"call……"
Lu Zhaozhao exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly opened her eyes.
Mid-stage Nascent Soul realm—this was a level she had suppressed with all her might, yet it still surprised and delighted her.
Having encountered such a perilous situation, her cultivation was completely destroyed. She almost thought she had reached the end of her road, and that even restoring her cultivation was a pipe dream. She never imagined that she could advance further.
She blinked, her eyes filled with surprise, and emerged from the lake, running towards Abbess Jingwen.
This scene overlaps with the scene in the original book where Lu Zhaozhao breaks through to Qi Refining for the first time when she was a child. When people are happiest, they will subconsciously run to the person they trust the most.
"Master! I've reached the Nascent Soul Realm!"
Lu Zhaozhao smiled and acted coquettishly, while Abbess Jingwen lovingly patted her head, her face beaming with pride.
Amidst this joyful atmosphere, Lu Zhaozhao suddenly realized something was amiss.
She frowned as she looked at the nun who had become transparent.
"Master, this is..."
"I've been found out." She sighed softly, a little sad, and said, "My destiny is to wait for someone to arrive. Now that you've come, it's time for me to leave."
"What do you mean? What are you saying? I don't understand..."
Lu Zhaozhao's voice trailed off with a sob as she gripped Master Jingwen's wrist tightly, where a light began to flicker.
"I once thought that as a female demon, I could no longer approach the world, but Huizhen brought me in. Later, he died, and I died too. I thought that all my attachments in this life were gone, but I survived in this way. After a thousand years of loneliness, when I had no more attachments to this world, you appeared."
Heaven has bestowed upon me these various ailments, yet they still refuse to cease! But now, it seems the time has truly come to accept my fate.
"Guan Nan, you must, you must live your own life."
Most of Master Jingwen's body had become transparent. She frowned, trying to suppress her discomfort, and spoke her last words slowly and deliberately.
Lu Zhaozhao was in tears. She shook her head, unwilling to accept such a separation, and gritted her teeth, unable to speak.
Master Jingwen smiled softly as she hugged Lu Zhaozhao one last time, her voice gently whispering in her ear.
"I have converted to Zen Buddhism. Buddhism teaches about reincarnation, so please don't be sad, Guan Nan. We will meet again someday."
As soon as she finished speaking, her body became completely transparent and vanished into the world.
"don't want!"
Lu Zhaozhao screamed and lunged forward, trying to grab something, but like quicksand slipping through her fingers, she grasped nothing.
Those who came before have departed, leaving only emptiness for a thousand years.
In this vast world, I can no longer find a warm embrace.
At this moment, dawn breaks, the sun rises, and the world changes color. It is a new beginning, bidding farewell to the old.
Lu Zhaozhao knelt there for a long time. When she stood up again, her face was covered in tears, but there was no more tears in her eyes.
She gazed into the distance.
She will eventually meet her old friends again, but she still has her own path to walk. Once she finishes this journey, she can go and find them.
Returning along the same route, Lu Zhaozhao passed by the temple where she had woken up.
Puyuan was sweeping snow outside the door with Shikong when Shikong saw her from afar and excitedly waved to greet her.
Lu Zhaozhao smiled and waved.
As she passed the two people, she stopped and bowed to Pu Yuan.
"Thank you very much, Master, for your help along the way."
Pu Yuan returned the greeting with his hands clasped together, saying, "You're too kind, benefactor. It seems you've had quite an extraordinary encounter."
"An adventure? You could say that."
She seemed somewhat lost in thought, as if she were reliving a memory, but she quickly recovered.
She looked at the composed monk with some curiosity; it seemed she had never truly understood him.
Cultivation, state of mind, both.
Her gaze then fell upon Shi Kong beside her, the reincarnation of Master Huizhen, a young monk rumored to be exceptionally talented and destined to lead Zen Buddhism out of the snowy region once again. At this moment, he was also curiously observing Lu Zhaozhao.
Are you leaving?
He asked.
"Yes, I'm leaving."
Lu Zhaozhao answered.
"Will we ever see each other again?"
Shi Kong felt a little reluctant to leave. Unlike the others in the snowy region, his emotions were always exceptionally strong.
"Perhaps."
Lu Zhaozhao knew that he would also go out in the future, but she couldn't guarantee that the two of them would run into each other, so she could only give this ambiguous answer.
But Shi Kong flashed an exceptionally bright smile and said, "It's a promise, we'll meet again!"
Such a smile is so rare in this snowy region that she couldn't bear to correct any inaccuracies in her words.
Before parting, she gave him the hairpin.
"It was supposed to be yours. I'm sorry, I broke it."
"ah?"
Shi Kong stared blankly at Lu Zhaozhao, looking puzzled.
He looked at Puyuan, who sighed and nodded.
Shi Kong blankly said "thank you" and put the hairpin away, even though he didn't know why he was holding this thing when he didn't have any hair, especially since it was broken.
Lu Zhaozhao smiled, turned around and left. She waved to them with her back turned, and walked out into the morning sunlight.
"Master, what exactly is outside?"
Shi Kong looked into the distance, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"The outside world is diverse, and different people have different feelings, so it cannot be generalized."
"Ah, what's the difference between that and not saying anything at all!"
Shi Kong complained angrily, but Pu Yuan slapped him hard on the head.
"Ouch! It hurts!" He clutched his head, tears welling up in his eyes from the pain.
"Shovel the snow carefully. You have morning classes later, and after that you need to cultivate. Otherwise, you might never have a chance to go out in this lifetime!"
Pu Yuan threatened, but Shi Kong had heard these words countless times since childhood and no longer took them to heart.
"I understand, I understand, I will try my best."
He drew out his voice, which echoed across the snowy plains.
Such days unfold every day in the snowy region.
But outside the snowy region, every day is different; one moment it may be calm and peaceful, and the next moment it may be engulfed in war.
When Lu Zhaozhao came out, there was a fierce fight, and a broken blade just grazed her cheek, but she dodged it.
"You devil, you're despicable!"
A somewhat familiar voice was making accusations, but the person being accused replied nonchalantly, "You've already called me a demon, so what's so despicable about it?"
"Hmph, prepare to die!"
The sickle was raised, about to fall, when Lu Zhaozhao suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Clang!"
The sickle stopped in mid-air.
"Hmm?" The demon was somewhat surprised. Looking down, he saw a female cultivator suddenly appear. He snorted coldly, "You're courting death!"
Lu Zhaozhao immediately released her aura, and her Nascent Soul cultivation immediately exerted pressure.
The attack paused, and the initially aggressive demon immediately retreated, disappearing the next moment as if afraid of being too late.
"Junior Sister Lu! Is that you?"
The person behind him spoke, half surprised and half hesitant.
Lu Zhaozhao turned around. She made her move as soon as she heard the familiar voice, but she couldn't remember who it was.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that there was quite a connection between them.
I just met Jin Ke at the Golden Banquet, and we even fought each other.
"It really is you!" He was overjoyed, as if he had forgotten that he had almost lost his life just now, and immediately stood up.
"Junior sister, you're still alive! I knew those rumors outside were just that—rumors, and they don't count!"
"What rumor?"
Lu Zhaozhao was somewhat curious.
At this point, Jin Ke appeared indignant. He said angrily, "What other rumors could it be? Someone actually said that you, Junior Sister, are dead! That's nonsense. Emperor Huizong of Qing searched for so many years but never found a body. It's obvious that you're not dead. Yet, one of Wen Yuan's junior disciples insists that he saw it with his own eyes, and he even described it in a very convincing way!"
Lu Zhaozhao remembered that before she was poisoned, there was indeed a young Taoist priest present whose fate was unknown. In fact, what he said was not wrong; Lu Zhaozhao could indeed be considered dead before.
She gave a dry laugh.
Jin Ke continued, "Where has my junior sister been these past two years? Everything has changed drastically here."
"What do you mean?" Lu Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow. She was indeed very curious about what had happened in the past two years, as the changes outside seemed quite significant.
"Alas, Junior Sister, as you know, demons infiltrated the Golden Banquet, and the battle was truly devastating. If the elders hadn't been there and intervened in time to fight those demons to a draw, there would have been another bloodbath. After that, the Western Region officially declared war, and the war between humans and demons reignited. This is still just a probing phase for both sides, but the roads are already dangerous. Look at me today, I almost lost my life just by going out for a walk."
He fell into despair again. Lu Zhaozhao lowered her eyes and whispered, "How is Emperor Huizong? Could you please tell me, Senior Brother?"
Upon hearing this, Jin Ke paused, a conflicted look on her face.
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