The Fake Heiress's Guide to Self-Rescue - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Crane-Locked Bronze Mirror [Final] – VIP

The White Crane Boy stood opposite the three of them. Her body was now a bit transparent, as if she could disappear at any moment.

“Senior sister…” Jiang Qianqian saw her arm, which could now be seen through, and her eyes reddened. She wanted to go up and hug her, but the White Crane Boy gently avoided her.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, the White Crane Boy sighed. Although she was never good at saying emotional things, she tried her best to comfort her. “When you go back, we’ll see each other again.”

What kind of comforting words are those? Jiang Jing’s face was full of black lines, watching as the White Crane Boy spoke and Jiang Qianqian’s tears gathered even more.

Just then, Daoist Master Luo Yuan suddenly realized a problem—the first person to fall into a coma, Liu Jin, his soul had never appeared. She couldn’t help but interrupt their conversation. “Excuse me, High Immortal, is the boy’s soul also with you?”

When she heard her words, the White Crane Boy’s expression became hesitant. She thought for a moment and then had a sudden realization. “Oh, you mean him. His soul isn’t with me. It’s on the bronze mirror. You just need to break the bronze mirror, and his soul will be released.”

Time was running out. The White Crane Boy’s body was now almost completely transparent. Her robe turned into specks of starlight, gradually dissipating into the air, leaving only a pure white crane feather that lightly landed in Jiang Jing’s hand.

“This is for you, little one.” Her voice was so clear, and then it scattered into the air. “Keep this feather with you. It will be useful one day.”

Before she finished speaking, the cloud platform suddenly began to collapse. The three of them didn’t have time to react and fell rapidly from a great height. Below the abyss, a chaotic black hole opened its mouth, as if it wanted to swallow everything.

Daoist Master Luo Yuan was the first to react. She channeled her Qi, flipped her body, and grabbed Jiang Qianqian, who was on her left. Jiang Jing was a distance away from the two of them. No matter how much Daoist Master Luo Yuan tried to catch up, she was always an arm’s length away.

“No!” Jiang Qianqian saw Jiang Jing’s body about to fall into the black hole. In her desperation, the spiritual power in her body exploded. A slender vine grew rapidly from her palm, wrapping around Jiang Jing’s waist like a spiritual snake and instantly pulling her back.

Daoist Master Luo Yuan was holding a person on each side. She used her true Qi to propel her body and sped toward the exit of the bronze mirror.

…

At this moment, Jiang Daishuang’s expression was solemn outside the bronze mirror. She was fully focused on the movements within the mirror. The Soul-Summoning Banner at the core of the formation suddenly glowed golden. Then, Jiang Jing, who was lying on the bed, coughed painfully.

“Are you alright?” Jiang Daishuang quickly went to the bedside, gently helped Jiang Jing up, and let her lean on her shoulder. She handed her a glass of water.

“I’m fine…” Jiang Jing’s voice was weak, and her hands were trembling so much that she could barely hold the glass. A few drops of water spilled out, creating dark water stains on the white bedsheet. “Go check on Master… I mean, Daoist Master Luo Yuan.”

That’s right, why hasn’t shimu woken up yet? Jiang Daishuang suddenly turned her head and saw that Daoist Master Luo Yuan had already stood up and was putting her spiritual tools back into her bag. Her expression was normal, as if she hadn’t encountered any danger in the mirror.

“A Shuang, go check on the two rooms next door. Her primordial spirit is unstable, and I need to check her again.”

Daoist Master Luo Yuan’s tone was casual, just like every time she assigned tasks to Jiang Daishuang after a ritual. But Jiang Daishuang felt that it was different from before. Her master didn’t tell her what happened in the mirror, nor did she tell her how to solve such a problem if she encountered it again.

Despite this, she still tactfully left. She made sure to close the door properly and confirm that no one would suddenly enter before leaving.

“Your body… we’ve already sent it for cremation. The doctor said you died of tetanus, and I’ve also checked. There are no other injuries.”

The implication was that Jiang Jing’s death was indeed an accident and not a murder by someone in the cultivation world.

Jiang Jing’s expression was heavy as she nodded. Her face was still pale. The shock to her primordial spirit was too great, and her face now had a deathly gray color. A warm hand covered her forehead. After feeling that her temperature was normal, the hand moved to her temples and massaged them skillfully.

“Shimu,” Jiang Jing blinked, trying to hold back her tears. “Maybe one day, when her soul comes back, I’ll have to go.”

They both knew who “she” was.

Jiang Jing looked at the falling flowers outside the window. The pink blossoms fluttered down, occasionally hitting the glass. It wasn’t until this moment that Jiang Jing truly realized that she was a stranger in this world, with nowhere to go and nowhere to belong.

So boundless, so vast, like a lone sea gull between heaven and earth.

Daoist Master Luo Yuan didn’t say anything. She just held Jiang Jing in her arms and gently patted her back, just as she had done on every restless night for the past eighteen years.

“Xiao Jin, you’re finally awake! Just…” A voice came from the room next door. Jiang Jing remembered that Jiang Qianqian was still next door and wanted to go see her immediately.

“Your primordial spirit is injured. Although you’re fine now, you should rest,” Daoist Master Luo Yuan said, trying to stop her, hoping Jiang Jing would lie down and rest.

“No, Shimu, I still…” Before she could finish, the door to the room opened from the outside. Jiang Jing’s foot slipped, and she stumbled forward. A fair arm wrapped around her, preventing her from falling. The familiar scent of hibiscus drilled into Jiang Jing’s nose, and her tense body gradually relaxed.

“If you’re not feeling well, just lie down. Don’t go running around.” Jiang Qianqian wrapped her arm around Jiang Jing’s waist and helped her walk toward the bed.

Seeing that the two children seemed to have something to say, Daoist Master Luo Yuan didn’t stay in the room for long. She just told Jiang Jing not to do any strenuous exercise and to get some sun. Then she turned and left the room.

The door to the room was closed again. The two were silent.

“Are you… okay?” Jiang Jing was the first to speak, breaking the strange atmosphere between them.

Jiang Qianqian shook her head and showed Jiang Jing her right hand. The originally bright-colored mark was now very faint, almost blending in with her skin tone.

What’s going on?

Jiang Jing’s eyes darted from her wrist to her face, silently asking Jiang Qianqian for an explanation.

“The immortal in the bronze mirror just now said she was my senior sister,” Jiang Qianqian said slowly, organizing her words. “She came down for a tribulation but was found by a group of people wearing masks. They killed her mortal body and imprisoned her primordial spirit in the bronze mirror, continuously draining her magic power.”

“And Liu Jin was a small leader in that organization. The organization told him to transform my senior sister’s magic power, but he couldn’t handle it and suffered a backlash, falling into a coma.”

A strange organization?!

Jiang Jing’s eyes widened. This was the first time she had heard of this organization. In her past eighteen years, she had never seen anyone wearing a mask and acting strangely. This group of people was so capable that they could calculate when an immortal would descend for a tribulation and even dare to kill their mortal body.

Such a vicious and bold act made her involuntarily think of the forced deprivation of the soul on Jiang Qing’s body.