Jiang Moqing finally understood. That so-called heart demon was not a heart demon at all, but the past she had cut away. The version of herself whose sickness had once seeped deep into her bones.
“So that’s how it is… so that’s how it is; I finally understand.”
She murmured, looking at the “heart demon” before her. The latter’s appearance gradually changed once again, becoming younger, more like a girl who had not yet shed her childishness.
“That’s right, I am you…the past severed by the Heartless Valley technique, the existence you can never escape.” The young Jiang Moqing tilted her head and smiled.
“You should understand what you need to do next now, right?”
“Lin Que… Junior Brother, I cannot lose him, absolutely cannot!” The obsession that had once been cut away stained her heart again. Jiang Moqing’s originally cold expression gradually drew closer and closer to how she had looked in her youth, until she was completely assimilated by it.
“No matter what methods I use, no matter how dirty or despicable they are, I will never… let him go again. Absolutely never!”
The figure of the heart demon disappeared, and in the room there was only Jiang Moqing holding her own face, tilting her head with a sickly smile. It seemed that from beginning to end there had only ever been one person there. The one who persuaded her had only been herself.
***
In the afternoon, Qin Wanyuan finished practicing her sword. She soaked her sweat-damp clothes in a basin, lightly testing the water temperature with the tip of her foot before stepping into the bath and comfortably soaking.
“Sure enough, taking a bath after practicing swordsmanship is the most comfortable.”
Qin Wanyuan sank her entire body into the bath, letting out a long, satisfied sigh. Leaning back against the edge of the pool, she lifted one fair hand out of the water and opened the system interface. The text describing Lin Que was still continuing.
[Lin Que sat alone in the tavern hall, ordering two jin of beef and a pot of white liquor. He ate large mouthfuls of meat and drank heartily. The people around him noticed his extraordinary bearing and kept glancing his way. Among them were a few noble daughters from the mortal world who, after seeing him only once, already began to secretly harbor feelings for him.]
“Lin Lang really is popular…”
Cultivators had long passed the stage of cleansing marrow and forging tendons, so their appearances naturally tended toward perfection.
Among them, Lin Que was even more outstanding. Not to mention the transcendent aura of a sword immortal he displayed whenever he was outside….looking across the entire Eastern Region, it would be difficult to find anyone who could surpass him.
Moreover, the most charming thing about Lin Que was his calm composure along with the sense of security he naturally gave others. Even if Mount Tai were to collapse in front of him he wouldn’t change his expression.
This was something no one could replace.
And yet,
Such a young sword immortal, admired by so many, was actually her dao companion… Just thinking about it made Qin Wanyuan feel a little smug and proud.
“But… in the future, Lin Lang might not belong to me anymore.” Thinking that Jiang Moqing might once again try to win Lin Que back, Qin Wanyuan’s mood dimmed slightly.
“But Senior Sister Jiang once did something so excessive. Even if Lin Lang has a good temper, he probably wouldn’t forgive her, right?”
Even setting aside the fact that during Jiang Moqing’s period of insecurity she forced Lin Que to cut off his social relationships, just the matter of imprisoning and exploiting him for an entire month was enough to make Qin Wanyuan’s legs go weak merely as an observer…let alone Lin Que, who had personally experienced it all.
After reading those things, Qin Wanyuan even began to regret choosing Jiang Moqing as her capture target. Unfortunately, once a target was selected, it could not be revoked.
Otherwise, if she could start over, she would definitely choose her master instead.
Maybe if she persuaded her master to hold Lin Que’s hand every day, then two years would already be enough to meet the requirement.
“Haah, if only I’d known earlier.” Qin Wanyuan let out a sigh and continued watching the system’s text broadcast.
[When Lin Que finished a pot of wine, Jiang Moqing who was dressed in white walked down from upstairs. Unlike the fitted outfit she wore while traveling, she was now wearing a plain white long dress, with cloud patterns decorating the edges of the sleeves. It also faintly echoed the style of Lin Que’s clothing, clearly chosen with care.]
Just reading the description of Jiang Moqing’s clothing made Qin Wanyuan frown.
“Lin Lang’s clothes were picked out by me, yet Senior Sister even deliberately chose a similar style… she really put thought into it.”
[The cold fairy sat across from Lin Que. She neither ordered food nor spoke, simply propping up her face with her hands as she quietly examined Lin Que’s side profile.]
[“Senior Sister, do you need something?” Lin Que asked.]
[“Mm. Regarding the healing technique, there are still a few matters I want to remind you about. After you finish eating, return to my room and we can discuss them in detail.” Jiang Moqing’s tone was calm, showing nothing unusual. Even the deep, sickly obsession in her eyes was hidden well, so Lin Que did not notice it.]
[After last night’s dream, she… had undergone some kind of unpredictable change.]
Watching the system’s broadcast appear line after line, Qin Wanyuan couldn’t help but feel alarmed.
“The sickly obsession hidden in her eyes… Senior Sister is planning to make a move on Lin Lang? And last night’s dream…wasn’t that exactly when I used the Shared Dream Talisman?”
“System!”
[This system is always present. Host, there is no need to shout.]
The system’s voice sounded cold and devoid of emotion.
“Why did the Shared Dream Talisman cause Senior Sister’s temperament to change so drastically?! Didn’t you say its effect would only make people treat the dream of past memories as a real dream, and that it wouldn’t affect the body at all?!” Qin Wanyuan questioned anxiously.
If the Shared Dream Talisman could cause unpredictable changes in Jiang Moqing, then did that also mean similar changes might occur in Lin Que as well?
After all, during the previous times the Shared Dream Talisman was used, Jiang Moqing’s affection toward Lin Que had increased significantly, yet Lin Que’s affection hardly changed at all. Because of that, Qin Wanyuan had never looked into the matter too deeply.
[The effect of the Shared Dream Talisman indeed does not affect the bodies of either the user or the target. It merely reconstructs a dream formed from past memories.]
“A dream of past memories… Could it be that Senior Sister originally had no memories related to Lin Lang, which is why she…”
Qin Wanyuan’s pupils suddenly contracted. She remembered.
Jiang Moqing had once told her that she had forgotten many things related to her Dao companion, and those forgotten memories had now been stirred once again by the dream constructed through the Shared Dream Talisman.
So it was because Jiang Moqing had recovered her memories that her temperament changed so drastically, becoming so sickly…
With that, many things could finally be explained….why Jiang Moqing, who had deeply loved Lin Que in her previous life, was able to restrain herself from contacting him and had not even met him once until the day she died.
Because she had forgotten. And it was very likely that Jiang Moqing had deliberately chosen to forget the memories related to Lin Que.
Because once she remembered him, she would no longer be able to restrain that dark possessiveness, repeating the same mistakes and shattering the peaceful life Lin Que longed for.
To avoid hurting Lin Que again, Jiang Moqing had chosen to make herself lose those memories and stay away from him so as not to disturb his life…
“So that’s how it was… I should have noticed something was wrong back then.”
Qin Wanyuan felt her chest tighten, yet there was nothing she could do to change the situation now.
Meanwhile, the system’s text broadcast continued.
[Jiang Moqing led Lin Que into her private room. A strange, delicate fragrance filled the air inside, and at the corner of her lips appeared a faint smile, almost too subtle to notice…]
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