Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 98

This was not an act of provocation. Yue Tingxi simply wanted to tell the other version of herself that, in one possible future, her late wife Qin Suoliu was still alive.

They remained as Daoist partners, and even the secret family sword techniques of the Qin family, which were never shared, Qin Suoliu was willing to teach her.

After saying this, fearing that Lingjian might misunderstand, Yue Tingxi deliberately restored her appearance and attire to her original form.

Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, and she wore a water-colored long robe patterned with bamboo shadows. At her waist hung a piece of black jade—a birthday gift chosen by Qingyu Mountain Elder. This was her favorite outfit before the events involving the Intruder occurred.

Lingjian’s gaze fell upon her attire, and the snake demon, previously tense, relaxed slightly, revealing a particularly complicated expression.

Silently, they traveled until they found a cave before the heavy rain began.

“What do you want to tell me?” Lingjian leaned against the cave wall and asked.

“A lot,” Yue Tingxi said, sitting cross-legged in front of her. “About my identity and origin, your future in this world, and the future of this world.”

Seeing that the other version of herself remained silent but did not refuse to listen, Yue Tingxi began recounting the story.

A great demon named “Basha” had, together with the World Consciousness, unleashed chaos across the world. Later, the World Consciousness intervened, sealing Basha in Xishan and taking the demon child created by Basha to purify it. Thousands of years later, it accumulated spiritual energy in Xishan, eventually becoming the later Yue Tingxi.

Then, when the Intruder arrived, the World Consciousness successfully nullified all of the Intruder’s tools during the 81st cycle, killed it, and went to the Book-Travel Bureau to restrain the real culprit.

During this period, the original world suffered three years of natural disasters, and the two races helped each other, so the current relationship was far less tense and hostile than before.

After finishing her explanation, Lingjian suddenly let out a cold laugh.

“What a show, a farce,” she said mockingly. “But there’s one thing you may have misunderstood. It wasn’t that we caused the demon chaos together. It was only that, after hearing my suggestion, He chose to stand aside. But He eventually went back on His word, otherwise, how could He have intervened and sealed me in Xishan?”

Yue Tingxi frowned slightly but did not interrupt, waiting for her to continue.

“As for why He initially listened to me… it was naturally because He saw my memories,” Lingjian said. “The demons appeared later. I was just unlucky to stumble into the chaos. The great demons colluded with the Tongyou Masters, one by one eliminating minor sects like the Qin family.”

“Demons devoured souls, and Tongyou Masters controlled corpses. The flames of war quickly spread to the sects. Even if the World Consciousness actively contacted the two races’ elders to intervene, it was already too late.”

The snake demon, dressed in black, lowered her eyelids. She did not want to recall the past but continued.

“Xishan was originally a pure land, yet in such times, purity was the easiest to tarnish.”

“Just one outing, and all that awaited me upon returning to the mountain was emptiness, with only blood-soaked grounds showing what had happened.”

“I begged and prayed to the World Consciousness countless times, but all I got in return were the deaths of loved ones, friends and family reduced to demon sustenance, and puppets under Tongyou Masters!”

“Finally, one day, I couldn’t endure it anymore.”

Lingjian’s eyes were bloodshot with fury.

“I completely abandoned the principles I had always upheld, taking revenge by any means… but what use was it? Even if I were drenched in blood, my soul tainted, or even struck down by heaven itself, the dead could never return!”

“…So that’s why you wanted to proactively ‘create’ demons in the distant past, making them and the chaos controllable?” Yue Tingxi finally understood her reasoning. “That way, the chaos could be ended in the ancient era. Even if it affected the future, it could no longer erupt uncontrollably—at least the demons and people you cared about would be saved.”

No wonder Xisheng had told her that it would be better to trigger the calamity proactively from the start; this made the situation controllable.

When she had decided to return to the past and eliminate everything from the source, someone had poured cold water on her plans, reminding her that “things may not always turn out as you wish.”

[But doing so would inevitably sacrifice the two races in the ancient era!] Qin Suoliu added in her mind. [It’s just exchanging a great sacrifice for a so-called sliver of survival!]

—This was nothing more than a gamble that dragged all living beings into it.

“Then, what about you now? What would you choose, as me, the World Consciousness?” Lingjian’s question brought Yue Tingxi back to reality. “Immediately suppress and purify me? Or let me cause chaos to ‘save the world’?”

She deliberately emphasized the words “save the world,” as if even she thought that such a method of salvation was ridiculous.

Qin Suoliu had already expressed her opinion.

She did not approve of such a sacrifice and believed Yue Tingxi would not follow that path either.

“I will take you back to Xishan and find a way to prevent the future you described,” Yue Tingxi said firmly without much hesitation.

She did not believe that her choice would necessarily be correct, but she could not abandon everything in the present because of a potential future.

“Moreover, I may be the World Consciousness, but I am not Xisheng.”

She was not alone in facing thousands of years of time.

Qin Suoliu, endowed with full power by the 7364 System, would always remain by her side in her mind, no matter where she went.

“Then try it,” Lingjian sighed. “I accept the purification from ‘myself.’ But before that… may I hear Suoliu’s voice? If you love her, surely you’ve kept her voice.”

This logic was puzzling…

“I do not particularly desire that, but for some reason, she is currently present in my mind in a special form, accompanying me to this time,” Yue Tingxi explained. “However, she only recognizes me and is unfamiliar to you.”

“That’s fine. I don’t need to speak to her. Just let me hear her voice,” Lingjian whispered, then quickly added, “If she doesn’t want to, forget it.”

[What would she want me to say?] Qin Suoliu asked, noticing Yue Tingxi did not resist.

Yue Tingxi relayed:

“‘Thank you for your hard work,’ ‘Good night,’ something casual… anything is fine.”

Lingjian finally looked up, her gaze at Yue Tingxi full of admiration.

The next moment, she froze, then widened her eyes as tears streamed down uncontrollably.

Yue Tingxi deliberately blocked Lingjian from hearing Qin Suoliu directly, afraid of feeling inexplicable jealousy.

The world-destroying demon “Basha” was thus captured. Yue Tingxi sealed Lingjian’s five senses and let her rest in her inner cave, purifying all the corruption with her divine power.

[I calculated that if we linger here, the consumption would be even greater.] Qin Suoliu said. [It would be better to skip to future time points, bypassing the intermediate days.]

“Won’t that delay the rescue?” Yue Tingxi was uneasy.

[The World Consciousness observed for thousands of years and knows when events are most likely to trigger calamity.]

[I will calculate the most probable disaster points using His residual memories combined with Lingjian’s memories, then we can travel to just before the events happen.]

“…That works.” Yue Tingxi looked outside the cave. “Once the rain stops, I plan to go to the Northern Territory and inform the Tongyou Masters via Chuiyin.”

With the source of the demons controlled, such large-scale calamities were unlikely to occur again. Those Tongyou Masters fleeing the city due to demon attacks might no longer head north.

Yet prior warning was still necessary, and fortunately, she possessed Chuiyin’s full memories, which would help in negotiations.

Qin Suoliu remained quietly in her mind, observing the rain with her.

Yue Tingxi deliberately split a fragment of her soul to nestle close to her, curling her snake tail around her.

“This time, our time alone will be long,” she said cheerfully. “Thousands of years! No demons, no interruptions from anyone!”

It felt as if they had returned to the time when they were the “Twin Fox Shura,” traveling the human world together, inseparable. No matter what happened, they never left each other’s side.

[In a world without demons, if the two races could coexist peacefully, what would it be like?] Qin Suoliu asked.

She could roughly predict it herself but wanted to hear it from Yue Tingxi.

“It would be like Qingning City in Chuiyin’s memories,” Yue Tingxi said. “Usually peaceful, and when trouble arises, both sides willingly help each other.”

[That’s difficult, Yue Tingxi.] Qin Suoliu warned. [The probability is less than fifty percent…]

“That’s almost half, not zero,” Yue Tingxi flicked her soul tail. “With our intervention, and those in both races who yearn for peace, I think we can still dream beautifully.”

Qin Suoliu did not reply, only entwining her two fox tails with Yue Tingxi’s.

Rain pattered all night. The next morning, Yue Tingxi flew to the Northern Territory.

Qingning City was easy to locate—a large oasis amid endless yellow sands, isolated from the world, with simple and honest citizens, including the straightforward city lord.

At this time, Qingning City had not yet become a ghost town. Entering the city, Yue Tingxi saw the bustling streets just as in the “Withered Bones Bloom” illusion.

This time, they did not visit the Baixiao Pavilion but went straight to the city lord’s residence.

Inside, they found a huge white tiger lying on its back, its belly covered by a delicate thin blanket, tongue dangling as it slept.

Despite the tiger’s relaxed posture, it opened its eyes immediately when Yue Tingxi approached, stretching and arching its back, its moon-white eyes wary.

“…Who might you be?” It could not gauge Yue Tingxi’s cultivation, so asked politely. “An envoy from the upper realm?”

Yue Tingxi sat down on the floor, greeting it amicably, and briefly revealed her identity as the World Consciousness and her reason for visiting.

Before the tiger could ask more, she transmitted Zhongqi’s memories into its mind.

The memory was extensive. Curious, the tiger locked itself in for a month to watch carefully.

During this period, Yue Tingxi explored all of Qingning City.

Zhongqi had been right—she and Qin Suoliu both loved this place.

The two races were so friendly that it felt like being back in Xishan, a place full of the feeling of home.

As Qin Suoliu, now temporarily functioning as a system, could not taste food herself, Yue Tingxi shared her senses with her, trying out every food stall on the street.

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