Guide to the Rebirth of the Evil Woman in the Immortal Realm - Chapter 39

“What? A landslide in the southwestern mountains has unearthed an imperial mausoleum?”

The brush in Chu Huaijing’s hand fell to the floor with a sharp clack.

Fortunately, the surrounding ministers were too busy discussing the matter in hushed, frantic tones to notice the Crown Princess’s momentary loss of composure. Only Emperor Ruwen, seated high upon the Golden Dragon Throne, cast a brief, inscrutable glance toward his daughter.

Chu Huaijing retrieved her brush, immediately straightened her posture, and lowered her head, standing in silent breathlessness.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, this matter is absolutely certain,” continued the minister who had brought the report. “The news arrived via express courier. It is said that the collapse revealed the imperial tombs of the Si Dynasty from over thirty thousand years ago, where seven former emperors are interred. As the current situation beneath the tombs is unknown, this news was brought specifically for Your Majesty’s consideration.”

The Si Dynasty of thirty thousand years ago.

Very little history of the Si Dynasty remained for study. Emperor Ruwen pondered for a brief moment before decreeing, “Send men into the tomb. If there are any well-preserved texts or murals, make rubbings of every single one and bring them back.”

The minister complied and retreated into the ranks of the morning court. The atmosphere turned solemn once more, yet Chu Huaijing remained restless, a sense of unease gnawing at her.

Huaizhuang and Huailing had only set out yesterday. Logically, they should not have found the exact location of the mausoleum so quickly. Even at the fastest pace, the journey should have taken ten days to half a month. Could such a coincidence truly exist? They had just spoken of excavating a mausoleum, and today, one collapses.

Even if she suspended her disbelief and assumed they reached it and successfully entered, what on earth did her sisters do inside to make the entire structure collapse?

While her mind was still wandering, another minister stepped forward to address Emperor Ruwen. “Reporting to Your Majesty, residents of a county in Linzhou have been dredging ancient city bricks and rare jades from a lake bed. It is claimed that the ruins of an ancient city from ten thousand years ago may lie beneath the waters.”

Strange occurrences were surfacing one after another lately.

Chu Huaijing lowered her eyes. She could not say exactly when it started, but strange tales in Taiyin were becoming increasingly frequent, and they all pertained to ancient dynasties from ten thousand years ago. Following her habit of deduction, she suddenly stiffened.

These events had all begun happening after those immortals arrived in Taiyin.

They were like a gust of wind, coming and going without a trace, yet invisibly stirring the buried or forgotten history of Taiyin. Perhaps it was not that strange events were increasing, but that everyone was finally waking up from a state of chaos.

Come to think of it, the God of War, Jie Fanyin, whom she once believed in unconditionally, had a strange origin that felt jarringly out of place among the goddesses enshrined in Taiyin. Why had she never realized this before?

Once noticed, his existence felt like a blot of ink on a white sheet of paper, making Chu Huaijing restless and impossible to ignore.

The minister continued his report. “It is said that many items have been salvaged from the lake, including numerous artifacts regarding ancient deities. If investigated thoroughly, I fear it may overturn many of Taiyin’s current beliefs.”

Emperor Ruwen massaged his temples. “No matter. Investigate first.”

The Divine Sacrifice was still a month away.

Rarely was Chu Huaijing’s mind so cluttered. The imperial mausoleum, the ruins, and the upcoming Taiyin Divine Sacrifice; these three threads intertwined in her heart. It was not until she followed the civil and military officials out of the court that she regained a semblance of calm.

Concerned for her sisters, she headed toward their living quarters. After walking a distance along the palace path, she ran directly into two people before reaching Chu Huailing’s palace.

“Huaizhuang? Huailing?” Even the usually composed Crown Princess was startled. She asked in astonishment, “What are you doing here? Where is Immortal Shen and the others? Huaizhuang, are you injured? Someone, call the imperial physician!”

“Do not, do not call the physician,” Chu Huaizhuang said, clutching her stomach with a haggard expression. “Imperial Sister, you have too many questions, but none of that matters. The priority is to have the Imperial Kitchen send food. Immortal Shen and the others are immortals and do not need to eat, but Huailing and I spent a day wandering a tomb and are about to faint from hunger.”

Chu Huailing stood there, asking something of Chu Huaijing for the first time in years. “Imperial Sister, I wish to dine.”

“Order the Imperial Kitchen to serve a meal,” Chu Huaijing said with a hint of helplessness. “This is closest to Huailing’s palace. Let us go there first. We can talk about what you two saw yesterday once you are full.”

“Speaking of which, it seems Chu Huaizhuang and Chu Huailing have not eaten either,” Shen Fuxin remarked. “They certainly can endure; they went back just like that without saying a word.”

Inside a restaurant in the Taiyin capital, Shen Fuxin sat in her usual spot by the window, leisurely eating from a bowl of ice.

Shen Sha now possessed a mortal constitution. Yesterday in the mausoleum, they had all forgotten this fact. Not only were Huaizhuang and Huailing enduring it, but Shen Sha had also remained silent about her hunger, suffering through it until Shen Fuxin teleported them back to the palace. Only after the three of them returned to the city did they mention wanting something to eat.

This would not do.

Shen Fuxin looked thoughtfully at Shen Sha as she ate. The latter felt a chill run down her spine under the gaze, sensing that Shen Fuxin was definitely plotting something. As if seeing through Shen Fuxin’s thoughts, Ji Ting mused, “How should we bring Shen Sha up with us?”

Shen Sha’s amber, tiger like eyes lowered. Though she did not speak, both Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting could sense her low spirits. During their time together, although Shen Sha still had not recovered coherent memories, her dreams had become more frequent.

In her dreams, she was majestic and extraordinary. Though her stature and features remained the same, her murderous aura and indomitable spirit were different from the present. She felt a sense of nostalgia and woke up with a lingering melancholy. In the presence of Shen Fuxin and Ji Ting, she often felt aimless.

They would not stay with a mortal for long, Shen Sha thought. Even if they were willing, the lifespan of this mortal body was limited. She could follow for a year, ten years, or twenty, but could she follow for a hundred?

“Mortals can also attain enlightenment and cultivate, right?” Shen Fuxin said nonchalantly. “She can just ascend with us.”

“I am afraid not.” Ji Ting had considered this method, but Shen Sha’s current mortal body was like an airtight wooden plug. Even basic enlightenment was difficult. This body seemed deliberately crafted for her to prevent her from comprehending spiritual energy, likely to ensure this former god, banished for thirty thousand years, could not ascend again to seek revenge.

Seeing Ji Ting purse her lips and shake her head, Shen Fuxin refused to accept it. Since leaving the tomb, a wild hypothesis had been forming in her mind, though she had not had the chance to test it yet.

Once Shen Sha finished her meal, Shen Fuxin rose and paid the bill, walking out of the restaurant under the confused gazes of Shen Sha and Ji Ting.

Earlier, Shen Fuxin had spent a large sum to rent a fine estate in the capital. It was large and quiet enough for the three of them to cause as much trouble as they liked during their stay in Taiyin. Seeing that she seemed to have a plan, Ji Ting asked curiously, “Xiao Fu, what do you intend to do?”

Shen Fuxin refused to say. She led them back to the rented house, closed the main gates, and set up a soundproofing barrier invisible to mortals before finally summoning her spatial pouch.

She pulled a golden lotus flower from the bag, letting it suspend before the three of them.

Is this a funerary object of the Si Emperor? Ji Ting recalled Shen Fuxin lingering for two steps in the tomb passage and instantly understood where it came from. This lotus seemed to serve as a stabilizing needle for the entire mausoleum. It was no coincidence that the tomb, buried for tens of thousands of years, collapsed the moment Shen Fuxin took it.

The lotus was crafted of pure gold, perfectly preserved with exquisite, lifelike craftsmanship. Most importantly, it contained an incredibly pure spiritual energy.

Having made up her mind, Shen Fuxin did not intend to hide it. She said, “I snatched this from the tomb.”

After saying this, she stared at the lotus for a few moments before turning to look at Shen Sha, who appeared calm but had a trace of bewilderment in her eyes. “Do you want to be Shen Sha or Shen Sha the Slaughterer?”

Shen Sha subconsciously asked, “What?”

“If you want to stay in the human world and continue being Shen Sha the butcher, you face no risk and can return to the State of Ruo whenever you wish,” Shen Fuxin’s features looked soft, but her words were ruthless. “If you want to come back, to hold your dreams in your hands and crush the bones and flesh of those who harmed you and your friends, then you must become the former Slaughterer. You cannot do so without paying a price.”

Shen Sha, or Shen Sha, this once divine and brilliant God of War stood in her mortal flesh, gazing blankly at the green clad immortal before her. She opened her mouth. “I”

Shen Fuxin interrupted her. “Do you trust me?”

This time, Shen Sha answered quickly. “I do.”

At this point, the smile on Ji Ting’s face froze. She vaguely guessed that Shen Fuxin was about to do something shocking again, but she did not stop her. Shen Fuxin’s words were blunt but true. Yet, did she have a better way?

“Good,” Shen Fuxin gripped the lotus in one hand, her expression casual. “I will refine a pill for you to eat. If you die from it, just wait for reincarnation. When you are reborn as a human, I will refine a new one for you to try.”

“Xiao Fu,” Ji Ting tugged at Shen Fuxin’s sleeve. “You have not yet mastered refining specific pills with precision”

Shen Fuxin was perfectly candid. “I know, but she said she trusts me.”

This trust was heavy. A single mistake would cost a life. Shen Fuxin lowered her eyes to look at the golden lotus in her hand. This object gave her an eerie sense of familiarity, not the lotus itself, but the spiritual energy encased within it.

Such pure energy was rare even for Shen Fuxin, an immortal embryo who had grown in the Celestial Realm for seven hundred years.

She was not being reckless with human life. Rather, she had a lingering feeling that a storm of unprecedented proportions awaited them upon their return to the Celestial Realm. Because of this, Shen Fuxin practiced day and night, more diligently than in her previous life. Similarly, she did not want to be alone. She needed more people she could use, subordinates or companions.

Did she want to be the butcher or the God of War? For Ji Ting, who had returned from the mausoleum, this question would not be difficult if she were in the same position.

She now knew one more thing besides her own name.

In the Divine Realm, her name was Wuzhen. In the human world, it was Ji Ting. Clearly, Ji Ting remembered the latter rather than the former. Aside from her memories being erased, there was likely another reason. She identified more with her identity as Ji Ting.

The dangers Wuzhen would face upon returning were perhaps unimaginable, but she was unwilling to hide. Perhaps wandering between the immortal and human realms could hide her for a moment, but could she hide forever? Moreover, she had yet to complete the tasks she left unfinished as Wuzhen.

Even if she still could not remember, she felt it was important. She could not run.

Amidst the blowing warm breeze, Shen Sha broke the silence between them.

“I want to go back,” Shen Sha said. “I want that former name you spoke of. I want to be Shen Sha.”