Remember clearly

Chang Wan meticulously organized the paper slips found within the pills.

They were a chaotic mess, devoid of dates, and required immense effort to decipher, yet the general trajectory of the original soul’s thoughts began to emerge.

The original Chang Wan had broken ties with the Chang family to save her sister, bringing her to the Qingfeng Sect.

Everything was supposed to be smooth: Elder Xia sustained her sister’s life, and she served as a Sect Elder.

But at some unknown point, the original soul began suffering from a chronic headache. Finding that the Calming Incense provided relief, she used it without a second thought.

Until she discovered her sister’s unique constitution.

In ancient legends, there was a divine artifact called the Nine-Heaven Pearl. It was used by Goddess Xuanli as a contract vessel to bind the ancient divine beast, the Immortal Bird. When Xuanli broke the oath, the Pearl vanished.

After Chang Ying’s spiritual roots were stripped, the aura of the Nine-Heaven Pearl manifested within her.

Though the original soul didn’t understand the mechanics, her intuition warned her of danger. She tried to take her sister back from Elder Xia, but was refused. Citing Chang Ying’s “fragile constitution,” Elder Xia prohibited anyone—including her sister—from seeing her.

The enmity between Chang Wan and Elder Xia started there.

Furthermore, as time went on, the original soul found she could no longer control her temper. She became increasingly stubborn and prone to fixating on extreme thoughts.

The later notes offered a glimpse into these symptoms.

“So that’s how it was.”

But more than the feud with Elder Xia, Chang Wan wanted to understand the Sect Leader.

He claimed to love her on the surface, yet secretly poisoned her with Weak Soul Grass—could the original soul truly have been unaware?

Some notes were written in a frantic, illegible scrawl—less of a record and more of a vent for extreme fury and frustration.

Chang Wan worked hard to find the slips regarding the Sect Leader.

[Today, Qi Bing said he liked me.]

[I am very happy.]

[A village to the east was attacked by spiritual beasts… I found his jade pendant.]

[But he clearly said he was going to the North. Why was his waist token there?]

[He must be plotting something…]

[…]

There were no more notes in that sequence. Chang Wan smoothed out the last few slips and realized the most frantic handwriting was at the very top—the last ones added.

She strained to read the scrawl.

[…Why… why… force me…]

[I don’t want anything anymore…]

[Such despair…]

[The wolves of this world wear kind human skins; the monkeys pluck the stars for their own ambition; the scarred wild cat kills the swirling fish in the water…]

That was it.

The notes were finished.

Chang Wan felt her mind was a tangle of threads. After a long while, she asked the System: “These… are the clues?”

What was the original soul despairing over at the end? Was it discovering the poison? But that didn’t seem to warrant such cryptic final words. And that last sentence—to put it nicely, it was “mystical”; to put it bluntly, it was absolute nonsense.

Chang Wan looked at the organized notes. “The original soul found the Sect Leader’s waist token in a village attacked by beasts. This implies the recent attacks might be linked to him.”

But where would the original soul have hidden that token, that piece of evidence? And there was still no confirmation on whether she realized the Sect Leader was poisoning her.

Her mind grew more chaotic. She stuffed the notes back into the jar, deciding to plan for the long term.

Time passed quickly.

The massacre of the villages was the talk of the Qingfeng Sect. When Chang Wan went to teach, she heard several versions of the story.

The most popular version was that the “Little Demon” had returned to the world, using demonic arts to manipulate beasts to destroy villages. In this world, no good deed was ever attributed to the demon sects, and every disaster was blamed on the Demon Lord.

Chang Wan had grown numb to it, but seeing two disciples whispering about the “Little Demon,” she couldn’t hold back.

“You two.”

The disciples fell silent, looking at her with a mix of shock and pleasant surprise. They likely didn’t expect the cold-faced Elder to address them personally.

They were almost excited, thinking she was going to give them personal guidance, until they heard:

“Your minds are impure. Get out and stand for three hours.”

Leaving the Sage Hall, Chang Wan still felt a lingering frustration.

The Sect Leader and Elder Xia had gone south, leaving only her and Qiu Fu (Elder Qiu) in charge of the sect. Only she and Qiu Fu were responsible for the rotating lectures, yet she still hadn’t seen Shen Lan or Shen Cong today.

She figured she’d use this time to find Shen Cong and return the Green Cherry Sunken Fire.

After a few steps, she heard more gossip.

“It seems the Sect Leader was injured when he left…”

“Shh, don’t talk nonsense. The Sect Leader is in the Nascent Soul stage; who could injure him?”

“But really… I heard the trip south was delayed for a few days, and they only left in a hurry because of the injury…”

Chang Wan stopped. Glancing over, she saw two young disciples who had just left the hall. They paled when they saw her, bowing respectfully. “Greetings, Elder Chang.”

“Who told you the Sect Leader was injured?” Chang Wan asked flatly.

The disciple who had spoken looked uneasy. “It… it came from the disciples who serve the Sect Leader…”

The other disciple, seeing Chang Wan’s interest, added: “It was the same night Senior Brother Qiu Hu passed away. I heard there was quite a commotion at the Sect Leader’s residence.”

“I know the senior brother in charge of cleaning!” The younger disciple, seeing no sign of reprimand, let his guard down. He bared a small tiger tooth and made a fierce face. “He scared me by saying the Sect Leader bled all over the floor! His entire arm was bitten off!”

—The Sect Leader was injured?

An entire arm bitten off… by a beast?

Chang Wan couldn’t help but think of Chu Changqing.

The youth with the heavy gaze and the ruthlessness in his eyes.

But… it couldn’t be him. The Sect Leader was injured the night Qiu Hu died, and Chu Changqing had been with her the whole time.

“…I see.”

She took some high-grade spirit stones from her bracelet and gave them to the boys. “Keep these stories to yourselves. Don’t spread them further.”

The disciples’ eyes lit up as they took the money. “Yes, Elder! We won’t say a word!”

The one with the tiger tooth looked quite adorable. Chang Wan beckoned to him. “What is your name?”

“Reporting to Elder, my name is Qiu Ran!”

Chang Wan said, “Would you like to come and serve at my hall?”

Disciples in the Elder’s Hall had many perks, including access to better pills and books, making cultivation much faster.

Qiu Ran’s eyes went wide. “May I?”

“You may.”

“Can I bring Senior Brother Liu with me?” Qiu Ran asked, pointing to his companion.

Chang Wan glanced at the other boy. “Senior Brother Liu?”

The disciple looked a bit awkward. “Liu Hu.”

“You may.” Chang Wan took a round jade pendant from her bracelet. “Show this to the people at the Elder’s Hall; they will arrange it.”

“Thank you, Elder!!”

Chang Wan turned to go find Shen Cong, her mind heavy. One moment she saw the Sect Leader’s smiling lips, the next, Chu Changqing’s dark, brooding eyes.

Suddenly, thump! Something hit her head. A round object bounced off her and rolled to her feet.

Chang Wan: “…”

It was an ugly-looking orange.

She picked it up and looked around, but saw no one.

The air, however, hummed with a restless Fire Essence.

No matter how well he hid, that aura gave him away.

She grit her teeth. “Come out!”

No response.

Chang Wan was moved to frustrated laughter. “Shen Cong!”

Rustle, rustle—

The sound of leaves was obvious. The youth was sitting cross-legged in a tree, leaves caught in his dark hair. He tilted his head at her, weighing two more oranges in his hand, a clean smile on his lips.

Before she could speak, he pointed to the space between her eyebrows. “Your brow…”

“It’s furrowed enough to hold an orange.”

Chang Wan: “…Is that your reason for throwing fruit at me?”

She paused, pointing at the orange. “And a hideous one at that!”

Shen Cong replied: “Ugly oranges… taste the best.”

Tired of looking up, she said, “Come down.”

Shen Cong shook his head. “Eat the orange.”

“…I don’t want to eat it.”

“Then I won’t come down.”

Chang Wan: “…”

Why was she standing here debating oranges with him?! She still had the matter of his attempted assassination to settle!

“I wouldn’t dare eat anything you give me.” She tossed the orange aside and adopted a cold smirk. “We still have an account to settle, Shen Cong.”

The youth merely looked at her. Though he was perched above her, his eyes were so clear they looked pristine. “An account?”

He looked so innocent that she almost doubted herself—perhaps someone else had tried to kill her…

Before she could speak, Shen Cong seemed to remember something, his eyes curving. “Ah, yes. I remember now. I owe you a life.”

He admitted it so naturally, as if he had owed her a tangerine years ago and was returning an orange today.

Chang Wan shut down her internal monologue. “…Why did you try to assassinate me?”

The youth’s eyes curved. “I forgot.”

Who knew why he had wanted to kill his Wanwan.

But since he had done it, it was a path to death.

No one was allowed to bully her.

“Since that is the case, then…”

Chang Wan’s voice suddenly caught.

A thick scent of blood instantly filled the air, startling the birds.

She stared at the youth’s hand, which he had severed as if it were a game. She was utterly paralyzed.

The youth, seemingly unbothered, kept that light smile on his face. “Years ago, it was this hand that held the blade.”

“I’ve forgotten much, but I remember this clearly for him.”

Hot blood splashed down, staining the oranges on the ground. Chang Wan stared at the severed hand, her mind a total blank.