“Immortality may be eternal, but I don’t believe reincarnation is necessarily suffering.” She stood up as she spoke. “To be reborn, to experience new lives—is that really so different from living forever? Instead of spending eternity in endless, joyless cultivation, I’d rather stay in the mortal world, experiencing all the wonderful things it has to offer. Cultivation is far too lonely. I like the liveliness of the human realm. There is love, there is friendship—isn’t that wonderful too?”
The man in embroidered robes replied, “And what of love? The six paths of reincarnation wipe away all memories with each rebirth. Just like you—you’ve already forgotten the reason for your own reincarnation. Isn’t that the same as being heartless?”
Hong Ning countered, “Forgetting doesn’t mean it never existed. If love once existed, then it cannot be called heartless.”
The man said, “Love also brings suffering. How can it compare to the freedom and transcendence of immortality?”
He disappeared?
Hong Ning chuckled inwardly. She met his eyes directly and asked, “But isn’t it a blessing to experience joy and sorrow, warmth and cold? Immortal couples spend their days in endless dual cultivation, detached from emotion and desire. Doesn’t that make them no different from two wooden puppets? What’s the point of living forever like that?”
Such words, spoken from the mouth of a twelve-year-old girl, were undoubtedly strange.
The man in embroidered robes smiled. “Is that truly how you feel?”
“I’ve always thought this way,” Hong Ning replied.
“Then we shall speak of it again in the future.”
The man let out a soft sigh, then raised his hand.
“My name is Jin Xiu.”
Hong Ning quickly stepped forward.
“You…”
The man had vanished without a trace.
He disappeared?
Hong Ning wasn’t surprised. She knew he must have possessed extraordinary cultivation skills. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, a wave of melancholy washed over her. Lowering her gaze, she saw that the brilliant camellias surrounding her had also disappeared along with him, leaving not a single petal behind.
She murmured to herself, “Jin Xiu…”
“You’re getting dumber by the day!”
A cold voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Bai Ling?”
“No respect at all.”
Bai Ling was floating in the pool, yet his white robes did not cling to his body as wet fabric normally would. Instead, they billowed naturally, rippling along with the water’s movement, making him seem as though he were one with the pond itself.
Resting her hands on her knees, Hong Ning leaned forward and peered at him.
“Senior Brother, you’re looking more handsome by the day. No wonder all the flower spirits and tree demons are so infatuated with you.”
Bai Ling slowly lifted his eyes.
“You don’t act like a child at all.”
He had said this to her many times before. Hong Ning, having never bothered to explain her transmigration, simply smiled.
“I am a child now. But in a few years, people will start thinking you’re my junior brother.”
Bai Ling’s expression immediately darkened.
Managing to annoy a three-hundred-year-old demon was no small feat.
Suppressing a smirk, Hong Ning deliberately looked up at the sky and let out a long, dramatic sigh.
“You never grow up, do you? Are you starting to think that immortality isn’t as great as it seems?”
Bai Ling didn’t answer, but his body began to turn translucent.
Had it been anyone else provoking him, they would have been frozen solid by now. But Hong Ning remained unfazed.
“Don’t try scaring me with your true form—I stopped being afraid a long time ago.”
Recalling her first encounter with him, she chuckled.
“To be honest, back then, I thought you were melting under the sun. That’s why I was worried. Did you really think I was scared of you?”
Bai Ling paused for a moment, then silently reverted to his normal appearance.
Hong Ning grabbed her basket of medicinal herbs and stood up.
“You’re over three hundred years old. By both seniority and age, I should be calling you ancestor, not junior brother.”
Bai Ling let out a cold snort.
“Master told you to be back by midday.”
Hong Ning felt a flicker of guilt for lingering too long, but she refused to admit it.
“I am getting ready to head back. But with such a beautiful day, why aren’t you cultivating?”
Bai Ling’s expression remained cold.
“There was demonic energy here just now.”
Hong Ning felt a wave of warmth in her heart.
Although Bai Ling always treated her with a cold demeanor, she knew that, deep down, he cared about her.
Demons were especially sensitive to the presence of other demonic auras—he must have sensed something amiss and interrupted his cultivation to come check on her.
Realizing this, she decided not to hide the truth any longer.
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