Chapter 38: A Thousand Turns of Fate
Xu Baishen understood the situation and realized that the dangerous scene just now was just the two of them acting.
At the same time, a strange and gloomy feeling arose in his heart. The two of them were so in sync, they didn't say anything to each other, yet they understood everything.
He paused for a moment, then spoke up: "Senior Sister Sang, how can you be so sure that he understands what you mean and knows that the talisman is for exorcising demons?"
Sang Ying was taken aback and fell into thought.
She sensed something was wrong when the girl came over, and pretended not to react, but was actually secretly divining to find out what the girl was.
If it were a female ghost, the date of death could be calculated, but Sang Ying's information was unknown, so it was impossible to calculate. Therefore, it was clear that this thing was not dead at all, but was just pretending to be a female ghost to get close to her.
So Sang Ying continued her act, explaining that among the talismans left by her mother was a type that could trap invisible things, and she drew that talisman. However, she couldn't trap it with her own power, so she had to ask Xie Lingyu to do it.
As for whether Xie Lingyu could discover her intentions... she hadn't thought about that; she just did it subconsciously. Sang Ying scratched the back of her head: "...Intuition?"
"Oh, none of that matters. What matters is this."
Sang Ying looked at the girl nailed to the tree. Her ethereal body wanted to escape but was unable to move because of the talisman.
His pale face was filled with resentment and malice as he stared at them, a stark contrast to the timid and submissive demeanor he had shown when Sang Ying first met him.
She sneered, her tone sarcastic: "I misjudged you; you two really are a couple in love."
She had just tried to manipulate emotions, and Sang Ying thought for a moment: "You are this tree of destiny... no, that's not right."
She took down several wish plaques from the tree of destiny, but they weren't sincere requests; instead—
[I hope Xiaoyu will accept my marriage proposal. That way, I can use her family's power to rise to prominence. Once I've taken control of the family business, I'll dump her. With her spoiled princess attitude, what man in the world could stand her?]
[I wish to be forever bound to A-Wu, growing old together in love. Although he's as stupid as a pig, his family is quite wealthy. As long as I'm with this silly boy, I'll never have to worry about food or clothing again.]
[I will only love Junior Sister Yueyue in this life, and I will marry her when I grow up. But today, my junior sister, who is my classmate, gave me a sachet. She is more learned, prettier, and smarter than Junior Sister Yueyue...]
The normal fortune slip was followed by this message in black and red, which resembled the thoughts in the heart of the person making the wish, revealing the dark side of their inner self.
Sang Ying nodded thoughtfully: "I understand, you're a tree that can't stand seeing others being affectionate."
The girl was taken aback, then scoffed, "Love? You call this love?"
Xu Baishen frowned as he looked at the wishing plaques. The hearts of these wishers were so dark, treating emotions as bargaining chips, casually betraying others' feelings, and changing their minds.
Sang Ying shook the wishing plaque. "Based on this? How do I know you didn't manipulate other people's feelings?"
Xu Bai was taken aback. It was true; this tree spirit possessed the ability to influence emotions. He then felt a pang of shame; he had actually lost his judgment and his first reaction was to believe it.
Sang Ying leaned closer to the girl and said thoughtfully, "Oh, you weren't deceived in your feelings, and you couldn't accept the truth, so you gradually became psychologically twisted and became a pervert who can't stand seeing others do well?"
The girl's face contorted in anger as she glared at her, yelling, "What nonsense are you spouting!"
Xu Baishen: "...Senior Sister Sang, it seems you're pretty close to the truth."
Sang Ying straightened up: "I sympathize with you for being deceived in your feelings, but that is no excuse for you to hurt others."
She turned to the quiet young man in white beside her: "Xie Lingyu, the tree demon has been found too, what's next..."
Suddenly, a tree root appeared behind the young man, bursting out of the ground. Sang Ying changed the subject, reminding him, "—Behind you!"
The young man's brows furrowed. With his sword no longer in his hand, he used magic to sever the tree root. The root scattered with a roar, raising a cloud of dust that blotted out the sky.
He suddenly realized the reason for this move, and his first reaction was to reach out to grab the girl next to him, but he missed, and his fingertips only brushed against her hair.
A thin tree root at the girl's feet first rolled her up, the dust settled, and a large hole appeared in the center of the tree, from which a bright white light shone.
The pale-faced girl had the sword piercing her chest pulled out by a tree root. She sneered, her face mocking.
"What a sincere sentiment! I'd like to see just how much of your affection is genuine!"
With those words left unsaid, she grabbed Sang Ying and disappeared into the white hole.
...
Sang Ying felt a wave of dizziness and nausea. She suddenly opened her eyes and found that her surroundings had changed abruptly. It was no longer the forbidden area of Yaochi Secret Realm, but a... ancient town?
A small bridge spans a flowing stream, with a blue stone bridge extending into the distance. Boatmen slowly navigate their awning boats beneath the bridge, and wisps of smoke rise from distant houses, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere.
Sang Ying turned her head and saw a tree covered with red ropes and wishing plaques growing on the riverbank. She recognized it at a glance as the one in the restricted area, only shorter and younger.
The pale-faced girl leaned against a tree, clutching her chest and panting, looking very weak.
Seeing Sang Ying looking over, she seemed to have the ability to read minds and snorted coldly: "Don't even think about attacking me with your pathetic skills. Even if I am now severely weakened, I can easily crush a thousand of you."
Sang Ying: "..."
Does she need to be in the thousands to have any fighting power?
However, judging from her appearance, she did not intend to attack her. Sang Ying recalled the words she said before being pulled into the white hole. It seemed that her purpose was to test their relationship.
Sang Ying's head was spinning so badly that she could no longer stand. She looked around and saw a small tree about half her height not far from the Thousand-Turned-Fate Tree. She walked over and sat down against the tree.
After a moment, she asked, "Is this where you used to live?"
Is this from your memory?
"What do you want from me?"
The girl closed her eyes, resting, and ignored her.
Sang Ying rested her chin on her hand and looked at her. After a while, she suddenly called out, "Yingying?"
The girl suddenly opened her eyes, her face showing a look of utter disbelief, and frowned: "How did you know?"
Sang Ying pointed behind her: "I saw it carved on the tree."
The girl paused for a moment, then turned to look at the words carved on the tree trunk. Her expression was a mixture of emotions, which was overwhelmed by anger and disgust a few seconds later. She raised her hand and cut off a piece of bark.
She sat back down, leaned against the tree stump, and closed her eyes.
Sang Ying blinked, drawing out the last syllable: "Yingying—"
The girl opened her eyes and glared at her, "Shut up, don't call me that."
Sang Ying looked innocent: "But you didn't tell me your name, so I had no choice but to call you Yingying..."
"..."
The girl was silent for a few seconds, then coldly uttered, "Qingying."
Knowing her name was the first step in building a good relationship, and Sang Ying was about to press on when Qing Ying coldly closed her eyes, shutting off her consciousness and ignoring her.
Sang Ying stayed by her side and talked for a long time, but she didn't reply to a single word.
Sang Ying was tired from talking and leaned against a small tree to rest listlessly. A passing boatman stopped with his pole and said, "Girl, are you having some trouble? I've come back and forth twice, and I've seen you just sitting here talking to the tree."
Sang Ying was taken aback. She thought this was Qing Ying's memory, but she didn't expect that the person in it would actually greet her.
But talking to a tree... Sang Ying looked at Qing Ying leaning against the tree, wondering if passersby couldn't see her?
Sang Ying thought for a moment and asked, "I came here for sightseeing, but I got separated from my companions on a whim. Brother, what place is this?"
“Look at the girl’s clothes, she looks like she’s from out of town. This is Yaoshui Town, the scenery is beautiful. Many people come here to visit and pray to the marriage tree for a fortune. Look, that ancient tree behind the girl is very old, it’s older than my great-great-great-grandfather.”
Yaoshui Town...?
Sang Ying felt that the name sounded familiar. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that Yaochi's predecessor seemed to be Yaoshui Town.
Six hundred years ago, the cultivation world was in chaos. People fought for territory everywhere, claiming mountains as their own, and brawling over places with abundant spiritual energy for cultivation. Some cultivators discovered this place, blessed with spiritual energy, and after a struggle, it was eventually occupied by one force. Yaoshui Town was renamed Yaochi.
After six hundred years of development, Yaochi's sphere of influence has gradually expanded, and it is now far more than just a small town.
Sang Ying hesitated for a moment, "What year is it now?"
The boatman's answer confirmed her words.
This is Yaoshui Town, which dates back more than a thousand years. It was located in the human world and had not yet been occupied by cultivators from the cultivation world. The town's residents lived a simple and honest life.
After bidding farewell to the kind boatman, Sang Ying frowned and looked at Qing Ying under the tree: "Why did you bring me here a thousand years ago?"
"Aren't you two deeply in love?"
Qingying opened her eyes casually, a hint of mockery in them: "Let me see how long you can last."
Sang Ying was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
“My tree roots cling to time. Anyone who enters the tree will fall into a chaotic timeline and return to the worlds of the myriad timelines I have experienced, such as you now.”
"And there are only two ways to rescue you."
She leaned against the tree, speaking slowly and deliberately: "First, sever all my roots. As long as you can sever the roots in all my timelines at the same time, you can break it."
"However, even the great masters of the Mahayana stage in Yaochi back then couldn't do it. They could only flee in disgrace and seal off the entire Yaoshui Town as a forbidden zone. Your little lover is only at the Nascent Soul stage, so don't even think about it."
Sang Ying pursed her lips; so this was the reason why Yaochi had set up a forbidden zone.
"The second way is to search slowly."
Qingying suddenly smiled as she thought of this, a smile that seemed to have anticipated something, tinged with smugness.
“I have lived for tens of thousands of years. All he needs to do is find the timeline that our tree root clings to in this chaotic timeline of tens of thousands of years, and then search all over the vast cultivation world to find you.”
"So, isn't this method simple?"
Sang Ying's eyes widened: "Ten thousand years, how many timelines would that create?"
Qingying actually thought about it for a moment: "I can't count them all. Every day is a new timeline. There were fewer roots in the early days, let's say ten a day. But there were more and more later on. Do you remember how many hairs you grow each day?"
Sang Ying quickly calculated that, assuming ten timelines per day, there would be at least 36 million timelines over 10,000 years. Not to mention that there were even more and more timelines later on, which would amount to at least hundreds of millions.
Sang Ying looked up: "Are the worlds in every timeline the same?"
Qingying yawned: "Of course, the only difference between all the timelines and this one is that you're missing."
"Alright, I'm going to sleep now. You can wait here."
After saying that, she got up and walked into the tree, disappearing from sight, leaving only the Thousand-Turned-Fate Tree swaying its branches and leaves in the wind.
Sang Ying called out a few more times, but there was no response.
She lowered her eyes and picked up the pendant on her collarbone. The protective scale that used to be able to sense her heartbeat had become completely undetectable when she was brought into this world.
The Heart-Protecting Scales were dull and lifeless, now resembling an inanimate object, devoid of even a trace of spiritual energy.
It was getting dark, and Sang Ying was hungry and tired, so she got up and walked onto the bluestone bridge towards the town.
The currency here is not spirit stones, but gold, silver and copper. Fortunately, Sang Ying had a lot of gold and silver items with her, which she converted into silver coins and rented a room in a house with the locals. She also bought some food.
The moonlight was bright, but the courtyard was desolate.
Sang Ying leaned against the window, gazing at the moon from a thousand years ago, and wondered, "Where is Xie Lingyu now? Is he also looking up at the moon?"
Thinking of Qingying's words, she felt a pang of heartache again. It was clear that she hadn't taken her seriously before telling her everything.
Indeed, there was nothing she could do but wait.
...Can Xie Lingyu really find her across so many timelines?
Sang Ying shook her head violently.
Xie Lingyu always manages to find her when she sneaks down the mountain, so this time will definitely be no problem either!
I'll go look for Qingying again tomorrow.
The next day, Sang Ying came to the Tree of Fate again, but no matter what she said, Qing Ying did not respond.
She tried to stick the talisman on the tree, but the talisman just floated down and didn't have any spiritual power. The tree was just like any other ordinary tree that you could see anywhere.
Until late at night, Sang Ying could only return to the house, sleep for a while, and then go to the tree of fate on the riverbank the next day.
Day after day, a month passed quickly, and Sang Ying had lived in Yaoshui Town for a month.
The Tree of Fate gave her no response whatsoever.
The townspeople all knew her; they knew she went to the tree of fate every day and stayed there all day. They jokingly called her the devoted woman in the play waiting for her husband to come home.
Now, as soon as Sang Ying goes out, the residents greet her warmly: "Good morning, little Sang, are you waiting for your husband again?"
Sang Ying was a little embarrassed, her ears turning red, but she still went to wait under the tree every day.
Because there's nothing she can do but wait.
...
The first year passed just like that. Sang Ying had become familiar with the townspeople, and even the children knew her. They always liked to come over and play with her, and pestered her to read them storybooks.
Sang Ying bought a small house in town and moved in by herself.
As the year draws to a close and the Lunar New Year approaches, the town is bustling with activity. Residents hang wish plaques of all sizes on the "Wish Tree" to make their wishes for the new year.
Sang Ying gazed at the scene from across the riverbank, her face resting on her hands, her hair fluttering in the wind, her eyes sparkling in the lamplight.
So this is what it was like to celebrate the New Year more than a thousand years ago; they would even set off lanterns.
When she got home, she wanted Xie Lingyu to make her the most beautiful lantern!
...
At the end of the third year, Sang Ying was twenty-one years old.
Sang Ying spent the New Year alone in her house.
Outside the window, it was bustling with activity. She sat quietly by the window, watching the lights reflected in the mirror, when she suddenly noticed a strand of white hair at the end of her head.
In Qingying's past timeline, time was flowing, which meant that she would grow old over time.
She was already frail and usually relied on expensive elixirs and herbal decoctions to nourish herself. Now that she had stopped for three years, her body began to age rapidly.
Sang Ying realized something.
If she doesn't live long enough, she won't be able to wait for Xie Lingyu to come and get her.
That night, Sang Ying sat by the window, looking at the moon for a long time in frustration. The next morning, she got up, picked up the cultivation book she had always hated, and practiced her moves against the wooden stake.
Exhausted to the point of collapse at night, I sprawled out in my doghouse like a rock-hard salted fish.
That wretched Xie Lingyu, why is she so slow? Her hands are all red from typing!
...
At the end of the fifth year, Sang Ying was twenty-three years old.
It's different from previous years.
That year, Sang Ying was invited by her neighbors to their homes to celebrate the New Year, which was a lively and joyous occasion.
After dinner, while watching the lanterns by the riverbank, a child blinked his eyes, leaned on her lap, and asked, "Sister, who is the person you're waiting for?"
Sang Ying opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly froze.
Who is she waiting for?
Why is my memory so hazy?
The child suddenly looked behind her and pointed, "Sister, this brother in white has been watching you. Is he here to see you?"
Sang Ying's heart skipped a beat, and she turned around abruptly.
After seeing the person behind him clearly, his wildly beating heart calmed down.
The gentle-faced young man looked at her for a long time before softly calling out, "Senior Sister Sang, it's been a long time."
...
...
After entering the White Cave, Xie Lingyu discovered that she had arrived in a world three thousand years ago.
He searched the entire world for a month, and after confirming that Sang Ying was not in this world, he broke the world and came to another place.
The black tree roots, like a dense spider web, lead in different directions, to different worlds of time, with no end in sight.
Xie Lingyu walked through this pure white world, carefully sheathing her sword.
Each of these tree roots could be part of Sang Ying's timeline; if they are broken, she will never be found again.
At the same time, he also realized something.
Time flows here, and if he doesn't find Sang Ying quickly in these worlds...
—And then I could never find her again.
...
At the end of the eighth year, Sang Ying was twenty-six years old.
Perhaps Qingying didn't care at all, or perhaps it was intentional, but she put Xu Baishen and her in the same timeline.
Xu Baishen spent five years finding her, and after learning about the situation from Sang Ying, he calmed down.
He said that he was unable to break the laws of time, and that they could only wait for outsiders to come and save them.
He said that his disappearance would be investigated by the Wuwen Sect, it was only a matter of time, and she didn't need to worry too much.
Sang Ying: ?
After hearing this, Sang Ying expressionlessly kicked the person out of the house.
Those despicable Celestial Dragons! So what if they're talented and cultivate quickly?!
Have they ever considered the feelings of us mere mortals?
When Xie Lingyu arrives, she'll definitely make him give Xu Baishen a good beating... No, Xie Lingyu too, this lecherous dragon cultivates even faster than Xu Baishen.
Sang Ying gritted her teeth, silently took out a black iron washboard, and polished it until it shone brightly.
Before Xu Baishen left, he saw a streak of white hair at the end of her hair and was suddenly stunned.
He stayed with Sang Ying in Yaoshui Town for three years, during which time he traveled around the chaotic world in search of rare and precious medicines to prolong her life.
...
Countless worlds.
Every world is exactly the same.
One second you leave one world, the next you see the same environment, the same tree, the same door.
It creates a disorienting feeling, making you wonder if you've been here before, or if you've just arrived, or if you've already explored the area.
Xie Lingyu coldly severed the tree roots she had already searched and walked towards another world.
As the sun rises, its rays fall upon the bluestone bridge.
Xie Lingyu walked on it and saw the "Fate Tree" on the riverbank, covered with wish plaques, the red ropes swaying in the wind.
He suddenly rubbed his forehead, his brows furrowed.
What is he doing here?
It seems they are... looking for someone.
Who is it?
——
At the end of the seventeenth year, Sang Ying was thirty-five years old.
Her memory was getting worse and worse; she couldn't remember his appearance, his voice, or even... his name.
She locked herself in her room and wrote his name over and over again until her hand trembled and she could no longer hold the pen.
Until Xu Baishen snatched the pen from her hand, his eyes full of pity, "Sang Ying, don't do this."
"Don't hurt yourself like this."
He knelt down and took her hand. "It's been more than ten years. Maybe he gave up looking for you a long time ago. Forgetting him isn't such a bad thing."
Sang Ying: "What do you know? According to the common sense of a vicious villain, bad women are waiting to see a good show. If he gives up looking for me, she will definitely come to mock me first."
Xu Bai took a deep breath.
“Sang Ying, your time is running out. Instead of waiting for a lover like him, you should look at the people around you. I will take care of you.”
"What lover? We have a marriage certificate, okay?"
Sang Ying took out the gold-embossed marriage certificate and patted it: "It's only natural for couples to play a little game of romance from time to time."
Xu Baishen was stunned, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.
A long silence followed.
He said softly, "Then don't treat yourself like this. Xie Lingyu will feel bad if he sees you like this."
"..."
The person in sight had half-gray hair and sat amidst a pile of papers filled with the three characters "Xie Lingyu" scattered throughout the room. She slowly raised her head, her expression blank.
"Who is Xie Lingyu?"
...
Qingying, nestled among the trees, saw everything.
When she set up this problem, she never thought it could be solved. She just wanted Sang Ying to face reality and agree with her idea that feelings are all fake. As long as there are interests or difficulties, even the most sincere feelings will crumble.
But she never expected that this unruly girl would actually wait day after day for a vague and unreal hope.
She looked at another person.
In order not to forget her, whenever he forgot her, he would pluck out a dragon scale to remember her name with pain, so that it would be etched into his heart.
I don't know how long I can hold on.
Qingying sat by the tree stump, picked up the piece of bark that had been cut off, and looked quietly at the two characters "Yingying" carved on it.
Does true love truly exist in this world?
...
The world changes like the shifting sands of time.
But a century later, Yaoshui Town seems to have remained unchanged.
Blue stone bridge, flowing water and houses.
The tree on the riverbank, symbolizing fate, is lush and green. Red ropes and wish plaques sway gently in the wind, making a crisp tinkling sound as they collide.
A light drizzle made everything in sight blurry and indistinct.
Xie Lingyu looked up. On the stone bridge he had crossed countless times, this time, there was another figure.
The person stood quietly by the bridge, holding a bamboo paper umbrella, which mostly obscured their figure. Children, laughing and playing, ran quickly past her.
He walked over slowly, his steps very light.
He stopped a step away from her.
The person seemed to sense something, and slowly turned around, moving the umbrella aside to reveal a patch of white.
Although she wore her hair in a girl's bun, her long hair was entirely silver.
Also revealed was an aged face, with gentle features, and traces of her youthful beauty still faintly visible.
The elderly woman looked at him with a hint of doubt in her eyes.
"Who are you?"
"..."
Xie Lingyu simply watched her quietly, without moving.
Stared intently into those dark eyes, the old woman blinked slightly and continued, "You look somewhat familiar, young master. Have I seen you somewhere before?"
As the rain intensified, the two stood on the bluestone bridge.
Everything around them became blurry, and in this small space, it seemed as if only the two of them remained.
"Young master, why are you staring at me?"
After staring at each other for a long time, the old woman finally looked away first, turned the umbrella handle around, and asked.
There was no reply for a long time.
She slowly shifted her gaze back, only to find him still looking at her, his dark eyes deep and unreadable through the rain.
After waiting a while longer, she couldn't help but raise her hand and wave it in front of his eyes, "Are you alright?"
Still no response.
Sang Ying finally couldn't hold back any longer. She removed the transformation talisman, reverting to her girlish appearance, and cupped his face in her hands. "Xie Lingyu, you weren't scared silly by me, were you?"
"You've become even worse than before; you can't even see through my illusion talisman—"
My wrist was grabbed and pulled hard.
Sang Ying was caught off guard and fell into his arms, momentarily stunned.
The paper umbrella in her hand fell onto the bridge, splashing water, and the young man's figure, tightly embracing her, was reflected in the pond.
The pendant on her collarbone was almost burning hot, and her heart was pounding as they pressed together.
The young man buried his head on her shoulder, and Sang Ying felt something warm fall onto her neck along with the cool rain.
As if she had lost something and then regained it, his arms tightened around her, stubbornly refusing to loosen them even a little, making it almost impossible for Sang Ying to breathe.
The next moment, I heard a very soft sound next to my ear.
"Found you, junior sister."
————————
Little Green Dragon has regained his memories and remembers his little sister, but he's going to develop separation anxiety and will be even more clingy to his wife from now on [poor thing].
Thanks to "Butt Is Very Curvy" and "Twenty-Eight Dates" for the landmines [cat paw emoji]
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