Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 38

Yue Tingxi thus stayed in the “Qin Mansion” with the young Qin Suoliu.

However, they both knew that the iris whale’s illusion would slowly devour one’s soul. The longer they were trapped in the illusion, the greater the toll on their spiritual essence.

—They had to find a way out as soon as possible!

Considering Qin Yingguang’s comment about “neglecting cultivation,” the two decided that one would stay in the Qin Mansion, cultivating while observing, and the other would leave the mansion to explore the illusionary Xishan, Xuanjing City, and Qingxu Sect.

They tacitly avoided mentioning the original Qin Mansion.

Yue Tingxi feared that bringing it up might trigger Qin Suoliu’s unrecovered memories of her previous life, while Qin Suoliu simply did not want her to know those things.

For the next two days, Qin Suoliu obediently remained in the Qin Mansion, cultivating under the supervision of her mother and younger sister.

Yue Tingxi spent an entire day walking through Xishan, avoiding forbidden areas and territories dominated by powerful demons, but found nothing unusual. The only anomaly was the extra Qin Mansion that shouldn’t exist.

The next day, early in the morning, she entered Xuánjìng City and went to the Xuan-level floor of the Linlang Pavilion.

Unknowingly, she arrived in front of Luo Yansha’s “Shuiyue Sha” boutique.

As she approached, she heard the sound of an abacus clacking. Pushing open the wide door and glancing at the racks extending outside, she saw Luo Yansha seated in her usual spot, meticulously tallying accounts.

Since the day they had rescued people from the Red Dust Hall, Luo Yansha had closed “Shuiyue Sha,” and now she was working in the Qin Mansion.

Yue Tingxi couldn’t quite determine whether this development was good for her old friend. Every time she tried to subtly ask Luo Yansha, she would always get a smile and a reassuring answer.

Yet, merely seeing “Shuiyue Sha” in Linlang Pavilion indicated that Luo Yansha still preferred being at the place she had run for decades.

However, that was Luo Yansha’s own concern; Yue Tingxi’s longing and regret were one-sided and sufficient to appear in this illusion formed by memories.

Still, Yue Tingxi sat down in the shop, chatting idly with Luo Yansha, listening to her quietly complain about picky customers and laugh while talking about experimenting with a new dish.

Eventually, the conversation turned to the illusion.

“How does one escape from an illusion formed by memories?” Luo Yansha rested her chin on her hand, frowned, and thought for a long time before speaking. “I think… memories are also a kind of attachment. To resolve attachments, either you let go, or you find a way to untangle the knots in your heart.”

“Even in the gentlest of environments, there are always things that feel unresolved. For example, I often wonder, if I hadn’t chosen to run a business and had joined some sect, would I have worried less about spiritual stones and money? Occasionally, when not a single item sells in a day, I reflect—if I had been more enthusiastic on days with more customers, would they have remembered me and come to buy something?”

“But after careful thought, I realize there’s no need to blame my past self,” Luo Yansha smiled. “My thoughts and energy back then were different from now. Even if I could have made other choices, would it really matter now? There’s no reason to cling to what might have been.”

Yue Tingxi listened, stunned, and fell into contemplation.

She thought of her own experiences.

In her previous life, though constrained, she had spent five years using all means to escape being a “puppet,” and twenty years ago, she had done everything possible to save those two children in danger.

Reborn, she still carried those agonizing memories, but she had now escaped a state of helplessness and had allies to break the chains of her past life. With that, why hold onto the tragic events that had not yet occurred?

She should trust her present self, and trust Qin Suoliu as well. At the very least, wasn’t she there to watch over the young lady?

After bidding farewell to Luo Yansha and tidying up her business, Yue Tingxi left Linlang Pavilion, summoned her leaf talisman, and flew toward Qingxu Sect.

To be safe, she gave the gate-guarding disciple the name Lian Fengqing, claiming a prior verbal appointment.

Yet the disciple looked suspicious: “Miss Lian recently went to Baiyao Valley for seclusion. We’ve heard nothing of any appointment with a guest.”

Yue Tingxi tried reporting herself as being from the Qin Mansion, but this only increased the disciple’s confusion.

“Several years ago, Qin Yingguang came to your sister to annul her engagement. Since then, there’s been no contact between the Qin Mansion and our sect,” explained the gate disciple.

Was Lian Fengqing “avoiding” her too? The one who annulled the engagement turned out to be Qin Yingguang?

Despite disliking the topic, Yue Tingxi asked, “And your sect leader? I have urgent matters to report to him in person!”

“The sect leader… the sect leader…” The disciple’s eyes glazed over. “Right… our… sect leader?”

“Has he become immortal?” Yue Tingxi asked in surprise.

“Not really… probably… traveling far,” stammered the disciple.

Observing the reaction, Yue Tingxi decided it was unnecessary to probe further. She bowed and departed, secretly revealing her black-tailed snake form and swimming up the familiar path.

She didn’t know where Lian Fengqing resided, only the exact location of the sect leader’s quarters. She arrived and found the doors tightly shut—inside, it was indeed empty.

So Lian Fengqing was gone. Had he truly traveled far? Or had he vanished because neither she nor Qin Suoliu wanted him there?

Making a mental note of this new mystery, Yue Tingxi returned to the human-world Qin Mansion.

At this time, Qin Suoliu was absent, so she could first inspect the mansion. She had to know what Qin Suoliu had witnessed back then.

The leaf talisman sped toward the mansion, but a figure suddenly appeared in her path several li away.

Startled, Yue Tingxi immediately summoned her black crane whip. Upon seeing the visitor, she relaxed and exclaimed, “Qingyu Mountain Person!”

The first day they entered the illusion, Chanying had said that the Qingyu Mountain Person went to the human world to pay respects to human friends and would return in a couple of days. Yue Tingxi had never expected to meet her here!

But… why would this encounter happen on her way to the Qin Mansion? Perhaps it was also a manifestation of “memory”? She hoped that when exploring past truths, this ancestor would accompany her to provide guidance.

The illusionary Qingyu Mountain Person floated closer and asked, “Are you truly ready?”

“I’ve come here, so I’m fully prepared,” Yue Tingxi nodded.

The previous day, she had thought through this matter while walking Xishan, and today, after Luo Yansha’s reminder, she truly made up her mind.

Time was tight for both her and Qin Suoliu in the illusion. If conflict arose, they would have to leave first and settle everything, making the trial of methods urgent without hesitation.

“What if she still refuses to show you?” Qingyu Mountain Person asked.

“Then I will go anyway, to know if she is willing,” Yue Tingxi replied, mounting the leaf talisman and flying past the Mountain Person toward the Qin Mansion.

The closer she got, the quieter the surroundings became. Ordinarily, many disciples would be training, voices echoing, but now… she saw the mansion’s outline incomplete, partially collapsed.

…Then, an invisible barrier blocked her path.

“I asked before, what if she doesn’t want it to be seen?” Qingyu Mountain Person’s voice floated behind her.

Yue Tingxi shook her head: “Perhaps it’s not that she doesn’t want… perhaps I don’t want it.”

Indeed, she did not wish for Qin Suoliu to recall past life’s dark memories, as such attachment could manifest in the illusion.

“So you’re at a stalemate?” the Mountain Person asked again.

“I’ll ask her, and respect her choice. If she doesn’t want to remember, I’ll see it for her—I’ll bear witness to the misfortunes of the Qin Mansion,” Yue Tingxi said.

With that, she tested again—still blocked—so she returned to Xishan.

“Mountain Person, surely you’re not the real one again, are you?” she asked casually on the way home.

“If I said ‘yes,’ what would you do?” the Mountain Person asked in return.

“Nothing much, just curious if the gray moth following us could also be captured by the iris whale’s illusion,” Yue Tingxi explained, hopelessly.

Before entering the illusion, the whale’s tentacle touched Qin Suoliu, and she had instructed the gray moth to connect their souls and enter the illusion with her.

Now, with the illusion already inconsistent with reality, and Lian Fengqing absent, Yue Tingxi suspected the gray moth might hold some clue.

“And if it is possible, what would you do?” the Mountain Person asked again.

Yue Tingxi was used to this pattern of questioning, especially when contemplating cultivation methods and martial techniques. Even though this Mountain Person wasn’t the real one, she felt confidence.

“I want to know how Qin Suoliu is perceived by the gray moth’s master,” she boldly said. “The master seems intent on protecting her, otherwise it wouldn’t have helped her repeatedly, even creating the joke that ‘Qin Yingguang is Qin Suoliu’s sister.’”

Though the illusion beautified reality, Yue Tingxi understood: some things would never happen, and they wouldn’t make certain choices. Therefore, if the illusion’s principle was to construct images based on their wishes and attachments, it should align with their intentions. Otherwise, extraneous interference from a “third party” must have occurred.

The Mountain Person said nothing and silently accompanied her back to the mountain.

After half a day of investigation, Yue Tingxi felt exhausted. Upon returning to Xishan, she first slept in her cave.

In a dream, she vaguely heard the Mountain Person say, “Watch your spiritual essence consumption.” Perhaps heeding this, she woke soon after and hurried to the mountain’s Qin Mansion to keep her promise to play with Qin Suoliu.

“You came just in time. The little sister couldn’t find you and went to the library to pass the time,” Qin Yingguang said, smiling as he guided her.

Yue Tingxi nodded and casually asked, “Why do you call her ‘little sister’?”

“Of course because she’s younger!” Qin Yingguang seemed to hear a childish question. “How else should I call her? Suoliu? Or like our mother, call her ‘Awu’?”

“…And why do you call her ‘Azi’?” Yue Tingxi asked curiously.

Qin Yingguang paused, then burst into laughter.

“‘Awu’ is not ‘Azi.’ Her two-character name has water in both, so double water = ‘Wu.’”

Yue Tingxi: ?!

She brought this twenty-year-later shock to Qin Suoliu’s side. After Qin Yingguang left, she asked, “So you had me call you ‘Azi,’ not because of the color purple?”

Qin Suoliu didn’t expect her first question after returning to be this. She shyly mumbled yes and quickly changed the topic: “How’s the situation outside?”

“Places I mentioned before—I’ve explored them all,” Yue Tingxi sat beside her, picking up paper and pen. “The outside differs from Xishan. Some places mix in my memories and attachments, others blend in our shared wishes.”

She sketched the general outlines of Linlang Pavilion and Qingxu Sect.

“I hope Luo Yansha continues to run her shop in Linlang Pavilion, so I saw ‘Shuiyue Sha.’ We also wish for you to annul the engagement with Lian Dog, so when I went to Qingxu Sect, your engagement had already been annulled while you were still young—and the one who annulled it was Qin Yingguang!”

“This engagement has nothing to do with me,” Qin Suoliu frowned. “If it were annulled, it should have been my mother. The Qin Yingguang here, despite appearing mature, is still only… a child of ten or so.”

Mentioning her younger sister’s age, she lowered her lashes, concealing her emotions from Yue Tingxi.

“Exactly, so I want to know why this Qin Yingguang claims to be your elder sister,” Yue Tingxi continued, detailing her observations in Qingxu Sect, then asked, “Which of these is most suspicious?”

“…Qin Yingguang,” Qin Suoliu quickly answered, but did not elaborate, instead asking about unexpected places.

No need to specify the location; both knew.

“Sorry, I did go there, but an invisible barrier blocked me. I saw nothing,” Yue Tingxi said, feeling her heartbeat quicken. “I don’t know what’s there, but I sense…the answer lies there.”

She still wanted to give Qin Suoliu a chance—to reveal the truth herself.

The Mountain Person repeatedly reminded her that Qin Suoliu was lying and disguising things, which Yue Tingxi concealed.

After visiting Xishan together, Qin Suoliu had claimed ignorance and did not understand the Mountain Person’s words about her “tainted soul.” Yue Tingxi had accepted this and deceived herself.

Now, in a memory-constructed illusion, such lies could no longer continue.

If Qin Suoliu insisted on lying, then…

“Do you want me to see them?” Qin Suoliu asked softly. “It’s probably… the source of my ‘tainted soul,’ so I ‘wish’ no one sees it, nor enters.”

“Don’t hold back,” Yue Tingxi blurted. “I’ll see it for you. Whatever’s inside, I can bear it.”

Even if knowing the truth might quietly shatter their newly-formed “alliance of friendship.”

Qin Suoliu remained silent, finally saying: “After you see, you must tell me.”

She still pretended not to have recovered past memories, using repeated lies to let Yue Tingxi slowly understand the vile self of her previous life.

Yue Tingxi nodded, gently rubbed her head, and left to return to the human-world Qin Mansion.

On the way down the mountain, her mind was chaotic.

Unlike the Mountain Person, she lacked the eyes to see through the soul’s taint or the experience to detect demons at a glance.

But now familiar with both “Azi” and Qin Suoliu, she could discern the truth from subtle gestures.

“Little liar!”

Crossing the mountain’s protective barrier, she grit her teeth, muttered, and forced her knuckles to crack, suppressing her anger. “Escaping the illusion is priority. I’ll settle this after leaving the illusion and secret realm…”

Thoughts of ways to torment Qin Suoliu flooded her mind until near the human-world Qin Mansion, the chaotic thoughts gradually receded.

Taking a deep breath, she gently pressed the leaf talisman to descend.

This time, no barrier appeared. She landed in front of the mansion, scanning the burnt walls and scattered blood.

—The mansion had already been ravaged by a horde of corpses.

Pushing open the familiar door, Yue Tingxi stepped inside.

The Qin Mansion she once lived in was now silent, filled with dense, nauseating blood and lingering corpses.

Every familiar spot was littered with bodies in pools of blood. Some faces were recognizable, and she could accurately call out names.

Even frustrated from Qin Suoliu’s continued deception, Yue Tingxi felt only sorrow standing amidst the blood-soaked mansion.

—The Book of Worldly Affairs also recorded what happened in Xishan after her death.

Back then, Xishan probably looked as desolate as the Qin Mansion now, every familiar, lively life silenced forever.

The dead had done nothing wrong; they merely chose to stay, considering this their home and safe haven.

Suddenly, retching sounds came from the backyard.

Yue Tingxi hurried over, then revealed half her snake form, belly pressed to the blood-stained ground, speeding toward the noise.

She almost rammed the courtyard gate, finding a scorched patch of nine-li fragrant flower field where someone knelt, hair disheveled, retching.

Around the figure, black mist-like aura clung to several piled demon bodies—reminiscent of the demonic energy she had seen on Qin Suoliu in her previous life.

“What… are you doing?!” Seeing it was Qin Suoliu, Yue Tingxi lunged, wrapping her snake tail around her.

Next, she saw Qin Suoliu’s pale face.

“I… what am I doing?” Qin Suoliu muttered. “Seven days later, Tushan Demon Lord’s longevity banquet… I… no… the corpses from a few days ago… not enough… who invited me to hunt… still not… enough… intelligence… return… I must…”

Her words were fragmented, incoherent.

“Snap out of it!!” Yue Tingxi shook her shoulders. “Qin Suoliu! What nonsense are you saying?!”

After a few shakes, Qin Suoliu suddenly retched black blood, then bled from her nose, ears, and eyes.

Yue Tingxi furrowed her brows, disgusted, yet held her tightly.

“…This is the aftereffect of frequent soul-searching techniques!” she stared into Qin Suoliu’s eyes, wanting to pry open her mind and expel all filth. “How many times did you use soul-searching? On whom? Those demons?!”

Support