Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 55

“New girl’s here!” A girl turned her head and spotted Mu Ling at the door. After a quick glance, she covered her lips and giggled, “Number One-Eleven’s eyes bear some resemblance to that person.”

“I’d say the nose is somewhat similar too.” another girl chimed in.

“Who knows which lord has poor eyesight, she barely looks like that person at all.” someone else added.

…

Mu Ling stared blankly as these girls scrutinized her with curiosity, openly commenting on her appearance without restraint.

What on earth was going on?

She turned to the demon who had guided her there, seeking help, but the demon offered no explanation. Seeing that Mu Ling had entered the courtyard, they simply closed the gate behind her and left without another word.

Watching the demon’s retreating figure, Mu Ling stood frozen in place.

She cautiously observed the girls in the courtyard and noticed they seemed sharply divided into two factions. One group wore no makeup or adornments, appearing older and plainer. The other group was meticulously groomed, dressed in bright, eye-catching attire, as if ready to compete in a beauty pageant at any moment.

Mu Ling and the girls from both factions stared at each other in silence, her mind racing with countless thoughts. Finally, she mustered a smile toward the simpler-looking group on the right and said, “I’m Mu Ling. Lord Bai sent me here.”

“We know, everyone here is called Mu Ling!” The girls burst into laughter.

“Lord Bai has never sent anyone here before. Who knew it’d be such a clueless one.” An older-looking girl smirked at Mu Ling. “As you can see, we’re split into two groups here. We’re the ones who plan to keep our heads down, serving as maids in the demon palace, living humbly but safely…”

“Them? They believe in seeking fortune through risk, hoping to catch the eye of the Demon King or one of his generals and rise above their station.”

“Think carefully,” the girl said, giving Mu Ling a meaningful look before glancing toward the flower-covered wall. “You’re quite pretty. You might attract the lords’ attention. But let me warn you: if you resort to underhanded tricks, you might just end up as fertilizer for those flowers.”

“Thank you for the advice.” Mu Ling snapped out of her shock at the revelation that everyone in the courtyard shared her name and forced a smile. “With my plain looks, I wouldn’t dare entertain such delusions.”

She had made her stance clear.

“Then come with us.” The girl nodded in satisfaction, and two kind-faced girls stepped forward to show Mu Ling to her quarters.

True to their word, this faction sought only a quiet life, and the assigned room was rather modest.

The two girls explained the rules of the place in detail.

It turned out that the Demon King’s deceased Daoist companion had been named Mu Ling. All the girls here had been sent as “replacements” and had their names changed to Mu Ling.

Since everyone in the courtyard shared the same name, they referred to each other by the order of their arrival. Mu Ling, being the newest addition, was “Number One-Eleven,” while the two girls guiding her were “Number Twenty-Six” and “Number Thirty.”

“We’ve been here for quite some time, and since you’re young, don’t mind us speaking bluntly,” the two girls earnestly advised Mu Ling. “Rumors say the Demon King is deeply infatuated with that Fairy Mu Ling, but it’s probably just hearsay. Over the years, the Demon King has hardly ever glanced at the rear courtyard. Moreover, his temper is violent and erratic. A few sisters who tried to get close to him were turned to pulp before they even reached his chambers.”

Seeing Mu Ling hanging her head as if deeply shaken, the other girl sighed and patted her shoulder. “When we first arrived, we too dreamed of climbing the social ladder. But one must be alive to enjoy such extravagant fortunes. Life in the rear courtyard of the Demon Palace may be austere, but compared to the lawless chaos outside, it’s already quite good.”

Mu Ling hadn’t expected things to be like this.

Originally, she had planned to find a way to meet Yan Qi directly. Regardless of their complicated past feelings, she thought their years of master-disciple bond would at least ensure he wouldn’t harm her. But hearing these women’s accounts, Yan Qi had become cruel and bloodthirsty. Utterly unlike the Qingge she remembered.

Did she truly understand Yan Qi at all?

For Mu Ling, only half a year had passed, but for Yan Qi, fifteen years had gone by.

Coming from modern society, Mu Ling had seen too many cases where partners mourned deeply only to remarry the next year. After fifteen years, to Yan Qi, she was at best a one-night-stand ex-girlfriend who had faked her death and fled. Meanwhile, Yan Qi, with his extraordinary talent and immense power, could summon countless admirers with just a flick of his finger.

Putting herself in his shoes, Mu Ling wasn’t sure she’d still remember a scummy ex either.

And if Yan Qi had truly become the violent, ruthless figure everyone described, showing up with a stranger’s face might get her killed before she even reached him.

Her urgency to see Yan Qi gradually faded, replaced by growing doubts.

She would have to take it slow. As long as she remained in the Demon Palace, an opportunity would eventually arise.

…

Mu Ling rested in her quarters for a day. Early the next morning, several girls knocked on her door.

“You’re new here, and we don’t want you accidentally offending any demonic cultivators, so we can’t assign you certain tasks yet,” they said, leading her to a plum grove. “This grove is rarely visited. For now, you’ll be responsible for tending to these plum trees.”

It was relatively light work.

Mu Ling quickly thanked them with a bright smile. “Thank you, sisters, for looking out for me.”

“You’re young and might not know the intricacies of caring for these trees,” they replied, pleased by her gratitude and cheerful demeanor. They generously shared tips on plum tree care before leaving her to the grove.

Though the plum grove was vast, the Demon Palace spared no expense in its upkeep. The fertilizers were rich in spiritual energy, so Mu Ling only needed to water, fertilize, and occasionally prune the trees. Leaving her with most of the day free.

For the remaining time, Mu Ling sat in the plum grove meditating and cultivating. After all, the spiritual energy here was so abundant, greatly aiding her practice.

On this day, Yan Qi detected an extremely faint fluctuation of spiritual power. Just the kind emitted by someone who had barely learned to draw qi into their body. The demon palace had captured many cultivators as slaves, so it was likely the aura of one of them. Yan Qi initially intended to ignore it, but the next moment, she felt a sharp pain in her chest, worse than ever before.

Yan Qi didn’t know why. After reaching the pinnacle of her cultivation, her body had become nearly invulnerable, akin to a demigod. Very few things in this world could still cause her pain.

Yet her chest felt hollow, as if something were missing, the pain piercing and bone-deep.

This pain had begun fifteen years ago.

Back then, she had just reached the peak of her cultivation, yet she hadn’t felt the joy she’d expected. She knew she had forgotten something of great importance.

Her memories of the past three hundred years had condensed into a single line: she had disguised herself as Lin Qingge and infiltrated the Qingyi Sect, but her identity was exposed, leading to a rift with the immortal realm.

The details, however, remained completely lost to her.

Others told Yan Qi that she had forgotten a woman named Mu Ling and everything related to her.

She had turned her hair white for Mu Ling, married Mu Ling’s spirit tablet, and done countless things that seemed utterly unlike her.

Yet when she looked at Mu Ling’s image in the memory stone, she felt nothing at all.

To please her, many had presented her with their own versions of ‘Mu Ling.’ She kept them in the rear courtyard but never once bothered to visit them.

Yan Qi had always been resolute, never allowing herself to show weakness. Since then, she had never revealed her pain in front of others, yet it still surfaced unpredictably. Sometimes during banquets, sometimes when she saw others reading novels, sometimes even when she saw mortal children playing with new toys…

In her spiritual realm, she kept two books. One was incomprehensible to her, while the other was titled The True Record of a Genius Girl’s Growth. It detailed the daily interactions between Mu Ling and Lin Qingge. Yan Qi couldn’t fathom herself ever being so obedient to someone, learning to cook for a woman, or abandoning her training just to play with her.

Yet for some reason, Yan Qi never destroyed that book. Instead, she would occasionally flip through it, and sometimes, the corners of her lips would lift involuntarily.

Often, when the pain struck, Yan Qi would feel the urge to slaughter every hypocritical cultivator in the world.

But to ascend to godhood, she needed to keep them alive until the final sacrificial rite.

Yan Qi didn’t even know why she wanted to become a god. Long ago, she had no such obsession. Yet in recent years, a subconscious voice seemed to whisper to her, insisting that she must ascend.

She didn’t need anyone to tell her. This was all inextricably linked to the woman named ‘Mu Ling.’

Suppressing the fury in her eyes, Yan Qi followed the faint spiritual fluctuation until she arrived at a plum grove.

The grove was blanketed in blooming plum blossoms, and beneath one of the trees, she spotted a slender figure.

Thump-thump…

The moment she saw that figure, Yan Qi’s heart suddenly began to race…

She didn’t know what had come over her. As if compelled by some unseen force, she took a step forward, staring blankly at the girl’s profile as she sat meditating with her eyes closed. The girl’s scent was incredibly pleasant, sweet like candy, inexplicably calming Yan Qining’s restless heart.

Who was she?

Mu Ling was unaware that someone stood behind her. During this period of spiritual cultivation, her progress had been remarkably swift, and she had soon reached the stage of drawing qi into her body.

Drawing qi into the body was a foundational technique for cultivators, but everyone had their own unique ‘essence.’ Mu Ling never expected her ‘essence’ to be exactly the same as before.

Did that mean she could use her ‘essence’ to prove her identity to others after reuniting?

Mu Ling opened her eyes in good spirits, a faint smile crossing her face, which only deepened the intensity in Yan Qi’s gaze behind her.

“Who are you?”

Mu Ling suddenly heard an achingly familiar voice from behind.

Her body stiffened, and she turned around in disbelief to see Yan Qi standing beneath the plum tree.

Yan Qi was dressed in blood-red robes, her shoulders dusted with fallen plum blossoms. Clearly, she had been standing there for some time. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at Mu Ling, her gaze shimmering with fragments of light. Her features were still as breathtakingly beautiful as ever, but her hair had turned white. Standing amidst the sea of white plum blossoms, Yan Qi was the most striking sight of all.

Mu Ling stared at Yan Qi in a daze, countless emotions swirling in her heart. A certain suspicion arose within her, and her eyes gradually filled with tears. Unwilling to accept it, she released her ‘essence’ once more. Lin Qingge from before had known her essence so intimately.

“Who are you?” Yan Qi frowned, seeing Mu Ling frozen in silence, as if frightened to tears, and repeated her question.

Mu Ling’s heart plummeted into an icy abyss.

She closed her eyes, concealing the turmoil within, and spoke softly, “I am Mu Ling.”

Mu Ling had imagined countless scenarios for their reunion: Yan Qi might torment her, imprison her as before, perhaps she had already found someone new, or perhaps she had completely let go of that love from fifteen years ago…

But Mu Ling had never imagined that Yan Qi would forget her entirely.