After Rebirth, the Love-Struck Cannon Fodder Woke Up - Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Meeting
â—Ž Dream Experience, Heavenly Dao Transaction â—Ž
The Holy Land was extremely far from the Clear River Sect. At Shen Anlan’s current escape velocity, it would take at least five zhuxiang (the time it takes for five sticks of incense to burn) to arrive.
Along the way, she couldn’t stop recalling the scenes from the nightmare.
In the dream, Lianxin went to the Holy Land and never contacted her again.
She tried to send voice transmissions, but the girl never responded.
Ten years later, she received an invitation from the Asura Sect.
Staring at the contents of the invitation, Shen Anlan’s mind went blank, filled only with disbelief.
Lianxin was getting married. The person she was marrying was not her, but the Demon Sect Saintess, Feng Ruo.
According to the date written on the invitation, the wedding was scheduled for that very day.
Shen Anlan couldn’t accept this fact. She rushed all the way and finally saw the girl she had long worried about in the festive main hall of the Asura Sect’s main peak.
At that moment, Lianxin wore a crimson wedding dress, with a magnolia flower huadian on her brow, a Flying Immortal bun, and a phoenix crown with golden tassels hanging down on both sides, stunningly beautiful.
The girl’s eyes were filled with affection, but they were not looking at her, but at the alluring and charming Feng Ruo beside her.
Their fingers were intertwined, their affection deep.
This scene, however, was exceptionally jarring in Shen Anlan’s eyes.
She refused to believe that the girl who was utterly devoted to her in the previous life could be so heartless in this life.
In front of the crowd, she slowly walked toward Lianxin. Just as she was about to get close, she was blocked by Feng Ruo.
The alluring and charming woman looked at her, saying meaningfully: “Lianxin is already my niangzi (wife). Fellow Daoist Shen should know your boundaries. Please maintain the proper distance.”
The woman’s appearance was beautiful, but at this moment, Shen Anlan wished she could scratch this face beyond recognition, so she could no longer seduce Lianxin.
Shen Anlan forcibly suppressed the urge to attack, fixing her gaze on the delicate girl behind Feng Ruo.
“Lianxin, are you really going to marry Feng Ruo?”
The girl’s face was smiling, showing no sign of coercion. The warmth of the previous life was nowhere to be seen in her eyes.
“Everything is as Senior Sister sees. Ruo’er and I are deeply in love.”
The girl’s words were like a sharp blade, gouging Shen Anlan’s heart with every stroke.
At that moment, the noble and pure celestial being transformed into a devil.
Shen Anlan slammed a palm toward Feng Ruo. A killing blow erupted, taking her life on the spot.
The smile on the girl’s face instantly froze. She rushed forward to catch the woman whose clothes were stained with bl00d, and large tears continuously streamed down her cheeks.
Having killed Feng Ruo, Shen Anlan was frantically besieged by the Demon Sect members. She was forced to temporarily retreat from the main hall.
She fought with all her might, severely wounded, and broke out of the encirclement.
Rushing back into the hall, wanting to forcefully take her beloved away, all that awaited her was a cold corpse.
A bloody cut caused by a sharp blade was clearly visible on the girl’s fair neck.
The bl00d-stained longsword clattered to the ground. Shen Anlan rushed forward like a madwoman, embracing Lianxin, and cried out mournfully. Her originally clear black and white pupils were completely dyed bl00d-red. At this moment, she fell from the Dao to the Demon path.
Finally, holding the girl’s corpse, she perished alongside the group of demon cultivators who surrounded her again…
Recalling this, a dense, throbbing pain resurfaced in Shen Anlan’s heart.
She continuously self-suggested that it was just a nightmare, that it meant nothing, and that she absolutely should not let the dream influence her!
Inside the Holy Land, Du Lianxin was currently immersed in cultivation, operating the Supreme Clarity Art and continuously absorbing the spiritual energies of the four elements: Metal, Wood, Fire, and Earth.
As time went on, the True Essence in her Dantian rapidly accumulated. At a certain moment, she successfully broke through the bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage and advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
It was also at this time that an extremely familiar voice suddenly rang out in her Sea of Consciousness.
The voice transmission was sent by Shen Anlan. However, she did not address her as Junior Sister Du as before but intimately called her Lianxin.
The tone was utterly gentle, hard to imagine coming from such a cold and emotionless person.
Du Lianxin was momentarily stunned. After recovering, she suppressed the various thoughts in her heart and quietly responded: “I am in the Holy Land now. Where is Senior Sister?”
Shen Anlan quickly replied: “I just arrived outside the Holy Land. It is shrouded by Heavenly Restrictions. I can’t enter temporarily.”
Du Lianxin was somewhat surprised.
“The golden light emitted by the secret scroll didn’t take Senior Sister away from Falling Cloud Peak?”
“…No. Although the golden light contained the power to dissolve the Heavenly Restrictions, the sealed power was limited, and it could only teleport one person.”
“But… there is more than one person inside the Holy Land.”
Shen Anlan’s heart suddenly sank. “Can Lianxin tell me… who else is inside?”
“It’s the rogue cultivator who used to be by Senior Sister’s side. Her true identity is the Demon Sect Saintess, Feng Ruo. If Senior Sister meets her again in the future, please don’t trust her words.”
Hearing this, the relevant scenes from the nightmare flashed through Shen Anlan’s mind again. She suddenly raised her voice: “How did Feng Ruo get to the Holy Land? Did she do anything to you?”
Listening to the voice transmission, Du Lianxin clearly felt the underlying urgency.
Although Feng Ruo had said earlier that the so-called world in a book was not credible, the experience of the previous life had a profound impact on her. It was impossible to change her deep-seated views in a short time.
Therefore, Du Lianxin subconsciously assumed that Shen Anlan was concerned about Feng Ruo’s safety and did not want to see Feng Ruo entangled with her.
She remained silent for a moment, looked down at the black lotus on her right wrist, and responded flatly: “Senior Feng did not tell me how she came to the Holy Land, nor did she do anything to me.”
The first half was the truth. The second half was a slight lie.
She did this purely because she didn’t want any trouble.
Outside the Holy Land, Shen Anlan’s tightly strung nerves relaxed a little after hearing this. However, remembering Feng Ruo’s character, she felt some doubt.
“Lianxin, Feng Ruo has always acted as she pleases. She has had her eyes on you for a long time. Now that she is in the Holy Land, given her personality, it’s unlikely she would be content to behave herself.”
“Even if Senior Feng did do something to me, what does it matter to Senior Sister?”
When Shen Anlan heard this, she immediately clenched her fists. Her neatly trimmed nails instantly dug into her palm, yet she felt no pain.
“What do you mean, ‘What does it matter to me?’ Lianxin, are you truly going to discard everything from the previous life?”
Hearing this, the girl’s heart was greatly shocked.
Senior Sister… indeed recovered her past life memories, and also guessed that I am a reincarnator.
Is it because of that secret scroll?
What kind of treasure is that? It could both bring her to the Holy Land and allow Senior Sister to recall the previous life.
How should she face Senior Sister after leaving here?
For a time, various thoughts flashed through Du Lianxin’s mind, a jumbled mess.
In the distance, Feng Ruo noticed the girl’s unusual expression and quickly moved to her side.
“Lianxin, what’s wrong?”
As she asked this, she keenly detected an unusual spiritual energy fluctuation attached to the lotus hairpin the girl wore in her hair.
As the Demon Sect Saintess, Feng Ruo was knowledgeable and quickly realized that someone outside the Holy Land was communicating with Lianxin via voice transmission.
She had personally seen Shen Anlan take out and place that lotus hairpin in the girl’s hair in Donglin Town.
The person sending the voice transmission from outside the Holy Land was self-evident.
Having figured this out, Feng Ruo quickly reached out and pulled the lotus hairpin out before the girl could react. She secretly used spiritual energy, slightly opened her lips, and deliberately spoke words that would cause misunderstanding.
“Lianxin and I have already confessed our feelings to each other. With me protecting her, she will absolutely not be harmed. Fellow Daoist Shen need not worry.”
After saying this, Feng Ruo quickly cast a spell to cut off the spiritual energy attached to the hairpin.
The unexpected turn of events happened too quickly for Du Lianxin to stop.
She glared angrily at the woman in red, reaching out to snatch the hairpin, but was instead pulled into Feng Ruo’s arms.
“Let go of me!”
Du Lianxin was furious. Since she couldn’t break free, she simply opened her mouth and bit hard into the woman’s collarbone through her clothes.
Bl00d quickly seeped out. Feng Ruo felt the pain, hissed, and slightly loosened her grip.
The girl took the opportunity, gathered all her spiritual energy, and pushed forward, successfully breaking free from the woman’s restraint.
Since childhood, anyone who dared to harm Feng Ruo had been retaliated against with the most vicious methods. Yet, facing Du Lianxin, she had no intention of causing her harm.
The girl’s lips were stained with bl00d, and the corners of her eyes were red from anger. In her eyes, it only added a touch of allure.
Seeing the girl’s highly guarded expression, Feng Ruo felt a rare sense of grievance.
“Lianxin just bit me. You must take responsibility for me.”
The girl’s expression froze. “Senior was being unreasonable first. I bit Senior only to protect myself.”
To prevent Feng Ruo from dwelling on this, she quickly changed the subject and continued: “Why did Senior say those words to Senior Sister Shen just now?”
Hearing her bring this up, Feng Ruo didn’t feel guilty at all and said naturally: “I was helping Lianxin! Didn’t Lianxin say that you only want to focus on the Dao path in this life? If so, what’s wrong with cutting off Shen Anlan’s lingering thoughts about you early?”
“Since Senior has awakened your past life memories, you should know that Senior Sister doesn’t like me. Where are these ‘lingering thoughts’ coming from?”
Feng Ruo gave the girl a deep look. Although she knew these words were incorrect, for selfish reasons, she did not refute her.
“Is Lianxin still concerned about Shen Anlan?”
“…No.”
“Since you are not concerned, why are you so angry? Isn’t it because you are afraid she might misunderstand?”
Du Lianxin pursed her lips and retorted: “Has Senior forgotten your own identity? You are the Demon Sect Saintess, and I am a Daoist cultivator. You said those words, making Senior Sister misunderstand that we are together. When I leave the Holy Land in the future, if the sect holds me accountable, has Senior considered what awaits me?”
The Clear River Sect’s rules strictly forbade any association between sect cultivators and the Demon Faction.
Violators faced punishments ranging from being confined to the Regret Cliff for ten to a hundred years for minor offenses; to having their cultivation abolished and being expelled from the sect for serious offenses; and even execution on the spot for particularly heinous cases.
Feng Ruo was uncharacteristically silent. This was indeed her oversight. The Demon Faction didn’t have so many rules, but the Daoist faction was different.
“I apologize. It was my mistake. I didn’t consider that aspect at the time. Lianxin, when we leave the Holy Land, will you come back to the Asura Sect with me?”
The girl rejected without hesitation: “Senior and I are not on the same path. Senior can resort to any means to achieve her goals. I cannot do that!”
Looking at the sense of alienation in the girl’s eyes and hearing her merciless words, Feng Ruo felt a rare surge of anger.
“Lianxin says I resort to any means?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
“I admit that in many matters, I indeed go to all lengths. But toward you, Lianxin, I have always held back. Does Lianxin think I deliberately framed you, wanting you to be punished by the sect? I can swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao that I have no such intention!”
As she said this, Feng Ruo’s eyes gradually reddened.
“The reason I said those words to Shen Anlan earlier is because I envy her. I have always wanted a pure love. In the previous life, you were willing to sacrifice everything for her, yet she didn’t cherish it. In this life, I want to cut off the ties between you and her early!”
No sooner had her voice fallen than an extremely familiar cold voice suddenly reached both of their ears from a distance.
“Fellow Daoist Feng’s actions are truly the behavior of a despicable person!”
Feng Ruo immediately turned her head and looked toward the source of the voice. She saw a woman in a light purple dress, cold and peerless, walking toward her with a sword in hand.
She was utterly astonished. “With the Heavenly Restrictions in place, I wonder what method Fellow Daoist Shen used to enter the Holy Land?”
Shen Anlan remained silent, offering no response.
Just a moment ago, she had made a transaction with the Heavenly Dao…