[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 44

As Shiliu spoke, the dragon’s tail continuously thrashed the water’s surface, and the chains formed of mist swayed dangerously in the air. By the time she finished, a single tear fell from the dragon’s golden-yellow eyes.

The mist dissipated, and the dragon transformed into human form, stumbling toward Mianniang.

Shuisheng collapsed to the ground, staring wretchedly at her slightly bluish face, trembling as he called out, “A-Qing, it’s your brother. I’ve come back. Won’t you open your eyes and look at me?”

He took Mianniang’s small hand and pleaded, “I know I wasn’t a good brother. I let you die alone in the flood. You can hit me, curse me, even kill me—I just beg you to look at me once more, alright?”

Shuisheng was nearly mad with grief, and the magistrate, driven to despair by his daughter’s fading breath, pushed him away frantically.

He held Mianniang tightly, tears falling on her tender face, his expression one of utter despair and sorrow as he repeatedly called her name, trying to keep her with him a little longer.

Witnessing their seemingly hopeless grief, Shiliu felt a bit awkward and cautiously interjected.

“Gentlemen, Mianniang… isn’t necessarily beyond saving.”

At these words, both their eyes lit up simultaneously, turning to her in unison, which made Shiliu momentarily forget what she was going to say.

Under such pressure, Shiliu carefully reviewed everything in her mind, confirming she hadn’t made a mistake, then cleared her throat and said, “Her weakness stems from having a foreign soul forcibly placed inside her. As long as that soul is removed, she will naturally recover.”

She then turned to Shuisheng and reassured him, “As for your sister’s soul, since the pearl could nurture it before, we can place it back into the pearl for you to keep close and care for. Once the soul stabilizes, we can perform rites for its reincarnation.”

Both men agreed immediately. Seeing that Mianniang’s breath was extremely faint, Shiliu decided to extract the soul right away.

However, this was her first time performing such a task. Though her heart was trembling uncontrollably, her hands had to remain steady.

She opened the small pouch she carried, filled with commonly used Taoist instruments, and took out a soul-guiding needle. Carefully, she pierced Mianniang’s middle finger, formed a hand seal to stabilize the soul, and attentively probed Mianniang’s consciousness.

Sure enough, deep within her consciousness, she found a soul with a different aura—very weak, as if deliberately suppressed.

With full concentration, Shiliu guided that fragment of soul onto the needle, temporarily sealing it with the blood from Mianniang’s finger. She turned to Shuisheng and urged, “Quickly! This soul is too weak; it must be sealed into the pearl immediately.”

Shuisheng forced the pearl out from his dantian, vomiting several mouthfuls of blood in the process. As the radiant pearl appeared, he staggered weakly.

Just as Shiliu was about to seal the soul into the pearl at this critical moment, the grey-robed Taoist, who had been quietly watching, suddenly erupted with explosive force. His eyes wide with madness, he staked everything, unleashing all his power in an unstoppable surge, his mouth gaping wide as he lunged to swallow the pearl.

Shiliu hurriedly protected the fragile soul in her hand, but in that moment of distraction, the Taoist was already extremely close to the pearl. Shuisheng, injured from forcing out the pearl, and the others were all thrown back by the Taoist’s wildly released power. It seemed he would succeed.

But then, an arrow stained with fresh blood cut through the air, whistling fiercely as it flew, violently frictionizing with the Taoist’s dispersed magic, emitting a brilliant light.

Thud. The arrow pierced through the Taoist’s skull, from the back of his neck straight through, emerging from his wide-open mouth.

The grotesque sound of living flesh being pierced silenced everyone for a moment. Then, dirty, crimson blood sprayed from the wound, splattering onto the ground in red droplets.

The Taoist’s eyes still held a fanatical desire—an intensely fervent emotion frozen in that instant.

The next moment, he collapsed heavily to the ground. Even in death, he remained reaching toward the pearl.

“What a bunch of fools.”

Li Xuanci put away his bow, his words icy. Neither tears nor blood seemed to affect him in the slightest.

He had been watching coldly all along. This Taoist, who had schemed so meticulously, would never simply stand by obediently.

And that fool—it wasn’t even her business, yet she got swept up in the emotions of those involved, throwing herself wholeheartedly into saving the soul without any vigilance.

Now she had the nerve to look at him with those shining eyes, completely unaware that she should reflect on her actions.

How did such an idiot manage to live this long, stumble into his presence, and even entangle half his life with a Fate-binding curse?

It was nothing short of a miracle.