Guide to the Rebirth of the Evil Woman in the Immortal Realm - Chapter 29

In the torrent of time, many changes do not happen overnight. Similarly, it takes more than a cold day to freeze a river three feet deep. Blindly enduring, swallowing pain, and ruminating on suffering cannot bring change; it only makes their lives and the lives of the next generation worse.

One day passed, then another, and the authorities truly never came to investigate the whereabouts of the man who had caused the scene.

Shen Sha set up her stall as usual. Two days ago, the man’s wife had passed by the stall, clutching her child tightly, her eyes filled with panic and confusion. Shen Sha heard her intentionally asking others if they knew where her husband had gone, claiming he hadn’t returned home in a long time.

The person being asked looked puzzled, saying, “Didn’t he abandon you and the girl to run away three years ago? The world is a mess out there; perhaps he won’t be coming back.”

After two more days, the woman removed her face veil and led her child to Shen Sha’s pork stall to buy meat.

The bruises on her cheeks and around her mouth had not yet faded, making her look a bit haggard, but her demeanor was completely different from when Shen Sha first saw her. She asked for some choice cuts; Shen Sha silently added some pig heart and blood to her straw basket.

The woman held her child and suddenly said, “Thank you.”

Shen Sha looked at her. When their gazes met, neither spoke, but there was a silent understanding between them that only they could comprehend.

During the final few days, the news that the butcher woman was leaving spread to every household in the area.

The men speculated that she was running off with another man, or perhaps her secret affair had been exposed and she could no longer stay. Many women, however, took their straw baskets to buy her pork and stood by the stall without leaving, talking to her for a very, very long time.

While Shen Sha worked the stall, Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting sat behind her, listening.

After buying their pork, some advised Shen Sha to marry and settle down for a stable life; some thanked her for the day she stopped their husbands from striking them; some told her they didn’t want to live in silent endurance anymore; and some, inspired by Shen Sha, planned to bring their own carts to the market to carve out a place in the male-dominated bazaar.

On the final day, Shen Sha packed her few belongings.

She entrusted her wooden cart and the two tiled houses to the woman who had borrowed pig offal that day. During Shen Sha’s absence, she and her children could live there. The little girl who had been saved and her young friends had been gathering mushrooms on the mountain lately, planning to go to the market with their mother the next day to sell them in the spot where Shen Sha used to slaughter pigs.

The next morning.

Shen Sha carried her pack and left the tiled house where she had lived for years with Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting. As the three of them passed the market, Shen Sha couldn’t help but stop and look back.

At the end of the market, there was indeed a new small stall selling mushrooms. The girls were thin as sticks but brimming with vitality. Many women carrying shopping baskets visited them; some still wore face veils, but the younger ones had already taken theirs off.

Change had perhaps begun long ago, but it was all hidden within a cocoon, unnoticed by the world. What Shen Sha had seen day after day was perhaps more than just pairs of submissive, timid eyes; beneath those veils and clothes, there were surely others with rebellious hearts.

Shen Sha’s dark red hair glowed brilliantly under the new day’s sun. She whispered, “If I follow you, will the world in my dreams really come true?”

“It will. It isn’t that hard,” Ji Ting said, looking her in the eye with a smile. “Right now, we are simply starting over.”

Shen Sha gripped the straps of her pack. The fabric was soft, but a look of determination surfaced in her eyes, as if she were holding an indestructible sword.

The three of them turned around and began walking side-by-side toward the rising sun.

The Kingdom of Taiyin

Several days later.

Shen Fuxin took a seat in a restaurant, followed by Ji Ting, who had practically dragged Shen Sha inside.

They traveled fast and were no longer in the Country of Ruo. Early last month, Shen Fuxin’s spiritual perception had stirred again. This time, her father—who had been reincarnated into the animal realm—was neither too far nor too near, located within a ten-thousand-year-old ancient nation called the Kingdom of Taiyin.

Taiyin had a history spanning tens of thousands of years. Despite countless changes in dynasties, it remained a premier Great Power in this mortal plane. According to legend, Taiyin was a kingdom of women through and through. A drop of blood from the Lunar Goddess of Taiyin fell into the water system that ran through the entire country; any woman who drank from it and made a sincere wish could give birth to a baby girl.

Too much time had passed for the truth of such legends to be verified. Yet, for some reason, the majority of infants born in Taiyin over these millennia were indeed female.

Perhaps because of its deep connection to the divine, shrines were everywhere in Taiyin. The entire nation worshipped the gods, and incense burned in every household. It was prosperous and thriving, a world apart from the Country of Ruo they had visited before.

The three of them were currently in the most bustling capital city of Taiyin. Most of the merchants and pedestrians were women, and the Emperor and Crown Prince were also women.

Shen Sha was used to a simple life and had been uneasy during these months of traveling with Shen Fuxin and the others. Upon arriving in Taiyin, she watched with a heavy heart as Shen Fuxin pulled pearls and fine jade from her spatial bag to spend as if they were common silver.

Shen Fuxin had watched Shen Sha eat plain water and dry steamed buns for a whole month, which began to affect her own mood. Finally unable to stand it, she glanced at the restaurant menu and said to the waiting waiter, “Bring me one of everything edible you have.”

The waiter was a bit hesitant because the portions were large; one person couldn’t eat that much even if they burst their stomach. However, when she turned and saw the tall woman being pulled along, she immediately beamed, tossed her cleaning cloth over her shoulder, and shouted, “Right away! One of every dish for the Heaven-tier table! Dear guests, would you like some wine?”

Shen Fuxin didn’t want wine; she wanted a bowl of sweet iced curd. The dishes arrived so quickly that the table couldn’t hold them all, so several waiters pushed two neighboring tables together to serve them.

Shen Sha sat awkwardly in her chair, watching as Ji Ting scooped the rice balls from her own iced bowl into Shen Fuxin’s. For a moment, she didn’t know where to look. Seeing this, Shen Fuxin stopped her chopsticks and urged her, “Eat.”

“Next time, two or three dishes will be enough,” Shen Sha said under the pressure of the gaze, finally taking a scoop of the iced curd. “Silver isn’t easy to earn.”

“Who says silver isn’t easy to earn?” Shen Fuxin sneered. She was currently spending the money her dead father had made over the years by selling his daughters and sons. A significant portion of that money came from her own betrothal gift; she spent it with a clear conscience.

“The things I’m selling were brought from my home,” Shen Fuxin said. “Your food and drink are the payment for helping me find my father, so don’t be formal.”

Hearing this, Shen Sha felt slightly more at ease. She was a down-to-earth, hardworking person accustomed to trading labor for reward. But she still had one last concern: “But I haven’t been able to help you yet.”

“Who says you haven’t?” Shen Fuxin began her third bowl of iced curd. “When we first met, that castrated pig hanging in your shop was my father.”

Shen Sha had nothing left to say. She buried her head in her meal.

After eating her fill, Shen Fuxin leaned against the window. The spiritual energy attached to Immortal Gu Teng tugged at her. She followed the sensation and looked into the distance; the invisible thread of spiritual energy stretched from her fingertip all the way to the Taiyin Imperial Palace.

This time, Immortal Gu Teng had actually been born into the royal family.

She sat back down and noticed several divine statues enshrined in the restaurant.

Taiyin revered the Lunar Goddess who gave them strength. Yet, right next to the Lunar Goddess, Shen Fuxin saw that male War God named Jie Fanyin again.

Standing among a group of goddesses, he looked somewhat out of place, yet like the Lunar Goddess, he enjoyed the most abundant incense. The image was truly bizarre. Shen Fuxin couldn’t help but call over the waiter who had served them earlier: “Why is that statue placed in the highest position alongside the Lunar Goddess?”

The waiter blinked, followed Shen Fuxin’s finger, and smiled knowingly. “The guest must be from abroad and unfamiliar with the folk legends of Taiyin. The Great War God was born right here in our Kingdom of Taiyin; he ascended from a mortal to a true god.”

Ji Ting set down her bowl. The intelligence she had gathered that day in the Immortal Realm surfaced in her mind. Those two immortals said Jie Fanyin was the incarnation of a Bodhi seed from the Divine Realm, yet now the mortals of Taiyin claimed he was a mortal who had ascended.

Which one was right?

Shen Fuxin sensed something was wrong. Seeing that Shen Sha had cleared the last plate, she rose to settle the bill and walked with them toward the capital’s main thoroughfare.

In the shops of Taiyin, the divine statues they enshrined were several times more numerous than in Ruo. Shen Fuxin saw gods she recognized and many she didn’t. Most were of the Lunar Goddess and the War God, with occasional statues of Goddess Yandan. Other Flower Goddesses and Star Lords also received plenty of incense.

After walking the length of the road, Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting exchanged a glance, sharing the same silent confusion.

Even the declining Goddess Yandan had scattered offerings, yet throughout their journey from Ruo to Taiyin, they hadn’t seen a single statue of Wenren Yi.

The Stolen Identity

The three of them stood by the roadside, listening to the rumbling of passing carriages, each harboring a confusion they couldn’t resolve.

Perhaps a grand festival was approaching, as heaps of fragrant flowers were everywhere in the capital. Even in the most remote alleys, old women carried flower baskets, selling cheap garlands. Ji Ting, surrounded by this vibrant atmosphere, felt a chill run through her entire body.

Something had been stolen.

Her blood, her flesh, and her bones had been dismantled and scattered. Her past had been wiped clean, broken into pieces, and attached to someone else. It was as if no one named Ji Ting had ever existed. When all the memories belonging to her vanished, she would be truly, finally dead.

Shen Fuxin was thinking about Wenren Yi. As one of the Twelve Flower Goddesses who seemed far more capable in combat than Goddess Yandan, why were there no statues of her in the mortal world?

She continued her musing, also considering that she might have to sneak into the palace late at night to find Immortal Gu Teng.

Just then, a fragrant carriage draped in thin gauze drove past. Shen Fuxin sensed that the person inside was of noble status. Looking up, she heard the murmurs of the people nearby.

“I heard the Third Prince is recruiting talented cultivators from among the commoners to enter the palace and celebrate the Emperor’s birthday in three days…”

Her ears immediately perked up.

“It seems the ones recruited before were all frauds,” a woman whispered to her companion as she stepped back toward Shen Fuxin. “They were all kicked out.”

Seeing the luxurious fragrant carriage drawing closer, Shen Fuxin casually plucked a vegetable leaf from the basket of the woman next to her.

With a flick of her finger, the leaf instantly transformed into a crystal-clear blue bird. Amidst the gasps of the crowd, Shen Fuxin flipped herself onto the back of the azure divine bird. Holding a lotus flower with her sleeves fluttering, she circled half a turn in the air. The divine bird descended, blocking the path of the Third Prince’s procession.

The gauze curtain was lifted, revealing a refined face.

The Third Prince looked at Shen Fuxin. She gently twisted her jade thumb ring and smiled at the royal male sitting beside her in the carriage. “How unfortunate for you, Fourth Brother. Such a celestial figure, I truly have found one.”