These words carried the unique pressure of a Soul Transformation stage cultivator, making everyone’s eardrums ache.
Ling Xiao’s expression shifted rapidly. He knew Feng Yi was talking nonsense, but he was even more aware of the Five Elements Dao Sect's legacy.
That behemoth from a thousand years ago, even if it had been silent until now, was by no means an easy opponent.
The tassels on Ling Xiao's sword moved without a breeze. His dark face changed several times before he finally let out a cold snort. "Leave!"
Sword light enveloped the four disciples as they soared into the sky, vanishing over the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Only after confirming they would not return did Lin Xiaowan collapse to the ground, tears bursting from her eyes. Zhou Zichun also let out a long breath of relief, his back completely soaked in cold sweat, his breathing trembling with the shock of a narrow escape.
Zhao Wufeng wanted to say something, but Liu Changhe held him back firmly. The elders exchanged glances and ultimately chose silence.
Only then did Feng Yi walk toward Li Nanzhu, leaning down to pick her up. Seeing this, Suisui immediately climbed onto his shoulder, its soul fire alertly scanning the surroundings.
"Back to the sect." He glanced at Duan Xianxing and Zhu Yinxi.
The youth in purple immediately sheathed his sword, and the music cultivator in white picked up his jade flute. The two followed Feng Yi, one on either side.
Before leaving, Feng Yi suddenly looked back at Liu Qingyang. "Green-haired kid, you did well."
Liu Qingyang grinned, his green hair fluttering in the wind. "It’s just what a friend should do."
It wasn't until the blue-clad figure vanished into the sky with the three people and one skeleton that the crowd finally woke as if from a dream.
"Five Elements Dao Sect..." Zhao Wufeng murmured to himself. "Is it about to re-emerge into the world?"
...
Darkness.
Boundless darkness.
Li Nanzhu felt herself floating in a void, countless spots of light streaking across the depths of her consciousness like meteors.
Those were the inheritances gifted to her by Xiao Yan—alchemy formulas and essential techniques. They burrowed into her sea of consciousness like living things, stirring up stormy waves in her mental world.
"Ugh..."
She curled up in the depths of her mind, watching as her sea of consciousness was forcibly expanded.
It felt as if someone were driving needles into her temples. With every strand of inheritance merged, the piercing pain intensified. But even more terrifying was the subsequent feeling of isolation, as if she were the only person left in the entire world.
Li Nanzhu's expression was somewhat dazed when a cold sensation suddenly came from her right hand.
It was that green jade fan.
Even in the depths of her consciousness, she still gripped it tightly.
The pain of the fan’s ribs pressing into her palm was so real it reminded her of the final embrace from her previous life.
That day, she had just finished an interview when she suddenly heard crying from the ruins. Two children under the age of ten were trapped beneath a collapsing building, while sniper bullets were blockading the street from three directions.
'Don't be afraid, I'm here.'
She remembered saying those words. When the shells fell behind her, she shielded the children beneath her body. Her camera fell to the side, its lens shattering into countless pieces.
In her final moments of consciousness, she felt a warm liquid gushing from her back, while the two children in her arms continued to tremble.
The darkness suddenly became thicker. The spots of light from the inheritance vanished, and even the outline of the fan could no longer be seen.
Li Nanzhu began to run. The sensation of stepping on rubble was so clear, as if she had returned to that street of death.
"Is anyone there?"
Her shout was swallowed by the darkness. Panic suddenly struck—the clacking of Suisui's joints, Duan Xianxing’s frantic shouts while being chased by mushrooms, Zhu Yinxi’s out-of-tune flute music... these memories were fading rapidly.
It was like how amputees always say they can feel pain in a limb that no longer exists.
"No..."
She knelt in the darkness, a hoarse sob escaping her throat. She suddenly realized she was forgetting something vital. No, she didn't want to forget! She couldn't forget!
Just as her consciousness was about to collapse—
A golden light pierced through the darkness.
The light was so gentle, like a soft breeze lifting her up. Li Nanzhu looked up blankly and saw a strange figure emerging from the light, yet she felt it was somehow familiar.
"This is..."
She reached out unconsciously. Tears suddenly burst from her eyes, the sensation of hot droplets rolling down her cheeks so real that she felt as if a hole had been scorched into her heart.
"Who are you... Who are you..."
Li Nanzhu murmured. She suddenly became anxious, struggling to reach out and touch the other person, but her hand passed through the phantom.
"Don't be afraid..."
A gentle female voice drifted over, and the woman's hand lightly stroked her head. Before Li Nanzhu could react, countless images flashed before her eyes in the next instant.
She saw the blue-clad figure in front of the mountain gate; she saw her senior brothers; she saw the familiar man in green; and a... hopping little skeleton.
Memories rushed back like a flood.
"Suisui!"
Li Nanzhu snapped her eyes open.
What met her gaze was the top of a green gauze canopy. Sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting mottled spots of light on the floor. She breathed heavily, her face still stained with wet tear tracks. Sensing an odd feeling in her hand, she looked down to find her right hand still tightly gripping the green jade fan, her knuckles turned white.
"Clack, clack!" The familiar sound of bone joints came from the bedside.
Suisui hopped onto her chest, its soul fire flickering excitedly as if it were about to jump out of its sockets. It used a bone claw to gently wipe the tears from her face, its movements clumsy yet tender.
Li Nanzhu pulled Suisui into a hug. The cool bones still carried the scent of medicine. She buried her face between Suisui's ribs, letting her tears soak the translucent white bones.
She wanted to speak more, but her throat was uncomfortably dry.
The little skeleton immediately scrambled clumsily to the table, using its head to push a cup of water back to her. As the warm water trickled down her throat, she was finally able to utter a hoarse syllable: "How... how long was I unconscious?"
"Three days."
Feng Yi's voice came from the doorway. He walked in carrying a bowl of medicine, his black hair loosely held by a silver hairpin. The hem of his sapphire-blue robes was stained with fresh medicinal juice. Seeing Li Nanzhu awake, his pace faltered almost imperceptibly.
"Mas... ter..." Li Nanzhu struggled to sit up but was pressed back onto the pillow by a gentle force of spiritual energy.
Feng Yi’s gaze swept lightly over the fan she was clutching, but he said nothing. He placed the medicine bowl on the bedside table, a bitter medicinal fragrance rising as his green sleeve brushed the rim.
"Rest for three days." As he turned, his sapphire-blue robes shimmered with a water-like luster. "A disturbance in the sea of consciousness is no small matter."
Li Nanzhu hurriedly propped herself up. "Second Senior Brother and Seventh Senior Brother..."
As if he had long known she would ask this, a warm piece of jade suddenly landed on the quilt—it was a memory stone.
"See for yourself." Feng Yi had already reached the door, the tassels hanging from his silver hairpin swaying slightly behind his neck. "Sleep after you’ve watched it."
Li Nanzhu was about to agree when she suddenly remembered something. "Then Suisui..."
"Since it is your spirit pet, it will naturally stay with you." He paused before adding, "However, in front of outsiders, just say it is a bone spirit I gave you."
As the door was about to close, Feng Yi suddenly stopped. With his back to her, his voice grew uncharacteristically heavy. "That fan..."
Li Nanzhu instinctively tightened her grip on the handle.
"...Keep it well."
The door clicked shut. Li Nanzhu looked down at Suisui in her arms. The little skeleton tilted its head, her reflection showing in its soul fire.
"We..." She lightly stroked Suisui's skull. "We're back."
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