Pain that pierced deep into the bone marrow.
Hua Qian Gu looked down, gazing at the Xuanyuan Sword piercing her chest, its blade still dripping with her blood. Bai Zi Hua stood before her, his white robes as pure as snow, his face stern, his eyes devoid of any ripple.
"Master..." she called out to him softly, her voice like a candle flame in the wind, about to extinguish at any moment.
Bai Zi Hua did not respond. His hand held the sword hilt steadily, as if he were piercing not a person's heart, but a stone.
Hua Qian Gu suddenly smiled.
The man she had loved her entire previous life was now personally sending her on her way. How ironic.
Her gaze swept past Bai Zi Hua's shoulder, looking into the distance—Sha Qian Mo was rushing over like a madman, his hair disheveled, tears streaming down his face, shouting "Xiao Gu, Xiao Gu." It was the first time she had ever seen the Demon King lose his composure.
Tang Bao was also crying, her small body shielding her in front, trying to block the sword for her. But what use was that? Tang Bao was so small, she couldn't even reach the sword.
"Immortal and unkillable, unhurt and undying."
Hua Qian Gu used her last bit of strength to utter these eight words. This was her curse, and her farewell.
Then, the world plunged into darkness.
"Ah—"
Hua Qian Gu's eyes snapped open, and she gasped for air.
What greeted her eyes was a dilapidated thatched hut. Farming tools hung on the walls, and a bowl of cold congee sat on the table. Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window, falling onto the back of her hand—that hand was perfectly intact, no blood, no wounds.
She was stunned.
This was... Maoshan.
The place where she had grown up.
Hua Qian Gu abruptly sat up and touched her chest. There was no wound, no blood, and her heart was beating strongly and rapidly. She touched her face again—her face was covered in tear tracks, but her skin was smooth, with no trace of age.
"I'm back?" she murmured to herself, her voice hoarse.
Memories surged like a tide. She looked down at her hands—the hands of a seventeen-year-old, with distinct joints and calluses on her fingertips from farm work.
Seventeen years old.
The year before the Gathering of Immortals Banquet.
She had been reborn.
Hua Qian Gu trembled all over as she climbed out of bed, her bare feet stepping onto the cold ground. She stumbled to the doorway and pushed the door open—
In the courtyard, a middle-aged man was chopping firewood.
Sunlight fell on his graying hair. His back was slightly hunched, but his movements were steady. The moment Hua Qian Gu saw him, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Father..."
In her previous life, she had lost her mother at seven and her father at seventeen. After her father's death, she went to Chang Liu alone, met Bai Zi Hua, and began that fated, inescapable relationship.
But now, her father was alive. He stood before her, chopping wood and humming a tune.
"Xiao Gu, you're awake?" Father Hua looked up at her and said with a smile, "The congee is on the table, drink it while it's hot."
Hua Qian Gu rushed over, hugged him tightly from behind, buried her face in his rough clothes, and cried like a child.
Father Hua was startled: "What's wrong? Had a nightmare?"
"Yes, a nightmare," Hua Qian Gu said muffledly. "A very scary nightmare."
In the dream, she became an immortal, a Demon God, a harbinger of disaster scorned by everyone. In the dream, the one she loved pierced her heart with a sword. In the dream, she lost everyone.
But now, the dream was over.
Her father was still here.
Everything could still be changed.
Hua Qian Gu spent the entire day confirming her current situation.
She had indeed been reborn, at seventeen, before all the tragedies had occurred. Her Godhead was still there, but sealed, requiring gradual awakening. Tang Bao's egg was still in her embrace, warm, emitting a faint light, not yet hatched.
Most importantly—her memories from her previous life were all intact.
She knew who was good to her and who wanted to harm her. She knew which path led to the abyss and which was the path to life. She knew when and where Bai Zi Hua would appear, and what Ni Mantian would do next.
This was her golden finger.
And it was her bargaining chip for a comeback.
Hua Qian Gu sat in the courtyard, holding Tang Bao's egg, and closed her eyes, pulling out the people from her previous life one by one from her memories.
Ni Mantian, the woman who had ruined her appearance with the Pool of Despair Water and subjected her to the torment of the Soul Severing Nail in her previous life.
Mo Yan, the Chang Liu World Honored One who had repeatedly tried to kill her in her previous life.
And Bai Zi Hua.
Hua Qian Gu's fingers tightened, her knuckles turning white.
In her previous life, she had begged him, loved him, and waited for him for so many years, only to be met with the Xuanyuan Sword piercing her heart. Did she hate him? She thought she did. But at this moment, thinking of his face, what filled her heart more was exhaustion.
She didn't want to hate anymore.
Hating someone was too tiring.
She just wanted to live well, protect those she needed to protect, and then—make those who had harmed her in her previous life pay the price.
"Huh?"
Hua Qian Gu suddenly opened her eyes and looked towards the courtyard gate.
A young girl stood there, wearing a gorgeous dress, her smile bright, waving at her.
"Hello, I'm Ni Mantian. I'm just passing by and would like a cup of water."
Hua Qian Gu's pupils contracted.
Ni Mantian.
She's here already?
She looked into Ni Mantian's eyes—those eyes were smiling, but the smile didn't reach their depths. Moreover, Hua Qian Gu saw something else.
Hatred.
Bone-chilling, insane hatred.
That wasn't the look of someone meeting for the first time.
Hua Qian Gu's heart sank abruptly.
Ni Mantian had also been reborn.
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