Fleeting Dream Across Three Lifetimes - Chapter 19

Once she acted, Su Zining’s heart was filled only with panic and worry. She suddenly realized that in her past life, until the day she died, she had never found someone she could truly confide in. Almost everyone who treated her with respect or kindness did so out of fear or because they wanted something from her. After being reborn, it was still only those who bullied her and looked down on her. Only Qin Mohan treated her well. Though she always suspected her intentions were impure, all this time she had truly been very good to her.

In the distance, a violent surge of spiritual power erupted. Qin Mohan had no way to escape from the pursuit of a Nascent Soul cultivator; making it this far was already a miracle.

Su Zining rushed closer. Lin Cuiyan seemed very interested in Qin Mohan, but against him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator like her had no power to resist. With just a casual wave in the air, Lin Cuiyan flung Qin Mohan heavily to the ground, like a cat toying with a mouse, utterly wretched and helpless.

“Seizing a body? I wonder what realm your original cultivation reached, for your divine sense to be this strong.” Lin Cuiyan didn’t seem in a hurry to kill her. A strand of spiritual power tightly bound her waist, forcing her hands to remain pinned at her sides.

Qin Mohan seemed to know there was no escape. Her expression remained calm as she said softly, “I didn’t seize a body, nor have I ever cultivated. I just suddenly ended up in this body.”

Lin Cuiyan laughed. “Do you take me for a three-year-old child? If you hadn’t seized the body and erased Qingchen’s soul, how could you possibly occupy her body?”

Qin Mohan gave a bitter smile. She had been too naïve. She had thought she could enjoy a brief period of peace, but she had been careless and foolish. She should have fled far away sooner. But with Lin Qingchen’s body as her vessel, where could she go? This ending, she had already foreseen. She just hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.

As she kept silent, she suddenly felt a familiar fluctuation of spiritual power. Her face instantly turned deathly pale. That fool, could it be…

If she had noticed, then of course Lin Cuiyan and Lin Zong had as well.

Qin Mohan’s expression finally changed. She cried out in anger, “Why did you come?! Now that I’ve been exposed, there’s no need for you to risk yourself and add to my burden!”

Lin Zong’s face darkened. He raised his hand and struck toward the source of the fluctuation. The entire thicket of shrubs instantly turned to dust, yet Su Zining was nowhere to be seen.

To escape their divine sense, she had clearly used the Qiankun Fan. Qin Mohan’s face was filled with anxiety. If the Qiankun Fan was exposed, endless pursuit and plunder awaited Su Zining. She tried desperately to signal with her eyes, shaking her head violently, urging Su Zining to leave. At this moment, if she withdrew, with the Qiankun Fan’s protection, she could safely escape. Even if they suspected, they would never believe Su Zining possessed a Celestial artifact.

“A man of no guilt, yet guilty for possessing a treasure. You claim you hunt me for Lin Qingchen’s revenge, but in truth you covet my soul and wish to refine it.” Her words were scattered, yet Su Zining knew she was warning her.

She bit her lip hard. Memories of her previous life flooded back—buried bones, relentless pursuit by the Su and Lin families, small sects, wandering cultivator clans—everyone hunted her, all for the Qiankun Fan. The pain of those experiences washed over her, her face turning pale, her heart in turmoil.

She wanted to save Qin Mohan, but once the Qiankun Fan was revealed, even if they escaped this time, sooner or later they would be surrounded and killed. Was Qin Mohan… worth risking that desperate path again?

Unable to find Su Zining, Lin Cuiyan grew cautious. Without hesitation, he yanked Qin Mohan into his grasp, forcing spiritual power to bind her soul, and began ripping it out of Lin Qingchen’s body.

The soul-tearing agony twisted Qin Mohan’s face. Her body trembled violently, yet she offered little resistance. In her eyes, there was no chance of escape. Perhaps early release would allow Su Zining to get away.

Su Zining was still struggling, but Qin Mohan’s anguished scream snapped something inside her. Her eyes burned red as she poured her spiritual power wildly into the Qiankun Fan. Though her cultivation was low, she had lived two lives, and her spiritual strength was enough to barely control it. She swung the fan violently at Lin Cuiyan.

A chill ran through Lin Cuiyan. He instantly drew upon his spiritual power and retreated far away. In that moment, Qin Mohan was torn out of Lin Qingchen’s body, her soul nearly transparent, flickering in and out with the wind.

A heavy blow struck Su Zining’s heart. She rushed to Qin Mohan’s side, but she had no way to return her soul into Lin Qingchen’s body. It was also the first time she saw Qin Mohan’s true appearance.

She still wore that white dress, her hair loose around her shoulders. Her delicate features were gentle, her pale complexion unable to hide the elegance and calm between her brows. She was indeed exactly as her temperament suggested— even more beautiful than Lin Qingchen. Yet Su Zining’s heart ached unbearably, her eyes red. “I… I’m sorry.” She shouldn’t have hesitated. She should never have hesitated!

Qin Mohan, weak to the extreme, could no longer speak. She only managed a slight shake of her head, signaling her to go.

Far away, Lin Cuiyan’s aged face gleamed with greed. That item in the woman’s hand… that power… at least… at least Celestial! He nearly lost his mind, laughing wildly. “A Celestial artifact, you actually have a Celestial artifact, Heaven itself aids me!”

Lin Zong glanced at Lin Qingchen’s corpse. The pain in his heart vanished instantly. He lunged forward, while Lin Cuiyan, consumed by greed, wanted both Qin Mohan and the Qiankun Fan for himself.

Su Zining was already prepared to fight to the death, when suddenly a violent gust of wind swept through. A gigantic hand tore through the heavens, seizing Su Zining in its grasp, while another surge of spiritual power wrapped around Lin Qingchen and Qin Mohan’s soul, vanishing in an instant.

Caught off guard and with no power to resist, Su Zining was pulled into the void. The moment she emerged, she immediately shielded Qin Mohan’s soul, staring intently at the man before her.

Hesitantly she said, “Peak Master Luo?”

The man turned his head. It was none other than Luo Yuan. His face was dark, and he raised his hand to stop Su Zining, immediately releasing spiritual power to stabilize Qin Mohan’s soul, trying to guide it back into place.

Su Zining bit her lip tightly, not knowing what to say, yet her gaze never left Luo Yuan’s movements, tense and unblinking.

Luo Yuan spoke coldly. “She is my disciple. I understand her nature. That old thing Lin Cuiyan couldn’t see it, but I know. She did not seize a body. It is more like reincarnation through another’s corpse.” He had hesitated for a long time. By temperament, he was always easygoing and cared little for so-called righteous sect rules, doing everything as he pleased. But that didn’t mean he would ever shelter someone who seized another’s body. When he had followed them, however, and saw Qin Mohan’s soul, he noticed it was pure, without the slightest trace of bloodthirst or malice. Judging by her condition, she wasn’t even a hundred years old yet—so young, how could she be a body-seizer?

His love for talent ran deep, and this girl suited his taste very much. When he discovered that Zhi Mo even possessed a Celestial artifact, and that she dared, with mere Qi Refining strength, to fight a late Golden Core and even a Nascent Soul cultivator to save his disciple, his heart stirred with admiration. Without hesitation, he had snatched them away. The Lin family had lost a daughter, but that was no concern of his disciple. At worst, he could pay the price later.

Yet his heart grew heavier. He didn’t know what that old Lin had done to his disciple, but her soul simply refused to stabilize. The more spiritual power he applied, the faster it scattered. Even he, at the Divided Spirit stage, couldn’t protect it.

Sweat dripped down Luo Yuan’s face, his expression growing darker. Su Zining’s heart turned cold as ice. “Peak Master… she… how is she?”

Luo Yuan muttered in frustration, “Something’s wrong. I… I can’t return her soul.”

Su Zining’s legs went weak. She collapsed to her knees. “But… she was only forced out for a moment. How could it be this serious…”

Qin Mohan, drifting in a haze, suddenly heard a strange voice in her ears, urging her without pause… Return, return. The sound was desolate and ethereal, as if from countless miles away, yet filled with an irresistible temptation. She could hardly refuse it. But in her heart, she clung to one thought—Su Zining. Where was she? Had she escaped?

With sheer will, she broke free from the pull. Through blurred eyes she saw two figures before her, realized she was strangely floating above Lin Qingchen’s body, half her soul sinking into it while her upper half stubbornly refused to settle.

She blinked with difficulty, recognizing Luo Yuan and Su Zining. The weight in her heart eased, but that voice grew louder still. She drew a shallow breath and whispered faintly, “Mohan thanks… Peak Master Luo.”

Luo Yuan’s eyes turned red. He scolded, “I haven’t said I disown you as my disciple, yet here you are… already abandoning your master.”

Qin Mohan’s soul trembled violently. She felt her time slipping away, and with effort said, “For Shizun to still acknowledge me, it is my greatest blessing… Lin Qingchen was not seized by me, but her death… it is indeed tied to me. Consider it repayment. Shizun’s great kindness… Mohan… begs you… Zhi Mo has always been bullied, her life full of hardships, please take pity on her… let her leave… leave the Wuji Sect.”

“Qin Mohan, don’t die, don’t die.” Su Zining, choking back sobs, desperately infused her with spiritual power. The Qiankun Fan glowed as she tried to force Qin Mohan’s soul back into place.

“Girl, hold on, be strong!” Luo Yuan too was flustered.

“Don’t trust others easily, especially…” At the end, Qin Mohan no longer knew what she was saying. The ancient chanting in the voice overwhelmed her, leaving her powerless. She drifted into unconsciousness, sinking into chaos.

Su Zining’s heart broke as she watched Qin Mohan’s soul fracture, scattering into strands of white light. It felt as if a knife had been thrust into her chest. In panic, she reached out to hold them back.

But one by one, the lights slipped through her fingers and vanished. She felt as though she had fallen into an icy abyss. With sudden desperation, she swung the Qiankun Fan! A surge of blinding light trapped one strand of white glow and drew it in. That glow thrashed violently within, until Luo Yuan, realizing her intent, quickly channeled his own spiritual power. Between the two of them, the glow stabilized, condensing into a small white orb, quietly floating beneath the Qiankun Fan.

Luo Yuan approached carefully, examined it, and muttered in a low voice, “It’s the girl’s human hun soul. Damn it, why couldn’t I save her? It shouldn’t have ended this way!” A man who had lived nearly a thousand years now stomped in regret, tormented and restless.

Humans have three hun souls and seven po souls. The hun souls govern consciousness, the po souls govern the body, and among them the human hun soul is the most vital to memory—sensitive, timid, and easily startled. To retain even this one was already a miracle. But now his fine disciple had only a broken human hun soul left; what use was that? Luo Yuan’s heart ached. His obedient disciple was a rare genius, with excellent character as well. Alas, fate toys with people. And now he finally understood: Qin Mohan must have been born with a superb golden spiritual root. If she had lived, even talents like Yan Xiao could hardly compare to her.

Su Zining stared blankly at the little sphere of light cradled in her hands, unmoving for a long time. Then suddenly she lifted her hand and slapped herself hard across the face, startling Luo Yuan. “Girl, what are you doing?”

Su Zining looked as if her own hun soul had slipped away, body rigid, her voice hollow and desolate. “I shouldn’t have hesitated back there. If I hadn’t worried over gains and losses, if I hadn’t been so… so selfish, if I had stopped Lin Cuiyan earlier, we could have escaped together. She wouldn’t have died, she wouldn’t have!”

Luo Yuan was silent for a long while before sighing. “You can’t blame yourself. You’re only at Foundation Establishment, with no one to protect you. Now that the Celestial artifact has been exposed, you will never know peace. Girl, I promised her I’d send you away. If I take you as my disciple, I can still shield you. But in that case, this immortal artifact—I fear I cannot preserve it for you. How will you choose?”

Su Zining’s heart twisted with pain and bitterness. She had always suspected Qin Mohan of harboring ill intentions. Even though she had gradually changed her attitude later, she had never really spoken much to her, had only accepted her kindness, and never had the chance to truly return it. People say true feelings are revealed in hardship—Qin Mohan had reached this point, yet still thought only of protecting her. How could that be false?

Her nose stung, her fingers tore harshly at the blades of grass on the ground, her chest so tight she could hardly breathe. Thinking of every moment spent with Qin Mohan over the past half year, tears—tears she had not shed in many years—suddenly burst forth, falling onto the weakened human hun soul and sinking desolately into the earth.

She had appeared in the Su family only as a replacement, picked up by Lin Shan to impersonate her dead daughter. Naturally, she had never been loved. As for Su Yue, that man was even less worth mentioning; before the age of fifteen she had suffered nothing but humiliation and bullying. In the Burial Grounds for ten years, her life had been worse than death.

Finally escaping, she met many so-called friends, but once her devil aura was exposed, they drew their blades without question. She met Wenren Qiu, thinking she had found someone true, but he only coveted her Stellar Arts and used her. She spent great effort to find her so-called father and younger sister, only to be endlessly exploited—and in the end, near her tribulation, they left her with not even bones intact.

In these eight hundred and fifty years, the only one who had bared their heart to her was this inexplicably appeared Qin Mohan.

But she was dead—Dead! Su Zining stared blankly at the frail remnant hun soul in her hand, and at the lifeless body on the ground that no longer housed Qin Mohan’s hun soul, her vision blurring.

In her last life, after falling into devilhood, she lived recklessly and flamboyantly. The devil clans rejected her, she killed them anyway; the cultivation world scorned her, she feared them not. Everyone said she was poisonous and venom-hearted, but she had never wronged anyone. Why then had she ended up like this? Why must the one person who treated her well now scatter into hun soul and po soul fragments!