Chapter 19

Chapter 19: It’s Real

“Sister, you’re finally awake.” Bai Meng Lian’s voice shook with relief. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Don’t hold it in.”

“I’m fine…” Bai Meng Jin raised a hand and wiped the sweat from her brow.

Bai Meng Lian turned immediately to Bai Meng Xing. “Go and ask Perfected Chang Ling to come take a look. Be polite. Don’t be rude.”

Bai Meng Xing nodded and bolted.

Before long, Perfected Chang Ling arrived with Yue Yun Qiao and Huo Chong Xiao.

He looked about thirty, gentle-featured and refined. His apricot-colored dao robe sat perfectly on his shoulders—exactly like the one in Bai Meng Jin’s memories.

Bai Meng Lian stood and bowed. “Senior.”

Perfected Chang Ling nodded with a smile. He checked Bai Meng Jin’s complexion, took her pulse, then nodded again. “Very good. The devil heart is intact. Your life is safe.”

Relief washed through the room.

Yue Yun Qiao couldn’t hold back. “Master, can we go back to the Cinnabar Cloud Palace now? You said you’d vouch for Junior Sister Bai.”

Perfected Chang Ling laughed. “You’re in such a hurry. You can’t wait even a moment.”

“I miss home,” Yue Yun Qiao complained.

Perfected Chang Ling’s gaze returned to Bai Meng Jin. “How do you feel? Are you adjusting to the devil qi? Can you still use spells?”

Bai Meng Jin nodded and lifted her hand.

She formed the simplest Fire-Gathering spell.

A black fireball bloomed in her palm—stark against her pale skin.

“A Jade-Tempered Body really is extraordinary,” Perfected Chang Ling murmured.

Then his expression turned serious. “All of you, go outside.”

Yue Yun Qiao blinked. “Master, what are you going to do? Can’t I stay?”

Before she finished, Huo Chong Xiao hooked her sleeve and dragged her away. “Why so many questions? Master has his reasons.”

Bai Meng Lian hesitated, then gathered Bai Meng Xing and stepped out as well.

Perfected Chang Ling flicked his sleeve. The door slammed shut. A soundproof barrier settled, cutting off any chance of eavesdropping.

He looked at Bai Meng Jin. “Do you know why I kept you here alone?”

Bai Meng Jin lowered her gaze. “Senior wants to ask what happened at the Withered Leaf Cottage.”

“Smart.” Perfected Chang Ling’s tone softened a fraction. “This matter is too strange. Those four only half understand it. You’re the one who was inside.”

Bai Meng Jin worried at her fingers, then glanced up as Perfected Chang Ling opened his hand and conjured the Yin-Yang Umbrella.

“Back then, Bai Chong An grabbed you and used this umbrella to draw devil qi,” he said. “How did you manage to draw it back?”

“It was my mother’s keepsake,” Bai Meng Jin answered quietly.

Perfected Chang Ling’s brows furrowed.

Bai Meng Jin continued, careful and steady. “Great-Uncle thought I forgot. But Mother taught me how to use it.”

“You know the Gu Clan secret arts?”

“My mother was the Gu Clan’s last heir.” Bai Meng Jin met his eyes. “Afraid the arts would be lost, she taught them all to me.

“As I grow older, what’s sealed in my sea of consciousness unseals layer by layer.”

“I see.” Perfected Chang Ling nodded slowly, the biggest knot of doubt easing from his face. “So you suspected Bai Chong An from the start.”

“Yes.” Bai Meng Jin’s voice didn’t waver. “Young Master Huo said he’d informed the sect. I thought we’d make it in time.”

She paused. “He’s still my Great-Uncle. I was afraid I might be wrong.”

Perfected Chang Ling studied her for a moment, then asked the next question. “How did you know Bai Chong An would use you as the formation’s eye? If he didn’t, wouldn’t everything you did have been useless?”

Bai Meng Jin shook her head. “I didn’t know. I only thought… switching from spell cultivation to devil cultivation must be difficult.

“I’m of Gu Clan blood, and I’m the true heir of the Yin-Yang Umbrella. He would keep me close in case anything unexpected happened.

“That’s when I’d have my chance.”

“Then you were lucky,” Perfected Chang Ling said, not unkindly.

“Yes.” Bai Meng Jin lifted her eyes. “If he’d drained Senior Sister Yue and the others first, there would’ve been nothing I could do.”

She hesitated, then added, “Young Master Huo said he crushed his message jade talisman. I thought you’d arrive quickly. I didn’t think I’d have to do anything extra.”

A flush crept up Perfected Chang Ling’s neck.

This time, he had misjudged a Golden Core cultivator. The maze formation had interfered with the message jade talisman, and he’d only realized after a delay.

He cleared his throat. “All right. Rest well.

“Even though you’ve reached Golden Core, this power isn’t from your own cultivation. It will take time before you can fully control it.

“I have an incantation for you—gather the devil qi inside you first.”

He recited it twice. When he was sure she’d memorized it, he returned the Yin-Yang Umbrella to her.

“Since it’s your mother’s keepsake,” he said, “it belongs with you.”

“Thank you, Senior,” Bai Meng Jin said, accepting it with both hands.

Perfected Chang Ling left, his expression gentler than before.

Outside, Yue Yun Qiao and the others crowded close. “Master—Junior Sister Bai—”

“She’s fine,” Perfected Chang Ling said quickly. “Don’t rush. None of you rush.”

Facing their hopeful eyes, guilt pricked him again.

They were children. They’d only wanted to save people.

“Her realm is unstable,” he said. “She needs time to settle. All of you, leave. Don’t disturb her.”

Yue Yun Qiao and Bai Meng Lian lingered at the door, unwilling, but finally withdrew.

Bai Meng Lian called, “Sister, we’ll go. Rest well. We’ll come see you tomorrow.”

“I know, Elder Sister,” Bai Meng Jin answered through the door.

When it finally went quiet, Bai Meng Jin let out a breath and leaned back against the bedhead.

It had gone exactly as she expected. Acting obedient always worked on Martial Uncle Chang Ling. With a disciple like Senior Sister Yue, he couldn’t help feeling soft toward “good” little girls.

Bai Meng Jin stared into space, forced herself to swallow the ache in her chest, and turned her mind back to what mattered.

Perfected Chang Ling’s arrival sharpened her unease to a blade.

He looked exactly like the Martial Uncle Chang Ling in her memories, and his cultivation felt unquestionably real.

[If this was a small world created by the Reincarnation Mirror, how could it produce a Divine Transformation cultivator?]

[And I swallowed Great-Uncle’s devil heart. I broke the knot that haunted me. I should be able to leave now… so what’s missing?]

A faint tug brushed her awareness.

Bai Meng Jin went still.

Slowly, she reached into her robes and drew something from the depths of her inner realm.

A small, ancient mirror.

Except for its missing spiritual glow, it looked exactly like the Reincarnation Mirror.

Bai Meng Jin’s breath caught.

[No.]

[There is only one Reincarnation Mirror in the world. If it’s outside… it can’t be here.]

The past few days flashed through her mind—the Bai Family exactly as she remembered; the lively market streets; Great-Uncle, whom she’d never suspected; and the Reincarnation Mirror, dull and powerless.

Understanding struck like lightning.

[Moving mountains and overturning seas… defying heaven and changing fate.]

[So that’s what it meant.]

This world wasn’t a reflection.

It was real.

She was back in her youth.