The Season of Falling Flowers Meets You Again, Part 1

The moment her consciousness returned to her body, Yun Yao felt a searing pain at her brow, as if a nail had been driven into it, splitting her head with agony.

As she propped herself up on the couch, she even experienced a dizziness she hadn’t felt in ages—a sensation of mortal frailty.

Yun Yao clutched her forehead.
She knew this was a sign of damage to her immortal seal. Forcing immortal arts in the mortal realm while enduring divine retribution was, after all, too much. As punishment, her immortal seal would likely be unusable for some time.

But at least she had accomplished one critical task.

With a complex expression, Yun Yao lowered her hand and slowly rose from the couch.
She had confirmed that Mu Hanyuan’s sea of consciousness indeed harbored another soul, one that could alternate with his own.
And the origin of that soul…

*[Your soul clearly bears the mark of heavenly punishment—a brand only those who defy the heavens, breaking through the celestial gate and storming the immortal realm without permission, carry. Even reincarnation cannot erase it!]*

*[Because…]*
*[I am the future him.]*

Recalling the images and voices brought back by her time-reversing immortal art, Yun Yao’s headache intensified.

She hadn’t anticipated that she wasn’t the only one who had “returned” to Qianmen. There was also the Mu Hanyuan from her past life, the one who had fallen to demonic ways and embraced evil. If Yu Yan’s detection of the heavenly punishment mark was correct, then in that past life, Mu Hanyuan had indeed forcibly shattered the celestial gate and invaded the immortal realm.

Wait, if that’s the case…

Yun Yao, just slipping on her shoes, froze, her expression shifting.

She suddenly recalled a “dream” from this life, before leaving Hidden Dragon Mountain for Fanyin Temple, when she was at the Floating Jade Palace.
In that “dream,” as the minor immortal Yun Yao, she had encountered the demonic, evil Mu Hanyuan in the immortal realm.
Could it be—that wasn’t a dream at all?

Then, her repeated “return” to Qianmen, even to before it all began, was it tied to the lost memories of her time in the immortal realm?

“—You’re awake?”

A woman’s voice startled Yun Yao.
She straightened, looking over.

Seeing the face of the woman entering the room, Yun Yao felt as if she were still dreaming. “…Chen Jianxue?”

Setting a copper basin on the table, the woman turned, puzzled. “Are you… calling my name?”

“…”

Yun Yao blinked.
Standing before her was Chen Jianxue, seemingly unharmed, not a hair out of place. But the way she looked at Yun Yao—her expression and gaze…
It was as if she were looking at a complete stranger.

“Oh, wait.” Yun Yao remembered something. She retrieved a pill bottle from her storage artifact, swallowed a pill, and in the nearby bronze mirror, her handsome male guise transformed into a woman’s form.
She turned back to the wide-eyed Chen Jianxue. “Now, do you recognize me?”

“…I’m sorry.”

After witnessing the transformation, Chen Jianxue seemed to process it for a few moments.
Yet her gaze remained utterly unfamiliar, without a trace of pretense. “Some time ago, I fell off a cliff in the Changyi Mountains. My brother said I injured my head and lost all memories of my past.”

“Brother?” Yun Yao nearly ground her teeth on behalf of her martial nephew Chen Qingmu. “Since when do you have a—never mind, who’s your brother?”

Chen Jianxue gave an embarrassed smile. “Oh, you didn’t know my identity? I’m from Qinglong City. My brother is the new lord of Qinglong City, Yu Yan.”

Yun Yao: “…”
“???”

Lovers turned siblings?
Did the dragon clan play so freely?

Yun Yao’s expression grew complicated as she grabbed a cup of cold tea, forcing it down to quell the fire rising in her chest.

Noticing her mood, Chen Jianxue asked cautiously, “The name you called me… was that my old name?”

“…Your dear ‘brother’ didn’t mention it?” Yun Yao gripped the teacup, her face expressionless.

“My brother said I just woke from the injury, and forcing memories could harm my sea of consciousness, so I shouldn’t try to recall.” Chen Jianxue frowned slightly. “But I still want to know what I was like before, where I came from, what I’ve been through.”

*Oh, you’ve been through plenty.*
*The immortal realm’s storytellers could write a whole saga about you.*

Suppressing her inner complaints about this clueless “sibling” pair, Yun Yao mentally chanted *focus on the mission* three times. She composed herself and turned to Chen Jianxue. “Did Mu Han… the White Tiger City Lord send you here to look after me?”

“Yes,” Chen Jianxue nodded, lifting a damp cloth from the basin. “I saw your face was terribly flushed, so I thought to cool you down with some water.”

“That’s just immortal art backlash. Soaking me in the sea wouldn’t help.”

“…What?”

“Nothing.”
Yun Yao sighed softly, then asked, “Do you remember who saved you after you fell from the cliff and passed out?”

At this, Chen Jianxue brightened. “The White Tiger City Lord saved me.”

Yun Yao fell silent.
Based on last night’s time-reversal vision, Yu Yan’s claim wasn’t entirely false. Chen Jianxue’s near-death state was likely tied to the evil Mu Hanyuan’s actions.

But confirming this only deepened her concerns.

An artifact worthy of the name “divine” was rare even in the immortal realm.
And one capable of “resurrection” or “time reversal”? From what Yun Yao knew, across the three realms, only one such artifact existed—
The Wheel of Reincarnation, one of the two natal artifacts of the Primordial Divine Lord, master of the Celestial Palace, enshrined in the palace itself.

Yun Yao, during her time serving in the Celestial Palace, had once been tasked with guarding it and was familiar with its aura.

“May I check your spiritual veins?” Yun Yao asked Chen Jianxue. “It’ll take twenty breaths at most, and I’ll be gentle.”

Chen Jianxue hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”

“…”

Yun Yao placed her fingers on Chen Jianxue’s wrist, closing her eyes to probe her spiritual veins with divine sense, searching for traces of the artifact’s aura.

Moments later, Yun Yao’s eyes snapped open, her face ashen with shock.

It was indeed the Wheel of Reincarnation.

The natal artifact of the Primordial Divine Lord, chief of the eight immortal lords, ruler of three thousand lesser worlds!
—How could the Wheel of Reincarnation be in the mortal realm?
In Qianmen, a forsaken land cut off from the immortal realm?

Chen Jianxue, startled by Yun Yao’s expression, withdrew her wrist. “What’s wrong? Why do you look so pale? Is there something wrong with my spiritual veins?”

“…No.”

Yun Yao snapped out of her shock.
Grabbing Chen Jianxue’s hand, she asked, “You said earlier, where did you wake up?”

Chen Jianxue looked troubled. “I don’t remember my past, so I only know what others told me. The Qinglong Guard watching over me mentioned it was near the Changyi Mountains.”

Yun Yao frowned.
She hadn’t sensed the Wheel of Reincarnation’s aura around Mu Hanyuan, and such an artifact, unless bound to its master, couldn’t be carried casually.
She’d hoped to trace its location through Chen Jianxue, but the Changyi Mountains spanned the demon realm’s eastern region, dividing Qinglong City from the Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise territories.
Finding the Wheel of Reincarnation there would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Oh, right,” Chen Jianxue suddenly recalled, “when I woke, the Qinglong Guard mentioned a place nearby called Two儀 City, caught in a chaotic battle.”

“Two儀 City…”

Yun Yao’s expression shifted dramatically.

Two儀 City—Tianyun Abyss.
That place, beneath its roaring demonic flames, where she’d felt her immortal seal tremble with a hauntingly familiar yet foreign presence.
—It was the Wheel of Reincarnation.

Realizing this, Yun Yao could no longer sit still. She stood, heading out. “I need to leave. If Mu—the White Tiger City Lord asks, say I’m unwell and resting in the room.”

“Wait!”

Chen Jianxue hurried after her, blocking her path. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

If her immortal seal weren’t damaged, her sea of consciousness rattled, Yun Yao would’ve teleported to Two儀 City’s Tianyun Abyss in an instant.
In her urgency, she had no patience for delays. “I have something critical that can’t wait a moment. Other matters can wait until I return—two days at most, I’ll be back.”

Chen Jianxue grew anxious, grabbing her arm and blurting, “Your friend might not last two days!”

“—”
Yun Yao, at the door, froze. After a few breaths, she turned. “What… friend?”

Chen Jianxue’s expression was pained. “I don’t know why he did this… but the White Tiger City Lord who saved me told me to inform you when you woke. He said you have a friend who can’t be seen in the light, and that night, he fell into his hands. He’s now being tortured in Vermilion Bird Prison.”

“…Feng Qinglian?”
Yun Yao’s realization hit hard. “How long was I unconscious?”

“I don’t know exactly…” Chen Jianxue hesitated. “But he asked me to care for you ten days ago.”

Yun Yao: “—!”

The divine retribution from her immortal art had damaged her seal so severely.
It showed how critical the secrets she’d uncovered were to Qianmen’s future.

“Where’s Vermilion Bird Prison?”

Chen Jianxue looked worried. “What are you going to do?”

“Break in and save him.”

Yun Yao’s face was icy.
She was certain now that in these ten days, or during her unconsciousness, the evil aspect had taken over Mu Hanyuan’s consciousness.
Feng Qinglian wouldn’t fare well in his hands. If she didn’t rescue him soon…

“Waking up and already planning to leave?”

The main door of the chamber was flung open from outside.

A figure in black robes with snow-white hair stood against the light before her.

The bronze mask hid his expression, but as Yun Yao turned in shock, her eyes met the dark, fathomless depths beneath it.
A faint demonic aura traced his pupils with a ring of blood-red.

Through the mask, he gazed down at her, his laugh low, menacing, yet tinged with an ancient longing.

“Master, it’s been a thousand years since we last met—won’t you stay for your disciple’s grand wedding tomorrow?”