Chapter 69: A Person Dies Three Times in Their Lifetime

At the end of the corridor stood a mirror.

It was an ordinary mirror.

Physician Wu, or perhaps Wu Yun, stood before it, tracing a spell upon its surface with his hand.

Before his fingers complete the motion, Ning Mingmei said to the system, [Record this.]

The system: ?

Ning Mingmei: [Before he registers the intellectual property, let’s plagiarize it and claim the copyright first.]

…Damn it!

Cursing, the system started recording.

Once Wu Yun finished inscribing the spell, the mirror’s surface rippled like water.

Then, he reached between his temples and pulled out a transparent thread.

The thread shimmered with radiant light.

Ning Mingmei asked, “What is that?”

Wu Yun replied, “A divine thread left behind from a thousand years ago.”

Every soul contains countless divine threads. The one Gui Ruoxue had extracted from Shi Ruzhuo’s soul to refine the Seven Emotions Powder had been one such thread.

Wu Yun submerged the divine thread into the mirror. Within its depths, illusions flickered like mirages, fleeting and ethereal.

He said, “Immortal Master Ning, please extend a sliver of your consciousness into the mirror with me. I’m not great at storytelling, so I’d rather show you instead.”

Ning Mingmei said to the system, [This technique…]

The system: [There’s no risk. You can go in with him.]

Ning Mingmei said, [If this kind of technology could be used for movies and games like a simulated cultivation shooter, it would be a goldmine. As the saying goes, gamers’ money is the easiest to make.]

The system: …Damn.

Times change but Ning Mingmei’s entrepreneurial spirit remains the same, huh?

He sent a sliver of his divine sense into the mirror, while the rest of his consciousness remained aware of his surroundings.

What appeared before him was a landscape of slightly reddish soil. The sky was dark and it was a moonless night.

Wu Yun said, “This is Ye Town, thousands of years ago.”

Thousands of years ago meant the Fourth Era. The Goddess had yet to sacrifice herself, the Heavenly Gate had collapsed, and all realms were at their lowest point, with spiritual energy becoming scarce.

The wind howled, carrying the scent of blood. Ning Mingmei recalled that it was the era of inter-realm wars. Ye Town had been invaded by the demons and suffered heavy casualties. Every small village imposed curfews at night.

Yet, in the depths of the dark forest, there was someone.

A figure in sparrow-blue robes.

The young man in sparrow blue carried a bow as he walked through the deep woods. He was likely returning from a night patrol or a demon hunt because his sleeves were stained with blood, evidence of a fierce battle.

Ning Mingmei had seen Wu Yun wear similar robes before but somehow, the ones he saw in the divine thread felt much more exquisite.

He couldn’t quite say what made them seem more refined, only that they looked exceptionally beautiful.

“This divine thread belonged to a great demon,” Wu Yun explained. “So what you see is what he saw. The witch priest in his eyes looked like this.”

Following the great demon’s perspective, Ning Mingmei saw the young witch priest return to the small village of the Li tribe.

At night, the villagers dared not light fires, fearing they would attract demons. But the great demon had night vision, thus darkness did not bother him.

Only when the witch priest entered his small home did the great demon finally return to the mountains and lay down in an open clearing.

The system was bewildered. [What is he doing?]

Suddenly, Ning Mingmei understood that the great demon had been escorting the witch priest.

“This was a witch priest of the Li tribe from thousands of years ago,” Wu Yun said. “His name was Wu Yu. The great demon and Wu Yu were friends.”

Ning Mingmei asked, “How does a human become friends with a demon?”

Wu Yun replied, “I don’t know. There are many ways for people to meet. The same goes for humans and demons.”

The story flowed like a gentle stream. Ning Mingmei learned that the great demon was an enchanting fox, highly skilled in martial arts, and possessing an incredibly long lifespan.

Wu Yun continued, “This enchanting fox was once a general among his kind and was known for his ruthless nature. Later, he left the enchanting fox clan. Legend says he traveled the four seas and after settling near a small village, he was never seen causing trouble again. Some speculated that there must have been a hidden master in the village who defeated and sealed him away.”

But in reality, Wu Yu was just an ordinary human witch priest.

Wu Yu wasn’t even as talented as Wu Yun. He became a witch priest simply because he was a good person. He was someone who, despite his meager strength, was willing to sacrifice his soul to protect the village.

Witch priests never lived long. For someone like Wu Yu, who was just an average person, it was even truer. Every talisman he shot carried a fragment of his soul.

And yet, he continued to weakly, silently, and gently protect his village.

The great demon watched the frail human from the shadows.

The great demon did not know how long he had watched the fragile human from the shadows.

Such a weak human where every battle against the enemy was a near-death experience. Yet, when he returned to the village, he always wore a gentle smile.

The great demon was strong, so he had nothing to fear. But why was this human so weak, yet unafraid?

Later, whenever Wu Yu went on patrol, the great demon would watch him from the shadows. And later still, due to an incident where his presence was exposed, they met.

They walked through the spring flowers and winter snow of a secluded valley in Ye Town.

Over time, more and more demons learned that a great demon lived in that place. They abandoned Ye Town, never daring to invade again.

Wu Yu continued his patrols in the mountains and the great demon continued to follow him.

Round and round, they never left the small place. Yet, they spent countless years among the mountains.

A human and a demon, sworn enemies by nature, became each other’s secret companions in the turbulent era.

The people of the Li tribe gradually accepted the friendship between Wu Yu and the great demon. Sometimes, when the villagers made cornbread, they would have Wu Yu bring a few to the demon.

If only time could have continued like that forever.

The system: …

A touching story. But somehow, it felt like Ning Mingmei would get impatient…

Impatient?

The system: ?

Why did Ning Mingmei look so focused, even muttering under his breath while taking notes?

Wait. His reaction didn’t seem like he was moved by a beautiful love story.

What exactly was he writing down?

Ning Mingmei said, [Record Wu Yu’s birthdate and the anniversary of their first meeting. Just in case the great demon has a vault in his imperial demon tomb and uses his secret crush’s birthday as the password.]

The system: …

Damn it.

Wu Yun said, “But humans go through birth, aging, sickness, and death, especially the witch priests. By the time Wu Yu was thirty-five, he was already at the end of his life. The cost of witchcraft is irreversible.”

Ning Mingmei: “No one ever researched a way to extend life?”

Wu Yun: “There was one. This enchanting fox had a unique constitution. As a great demon, he could have forcibly transformed Wu Yu into a half-demon. But Wu Yu refused.”

That kind-hearted man, stubbornly protecting his village, refused to be changed.

Yet, without that stubbornness, how could he have dedicated his entire life to that place, never once stepping outside to see the world?

Ning Mingmei said, “If the great demon had been willing, he could have forced the transformation… He would have used his own bone marrow.” [Write that down.]

Wu Yun said, “Yes. Enchanting foxes are known for their trickery and this great demon was no exception. But in the end, he gave up. He respected Wu Yu’s decision and watched him live out an ordinary life.”

One man, living his ordinary life. One demon, watching the person he loved slowly die.

Ning Mingmei asked, “So, how does the story end?”

“The ending is tied to that bone token. You should have already found it in Qin Tian’s house,” Wu Yun said, his tone calm. “After Wu Yu died, the great demon took his body by force. He said that Wu Yu had spent his whole life protecting the village without ever seeing the outside world.

“So Wu Yu’s family asked him to scatter Wu Yu’s ashes in all the places he had longed to visit.

“As the price for taking Wu Yu’s body, he left behind the bone token. It is part of his own bone and was meant to be half of the key to his future tomb.”

Wu Yun continued, “Because of that, the bone token carries the enchanting fox’s power, capable of repelling demonic attacks.”

In other words, in times of crisis, the token could serve as a protective talisman for the Li tribe.

“I see,” Ning Mingmei said. “But in the end—”

Yes. Thousands of years later, in the chaos of the demon war, the bone token had indeed saved Wu Yun’s life.

Perhaps, according to the great demon’s vision, it was meant to be a symbol of protection, safeguarding the Li tribe for generations.

But in the end, it became the excuse that Deputy General Jiang used to accuse Wu Yun of being a demon spy.

And ultimately, it became the spark that led to the Li tribe’s massacre.

“It was this token that saved my life on the execution pyre,” Wu Yun said quietly. “My soul drifted through Ye Town until a fiend cultivator captured me and placed me into this body. Though I was later rescued and escaped that place, I am nothing more than a living corpse now. Isn’t it all ridiculous?”

During the war between demons and humans, Wu Yun, a human witch priest, had been captured by the fiend cultivator.

He must have suffered greatly.

The great demon, despite being a demon, had saved the Li tribe. The ones who should have been killed… were the humans.

The people of Ye Town were human. They should have protected each other. Instead, they demanded the Li tribe’s death.

As the illusion of the past came to an end, the memories shifted from Wu Yu’s to Wu Yun’s.

Hundreds of years later, the mountains no longer had a boy named Wu Yu. Instead, there was now a boy named Wu Yun.

Like his predecessor, he walked the forests, silently fulfilling his duties as a witch priest.

A lonely inheritance passed down generation after generation, such was the life of a Li tribe’s witch priest.

But Ning Mingmei noticed something. Every five years, Wu Yun would visit the sacred mountain, the mining site, to reinforce a seal.

Wu Yu hadn’t done that before during his time.

A seal inside the mining mountain.

Could there be something else in that mountain besides radioactive elements?

It was true that rare radioactive elements were usually scattered in small quantities and not concentrated like this. At first, Ning Mingmei thought it was simply a peculiarity of the cultivation world.

But now…

Ning Mingmei had gained a lot of new knowledge. As the illusion dispersed, he saw Wu Yun once again.

The same pale face of a young man but the body that had once belonged to him had long since turned to dust.

The one standing there now was nothing more than a wandering soul consumed by revenge.

“Listen. It’s raining,” Wu Yun said.

Outside, the rain poured down in torrents.

Ning Mingmei said, “Autumn winds and autumn rains bring endless sorrow.”

“Qin Tian hasn’t come looking for me all day, so I’ve already guessed it. You’ve found the truth, haven’t you?” Wu Yun sounded exhausted. He sat by the mirror, tilting his head to rest against the frame. “That’s right. I found a way to infiltrate Ye Province. I stayed by Ye Feng’s side, thinking day and night about how to make sure he would never die a peaceful death…”

He looked at his own hands. “But my mother once said that a witch priest’s hands and a witch priest’s power are not meant to kill.

“Ye Feng… He’s under my curse. Every time it rains, the arm he used to drag me down the mountain is wracked with unbearable pain. I just stand behind the curtain and watch him… watch him… But I never expected Qin Tian to come to me first.

“He got a prescription from a fiend cultivator. Blinded by greed, he asked me if I could make the medicine. If it worked, he promised me a ten percent share of the profits,” Wu Yun said slowly. “I told him, ‘Since it’s a medicine meant to save lives, I don’t need a share at all.’”

Ning Mingmei said, “You worked for him and didn’t even take a cut. What a kind person you are.”

The system: …

Hearing the words ‘kind person,’ Wu Yun actually laughed.

On his face, the smile was like ice melting in spring. But the system found it unbearable to look at.

Wu Yun’s definition of a ‘kind person’ was surely different from Ning Mingmei’s.

“A kind person? Yes, a kind person. I made the medicine. I didn’t do anything else. Qin Tian figured out on his own how to kill everyone in Ye Province. It didn’t matter to me. After that, whatever he did had nothing to do with me.

“I only gave Ye Feng the medicine.

“Four hundred years ago, they discarded the Li tribe like trash. The witch priest who tried to save them was burned alive at the stake.

“And now, I watch Ye Feng writhing in agony on the ground, unable to escape, unable to leave me… Ha… haha…”

How ironic.

A hundred years ago, a witch priest’s medicine saved Ye Feng and his people but it couldn’t save his own life.

A hundred years later, the witch priest still made ‘medicine.’ But thanks to human greed, that medicine became poison.

Wu Yun leaned his head against the mirror, his voice soft.

“Mother… I’m sorry… I didn’t kill anyone. Not once. I was his physician. I was his witch priest. Of course, I had to give him the best medicine. A hundred years ago, I saved people. Now, I’m still saving people. I have always made good medicine for them.

“Mother…”

Wu Yun murmured to himself, eyes downcast, looking like a boy on the brink of death.

Ning Mingmei knew he had long expected that moment of being discovered.

Perhaps Wu Yun had always known he wouldn’t live much longer.

Whose sword he died by… it didn’t matter to him.

Ning Mingmei asked, “Did you kill that fiend cultivator?”

Wu Yun replied, “I don’t know.”

Then he wasn’t the one who did it.

After all, Wu Yun was calling out for his mother right now.

Usually, children lie to their living mothers because they’re afraid of being scolded.

But no child lies to a mother who’s already dead.

Ning Mingmei said, [Wu Yun looks half-crazed now.]

The system sighed. [Alas.]

Ning Mingmei said, [But I think he still has some potential to keep living. For example…]

The system asked, [By working?]

Ning Mingmei: [Why are you so cold?]

…The system felt so wronged.

Ning Mingmei crouched down and looked at Wu Yun. “Do you think I’m going to kill you?”

Wu Yun glanced at him.

Ning Mingmei said, “Did you know? A person dies three times in their lifetime. The first is when they take their last breath. Your physical body has already died. The second is when they are buried.”

Wu Yun said, “I was never buried.”

The system: […What are you talking about? Wu Yun’s body was left in the wilderness.]

Ning Mingmei adjusted his glasses. [You still have the strength to argue with me, so you’re not doing too badly. The emotions of revenge-driven criminals like Wu Yun are understandable but his crimes are inevitable. Rather than being killed out in the world, it would be more fitting to take him back to the Supreme Clarity Sect’s Reflection Cliff.]

Ning Mingmei continued, “And the third death happens when a person is completely forgotten. You are the last of the Li tribe. The springs of blooming flowers, the rivers flowing through your homeland, and your people; all of them still live in your heart. And now, because you’ve told me about them, they also live in my heart.”

Wu Yun’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

Ning Mingmei said, “Some people are already dead, yet they still live on. Others are alive but they’re already dead, like the one inside the room.”

Wu Yun: …

Ning Mingmei said, “Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly live?”

The system, watching from the side: …

It sounded so familiar. It felt like something those infinite-flow-world colleagues would say to manipulate their hosts.

Wu Yun remained silent for a long time. Then, he suddenly spoke. “Immortal Master Ning, I know something else.”

Ning Mingmei: “What is it?”

Wu Yun said, “That fiend cultivator who carry the prescription didn’t just happen to pass through this place. He was a medicine cultivator. He came here specifically to find a tree in the sacred mountain, the Moon Palace’s Osmanthus Tree. If you consume its petals, your cultivation will increase significantly…”

Osmanthus Tree.

Wasn’t that one of eleven great sacred trees from ancient times?!

Ning Mingmei: “Where is the Moon Palace’s Osmanthus Tree in the sacred mountain? Is it on the surface?”

“No,” Wu Yun said slowly. “It’s inside the sacred mountain.”

Inside the mine?

Ning Mingmei: “Why would you plant a Moon Palace’s Osmanthus Tree inside a mountain?”

Wu Yun said, “Because beneath the Moon Palace’s Osmanthus Tree, something is sealed…”

Then, he added, “And that fiend cultivator is not actually dead.”

Yayayayyaaya that memory thread reminded me of Harry Potter!🤩