Chapter 39 A Mirror's Edge, and the World Transforms

The second incident occurred at a market. An elderly man with a cane asked her for directions. She told him how to get there, but he was hard of hearing and couldn't hear her. She patiently repeated herself, but he still couldn't understand. The old man said, "Take me there." Kind-hearted, she went, and in a dark alley, she saw a person in purple. Then she fainted, and her vision went completely black.

The third person's mother was seriously ill and urgently needed money. After taking care of her mother, she returned to the temple to write talismans. Someone knocked on the door and asked if she could tell fortunes. She first asked what it was about, and then heard that the reward was generous, so she went. She went to a grand mansion. The person in the main seat in the flower hall was dressed in purple. After talking with her for a few words and understanding the situation, she drank a cup of tea. When she opened her eyes again, the sky was no longer blue.

The fourth, the fifth... the eleventh, the last person each person encountered in their lifetime was Wang Lifu, dressed in purple.

As the retrospective technique ended, everyone turned to look at Wang Lifu. She was dressed in a deep purple dress with gold flame patterns embroidered on the hem, and even her boots were exactly the same as those in the picture.

When they were in Your Highness's presence, they dared to gossip from a distance, but now that they were on the open ground in front of the palace, right in front of Wang Lifu, they fell silent and dared not utter a word.

Li Xinzhi hadn't left yet when she stood up again, leaning on her attendant who looked as frail as if a gust of wind could knock her over. She said indignantly, "Wang Lifu, the evidence is now irrefutable. Do you still intend to deny it?!"

Wang Lifu was cornered, but she argued her case, pointing to the corpse in the hall and saying, "If this corpse can be deceived with a puppet talisman, isn't it possible that someone used a puppet talisman to impersonate me and commit evil deeds?"

Li Xinzhi angrily asked, "What evidence do you have to prove that this person isn't you?"

Wang Lifu calmly replied, "Breath."

Li Xinzhi: "What a joke! The person is already dead, how can you make a dead person speak?"

Each cultivator possesses their own unique aura, which cannot be imitated. Every individual's aura is one of a kind. Cultivators become familiar with the auras of those around them. Furthermore, the auras of renowned figures who frequently appear in grand settings are also widely known.

Wang Lifu is the head of a sect and a person with a mid-stage Nascent Soul Golden Spirit Root. He comes from the prestigious Wang family and has a disciple who has ascended to the True Fruit stage. He is a low-key person and is a figure that many people aspire to be.

Wang Lifu said calmly, "Send someone to the Tongxuan Secret Realm to obtain the testimony of the deceased's soul. That will clear my name."

Li Xinzhi scoffed, "Easier said than done. The Tongxuan Secret Realm is a realm of the dead, a place where it's easy to enter but difficult to leave. Don't talk big."

Ling Shu, with his keen hearing and sharp eyesight, heard the words "the realm of the dead".

Wang Lifu looked at the crowd and asked, "Is there anyone who can go on this trip for me?"

“I, Wang, am willing to give him half of my family property.”

The Wang family, a family with a history spanning hundreds of years, has declined somewhat, but even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse; half of their assets could buy ten prime plots of land in the best city of Shangqing Realm.

The crowd looked at each other, but no one responded. Even those in the Nascent Soul stage had difficulty coming out, let alone most of them who could only touch the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage at most, and couldn't even reach the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage.

"I'll go," a sweet, charming female voice said.

A young girl in a lotus-root-colored dress, who looked quite young, agreed; it was Ling Shu.

Wang Lifu smiled and said, "Thank you for your trouble." It seemed to be something he had expected.

Li Xinzhi said, "It's not enough for just you to go. What if you're biased and fabricate testimony to force them to confess?"

Lingchuan's tone was unfriendly: "What do you want?"

“Hu Shi,” Li Xinzhi called to the attendant who was supporting her, and ordered, “You will go with her on this trip. You must fulfill your supervisory duties. This matter is of great importance and must be handled fairly.”

Hu Shixing bowed in response.

Hu Shi had the face of an honest man and his movements were very upright. It was hard to believe that such a person would stand on Li Xinzhi's side. Judging from his aura, he was a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Li Xinzhi, adopting a commanding stance, said, "In that case, everyone, please cooperate with the elders of the Criminal Investigation Department in their investigation. After that, you may disperse."

“Wait a minute,” Zhuang Jinfu, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, “Since it’s for the sake of fairness, why don’t I also go to the Tongxuan Secret Realm?”

"While you're at it, go see your daughter."

Li Xinzhi's lips twitched, but he quickly recovered and burst into tears in the blink of an eye: "Please, Immortal Venerable, be sure to send my regards to her and tell her that her mother is doing well."

"Um."

Afterwards, Wang Lifu was temporarily placed under guard. Wang Lifu instructed Youming to manage the sect's affairs as the acting sect leader. The eleven corpses from the birthday ceremony were transported to the Taiping Treasury by the people of the execution platform. This, along with Li Xin's claim that his daughter was eaten by the demon Li Chang, were investigated separately.

Li Chang was imprisoned.

Three hundred and fifty li west of the gate of Shangqing Mountain, there is a lake called Tongxuan Lake. The lakeside is covered with clusters of burnt rose-pink incense sticks. Unburnt paper money is wet and stuck to the ground. Gray-black ashes are flying everywhere. Scattered rice and rotten apples are lying all over the ground.

Ling Shu took out three incense sticks, lit them with fire magic, bowed three times to the lake, and said as Zhuang Jinfu had taught her: "Living beings need to pass through, official business needs to be done, please open the gate."

As soon as the words were spoken, an oval-shaped water ripple mirror appeared in front of the three of them, reflecting their images. Ling Shu walked in front, holding incense in both hands, followed closely by Zhuang Jinfu, and Hu Shi followed behind.

In the blink of an eye, the world transforms.

The sky was red and the earth was black, skulls were scattered everywhere, and thorns grew in abundance. Crows stood on withered branches, cawing hoarsely. When they saw someone coming, they flapped their wings and flew away from the branches.

Beside the road stands a boundary marker as tall as a person, with two red characters carved on the black stone: "Tongxuan".

A snake immediately crawled over from behind the boundary marker.

"Another new person has arrived."

Her voice was incredibly alluring.

Following the source, the sound came from the snake on the boundary marker.

A white snake coiled around the boundary marker, its head and half its body stretching out. After a wisp of mist cleared, a woman with a coiled snake-like topknot, a human body and a snake's tail, appeared before them.

"Hmm," she chuckled softly, "Welcome to the Suspended Realm."

"Who are you?" Ling Shu asked.

The white snake said, "I am a door demon."

Ling Shu: "The doorman?"

White Snake: "To put it nicely, they're the gatekeepers."

Ling Shu: "Isn't that still just being a doorman?"

The white snake hissed and flicked its tongue, approaching Ling Shu: "Pretty boy, I forgive you because you're pretty."

Ling Shu was blunt and to the point: "Speak your mind or shut up."

Zhuang Jinfu patted Ling Shu's shoulder and said softly, "Show some respect. She might be your great-grandmother."

In the Shangqing Realm, it is a tradition that all those several generations before the Great-Grandmother are called Great-Grandmother. The demon race respects their deceased elders.

The white snake gave a haughty "humph".

"I was wrong." Ling Shu slid to her knees quickly, then kowtowed loudly before getting up.

The white snake then calmly said, "You've come on official business and need to obtain three tokens to prove that you've come with sincerity before you can go to the Lord of the Realm to retrieve the Book of Life and Death."

Ling Shu nodded and said, "I understand."

"Hmm, I have a hint and a reminder."

She spoke slowly, and Ling Shu was impatient: "Speak quickly."

The hint is that the token is with the person.

"The reminder is that you must find the first person in the Tongxuan Secret Realm before the three incense sticks burn out. If you don't find them, you will be stuck here forever."

Ling Shu looked at the incense in her hand, which was only one-fifth burned, and said anxiously, "Why didn't you say so earlier!"

Ling Shu ran straight out, with the white snake adding from behind, "Sword control is forbidden in the Tongxuan Secret Realm!"

"Also, the token can carry people in flight."

Zhuang Jinfu walked quickly and calmly. Hu Shi looked at Ling Shu with displeasure, blaming her for talking too much.

After walking for a quarter of an hour, they came to a main road that stretched straight ahead. There was no one in sight. Ling Shu felt that the scenery on both sides of the road looked very familiar. She used her foot to hook a goat skull and placed it on the dividing line between the road and the grass. Zhuang Jin Fu didn't say anything and just followed her.

Hu Shi crossed his arms, looking impatient.

The three continued walking forward. After a while, Ling Shu turned her head and saw the goat skull pressing against the dividing line. She stopped and said, "We've been going in circles. This road has no end."

Hu Shi rolled her eyes and said, "What kind of path did you lead us down? If the main road is blocked, can't you take the side road?"

Ling Shu handed the incense to her: "If you're so capable, then you do it. Here you go."

When Hu Shi heard that she had to fetch incense, she declined again. She didn't like being the leader: "You've already fetched it, why bother? It's just incense, is it really that big of a deal?"

“Then go ahead and take it,” Ling Shu said.

Hu Shi refused, saying, "Don't waste time here. There's less than a quarter of an hour left, so hurry up and leave!"

Ling Shu suppressed her anger and walked to the side. There were thorny bushes all around, and Zhuang Jinfu would have to cut them down to get through. Hu Shi didn't move an inch and just walked.

After walking for a while, the same thing happened again: the thorns that had been cut would grow back. In other words, they would circle back after walking past them. Ling Shu questioned Hu Shi, "You said to walk on the side."

Hu Shi choked, then pointed to the other side of the road: "You must be going the wrong way, go that way."

Ling Shu glanced at him and said, "He clearly has a sword, but he doesn't move it and keeps making the Immortal Venerable do the work."

Hu Shi retorted, "Did you lend a hand again?"

"I'll take the incense."

"What's the big deal about taking incense?"

"It's better than some people doing nothing at all."

This time was no different; they kept going back and forth in the same place. Ling Shu questioned Hu Shi, "Is there any difference?" Hu Shi dared not speak.

Ling Shu saw that the goat's head, which had been swaying earlier, had now automatically straightened itself. This place was truly eerie.

Why is this happening?

The fragrance is already close to the rose-red rootstock below.

"We're doomed," Ling Shu said helplessly, "How did we get stuck on the first step!"

Ling Shu angrily turned back to ask the white snake, but just as she turned around, the scene before her changed.

Before me lay a peaceful little mountain village, with blue skies, green trees, and babbling streams. Hundreds of houses were scattered across the hillside, with terraced fields reflecting the white clouds in the water.

She looked back at Zhuang Jinfu and Hu Shi, only to find the white snake standing behind her, almost bumping into her face when she turned around.

"Turning back is the right thing to do."

"What's the meaning?"

Ling Shu looked back and found herself at the boundary between the realms of light and darkness.

Zhuang Jinfu and Hu Shi have disappeared.