I took several deep breaths and shook my head: “No. The High God gave me a pill before coming. After taking it, spiritual energy circulates in my body. It’s probably because of that.”
Mu Chuan smiled, then pondered: “Seems I’ll have a good doctor soon.”
I laughed with him, but in my mind flashed the image of that beautiful woman: “What about the peony?”
He paused for a moment: “We’ll talk about it later.”
Mu Yin ultimately let Qing Yuan follow me to the Divine Realm, but he didn’t appear, instead sending Huahua to relay a message that if I want to retrieve Ya Ya, I should find him in the Ghost Realm after the unsealing.
I gave a bitter smile, wondering if he was afraid I would never return.
Among everyone present, Huahua was the most excited. She thought Qing Yuan was going to the Divine Realm to play and kept insisting on going too.
With Qing Yuan’s face still tense and not nodding, Huahua continued chattering while holding his hand. In contrast, Mu Chuan and I, walking behind, were much more silent.
With my current state of mind, I didn’t have much expectation about recovering my memories or cultivation. I sighed silently and spoke first: “When you saw me in the forest back then, and saw the ambush, did I say anything?”
He frowned and asked, “Why are you bringing this up again?”
I pursed my lips and said, “Because if someone really arranged for me to go to the forest and then sent a message to you saying I was waiting there, that person must be someone I know, which is why I went there without suspicion.”
“Don’t you want to know who that person was?” Mu Chuan said coldly. “If such a person truly harmed you, and you’re still thinking about them, I can’t even be bothered to scold you.”
I sighed, “I’ve been living well for a thousand years, which means that person didn’t truly want to take my life; perhaps they were just momentarily confused.”
Mu Chuan spoke in a low voice, “Since you say so, I can tell you that you must be very familiar with that person.”
I was stunned: “Why?”
“Because when the ambush appeared, I harshly questioned you, but your expression that day was not just shocked but also sorrowful. You didn’t speak, didn’t explain, and didn’t try to escape.”
After he finished speaking, I understood. If it were just an ordinary person delivering a message, I would have immediately explained that I knew nothing.
But my silence meant I never thought that person would harm me, and I didn’t want to argue because doing so would likely result in that person’s death. The only reason was that I knew this person, and we were close.
As the Medicine Immortal frequently traveled between Qiong Yu Palace and Yao Pool, he knew thousands of divine lords, many of whom he was quite close to. However, after losing my memory and living in a remote area, interactions became less frequent, and relationships grew distant.
So even though Mu Chuan said this, I couldn’t guess who it might be or what their motivation was.
“Eliminating potential hidden dangers isn’t a good thing?” Mu Chuan smiled. “I originally didn’t care whether you could retrieve your soul, but now I do.”
I was caught between laughing and not laughing, so I decided not to say anything.
The Gate of Afterlife was near, with its hundred-meter door reaching into clouds so dark they seemed endless. The depth of the Ghost Realm was already apparent upon entering.
Just before stepping out the door, my hand was suddenly pulled. I stopped and looked back. His eyes were still somewhat cold, his voice calm: “I’ll wait for you.”
My originally calm heart suddenly burst with warmth, rushing to my nose and making me feel a surge of sourness. I nodded: “Okay.”
As the warmth left my hand, a sense of loss swept over me. I suddenly felt afraid. Even though he said failure of the unsealing wouldn’t matter, I still felt uneasy.
Once you gain something, you start to fear losing it.
“I…” before I could finish, Huahua had already rushed over.
“Sister, Flower wants to go play in the Divine Realm, to find Dust-ge and Jade-jie.”
I held back my words, turned to Huahua, and smiled: “They’re in Yao Pool, which is very far from where I live. Shall I take you there next time?”
Huahua didn’t pester me and nodded: “Okay.”
Summoning a cloud, I didn’t look back at Mu Chuan, not knowing what gaze he might be leaving behind. I sighed, wrapped my clothes tightly, looked at Qing Yuan, and stammered: “Can I tell you something?”
I coughed twice: “Listen. If something happens to me this time, you must take care of Huahua. Don’t scold her, don’t bully her, don’t abandon her. Try to find her playmates, otherwise when you’re busy and leave her alone, she’ll just sit in the peach garden in a daze again. And…”
I continued regardless of whether he was listening. When I finally stopped, wondering what else to say, he finally spoke: “It’s just unsealing a soul. What could go wrong?”
“I said ‘if’,” I said, though in my heart I felt helpless. I looked at the azure sky and began humming a song.
If my suspicions were correct, this unsealing would not go smoothly. If I were the mastermind and knew I was about to be exposed, I would definitely try to disrupt things and prevent the other party from recovering their memories.
What methods might be used, I couldn’t know. Perhaps nothing would happen, perhaps a minor injury, or perhaps… death.
The souls of mortals are easy to return, but immortals, having cultivated for thousands or tens of thousands of years, have more determined and persistent wills. Therefore, their souls are not easily scattered, and once scattered, they are not easily reunited.
I had already relaxed, thinking that the worst that could happen was death, but seeing the solemn expressions on the faces of familiar people, I knew I had to become serious or I’d seem heartless. Counting them, including the True Woman, there were ten divine lords.
Soul-Hooking Lord, A Gong, Kong Kong, Jianghu, Mansion-Battling Lord, Transmigration Lord, Mission Lord, Plague Lord, and my most beloved Uncle Yuanbao, the Wealth Lord.
Walking up to the divine altar in front of them, I almost couldn’t walk properly, stumbling even more than when receiving the annual divine realm award. Seeing their faces about to crack from tension, I swallowed and said, “Can’t you all relax? I’m about to die from nervousness.”
Kong Kong immediately rolled her eyes, and Transmigration Lord twitched his mouth: “Rebirth Lord, have some conscience.”
Plague Lord chuckled, “Grand Priestess… isn’t it said… that her heart… has a hole…”
Mission Lord said sternly, “After healing, remember to come to me to receive a hundred missions.”
I wailed, snatching Uncle Yuanbao’s treasure and rubbing it vigorously. He pulled the treasure from my hand like pulling a radish, with teary eyes: “Rebirth, what you need now is luck, not wealth. Give me back the treasure.”
“No, no. If my soul scatters, I hope I can bring wealth into the reincarnation path when I’m reborn.”
Mansion-Battling Lord said: “It won’t happen, Rebirth.”
Jianghu patted my shoulder: “Young one, the future is beautiful. Don’t be so dejected.”
A Gong also smiled softly: “Rebirth, I’ve prepared lots of delicious food. You must try your best to pull through.”
I returned the treasure to Uncle Wealth and looked at Soul-Hooking Lord, seeing his calm gaze still holding that thousand-year-old desolate color. I averted my eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “I, Rebirth Lord, will return safely!”
The True Woman paused briefly before speaking to everyone: “As previously discussed, stand firm, and then begin.” She turned to Qing Yuan, “Please have the Grand Priestess stand in the southeast, where the souls will be released.”
Qing Yuan moved to stand in the southeast position of the divine altar.
