The rest of the journey passed in silence.

The fan was a red folding fan with green pines painted in ink.

The green pines stood at the edge of a cliff, dancing vigorously in the wind, standing proud and upright. Su Zhuyi had been sitting and regulating her breathing. She used all the remaining spirit stones to heal her injuries to about seventy or eighty percent. Now that the spirit stones were consumed, she emerged from her cultivation state and looked around.

Her gaze fell on those green pines, and suddenly she felt some emotion in her heart.

The Zhuxin Curse was still carved on her chest.

When encountering danger, the Songfeng sword qi would appear to block the danger for her. Qin Jianglan had good intentions, but he was naturally born to restrain her. Even with good intentions to save her, he always managed to cause some trouble.

Su Zhuyi knew Qin Jianglan liked her.

He initially felt guilty toward her, and because of that guilt, he paid attention to her and tolerated her. After she became a cunning demoness, she always used that guilt to tease him and gain some practical benefits. The two of them had been entangled for so long that even at the final moment of her previous life, they were still entwined together.

In this life, Qin Jianglan had already gone down the mountain to gain experience. Where had he traveled to?

If there had been no encounter at Changning Village, no beginning where only one of two girls was saved, he wouldn’t feel guilty toward her, and naturally wouldn’t pay attention to her either. Thinking of this, Su Zhuyi’s brows furrowed. She suddenly realized that without such a beginning, it would be quite difficult to win Qin Jianglan’s heart.

Thinking that Qin Jianglan might not fall in love with her in this lifetime, Su Zhuyi inexplicably felt somewhat uncomfortable and displeased. Looking at the green pines on the fan, she glanced at Qinghe, who sat devoutly beside Luo Ying like a stone statue watching his master, hesitated for a moment, then smiled and asked, “Hey, big brother Qinghe, you’ve always been overshadowed by Qin Jianglan, but now that you’ve gained this opportunity, Qin Jianglan can no longer be mentioned in the same breath as you, right?”

Although Qinghe was known alongside Qin Jianglan as the River and Dragon Wanderers with swords like startled geese, in reality, Qin Jianglan’s position in the martial world was somewhat higher. Qinghe became demonized not long after becoming famous, and after Luo Ying’s death, he became a sect-annihilating demon, so naturally, no one mentioned them together anymore. But before that, they had always been paired together.

When mentioning the most outstanding sword cultivators of their generation, people would always say: Yunxiao’s Jianglan, Gujian’s Qinghe. Even people in the small town of Yongan knew this, so Su Zhuyi felt her question wasn’t out of place. Unexpectedly, Qinghe turned his head and glanced at her. “Who is Qin Jianglan?”

Su Zhuyi froze, feeling her heart inexplicably race. She asked in surprise, “Yunxiao Sect, Qin Jianglan.”

Qinghe sneered, “A nobody, never heard of him.” His expression was rarely somewhat arrogant, as if saying: some unknown small fry wants to be mentioned in the same breath as me?

How was this possible?

The Liuguang Mirror had reversed time, bringing her back over a thousand years. Everything else remained unchanged – how could Qin Jianglan not exist? She still had the Zhuxin Curse, still had the Songfeng sword qi. Didn’t this prove Qin Jianglan’s existence?

But where had Qin Jianglan gone?

In her previous life, he was already famous at this time, with a reputation even greater than Qinghe’s. How could he not exist? Or was it that Qinghe’s heart was entirely devoted to Luo Ying, so he was indifferent to others and thus didn’t know about Qin Jianglan, who had overshadowed him in the martial world?

Thinking this way, Su Zhuyi felt much more at ease. But the next moment, Qinghe delivered another blow. He said, “Last year, our Gujian Sect sparred with Yunxiao Sect disciples in swordsmanship. Among the younger generation, I have no opponents. Yunxiao Sect’s position as the world’s number one sword sect is about to be lost.”

His master Luo Ying’s swordsmanship was divine and unmatched – Yunxiao Sect could find no one to oppose her. And last year he had defeated those young Yunxiao Sect disciples. Now Gujian Sect was rising, with a faint trend of surpassing Yunxiao Sect.

In his heart, master Luo Ying’s swordsmanship was the best in the world.

Therefore, as her disciple, he also had to be the best. As for Qin Jianglan from Yunxiao Sect, he had never heard of him.

The little girl in front of him, saying he was inferior to others, was simply…

Seeking death. The black sword behind him was ready to move, as if about to fly out of his body. He clenched his fist, pulling that fierce energy back into his body, then said, “Sufang City is not far ahead. Farewell forever.”

After speaking, he kicked Su Zhuyi off the fan.

Fortunately, he didn’t go too far. When Su Zhuyi was about to hit the ground, he used a gentle breeze to support her slightly, so she didn’t fall flat but sat down hard on the ground.

This time, Su Zhuyi didn’t curse.

She was shocked by the news she had just heard and was somewhat dazed, sitting on the ground without moving.

No Qin Jianglan!

No Qin Jianglan!

Qinghe wouldn’t lie to her. That meant in this lifetime, there was no Qin Jianglan.

Dao artifact, dao artifact. The Liuguang Mirror was a dao artifact. Successfully repairing time reversal was extremely difficult, which was why she had committed so many killings back then without success. Later, after slowly nurturing it for six hundred years, she was suddenly struck by lightning.

Honestly, at that time, she never thought the Liuguang Mirror would take effect at that moment.

The Liuguang Mirror needed a sacrifice to work successfully, a powerful sacrifice. Thinking of Luo Ying’s earlier sacrifice to the sword, a thought suddenly popped into Su Zhuyi’s mind: What had Qin Jianglan done?

He seemed to know something. When the heavenly tribulation struck, he wasn’t very panicked.

He had also asked her, “If you could return to the past, would you, would you still enter the demonic path?”

How had she answered then?

Su Zhuyi felt somewhat dazed. She couldn’t remember how she had answered. Her mind was filled with only one voice clamoring: Qin Jianglan knew, he knew they would return to the past!

She, who had the Liuguang Mirror hidden in her heart, didn’t know, but he did.

Because he had sacrificed himself, the Liuguang Mirror could take effect and bring her back to the past?

A willing sacrifice, a cultivator whose cultivation was nearly at ascension level – such a sacrifice far exceeded the island creatures she had once slaughtered.

The shock in her heart left Su Zhuyi’s mind blank. She sat there for a long time without moving. She had never imagined that her return was because of Qin Jianglan.

She had also never imagined that in this lifetime, there would be no more Qin Jianglan.

But the Zhuxin Curse was still there, the Songfeng sword qi was still there – how could he not exist?

She pulled open her clothes and saw the faint red mark on her chest. Suddenly, she noticed that the red mark was becoming fainter and fainter. Previously, it had been like a peach blossom, but now it seemed like a pale mole. Heh, you still want to become the cinnabar mole on my heart?

She should have sneered coldly, but she couldn’t laugh.

They had accompanied each other for so many years. The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was him, and only him. Every day, she heard only his voice, falling asleep to his heart-calming incantations.

He was her tightening spell, but also her safe harbor. And now, the person who had occupied her entire life for six hundred years was gone.

Just then, a soft voice said, “Big sister, what’s wrong with you, you…”

“Don’t cry.” Cry? How could she cry? She wished for nothing more than his miserable death!

Hearing that voice, Su Zhuyi suddenly blinked. She saw tears sliding from her eyes, was slightly stunned, then forced a smile, “Nothing’s wrong.”

Old dog Qin, dead as you are, you still insist on leaving a mark in my heart. Having slept with such an excellent man in my previous life, my standards are high now. Don’t tell me I should become a nun in this lifetime?

Adding to my troubles.

“Why are you crying? Does something hurt?” Little Skull looked at her with concern, then brought its head close and blew gently twice.

“No, the wind blew sand into my eyes.” Su Zhuyi held back her tears. She snorted coldly and stood up, looking around. She found herself standing on a small hillock, with Sufang City’s gates not far ahead. Walking would take at most a quarter hour.

“Did daddy blow it?” Little Skull put its claws behind its back like a little adult and said, “The wind is naughty.”

Su Zhuyi smiled, “It is quite naughty. We’re about to enter the city. Go hide in the gourd first.”

“Mm!” Big sister had said he was too thin and might scare people. Little Skull dove into the gourd, pressing its head to the gourd’s mouth to secretly peek outside.

Su Zhuyi quickly adjusted her mood and strode toward the city gate. Since this opportunity was exchanged for me by you, I’ll live well, freely, and at ease, which will make your death worthwhile.

But a moment later, she came back dejectedly.

“No spirit stones, get lost! What city are you trying to enter?”

“Little girl, see that? There’s Yuxu Mountain over there. There are spirit beasts on the mountain. If you’re lucky enough to hunt a spirit beast, you might even dig up spirit pearls and be able to pay this entrance fee.”

When under someone’s roof, one must bow one’s head.

Su Zhuyi didn’t have a single spirit stone left and couldn’t pay the entrance fee, so the city guards wouldn’t let her through the gates. In her previous life, she later became a demoness – where would she have paid entrance fees? She had completely forgotten about entrance fees. If she had remembered, she could have saved one stone just now. But now, she didn’t have a single spirit stone.

Unable even to enter the city gates, naturally, she couldn’t register to join the Suyue Sect.

But fortunately, she had Little Skull, so getting some spirit stones shouldn’t be difficult. Therefore, Su Zhuyi didn’t hesitate and headed directly toward Yuxu Mountain. After she left, the two cultivators who had advised her on how to earn spirit stones exchanged glances, chuckled twice, and followed Su Zhuyi toward Yuxu Mountain.

The city guards turned a blind eye, pretending not to see.

“Hehuan Sect is also recruiting disciples now. Though that little girl has short hair, her features are quite good. Catching her and selling her to Hehuan Sect would fetch a good price.”

“Mm, she’s good merchandise.” The Suyue Sect had many resources, and this recruitment had attracted many female cultivators to register. When they encountered lone cultivators with low cultivation, they would secretly abduct them. They had done this many times – it was routine by now.

“Really a good seedling. Among the ones we’ve caught recently, this girl is the most beautiful. When she grows up, who knows how enchanting she’ll be…” The two talked while following from a distance. This was Suyue Sect’s territory after all, and acting at Suyue Sect’s city gates would be inappropriate. Therefore, they stayed quite far away to avoid unnecessary trouble. But once they reached Yuxu Mountain, the Suyue Sect couldn’t control them, and they could act immediately.

The two weren’t worried about what abilities such a young girl could have. After all, in the cultivation world, people only began practicing at age six. This little girl looked about five or six years old – what level could she have cultivated to? Someone who came alone like this, probably from some small village, definitely had no background. Even if they took her, no one would come looking. They also weren’t worried she might be a runaway from some cultivation family, because such children wouldn’t think much of a sect like Suyue Sect and wouldn’t eagerly run here.

Su Zhuyi had just been disturbed by the news about Qin Jianglan and was somewhat agitated, so she didn’t notice the people following at a distance. She walked with her head down, never stopping.

Yuxu Mountain looked close, but walking there was quite a distance. Su Zhuyi walked most of the day before reaching the foot of Yuxu Mountain. She looked up to see that Yuxu Mountain was high and steep, with the entire peak hidden in clouds and mist. Such a mountain could indeed be considered a spirit mountain.

For the Suyue Sect to build a city relying on Yuxu Mountain, that great master of Dong Fushang Sect was quite generous to his little lover.

She had been smiling, but thinking of this, her smile suddenly froze.

Qin Jianglan was even more generous than him.

For a demoness, he had sacrificed his life.

They say time reversal goes against heavenly dao, but now such a large living person was gone – wasn’t this the greatest variable in heavenly dao? Since this was the case, why should she care about changing or not changing fate?

In any case, the current world was no longer the world of before.