The world was just one giant, melodramatic romance novel.
She was nothing more than an NPC scurrying through a melon patch, showing up everywhere just to push the plot forward.
"The Mayfly Wood begins to draw nourishment from blood relatives once the host body reaches eighteen. In this life, you and I are blood relatives, and since I happened to stumble onto the path of cultivation, I should be the most suitable living human pillar for you."
Nan Zhi pulled her hand away from Immortal Danxia's, her expression cold and indifferent.
"So you predicted long ago that the eldest daughter of the Nan family would become your living human pillar and end your suffering?"
"If it weren't for those wretched Nan family relatives exposing the anomaly in your soul, you wouldn't have suddenly become this weak. No wonder..."
She finally understood why, on the favorability panel, Nan Yi's favorability was the only one at ten-heart favorability.
Immortal Danxia saw her as the only salvation and hope in her long wait.
To be honest, if she were Immortal Danxia and had a lunatic like Daoist Qinglong clinging to her, she would have broken down too.
What love? What forced affection? What tragic, obsessive romance? Whether male or female, as long as one party is unwilling, it is essentially the ruthless plunder of resources by a superior over an inferior.
When a mortal's relationship breaks, they at least have the choice to part ways and find happiness separately.
Immortal Danxia had no such choice.
Truly, she was trapped through life after life, unable to find release.
Unable to live, yet forbidden from dying.
The moment her eyes opened, it was the next life.
Parents, friends, spouses, children—anyone with a blood relation to her met a tragic end.
If she was born as a girl, she would be taken back to the Demon Suppression Monastery by Qinglong. She would be harassed from a young age, and once she grew up, she might even be locked away to bear children under the banner of "love."
In countless movies and novels, the trope of tragic romance across lifetimes, the cycle of reincarnation where you always find each other...
In reality, it was a horror story of the highest order.
It was like a rule-based horror story.
"So you expect me to hear your tragic story, be moved by sympathy, and willingly agree to be your living human pillar to sustain you until death?"
Nan Zhi raised an eyebrow. If the person before her showed even a hint of such intent, she would immediately wrap herself in her Spirit Swallowing Grass blanket and flee.
Daoist Qinglong was far too arrogant.
Although she was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, her escape skills were top-notch. If she hadn't wanted to see what these two were up to, she would have left long ago.
"No, no, no."
The corners of Immortal Danxia's eyes reddened slightly, her face filled with an unnatural frenzy and excitement as the roots on her lower insect body flailed in the air.
"I want to ask you... to kill me."
Nan Zhi: "..."
Both of you are sick.
And it's not a minor illness, either.
You need help.
...
The moment Danxia spoke those words, Nan Zhi sensed an overwhelming pressure rapidly approaching. In an instant, Daoist Qinglong's formidable aura appeared outside the courtyard.
"Do not be afraid; he does not dare to enter."
Immortal Danxia sneered and said loudly, "For three hundred years, as long as he appears before me, I end my life immediately."
Standing outside, Daoist Qinglong said nothing.
"Wait, let me wrap my head around this."
Nan Zhi rubbed her forehead and couldn't help but ask sincerely:
"So, three hundred years ago, Daoist Qinglong made a deal with the monk Huiyuan to steal your soul from the Underworld and place it into the Mayfly Wood for reincarnation."
"Because you were unwilling to drain the life force of mortals, you chose to end your life before the age of eighteen in every lifetime, dying young. Daoist Qinglong then went to refine evil pills and collect wicked items to extend your life."
"But because you practiced some secret technique of your Qingjing Sect, you've convinced yourself that I can kill you right in front of a Nascent Soul Great Circle cultivator. Is that why you hinted for me to send my parents away—to settle things?"
Before the other could answer, Nan Zhi threw out another question:
"Do you know the origins of the monk Huiyuan?"
"I don't know much, only that he was a high monk of the Jin Dynasty. He was the abbot of a Buddhist temple with a hundred monks. One night, bandits raided the temple. To convert the bandits, Huiyuan sat in the main hall and recited sutras without pause."
"But the bandits were never converted. Instead, they set the temple on fire. Huiyuan led the monks in chanting sutras amidst the flames, and then they all ascended to immortality."
Immortal Danxia sighed softly, her eyes dull and hopeless:
"He was once a virtuous monk, but now he has fallen into the demonic path because of his obsession, becoming a fallen immortal. It shows how deeply 'obsession' can harm a person. If one cannot let go, it will surely become a heart demon."
"Then your life and death are Daoist Qinglong's heart demon."
Nan Zhi sensed the waves of killing intent permeating the air and quickly added:
"If even a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot destroy the Mayfly Wood, a treasure that transcends reincarnation and evades even the soul reapers, what could I possibly do?"
"I heard Master Mo also hails from the Qingjing Sect. Why not ask him? It would be much more reliable."
The killing intent remained strong, but it noticeably dimmed.
"It is my fault that you are being wanted by the Demon Suppression Division."
Immortal Danxia loathed her current form so much she didn't even want to look at it for another second.
"The sins upon me can no longer be cleansed. In this state, I have no face to meet my former sect."
"I know Qinglong will surely pressure you. Rest assured, the only reason I have remained until now was to tell you this—"
Before the words finished, he gave a brilliant smile. Suddenly, he pulled out a jagged ceramic shard and slashed it forcefully across his throat, his eyes shining brightly.
He whispered:
"Sister, I beg you... you must, you must find a way to kill me."
He used almost every ounce of his strength.
Blood sprayed out, staining the world red.
"Get away!!"
Qinglong's figure suddenly appeared in the room. With a wave of his hand, a gust of wind threw Nan Zhi out of the house.
"Boom—"
"Boom, boom—"
"Boom!"
Nan Zhi was like an ant tossed aside at will. She flew several dozen feet, crashing through over a dozen houses before finally coming to a stop.
Inside the room, the Taoist cradled Nan Yi, whose throat was gushing blood, his eyes full of sorrow:
"Xia-niang! Why must we come to this?"
"You and I are Dao companions, a celestial couple recognized by heaven and earth."
"I have offered my heart to you, given you everything. What more could you be dissatisfied with?"
"Mayflies shaking the heavens, transcending reincarnation... I have offered the supreme Great Dao to you for your own good. To cultivate toward freedom, to achieve the Great Dao and longevity—this is what so many people desire yet never obtain."
"Stop this nonsense."
As he spoke, his gaze was like that of someone looking at a willful child. He sighed softly:
"Xia-niang, stop this nonsense."
"Hahahaha... Bullshit! Qinglong! You and I were finished long ago!"
Nan Yi's blood was draining rapidly, but his eyes were filled with the pleasure of revenge.
As he lost blood, the youth's face grew paler and paler, yet he felt incredibly liberated:
"To hell with your Great Dao! To hell with being your Dao companion! You turned me into this monster, forced to drain the flesh and blood of others just to survive. I look at myself and feel disgusted!"
"I do not seek immortality! I do not seek longevity! I only seek death!"
He roared with all his might, two trails of bloody tears seeping from the corners of his eyes, looking as hideous as a vengeful ghost. He turned and screamed toward Nan Zhi's direction:
"Sister! Kill me!!"
"Nan Zhi! Kill me! Kill me, ahhh!"
"Sister! Sister! You promised me!!"
Nan Zhi stood up from the ruins, her expression unreadable.
...
...
Nan Yi did not die.
Daoist Qinglong was, after all, a Nascent Soul powerhouse. Previously, when Nan Yi committed suicide, there was no perfect living human pillar available, so Qinglong had let him be.
But this time, there was Nan Zhi.
He seemed certain that Nan Zhi, who had reached Foundation Establishment in less than a year, was the most perfect living human pillar imaginable.
"In three days, I will plant the Mayfly Wood in you."
"When the Mayfly Wood matures, This Venerable can make an exception and take you as a closed-door disciple. Any technique or cultivation resource will be yours for the choosing. I will assist you in your cultivation all the way to ascension."
"As long as you are alive, Xia-niang will no longer be angry with me."
Daoist Qinglong cradled the unconscious insect-bodied Nan Yi, hovering in mid-air as he looked down at Nan Zhi, seemingly trying hard to suppress the killing intent in his eyes:
"If you are still unwilling by then, do not blame me for capturing those mortals one by one. I will flay them and pull out their bones before your very eyes. Their flesh will be used to make candles, and their souls refined into human puppets—"
"Does the Sect Master truly believe that Immortal Danxia's resistance all these years—her determination to die—is just her being 'willful'?"
Nan Zhi truly could not understand Daoist Qinglong's logic and couldn't help but question him:
"She is so resolute, seeking only death. Why won't you grant her that?"
"How could a mere mortal like you understand the deep affection between Danxia and me?"
Qinglong lowered his eyes, looking at the unconscious Nan Yi in his arms with extreme tenderness. The fake smile finally fell from his face, and a trace of soft emotion flashed in his phoenix eyes:
"Danxia and I are destined Dao companions. No matter what she becomes, in my eyes, she will always be the Immortal Danxia of old—bright as the moon, with the grace of a celestial phoenix."
"She does not understand my painstaking efforts and has grown distant. But one day, when she and I ascend in a cloud of light, she will surely change her mind and realize that everything I have done was for her."
Nan Zhi didn't find it touching; she only felt a dull ache in her stomach.
Ten lifetimes. Unable to live, yet forbidden from dying.
Such a suffocating and hopeless emotion.
Murky and thick, mixed with countless lives. Thousands of innocent people had been turned into nourishment for the Mayfly Wood under Qinglong's so-called 'love,' nurturing a flower of the heart demon.
It didn't make her feel touched. It only made her want to vomit.
Rate on N.U.
