Chapter 50 (Part 1)- The Truth

If not for the Reincarnation Mirror, Xiang Feng would have been unwilling to bring An Ning to the Xianming Hall. Her body was far too weak now.

As Xiao Bichi had mentioned, An Ning’s injuries were severe. From her pulse, it was evident she was nearing death.

Xiang Feng was desperate to know what An Ning had endured all these years and whether she truly was Xue Xi.

Seeing An Ning lower her gaze in silence, Xiang Feng assumed she was too timid. Holding her cold hand, he reassured her, “I’ll go with you. Don’t be afraid.”

An Ning stiffened, her back straightened. She turned her head, her gaze landing uneasily on the man seated at the table.

Her master had only instructed her to accompany Xiang Feng here but hadn’t given any further instructions or mentioned looking into the Reincarnation Mirror.

She was unsure whether the mirror would reveal her own memories or those of Xue Xi.

Fear kept her rooted in place. At this critical juncture, any misstep might ruin her master’s grand plan, and she wouldn’t be able to atone even with her life.

Her master appeared distracted, paying no attention to her. But this was nothing new—he only looked at her when she was of use to him.

An Ning straightened her posture forcefully, holding her breath. Her freshly scabbed wounds reopened, blood seeping through. Her pale lips quivered before she collapsed softly.

Luckily, Xiang Feng caught her in time, preventing her from hitting the ground.

Xiao Bichi moved to intervene but was held back by Xiao Yuqing, who reassured him, “Father, don’t worry. I have some elixirs here. Once An Ning takes them, her bleeding will stop.”

With that, Xiao Yuqing quickly stepped forward and handed the elixir to Xiang Feng.

Xiang Feng sniffed the elixir at his fingertips. After confirming it was of the highest quality, he carefully placed it between An Ning’s teeth.

Once the pill dissolved, he asked nervously, “Feeling better now?”

An Ning nodded lightly. “A little better.”

Seeing some color return to her lips, Xiang Feng exhaled in relief. He scooped her up in his arms but still didn’t forget about the mirror.

An Ning’s face paled as she tugged on his sleeve, whispering, “It hurts… I want to go home.”

Xiang Feng comforted her. “I’ll take you there. We’ll just look briefly, then we’ll go back to rest.”

An Ning pursed her lips and stayed silent. Xiao Yuqing chimed in gently, “Protector Xiang, walk steadily so as not to aggravate An Ning’s injuries.”

Xiang Feng nodded. “Got it.”

An Ning’s gaze lingered on Xiao Yuqing, her lips parting briefly before she fell silent. She offered no more resistance, closing her eyes as if resigned.

Not far away, Yu Zhengzheng watched everyone’s expressions closely. Her gaze lingered thoughtfully on Xiao Yuqing, her eyes narrowing slowly.

An Ning’s reopened wounds had to be intentional—she likely wanted to avoid looking into the Reincarnation Mirror.

Yet she had seemed so defiant earlier. With just a gentle reminder from Xiao Yuqing to Xiang Feng, she immediately stopped resisting and agreed to cooperate.

If Yu Zhengzheng’s guess was correct, Xiao Yuqing had covertly issued an order to An Ning. His words to Xiang Feng were a signal, permitting her to face the mirror.

But why would Xiao Yuqing do this?

Could the Reincarnation Mirror be fake?

Yu Zhengzheng raised an eyebrow, her eyes shifting toward the mirror placed in front of the Emperor.

The Emperor tilted the Reincarnation Mirror in An Ning’s direction. As the clear mirror reflected her face, white mist slowly rose within its surface.

The Reincarnation Mirror had two sides—one that revealed the present life and the other that showed the past. The more someone wished to bury a memory, the more likely it was to appear.

As the white mist dissipated, a scene appeared in the mirror: a woman in a red dress lying quietly in a medicinal pool filled with strange-colored liquid. She looked lifeless, like a corpse.

Soon, someone cut her wrist. Bright red blood gushed out, and her features twisted in agony. Her face contorted, and her body began to twitch violently, like someone having a seizure.

After a long while, another person smeared black ointment on her wounds and bandaged them.

Xiang Feng frowned deeply. He had studied under Xue Xi and, although he lacked interest in medicine, had read all the medical texts in Lingbi Palace in an attempt to win her favor.

Among those texts were forbidden practices sealed away by Xue Xi.

What the Reincarnation Mirror revealed was unmistakably the process of creating a puppet.

Before he could question An Ning, the mirror’s image shifted again, showing the second-level illusion. This time, it was the moment when An Ning was stabbed by Shanshui.

Her pale face carried a sinister smile as she grasped Shanshui’s hand and drove the blade deeper into her own chest.

Xiang Feng’s body trembled. His arms tightened around An Ning as he struggled to suppress his emotions.

It turned out Shanshui hadn’t lied—An Ning had stabbed herself and then framed Shanshui for it.

Yet he hadn’t believed Shanshui, and even attacked her because of An Ning’s unconscious state.

The mirror’s image shifted once more.

This time, it showed the third-level illusion. An Ning had fetched water with leaves while Xiang Feng rested nearby. Before offering the water to him, she had taken a small porcelain vial from her sleeve and poured red powder into it.

Xiang Feng remembered this. She had brought him slightly reddish water in leaf cups, lamenting her incompetence at finding a clean water source, only bloody river water.

He had been touched and drank it all, even comforting her afterward.

But after drinking it, he had inexplicably grown irritable. An Ning had voiced concerns about Shanshui, saying she had been gone too long and might be in danger but insisting she was too afraid to go after her alone.

He was naturally worried about Shanshui, so he told An Ning to wait while he went to find her.

After walking for an unknown distance, he found Shanshui crafting a staff for Hengwu Xianjun. Seeing the staff, all the blood in his body rushed to his head.

Using the last shred of his composure, he calmly asked her why she hurt An Ning and what exactly she had done with Hengwu Xianjun the previous night.

She dismissed him with the same excuses, even going so far as to say she was soon to marry Hengwu Xianjun.

Her words enraged him completely. He snatched the staff from her hands, intending to break it in front of her to shatter her illusions.

But she fought back for the staff with no regard for anything else. The Shanshui he knew would never defy him. Her transformation was entirely due to Hengwu Xianjun.

Then his affliction struck again. Only the taste of fresh blood could ease it. Losing all reason, he sank his teeth into Shanshui.

The mirror displayed the moment he attacked Shanshui. Xiang Feng was momentarily stunned, only to notice a red hem peeking out from behind a nearby rock.

It turned out that An Ning had been hiding nearby, secretly watching the entire scene unfold as he assaulted Shanshui.

In the reflection, Xiang Feng saw his own crazed figure and Shanshui, bound hand and foot, her pale face drained of all color. Though the mirror offered no sound, he could sense her utter despair in that moment.

His lips trembled. A sensation akin to a fishbone lodged in his throat made it hard to breathe. All strength seemed to drain from his body.

“An Ning is a high-level puppet.” Shanshui had tirelessly repeated this truth to him, but he never believed her. Instead, he hurt her over and over again.

Would she still be able to forgive him this time?

In the silence, two heavy thuds broke the stillness simultaneously—one from Hengwu Xianjun smashing the wine goblet against the mirror, and the other from An Ning collapsing heavily to the ground.

After the silence, low murmurs of discussion filled the hall. People cast strange glances at Shanshui, whispering and pointing fingers in condemnation.

Shanshui’s face turned deathly pale. On that day in the illusion realm, her spirit had detached from her body due to her out-of-body state. She could neither feel her body’s sensations nor see clearly what Xiang Feng had done to her.

She had only assumed he was drinking her blood. That was all.

But now, with the images exposed for all to see, even with just a vague silhouette in the mirror, she felt her stomach churn as if she might vomit.

Why? Why treat her this way? Why…

Xiang Feng stiffened as he walked toward Shanshui, slapping himself hard across the face with each step, each strike louder than the last.

“Shanshui, it’s the Master’s fault. If you can’t forgive me, that’s fine. Just come back to Gui Xu Mountain with me, alright?”

His gaze was filled with sincerity, his voice thick with bitterness. “Afterward, it’ll just be the two of us. I’ll take full responsibility for you. When we get back, we’ll get married, alright?”

Shanshui remained silent.

From the moment her spirit awakened, she had followed Xiang Feng. For thousands of years, her world had revolved around him.

He had treated her well. He bought her lotus leaf chicken, remembered her favorite candied hawthorn flavor, picked the cilantro out of her bowl, brewed medicine when she was ill, and even styled her hair differently each day and purchased her the most beautiful dresses.

She had been happy with him. She thought they could live this way for eternity until her spirit eventually dissipated.

But everything changed when An Ning appeared.

He became a stranger, one who filled her with fear. She could no longer bring herself to call him “Master.” Just seeing him made her so anxious she could hardly breathe.

She had never intended to marry Hengwu Xianjun. Despite everything, he was still her master—the same one who had braved storms to buy her lotus leaf chicken when she was sick.

How had it all come to this?

Shanshui didn’t know. She only knew she needed time to think.

She looked into Xiang Feng’s earnest eyes and finally shook her head. “I don’t want to return to Gui Xu Mountain.”

Xiang Feng froze, his swollen cheek faintly stinging.

The pain didn’t matter to him. What cut deeper was the bitter taste in his mouth and the choking sensation in his throat. His heart felt as if it were clenched in a giant hand, squeezing until he could barely breathe.

He wanted to atone for his sins, but Shanshui wouldn’t even give him the chance. She despised him so much that she didn’t even want to return to Gui Xu Mountain.

Hengwu Xianjun respected Shanshui’s decision. After hearing her answer, he tapped twice on his communication bracelet. In mere moments, a horde of black-robed demonic cultivators swarmed into the Xianming Hall.