her feet, who seemed to understand they were talking about her and looked up with another soft cry.

“I’m honored,” Xu Jingqiu said, her lips curling into an unintentional smile.

The fox-person chuckled lightly. “By the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? My name is An Li. I am a priestess of the demon tribe, a nine-tailed fox.”

“A nine-tailed fox? That’s rare and impressive,” Xu Jingqiu remarked with a nod.

An Li shook her head with a smile. “Not exactly. I’ve lived a long time, I was already an eight-tailed fox before the demon tribe was hunted by humans.”

Xu Jingqiu let out an “Ah” and said, “It seems you’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring so many demons could survive here.”

“Not too much. It was fortunate that we met you. Things have been much more stable since then.” As she spoke, An Li stopped and turned to Xu Jingqiu, bowing deeply. “We’ve always owed you a proper thank you.”

Xu Jingqiu waved her hand dismissively. The little white tiger, noticing she had stopped, immediately leaped into her arms, and Xu Jingqiu caught her steadily.

“There’s no need for that. It was just a small effort on my part, and I had my own motives, as I mentioned before.”

“Still, there’s one thing I’m curious about,” Xu Jingqiu said, giving An Li a once-over. “So you can speak properly after all!” She followed this with a thoughtful “Ah.”

An Li: “…”

Could she admit she had been doing it on purpose? Openly, she didn’t dare.

Xu Jingqiu, of course, saw through this and asked directly, “Why do you have it out for Yin Ruolan? Do you have some grudge against her?”

An Li hesitated before answering, “Yes, but it’s not major. Did you know? There is a marriage fate thread between you and the Demon Lord, but it has been severed twice.”

“Twice? Shouldn’t it be once? ‘Why twice?'”

An Li shook her head. “I cannot speak of that. It involves the Mandate of Heaven, which falls into forbidden territory. I hope the Divine One can understand.”

Could her relationship with Yin Ruolan actually involve the Mandate of Heaven? Xu Jingqiu had heard before about how the demon clan viewed heavenly mandates, the more one probed, the greater the harm to the seer. So she didn’t press further.

Seeing this, An Li breathed a quiet sigh of relief, her trust in Xu Jingqiu growing. Others might have used their status to force her to speak, but Xu Jingqiu did not.

What Xu Jingqiu didn’t know was that An Li herself had been forced in the past to reveal too many predictions related to the Mandate of Heaven, drastically shortening her lifespan and weakening her powers. It was only thanks to the previous Xu Jingqiu, who went to great lengths to restore her lifespan and provided her with tools for self-defense, that she was spared further coercion into observing heavenly mandates.

The treatment took place in a secret chamber of the demon clan. As soon as Xu Jingqiu entered, she saw a black crystal floating overhead. In the center of the chamber was a stone bed, where all demons capable of taking human form gathered.

The condition of the demon clan was indeed more severe than she had anticipated. For some reason, Xu Jingqiu suddenly thought of another reason besides the lack of spiritual veins.

Inbreeding.

The demon clan was a race that placed great importance on bloodline purity. To maintain the purity of their lineage, they not only strongly opposed relationships between demons and either demons or humans but also forbade love between different types of demons within their own clan.

“I’ll mention it after the treatment,” Xu Jingqiu thought to herself. “If I can persuade even a few, it’s better than nothing.”

“Divine One, you only need to lie on this stone bed. As for the treatment method, the other great one has already taught it to us, so you need not worry,” Bai Xuan, who had been sitting to the side, quickly stood up and said upon seeing Xu Jingqiu arrive.

Xu Jingqiu nodded and stepped forward to lie down. “Thank you for your trouble.”

Bai Xuan gave a slight smile. “Not at all. The Divine One has helped us greatly. If not for you, we might no longer exist, and the demon clan’s bloodline would likely have been severed.”

“Shall we begin now?”

Xu Jingqiu looked up at the black crystal overhead and suddenly thought of a question. “Did I leave any words behind in the past?”

She hadn’t expected an answer, but to her surprise, Bai Xuan nodded. “Indeed, you did. You left two words, saying that if we ever saw you again and you asked this question, we should tell you.”

“You left two words back then: Origin.”

Origin? Did it refer to the secret realm, her own abilities, or perhaps the origin of the world? Xu Jingqiu didn’t know the answer and could only hope to remember after the treatment. She slowly closed her eyes, her breathing becoming more steady.

Bai Xuan gave a slight bow to An Li, who waved her hand in response before standing by the window. The other demons spontaneously formed a circle around An Li and Xu Jingqiu.

“We pray once more, may the God of Wisdom descend again, bringing the forgotten memories back to the world. May all questions find their answers within the mysteries of memory.”

The sound of the prayer grew increasingly distant. In a daze, Xu Jingqiu seemed to sink back into that pure white world. She stood within it, and no matter which direction she looked, everything was pure white.

Gradually, colors began to emerge around her, but it wasn’t the world of cultivation. Instead, she saw the scenery of another world.

Countless skyscrapers towered into the sky, and people dressed in all kinds of clothing hurried along the streets, their steps brisk and purposeful. Among the crowd, she found herself.

She wasn’t wearing the combat suit from the otherworld but a white school uniform. At that time, she still appeared young and somewhat naive, yet full of vitality unlike the lifeless state she was in now.

Watching her younger self hop and skip into the school, Xu Jingqiu followed closely behind. She saw her younger self first head to the dormitory and then make her way to the teaching building, where she could observe university students engaged in lively discussions.

In a corner of the classroom, she saw someone she never expected to encounter.

It was Yin Ruolan.

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