When they arrived at the sect leader's villa again, Senior Sister Shen Huairu had calmed down considerably. Bound by the Immortal Binding Rope, she could only stay obediently, but her eyes were very empty. The sect leader tried to communicate with her, but she seemed very slow to react.
Xiao Yuhan kicked Li Wenruo away, saying, "Let my senior sister recover!"
Li Wenruo smiled helplessly and said, "I can't help it. Only my master can save her."
"Who is your master?" Xiao Yuhan pressed.
Li Wenruo shook his head and then said, "You wouldn't know him even if I told you."
"Take us to her!" Xiao Yuhan commanded.
"I've already told you she's my master. Only she can find me. How could I possibly find her?" Li Wenruo had a nonchalant attitude, which could be best described as "a dead pig that isn't afraid of boiling water."
Seeing his uncooperative attitude, Xiao Yuhan was also very annoyed. "What exactly is your purpose?"
Unexpectedly, when asked about this, Li Wenruo didn't even want to speak. He just turned to look at Shen Huairu, who was being controlled by the Immortal Binding Rope not far away, and murmured, "I don't know why, but I've been very happy ever since I met this girl..."
"Stop pretending. You recognize me, so how could you not recognize Senior Sister Shen?" Xiao Yuhan said coldly.
Li Wenruo smiled helplessly and said, "My master specifically instructed all the demon disciples to take care of you, the famous Immortal Master Xiao, so of course I would recognize you."
"Back then, you and I..." Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Yuhan seemed to realize something and stopped talking. He then rushed forward, placed his hand on Li Wenruo's head, and used his spiritual energy to check the man's physical condition. After a moment, he turned to Ye Qingyun and said, "Senior brother... he has no soul, so why can he still have normal human emotions?"
Ye Qingyun shook his head and looked at Shen Huairu again, becoming even more puzzled. Shen Huairu, with only a soul left, was like a walking corpse, while this person, who had no soul, was no different from an ordinary person.
Xiao Yuhan then realized that the man's tone of voice and manner of behavior were no longer the Li Wenruo they once knew. At this moment, he recalled the old Taoist's words and suddenly understood, "That poem about the Blood Spirit, which says, 'Do not ask, do not go, for in retrospect it is but a dream,' so that's what it means. You are not the Li Wenruo of the past, are you?"
Li Wenruo gave a meaningful smile, "I don't have to be called Li Wenruo, but since this girl calls me that, and you all call me that too, I'll believe it!"
"What exactly do you intend to do?" Xiao Yuhan asked.
At this moment, Li Wenruo chuckled softly, "I've already done what Master instructed, and it seems there's nothing left to do. Immortal Xiao, do you know about the Demon Disciple? We can help you fulfill your wish. I'll return my soul to her, and in exchange, you give me your soul!"
"Is this really true?" Xiao Yuhan asked tentatively, wanting to test the waters.
"We, the demon disciples, are the most law-abiding people. Souls that are not offered up voluntarily are of no use to us!"
"Are you demon disciples even human? You talk about rules! Do you think my senior sister also voluntarily offered her soul?" Xiao Yuhan pressed again, her expression full of disdain, clearly not believing Li Wenruo's words at all.
At this moment, Li Wenruo seemed to realize that he didn't believe her. After a moment of silence, she smiled slightly and said, "Oh dear, this is really boring. It's even more boring if I don't have a chance to deceive your soul. Alright! You can do your own thing now. Shall we talk? By the way, if I say now that I never intended to hurt this girl, can I change my mind?"
Xiao Yuhan's face darkened. "Save my senior sister, and I'll spare your life!"
Li Wenruo smiled and said, "Among the storage treasures in my arms is a painting, and her soul is imprisoned within it."
Xiao Yuhan quickly searched his body and found a storage magic artifact. Inside was only a painting, which depicted her senior sister Shen Huairu. It was a painting of her dancing with a sword. It was clear that the painter's skill was so lifelike that even when her senior sister actually danced with a sword, she was probably not as graceful and ethereal as she appeared in the painting.
At this moment, nine beams of spiritual light flashed in the painting and entered Shen Huairu's body. After a long while, she indeed regained her senses, though she was still somewhat dazed. "Sect Leader Senior Brother? This is... the Sect Leader's villa? How did I get here?"
Seeing that her senior sister had recovered, Xiao Yuhan breathed a sigh of relief and continued to press, "What did you say your master instructed you to do? What exactly is your purpose?!"
Li Wenruo turned to look at Shen Huairu and smiled, "Would you believe me if I said I came here just to deliver this painting?"
Xiao Yuhan scoffed, "What do you think?"
At this moment, Shen Huairu also noticed Li Wenruo, stared at him for a moment, then sighed softly and asked calmly, "You're not him, are you?"
Noticing Shen Huairu's gaze, Li Wenruo's playful smile vanished, replaced by a somewhat dazed expression as he said, "Sort of, and not really. We demon disciples... are all like this. Everyone who leaps into the Blood Spirit Abyss makes a wish, and that wish remains deep in our memories. But... from the moment I opened my eyes, all I remembered was giving this painting to someone. I forgot who. When you called my name in Lingsu City, I realized that this painting was meant for you. Oh! Right, there's another line: 'This is the answer you're looking for.' The answer... right! It's also in that painting."
Upon hearing this, Shen Huairu froze on the spot, then looked at the painting in silence for a long time before reciting the contents of the painting: "The highest form of 'forgetting emotions' is not the absence of emotions, but rather a state of serene stillness, as if one has forgotten them. Words are meant to convey meaning, and one can forget a single word once one has achieved one's goal."
Ye Qingyun, who had remained silent until now, looked at Shen Huairu and asked, "Junior Sister, isn't this the content of the title page of your Supreme Forgetfulness Chapter? What does Li Wenru mean by this?"
Shen Huairu shook her head and murmured, "I don't know. I don't really understand it either. So I once discussed some issues about my cultivation of this method with him. At that time, he said he couldn't think of anything yet and would tell me in the future, but I never got to hear that."
Then Shen Huairu turned to look at Li Wenruo, "Is this my answer? What does it mean?"
At this moment, Li Wenruo reverted to her usual nonchalant demeanor. "Sister, how would I know? In the end, I'm just someone who runs errands for others. So what if the original owner of this body knew you? I am me, and he is him!"
Xiao Yuhan stood there, deep in thought. She remembered that Shen Huairu also kept a painting in the original story, and that painting was the key to her breakthrough to the Dao Integration Realm. Could it be the one in front of her?
To confirm, she immediately asked, "Senior sister, did Li Wenruo give you a painting back then?"
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