Chapter 131: The Past Life of Xingyun

"Can I not come to see you just because there is nothing wrong? Didn't you say that I would be with you two thousand years from now? Can you tell me how we ended up together?" Wan'er's voice was soft; she walked in and sat on a round stool near the bed.

I was taken aback. This girl was actually quite easy to get along with! I took this as her showing concern for me. I simply recounted the story of how we came to be together.

After listening to my narrative, Wan'er frowned and said, "You tell it so vividly, yet I have no sense of it at all. You say you are human and I am a ghost; how can a human and a ghost be together?"

I had no choice but to explain it to her, telling her the truth: that she was a corpse-ghost hybrid, and that was how we were together. She then asked if we were married, and I said no. When she asked why, I told her the time wasn't right yet, choosing not to tell her about Wang Ying; I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

Looking at her quiet and elegant demeanor, I felt quite moved. Being alive suited this girl much better than being a corpse-ghost hybrid. I couldn't help but ask, "Wan'er, with you in my room like this, won't Ziyi be jealous?"

Wan'er smiled slightly. "Why would he be jealous? Aren't you two the same person? Didn't you say you are his future incarnation?"

That was true, but I still felt a bit strange about it. I always felt that this Ziyi was not me; when I stood next to him, it felt like we were two different people. "That's good then. Wan'er, can you tell me about you and Ziyi?"

"Alright. Ziyi and I were childhood sweethearts. Both of our families were noble houses of the State of Ju. My mother died shortly after giving birth to me, and since she was a concubine, no one liked me except for my father. Especially the Queen of Hejun—she detested me the most," Wan'er said.

Hearing her mention the Queen of Hejun, I remembered the person. Wan'er had told me before that she had been poisoned to death by this woman, and after her death, Ziyi had gone to find the Blood Linglong for her, eventually becoming trapped in the King of Ju's tomb. What would happen if I told her the truth right now?

I hesitated. I wanted so much to tell her, but the words died on my lips. I had traveled back in time, and the history behind me was already set. If I told her, she would surely take strict precautions, and history would be altered. That was not an option!

So, I said nothing, only asking her to take good care of herself, to spend more time with Ziyi, and to avoid the Queen of Hejun.

Wan'er nodded and said she understood, adding that she usually stayed at Ziyi's house and spent most of her time with Ziyu, telling me not to worry.

After chatting for a while, Wan'er stood up to leave. I wanted to ask her to stay but didn't dare. I felt conflicted; the Wan'er from two thousand years later was still this same Wan'er—the same soul, the same body—only now, she had no concept or familiarity with me.

At the door, Wan'er turned back and gave a light, graceful smile. "Don't bother seeing me off. Take this; in that world, he will naturally be with you." As she spoke, she personally hung a pendant around my neck. Under the moonlight, it was a Guanyin carved from white jade. When she leaned in to hang the pendant, I caught the scent of her, and I truly wanted to embrace her. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Wan'er, where are you going now? To find Ziyi?" I didn't know what was wrong with me. Even though I knew Ziyi was my past self, I felt like he was another person entirely, and seeing Wan'er treat him well made me feel sour.

Wan'er smiled and shook her head. "We aren't married yet; we will be together after the wedding. It's getting late, you should get some rest." With that, she moved with light, lotus-like steps and walked away.

"Wan'er." She had walked more than ten meters away, but I called out to her again.

Wan'er turned back. "Is something the matter?"

"Treat Ziyi well. He suffered quite a lot later on." I could never forget the sight of Ziyi standing in the King of Ju's tomb, wielding the Fengchi divine weapon.

Wan'er laughed again. "What do you mean? Are you complaining that I'm not good to you?"

I offered a bitter smile and said nothing more, waving my hand to signal her to go.

As I closed the door, I thought to myself that perhaps Wan'er saw Ziyi and me as the same person. Yet, I always felt we were two, and I even looked down on myself a little—why was I jealous of Ziyi? He was me!

The next day, before I had even risen, maidservants came to attend to me. I didn't recognize these two girls, and when they started to help me dress, I was so startled that I quickly sent them away. Ancient noble houses were truly too decadent.

At noon, Ziyi prepared a carriage, and we went to Feilai Peak—later known as Mount Fulai. Accompanying us were Wan'er, Ziyu, Pangshao, and Tianxing. Having met Tianxing in the King of Ju's tomb, I felt quite fond of him. He looked at me, then at Ziyi, and exclaimed how strange it was.

On the road, I shared a carriage with Ziyi, while Wan'er and Ziyu took another, and Tianxing and Pangshao took the third. Sitting in the carriage, I chatted casually with Ziyi.

"Brother, in the time you speak of, you must treat Wan'er well! Her mother died young, and she has suffered much; you must never let her feel sad or hurt," Ziyi said earnestly.

"Yes, of course, rest assured. But you must treat her well right now, too." We were originally the same person, yet sitting face to face, discussing the same woman across two thousand years—this was an extraordinary and peculiar experience for anyone.

We both nodded in agreement; no matter which space we were in, we would protect and care for Wan'er.

When we arrived at Feilai Peak, the shape of the mountain had hardly changed, but there were still significant differences. In our time, the trunk of that tall ginkgo tree was over ten meters around, but looking at it now, it was nowhere near as large.

However, I did see Dinglin Temple.

Looking at the temple, I felt a burning desire to rush in and tear it down. But I only thought about it, because the stinking monk Xingyun wasn't there at all, and over the course of two thousand years, the temple would be renovated many times.

Ziyi led us inside to burn incense. As we were leaving, we saw a commotion at the temple gate. We hurried over to find a few fierce-looking young men beating an old beggar.

Tianxing quickly stepped forward to intervene. Seeing that Tianxing was an official, the thugs scattered. We rushed over to help the old beggar up.

The old beggar looked to be sixty or seventy, dirty and smelling foul, looking pathetic. He held a sweet potato in his hand, covered in mud, yet he couldn't bear to throw it away.

Ziyu and Wan'er quickly took out some copper coins and gave them to the beggar. The old beggar didn't say thank you; he just chuckled and walked away. It was clear that he wasn't just an old beggar, but a madman—what we would call mentally ill in our time. As I watched him, I suddenly felt he looked very familiar. Looking closer, the beggar looked exactly like Xingyun.

It wasn't just a resemblance! He was clearly him!

I fell silent. How strange! To see the past incarnation of Xingyun here. If I killed him now, I wondered if he would still come back to harm people two thousand years later.

I was just daydreaming; being with Ziyi, I certainly couldn't kill anyone. The State of Ju was a country with a sound legal system. I had a sudden thought: if I could see Xingyun's past self here, would I see Wang Ying's too?

At that moment, I realized I missed Wang Ying.

I should go back. Since I had already obtained the Luoshui Ring, there was no need to stay here any longer. I had things to do back home, and I didn't know how Yueyue was doing.

"Brother, what's wrong? Did seeing that old beggar make you uncomfortable?" Ziyu walked over and asked.

"No, nothing. I was just thinking that perhaps it's time for me to go back." Even though all these things hadn't happened yet, and people like Wang Ying and Tianxing hadn't even been born, the memories were in my head, and I wanted to return early.

"Brother, are we leaving?" I tapped Pangshao on the shoulder.

Pangshao grinned. "Brother, why don't you go back? I'll stay here with Ziyi. As a noble of the State of Ju, there's endless luxury and wealth to enjoy!"

I was speechless. This guy actually had such an idea! I quickly leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Brother, can you have a little ambition? People will laugh at us."

Pangshao slanted his eyes. "Laugh at what? Your past self is still you, what's wrong with hanging out with you? Most importantly, there are so many beauties here, and I heard that in ancient times, you can marry many wives!"