“Yes, Clan Leader, quickly present the token to His Majesty the Flower King!” urged the Qinghe Clan Leader, who had just stepped forward to plead for He Nian’s forgiveness.
“The token… I left in a hurry and didn’t bring it!” He Nian said unwillingly.
The expressions of the crowd darkened instantly. Coming to pledge loyalty without the token? Who would believe this wasn’t intentional!
“In that case…” Yun Qingxue smirked coldly. “Then you may leave! I have no need for subordinates who scheme behind my back!”
“Your Majesty!” The group accompanying He Nian knelt in unison. “Please forgive us!”
He Nian clenched her fists. “Does the Flower King truly lack the magnanimity to forgive a subordinate’s mistake?”
“Clan Leader!” The people behind her frowned and called out.
“Have I said anything wrong? Why should I follow a ruler with no tolerance?” He Nian pressed on.
Yun Qingxue laughed icily. “Members of the Qinghe Clan, listen well—those willing to stay and serve me may remain. Those unwilling, leave Luoyun Mountain with your Clan Leader immediately!
I have no use for disloyal subordinates!”
With that, Yun Qingxue turned and walked away.
“Clan Leader… You… Ah!” The elders behind He Nian looked at her disapprovingly, shouting, “Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”
But Yun Qingxue didn’t even glance back.
“Qingxue!” A cheerful voice rang out from nearby as Xiao Xiaoxiao dashed over, eyes sparkling. “Qingxue, I heard someone challenged you! So? Has the duel started? I even brought snacks!”
Yun Qingxue: “…It’s already over.”
Xiao Xiaoxiao’s face fell instantly. “An instant defeat? What a pity! Why didn’t you toy with them? Ugh!”
Yun Qingxue: “…”
The crowd: “…”
What a troublemaker!
“Let’s go.” Yun Qingxue motioned to Xiao Xiaoxiao, but the latter suddenly stared at He Nian’s direction in surprise. “Huh… That person seems… off.”
Yun Qingxue paused mid-step and turned. “How so?”
She scrutinized He Nian carefully before adding, “The traces are faint, but… her body and soul aren’t fully fused. It seems she’s not the original.”
“What do you mean…?” Yun Qingxue was slightly startled.
“She’s a soul possessing another’s body!” Xiao Xiaoxiao declared, a hint of pride in her tone. “After centuries in the underworld, I’ve got an eye for these things!”
“Can you force the intruding soul out?” Yun Qingxue asked.
“Of course!” Xiao Xiaoxiao grinned and suddenly lunged at He Nian without warning.
He Nian gasped, as did her Qinghe clansmen. Though displeased with her behavior, they instinctively moved to shield her.
But before they could act, an overwhelming pressure pinned them in place, rendering them immobile.
“Your Majesty! Clan Leader He Nian is merely confused! Please show mercy!” one of the elders cried in panic.
Meanwhile, Xiao Xiaoxiao reached He Nian. With a swift hand seal, she struck He Nian’s chest and forehead simultaneously.
“Clan Leader!” The restrained Qinghe clansmen wailed.
He Nian’s body collapsed to the ground, while a spectral figure remained standing where she had been.
“That is not your Clan Leader He Nian!” Yun Qingxue stated coolly, withdrawing her suppression spell. Her icy gaze fixed on the soul Xiao Xiaoxiao had expelled.
One glance was all it took for long-buried hatred to flare within her.
It was her!
Yun Qingxue never imagined that Lin Chuchu—the woman who had tried to steal her heart in her past life—had also crossed souls into the Xuanling Continent!
That face—she’d recognize it even in ashes.
“Clan Leader!” The Qinghe clansmen threw themselves over He Nian’s fallen body, weeping bitterly.
“Enough!” Yun Qingxue snapped impatiently. “Look closely at the soul extracted from your Clan Leader’s body!”
The Qinghe clansmen froze, then turned to the displaced spirit…
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Finally, someone from the Qinghe Clan spat out two furious, stunned words: “Soul theft!”
“Who are you?! How dare you seize the body of our Qinghe Clan Leader!”
Lin Chuchu’s eyes flickered with panic, but she quickly steadied herself. She dropped to her knees before Yun Qingxue, sobbing, “Your Majesty, just because He Nian acted improperly, must you frame me like this?”
“Lin Chuchu… we meet again.” Yun Qingxue’s lips curled into a frosty smile.
“I… I don’t know you!” Lin Chuchu’s soul avoided Yun Qingxue’s gaze.
“Hahaha…” Yun Qingxue suddenly laughed, her eyes devoid of warmth. “Really? Weren’t you always after my heart before?
I thought you were dead. Yet here you are, having stolen the Qinghe Clan Leader’s body!”
“Yun Qingxue! Why won’t you just stay dead?!” Lin Chuchu, realizing further pretense was pointless, shed all pretense of innocence, her hatred laid bare.
“Stay dead?” Yun Qingxue sneered. “This is called fate’s wheel turning.
Do you know who just extracted your soul from He Nian’s body? Heh… She’s the Underworld Queen!
Xiaoxiao!”
Yun Qingxue turned to Xiao Xiaoxiao. “When this ‘friend’ of mine reaches the underworld, make sure to give her a warm welcome.”
“No problem!” Xiao Xiaoxiao grinned. “I’ll treat her even better than I did Zhou Dao, that scum!
Since she loves stealing hearts, I’ll have hers dug out and put back a hundred times a day!”
For the first time, Xiao Xiaoxiao’s smile turned cruel. With a wave, thick black chains coiled around Lin Chuchu’s soul.
Then, with another hand seal, Lin Chuchu vanished.
“Your Majesty… What… What just happened?” the Qinghe clansmen stammered in shock.
“Did none of you sense anything amiss when your Clan Leader was possessed?” Yun Qingxue countered.
No wonder she’d felt an undercurrent of hostility from He Nian from the start!
Her enemy from her past life had returned.
In this life, Lin Chuchu had taken on a completely different appearance and name, while Yun Qingxue had only grown more beautiful, her features still resembling her past self—even her name unchanged.
So… Lin Chuchu must have recognized her at a glance!
The Qinghe clansmen fell into deep thought…
After a long pause, one elder finally recalled, “Our Clan Leader was once gentle, kind, and serene as water.
But over three hundred years ago, she announced she would enter seclusion to break through to the Eternal Realm from the Great Demon late stage. Yet when she emerged… her cultivation had regressed to the Spirit Gathering late stage!”
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