Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 26

At this moment, Mu Ling finally seemed to understand why, in the original story, it was Lin Qingge who ultimately killed the Demon King!

Qingge was so bewitching. Just a faint smile directed at the notoriously violent and lustful Demon King would be enough to daze him. Even Mu Ling, who prided herself on upholding her teacher’s ethics and had never entertained any improper thoughts toward her disciple, felt a fleeting moment of temptation. How much more so would that lecherous Demon King, who was always quick to act on his desires?

Unfortunately, there was no time for Mu Ling to dwell on this realization. Before she could even cool her burning cheeks, the scene shifted again, and another vision unfolded before her:

In a small courtyard in early spring, a babbling toddler crawled across the lush green grass. A delicate fragrance wafted through the air as a pair of slender, beautiful hands reached out from behind Mu Ling. Lin Qingge wrapped her arms around Mu Ling’s shoulders and asked, “Wife, has Mingxin been fussing these past few days?”

Mu Ling turned her head and once again met Qingge’s remorseful gaze. With a faint smile, she wriggled free from Qingge’s embrace. “You’re back.”

But Qingge frowned, her fingers brushing lightly under Mu Ling’s eyes as she lowered her gaze, her expression darkening with anger. “Wife, have you been crying?”

“There’s something I need to tell you plainly,” Mu Ling heard herself say softly. “When I gave birth to Mingxin, my body was damaged. I can never conceive again. But if you ever think of taking a concubine or keeping a mistress because of this, you might as well divorce me first.”

“Who’s been filling your head with such nonsense?” Qingge’s voice rose sharply, laced with fury. “I, Liao Kun, swear to heaven that I will never betray Meng Wan in this lifetime. If I break this vow, may I be struck by lightning and die a wretched death!”

As she spoke, Qingge pulled Mu Ling back into her arms. Mu Ling struggled briefly but couldn’t break free, so she buried her face in Qingge’s chest and began to sob. Despite the overwhelming shame and frustration gnawing at her, she heard herself crying tearfully, “The Wang family is related by marriage to the immortal sect. Their youngest daughter is in the prime of her youth, hopelessly infatuated with you, and wants to marry you as a concubine. They’ve even offered the riverways of Jiangbei as her dowry. I—”

At this moment, Mu Ling truly wished she could vanish into the ground. She was actually crying in front of little Qingge! Heaven help her!

“I’m not a fool,” the memory continued relentlessly. Qingge cut her off, lowering her head as if to kiss away the tears beneath Mu Ling’s lashes.

These two were far too unrestrained! They were still in front of the child!

Mu Ling’s internal turmoil nearly materialized into reality. Glancing at the little one crawling around on the grass, she felt utterly mortified!

Fortunately, Qingge regained her senses just in time and released Mu Ling from her embrace.

Mu Ling sighed in relief, meeting Qingge’s complicated gaze. But before she could even call out, “Qingge!” the world spun once more.

The two of them went through many more trials:

There was the scene where Liao Kun was framed and thrown into a river, and Lady Meng searched along the waterways for three days and nights before finding him on the brink of death.

There was the scene where Lady Meng’s father passed away, and Liao Kun swore before his father-in-law’s coffin to cherish Lady Meng for the rest of his life.

There was the scene where Liao Kun was falsely accused and imprisoned, and Lady Meng exhausted her family’s wealth to free him and rebuild their future.

And so it went on…

Mu Ling and Lin Qingge lived out the bittersweet life of Liao Kun and Lady Meng through their roles. In the process, Mu Ling finally understood why Liao Kun had become gaunt and haggard after Lady Meng’s passing. It was a life where the two had supported and cherished each other. Losing one rendered the other’s life incomplete.

As Lin Qingge regained consciousness, the duration of each scene they experienced grew shorter and shorter. Finally, Lin Qingge gritted her teeth and shouted, “Break!”

A massive rift tore open before them. By the time Mu Ling realized what was happening, Lin Qingge had already pushed her out.

A nightmare beast stood before Mu Ling, holding the Mirror of the Heart in its grasp, its sinister gaze fixed on the scenes flowing like water within the mirror. Seeing Mu Ling emerge, the beast sensed danger and fled swiftly, but the shifting images in the mirror continued:

Lady Meng, poisoned years earlier by the youngest daughter of the Wang family, succumbed to the slow-acting toxin and passed away suddenly. Liao Kun, carrying his son, went to the Wang family to demand justice, only to be trampled underfoot by their in-law from the Bai Xu Sect, who pointed a sword at his nose and sneered, “Justice? The immortal sects are justice!”

Then came Liao Kun’s son, Liao Mingxin, who could neither endure the congenital poison nor the world where “immortal sects were justice.” On the eve of his imperial examination, he hanged himself on the back mountain. Later, a small beast Liao Kun had occasionally taken in devoured the dead Liao Mingxin’s heart and liver, taking his place to bring comfort to Liao Kun in his son’s stead.

Then, a hooded demonic cultivator appeared in the study of the grief-stricken Liao Kun: “I have a way to bring your wife back.”

The demonic cultivator concealed his aura with a magical artifact, turning the back mountain into his domain. To enter, one needed a Ninefold Talisman he provided, and stepping onto the mountain meant entering his formation.

Later, Liao Kun began luring people to the mountain under the pretense of searching for his son. But Liao Kun, kind-hearted by nature, grew remorseful when he saw that none returned. He broke ties with the demonic cultivator, refusing to deceive any more cultivators into entering the mountain. Yet, to his surprise, people kept coming, drawn by rumors.

As for the Mirror of the Heart in Liao Kun’s possession, that was why the demonic cultivator had sought him out. The mirror reflected the joys and sorrows of life, immersing those who gazed into it. Every heart harbored darkness, and only someone of utmost purity and goodness could wield the mirror. Liao Kun, a ten-life virtuous man without any cultivation, was the perfect candidate.

Moreover, the despair and fury within Liao Kun now activated the mirror’s darker aspect. When there were cultivators the demonic cultivator couldn’t deal with directly, he would have Liao Kun use the mirror to trap them inside, driving them to madness.

Ironically, the Mirror of the Heart originally wove illusions based on Liao Kun’s own life experiences. Anyone with strong willpower could break free yet most immortal sect disciples lost their minds within it.

Liao Kun had intended to defy the demonic cultivator and stop, even at the cost of his life. But then, Bai Fengqing and Bai Junhao of the Bai Xu Sect arrived at his doorstep, flaunting the same arrogant demeanor he despised most. Old grudges and fresh hatred collided, and Liao Kun made an exception sending them straight to the back mountain.

Mu Ling and Lin Qingge had suffered completely unwarranted calamities. Mu Ling’s act of delivering medicine had stirred Liao Kun’s innate kindness, so within the illusion, they not only experienced anger and sorrow but also joy and happiness.

After understanding everything, Mu Ling had a sudden realization.

The person Liao Kun held in the highest regard was Mu Ling, which was why she became the wife he couldn’t bear to harm in the mirror. After experiencing joy and happiness, Lin Qingge’s act of pushing Mu Ling out of the Heart-Mirror was partly influenced by Liao Kun’s deep affection, but Mu Ling believed that even without his influence, Lin Qingge would have pushed her out.

After all, Lin Qingge had always respected her as her master.

For a moment, Mu Ling felt an overwhelming tenderness in her heart.

At that moment, the Heart-Mirror split into two. One side showing Lin Qingge’s scene, the other the Bai brothers.

One of the Bai brothers had become Liao Kun, while the other had taken the form of a comrade who had started from nothing with him. This comrade, envious of Liao Kun’s amassed wealth, tampered with his ship out of jealousy, causing the deaths of everyone aboard.

Meanwhile, the scene on Lin Qingge’s side spun faster and faster, clearly indicating that she had regained her senses and was desperately resisting the Heart-Mirror’s effects.

…

As if afraid Lin Qingge might escape the mirror, the Nightmare Beast, while fleeing, added something to it. The mirror’s surface instantly turned pitch black, obscuring all images. Mu Ling, who had been worried about the mirror breaking during the fight and had been holding back, seized this opportunity to reach for it.

When Mu Ling grabbed the mirror and locked eyes with the Nightmare Beast, her vision wavered. In her sight, the beast once again took the form of her grandfather.

“Grandfather” held the mirror and smiled at her. “Ling’er, come here. Let me braid your hair?”

Mu Ling’s gaze seemed to grow unfocused as she took a slow step toward the Nightmare Beast. A glint of hatred flashed in its eyes, and the claws hidden in its sleeves suddenly grew razor-sharp. But just then, Mu Ling’s eyes cleared, and she snatched the mirror away!

Having shattered the illusion, Mu Ling left the bewildered Nightmare Beast to suffer the backlash. It coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground. Fortunately for it, the illusion hadn’t lasted as long as the one cast by the Nightmare Beast from the back mountains of Qingyi Sect, so it narrowly escaped death.

“Using the same trick twice, do you take me for a fool?” Mu Ling frowned at the beast, gripping the mirror tightly. “Your kind relies on willing victims, but now that I have someone to protect, I won’t fall into your trap again.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re the Nightmare Beast that escaped from Qingyi Sect’s back mountains, aren’t you? Release the people inside, and out of respect for your loyalty to your master, I might spare your life.”

But the Nightmare Beast only laughed coldly. “Decades ago, I watched you kill my mother with my own eyes. We barely escaped with our lives. Liao Zhuangzhu took me in, and I’ve always been grateful for his kindness. But my cultivation was too weak to protect his wife and child. The only way I could repay his fatherly love was by taking on Liao Mingxin’s form.”

“My debt to Manor Master Liao has been repaid. All that remains in my heart is hatred,” the Nightmare Beast glared bitterly at Mu Ling. “In my view, you so-called immortal sects are the greatest scourges of this world; breakers of faith, betrayers of righteousness for profit. Even as a ghost, I’ll never let you off.”

With a sudden jerk of its head, the Nightmare Beast’s corpse instantly turned cold. Only then did Mu Ling realize the creature had already suffered severe internal injuries. Earlier, to repay its debt, the Nightmare Beast had taken the form of Liao Mingxin to accompany Liao Kun. Perhaps Liao Kun had sensed something amiss, causing the Nightmare Beast to suffer backlash. Yet it had stubbornly endured without uttering a word.

Mu Ling recalled the Nightmare Beast’s mention of ‘us,’ indicating more than one of these creatures had escaped from the back mountains of Qingyi Sect.

For a long while, Mu Ling studied the mirror but found no way to free the person trapped within. After a moment of hesitation, she cast a spell to cremate the Nightmare Beast’s remains. Unbidden, her thoughts drifted to the immortal sects in Liao Kun’s memories: It was clearly a disciple of the Bai Xu Sect who had delivered medicine to the Wang family’s young mistress, indirectly causing Liao Kun’s wife’s death. Yet when Liao Kun confronted them, the immortal showed no remorse, even hurling insults at him.

All Liao Kun had ever wanted was an apology. But those lofty immortals paid no heed to a mortal’s rage and suffering. No one had considered how, in this oppressive world, a man who had been virtuous for ten lifetimes could ultimately be driven to evil, denied a peaceful end.

…