The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 29

“She failed to find A-Que’s soul.”

“Chirp, chirp!”

A clear, sharp cry rang out from the birdcage. The little phoenix craned her neck, her eyes fixed intently on her Senior Sister, scrutinizing every inch of her expression.

If you’re injured, don’t just go running off! Senior Sister, where did you go? Are you feeling alright? Did you see a healer?

Stop worrying about my business and take care of yourself first… Or you know, you could just open the cage.

Over the past two days, Wen Xiwu had been living in a state of constant trepidation, nearly scaring herself to death. If Yun Heng hadn’t returned soon, she was prepared to find a way to roll the cage right out the door to look for her. A few more days of that isolation and she feared she’d develop a heart demon of her own.

Fortunately, Yun Heng looked slightly better than before. The shadows and grief clouding her eyes had cleared significantly, though Wen Xiwu had no idea what she had been up to during her absence.

Attracted by the commotion in the cage, Yun Heng’s attention shifted. Noticing the spirit fruits and grains were virtually untouched, she cleared them away and replaced them with a fresh selection of celestial fruits.

As she cradled the cage in her arms, her gaze seemed to drift through the window, past the swirling snow, toward some distant horizon.

Wen Xiwu ignored the new fruit. Her focus was entirely on Yun Heng. Her Senior Sister seemed calm, but she couldn’t tell if the woman had truly regained her senses.

“Lin Shu came to see me two days ago,” Yun Heng murmured, looking down at the little white fluffball. She still seemed to mistake Wen Xiwu for Qing Tuan. “She wanted to trade a Soul-Transference Herb for one of Zuo Lan’s relics. That herb can protect A-Que’s soul—it’s the key to making the secret technique work. So, I gave her one of Zuo Lan’s letters. I wonder if A-Que will be angry with me… if she is, will you help me coax her back into a good mood?”

Wen Xiwu tilted her tiny head. A letter from Zuo Lan?

Yun Heng’s pale fingertips gently stroked the bird’s head. The little white fluffball squinted her eyes, looking quite pampered.

She wouldn’t be mad at you, Wen Xiwu thought, nuzzling against Yun Heng’s hand.

But then, Wen Xiwu remembered that most of her correspondence with Zuo Lan contained secrets that shouldn’t be seen by outsiders. Afraid that her Senior Sister might discover her hidden dealings, Wen Xiwu had usually destroyed those letters after reading them. She shouldn’t have left any behind.

What Wen Xiwu didn’t realize was that these letters belonged to the period after her “death.” A century ago, news of her passing hadn’t reached the borders immediately. Zuo Lan, who was busy fighting demonic forces on the front lines, was still worried about Wen Xiwu being confined to the Cliff of Reflection and had sent letters periodically.

After Wen Xiwu “died,” the Wen Shen Sect fell into chaos for a long time. Once things settled, the disciples discovered the letters. Since Wen Xiwu was gone, they were handed over to Yun Heng.

It was unclear how Lin Shu had caught wind of this, but she had appeared with the Soul-Transference Herb exactly when Yun Heng needed it most to request Zuo Lan’s relic. The timing was so perfect it was suspicious.

In truth, it was entirely intentional.

“Actually, I know what she’s after.” Yun Heng’s fingers paused, her gaze turning vacant as she stared at nothing. “She wants to resurrect Zuo Lan. She wants me to test the feasibility of the resurrection technique first.”

The immortal-demon war at the border a century ago had been catastrophic. Even with Yun Heng holding back three Demon Lords single-handedly, the pressure elsewhere was immense. Perhaps it was a case of “enemies meeting on a narrow path,” or perhaps their fate wasn’t yet severed, but Zuo Lan and Lin Shu had been stationed at the same vital pass.

Later, Zuo Lan was ambushed outside the pass. She took her enemies down with her, her body falling into a spatial rift and vanishing without a trace. When the Yu Xi Sect sent word that her soul tablet had shattered, Lin Shu could no longer live in denial.

The grudges and twisted fate between them should have ended with that death. Yet, the ever-rational and cold Immortal Lin Shu refused to let go, eventually going as far as destroying her own cultivation to start anew.

The dead can find peace, but for the living, it is a torment worse than death. This was true for Yun Heng, and it was true for Lin Shu.

Both were slow to realize their own hearts. If the pain of loss hadn’t been so soul-shattering, they might never have faced their true feelings.

Chirp! So that was her plan! Wen Xiwu huffed. But on second thought, the tragedy of Zuo Lan and Lin Shu was truly a pity.

Wen Xiwu had heard about their past from Zuo Lan. The two were childhood neighbors from a small mortal village. When they were seven or eight, bandits had raided the village, pillaging and killing without mercy.

Zuo Lan and Lin Shu were the only survivors. The two children had leaned on each other, trekking all the way to where the Qian Yue Sword Sect was recruiting disciples. In those turbulent times, they were each other’s entire world, surviving countless life-and-death trials. How had they drifted so far apart?

Wen Xiwu sighed inwardly.

“Zuo Lan was your friend. I know you’d want her to come back. Don’t worry, once you’re back, I’ll help her…” Yun Heng whispered.

As Wen Xiwu listened, something felt wrong. Who is Senior Sister talking to?!

She looked up at Yun Heng, only to see her gazing tenderly at an empty space in front of her.

Wen Xiwu sensed a strange distortion in the air. She narrowed her eyes, peering closely, until she faintly discerned a wisp of black mist that seemed to warp the very space it occupied!

Wen Xiwu’s feathers puffed up instantly, turning her from a sleek fluffball into a round, angry sphere.

The cry of a phoenix erupted a sound of divine grace. As auspicious celestial beasts, phoenixes command flames that specialize in purging all worldly evils. Her indignant cry made the shadow flinch and vanish into thin air.

What was that? Has it been following Senior Sister? Wen Xiwu spread her wings slightly in a defensive stance.

Once the shadow vanished, Yun Heng’s eyes gradually regained their clarity.

She stood frozen for a moment, a look of profound sorrow washing over her.

When she was lucid, she knew the “Wen Xiwu” she saw was merely a hallucination born of her heart demons. But even if it was like drinking poison to quench a thirst, she just wanted to see A-Que.

“Qing Tuan” Yun Heng blinked, looking down at the cage and meeting the eyes of the little white bird.

“Right, you aren’t Qing Tuan.” Yun Heng’s hand retracted, her mood sinking. She remembered now, this was just a little creature that looked like Qing Tuan.

Wen Xiwu found herself left on the table again. As the cold fragrance of her Senior Sister receded, she let out a wronged chirp.

Just because I’m not Qing Tuan, you won’t even hold me? Since when did Qing Tuan become such a favorite?

I shouldn’t have let her make this cage. Qing Tuan should have stayed a free wild bird; then I wouldn’t be stuck in here, unable to leave!

Yun Heng pulled the Soul-Transference Herb from her storage bag. The silver veins on the leaves matched the descriptions in the ancient texts exactly.

Demonic secret techniques were rarely anything good. If she hadn’t been pushed to the brink of despair, she would never have used such a thing on her Junior Sister. One wrong move and the resurrected person could suffer unpredictable consequences.

She cradled the herb gently, her eyes softening.

It doesn’t matter. No matter what A-Que becomes, I will always stay by her side.

“Chirp, chirp!” Wen Xiwu’s indignation was cut short when she saw Yun Heng suddenly stand up.

Senior Sister, where are you going?

Wen Xiwu hopped frantically toward the edge of the cage. A sense of foreboding gripped her. She tried to snag Yun Heng’s sleeve with her pale yellow beak, but she couldn’t get a firm grip.

Yun Heng took the Soul-Transference Herb to the dungeon. Under the terrified gaze of the Wan Hun Demon Lord, she began the first step of the resurrection ritual.

The Demon Lord’s soul was tossed into the “furnace” to serve as fuel. The array began to spin violently. Yun Heng placed the Soul-Transference Herb and the other prepared materials into the center.

In the Cang Wang Realm, spells that toyed with time were the ultimate taboo. Not even those who had stepped into the Divine Realm dared touch them. There was once a Divine Realm expert who created a “Great Time Reversal Technique,” only to die from the backlash of his own creation.

The demonic resurrection secret was similar, a “Lesser Time Reversal Technique.” It couldn’t turn back time for the entire world, but it could summon a soul from the past to the present, provided that soul had already perished, so as not to have two identical souls in the same timeline.

Yun Heng’s goal was to gather her Junior Sister’s soul first. Once she had the soul, everything else would be manageable.

The Wan Hun Demon Lord was nearly drained dry. Supporting the Lesser Time Reversal required a staggering amount of power. Seeing that the Demon Lord was about to expire, Yun Heng began pouring her own energy into the array to fill the void.

Luckily, she had rested for two days and recovered slightly. She felt her power being swallowed as if she were sinking into a swamp. Her face grew deathly pale, but her eyes remained feverishly bright. After an unknown amount of time, a ripple of a time fissure appeared in the center of the array!

Yun Heng immediately threw the prepared talismans into the rift. She could retrieve her Junior Sister’s soul from here. From the initial preparations to this very moment, she had double-checked every step, there were no mistakes!

But as she reached into the fissure to find her Junior Sister’s soul, she found the space empty. There was nothing.

How…

The opening of a time fissure was brief. To extend it, Yun Heng forced even more power into the center of the array, ignoring the fact that she was aggravating her old wounds.

But no matter how hard she searched, her Junior Sister’s soul did not appear in that chaotic center. There wasn’t even a single fragment of a soul.

Did something go wrong?

She held the rift open with sheer force of will while re-examining the ritual outside. But even as her strength failed and she watched the rift slowly stitch itself shut, that chaotic void remained empty.

When everything finally went still, Yun Heng stared at her pale, empty hands. Droplets of blood from an unknown source stained her palms, but she didn’t notice. The light in her eyes had completely died out.

Support