A Guide to Self-Rescue in the Cultivation World - Chapter 36

The next morning, the rain had stopped, and the sun was shining.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of earth and plants. It was a beautiful day.

When Zhou Suyao woke up, her eyes immediately fell on the neatly stacked paper packets on the bedside table. The candlelight had been too dim last night for her to notice them properly.

Noticing them now, she got up curiously and walked over. She unwrapped them to find various kinds of pastries inside; the Peach Blossom Cake scent was particularly strong.

She unwrapped the paper, picked up a piece of the slightly sweet variety, and put it in her mouth. It was delicately sweet and soft, exactly the flavor she loved.

The corners of her mouth lifted involuntarily, and her heart softened considerably.

Putting on her outer robe, she walked around the screen only to find that Eldest Senior Brother’s bed had been impeccably made, but he wasn’t in the room.

Puzzled, she opened the door and ran right into the bellhop carrying breakfast upstairs.

“You’re awake, Miss! The young master who is sharing this room with you ordered this light congee and side dishes early this morning. He said you didn’t rest well last night and needed something easy to digest. He also told you not to rush; he’s downstairs discussing the route with the coachman right now.”

Zhou Suyao thanked him, closed the door, and ate her breakfast before heading downstairs to join the others.

Her Senior Brothers were waiting by the carriage. She saw Zhou Zonglan, Third Senior Brother, energetically gesturing to Qu Mingw, Second Senior Brother, who listened patiently despite his expressionless face.

The Eldest Senior Brother was standing nearby, talking to the coachman. His demeanor was normal, as gentle as ever, as if the vulnerable, struggling person from last night had been an illusion.

Seeing her descend, Zhou Shan Yuan turned and smiled faintly at her: “Awake? Did you rest well? Have you had breakfast?”

“Yes, and thank you for the pastries, Eldest Senior Brother.”

“As long as they suit your taste.” Zhou Shan Yuan nodded, then turned to the other two. “Since everyone is here, let’s set off. I’ve instructed the coachman to transport the luggage to the Imperial City first; we’ll walk there. The weather is nice today, so we can take a detour through the Forest of Forgetfulness outside the city. The scenery is lovely, and the spiritual energy is abundant.”

“Alright!” Zhou Zonglan was the first to cheer. “I heard there’s a kind of spirit bird in the Forest of Forgetfulness with a specially beautiful song!”

The Second Senior Brother gave him a side-eye. “Are you going to listen to bird calls or to enjoy the scenery?”

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive, Second Senior Brother!”

The group chatted and laughed as they left the city. As they walked further out, the population thinned, but the trees grew increasingly lush.

Zhou Suyao looked up. She saw the sun filtering through the dense layers of leaves, casting dappled light and shadows on the ground. The air was moist and fragrant, truly living up to the name Forgetfulness.

Zhou Zonglan was quickly distracted by the strange flowers and plants in the forest. He dragged Qu Mingwu along, scampering ahead and occasionally exclaiming over something new he saw.

Qu Mingwu looked resigned, but let him pull him around.

Zhou Suyao and Eldest Senior Brother lagged. They walked slowly along a gurgling stream. The water was crystal clear, and they could see small fish swimming within.

Zhou Shan Yuan was not walking fast, deliberately slowing his pace. He occasionally pointed out a rare herb, explaining its habits to Zhou Suyao.

As they strolled through the landscape, she suddenly heard Zhou Zonglan’s startled cry from nearby: “Eldest Senior Brother, Little Junior Sister, come look! This flower is so strange!”

Zhou Suyao looked over and saw an unfamiliar blue flower in front of Zhou Zonglan. It was shaped like a bell, with pale blue particles drifting out of it, shimmering like fireflies.

“This flower is called the Shadow Orchid,” she heard Eldest Senior Brother’s voice say from beside her. “It is said that its scent can trap a person in a delusion of their past, making it a very ill-fitting name for ‘Forgetfulness’.”

Immediately followed by Third Senior Brother’s gasp: “Then I’m finished!”

All three turned to look at him.

Under their gazes, he nervously swallowed, finally managing to squeeze out a sentence after a long silence.

Sniffed the flower very hard

The moment the words left his mouth, his eyes immediately glazed over. His body swayed, and he fell backward.

If Second Senior Brother hadn’t reacted incredibly fast and caught him, he would have collapsed onto the ground.

“Zonglan!” A rare sense of urgency laced Second Senior Brother’s voice.

Zhou Shan Yuan’s expression was grave. He quickly stepped forward, a faint golden light flickering on his fingertip, which he placed on Zhou Zonglan’s brow. A moment later, his eyebrows furrowed, and his face turned pale: “He inhaled a significant amount of the Shadow Orchid’s pollen. He has already been dragged into a delusion of his past.”

“What danger is there?”

Qu Mingwu, supporting the unconscious Zhou Zonglan, asked in a deep voice.

“The delusion will excavate his deepest obsessions, infinitely looping and amplifying them until he drowns within. If we don’t wake him soon, his mind will be exhausted, and his spiritual awareness will decay, leading to death,” Zhou Shan Yuan spoke quickly, clearly indicating the seriousness of the situation. He paused, then looked at Zhou Suyao: “Suyao, do you remember a mountain stream we passed on the way here? Go fetch water. Hurry back.”

“Yes, Eldest Senior Brother!” Zhou Suyao didn’t dare to delay. She stood up, immediately turned, and ran quickly back the way they came.

Sunlight and shadows flitted past her as she ran. Before long, she heard the sound of running water. Following the sound, she found the lake nestled between the rocks. From a distance, the surface shimmered. The surroundings were perfectly silent, save for the gentle lapping of the water.

Zhou Suyao sighed in relief. She ran over to the lake in a few hurried steps, crouched down, and was about to scoop up water when she suddenly caught a strange scent.

Her internal alarm bells screamed. She immediately held her breath and tried to back away.

But it was too late. A strong sense of dizziness rushed to her head.

The lake before her began to warp. The forest glowed with an eerie green light. She stumbled, trying to keep her footing, but her body went limp and collapsed.

Her vision rapidly blurred. The last thing she saw was that unsettlingly beautiful blue Shadow Orchid.

“Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother…”

She weakly murmured a couple of names, and then her consciousness, like a kite with a snapped string, plunged into boundless darkness.

Coldness was the first sensation to return.

Zhou Suyao snapped her eyes open. The intense headache made her groan, but the smell of disinfectant snapped her into full wakefulness. She struggled to sit up, staring around in confusion.

The afternoon sun lazily spilled onto the floor. A few younger children were playing with building blocks nearby. Everything looked perfectly normal and identical to the fragmented memories she held.

This was the orphanage where she grew up.

But why was she here?

Her memories were chaotic and hazy, covered by a thick fog. She instinctively looked down at her open palm.

The warm sun hit her palm, bringing a slight warmth. With almost no conscious thought, a blue, bell-shaped flower materialized in her hand.

The petals were soft and cool, emitting an extremely faint, almost imperceptible fragrance.

It was a Shadow Orchid.

Zhou Suyao’s heart constricted sharply. A chill ran up her spine, instantly giving her goosebumps.

This truly was a scene from her childhood.

The children at the orphanage didn’t have names, only numbers.

Her number was 19827.

And there was a boy who had been at the orphanage for a very long time.

Zhou Suyao remembered his number was 173.

He was clearly a good kid. He would secretly bring her treats and hot steamed buns when she was locked in solitary confinement, yet he was always returned by adoptive families.

She had once curiously asked him why the families sent him back.

He would always grin, unwrap a lollipop, stick it in her mouth, and slowly say, “Because they thought I was disobedient!”

“But you… You’re clearly so good.”

When the boy heard her words, his eyes sparkled. He asked her very earnestly, “Really?”

Little her nodded frantically, her tied-up pigtails whipping into a blur: “Of course!”

At that moment, a familiar voice drifted from the side.

“19827?”

Zhou Suyao whirled around.

A boy about ten years old was looking at her, his head tilted. He was wearing faded, yellowed clothes, but his eyes were bright and beautiful.

He held half a cookie wrapped in paper, offering it with a beaming smile.

“What are you spacing out for? Here, I stole this cookie from the director’s office yesterday. I’ll share a piece with you.”

It was 173.

Zhou Suyao’s heart felt a gentle thump. She subconsciously took the cookie, her fingertips brushing his cool skin.

Thank you, she whispered, her voice still a little raspy.

“Why so formal?” The boy sat on the steps beside her, swinging his legs, which were covered in red, bruised scrapes. “What were you holding just now? It was blue and so pretty, but then I blinked and it was gone.”

Hearing this, Zhou Suyao looked down at her empty palm, then back at the boy. Suddenly, a thought gripped her without warning.

In the past, she had forgotten, he was perhaps the only person who was willing to talk to her and listen to her.

She decided against hiding it. Taking a deep breath, she opened her palm and focused her intention.

The ethereal blue Shadow Orchid quietly reappeared. Its petals resembled a bell, emitting a faint yet peculiar fragrance.

The boy’s eyes widened. He immediately leaned forward, his eyes filled with disbelief.

What is this, and how did you do that?”

His face was close. His breath almost brushed her palm. Zhou Suyao could clearly see the blue glow reflected in his pupils and her own tense expression.

“It’s not a magic trick…” she whispered. “I don’t know what it is… It’s very pretty, but I’m… a little scared…”

“Scared of what? This is amazing!” The boy’s tone was one of pure excitement, devoid of the fear or rejection one might have toward an anomaly. He leaned in a little closer: “It smells like it has a faint fragrance, right?”

He inhaled deeply.

Zhou Suyao wanted to resist, but her body couldn’t. She subconsciously took a deep breath as well.

The strange floral scent instantly became vivid, no longer subtle, but rushing straight into her mind.

“Uh…”

The boy was the first to sway, his eyes instantly becoming hazy and distant.

Before Zhou Suyao’s eyes, darkness surged like a tide.

She suddenly remembered that everything she was unable to control had actually happened before.

Back then, after they both smelled the flower, they both fell into a delusion. Unlike the current situation, they had both been trapped in the same delusion.

In that delusion, the boy died protecting her. When she woke up, he was already dead beside her, bleeding from all seven orifices.

Now, she had been given a chance to redo it.

She had to save him.

Zhou Suyao no longer resisted the encroaching darkness. In the final second before losing consciousness, she tightly grabbed the boy’s wrist.