The area north of Mushan is a sparsely populated place, and if it weren't for the gathering of people today, it would be desolate on ordinary days.
Mushan Temple is located on the mountaintop, surrounded by dense forests, with only a narrow, desolate path leading to it, and the temple itself is deserted.
Lu Zhaozhao's hand, hidden beneath her loose robe, gently caressed the cracks on the Yuanxu Mirror, her brows and eyes filled with endless sorrow.
As Lu Zhaozhao entered, she was at the back of the group. Just before stepping through the door, she heard a strange voice. The owner of the voice seemed to have experienced a thousand years of vicissitudes, his voice hoarse and gratified. He said, "You've finally come." After he finished speaking, the Yuanxu Mirror in his hand made a barely perceptible creaking sound. Immediately afterward, Lu Zhaozhao noticed the fine lines on it.
She remembered that before leaving Emperor Huizong, Ying Che had said that the Yuanxu Mirror was made of the shell of a Xuanwu (a mythical tortoise), making it incredibly hard and capable of withstanding a full-force attack from a Nascent Soul cultivator. But now, this magical artifact had silently cracked open.
The fact that she had read in a book about how difficult the gatekeepers were to deal with only added to her worries. She feared that her current success was merely a slow, insidious process, with the person behind it all waiting to reel her in. Yet, she couldn't figure out what among these people was worth such a scheme by the person behind the scenes.
She kept thinking like this the whole way until Bai Yuanzhou's excited shouts brought her back to reality.
They arrived at a library with its doors open, revealing that the outermost layer inside was filled with rare and precious martial arts techniques rarely seen outside the world.
Everyone was overjoyed, thinking to themselves that the trip had been truly worthwhile.
Just as everyone was excitedly about to rush in, a beautiful young woman dressed in red and wearing a peony in her hair descended from the sky and blocked their way.
The woman was extremely beautiful, with slightly upturned red lips and alluring eyes. Every smile and frown was full of charm, and even Lu Zhaozhao, who was also a woman, found it hard not to be moved.
However, someone who could appear in this place couldn't possibly be an ordinary woman.
Bai Yuanzhou spoke first: "Excuse me, could you let us in?"
He was already young, and had a baby face, his big eyes blinking as he looked at the woman in front of him.
The woman floated to him like a gust of wind. Her slender, white fingers, smooth as mutton fat, connected to her delicate wrists, creating a striking contrast with the red dress she wore. She casually brushed her fingers across Bai Yuanzhou's cheek, startling him so much that his face and neck instantly flushed red.
"Normally, it wouldn't be allowed, but this young man looks quite handsome. How about this, you stay with me, and I'll let you in, okay?"
The woman in red possessed an innate allure, her voice languid yet utterly captivating.
Bai Yuanzhou was so frightened that he stood there speechless, only casting pleading glances at them. Upon seeing this, the woman covered her mouth and giggled, then turned around and took a few graceful steps, saying slowly, "This servant is Dan Niang, in charge of managing this library. It's not impossible for you all to go in, but it will take some effort."
With that, she waved her hand, and a fragrance wafted into her nostrils. Lu Zhaozhao quickly held her breath, but still managed to inhale a little. Soon, her eyelids began to close uncontrollably.
Before she closed her eyes, she heard Dan Niang squat down curiously and look her over, muttering, "Is this the person Kunwu was talking about? He doesn't look like him at all."
Who is Kunwu? And who is that other person?
Lu Zhaozhao lost consciousness before she could even think.
When she opened her eyes again, there were many people standing in front of her, and the person closest to her was the first person she had met when she arrived.
"Senior brother, you..."
Lu Zhaozhao paused as she saw Ying Che's chest covered in blood, pierced right in the center by a sword.
That sword looks familiar... wait! This is... Reverse Karma!
Lu Zhaozhao's eyes widened as she looked down the sword and saw her own hand at the hilt.
"What, this is... me..."
Lu Zhaozhao was speechless for a moment, and she could see Ying Che's incredulous expression with just a slight lift of her head.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably. She didn't know what was happening. In the current situation, was it she who had killed Ying Che?
"Ah! Senior sister! You! Senior brother!"
A startled cry rang in my ears, a voice so sharp it could pierce eardrums.
Lu Zhaozhao looked up in a daze, and saw herself covered in blood and exuding demonic energy in Nian Zhi's eyes.
Have I fallen into demonic possession?
Before Lu Zhaozhao could react, a white figure appeared in her field of vision, followed by a sword pointing at her brow.
She stared blankly as the person who had just arrived was her master, Yunxian, whom she had met outside the nunnery.
Yunxian pulled Nianzhi into her arms, shielding her behind her. She looked at Lu Zhaozhao with disgust and said with revulsion, "I've given you so many chances, but I never expected you to be so unrepentant. Ying Chelian took pity on you when you were young and brought you up the mountain. She has taken care of you for so many years, and yet you... Fine, I will clean house today!"
Having said that, the sword that was pointing at Lu Zhaozhao's brow suddenly moved.
"No! I'm not!" Lu Zhaozhao tried to explain, but her body seemed to be beyond her control.
"Pfft—"
The sword pierced through her flesh, and Lu Zhaozhao watched helplessly as she was pierced by the sword, her eyes uncontrollably turning to Yun Xian.
She only saw Yunxian's back as he softly comforted Nianzhi.
Am I going to die?
A tear involuntarily rolled down my cheek, and my heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly, aching terribly.
No, that's not me.
Lu Zhaozhao gasped for breath, silently shouting in her heart.
This is Lu Zhaozhao from the original book!
Is this what she saw before she died? Why did she kill Ying Che? No! Did she really kill Ying Che?
She could clearly feel the immense sorrow emanating from this body, and the same shock she felt.
She didn't kill Ying Che!
Lu Zhaozhao affirmed.
The scene before my eyes gradually blurred, and I could only vaguely see a lone goose flying across the sky.
"Zhaozhao, my Zhaozhao, wake up!"
Who is crying? That sound is so familiar.
Lu Zhaozhao opened her eyes with difficulty and saw that her once elegant mother's hair had turned gray and her carefully maintained face had many fine lines.
"Mother……"
Lu Zhaozhao still couldn't speak. She could only look at the person she missed every day, her eyes red from crying, pleading with the person on the sickbed.
"Ding—Hello host, I am your personal system. Because you failed to act according to the original storyline after waking up, you will be punished..."
"What is the original plot? Is it about courting death and then waiting to die?!" After seeing her weathered mother, Lu Zhaozhao became extremely emotional, venting her anger on the so-called system.
"Of course not, it's just a requirement of the plot. You need to act in accordance with your character. The timeline gives you a lot of freedom, so please accept your punishment."
The moment she finished speaking, a sharp pain shot through her heart, causing her to instinctively curl up.
"Beep, beep, beep—" The lines on the electrocardiogram monitor, which had been fluctuating up and down, suddenly became a straight line. The sudden change startled her mother, who screamed in fright.
"Prepare for resuscitation, quick, defibrillation."
A group of doctors in white coats rushed into the ward, and her mother, covering her mouth and trying to suppress her grief, was pulled aside.
As the current increased, her heartbeats gradually returned to normal. Lu Zhaozhao placed her hands on her chest; her heart was still aching, but the electrocardiogram was slowly recovering, and her vision began to blur again.
"Have a pleasant experience." The damned mechanical voice rang in her ears again, but she was too weak to speak.
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