The wind blew through the continuous fine rain, scattering widely. A slender, dark figure, holding a thin, plain umbrella, walked slowly out of the rain.
In such a drizzling rain, even walking with an umbrella, it was hard to avoid getting clothes soaked. But strangely, this figure walked on without the wind disturbing her or the rain touching her clothes.
It was as if… the wind itself would detour to avoid her, and the rain would shy away in fear.
In the misty rain, no pedestrians hurried along the road. Only on a country path, another cold, gaunt figure, wearing a straw cloak, also walked out of the rain.
The two walked the same path, and naturally, they were bound to meet.
But one did so intentionally, the other unintentionally.
The narrow country path, which could normally accommodate two or three people, became slippery and wet in the rain. If one strayed from the path, they could easily slip and fall, thus requiring them to go one after another.
Yet, when these two met, neither yielded.
"Move aside," said the young woman in the straw cloak in a plain voice.
The one holding the umbrella did not retreat. She slowly raised the umbrella.
"This path only allows one person to pass, so I'm afraid I must ask you to make way."
A cold glint flashed and disappeared, cutting through the fine rain curtain. The raindrops seemed to be held captive by time and space, suspended in mid-air.
*Pfft—*
A thin spray of blood splattered onto the ground, in an amount sufficient to be fatal.
The straw-cloaked woman clearly hadn't expected her opponent to attack with a killing blow. She clutched her bleeding neck tightly with both hands, staring at the person opposite her in surprise.
"You… Who are you?"
Her vocal cords severely damaged, her face pale, she could barely articulate her words.
But the woman holding the umbrella knew what she was saying. Beneath the umbrella, she revealed a pair of dark eyes. The misty rain couldn't obscure the thousand layers of deep, dark allure within her eyes.
"I am you."
A look of astonishment froze on the straw-cloaked woman's face. The next second, she collapsed silently onto the ground, the dim sky reflected in her hollow, lifeless eyes.
That person… had the exact same face as her.
*Splash—*
The raindrops suspended in mid-air resumed their fall, washing away the blood on the ground. The corpse on the ground also vanished without a trace.
—
Jingzhe
A startling flash of lightning, brilliant white, tore through the darkness of the thatched hut, followed by a deafening thunderclap that jolted the boy awake.
"No, don't—"
He snapped his eyes open, breathing raggedly, the whites of his eyes streaked with red, as if he had just woken from a nightmare.
He fumbled frantically over his body, finding that he was still alive.
He was startled.
He… he had returned again!
"Having a nightmare?"
A voice that sent chills down his spine echoed in his ears. He reflexively looked, and the face that met his gaze made every breath feel like a sharp knife cutting him.
Seeing her approaching him, his pupils constricted.
"...Don't, don't come any closer."
A whimper like that of a frightened animal, pitiably weak.
Liu Jiang Fusheng gritted his teeth, preventing his trembling jaw from betraying his current state of mind.
He had died, yet he had been reborn.
This was not the first time.
But each time, it made Liu Jiang Fusheng suffer immensely.
"See, you've scared him. I told you not to do this now. You should wait until he joins the Dayan Sect and grows for a few years, until his disposition matures and he understands what he truly wants, then approach him. Wouldn't that make achieving your goal simpler?"
A deep, cold, displeased voice reached his ears.
Gu Junshi didn't approach him. She merely stood by the bed, a short distance away, watching him.
She knew his mind must be in turmoil, after all, he had just been reborn from the previous life where she had killed him.
This was his third reincarnation, and his state of mind was still a chaotic, confused, painful, and inescapable mess. At this moment, he was the most vulnerable and most desperate for salvation.
"Having a nightmare?"
Gu Junshi asked gently.
Her concern was sudden but genuine, which made Liu Jiang Fusheng pause for a moment.
She used to be, no, in his past life or the one before that, she was a cold and reserved person. She only fulfilled her duty as a wife on the surface, showing no extra warmth or care towards him.
Seeing him stunned and silent, Gu Junshi added, "You caught a chill walking back in the rain last night. You fainted as soon as you reached the doorstep. Is something wrong with your body?"
Hearing this, Liu Jiang Fusheng suddenly looked up, his surprise evident.
"You… you said, it's already been a night?"
He had thought everything had merely advanced, but he hadn't expected that the terrifying killing intent that had repeatedly plagued him had already passed so easily.
Why?
Why hadn't she killed him this time, as she had before?
At this moment, immense joy, surprise, and trepidation surged through Liu Jiang Fusheng.
Gu Junshi's gaze was piercing, as if Liu Jiang Fusheng were merely a blank page in her eyes, and she understood his every thought.
At this moment… he must feel both love and hate towards her.
Or perhaps, more hate.
"Yes, you've been unconscious all night. Fusheng, do you have any other questions?"
Seeing him gradually calm down, she took a tentative step closer to him.
Liu Jiang Fusheng was lost in his own thoughts and didn't notice her movement.
"Heavenly Dao, what's his current resentment level?" Gu Junshi asked telepathically.
Heavenly Dao replied: "Resentment is still at maximum. Hurry up and satisfy him."
Gu Junshi merely scoffed at Heavenly Dao's urging.
Satisfy?
Satisfy him with what?
Liu Jiang Fusheng now was different from the Liu Jiang Fusheng of many later reincarnations, who was heartbroken, kept everything bottled up, sealed his heart, and shut out others.
He couldn't help but ask the question he had never been able to understand: "If one day, you suddenly wanted to kill me, what would be the reason?"
Gu Junshi knew this was a knot in his heart.
"Betrayal. I cannot accept that someone I care about would betray me one day, even if they were unaware, and even if nothing had happened yet."
Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies!
Liu Jiang Fusheng smiled at her and said the exact same words as before: "My wife, I indeed had a terrifying nightmare. I was thinking, what if one day, the nightmare became reality?"
But Gu Junshi no longer offered the insincere comfort of the past.
She finally reached him, leaned down, and looking into his eyes, said, "Then change it. Turn the nightmare into a sweet dream. I don't know what you dreamt of, but dreams are false, and I am the one standing before you, real."
He paused, and subconsciously repeated, "You are real?"
"That's right. You can slowly verify this sentence from now on."
—
The current Gu Junshi was not the Gu Junshi of this timeline. She had traveled back from the distant future. She had reversed time, just as Heavenly Dao had done initially, making modifications on the timeline. She had returned to the time when Liu Jiang Fusheng was still alive.
In her timeline, Liu Jiang Fusheng had already been killed by her to achieve enlightenment. But after becoming a god, she had used the "life-bound connection" and "guardian spell" she had secretly formed with him to revive him and share her immortal lifespan with him.
However, perhaps due to her previous ruthless methods, he had lost all desire to live and refused to wake up.
She knew that for whatever reason, no matter how many excuses she had to justify her intentions, the resentment in his heart towards her was still difficult to dispel.
Heavenly Dao believed that only by completely eliminating the resentment in his heart could he awaken.
Therefore, she and Heavenly Dao traveled back to the past, intending to solve this problem from the root.
Since two Gu Junshis could not exist in the same timeline, she had ruthlessly killed even herself.
And with the demon god, the source of calamity, eliminated by Gu Junshi, it would no longer exist in the past or future. Therefore, in this timeline, there would be no apocalyptic crisis, and it would operate steadily according to the path planned by Heavenly Dao.
This time, to make him wake up, Heavenly Dao suggested that Gu Junshi cooperate with and satisfy him according to his inner desires, to eliminate his resentment, and to stop bullying him.
This Heavenly Dao was the one who had accompanied Liu Jiang Fusheng as he grew up, and only It cared so much about Liu Jiang Fusheng.
Heavenly Dao saw Liu Jiang Fusheng, only in his third reincarnation, and apart from being somewhat neurotic and timid, he was neither blackened nor yandere. His eyes held a clear, foolish innocence.
It couldn't bear to look directly: "If it weren't for you, he would have already killed his wife to achieve enlightenment and regain his memories."
Is that so?
Gu Junshi mused.
"You say, if in this life, I follow your script and let him be surrounded by beauties, achieve great success, and finally ascend to immortality… will his resentment completely dissipate?"
Heavenly Dao hesitated: "And you? Although this might somewhat compensate for the harm you caused him in the past, you are the root of his resentment!"
"Indeed, I killed him seven times. How about… I let him kill me back seven times as repayment."
"...Will this method really work?"
"How will we know if we don't try."
She packed her luggage. Liu Jiang Fusheng had met Daoist Zhiyang yesterday. If nothing unexpected happened, they would be heading to the Dayan Sect, embarking on the great male protagonist's epic journey.
However, Liu Jiang Fusheng said, "I refuse."
Gu Junshi was rarely so stunned for so long.
"You… don't want to cultivate immortality?"
"No. Who knows if he's a liar."
Heavenly Dao laughed in exasperation: "He's like a newly hatched chick now. Without a mother hen's protection, he's afraid to leave the nest."
Without his memories, he was indeed uneasy about the world around him, especially encountering such a treacherous wife who had deceived both his body and his heart. He wouldn't easily trust Daoist Zhiyang's words.
"Why are you packing your luggage?" Liu Jiang Fusheng suddenly asked in panic.
His mind was frantically scrolling.
Is she going to abandon me?
Heavenly Dao heard it and said with a headache: "You should say something to comfort him. He's like a little rabbit about to be abandoned, his eyes are all red."
Gu Junshi: "..."
Liu Jiang Fusheng was both wronged and angry: "Why aren't you speaking?"
Gu Junshi sighed: "I'm thinking whether to explain first or to soothe your emotions first."
Saying that, she pulled him over, gently bit his soft lips, and then entered, stealing all his breath.