Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 69

Three days later, a small, exquisite residence appeared on the open ground near Yue Tingxi’s cave dwelling.

According to human customs, a newlywed couple should have a proper new house.

Yue Tingxi’s own cave dwelling was large, but too damp. Sunlight couldn’t reach inside even if the doors were opened. So she went into the mountains to select the sturdiest, most moisture-proof stone, and built a new house according to the design Qin Suoliu had drawn.

With her cultivation level, even such a mundane task took very little time. The hardest part was fitting the stones exactly according to the blueprint, a task in which the “Miss” herself also helped. In the end, the completed house matched the design perfectly.

At the deepest part of the residence was a spiritual spring set up by the Qingyu Mountain people. Surrounding it in the courtyard were fields of nine-mile-long fragrant flowers and peach trees. In addition, there were flower racks and potted plants, all of which Qin Suoliu personally prepared while Yue Tingxi was building the house.

On the wooden racks, wisteria hung in long clusters. Not far away stood a small pavilion, embraced by a shallow stream. A winding stone bridge crossed the water, beneath which were golden fish gifted by the young mountain cat girl and bicolor water lilies transplanted by Yun Ruan—each petal half light purple, half scarlet.

“Miss said she wanted to give you a surprise, so Shasha and I didn’t tell you,” Chan Ying explained as she carried numerous pre-arranged furnishings into the house while talking to Yue Tingxi. “I think it’s great—you get married before going into the most dangerous secret realm, instead of agreeing on a wedding date first. Otherwise it would be like…”

Before she could finish, Luo Yansha, following behind, covered her mouth.

Yue Tingxi smiled, letting her words linger in her mind.

Last year, she had actively agreed with Qin Suoliu to become a pawn for the World Consciousness. Although Miss had consented, she couldn’t help reminding her that the World Consciousness never guaranteed they would return unscathed.

—The expedition into the Ghost Domain Secret Realm might very well be a near-death ordeal. Since they chose to act as pawns, survival was not certain.

And she had said, “Then let’s be companions on the road to the Yellow Springs.”

Eighty-one reincarnations, hundreds of years of entwined karma—no matter if, in the next reincarnation, past memories were forgotten, this bond would still tightly bind them together.

“I also prepared double happiness window decorations and fireworks, but I wasn’t sure if you’d want them,” Luo Yansha’s voice pulled her back to the present. “I feel the scale of the fireworks might be too small, and I worry someone might suspect Miss’s identity…”

“It’s fine. Just pretend I’m rich and spend them for her enjoyment!” Yue Tingxi laughed. “Tell me how much spirit stones or silver you spent.”

Bright red window decals were pasted on the doors and windows of the new house. Luo Yansha calculated what she thought was a sufficient amount of fireworks, then took Chan Ying away to buy more supplies from the human realm.

After sending the two friends away, Yue Tingxi sat in the “bridal chamber” of the residence, lit a red candle, and gazed at the double happiness symbols on the window.

In her previous life, after becoming a “puppet,” she had developed an aversion and fear toward bridal chambers. Now, upon opening her eyes and seeing herself in a bridal chamber again, she felt anger, despair, and helplessness—even toward herself.

It was as if everything was a cycle. No matter how she struggled, she would inevitably return to the starting point.

But now, sitting in a bridal chamber she had built with her own hands, she felt only peace.

“Tingxi.”

Qin Suoliu’s footsteps came from the doorway. Yue Tingxi turned and met her concerned gaze.

The “unfeeling path” effect caused by the World Consciousness had already disappeared along with the stripping of spiritual power. Now, a single glance from Miss conveyed her feelings clearly.

“I’m fine. It’s all over.” Yue Tingxi smiled, extinguished the red candle, and beckoned to Qin Suoliu.

In the next moment, a cloud of red descended. Dressed in red, Miss leaned down and hugged her.

Yue Tingxi completely relaxed, allowing Miss to hold her.

Since when had all friction between them vanished?

Whenever tired, lost, or simply wanting to be close, a single hint or glance would be enough for an embrace.

Soon, they were to be joined as Dao companions—a closer, inseparable bond. According to the custom of the Xi Mountain demons, they would leave a mark in each other’s spiritual sea. If anything happened to one, the other would sense it immediately.

The only imperfection was that the effect of the Soul-Purifying Pill seemed to be fading. Lately, memories of past reincarnations kept surfacing.

Some were good, but most were of suffering she had experienced firsthand or witnessed.

—Just moments ago, she saw a vision of a bridal chamber drenched in blood, her chest and dantian pierced by blazing blades.

“You have fallen into a demon. By our previous agreement, I must personally slay you!”

The spilled marital wine on the floor—the Miss in red wedding clothes with tears silently rolling down her face, her eyes radiating killing intent.

It resembled a past reincarnation where she had tried and failed to consume the Ba Snake’s soul.

They married in Xi Mountain as Dao companions, but Qin Suoliu, using the wedding, tricked her into drinking wine spiked with certain substances, completely relaxing her guard, and then drove specially forged daggers into her life gate.

Under the effect of the drugs, she neither resisted nor struggled, quietly awaiting death.

The warmth covering her lips pulled Yue Tingxi out of the influence of past reincarnation memories.

She sighed inwardly, supporting Miss’s nape and responding slowly.

The “gift” and curse from the Ba Snake were the only secrets she still hid from Qin Suoliu.

She did not want her to know how the Qin family had been repeatedly destroyed, her clan massacred again and again, and how she herself had been forced to become a demon, repeatedly killing her long-time beloved in each reincarnation.

Just like how the Qingyu Mountain people and Lan Kongming saw her, sometimes Miss could be treated as a child who didn’t need to know too much.

—Agreeing to serve the World Consciousness as its blade was already a chain until death. She hoped she could bear some things for Qin Suoliu that she could not reveal to others.

Two more days passed, and it was their “wedding day.”

Fireworks purchased from the human realm were set off the night before by the Qingyu Mountain people on the cliff where the girls had survived last year’s calamity at the departure realm. From the observation platform of the new residence, the sky was filled with brilliant fireworks.

A flowing banquet was laid out outside the cave and along the mountain path, cooked by Luo Yansha and Yun Ruan, from breakfast until dinner. Anyone coming to celebrate would enjoy a free meal.

A wedding day among mountain demons was simple, unrelated to power or profit. Guests offered congratulations and ate, some bringing small gifts, rare fruits or herbs, or even spirit stones—not coming empty-handed.

The ever-curious Xie Zhi even summoned the instruments she had created during her boredom guarding the Xuan Shui Secret Realm, imbued them with spiritual power, and burned a musical score so that they could perform the desired tunes automatically.

“…You really have to play the suona?” Qingyu Mountain scolded when she arrived at noon, grabbing Xie Zhi who was still writing a score. “A flute would do just fine.”

“The suona is more festive!” Xie Zhi waved her hands. The new score was burned by the law-force, and after a brief pause at the end of the previous tune, cheerful wedding music began.

Yue Tingxi and Qin Suoliu changed into joyous attire prepared by the Qingyu Mountain people, poured rose-aged wine provided by Chan Ying, and toasted with the other demons attending.

Although Qin Suoliu had been in the mountains for some time, the demons, knowing her disposition and race, didn’t joke with the couple and happily ate. They then invited others to join the banquet, letting all the Xi Mountain demons meet “Yue Tingxi’s Dao companion.”

“I thought some demons would ask when you’ll have children!”

In the afternoon, Chan Ying, while massaging Luo Yansha’s shoulders, tilted her head toward Yue Tingxi.

Yue Tingxi, busy checking the gift list, almost forgot where she had paused. She raised her eyebrows and glared.

“Human weddings do have old fools who think it polite to ask such things.” Luo Yansha replied, displeased. “Do demons ever treat couple matters like entertainment at a banquet?”

“Absolutely not!” Chan Ying hurried to deny. “I was just curious—no demon would be so rude!”

“Children can wait until current affairs settle,” Qin Suoliu said, bringing a freshly prepared fruit platter to Yue Tingxi and offering a segment of candied orange. “If we must talk about it, I don’t mind. It depends on whether you want it, Tingxi.”

Yue Tingxi froze for a few seconds. “…Right. We’ll discuss it then.”

She again saw visions of past reincarnation memories.

In one reincarnation, she and Qin Suoliu had a child—the child born of Qin Suoliu. She seemed to want to use the pain of pregnancy and childbirth to atone to Yue Tingxi.

However, neither Qin Suoliu nor the child survived.

—Lan Chaoyao somehow broke the Qingyu Mountain protective barriers, leading immortal cultivators to storm Xi Mountain to “exterminate demons.”

Qin Suoliu sacrificed herself helping the demons against the immortal army, pierced by arrows. Lan Chaoyao destroyed her dantian and opened her primordial core, discovering the child who died with her.

“Clatter!”

The fruit platter Qin Suoliu handed over dropped to the ground, the neatly sliced fruits and orange segments rolling across the floor.

Even Luo Yansha and Chan Ying, who had been teasing each other, paused, astonished.

“Ah! I was distracted and didn’t hold it properly,” Yue Tingxi said, quickly picking up the fruit fragments, wrapping them with water spiritual energy, cleaning them, and placing them back on an empty plate.

She felt the Soul-Purifying Pill was truly fading and needed to replenish one immediately. Otherwise, recurring past memories would interfere and confuse her perception.

Before touching the broken porcelain, Qin Suoliu grabbed her and pulled her up.

The moment they returned to the cave, Yue Tingxi’s mind raced: the autumn cave was dry enough. Since it was dry, Miss would be comfortable staying here, away from dampness.

“If today I take advantage of this moment, will you agree to one thing?” Qin Suoliu’s voice trembled.

Since the removal of the “unfeeling path” influence, she had become more sensitive to emotions, especially Yue Tingxi’s. She knew something was still troubling Yue Tingxi, but since she refused to speak, she wouldn’t press.

Yet even on their wedding day, this matter still tormented Yue Tingxi.

Yue Tingxi didn’t know how to respond.

She sensed the change in Qin Suoliu after her restoration and could roughly guess what Miss wanted her to agree to.

If she consented, she would have to reveal all her hidden matters; if she refused, it would confirm Miss’s suspicions.

Even a slight hesitation would feel like a refusal.

Qin Suoliu was intelligent and persistent—eventually, she would uncover the truth.

“I will,” Yue Tingxi resignedly said.

“Let me enter your consciousness,” Qin Suoliu said.

Over the past year, it had always been Yue Tingxi entering Miss’s consciousness, but only for dual cultivation. Miss had never probed hidden memories before.

Yue Tingxi considered and didn’t refuse, saying, “Alright, but I’ll need a Soul-Purifying Pill first.”

“Why do you need one?” Qin Suoliu grabbed her arm, stepping closer. “We’ve always acted together. Except for the Ba Snake, you haven’t contacted anyone else’s soul, and the souls I devoured have been cleaned together with you.”

Yue Tingxi paused. “What did Ba Snake show you? Her own accumulated filthy memories?”

As she was about to explain, overlapping images began to appear.

—“Why did you consume Ba Snake’s soul?! Don’t you know it will turn you into a demon?!”

Then came Qin Suoliu’s stern accusation.

She knew these were words from a past reincarnation of Qin Suoliu.

Thinking of all the questions Miss would still ask, she focused, hoping to escape this state quickly to explain properly.

In the next instant, her forehead felt a sudden burn, as if branded.

Silver-gray light particles scattered before her eyes. While she was dazed, Qin Suoliu used the power of Hui Mo to forcibly enter her consciousness.

This is the final volume, so my thinking has been stuck recently, needing more time to plan the plot, which also helps me relax a bit.

The segments where Tingxi triggers past memories may feel chaotic because it’s intentionally portrayed from her perspective. But this is only temporary!

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