I Got Together with the Goddess [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 58

The Saintess’s Sarcophagus

“To think that I, Xu Shou, who cultivated the Way of Corpses and Ghosts and became a Great Gu Master, intended to refine all the Gu masters of the Miao Frontier into my corpse-puppets, only to be preempted by a mere slip of a girl. Now that she has obtained the Immortal Gu, she is no longer who she once was; even I cannot make a move against her.”

“As the saying goes, he who understands the times is a wise man. I shall present that Saintess’s sarcophagus to Shui Mingsheng as a gift, making myself her first meritorious official. You lot, these so-called righteous path practitioners of the past, just wait to watch me leave you in the dust!”

Xu Shou mocked the Gu masters of Daoist Ridge ruthlessly before leading the way to take the thousand-year-old Saintess’s sarcophagus.

As a Gu master capable of creating corpse-puppets, he knew the secrets of the underground better than anyone. On the very first day the path up the ridge opened, Xu Shou’s Corpse King Gu had already infiltrated Daoist Ridge to search for the so-called hidden treasures. Although Shui Mingsheng had been the first to find the wooden box, he had discovered a sarcophagus.

It was precisely the sarcophagus of the Thousand-Year Saintess! It was said that the final treasure of the Saintess was hidden within, but the strange, ancient power radiating from it made people hesitate to touch it.

Xu Shou was certain he could not open the sarcophagus himself, so he planned to offer it to Shui Mingsheng as a favor.

“Xu Shou, what are you doing here acting so suspiciously?” Shui Mingsheng asked.

“I have come specifically to present the Thousand-Year Saintess’s sarcophagus to Milady Shui, to assist you in obtaining the treasures of the third level,” Xu Shou said, bowing with his hands clasped. “I only hope that Milady Shui might spare my humble life.”

“I am not one to kill indiscriminately,” Shui Mingsheng replied. “What have you done that would make it a necessity for me to kill you?”

“Then this lowly one can rest easy. I hope to serve under Milady’s command.”

“Get lost. Leave the item behind.”

“Yes, yes.” Xu Shou retreated awkwardly.

Shui Mingsheng looked at the sarcophagus left outside the Cyan Jade Pavilion, her expression unreadable.

Xin Fang was the first to speak: “Ming… Mingsheng, the sarcophagus is here, but I do not know if there is a trap.”

Shui Mingsheng had suddenly ascended to become the number one Gu master in the Miao Frontier. In a land where strength was revered, she was effectively the “Great Ancestress” of all Gu masters. Hearing everyone cry out “Milady Shui” made it difficult for even Xin Fang to adjust to the change.

Shui Mingsheng had originally intended to spend a few leisurely days with Jiang Yiqing inside the Cyan Jade Pavilion. She hadn’t expected the sarcophagus to be delivered to her doorstep. If she didn’t open it now, wouldn’t she become a laughingstock to those watching her, making them think she lacked the courage?

“I want to see exactly what is placed inside this sarcophagus.” Shui Mingsheng took a step forward.

Jiang Yiqing pulled her back. She felt that same uneasy premonition she had experienced before at the Five Poisons Cave.

However, this time, Shui Mingsheng did not listen to her. She brushed Jiang Yiqing’s hand away and approached the sarcophagus.

Jiang Yiqing stood frozen in shock.

When no one was watching, a look of agony flickered across Shui Mingsheng’s face, but she quickly concealed it.

Shui Mingsheng attempted to use her own power to open the vessel, but even with the strength of two Immortal Gu, she could not budge the lid made of thousand-year-old cedar.

There seemed to be a powerful restriction upon the sarcophagus that required a power of the same source to unlock it.

Shui Mingsheng employed the power of the “Saintly Hand.” Her porcelain-white hands, like those of a mother embracing her child, gently lifted the lid of the sarcophagus with ease.

As the lid was pulled back, everything within was revealed to the crowd.

There lay the body of the Thousand-Year Saintess, preserved by the “Immortality Gu,” still appearing exactly as she did in the final moment of her life.

In her shock, Shui Mingsheng took a step back.

Jiang Yiqing and Xin Fang hurried to her side. Jiang Yiqing covered her lips, her eyes reflecting an unbelievable sight, and whispered, “This is the Saintess…”

She was an exquisitely beautiful woman dressed in white. A wreath of flowers rested on her chest, and beside her hand lay a divine object emitting an otherworldly light—a bell. Surrounding her were Gu insects glowing like fireflies; these were the Immortal Gu she had used in life, refusing to leave her side even after a thousand years.

“Junior Shui Mingsheng pays respects to the Great Saintess,” Shui Mingsheng said, her eyes fixed on the Insect-Calling Bell as she reached out to grasp it.

“The third treasure of the Saintess must be this Insect-Calling Bell,” Shui Mingsheng said with a hint of pride. “With this bell, I can preside over the sacrifices just as the Saintess did, obtain the protection of the Mountain God, and rule over the vast lands of the Miao Frontier.”

“Mingsheng, be careful!”

As the two of them shouted in unison, Shui Mingsheng was still immersed in this fantasy. She didn’t know what was happening to her, but it was as if someone was applying a psychological suggestion, making her feel that she alone was supreme between heaven and earth. Even though she knew this wasn’t her true self, she found herself unable to resist the suggestion.

In the moment she exposed a vulnerability, another hand grasped the Insect-Calling Bell along with hers. As the bell chimed, the White Emperor Dream-Bright Gu and the Red Lotus Nirvana Gu on Shui Mingsheng’s body reacted as if sensing something; they were shaken out of her body. Her soul felt as if it were being rocked by a great force—it felt as though half of her three spiritual souls and seven physical souls were being sucked out. Fortunately, the Love Gu sensed the danger and desperately anchored her spirit.

“Saintess?!” Shui Mingsheng regained her senses and demanded, “You are actually seizing my soul? Why are you doing this?”

The crowd saw the body of the Saintess floating up from the sarcophagus. Though her eyes remained closed, she seemed to have halfway returned to life. Her voice descended from above, sounding eerie and strange:

“Shui Mingsheng, your task ends here. I am very grateful that the Miao Frontier produced such an excellent descendant like you. Let me walk the path ahead in your stead.”

“No, what are you saying?” Shui Mingsheng looked at her in horror. “Did you design this inheritance just to find a suitable person to refine? Do you intend to sacrifice my flesh and blood as your vessel so that you may be resurrected?”

“Otherwise, did you think pie would just fall from the sky?” The Saintess’s voice held a trace of mockery within its majesty.

“No, you cannot do this! I promised Yiqing that I would protect her for a lifetime. You cannot separate us!” Shui Mingsheng looked toward Jiang Yiqing. In this moment, she realized she had been terribly wrong. After gaining power, she had become preoccupied and stopped treasuring every second spent with her.

But now, the pain of loss caused the Love Gu to stir restlessly within her, making her heart ache as if it were tearing apart.

“Shui Mingsheng, is your lover the most important thing to you? No, the desires in your heart are more important. Let her go. Your greed has ultimately ruined you, and it will ruin her as well.”

Shui Mingsheng tried to resist, but her own Gu insects had already begun to merge with the Saintess’s Gu. What was hers belonged to the Saintess. Not only did she lack the strength to fight back, but she felt her consciousness being assimilated by the consciousness coming from the other woman.

In this moment, she seemed completely brainwashed, even beginning to distrust herself.

Why had she come this far? She already had Yiqing, yet she hadn’t cherished it and chose to participate in this competition instead.

She had been too greedy, thinking that obtaining so much was simply her destiny. If she hadn’t paid a price, how could she expect such a return for nothing?

Most importantly, her heart truly hurt. The Love Gu was telling her that she had done something to hurt Jiang Yiqing.

She was no longer fit to stay by her side.

…

“No!!!” Jiang Yiqing’s scream pulled Shui Mingsheng back from the edge of despair. “It’s not like that!!!”

“Jiang Yiqing, what is this? Do you intend to save your lover? What exactly can you do?” the Saintess asked loftily.

“It was you! You’ve been lingering on Mingsheng’s body, using your own consciousness to seep into her through your power! You are like a shameful voyeur, trying to seize everything she has while calling it a treasure!” Jiang Yiqing shouted, her cheeks flushed red. She had never been this angry. “I do not acknowledge someone like you as the Saintess of the Miao Frontier!”

“What do you know?” The Saintess’s voice sounded angry, and the speed at which she was seizing Shui Mingsheng’s soul increased. She had to complete the consciousness transfer before the power of the Saintly Hand vanished.

However, the Trust Gu beside her took flight, moving from her side to Jiang Yiqing’s.

When Shui Mingsheng saw the light of the Trust Gu growing brighter and brighter, her eyes were no longer dull; it was as if a brand-new will and conviction had been injected into her.

“Yiqing, thank you. Thank you for trusting me…”

Shui Mingsheng hugged Jiang Yiqing tightly, as if trying to melt her into her own body. She had never craved a person so much in her life. Seeing her felt like seeing her own complete self.

“Thank you for always helping me find myself… I cannot be without you…”

“Mingsheng, I will always believe in you, even if my heart breaks for it.” Jiang Yiqing leaned against her shoulder, moved to tears by her words. She raised a hand to gently wipe the corner of her eyes.

Feeling her emotions, the Love Gu made Shui Mingsheng experience a heart-wrenching pain, yet the corners of her mouth turned up—she actually felt happy.

She would never let Yiqing be hurt again. But before that, she had one more important thing to do.

“What are you trying to do? After you replace me, are you going to look for your lover from your past life?!” Shui Mingsheng questioned the Saintess loudly. “Tell me, is that it?!”

“…” The Thousand-Year Saintess fell into silence. She tried to argue: “What are you talking about? She has already… passed away.”

“You know she passed away, yet you still want to replace me? Why? You want to find her reincarnation? Will her reincarnation still be the original her? Even if it is, do you intend to use someone else’s flesh and blood to be in a relationship with her? Even if you accept it, will she?”

“How will I know if I don’t try?” The Saintess’s voice carried a faint confusion and a neurotic obsession.

“For your unfathomable obsession, you would sacrifice Yiqing and me to complete all this?” Shui Mingsheng said. “How are you any different from those hypocrites in the Miao Frontier? Is this still the Thousand-Year Saintess I revere? Is this the ancestor who has been honored by everyone on this land for a thousand years?”

“…” After a long silence, the Saintess spoke: “Shui Mingsheng, are you saying that if you become my successor, you can become the next Saintess revered by everyone?”

“Am I not capable?” Shui Mingsheng’s inner resolve returned. She questioned the Saintess while gripping Jiang Yiqing’s hand tightly.

This time, she would never brush her away. She would never let go of her again. Never.

“You are only eighteen; your foundation is shallow and your power is insufficient,” the Saintess mocked. “Everything you have was bestowed by me. On what basis do you say you can become me?”

“What I do not understand, I will learn. I will take action and do my utter best, doing everything I possibly can,” Shui Mingsheng said. “Sooner or later, the people of this land will acknowledge me as well.”

“My legacy is immense. Can you bear it?”

Shui Mingsheng looked at Jiang Yiqing and said, “I can. Yiqing, if I ever do anything wrong, you must tell me.”

“Will you listen to me?” Jiang Yiqing asked.

Shui Mingsheng’s eyes grew moist as if she were about to cry. She said, “I will. I will listen to you. I will listen to everything you say.”

Seeing her genuine display of emotion, Xin Fang’s eyes grew hot. Moved, she turned her head away, afraid others would see her.

“…Fine. Shui Mingsheng, I shall pass everything I have to you.”

“Your junior is here.” Shui Mingsheng performed the formal bow of a disciple to the Thousand-Year Saintess.

“I did not do well enough. I hope you can be better than I was,” the Saintess said. “As the Saintess, your spiritual power can connect Heaven and Earth; you will possess a celestial body. I shall bestow the Human-Immortal Gu upon you to be planted in Jiang Yiqing, so that the two of you may be together forever.”

Shui Mingsheng looked at her, moved. She hadn’t expected the Saintess to have considered this. In her earlier impulse, she might have misunderstood her.

“This is a lesson I summarized from my own failure…” the Saintess said. “I searched for a thousand years before I found the Human-Immortal Gu, yet even it cannot resurrect those who have passed on. It truly is… a pity.”

“Senior, you have suffered for so long.” Jiang Yiqing also felt that her words earlier had been a bit harsh. She thought that if she lost Shui Mingsheng, she wouldn’t be able to remain any calmer than the Saintess. “Junior Yiqing thanks you for your fulfillment, and for the gift of the Human-Immortal Gu.”