“Youth? Beauty?” Shuyin shook her head. “I don’t need those, nor do I desire them.”
Her messy hair concealed her eyes, but she seemed to have glanced at Tang Doudou. However, by the time Tang Doudou looked up, she was already looking at Lan Jia again. “After this many years, you still haven’t understood? Things like eternal youth are all just legends. Ah Lan, don’t you already have an answer in your heart? In the end, it’s just that you’re not willing to face the truth.”
“No! You’re only saying this to stop me from pursuing this. But Shuyin, you have to trust me! You have to believe that those legends are real!” As Lan Jia spoke, he took off his black robe to reveal his youthful appearance. “Look at me! Aren’t I the best example of this?”
“You have become younger, but you paid a severe price to do so!” Shuyin’s tone was filled with remorse and regret. “If only back then, that hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have become like this. It is also my fault that you’ve become like this.”
Lan Jia smiled gently. “I’ve never blamed you. Shuyin, won’t you return to my side? As long as you’re with me, I’m sure that secret will soon reveal itself to the world again!”
Shuyin shook her head. “I never thought that after so many years, you would still be so obstinate.”
“Obstinate? No! This isn’t obstinance!” Lan Jia walked up to grab Shuyin, but before he could, something pierced his fingers and drew blood. He retrieved his hand in pain. “Shuyin, why are you still unwilling to allow me to touch you? You’re my wife!”
“Your wife, Shuyin, already died a long time ago when you pushed her down the cliff. The person standing in front of you is nothing but an old lady. Ah Lan, it’s best if you stay away.” After Shuyin finished speaking, she had another coughing fit. “Cough cough, you’re Yu er‘s wife, Tang Doudou?”
Tang Doudou’s hand had stopped bleeding at some unnoticed time, but she still felt weak. She smiled with difficulty as she said, “S-senior… yes, that’s me.”
“You’re already Yu er‘s wife, so why are you still using ‘senior’?” The tone in which Shuyin spoke to her was completely different from the way she spoke to Lan Jia. Her tone no longer contained that severity from before and now even had a trace of benevolent affection.
Thus, Tang Doudou shook her head and obediently called, “Mo… ther…”
Shuyin immediately responded joyfully, “En! Good child! Your mother is Yuner?”
Tang Doudou again shook her head. “Doudou doesn’t know.”
“Aiy, you’re also a pitiful child.” Shuyin gave a long sigh as she sank into thought. When she spoke again, her tone had become more serious. “If you’re too tired, then just rest for a while. Mother won’t let anything happen to you. The Disseminating Tassel Fragrance in your body is too strong, so losing some blood can temporarily lower the poison concentration which would be good for you.”
The Disseminating Tassel Fragrance was still in her? Tang Doudou was completely out of energy so she gave an ‘en’ in reply before leaning onto the cauldron and closing her eyes to rest. However, she kept her ears pricked to hear what Lan Jia and Shuyin were saying.
“Since you won’t believe me, I have no choice but use reality to show you that in the past, we truly went too far for nothing,” said Shuyin.
Lan Jia’s eyes flickered with fear. “Shuyin, what are you trying to do?”
“Don’t worry, I just want to show you the truth. It won’t harm your plan in any way.” Shuyin knew that Lan Jia cared more about his plans than his life. She was already too old to be a match for Lan Jia, and her main concern was saving Tang Doudou, so she couldn’t afford to anger Lan Jia. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to stop him when he went crazy.
Lan Jia forced a smile and said, “Fine, as long as you don’t ruin my plan, you can do whatever you want.”
Shuyin laughed in derision. “After so many years, you’re still…”
“Forget it…”
Shuyin reached out and lifted Tang Doudou off the cauldron. “This is enough blood.”
After she said that, she reached out and pressed her hand against the cauldron.
The originally simple and unadorned cauldron suddenly emitted eye-piercing golden light in patterned lines that gradually revealed themselves to be strange characters.
“What is this?” asked Lan Jia.
Shuyin said, “Isn’t this what you’ve been looking for your entire life?”
“Why would it be like this!?” Lan Jia responded with disbelief as his brows furrowed. “Shuyin…”
“I’ve already said that I wouldn’t ruin your plan,” repeated Shuyin.
Lan Jia stopped speaking. He understood Shuyin better than anyone. Since she said that she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t.
Just like back then, when she said she wanted to die, she jumped off the cliff without hesitation.
Although he was the one that pushed her off the cliff, when he regretted and pulled her back, she showed no hint of indecision as she pried open his hands to fall down the cliff…
When he recalled this, a trace of hurt flashed through his eyes. Sometimes he would ask himself if the Heavens gave him a second chance, how would he have chosen?
If he had chosen a different path, would the scene today be different?
However, how could things that had already happened be changed?
No! There was definitely a way! As long as he found the way to cultivate and became a cultivator, he could cultivate and become a celestial, a god! At that time, reversing time would no longer be a dream!
As Lan Jia thought about this, madness again filled his eyes. He gazed at Shuyin. Even though her beauty had faded with age, her voice and movements still contained that same unique charm from back then.
“Alright, you can put that thing in now,” Shuyin suddenly spoke.
Lan Jia furrowed his brows without speaking.
Shuyin laughed. “What? You can’t bear to? Hadn’t you found that thing just for the sake of using it on this?”
When Shuyin saw that Lan Jia was still hesitating, she said, “You saw as well, all I did was speed up your plan. I didn’t do anything to ruin or stop it. I just want you to know the result of it sooner so that you can finally give up. It’s impossible for cultivators to exist in this world.”
“Humph! If there were no cultivators, where did those records come from? Are you saying our ancestors made them all up?”
“Even if there were once cultivators, it’s been over a hundred thousand years. They’re just stories, legends, yet you’ve taken them to be real…”
Lan Jia interrupted her. “Shuyin, hadn’t you once believed in them too? But now you’re only talking about me?”
“No. As you say, I once believed too. When so many brothers and sisters died because of this, as I got closer to this secret, I finally started to realize that everything was a mistake. It was a huge mistake…”
“That’s enough!” Lan Jia’s expression was irritated. Shuyin had probably said these words to him countless times. If they actually had any chance of affecting him, they wouldn’t be here now.
Shuyin stopped speaking and turned to crouch down in front of Tang Doudou. She fed her a medicinal pill and said, “Good girl, the more I look at you, the more I like you. Tell me about how you met Yu er?”
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