ATLAS TRANSLATES

As soon as they left, government officials quickly sealed off Luoshen Manor.

The ruler expressed endless gratitude to them. As the Flower King withered, the Luoyu flowers planted in people’s bodies lost their vitality.

At first, some were unhappy about the flowers’ death, but at the mention of Lingshan’s name, they could only go with the flow and offer praise.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, the intoxicating fragrance dissipated into the air. In the evening, lanterns hung high, and flower branches entwined with red walls, replaced by true signs of life.

Luodan Country was gradually returning to its original state.

While this matter was temporarily resolved, the whole incident remained mysterious.

They still needed to go to Qingzhou to find the mastermind.

But Xing Shuishui was concerned about something else…

She stared at the red string wrapped around her wrist. Was there really no way to solve this?

The red string wasn’t short, but it wasn’t long either. No matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn’t come off. Even going back to her room to sleep last night had become a problem.

She wanted He Liansheng to sleep on the floor in her room, but he completely ignored her. Instead, Xing Shuishui was dragged to sleep in his room. He spent the whole night practicing as if she wasn’t there, while she slept on the hard, cold floor, complaining countless times.

If this continued, even if she found a chance to steal his spirit-suppressing pagoda, she would be pulled back in the next second.

No one had mentioned this would happen after breaking the Chixuan Dream technique!

He Liansheng lit talisman fire at his fingertips and tried to burn the red string, but it didn’t budge at all. His expression wasn’t pleasant either.

Seeing this situation, Xing Shuishui lost her appetite for snacks.

“He Liansheng, is there really no solution? We can’t be tied together like this forever, right?”

“I refuse.”

The young man looked up. There were still snack crumbs at the corner of her lips. The fire at his fingertips extinguished briefly as he sneered: “Tied together forever? What kind of dream are you having? You’re really planning to go to Lingshan with me?”

Xing Shuishui grumbled: “It’s not like I want to. I want to break this too. Who wants to go back to Lingshan with you? I still need to find my grandfather.”

Seeing her other hand pulling at the red string, trying to break it, He Liansheng gave her a look that suggested she was overestimating herself. He suddenly moved closer.

A shadow fell over her. Xing Shuishui’s eyelashes trembled as she stopped moving, watching him warily. What was he trying to do now? Test if she was a spirit again?

He Liansheng held out one hand in front of her.

Xing Shuishui leaned back, almost losing her balance. Was he… going to pull her hair again?

“Xing Shuishui, if you lie to my face again, I’ll burn off your braids.”

He Liansheng’s fingertips suddenly sparked with talisman fire. Xing Shuishui closed her eyes while swatting his hand away.

“I’m not lying. You just won’t believe me. I’ve told you so many times I’m really looking for my grandfather.”

He Liansheng coldly said: “You’ve been here for so many days, all you do is eat snacks and sleep. Are you looking for your grandfather in your dreams or up in the sky?”

Xing Shuishui was stunned, then replied: “You’re so harsh with your words.”

She raised her wrist innocently: “With this thing here, how can I run around? You spend all day practicing, so I don’t go out.”

She had indeed slipped up a bit. Who would have thought this red string would actually help at a crucial moment? Still, she couldn’t understand He Liansheng. He was already so powerful, yet still wanted to become stronger.

He Liansheng said: “You think everyone is like you?”

Xing Shuishui replied: “What’s wrong with being like me? Life isn’t just about dominating the world and stepping on others.”

He Liansheng was stunned, then showed contempt: “In your eyes, I practice just to step on others?”

Xing Shuishui shook her head.

“It doesn’t seem like it…”

Combining with what was written in the Book of Life and Death.

Xing Shuishui started imagining: “Tell me honestly, you want to become so powerful because you have someone you want to protect, right?

I’m not just making this up, books always say this – the world’s greatest swordsman desperately wants to become stronger to protect his unrequited love.”

He Liansheng’s gaze was cold, as if he thought her head was full of water. After Xing Shuishui finished speaking, she stared at him for a second, her raised smile slowly flattening as she had a bad feeling. He Liansheng reached out and viciously grabbed her braids.

Xing Shuishui winced in pain, tilting her head: “He Liansheng, I hate you, you’re pulling my braids again!”

The evening wind blew, shaking peach blossoms from the tree.

The young man sneered: “Heh… you guessed right! I do want to step on others, I do want to dominate the world. And then — sew your mouth shut to stop you from sprouting nonsense all day like you’ve taken the wrong medicine.”

Li Guanyu walked into his courtyard just in time to see this scene and became somewhat anxious.

Li Guanxing held back his sister, maintaining a straight face: “Sister, look how well they get along!”

Li Guanyu hesitated: “But… Shuishui seems angry. He Lian is bullying her again.”

Li Guanxing said: “Sister, you don’t understand. With He Liansheng’s temper, if he really wanted to hurt her, Xing Shuishui would have been stabbed to death already. They’re just working out their relationship!”

Xing Shuishui overheard this and just wanted to beat up Li Guanxing. Everyone from Lingshan was equally hateful.

Li Guanyu still walked forward, pulling Xing Shuishui to her side, and said to He Liansheng: “I asked my master. He said it might be a kind of folk art. Because the Crimson (Chixuan) Dream technique is different from mirror techniques, its origin wasn’t from cultivators but from common people.

Many folk art masters would add another spell to prevent others from breaking their techniques, called chain spells. When one spell is broken, another is triggered simultaneously. It’s both for fun and as a warning.”

Xing Shuishui understood – it was like a seesaw.

No matter which end you lift, the thing on the other end will always fall on you.

Either stay trapped in the dream technique until death, or come out and be caught in another spell.

What a chain spell.

He Liansheng asked: “Does your master know what spell this is?”

Li Guanyu said: “My master needs to see it himself.”

She had Xing Shuishui and He Liansheng stand still, then cast a spell. A shadowy figure of an old man appeared. Xing Shuishui examined him, feeling somewhat complicated.

“…”

Ha. Wasn’t this the old man who stood beside He Lianziyu back then? The day Guan Yinzi died, he and He Lianziyu rode their swords, trying to take her back to Lingshan, but their robes were almost burned off by the separation fire.

The old man saw at a glance she was a mortal and frowned: “Who is she?”

Li Guanyu said: “This girl is called Xing Shuishui, we met her on the road. He Lian probably broke the dream spell.”

The old man didn’t ask more. Seeing the red string connecting their wrists, he was somewhat surprised: “The Shared Heart String technique?”

“It’s a very rare folk technique.”

“If those under the spell don’t cultivate together, the string will get shorter and shorter, drilling into their brains. Until death.”

He Liansheng: “…”

Xing Shuishui: “…”

She was innocent.

Really.

Li Guanxing’s expression was interesting, but he didn’t dare show it in front of He Liansheng. After a long while, he finally squeezed out: “Master, is there any other way to break this Shared Heart String technique?”

The old man said: “Either have the one who cast it undo it, or use separation fire to drive it away.”

“But Xue Jiuling died many years ago, and the only Separation Fire Manor that still has a few wisps of separation fire has been on bad terms with us for many years – they would only make things worse. I heard from Guanyu about what happened to you in Luodan Country, and I roughly guess the one who cast the spell on He Lian must be this mastermind. When you go to Qingzhou, you must find a way to break this spell.”

Li Guanyu nodded slightly.

The old man suddenly looked at Xing Shuishui: “I have a few words I want to say to this girl alone.”

The others left the formation.

Xing Shuishui felt somewhat uneasy, her hand already on Qitong.

Could this old fellow have sensed something? Although she was reborn, her favorite clothes colors and hairstyle were almost the same as her previous life.

Sister’s matter wasn’t settled yet, she didn’t want to create more trouble.

But unexpectedly, this old man wasn’t thinking what she thought: “Miss, I see you seem to be a mortal woman. Have you considered dual cultivation with He Lian?”

Xing Shuishui was stunned for a moment, somewhat wanting to pierce her ears deaf. But on her face, she showed difficulty: “Elder, you misunderstand. I don’t like his type…”

The old man smiled: “He Lian has exceptional talent, many at Lingshan admire him. If not for his bad temper, perhaps the Mountain Lord would have already arranged a marriage for him. It’s actually normal if you admire him.”

“But it’s best as you say. Don’t use this opportunity to harbor inappropriate thoughts, leave them after the spell is broken. He Lian is a cultivator, Lingshan’s most outstanding celestial master, both his master and I think highly of him. He’s now the young master of the He family, and in the future might possibly become the Mountain Lord. His partner should be a cultivator lady from an equally matched family.”

Although his words were well-intentioned, he didn’t forget to release pressure with his aura.

Xing Shuishui: “…”

Dead old man, it’s only been a few hundred years, have you forgotten how your magical weapon was burned by separation fire and you fell from the sky at Yin Mountain? If I had known this person liked to bully others, when I came down from Fanxin Cliff back then, I should have destroyed his cultivation before leaving.

Just as I thought, everyone from Lingshan is hateful.

The old man intended to warn her, naturally not knowing what she was thinking. Seeing her expression change, he left satisfied.

Xing Shuishui rubbed her chin in thought. The Shared Heart String technique? Drive it away with separation fire? It wasn’t much different from what she had thought.

Just need to steal the pagoda first, then everything else can be discussed.

They naturally took the water route to Qingzhou. As the sky darkened, lanterns in the mist gradually brightened, their orange light guiding the way for passing boatmen.

They sat on the boat, the air filled with the smell of moss.

Li Guanxing didn’t want to practice sword techniques and asked curiously: “Xing Shuishui, what did my master just say to you?”

Although Li Guanyu was also curious, she gave Li Guanxing a look telling him not to ask such things. Xing Shuishui glanced in He Liansheng’s direction. The young man stood at the boat’s bow, holding the Taoyuan sword, surrounded by killing intent, his vermillion headband swaying up and down.

Mist spread onto the boat, the lamplight was hazy, and the young woman’s face was peaceful.

Afraid of being overheard, she intentionally lowered her voice: “It wasn’t much really.”

“Maybe your master saw this string connecting me and him, and mistakenly thought there was something between us in the dream technique, thought I admired him.”

Xing Shuishui paused, then smiled: “But I could never admire him.”

Cultivators have good hearing, especially someone like He Liansheng. He gave her a cold look from behind, but Xing Shuishui didn’t notice.

Li Guanxing said: “Why? Look at He Liansheng, though his personality is a bit cold, he has both cultivation and looks. Many at our Lingshan admire him.”

Xing Shuishui asked: “Does Sister Guanyu admire him?”

Li Guanyu was stunned for a moment before reacting: “Shuishui… don’t joke around.”

Xing Shuishui smiled: “See, not everyone likes the same things. Like me, I don’t like fierce men like him. I don’t like sickly ones either.”

As if remembering someone.

She propped her arm on the table, sleeve against her chin, suddenly lowering her eyes and saying softly: “I only like men who are gentle with me.”

It was true in both her past and present life.