The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 34

She is her A-Que; she has come back.

Wen Qiwu was startled awake by a biting chill. Opening her eyes, she found herself trapped in a place where she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face. She took two steps forward before being blocked by an invisible wall. Sensing hostile energy surging in the darkness, she dared not lower her guard.

The next instant, something hidden in the shadows launched a sneak attack. Having been prepared, Wen Qiwu dodged it immediately.

It was only then that she realized she was reaching out with human hands, not bird wings. Her second attempt at separating her consciousness was far more practiced than the first; she had managed to manifest a human form.

However, she still couldn’t feel any immortal power. After all, she had only projected her consciousness, not her cultivation. Being surrounded by those shadow entities proved to be a grueling struggle.

Where is the owner of that voice? The person who brought her here hadn’t given her instructions. Wen Qiwu recalled a similar experience before she last peeked into her sister’s dream, but back then, Qing Tuan had simply clawed a hole through the barrier.

The forces in the dark did not welcome her. They seemed intent on driving her away. Wen Qiwu dodged a continuous stream of attacks while trying to mimic Qing Tuan’s method of breaking the barrier.

But upon trying it herself, she realized it was much harder than it looked. No matter how she attacked, the barrier wouldn’t budge. Qing Tuan had made it look so effortless—how had it done it?

That little phoenix was truly… a hidden master.

She wondered if their previous encounter had been a coincidence and if Qing Tuan was anywhere nearby now.

Hiss…

A strange sound caught her ear. She twisted her body just in time to avoid a snake-like bolt of black energy that nearly pierced her heart. She focused her mind, dealing with the threats cautiously, unable to spare a thought for anything else.

Whoosh!

A cluster of white flame suddenly erupted in the darkness, its core tinged with a faint cyan glow.

The “black snake” that had just attacked her dove straight into the fire and was instantly incinerated. The entities that had been closing in on her retreated like rats fleeing a cat. The space around Wen Qiwu cleared, and the burning white flame floated toward her. She reached out to cup it in her hands, and from that moment on, nothing dared obstruct her path.

“Qing Tuan, is that you?” Wen Qiwu whispered to the flame.

This fire was nearly identical to her own, like two little white fluff-balls huddled together. She thought of Qing Tuan, who currently looked just like her bird form.

The flame didn’t answer, but its flickering light pointed the way forward.

Wen Qiwu immediately ran in the direction it indicated. The black mists lurking in the shadows seemed frustrated; she could feel sinister eyes watching her every move from the dark.

“What on earth are these things?”

It might have been her imagination, but she felt a trace of her Senior Sister’s power mixed within that darkness.

As she walked, she hit another “wall.” This one didn’t seem to fear the fire. Just as she stepped forward to find a way through, the shadows finally lost their patience and lunged. They were willing to risk being burned to ash just to keep her from going further.

She must not go any further!

Wen Qiwu understood that the more they tried to stop her, the closer she was to the truth! She used the flame to incinerate the encroaching mist and began smashing the fire against the “door” blocking her path. After dozens of strikes, she finally saw faint cracks appearing.

How long would it take to break through?

ROAR!

A monstrous low growl echoed from behind. She turned to see the black mist coalesce into the giant head of a Rakshasa. Its bloody maw opened wide, ready to swallow her whole!

Wen Qiwu braced her legs to dodge, but a sudden force grabbed the back of her collar and yanked her backward. The strength was so immense that she stumbled back instead of jumping away.

Oh no!

Creak…

Was that the sound of a door opening?

In the pitch-black environment, a streak of blood-red light spilled onto the ground alongside the white fire in her hands. Wen Qiwu felt the ground vanish beneath her and fell backward.

“Go now,” the gentle voice spoke again.

Wen Qiwu’s eyes widened. For a split second, she thought she saw a woman standing by the dark doorway, her face obscured. She was certain she had never met her, yet a wave of inexplicable sadness washed over her. She instinctively reached out, but her hand passed through thin air.

“Her Inner Demon is about to trap her in this dream forever. Go and wake her. Any later, and she will be in grave danger.”

Wen Qiwu landed on the ground. Fortunately, as she was only a consciousness, she felt no pain. Remembering the woman’s warning, she scrambled to her feet without a second’s delay.

The world outside the door was no longer pitch black. This was her sister’s dream. The sky was a heavy, oppressive crimson that felt suffocating just to look at.

This place… it looked like the Wenshen Sect.

She looked toward the collapsed buildings in the distance. That was the Armory. In thousands of years, that building had only ever collapsed once, the time the Lord of Ten Thousand Souls led his army here. Was her sister dreaming of that day a hundred years ago?

She searched everywhere for Yun Heng. No one was at Wunwu Mountain or Wanyao Mountain. Finally, she went to Wendo Mountain—the place where she had “died.”

Faint snowflakes drifted through the air, but each one bore a red stain like blood, resembling the tears of an Immortal. Wen Qiwu caught a snowflake; it radiated a profound sorrow. Because this was a dream, everything within it carried the emotions of its master.

“Senior Sister…” Wen Qiwu bit her lip until it turned white. She sprinted up the mountain, her intuition screaming that Yun Heng was there.

The fierce battle against the Demon Lord’s avatar had taken place at the summit. She found the spot and saw a thin silhouette kneeling on the ground in the distance.

The peak was littered with faceless corpses and soaked in blood a scene of post-battle ruin. This was likely the sight that had greeted Yun Heng when she returned all those years ago.

Before Wen Qiwu could breathe a sigh of relief, she noticed her sister was cradling a “person” someone who looked exactly like her former self!

The Inner Demon!

The creature was whispering into Yun Heng’s ear. Wen Qiwu listened closely and realized every word was a malicious trap. It was using her identity to goad her sister into suicide!

Wen Qiwu rushed forward, fuming. This was the thing that had driven her sister to seek death time and time again! She thought to herself that if the Inner Demon were a physical object, she would chop it into eight pieces the moment she got out of that birdcage.

Yun Heng was covered in wounds, and the Inner Demon held a dagger…

No matter how many times the “Wen Qiwu” cut her, Yun Heng never let go of the embrace.

“Senior Sister” The Inner Demon’s face was stained with Yun Heng’s blood as it pressed the dagger against her back, right over her heart. “I have one last question for you.”

“Do you love me?”

The voice wasn’t quiet; Wen Qiwu heard it clearly. She froze for a heartbeat before doubling her speed.

Yun Heng’s expression dithered. She had spent a long time contemplating that question, but by the time she found the answer, it was far too late. Her body trembled. At that moment, the Inner Demon raised the dagger.

Schlick! The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed, but the dagger in the demon’s hand didn’t descend another inch.

Wen Qiwu had snatched up Yun Heng’s discarded sword and driven it straight through the demon’s heart.

Wen Qiwu’s expression was colder than ice. Had she not been worried about her sister, she would have made good on her promise to hack it to pieces.

But the scene was too horrific for Yun Heng. She watched blankly as the person in her arms dissolved into a pool of blood. Only one thought remained in her mind:

She had failed to protect A-Que again.

Whirr!

Wen Qiwu approached her sister cautiously, but a sharp whistle tore through the air. An icy sword appeared out of nowhere, its tip pressed against her throat.

Wen Qiwu stared at the blade in shock. She never imagined her sister would turn a weapon on her.

“Who… who are you?” Yun Heng’s voice shook. She should have swung the sword without hesitation, but even though the person before her looked somewhat unfamiliar, Yun Heng felt she could see a soul through those eyes that made her heart shudder.

The blade remained a hair’s breadth from Wen Qiwu’s skin, not drawing blood.

Yun Heng looked like a porcelain doll that had been shattered and glued back together; a single gust of wind could blow her apart. She couldn’t handle any more bad news.

Hearing her sister’s near-breakdown, Wen Qiwu touched her own face. She realized her appearance had shifted, and her sister hadn’t recognized her.

This was the first time she had tried to consciously alter her appearance, and the process was clumsy. She was so frustrated she wanted to cry. When she finally restored her original features and looked up at her sister with tear-filled eyes, Yun Heng’s eyes instantly turned red, and the sword slipped from her hand.

“A-Que?” After a long silence, Yun Heng finally found her trembling, raspy voice.

She wasn’t entirely lucid, so she relied on instinct. And the voice in her heart told her: This is A-Que. My junior sister has returned.

Yun Heng raised a shaking hand to wipe the tears from Wen Qiwu’s eyes, but seeing the blood on her own hands, she hesitated, afraid to soil her sister’s face and even more afraid that if she touched her, the person would vanish again.

Just as fear made Yun Heng pull back, Wen Qiwu lunged into her arms and began to sob. Yun Heng instinctively held her tight. The body in her arms was warm.

The tears in Yun Heng’s eyes finally broke. She held her, murmuring Wen Qiwu’s pet name over and over again.

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