Chapter 131: Life after Life

"Do you know her?"

Fenghuangchu carefully observed every expression on Mu Jin's face, and only felt relieved when he saw him frown slightly. He just wanted him to know what kind of person she was and how terrible her appearance was.

Jiaoran moved forward with difficulty, although she told herself many times that she and Wuxia were two completely different people. If Wuxia was her, then those strange yet familiar similar faces could all be said to be her. She could only choose to be one person, the current one.

Although the face of the woman in the sarcophagus was not rotten, her original appearance was very terrifying.

The Phoenix Chick seemed to be talking to herself, "Originally, I used magic to help her repair her face and skull, but now that she's dead, there's no need to maintain the magic."

As he spoke, he looked at Jiaoran again.

Her scalp tingled under his gaze, and her once firm belief began to waver. She began to doubt who she was, and the things in the box seemed to be about to break free from the wooden box and scatter.

At this moment, Mu Jin spoke, her voice as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate, "Since she is already dead, why not let her rest in peace as soon as possible?"

The Phoenix Chick looked down at her, his eyes filled with infinite attachment. "I can't bear to leave her. Of all the things in this mortal world, I just can't leave her behind."

"Look, isn't she beautiful?"

Jiaoran felt a chill in his heart and was about to speak when Mu Jin interrupted him, "She is beautiful, but she is not Jiaoran."

Phoenix Chick said, "Take out her soul and return it to her, and it will naturally be mine again."

His every word and action was against the will of Heaven. Jiao Ran couldn't help but remind him, "Don't I have the final say over my soul?"

"That's fine. If you promise to be my Wuxia, I will protect your body. I don't care what kind of body Wuxia uses."

Jiaoran was upset by his words. "If every person from my past life came to me and said that I was once their relative or lover, would I have to obey them one by one and do what they said?"

He said, "Of course not. I'm the only one who found you, so just do as I say."

Jiaoran found that Fenghuangchu was a stubborn person. He had his own ideas and no one could shake his heart.

Mu Jin said, "Even if you really treat her as Wuxia, you still have to ask her whether she wants to be Wuxia or Jiaoran now?"

Phoenix Chick raised her finger to her lips, hushing him. "Do you think you know her better than I do? No, I know her much better than you."

Mu Jin sneered, "Maybe not."

Jiaoran thought to herself that she herself couldn't fully understand herself, and yet he was still bragging here, it was so funny.

If she didn't want to send her senior sister and the others away safely, she really wanted to fight with him and decide whether to live or die. There was no need to waste her time talking here.

Fortunately, Mu Jin was brought here. He likes to reason, so let him talk to him.

Jiaoran quietly looked at the woman who had been sleeping for a hundred years in the coffin. It was a very strange feeling, as if she was looking at her own corpse, but she did not feel sad at all, because she was clearly aware that she was a new individual and was not one with the corpse.

"I know more than you do. Perhaps you are very curious about how an ordinary maid in the Governor's Mansion could make such rapid progress in martial arts within a few years and become one of the top masters."

Mu Jin and Jiaoran looked at each other. Jiaoran moved her mouth but did not explain in the end. She had promised Zhu Su in the Fish and Dragon Wonderland to keep the secret. Now it seems that she can't keep it anymore, but as long as the secret doesn't come out of her mouth, it's fine.

"Didn't she tell you where she was going?"

Mu Jin asked, "You are from that place too, right?"

You hit the nail on the head.

Jiaoran and Fenghuangchu were both stunned for a moment.

She had long thought that Mu Jin should be a witch or fortune teller, as he had first-rate abilities in guessing and reasoning.

Phoenix Cub laughed, "You're smarter than I thought. Oh, smarter than you were back in the Governor's Mansion. Back then, you thought we were accomplices and could play Jiaoran around. But in reality, it was me who was manipulating you at will. Jiaoran, don't you know? That day, we tricked you into the Dragon Locking Pond and brought you to the blood-collecting platform. He abandoned you and then rushed back to save you."

She really didn't hear Mu Jin explain this matter in detail. He mentioned it once, but she didn't believe it.

The sword strike that injured him at Huiying Inn was just a small punishment. She couldn't bear to kill him.

"But I promised Zhou Zhi I'd take him out, so of course I had to keep you. After he left, he kept thinking about going back to you. At that time, I was really moved by your love, which was both real and imaginary, and so hard to tell apart. I haven't seen children as interesting as you two in a long time."

"Thank you very much." Jiaoran said.

"Why are you thanking me? It's because you believe what I say more. He explained it to you before, but you didn't trust his words and thought it was an excuse, right?"

Jiaoran was speechless, "I..."

He was right.

Mu Jin was not panicked. "I tricked her once, so it's only natural that she doesn't believe me. She's not stupid enough to fall into the same trap over and over again."

Phoenix Chick said, "You are sincere, but what about her? Do you think you two are in love with each other?"

Jiao Ran said, "If I'm not in love with him, how could I be in love with you?"

Phoenix Chick's expression turned grim. "You talk more than Wuxia, and your words are sharper than hers."

Jiao Ran admitted, "She is she, I am me. We are now just one step away from a sword fight. Is there any need for those high-sounding words?"

Fenghuangchu didn't like to listen to her, so he grabbed her throat. The two of them started fighting in the blink of an eye. Before Mu Jin could turn his head, Jiaoran started fighting with him.

Neither of them held any weapons, relying solely on their martial arts skills.

He wanted to catch her, but she wouldn't let him get close.

Mu Jin was extremely anxious when she heard Jiao Ran say, "Don't come over here."

It was during this moment of distraction that his hand touched her throat.

But he didn't hold it, just brushed past it.

Jiaoran immediately noticed that his throat felt strange and a little hot.

He touched his burning throat, but after a moment it returned to normal.

Mu Jin hurriedly walked between them and checked her throat. "What did you do to her?!"

Phoenix Chick said, "Wuxia never said such things to me. She has always been gentle to me. You should do the same and be less talkative."

Just as Jiaoran was about to speak, he found that he couldn't utter a word.

In a panic, he was about to fight him again, but Phoenix Chick said calmly, "It will be fine in a while. I'm just asking you to talk less, not to stop you from talking forever."

She snorted, but no sound came out, only breath.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"If she talked less, I wouldn't be so irritated."

Mu Jin said, "She makes you irritated because you care too much about her, but the person you care about should not be her, but her." He pointed his finger at the sarcophagus.

"Jiaoran is just Jiaoran, and the flawlessness you mentioned is also just flawlessness."

"But her soul is Wuxia's soul, and I also awakened her memories of Wuxia."

"If, before Jiaoran and Wuxia, there was a person named... let's just pick a name, Xiaoye, and Xiaoye was reincarnated as Xiaomu, who was reincarnated as Wuxia, who was reincarnated as Jiaoran, and so on and so forth... then can you say they are all the same person?"

Jiaoran nodded and thought, that’s right.

"You don't need to beat around the bush here. I must get what I want."

Jiaoran thought to himself, "If you are so powerful, why don't you go to your mother's soul instead of pestering me here."

Mu Jin said, "If she doesn't want to, no one can force her."

"Why should I force myself?"

Mu Jin said, "You can give it a try."

Phoenix Chick found it a little funny, "Perhaps there are many things you don't know, which is why you dare to be so arrogant in front of me."

"I am indeed ignorant, and as a mortal, my abilities are limited. But I believe you are not invincible either. If you could do whatever you wanted, if you had never been blocked or defeated, then you wouldn't be hiding in such a dark and gloomy underground palace right now."

The Phoenix Chick was stung by his words and felt uncomfortable all over. Mu Jin was indeed smarter than the Mu Jin he had seen before. Even though he was a mortal, he was still one of the best mortals.

He looked at the man and woman in front of him.

Jiaoran is like a sharp sword, and Mu Jin is like the scabbard that can fully accept her.

But this won't work. If he wants her Wuxia back, he can't just watch them live in such harmony.

"Don't think your words can anger me. I don't possess perfect power like other immortals. I have also been punished, hunted, and destroyed. But no matter what, I am stronger than you, and she is stronger than you. In this game, you, Mu Jin, will never be ranked."

Mu Jin asked, "Are you sure you are stronger than me?"

"I can crush you with just one finger."

Jiaoran moved a little closer, in a protective posture, worried that he would really attack Mu Jin.

Mu Jin whispered, "It's okay," and continued, "I think being 'strong' should be a struggle against fate and a pursuit of freedom. The gods think they are above the mortal world, and they have achieved the former, but in fact, countless mortals may be better at fighting against fate."

Jiaoran agreed with it deeply and nodded continuously, thinking to himself, that's right.

"I'll tell you now what power is." Phoenix Chick smiled.

He grabbed his throat from a distance and reached out to grab him. This trick couldn't be used against Jiaoran, but it could be used against Mu Jin.

When Jiaoran saw that he was not good at literature but at martial arts, he immediately became anxious and went up to him and started fighting again.

While he was fighting with her, Mu Jin had a chance to catch her breath.

He felt bored and let them go.

Jiao Ran hurried to see if Mu Jin was injured. "Are you okay?"

As soon as I opened my mouth I found that I could speak.

He started cursing, "Come at me if you dare. You know he's no match for you. How despicable!"

"Are you acting like you're in love now? Do you dare to tell him who taught you martial arts? Do you dare to explain to him where you went during those years you disappeared?"

Jiao Ran squatted down and said, "I didn't mean to hide this from you, but I have already promised someone that I will never tell anyone else about this."

Mu Jin coughed a few times, then held her hand, "I... I know... I don't blame you..."

She lowered her head, ashamed that she could not be completely honest with him. There were always so many things about her that she could not let him know.

Phoenix Chick refused to admit defeat. "She never told you who taught her martial arts in the Fish-Dragon Wonderland, and who was the person she spent years with day and night with? Didn't you ever doubt her?"

Mu Jin held on with confidence, "She will come back to me, that's all I know."

The young Phoenix realized that little Mu Jin was actually provoking him.

"But your lover will never come back to you, right?"

The phoenix chick said nothing.

Mu Jin was very confident because he had long seen that although Jiaoran was restless and unsettled, she was just like the roots, deeply rooted in the soil. She always knew what she wanted and what she wanted to do. If she was determined, no matter how tortuous the road was, she would not change her destination.

Compared to the phoenix chick in front of her who was at a loss for words, Mu Jin continued, "Even if you really made Jiaoran your Wuxia, wouldn't this new Wuxia ever leave you again? She's not an object for you to manipulate."

Phoenix Chick was silent and looked at him with a strange expression. He wanted to fight back and defeat Mu Jin completely. At least in front of the woman he loved, he didn't want to lose to a mere mortal.

But he couldn't utter a word.

He even sighed after seeing the giant tree.

I asked Jiaoran, "You saw her memories of her past life. Can you tell me why she gave me that sachet and why she put another man's things in it?"

He didn't want to tell himself a tragic answer.

Mu Jin had seen the dawn of victory. "It goes without saying that the woman never loved you. What you pursued was nothing but a pipe dream."

"no!"

These words came from Jiaoran's mouth.

She felt that her mind was very complicated, but she was not prepared to answer against her will. She said honestly, "If she didn't love you, she wouldn't be with you until you die. If she didn't love you, she wouldn't be willing to be your wife."

Mu Jin was a very sensitive person. After Jiaoran said this, his heart sank deeper and deeper.

Turning around, Jiao Ran had already grasped his hand and said, "But the person I love is Mu Jin. Wu Xia's love isn't that pure. I can sense that she also harbors a yearning for that man in her heart, like a mirage. But you are the real person right in front of her. Wu Xia chose to hold you and let you accompany her, and she also accompanied you. Of course, she loves you."

Jiaoran held Mu Jin's hand, and Mu Jin smiled contentedly. He was worried that she would not choose him, and worried that those words meant she would abandon him and go to another person, but she never let him down.

Phoenix Chick looked at them for a long time, and then he said, "I have nothing left."

"My mother has been completely destroyed, vanished from the Three Realms, and has not even reincarnated. I can't even find a trace of her soul. As for Wuxia... well, since you put it that way, why should I force you to stay?"

There was a hint of loss on his face. "The new Zhu Su and the elders asked you to kill me, didn't they?"

"Haha, they really played a good game of chess. I thought I had everyone fooled around, but in reality, I was just a pawn."

"But it's not that easy for you to kill me."

Jiao Ran said, "You and I have both practiced Gao Shan Shou, so I may not be inferior to you."

"But you don't have much magic power. Let's play one last game."

"What game?"

"Life and death." He smiled evilly.

"How do you play?"

"If you are here, Zhu Su won't be able to find you, and you won't be able to practice magic with him. If you only rely on martial arts and mental skills, you are definitely not my opponent. They think too highly of you."

"Do you mean that I should go back and practice more?"

"Exactly."

"You underestimate me too much."

"I've practiced for a thousand years and I'm a demigod. Didn't Zhu Su tell you that if you want to kill me, you're looking for death?"

He continued, "Twenty days. I'll give you twenty days. All of you go, leave the underground palace. After twenty days, come to Zongxun Sect. I'll be waiting for you at the top of the mountain."

Jiao Ran thought of Jin Chong, "But if I really kill you, Mu Jin will die too, right?"

He raised his eyebrows, "You haven't forgotten this yet?" He turned and walked away, "Then in twenty days, you defeat someone, kill her, and give me her heart, and I will help you untie Jin Chong."

After saying that, the figure disappeared.

Jiao Ran's voice continued behind him, "Hey...but I can't kill innocent people!"