Chapter 18: Rebirth

Liu shuang never imagined she could regain consciousness one day.

The last scene in her memory was the purple lightning ferociously striking down, with the Canglan Lake engulfed in a torrential downpour. Her mind was in a daze, as if awakening from a deep dream.

She knew she might be dead; after shattering her spirit marrow, her soul had gradually dissipated. On the day Yan Chaosheng found her, she was already a walking corpse.

Without a heart, dead under the heavenly lightning, she couldn’t even muster the emotion of unwillingness. In her condition, she couldn’t reincarnate, and there was no afterlife.

She peacefully awaited the dissipation of her consciousness, but unexpectedly, the longer she waited, the clearer her consciousness became.

She felt someone gently wiping her hand with a handkerchief, muttering angrily: “Young Master, that disciple has been captured and is at your disposal. You must wake up soon.”

Liu shuang also wanted to open her eyes, but couldn’t do so immediately.

Shortly after, someone else came to visit her.

This time, it was a strange man’s voice, cold yet pleasant: “Liu shuang, if you don’t wish to marry Kunlun, I’ll help you speak to the Lord of the Realm.”

Liu shuang was curious; how did this person know her name? She didn’t recognize him!

Apart from him, another rather annoying person came.

This person sneaked in at midnight, and in a very malicious manner, pinched her cheeks and tugged at them: “Alright, stop pretending, you’re acting so convincingly. My elder brother has been deceived into kneeling outside the Lord’s palace for three days to request the annulment of the marriage. Still not waking up? How long are you going to keep this up? Could it be that you’re really half-dead because of a little demon?”

Liu shuang felt her cheeks ache from his pulling. Since losing her spirit marrow, she had rarely felt such vivid pain.

This person was extremely rude; she didn’t need to see to know that her face was almost deformed from his pinching. Liu shuang wanted to resist, to slap his hand away, but she was powerless.

After a while, the young man said gloomily: “Still not waking up? Could there really be a problem? The Illusion Pearl hasn’t been expelled, and this face is so awkward to look at. You’re so ugly, it hurts my eyes just to look at you. Chishui Liu shuang, you ran away from Kongsang, and now this is your retribution. You can’t change back now, just wait and see how you’ll cry later.”

After enjoying his schadenfreude, he roughly ruffled her hair, turning her beautiful bun into a bird’s nest.

“I won’t let you become like this for nothing; I’ll go torment that demon-blooded bastard! How dare they touch our Chishui lineage, they must be tired of living.”

He came like a raging fire and left just as abruptly, clearly a person of impatience.

Liu shuang lay stiffly on the couch until the next day, when the fairy maids rushed in in a panic, exclaiming upon seeing the “Young Master” with a bird’s nest for hair, and hurriedly tidied her appearance.

For two hundred years, Liu shuang had never been so curious.

She was trapped in a shell, unable to speak, move, or open her eyes to see the situation. Liu shuang had to repeatedly ponder the information she had gathered during this time—

The fairy maids called her Young Master, the cold man called her Liu shuang, and offered to help her request the annulment of the marriage from the Lord of the Realm.

The “Lord of the Realm,” as far as Liu shuang knew, was the highest authority in a celestial realm. The Lords of famous realms like Changliu Mountain and Buzhou Mountain were renowned figures. Other smaller realms also had their own Lords.

However, Liu shuang’s Canglan Realm had no Lord. When she once asked Tree Elder, his response was very carefree: there isn’t one, there just isn’t.

And the bad boy who pinched her cheeks called her Chishui Liu shuang.

This startled Liu shuang.

Chishui, she was not unfamiliar with this surname. Among the four great celestial realms, the master of Kongsang Realm was the Chishui clan.

Only the descendants of the Lord’s lineage were entitled to inherit the ancient surname “Chishui.”

But Chishui had perished seven hundred years ago, destroyed by Yan Chaosheng, so how could someone call her “Chishui Liu shuang”?

And what were the Illusion Pearl and the demon-blooded bastard the boy mentioned? What were all these things?

Liu shuang’s head hurt from thinking, so she decided to stop pondering. Every day, lying there bored, she diligently reviewed the spells from her memory. Whether she could live or not, she would never rely on anyone again; if there was a chance, she would cultivate.

Thus, lying like a corpse for who knows how long, one day it rained, the soft patter of the rain seemingly trying to awaken her consciousness.

Liu shuang instinctively felt a pain in her chest and wanted to press there. After a moment’s pause, she remembered she was now trapped in a shell, and her chest no longer hurt.

She peacefully slept for a while longer, when a nimble figure came in, lifted her, and wafted an open porcelain bottle under her nose.

The rich fragrance cleared her muddled thoughts like dispersing fog. She tried to open her eyes, and this time she succeeded!

Before her eyes, immortal energy drifted, and beautiful crystal bead curtains hung in strands. The delighted face of a little girl in green robes magnified in front of her.

Outside the window was pitch black, seemingly nighttime, but inside the palace, it was warm and bright.

Liu shuang tried to sit up, and the little girl hurriedly supported her: “Young Master, are you alright?”

Liu shuang felt it probably wasn’t good; for some reason, others couldn’t tell, but she could feel that this body was lifeless.

She looked at the little girl before her.

The little girl had a faint aura of immortal energy, clearly a fairy. Liu shuang didn’t recognize her. She sighed slightly in relief; whatever the situation, it wasn’t the worst case—she wasn’t in the ghost realm or a demon’s lair.

The little girl burst into tears.

“Young Master has been asleep for so long, Fuliu thought the immortal medicine had failed. I went to find Fairy Mitu to ask what to do, but she refused to see me. I was so worried.”

Liu shuang suddenly raised her eyes.

This familiar name pulled her back to reality from distant memories—Mitu? Was the little fairy maid referring to the Mitu she knew? Could it be that she wasn’t dead!

Liu shuang tried to summon spiritual energy, forming a water mirror in her palm.

To her surprise, she succeeded immediately. Amid Fuliu’s whimpering, she looked into the water mirror, and upon seeing her reflection, she was speechless.

In the mirror, a woman with a face as round as a pancake, swollen lips, and sparse eyebrows stared back at her.

Liu shuang nearly dropped the water mirror in shock. This! Is this her!?

Although Liu shuang had never cared about her appearance since birth, after looking at a beautiful face for two hundred years, suddenly seeing such a face was almost suffocating.

Liu shuang swallowed hard; she hadn’t yet grieved over her “reincarnation” turning so ugly, but Fuliu beside her was crying her heart out.

“Young Master, don’t be afraid, we’ll go beg the Lord of the Realm, and he’ll surely extract the Illusion Pearl from you. Then you can restore your beauty.”

“Illusion Pearl?”

“Yes, Young Master turned like this because you ate the Illusion Pearl. Although the Lord is angry that you ran away and broke the agreement, he will definitely find a way to save you.”

It seems the story isn’t simple.

Liu shuang blinked: “Fuliu, I’ve forgotten many things since waking up, can you tell me in detail?”

Fuliu finally stopped crying, her eyes filled with sympathy: “Young Master, you’ve suffered so much!”

“It’s alright, it’s not too bad.” No matter how bad, it couldn’t be worse than her own death under the heavenly lightning. Liu shuang wiped the little girl’s tears; Fuliu reminded her of Changhuan, who looked about the same age, but Changhuan never cried when sad. Liu shuang found Fuliu endearing and gently said, “Don’t cry, didn’t you say I can change back?”

Liu shuang’s calmness soothed Fuliu, and the little girl composed herself, explaining the whole story to Liu shuang.

After being curious for so long, Liu shuang finally understood the current situation—

She was indeed dead; this body was the only daughter of the Lord of Kongsang Realm, Chishui Liu shuang.

In this era, among the four great celestial realms, the Feng family of Buzhou Mountain was dominant, while the other three realms’ spiritual veins were gradually withering.

The Lord father of this body came up with a plan: to marry his daughter to the Young Master of Kunlun Mountain’s Jimo family, to merge the spiritual veins of the two clans, ensuring the realm’s prosperity for ten thousand years.

Chishui Liu shuang, having grown up pampered, was very reluctant to marry the Kunlun Young Master she had never met. She had her heart set on someone else—the Heavenly Prince Feng Fuming.

Chishui Liu shuang didn’t want to annul the marriage but was afraid of her stern father.

Thus, instigated by a cousin from the Chishui family, Chishui Liu shuang swallowed the Illusion Pearl and fled Kongsang, hoping to force the Kunlun Young Master to annul the marriage. She harbored a small scheme, intentionally using the Illusion Pearl to make herself hideously ugly.

She flew out of the celestial realm and entered Kunlun, where she did meet the Kunlun Young Master, who coldly agreed.

But on her way back, something unexpected happened, causing her to remain in a deep sleep. When news of Kunlun’s desire to annul the marriage arrived, the Lord father was furious, thinking she was deliberately avoiding punishment by sealing her consciousness and refusing to wake up. He ordered that no one visit her, waiting for her to wake up and face punishment.

A father knows his daughter best; Chishui Liu shuang had indeed deliberately taken an immortal pill to seal her consciousness, fearing punishment.

Until tonight, when the little maid caring for her brought the immortal medicine, allowing Liu shuang to open her eyes.

The little girl spoke like spitting beans, and Liu shuang listened in awe, amazed. She thought she had been foolish a hundred years ago, but it seems there was a Chishui family Young Master even more foolish than her.

They didn’t understand, but Liu shuang had a faint feeling that Chishui Liu shuang might have already died when she took the immortal pill.

Otherwise, this body wouldn’t be so lifeless, only regaining vitality when her soul entered it.

The immortal pill Chishui Liu shuang took must have been tainted.

“Fuliu, who gave the immortal pill?”

“It was Fairy Mitu.”

Liu shuang touched her chest; originally, the heart under her palm beat steadily, but upon hearing this name, a surge of resentment welled up.

Liu shuang’s heart raced, and she quickly pressed her chest, whispering: “I’ll find a way to avenge you.”

The heartbeat gradually calmed, and her numb limbs began to regain sensation.

The residual emotions of this body seemed to resonate with her, and from this moment on, it began to accept her.

Liu shuang couldn’t help but laugh.

Fuliu looked at her pancake-like face, her smile almost unbearable: “Young Master, what are you laughing about?”

Liu shuang’s eyes curved: “It’s good to be alive.”

Having died once, she now knew, it’s good to be alive. And this time, she had a better opportunity; everything was still possible.

The year Kongsang existed in the world was seven hundred years ago, which meant she not only came back to life but also returned to seven hundred years ago!

This time, Canglan Realm was still there, her dear friend Shaoyou hadn’t left yet, and she had time to cultivate properly, protect the future Canglan, everything was still possible.

Even better, the heart that belonged to her had died; in her chest now, calmly beating, was another heart.

A heart that no longer loved Yan Chaosheng, a heart that could regard him as a stranger.