Chapter 156: Old Things (Part 7)

How could she know Xie Yuzhen? And what nonsense was she spouting?
“Are you also someone who ‘traversed’ here? Or like Xu Qianyu, someone who ‘reincarnated’?” Lu You asked, looking suspiciously at Luo Shui.

But she quickly dismissed her own guess when she saw the confused expression on Luo Shui’s face. Luo Shui was from this world; it was just that when she heard the words “Xu Qianyu” and “reincarnation,” her brows twitched slightly, as though she had found something unexpected.

Lu You no longer had time to consider the details.

This wasn’t exactly good news. The dark and terrifying side of the powerful cultivators in the immortal world, she had already experienced through the Elder Taishang. In order to ascend, they would use their disciples like tools. Furthermore, the fact that Luo Shui knew she wasn’t a fawn, but Lu You, indicated that she was likely allied with the Elder Taishang and his group.

As she reflected more on Luo Shui’s vague words, Lu You found them incomprehensible. “Are you saying that even the world’s first reset wasn’t done by my system? I’ve never gone back?”
Luo Shui corrected her, “That wasn’t a reset; it was a rebirth.”

Lu You shook her head, unwilling to believe it. Luo Shui sighed, “You’re an outsider. It seems you don’t know how you came here. If you’re curious, I can tell you. The great formation around Zhou Yan accumulated a lot of karmic debts while resisting the heavenly thunder. You were summoned to adjust the fate of the formation. At that time, your ‘portable magic tool,’ what you call a system, was already influenced by the formation. ‘Your’mission’—if’ you can even call it that—wasn’t so much given to you by the system as it was a goal Zhou Yan and his group wanted to achieve using you. From the moment you landed on the Kyushu (Nine Province) continent, you’ve been under their control.”

Lu You’s eyes widened, her lips moving in disbelief at the content of her words.

So, even when she was planting spirit crops at the Lingyue Immortal Sect, she had already been watched by many eyes?

“Don’t believe it? If we hadn’t found an excuse to expel you from the Lingyue Immortal Sect, how could you have had the chance to enter Penglai? How could you have slowly turned Xu Binglai and the other elders into your puppets, forcing the disobedient disciples to listen to you again?

How else could you have pieced together the souls of the Demon King and helped the Immortal Sect obtain the Demon Bones?”

Lu You was speechless. Every single thing she mentioned had indeed happened in her past life.

But there had been a turning point: a small disciple had stolen the Demon Bones at the cost of his life, and everything began to head in a different direction. Xie Yuzhen’s power surged, becoming the Demon King, and she herself betrayed the Immortal Sect to join the Demon Palace. That was when things escaped the Elder Taishang’s control.

“Speaking of which, after you died once, your fate was greatly diminished, and things changed,” Luo Shui seemed to recall something amusing, her eyes flashing with a bright smile. “This time, Zhou Yan must be very confused. You’re useless. You neither attracted the Demon King, nor did you deceive anyone. You were so weak you couldn’t even adjust the energy of the formation. So, several years ago, they had no choice but to summon another soul from outside this world. But this time, it became even stranger: they couldn’t even locate this soul, and they have no idea where it ended up.”

Luo Shui laughed, her shoulders shaking, like a child who found something amusing, but Lu You’s expression darkened.

She knew who that soul was. It was the same outsider as her—the system of Xu Qianyu! It didn’t have a body but was embedded within Xu Qianyu’s consciousness, hidden by his aura. That was why the Elder Taishang couldn’t find it.

“Who are you? How do you know so much?” Lu You demanded, staring at Luo Shui. In her past life, Lu You had cultivated into the White Robe Immortal, with high status, and had countless high-level cultivators from various sects as friends, but she had no deep impression of Luo Shui.

Usually, it was Luo Shui’s brother, Yin Xiangjun, who managed matters. Luo Shui had even been absent for a long period, supposedly due to illness.

For someone like this to suddenly step out of the shadows, it felt like being mocked. She didn’t seem like an ordinary elder. Moreover, from her tone, it was clear that although she was familiar with the Elder Taishang from Penglai, she didn’t hold him in much regard and even dared to address him by his pre-cultivation name.

Luo Shui stood there, smiling silently, like a beautiful portrait, unmoving.

The more mysterious she seemed, the more frantic Lu You became. She grabbed the lamp’s pole, shaking it, causing the butterfly inside to crash repeatedly against the glass. “Why is it only you and Xie Yuzhen who won’t die?”

Monks (Cultivator) generally avoid demonic creatures, and no one would like to be compared to a Demon King.

Lu You looked at the butterfly fluttering its wings like a headless fly and suddenly recalled the dark silhouette she had seen earlier in the night, resembling a bird spreading its wings. In a flash of insight, she remembered something from her past life.

At that time, Xie Yuzhen had declared himself the Demon Lord. Demonic creatures with intelligence were either devoured by him or brought under his command. Shortly after founding his demonic kingdom, a great demon appeared in the East, and despite years of attempts, it had remained unconquered.

Xie Yuzhen had delayed their wedding and used it as an excuse, saying he wanted to conquer this great demon, repair his demonic palace, and then come to marry her. Sitting gloomily at her vanity, he described the terror of this great demon. The maid in the mirror spread her arms to imitate wings, flapping them and saying it was a large butterfly with many eyes, some closed and others open, which made her smile despite her sadness.

At this moment, Lu You looked at the beautiful Luo Shui and felt goosebumps spread all over her body. It was as if she could see behind her a pair of wings that had nothing to do with beauty—inhuman wings, with many eyes on them, opening and closing like a waking dream,
murmuring in the night, “You—”

You are that great demon from the East!

Before she could say the words, Luo Shui had already grasped her neck and said gently, “I won’t take your spiritual root; I just need your help.”

Lu You felt like a punctured ball, her life force rapidly draining from the hole. In the moment she collapsed, the only thing she could grasp was the communication wood tablet at her waist, sending out a message.

A cool breeze rustled the apricot leaves on the branches; the sound was like the roaring of waves.

A flash of sword light, and Xu Binglai stood within the walls of the Shui family courtyard. Xu Qianqian’s aura had disappeared right there. He hadn’t realized where he was at first and was about to step in to search. The door to the side room creaked open, revealing a pale, frail girl peering out from the gap, softly calling, “Father.”

Xu Binglai saw his young daughter, furrowing his brow slightly. Raising his head, he saw two shaking jade rabbit lamps under the eaves, their glow illuminating the plaque that read “Shui Mansion.”

Xu Binglai surveyed his surroundings. “Well, well, someone is using Xu Qianqian again, setting up the same scene from years ago.”

He walked inside and grabbed Xu Qianqian’s hand. “Don’t be afraid; Father is back.”

The large door closed behind him.

The moment he entered, Luo Shui appeared at the closed door, dragging the unconscious Lu You.

“Everyone’s here.” She gazed at the closed door with a sigh, then suddenly turned her head. “There are three uninvited guests.”

---

An unexpected event occurred: Xu Qianyu had waited for an hour, but Shen Suwei hadn’t woken up.
To be precise, his eyes were open, but they remained like round cat pupils, cold as some kind of jade stone, silently staring into the void. Demonic energy surrounded him, like a sharp sword, exuding a murderous intent. When Xu Qianyu reached to pull him, Shen Suwei grabbed her hand, causing her pain that made her change color.

A mustard seed-sized golden bead struck his wrist, and Shen Suwei released her hand. Xu Qianyu quickly pulled her hand out and gripped his wrist. Wuzhen said, “He’s very dangerous right now. Don’t touch him.”

“Why is he like this?”

“Demonic energy isn’t easy to suppress. Even the most disciplined monk can’t always control it.” Wuzhen said calmly. “Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many Monks (Cultivator) who turn pale when they talk about entering the Nightmare Realm.”

Xu Qianyu looked at Shen Suwei. Earlier, he had loosened his grip when Wuzhen struck him. That blow must have been severe. His hand fell onto the couch, the long, jade-like fingers half curled. He was like a sword, silent and expressionless, but Xu Qianyu felt he must be in great pain—partly because he was battling his inner demons, partly because he had just hurt her.

The fox tail slid over and wrapped around his wrist, rubbing it a couple of times, then quickly placed it back on the couch. Xu Qianyu pulled the tail back.

But Shen Suwei didn’t move. His long lashes fluttered slightly.

Wuzhen: “Seems to have worked. Why don’t you try comforting him?”

Xu Qianyu hesitated and reached out. She didn’t know how to comfort people, especially not her senior brother. Usually, it was Shen Suwei who comforted her, and she didn’t dare to casually touch his face. Her fingers awkwardly brushed across Shen Suwei’s cheek, his eyelashes, and hesitated for a moment on his forehead. Wuzhen then sharply inhaled, “Why are you touching his head?”

Xu Qianyu’s hand was resting on his hairpin, and she felt a tightness in her chest. “Is it forbidden?”

Wuzhen paused. “If anyone younger than me touches my head, it’s seen as humiliation and will provoke murderous intent.”

But Shen Suwei, clearly filled with fighting spirit, allowed her to touch him like a doll without any reaction.

Xu Qianyu turned to look at the mustard seed golden bead as if saying, “Look at this.” Wuzhen fell silent. Xu Qianyu’s fingers smoothed down Shen Suwei’s black hair, placing it in front of his chest.

His hair was as smooth as satin, cold to the touch, so beautiful it made her heart ache. Xu Qianyu split a strand off, casually braiding it and pinning a phoenix butterfly onto it. “It’s so pretty.”

Shen Suwei closed his eyes.

Xu Qianyu paused, her heart suspended with Wuzhen, but Shen Suwei’s demonic energy slowly began to recede, and his whole body seemed to relax, as if responding to her own feelings.

Xu Qianyu cut a piece of her skirt and wiped the sweat from his forehead, worried. “Is there any other way to help Senior Brother control the demonic energy?”

Wuzhen: “Find him something to do to drain his spiritual energy.”

Suddenly, Xu Qianyu had an idea. She felt around her waist for a while, finally finding a shard of a communication wood tablet the size of a fingernail. “Brother, I accidentally crushed this in a moment of impulse. Could you fix it for me?”

Wuzhen: “…Are you trying to kill him?”

“Brother.” Xu Qianyu ignored him and placed the broken piece into Shen Suwei’s hand. Shen Suwei lay there, eyes closed, silently, with no reaction. Nor was there supposed to be any.

After a moment, Wuzhen stared in astonishment as golden threads began to unfurl from Shen Suwei’s hand, slowly forming into a flower-like shape, eventually piecing together a complete communication wood tablet.

So it was a “resurrection” ability…

Xu Qianyu took the communication wood tablet from Shen Suwei’s hand. Suddenly, he grabbed her sleeve, his grip silent but urgent. Xu Qianyu paused and then held his wrist in return. “I won’t leave; I’m just watching.”

Shen Suwei’s tightly clenched hand slowly loosened as he fell into a coma.

Only then did Xu Qianyu examine the message on the communication wood tablet. Numerous beams of spiritual energy poured from the tablet, all containing messages directed to her. Yu Chu had made some pastries and asked when she would be back; Yun Chu informed her that the little deer was missing; Tu Zhuang asked where she had gone; Hua Zimei was planning to break up the group; and there was even a message from Lu You.

Lu You: “Water.”

It was truly the first time Lu You had ever sent her a message. But what could the word “water” mean? Had Lu You entered some river, lake, or sea, or had she perhaps arrived at the Shui family’s place?

Xu Qianyu pondered, turning the tablet in her hands, but still couldn’t figure out any clue from that single character. Desperately, she muttered, “Fool.”

Wuzhen, who had been speaking to her, suddenly stopped. Both of them turned sharply, sensing something. A trace of demonic energy passed by outside the window. This demonic energy was far deeper than anything they had encountered before, so much so that it emitted a low, rumbling sound as it passed.

Xu Qianyu gripped her wooden sword and said, “I’ll go take a look.”