ATLAS TRANSLATES

Xing Shuishui fell asleep without realizing, slumped over the desk with the safety talisman clutched tightly in her hand.

You are too good.

So, what would it take to make you happy?

He Liansheng.

She woke in the middle of the night, lying in bed. Glancing at the peach wood talisman on the table, she knew He Liansheng had been there.

Opening the door, moonlight spilled across her arm as Xing Shuishui rubbed her eyes. As she expected, He Liansheng hadn’t slept. He was drawing talismans—not with cinnabar, but with blood. Under the harsh moonlight, his fingertips were stained crimson.

Cinnabar would harm spirits. But blood wouldn’t.

Xing Shuishui understood then. Who this talisman was for.

She ran over and suddenly embraced him from behind.

Her fingers gripped the young man’s clothes. He Liansheng’s body stiffened, his hand covering hers.

Her hands were a bit cold.

He spoke: “You’re awake?”

Xing Shuishui pressed her cheek against his back, her voice choked with emotion: “That safety talisman must have taken you so long to carve. Why are you so obsessed? Why can’t you be kinder to yourself, instead of entrusting your life to me! He Liansheng, I don’t want this!”

Her voice trembled.

He Liansheng tried to pry her hands away, but Xing Shuishui was stubborn. Her arms stayed locked tightly around his waist, refusing to budge even slightly, still clutching the safety talisman she had held for so long.

Silence fell between them.

Unable to see her expression, He Liansheng said mockingly: “You’re a spirit, I’m a cultivator. If I don’t give you my life, what else could you like about me? That I’m Lingshan’s lapdog or the young master of the He family? That I’m good at capturing spirits or that I’m cold-hearted?”

“Perhaps to you, He Liansheng is a terrible person. But to me, Xing Shuishui, you are too radiant. In this life, only you have made my heart flutter.”

After suppressing it for who knows how long, he finally said it.

Even knowing spirits rarely love cultivators, he was still willing to die for her, trying to move her heart in the most savage way possible.

Crossing boundaries of identity and race, approaching death.

Young love never considered the cost.

He only wanted to make her heart ache, to move her, to make her fall in love with his obsessive self.

In a world full of schemes and plots, he would only be honest with her.

Xing Shuishui froze. Various emotions surged forth. How had she suddenly become indebted to him with so much affection? It was almost impossible to repay.

Her lips trembled: “What if, even after all this, I still don’t like you?”

He Liansheng lowered his brows: “Then I’ll consider you stone-hearted. Since you don’t like me, you’re not allowed to like anyone else. If I unfortunately discover otherwise, I won’t hesitate to kill him.” His eyes darkened, his tone somewhat hoarse.

“Don’t feel like you owe me anything, Shuishui.”

“Saying you like me is the best compensation.”

Holding back tears, Xing Shuishui released her embrace and moved around to face He Liansheng. Head slightly bowed, she rubbed her eyes: “He Liansheng, I like you. I will always like you. Until you regret it.”

He Liansheng laughed coldly at her words: “Regret?”

He took the safety talisman from Xing Shuishui’s hand, hung it around her neck, and gripped her chin, forcing her to look up. Staring into her clear eyes, he enunciated each word: “What foolish dreams. You think I would regret?”

Xing Shuishui grabbed his other hand. He Liansheng leaned close to her, their hair floating in the night breeze.

The young man’s voice was teasing: “Shuishui, remember what you said today. If you change your mind—I—”

Unusual darkness clouded his eyes: “Even as a ghost, I won’t let you go.”

Xing Shuishui touched the safety talisman around her neck.

Why would she regret?

He was clearly so good to her.

Thinking of the afternoon’s events, she asked He Liansheng why Xue Sansi had suddenly sought him out. He Liansheng said Lingshan demanded she return the sacred Floating Spirit Mirror. Xing Shuishui almost laughed out loud.

Last time in Cangchuan, Lingshan had suffered defeat at their hands. This time they’d gotten smarter—instead of threats and violence, they directly asked for the mirror.

She asked: “What did you say?”

He Liansheng replied: “I told them to get lost.”

Xing Shuishui was stunned for a moment, then smiled. A paper crane flew into her courtyard. She thought it was a letter from Du Dizhu, but when she caught and opened it, it was from Xue Sansi.

The letter contained just four words: Zhuang Xin has awakened.

She immediately grabbed it to show He Liansheng: “Do you want to go together?”

“Let’s go.”

They flew from the courtyard and quickly arrived at Xue Zhuangxin’s quarters. Xing Shuishui pushed open the door and saw her leaning against the bed. Her mind went blank as she ran forward to grab her hand, voice trembling: “Sister, how are you feeling now?”

Xue Zhuangxin looked at her in confusion: “Hm? Sister?”

Her hand slipped from Xing Shuishui’s grasp. Xue Zhuangxin’s face was translucently pale, her lips black, with faint blue veins visible under candlelight. The woman’s eyes were full of confusion. Only then did Xing Shuishui remember—this was just her sister’s reincarnation, without memories of her past life.

Xing Shuishui stepped back, lowering her eyes: “I’m sorry. Miss Xue looks like my sister. I got emotional and mistook you for her.”

She stood properly to the side.

Xue Zhuangxin smiled gently: “It’s alright. Your sister must be wonderful for you to miss her so much. If she knew, she would surely be very happy.”

“Sister was the best person in the world, but I wasn’t capable enough back then, which led to…”

She didn’t know why she was saying this—her sister couldn’t understand anyway. Xue Zhuangxin suddenly pressed her forehead and frowned, looking pained: “This isn’t right. Why am I here? I remember I was supposed to marry Young Master He! Where is this? Why am I lying in bed?”

The more Xue Zhuangxin tried to remember, the more her head hurt. Xue Sansi glanced at Xing Shuishui, his expression becoming awkward as he recalled that this He was already dead.

Xing Shuishui comforted her, saying what they had agreed upon: “Miss Xue, don’t you remember? I was doing your hair when news suddenly came that your Young Master He had eloped with a woman he met while studying. You fainted right then.”

Xue Zhuangxin naturally didn’t believe it: “How could that be… Young Master He was humble and courteous, he wouldn’t do something so unfaithful… You must be lying to me!”

Xing Shuishui thought of that damned Tang Hezhou, and that damned Li Yuqi, anger rising within her. These two dead men—neither had pure intentions. Only sister was pure, being deceived by one after another. Gritting her teeth, she took out a letter. Fortunately, they had prepared for this. The letter was written by the Xue couple—of course, forced out by Xue Sansi’s fan.

Xing Shuishui said: “Your parents wrote this themselves. At first, they also couldn’t believe Young Master He would be so unfaithful, but investigation proved it true. Worried you might do something rash, they arranged for you to stay with us temporarily to heal your heart.”

Xue Zhuangxin quickly scanned the letter, then immediately clutched her chest, closing her eyes as if enduring something. Xing Shuishui hurriedly supported her back while Xue Sansi called for someone to bring medicine to strengthen her body.

Xue Zhuangxin only remained downcast for a moment. Pale-faced, she turned her head, her hair disheveled and gold hairpin swaying, yet she smiled gently: “I’ll have to trouble you all then.”

Xing Shuishui stared at her sister in this state for a long while, her sister’s image filling her pupils. Sister… you’re still so gentle… not wanting to worry others at all.

After leaving Xue Zhuangxin’s room, Xue Sansi asked her: “Are we just going to keep deceiving her?”

Xing Shuishui said: “Sister drank from the River of Forgetfulness before her reincarnation, so she’s forgotten her past life completely. To make her remember, we can only go down to Fengdu City again.”

But she felt Fengdu wouldn’t help this time. They helped before because that heavenly lightning had mistakenly struck her, and she was connected to He Liansheng’s life-and-death tribulation.

But now He Liansheng’s tribulation had passed.

Helping this time would be unreasonable.

He Liansheng reminded her: “We could use the Floating Spirit Mirror.”

The Floating Spirit Mirror could show past lives and present lives, and could also let living people know what happened in their previous lives. Xing Shuishui took out the mirror, its surface shimmering like dragon scales in the moonlight.

One last chance remained. She touched the mirror’s surface, and light immediately wrapped around her wrist.

For some reason, she didn’t really want to use it.

Actually, Xing Shuishui was more curious about He Liansheng’s past life, especially remembering that his previous life wasn’t good… just how bad was it… Unexpectedly, Xing Shuishui put the mirror away and smiled at Xue Sansi: “Let’s go down to Fengdu City again.”

Even if the chances were slim, they had to try. Besides, Du Dizhu hadn’t found any traces of Guan Wushan yet. They had nothing else to do anyway.

Xue Sansi said: “Mm. Then let’s go down once more.”

It would still be Xing Shuishui and He Liansheng going down, while Xue Sansi guarded the manor. Lingshan’s attempt to get the Floating Spirit Mirror had failed—who knew what trouble they might cause next. They especially liked assassination attempts, so they needed to be careful. But then again, Xue Sansi himself was Lingshan’s mortal enemy—if they could have succeeded in killing him, they wouldn’t have waited until now.

Soon they would go down to Fengdu again.

Before that, Xing Shuishui took He Liansheng to a place. He was clearly familiar with it, grabbing her wrist and saying: “Don’t go in.”

She turned back to look at him, his headband floating in the air.

The temple was ancient and dilapidated, bronze bells ringing under the eaves, strange beasts carved on the roof ornaments watching the visitors. She stood at the entrance. Though the ruined temple that Guan Yinzi had torn down had been rebuilt by Xue Sansi, it was still this desolate. Wild grass grew everywhere, and few people came to pray. Through the wall, they could hear the mumbling chants of young monks.

Xing Shuishui: “Let’s draw a fortune.”

He Liansheng: “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Xing Shuishui: “I know. Let’s draw a fortune, He Liansheng.”

He Liansheng: “Don’t go in.”

The conversation had come full circle. Xing Shuishui fell silent. Was it because of the prayer ribbons under the Bodhi tree? She looked up at him, her hand still held by him, as if a gentle breeze passed by.

“He Liansheng, I saw all those prayer ribbons. Do they bother you that much? But the past is past. I’m standing beside you now, held in your hand. Will you promise never to let go in the future?”

Xing Shuishui gently tugged at his sleeve, smiling sweetly.

He Liansheng suddenly pulled her close, his hand pressing against her back, approaching inch by inch, forcefully pressing her head against his chest. Taking liberties, Xing Shuishui’s vision went dark, darkness flowing past his white clothes at his chest, her senses filled with his presence. His fingers sank into her hair, making it slightly painful.

Why would he let go?

In this life, he had only ever loved Xing Shuishui.

Now it was her, later it would be her, life after life it would always be her.

All the young man’s obsessive emotions came rushing forth.

Xing Shuishui’s head emerged from between his arms, the loose strands of hair on top standing up: “Actually, I’ve always been curious—why do you like me so much?”

He Liansheng tugged at her upright hair, smirking: “Because Shuishui is a silly spirit. If I didn’t like you, others would bully you to tears.”

Xing Shuishui: “…”

She crossed her arms and glared at him fiercely, igniting separation flames around her body, forcefully pushing them apart.

The separation flames drove away the night, moths gathering towards them. He Liansheng wasn’t scared off by this, ignoring the flames to grab her wrist and enter the temple.

Draw fortunes, draw fortunes.

Xing Shuishui hadn’t forgotten their purpose, boldly walking up to the monk to state their intentions. With so few visitors to the temple, the young monk naturally beamed with joy.

The two shook the fortune container before the room full of Buddha statues, golden lots rolling inside the jar. Xing Shuishui held out her hand: “Here. You go first! It’s sure to be a good omen!”

He Liansheng wasn’t interested in such things, but to make Xing Shuishui happy, he took the container and shook it once, randomly taking out a lot.

The golden lot read: Auspicious.

Xing Shuishui smiled: “See, I said it would be a good omen.”

She shook out her own lot, but froze when she saw the characters on it.

Inauspicious. Great misfortune.

Though she turned it over quickly, He Liansheng still saw it.

He immediately snapped the lot in half. The young monk was angry, but He Liansheng’s expression dared him to do something about it, extremely arrogant. The young monk could only swallow his anger.

The young man said contemptuously: “Just tricks and illusions. Don’t believe it.”

“So-called fated life and death is nothing but a joke. Anything that can be predicted is garbage. If people’s fates could be determined by a stick, I wouldn’t mind destroying the heavenly way itself.”

He Liansheng was as proud as ever.