The temperature instantly turned ice cold, inside and outside the ancient tower were like two different worlds. As soon as Xing Shuishui entered, she smelled a foul stench, like a long-dead rat decomposing in the air.
“So you found your way here after all. I warned you all.”
A hoarse voice echoed through the tower.
Xing Shuishui lit her tinderbox and looked up toward the source of the voice.
A massive creature sat in the tower, occupying nearly half the space inside. Wait—was this thing just talking? Xing Shuishui had to strain her neck to even try to see its head.
This black-green mass of tumorous flesh looked like an eel, covered in disgusting slime. It was impossible to tell which parts were legs and which were arms. It resembled a pile of pickled vegetables just pulled from a jar.
Was it human or ghost?
The mass spoke again: “You even brought a useless mortal with you. How unexpected.”
Xing Shuishui: “…”
So it didn’t take her seriously.
She muttered under her breath: “At least I can walk, while you can only squirm.”
The mass had good hearing: “You truly don’t know your place. Do you know who stands before you?”
Xing Shuishui played along: “Who?”
Suddenly, talismans ignited around He Liansheng. The Taoyuan sword reflected the firelight, giving Xing Shuishui a clearer view.
The mass had eyes, a mouth, and teeth. As it spoke, it was still chewing something. Crunch crunch—the sound of breaking bones. The ghost in its mouth let out a terrified scream.
She could see clearly now—what it was chewing was the evil ghost that had escaped from He Liansheng earlier!
The mass laughed coldly: “You’ll know who I am when you’re dead. Since you found this place… I’ll make sure none of you leave alive today.”
“What foolish dreams. The only one not leaving alive will be you.”
He Liansheng’s eyes were mocking. “I told you I’d make your death painful. A thing that’s neither human nor ghost has no right to exist in this world?”
He swung his sword to strike the mass’s midsection. Instantly, the tower filled with whistling wind and crushing killing intent. At that moment, puppets hidden all around surged forth! They forcefully blocked He Liansheng’s sword strike.
The mass said: “Young He family brat, you brought this on yourself by refusing the easy way. If you hadn’t brought this useless mortal, I might have hesitated. But since you’re so arrogant, why not just become my puppet too!”
Another wave of puppets emerged.
Unlike the previous batch, these puppets were once living people, and cultivators at that…
Xing Shuishui sensed something wasn’t right. These puppets’ swordsmanship seemed off. He Liansheng scanned them with contempt before slicing off the head of the first puppet that charged at him.
The head rolled to Xing Shuishui’s feet.
She looked down and her eyes widened.
It was someone from the He family.
She had seen him in her previous life. He Liangyu.
She called out a warning: “He Liansheng, their sword techniques seem similar to yours…”
The severed head reattached to its body through puppet strings.
He Liansheng’s expression darkened. While Xing Shuishui was speaking, he sliced through several puppet strings that tried to sneak in. The mass clearly planned to exhaust He Liansheng’s strength before turning him into a puppet.
If this continued, they would soon be at a disadvantage.
Xing Shuishui observed her surroundings and thought of a plan.
While the puppets were focused on He Liansheng, she threw her tinderbox toward the mass. It didn’t expect this move and was struck in its weakest point—the eyes. The mass screamed, and all the puppets froze in place.
She shouted: “He Liansheng!”
In that instant, He Liansheng leaped up. His Taoyuan sword rode the firelight as he cut off what barely resembled the mass’s “hands.” Blood sprayed from the severed limbs like rain. Xing Shuishui dodged around but fell to her knees while running.
She looked up. Without hands, it couldn’t use puppet techniques. It was only a matter of time before He Liansheng finished it off.
He Liansheng stepped on the mass’s head and kicked it over, looking down at it coldly: “Still trying to use tricks when death is at your door? Want to die even more horribly?”
The mass laughed: “You really think you can kill me?”
As it spoke, its body began to melt.
“My body has long been part of the Zhongfan Tower. By the tower’s rules, if you can’t speak my true name, you’ll be trapped here forever, becoming part of me.”
Xing Shuishui looked at the He family members who had regained consciousness – surely they would know?
The mass read her thoughts: “I silenced them with poison long ago.”
He Liansheng mocked: “You think you deserve to waste my time talking? This broken tower… I don’t like the look of it. I’ll just tear it down.”
The mass laughed heartily: “Aren’t you curious how I came to know the Yin Mountain secret arts? Don’t you want to obtain them? With your talent plus the aid of these arts, what could stop you from achieving immortality?”
He Liansheng drove his sword into its head, emphasizing each word: “I. Have. No. Interest. In. Immortality.”
The mass had merged with the tower.
“Ignorant brat.”
He Liansheng refused to let it escape, fighting fiercely. The mass melded into the tower walls, making the entire structure seem alive. Its regenerative abilities were formidable, having consumed so many souls, and it was cunning. As the stalemate continued, some cultivators who regained consciousness joined in to help him.
While He Liansheng might not have been curious, Xing Shuishui was. The old bastard who created the Yin Mountain evil arts had been dead for over a hundred years by her hand. Since this thing wasn’t Guan Yinzi, how did it know the secret arts?
She thought of He Liangyu. After killing Guan Yinzi and burning Yin Mountain, he had briefly met people who came from Lingshan, including this He Liangyu.
Once glorious, now reduced to another’s puppet.
After regaining consciousness, He Liangyu didn’t rush to help. Instead, he noticed something and bent down to pick up an object from the ground. Xing Shuishui instinctively felt her sleeve—oh no! While dodging the blood rain, Qitong had fallen out!
He must have seen her soul weapon before.
She met He Liangyu’s eyes and tried to stay calm: “This… I just found this somewhere.”
He Liangyu’s arms trembled, clearly recognizing it.
Xing Shuishui snatched it back: “Thank you, I really love it.”
He Liangyu suddenly grabbed Xing Shuishui’s arm, staring at her angrily. His lips moved but he could only make unintelligible sounds.
Xing Shuishui glanced toward He Liansheng—he hadn’t noticed this exchange. She lowered her voice and said to He Liangyu: “I have no interest in your family member, none at all. Why don’t you just tell me how the Yin Mountain evil arts ended up in that ugly creature’s hands?”
He Liangyu released her and stepped back.
Xing Shuishui asked: “You know that ugly thing?”
He Liangyu’s expression was pained.
Xing Shuishui pointed at herself: “Have I seen it before?”
He Liangyu struggled for a moment, then nodded.
“Did I see it before the Resolving Element’s three thousand three hundred years, or after? If after, nod twice.”
He Liangyu only nodded once.
So before Guan Yinzi’s death.
Suddenly it clicked for Xing Shuishui. Puppet techniques, knowledge of Yin Mountain arts, familiarity with Guan Yinzi, even knowing about her…
How could it be… how could it be him?
…
Four hundred years ago.
When Xing Shuishui first came to this world, she thought she was dreaming. One moment she was arguing with her parents and running away from home, sleeping on a park bench, the next she was a baby.
A newborn baby who didn’t cry or fuss, just very well-behaved.
Her birth mother looked exhausted, eyes closed, not speaking. A beautiful older sister took her and held her up to their mother, saying joyfully: “Mother, I have a little sister!”
The mother only said one word: “Oh.”
Xing Shuishui looked around with open eyes. Judging by the clothes, this was ancient times. Looking at the surroundings, this place was quite shabby, with many people living together, sleeping on the ground. The moment she smelled the body odor filling the room, her whole mood soured.
She wondered why her birth mother wasn’t happy about her arrival.
But she soon understood.
The door opened from outside, and a steward-like person entered. Fair-skinned, red-cheeked, slightly chubby, with a thin, high voice that reminded one of palace eunuchs from TV dramas.
“I heard there’s a newborn girl here. The master wants to see her.”
Xing Shuishui could feel her sister holding her tighter.
The steward came to her, displeased: “What’s this? You don’t want to let go? If the Guan family hadn’t been keeping you all alive, those demon hunters outside would have killed you long ago.”
Big sister lowered her head: “I wouldn’t dare.”
Being held by the steward suddenly made Xing Shuishui feel very unsafe. He either kicked or grabbed at her, though fortunately the swaddling restricted her movement. The steward gave a sinister smile.
She would never forget her first sight of Guan Yinzi. He stood before an array, wearing Daoist robes, hands behind his back, looking like a righteous immortal.
Xing Shuishui thought he was a good person.
Who would have thought that the next moment he would kill nine people, blood everywhere, yet Guan Yinzi’s expression never changed.
Xing Shuishui froze for a second.
Damn, psychopath. This can’t be real, right?
She was scared to tears. She wanted to go home and never run away again, truly.
Guan Yinzi put his hand on her head: “See this? This is what happens to medicine sheep who try to escape. Your father’s soul has already been consumed by the soul-capturing array. I hope you won’t follow in his footsteps.”
He treated newborns as if they had no memory, glanced at Xing Shuishui and handed her to the eunuch-like person, telling him: “Nine people died on the day of her birth, so call her Jiuling.”
Xing Shuishui dared not cry or make a fuss.
As she grew older, she understood her situation better:
The entire peach blossom spirit clan was being kept in this mountain estate by a cultivator named Guan Yinzi to make medicine. They couldn’t escape, couldn’t slack off in their work, or they would be beaten to death. Even so, even if they obediently followed orders, they couldn’t escape death.
Death either way.
Xing Shuishui didn’t want to die in this world. When she was old enough to speak and walk.
Her system arrived too.
The system manifested as a small knife. When it first appeared, Xing Shuishui was startled.
The system said: “Don’t be afraid, host. You were chosen to come to this world to kill someone. That person is cold-hearted and will become extraordinarily talented in the future. The Heavenly Way cannot stop them, so you must become their heavenly tribulation.”
Xing Shuishui pointed at her weak, pitiful self who could die at any moment, hesitating.
She paused: “Kill who?”
Guan Yinzi? Could the system just strike that psycho dead?
The system: “Don’t rush, host. That person is still in the cycle of reincarnation. Even if you killed them as a mortal now, they would just reincarnate. You must wait until their hundred and eighth reincarnation as an immortal embryo, then you can kill them.”
Xing Shuishui: “How long will that take?”
System: “Four hundred years from now.”
Xing Shuishui: “…”
So you’re a psycho too!
Could she even survive safely for four hundred years? What a joke.
If that old creep Guan Yinzi suddenly went crazy, she wouldn’t even see tomorrow’s sun!
Xing Shuishui said: “How could someone so exceptional be killed by me? You must have the wrong person. Why not send me back now? Look at my thin arms and legs – if you reincarnated a martial arts champion instead, there might be a chance of completing the mission. I’ve been missing for so long, my parents must be worried. I don’t want to stay here. Staying here means death.”
System: “Complete the mission and you can go back, right?”
Wait four hundred years… she’d be dust by then!
Xing Shuishui said: “Let me go back first, then call me back in four hundred years to complete the mission, wouldn’t that work?”
The system coldly replied: “No.”
The door pushed open and Xue Zhuangxin came out from inside, seeing Xing Shuishui crouching alone under the eaves, worried: “Little sister, who were you just talking to?”
Xing Shuishui said: “I wasn’t talking. Sister, you must have heard someone else.”
Xue Zhuangxin frowned: “But I’m sure I heard someone talking…”
Xing Shuishui said: “I just saw some people walk by, it must have been them.”
Afraid Xue Zhuangxin would keep asking, she pointed at her braids: “Sister, I think my braids are coming loose.”
It was raining outside, and the carp pond was full again. Xue Zhuangxin smiled helplessly and beckoned her to come inside.
Xing Shuishui wore flowers in her hair, with two braids wrapped in red cord. Xue Zhuangxin redid them, and Xing Shuishui touched them, seeing her cute reflection in the mirror. She had to admit, everyone in this family was quite good-looking.
Xue Zhuangxin also looked in the mirror: “Little sister seems to be growing prettier.”
But Xing Shuishui asked her: “Sister, do you want to leave this place?”
Xue Zhuangxin’s face changed, her finger pressing against her lips: “Don’t ever say that again.”
Xing Shuishui said: “It’s just us two here.”
Xue Zhuangxin said: “Every blade of grass and tree here is the master’s eyes and ears.”
She tugged at her clothes: “You cannot do anything against the master’s wishes.”
Xue Zhuangxin immediately made Xing Shuishui kneel on the ground. Xing Shuishui looked up at her sister uncomprehendingly, but seeing Xue Zhuangxin’s serious expression, she knelt to make her happy.
The floor was cold, and the weather was bad that day, with the sound of pattering rain outside. Xing Shuishui was very disdainful.
That evening, the steward came. Xue Zhuangxin was especially nervous.
Xing Shuishui sat on the ground, watching the steward walk towards her, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation. The steward yanked her up from the ground, face dark: “Xue Jiuling, the master wants to see you.”
Xue Sansi was her sister’s friend. His parents were killed by Guan Yinzi when he was young, and Xing Shuishui’s father had always looked after him, so the three of them were quite close.
He glanced at Xing Shuishui, stood up and bowed to the steward: “Sir, might I ask why the master wants to see little Jiu? She’s always been well-behaved.”
The steward glared: “What right do you have to question the master’s business? Have you fixed that window I told you to fix? If it’s not done by winter solstice, we’ll use your skin to fill the gaps.”
Xue Zhuangxin said softly: “The master is wise and mighty, his thoughts naturally cannot be questioned by the likes of us. If possible, please look after my little sister on the way. She cries easily and I fear she might offend the master.”
Her way of speaking was very pleasant to hear, and the steward nodded slightly.
Xue Sansi signaled Xing Shuishui to act submissive.
Xing Shuishui was still a child after all, feeling uneasy. Why did that old creature suddenly want to see her? Was it like sister said, that every blade of grass and tree was his eyes and ears, and he had heard everything she said earlier?
Thinking of what happened to this body’s birth father.
Xing Shuishui’s face changed.
Rain was still falling, lanterns swaying in the night rain. She followed the steward to where Guan Yinzi lived. The door creaked open, inside was very dark. Xing Shuishui walked in, and the door slammed shut behind her. Only her footsteps echoed inside.
Where was the system? Why wasn’t it speaking?
She gripped the small knife in her sleeve. If she died here today, who would help this broken system kill someone? System, say something!
The system remained silent. But Guan Yinzi spoke: “What are you holding in your hand?”
Xing Shuishui knelt on the ground, knowing she couldn’t fight this psycho, and could only answer honestly: “A small knife.”
Guan Yinzi: “Where did it come from?”
Xing Shuishui said: “I don’t know where it came from, it just appeared when I was looking through things.”
Guan Yinzi: “Have you named it?”
Xing Shuishui: “System.”
That was its name anyway.
Guan Yinzi: “Xitong? Not a bad name. You planned to use this to kill me?”
Xing Shuishui was silent for a long time: “I didn’t…”
She couldn’t win.
“Lying isn’t what good children do,” Guan Yinzi sneered, “Didn’t you want to escape the mountain estate? Didn’t you not want to be made into medicine by me? There’s only one way: unless I die, even in death you must die here.”
He appeared at some point, using a scroll to lift Xing Shuishui’s chin. She was forced to look up, seeing the still-wet ink on the cover: Yin Mountain Scripture. Four characters.
Xing Shuishui shuddered: “I… I’m not lying!”
Guan Yinzi smiled: “I am the master. If I say you’re lying, you’re lying. Xue Jiuling, do you know why you have this name? Jiuling, Jiuling – nine souls died when you were born, one being your birth father, whose soul and body I captured with my soul-capturing array to make medicine. Would you like to know how your father died?”
Caught while trying to escape.
Looking at the human bone lanterns hanging from the rafters, Xing Shuishui thought carefully and decided that to survive now, she could only make this old psycho believe she was willing to sacrifice herself for his “great work.”
She said: “My father deserved to die! Master killed my father surely because he displeased you. I serve master with all my heart, I… I truly dare not have any other thoughts, never thought of escaping.”
Uncle, I’m sorry, but he’s the one who should die.
He should be the one whose soul scatters.
He should be the one who can never reincarnate.
He shouldn’t exist in this world at all.
Guan Yinzi looked down at the young girl’s hair whorl: “You should be grateful you’re too young – killing you now would be meaningless. Useless things can go stay in the dungeon for a month. Die when you become useful.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Someone foolish seems to have been kneeling outside all this time. When you go out, you can see who they’re kneeling for.”
Xing Shuishui froze. Opening the door revealed pouring rain.
She saw Xue Sansi kneeling on the ground. Their eyes met briefly, but she dared not look at him.
Passing by Xue Sansi, Xing Shuishui stopped and said quietly: “I’m sorry, Brother Sansi.”
Xue Sansi was soaked through, lifting his pale face to comfort her: “As long as little Jiu is alright, I can give your sister an answer.”
The steward kicked him and told him to get lost.
Xing Shuishui didn’t want to transmigrate anymore. She wanted to go home.
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