Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 3

Yue Tingxi only knew that Miss Qin’s actions and words had always been arrogant and domineering, but she never imagined she could say such harsh words to her own sister.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. On her way here, Yue Tingxi had considered the worst-case scenario. After hearing this, she suddenly felt that a collaboration might actually be possible.

She cast an invisibility spell, found a patch of grass where she could hear them talking, and curled up, planning to wait until the sisters finished their conversation before approaching. However, as soon as she settled in, she felt a gaze sweep over the grass.

…Had she been discovered?

Then came Qin Yingguang’s stammering voice: “I-it’s not like she’d really kill someone…”

The young girl was truly frightened, and the momentum she had just moments ago to “slaughter” the Qingxu Sect dwindled.

Yue Tingxi heard Qin Suoliu’s gentle laugh. “It’s fine, I have it under control. It’s getting late, you should go rest.”

“Okay. If you’re still sad…and need me, just wake me up.” Qin Yingguang’s tone sounded a bit unwilling, but she still obediently said goodbye. “Good night, Sister!”

After Qin Yingguang’s footsteps faded and the door of the sleeping quarters closed, a moment later, Qin Suoliu’s voice once again reached Yue Tingxi’s ears.

“Who’s spying in the shadows? Get out here.”

The voice was cold and indifferent, completely different from the one she used with her sister just now.

Yue Tingxi didn’t panic. She first transformed into her human form, then lifted the invisibility spell, stepped forward, and cupped her hands. She lowered her voice and replied, “My name is Yue Tingxi. I barely managed to escape from the head of the Qingxu Sect and have come specifically to warn you and seek your protection!”

Perhaps it was her imagination, but she noticed a mixture of surprise and joy in Miss Qin’s eyes, and even a hint of… relief?

Yue Tingxi quickly suppressed this strange thought, fixed her gaze on Qin Suoliu, and waited for her reaction.

“Follow me.” After a quick once-over, Qin Suoliu didn’t reply but walked directly toward the sleeping quarters.

Yue Tingxi followed with long strides. Beneath her loose dark hair, the small jewels hanging from her hairpin swayed and clinked softly as she walked.

Inside the sleeping quarters, Qin Suoliu closed the door, gestured toward a valuable zitan wood chair, then picked up the celadon porcelain pot from the table. She summoned a few tea leaves with a flick of her hand and used her fire spiritual power to heat the pot, quickly brewing a cup of hot tea for her.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be nervous. First, have a cup of tea to soothe your throat,” Qin Suoliu said warmly.

Probably due to the negative impression from her previous life, the more polite Miss Qin was, the more Yue Tingxi felt it was a case of “a weasel giving a New Year’s greeting to a chicken—with ill intentions.”

Nevertheless, under Qin Suoliu’s gaze, she sat down and even boldly took a sip of the tea.

Ever since she began to consume things, she could easily swallow the five poisons of the mountains. Ordinary poisons would be neutralized as soon as they entered her body, so she wasn’t afraid of Miss Qin doing something to the tea.

Qin Suoliu had only closed the main door, leaving the wooden windows wide open, so one could look up and see the bright, full moon.

The slightly bitter tea went down her throat, soon followed by a comfortable, sweet aftertaste.

Yue Tingxi was originally clueless about tea ceremony. After becoming a “marionette” in her past life, she was controlled by the head of the Qingxu Sect to attend many immortal sect gatherings. Now, she could tell the quality of the tea with just one taste.

Precisely because she was drinking priceless tea, she was even more confused about what Miss Qin was up to.

…Could she have actually believed what I said? I haven’t even explained everything yet!

“Today is the wedding of the head of the Qingxu Sect and an unknown woman not from an immortal sect. Since you escaped from him and are wearing wedding clothes, you must be that new bride, correct?” Qin Suoliu asked.

“Yes, but I’m no legitimate new wife. He used an evil spell to abduct me from the mountains!” Yue Tingxi was furious at the mention of this, and her voice involuntarily rose. “When I woke up, I was already under an evil spell. At the wedding banquet, I heard that you were his fiancée, so I thought I’d take advantage of him toasting and congratulating his guests to escape and find you!”

Yue Tingxi’s nature had always been straightforward. In her past life, she had only learned to mix truths with lies at most. Fortunately, she had her hundred years of cultivation from her rebirth, so even if Miss Qin didn’t believe her, or thought she was “speaking nonsense” to sow discord and wanted to kill her, she was confident she could get away unscathed.

“Did you know him from before?” Qin Suoliu, however, asked a question Yue Tingxi had not anticipated.

“…He claims he was a child who got lost in the treacherous mountains twenty years ago and was saved by me. Now, he’s come with a heavy gift to repay my kindness,” Yue Tingxi said, furrowing her brow. She couldn’t resist a sarcastic remark, “I’ve never heard of someone forcefully abducting a woman in the name of repaying a debt!”

“I haven’t either,” Qin Suoliu agreed with a nod. Then she asked, “Did you come to me truly just to seek protection?”

Yue Tingxi subconsciously wanted to state her real purpose, but meeting Miss Qin’s gaze, she immediately became cautious and countered, “If I said it was for more than that, would you still be willing to take me in?”

Without waiting for Qin Suoliu to answer, she clasped her chest and said bitterly, “The evil spell the head of the Qingxu Sect cast on me seems to be able to turn a living person into a marionette. When I’m near him, everything I do is beyond my control—even a single word or expression is manipulated and toyed with in the palm of his hand!”

“I can’t describe this pain to you or make you feel it… Frankly, I wish I could kill him right now! If I kill him, the spell on me will naturally be broken. If he doesn’t die, I could be taken back like a marionette at any moment and imprisoned by his side!”

“But with the spell still on me, I can’t do it alone.” She lowered her eyelashes, letting her voice tremble slightly. “So… I thought of you and decided to try my luck here.”

Her hatred for Lin Chaoyao was as fierce as a summer thunderstorm. But with this fortuitous return to the past, she knew no one else would remember the past. She couldn’t tell anyone about it, so she had to win sympathy from another angle to justify her hatred.

Qin Suoliu listened intently, but did not respond, only watching her silently.

Sensing her gaze and the silence, Yue Tingxi thought perhaps she hadn’t offered enough in return for an alliance. So she continued, “I know what you want, and I can help you. The secret realm opening this summer and at the end of the year, the reclusive alchemists and artifact forgers of Linglong Pavilion…”

“What if I told you that none of those are what I want?”

Before she could finish, Qin Suoliu interrupted. “I only want everyone in the Qin household to be safe, and for no one to lay a hand on my family.”

Yue Tingxi was stunned. She opened her mouth, unsure how to respond, and could only offer a forced compliment. “Miss Qin is truly a person of great loyalty and righteousness.”

“That’s right. So, it’s not so easy for a righteous person to commit murder,” Qin Suoliu said meaningfully. “Furthermore, the current head of the Qingxu Sect is highly respected among the immortal sects. The person who kills him would become a public enemy, leading to an endless feud.”

“I understand. It requires both strength and evidence to bring him down,” Yue Tingxi nodded. “Don’t worry, I won’t accept your protection for nothing…”

Just as she was about to make more promises, she suddenly felt a wave of heat surge through her abdomen. Then, her entire body began to burn as if it were on fire, especially her face, which felt like it was tearing apart with a sharp pain.

“What… what did you put in the tea?” Yue Tingxi bent over, her breathing ragged.

“Since you’ve come to me with sincerity, you should show me your true face, shouldn’t you?” She saw Qin Suoliu’s eyes narrow. “How can you wear a ‘mask’?”

Yue Tingxi didn’t understand what she was saying. Just as she was about to protest, she heard a soft cracking sound on her face.

She felt her chin being pinched, the manicured fingertips lightly sweeping across her cheek, and a piece quickly peeled off.

“Look,” Qin Suoliu even held the fragment in her hand and brought it to her eyes. “This disguise spell is very clever. It used some special medium, and without experience, you wouldn’t be able to tell.”

It was only then that Yue Tingxi understood.

Lin Chaoyao did this!

The ten-thousand-year-old pact between the two races did not allow the demon race to reveal their true form outside the Eight Great Demon Mountains unless they had a master-servant contract with a human cultivator.

Since Lin Chaoyao wanted to turn her into a marionette and control her, but also didn’t want her identity to be exposed prematurely, he would naturally cast a high-level disguise spell to completely hide her demon form until the moment he needed it!

Miss Qin’s potion was also exceptionally potent. A few breaths later, Yue Tingxi uncontrollably revealed her true form.

A pitch-black snake tail replaced her legs, extending from beneath her wedding dress and nearly toppling the chair and table.

Caught completely off guard by the exposure of her demon identity, Yue Tingxi’s eyes changed. Her revealed snake tail immediately coiled around Qin Suoliu’s waist.

If Miss Qin intended to harm her, she would have to wrap her tail tightly, knock her unconscious, and then find another place to hide.

She met Qin Suoliu’s gaze resolutely, trying to find the answer she was looking for in the other woman’s eyes.

With her body encircled by the snake tail, Miss Qin showed no fear. She said unhurriedly, “Don’t be nervous. I once received a favor from a demon and swore I would never harm a kind demon in this life. If you behave, there’s no need for me to trouble you. Besides…”

She raised her hand to brush away the remaining disguise spell remnants from Yue Tingxi’s face, saying with pity, “I think I can understand now why you have to kill him.”

Yue Tingxi knew immediately that Miss Qin had figured out the source of the disguise spell.

“…Are you still willing to take me in now?” she asked, not holding out much hope, given her exposed demon identity.

“Of course. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, even if they are a demon,” Qin Suoliu said, casually picking a leaf that had stuck to her hair. “However, you need a different identity to stay in my household.”

Yue Tingxi immediately thought of a “master-servant blood pact.”

It was said that there was a lineage of “beast tamers” among human cultivators who could enter into a soul and blood pact with demons to make them serve them.

But even though having a demon with a legitimate identity and a blood pact would make it easier to move about the human world, she did not want to lose her freedom for the sake of collaboration. So she frowned and said, “If you want to form a master-servant blood pact with me, I’ll just have to figure things out on my own!”

She felt Miss Qin was silent for two seconds. “I just wanted to mimic that dog Lin’s reason and create a ‘past connection’ for us.”

“For instance: you once saved my life in the deep mountains. Many years later, you heard I was betrayed by a scumbag and rushed down the mountain overnight to help me. Now, you are my honored guest. What do you think of this identity?”

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