After Senior Brother left the mountain, he was no longer a cultivator. He was sent to live as an ordinary mortal, the life of a small-town doctor awaiting him.
The day of his departure was bittersweet. I didn’t cry, though I felt a pang of loss. I realized that Senior Brother’s body had long since endured more than it could take. The decision to send him down the mountain was both kind and inevitable.
If I could somehow regain my true form, I wondered, would I be able to cure the poison lingering in Qing Chen’s body? The thought stirred something in me—a small flicker of hope.
I started to reflect on my situation. Right now, I was just a child, powerless and small. I couldn’t do much of anything except follow Qing Chen and the junior disciple around. After Master descended the mountain, I often followed the junior disciple, wandering the paths into nearby villages. I would cling to his robes, my small figure awkwardly hiding behind him. He didn’t mind, though he never admitted as much.
Qing Chen and the junior disciple both weren’t very expressive.
When Qing Chen returned from his tasks, he would often shut himself in to meditate, speaking only sparingly. Even during those quiet moments, he would glance at me and the junior disciple, ensuring we were safe.
One day, the junior disciple decided to descend the mountain. I followed him quietly, watching as his figure disappeared into the forest below. A faint ray of sunlight pierced through the canopy, illuminating his path. It wasn’t long before he was gone entirely.
What was he looking for?
I couldn’t resist my curiosity. I followed the junior disciple’s steps down the winding path, careful not to make a sound. Soon, I arrived at a small mountain village, its humble homes scattered like fallen leaves. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the place—no grand structures, no bustling markets. Yet, the junior disciple stood at the edge of the village, silent and still.
I crouched down, hiding behind some nearby trees. The sun filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows across the ground. He didn’t linger long. With a soft sigh, he turned and began his journey back up the mountain.
I couldn’t understand why he had come here, but something about the way he moved—the deliberate steps, the faint sigh—left me unsettled. I didn’t dare ask him directly, and so I quietly returned to the sect, questions swirling in my mind.
The heavens and earth spun endlessly as I tumbled down. My body was scratched by tree branches and jagged rocks, and finally, I collided with a half-buried boulder. When I was sent rolling further downhill, I was thrown into a void below. With a thud, I landed hard on the ground, and everything went silent.
“Ah…” I muttered weakly.
At last, the rolling stopped.
My body felt like a broken frame, and yet, after having experienced the pain of having my spiritual essence forcibly extracted, this kind of physical torment didn’t mean much to me anymore. I forced myself to sit up.
I looked around.
In front of me, the jagged walls of a mountain cave rose ominously. Four walls enclosed me in a dimly lit space. A faint path led deeper into the cave, where the air grew damp and cold. Water trickled down the walls, creating an eerie, hollow echo.
I struggled to my feet, steadying myself against the rough surface. “Hello? Anyone?” My voice reverberated weakly within the cave, but there was no response.
It took a long while before I could gather enough strength to walk again.
I sighed in relief. It seemed the sect disciples had not followed me here. With only three of them, they likely wouldn’t notice my disappearance for some time. If I were lucky, they might even assume I had fallen to my death.
I continued deeper into the cave. Step by step, I moved cautiously, enduring the numbing pain in my limbs. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I found myself in a spacious stone chamber. At its center was a large ice mirror. As I approached, I froze.
Reflected in the icy surface was… my true form.
I stared at it, my mind blank. This was the body I had thought lost long ago—a true spiritual ginseng. Had I… had I died here and been returned to this state?
“No!” I shouted, breaking the silence.
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