When Lian Yin heard Lu Ying’s wish clearly, she froze in disbelief.
He had deceived her too many times.
He always went back on his word.
She blinked, her vision clearing slightly. “Then disappear now and let me leave.”
The realm spirit sighed. “Don’t be so hasty. Yinyin, what’s the point of leaving? Do you really like life outside? Being alone will be very lonely, and you’re easily deceived… what would you even do out there?”
Lian Yin fell silent. As expected, he was lying to her again.
The realm spirit smiled helplessly. “Don’t look at me like I’ve tricked you. If you can give me a clear answer, I’ll let you leave. But I am also a part of him, so of course I will try to persuade you to stay.”
His fingers gently wiped the tears from her face, his gaze carrying a trace of concern. “There are countless bad people outside. The Xie family is searching for a divine artifact. There is none here, but they won’t believe that. They’ll only suspect that someone has already taken it.”
“If everyone from the Xie family dies here and you walk out alive, or if they don’t die but still fail to find anything… Yinyin, how will you deal with that once you leave? This isn’t something that can be resolved just because you don’t have the artifact.”
Lian Yin knew the situations he described were all possible.
“You didn’t tell anyone about our relationship, which means you know it’s a secret that cannot be revealed. If they find out we are Dao companions, they won’t treat you as gently as I do…”
“They’ll torture you, search your soul, use every method possible to force out everything about me and the artifact… but you don’t even know anything. They’ll only think they haven’t searched enough. People are greedy and blind like that…”
“Yinyin, staying with me is your best choice,” he said softly, his voice almost hypnotic. “Only by staying with me can you avoid thinking about anything at all.”
That was true. Staying with him meant she wouldn’t have to think about anything.
Lian Yin looked into his eyes. “Then what do you think I should do after leaving?”
The realm spirit was caught off guard, not expecting her to throw the question back.
“I only have reasons to leave you,” she said. “I don’t want to stay with you anymore. We’ve been together long enough. I’m tired of this unchanging life, repeating the same things and the same conversations every day… I hate you. Even talking to you hurts. I keep forcing myself into a dead end, blaming everything on you, and gradually losing myself at your side…”
In the end, she had become nothing more than a machine that hated him.
As if only by continuing to hate him could she remain correct.
She could not like him, could not forget the hatred between them, could not forgive him for manipulating her life…
She did not dare to meet new people, make friends, or grow close to anyone. Everyone would be killed by him.
Lian Yin felt exhausted. “I don’t know what I’ll do after leaving you, but I know I must leave.”
They had not spoken properly like this in a long time.
“I can’t give you an answer,” the realm spirit said, lowering his eyes. “Return to the past and rest for a while. Perhaps you’ll find your answer there.”
“The past…” Lian Yin murmured, as her surroundings slowly dissolved into a gentle light.
“Yes. And remember… don’t break character.”
The light faded.
Before her appeared a book… The Heavenly Secret Manual.
Lian Yin lowered her head and looked at its contents. Every word was neat and clear, yet when put together, they made no sense.
“Why aren’t you moving?” a calm voice asked above her. “Is there something you don’t understand?”
Lian Yin raised her head and met a pair of clear, beautiful eyes. A face long blurred by time suddenly appeared before her, sharper than she remembered.
Her eyes reddened instantly. “Mother…”
Lian Dongyi froze for a moment, unsure why her daughter had suddenly burst into tears. Has her tone just now been too harsh? Or was it because she told her to spend less time with Lu Ying?
She quietly sent a message to Chu Xuan. Comforting their daughter had always been his job.
Although their daughter was usually obedient and rarely needed comforting, the rare times she cried had to be taken seriously.
Chu Xuan, who had been refining artifacts, rushed back immediately upon hearing that their usually well-behaved daughter had suddenly started crying.
Yet no matter how they asked, Lian Yin only shook her head.
The three of them sat there in silence for a while until Lian Yin finally stopped crying, unsure how to explain.
The realm spirit had said not to break character. Did that mean if she said something that did not belong to this time, everything would disappear?
Lian Dongyi had just performed a quick calculation and concluded that her daughter was mentally burdened and exhausted, and needed rest.
She signaled Chu Xuan to do something.
He stepped forward and picked Lian Yin up. “Haha, did studying tire you out today? Let me take you back to rest. It’s fine if you can’t learn it, we can try again next time!”
Lian Yin nodded along, thinking that everything would return to normal tomorrow.
On the way back, Chu Xuan spoke to her.
“What your mother meant earlier about spending less time with Lu Ying was that she wants you to have your own judgment, not just follow that troublesome boy around. But at the same time, you don’t have to listen to everything your mother says either. I’m only telling you this secretly, don’t let her know. What matters most is that our Yinyin makes her own decisions.”
Lian Yin was carried back to her room.
She lay on the bed, closing and opening her eyes several times, but time did not skip forward like in previous illusions.
Memories began surfacing.
At first, she had studied the path of wisdom with Lian Dongyi for three years. She had no talent for it, yet everyone believed she should inherit her mother’s path, so she struggled through it for three years before finally giving up.
She had expected her mother to be disappointed or angry, but instead, Lian Dongyi calmly told Chu Xuan to take her to choose another path.
Chu Xuan, being a master of the path of refinement, enthusiastically recommended it to her. Unable to refuse someone so passionate, especially her father, she spent another half year on something she had no interest in.
A sound suddenly came from the window.
Before she could investigate, it was pushed open from outside. A small figure climbed in and closed it behind him.
A gust of cool wind lifted her hair.
Lian Yin walked over. “Lu Ying, don’t come to see me anymore.”
As the boy froze, she pushed him toward the door.
He stumbled back a couple of steps and turned. “Why?”
Because I hate you.
“Mother doesn’t want me to play with you,” Lian Yin said.
The boy pressed his lips together, staring at her silently, his large eyes blinking like a wronged puppy.
Lian Yin’s heart was hard as stone. When pushing didn’t work, she pulled him instead. “Just go. Don’t let my mother see us together again.”
“But weren’t you looking forward to the night market tonight? I’ve been preparing for days…”
“I’m not anymore.”
She dragged him to the door, pushed it open—
And saw two figures standing outside.
“So that’s why the barrier keeps malfunctioning,” Chu Xuan said, knocking Lu Ying on the head and pulling him out. “Sneaking into a girl’s room? No manners at all! Let’s see if I don’t beat you today!”
After pretending to beat him for a while, Chu Xuan noticed both mother and daughter watching silently and awkwardly stopped. “Actually, your mother and I were planning to take you to the night market. Since you’re both going, let’s go together!”
Since the illusion was shaped by the realm spirit from past memories, it also showed that Chu Xuan had once liked Lu Ying.
Lian Yin couldn’t understand how he had ended up repaying kindness with betrayal.
As Chu Xuan continued to ask about Lu Ying’s well-being, Lian Yin could only think that her naive father should stay far away from him.
Just as she was about to separate them, Lian Dongyi spoke.
“Earlier, when I said you should spend less time with him—”
“It wasn’t that!” Lian Yin quickly interrupted. “I just don’t want to play with him anymore!”
Children did not change so suddenly. It must have been because of her words.
Lian Dongyi assumed her daughter was unwilling to be honest. Their relationship had always been more distant compared to her closeness with Chu Xuan. Keeping her expression neutral, she said, “You can spend time with whoever you want. You don’t need to listen to me.”
Chu Xuan fell silent.
That sounded strange, even if she meant to take back what she said earlier.
Just as he was about to smooth things over, he saw Lian Yin take Lian Dongyi’s hand.
“There’s no one else. I just want to stay with Father and Mother forever.”
Chu Xuan was surprised at how suddenly eloquent his daughter had become, then fell silent again at his wife’s response.
“That’s not possible,” Lian Dongyi said, frowning. “You can’t stay with us forever. When you’re older, I’ll send you to the front mountain—”
“Hey!” Chu Xuan interrupted. “They’re selling things up ahead. Yinyin, go take a look! When you’re out, you should enjoy yourself first. We can talk when we get home!”
Lian Yin was gently pushed toward the stalls.
When she turned back, her parents stood side by side under the lantern light, their features softened by the warm glow.
The crowd flowed between them like an invisible barrier.
Lian Dongyi only watched her. Chu Xuan smiled and waved, urging her to go have fun, yet it felt like a farewell.
So far away… they already felt so far away…
Perhaps, in reality, they were already gone.
Lian Yin did not want to shop. It meant nothing to her now. She wanted to run back, but her hand was caught.
“Adults have things to talk about too. Don’t cling to your parents all the time. Yinyin, let’s go play.”
She tried to pull away, but he added, “If you run back now, the illusion will end.”
She stilled and turned to look at him.
“Is it you?” she asked.
“Yes,” the realm spirit answered.
They walked past countless stalls, but Lian Yin paid no attention. “Why will the illusion end if I go back? Didn’t you say I should rest? Why are you always here?”
He looked both hurt and innocent. “Because in your childhood, I was always there.”
Lian Yin paused.
“In reality, your parents were busy and couldn’t stay with you every day,” he continued. “The one who was always with you… was me.”
They had been close.
She had even told him about her past life, something she had told no one else.
Lian Yin did not want to continue that line of thought. “I want to stay in the illusion.”
“Wanting to remain in an illusion is only human,” he said with a smile. “But you can’t. This illusion will end tonight.”
Her heart sank.
Then what difference was there from ending it immediately?
“Go enjoy the market first,” he said. “I’ll leave later. You can still talk with them a bit when you go back.”
Was that a threat?
Lian Yin picked up a crystal bracelet and examined it. “I want this.”
He paid. Like completing a task, she bought something every few steps.
He followed behind, paying silently, until time ran out.
“They’re behind you. Go!”
She turned. Chu Xuan had already approached, smiling as he ruffled her hair. “You bought so many things. Looks like you had fun!”
She nodded guiltily.
“I had fun too,” he said.
Following his gaze, she saw a faint smile on Lian Dongyi’s face, though it quickly disappeared.
“I have matters in the sect,” Lian Dongyi said. “I’ll go back first. Your father will take you home later.”
“Do you have to go now?” Lian Yin asked, reluctant, grabbing her sleeve. “Can’t it wait?”
It was the first time she had tried to stop her.
In reality, she had even feared her mother a little.
Lian Dongyi hesitated, but ultimately left.
“She’s busy,” Chu Xuan comforted. “It’s not that she doesn’t love you. She made time today just to take you out. She’s just not good at expressing herself. Be more understanding.”
“I know she loves me,” Lian Yin said softly.
He carried her on the way back.
“Why do you want to stay with us forever?” he asked. “Do you feel we don’t spend enough time with you?”
“No,” she said after a pause. “I just don’t want to meet new people. I’m afraid I’ll meet bad ones… and bring trouble.”
When her parents were alive, everyone in the sect had seemed like her friends.
After they died, she was accused of being a harbinger of disaster, and those same people changed their faces.
She had known many people, but now, the only names she could recall were her parents and Lu Ying.
It felt like she had never moved beyond her childhood.
“Yinyin, you’re just too timid,” Chu Xuan said with a laugh. “You were born to us, so you only knew us. But for your mother and me, we didn’t know you from the start. You were someone new to us.”
“When your mother decided to have you, she made a great decision. You became the closest person in her life. She was afraid you wouldn’t like her, that she might hurt you. She’s not good at relationships, but she still chose to have you.”
“If she had been too afraid, we wouldn’t have met you.”
He patted her back gently. “Meeting new people is like refining artifacts. There’s always a risk of failure, but if you keep trying, you’ll find the right materials. I don’t want you to get hurt… but what if one day we’re suddenly gone?”
That wasn’t hypothetical.
“…Then I’ll come find you,” Lian Yin said, her eyes burning.
But she had been foolish, deceived by Lu Ying, unable even to learn how her parents had died.
“That won’t do,” Chu Xuan said. “If we disappear, it usually means something bad. If we see you come looking for us like that, we’ll be angry and ignore you.”
She wiped her tears quietly. “I don’t mean that. I mean if you suddenly disappear, I’ll go find you.”
“That’s different,” he said. “If we really vanish, your mother will worry about you. She might even stay behind out of attachment, waiting for you. If you go to find her, you must live well. Don’t make her worry again. Be more proactive with her…”
“What if a long time has passed?” Lian Yin asked. “Will you still wait for me after three hundred years?”
“Time doesn’t matter,” he said. “But you must live well. And if the place is too dangerous, don’t go…”
His voice gradually faded as the bright street turned into distant starlight.
The girl lowered her head, burying her face into his shoulder. “Okay.”
Like a passing breeze, like the murmur of an insect, everything slowly drifted away.
Lian Yin opened her eyes.
The rustling of countless paintings filled her ears.
She was still in the secret realm.