“What could possibly bypass the border defenses and sneak into Linjiang? I shall see for myself!” Li Tan said sternly, striding forward with a gloomy expression. Turning a corner, he returned to the main hall. Upon taking a clear look, his angry expression turned to astonishment. “Jiang Xin?”
On the dim floor beneath the ancestral tablets in the main hall lay a stunning woman in a white dress, lying on her side. Her eyes were bloodshot, her expression fierce, struggling yet unable to escape Li Tan’s control.
“A soul?”
No, a cultivator’s soul wouldn’t be this easy to handle, and she seemed to lack consciousness.”
Li Tan took a couple of steps forward and cautiously asked, “Why are you in this state?”
Jiang Xin let out a low growl at Li Tan but didn’t utter a word.
Li Tan quickly formed a hypothesis, “Indeed, her consciousness is lost. It seems something unusual has caused her to become like this. Cui mentioned leaving something for her; it might be related.”
“Do you still know who you are?”
Li Tan asked, slightly bowing his head, yet still received no response.
He tried again, “Do you still remember Cui Hao?”
At the moment Li Tan spoke, Jiang Xin’s somewhat ethereal body trembled slightly.
“There’s hope.”
Li Tan thought to himself, his spirits lifting. Seizing the moment, he continued, “Do you remember the Domain of Falling Immortals? That was where you two first met. It was raining heavily back then.”
“Lying on the ground, Jiang Xin’s expression stiffened slightly.”
Seeing that mentioning Cui Hao had an effect, Li Tan recalled the letter’s contents and his own memories of Cui, gradually bringing up more details about him.
Unfortunately, Jiang Xin ultimately failed to shake off her dazed state.
“No luck?” Disappointed, Li Tan was about to give up when he thought of Cui Hao’s often desolate expression and couldn’t bear to abandon the effort. Finally, he sighed and said, “I’ll do this as a favor for him. Since there’s an ancient qin here, Cui must have played that piece for Jiang Xin before. Perhaps that could work.”
With those words, Li Tan took Jiang Xin to a storeroom, sat before the qin, and as he touched the strings, he couldn’t help but recall the previous qin melody, a trace of doubt arising in his mind.
It was said across the Jiuzhou continent that ordinary people believed in ghosts and deities. However, certain explorers had proven that above the Nine Heavens there was only thin, suffocating air and no golden palaces. Similarly, deep underground there was no underworld. When people died, they simply died. All beings were equal in this regard, returning to dust and earth unless they cultivated their souls and gained the chance of rebirth.
Jiang Xin, who should have committed suicide thirty years ago, couldn’t possibly have the ability to cultivate her soul. Yet now she existed here in a state similar to, yet distinct from, a soul. What exactly had happened?
Li Tan considered two hypotheses: one was a spiritual treasure like the Desolate Pagoda; the other was some sinister magic. At present, neither possibility could be ruled out.
“I probably only knew the surface of what happened in Linjiang back then.” After the antidote for the poison Li Tan had taken, one night while he slept at home, he awoke to find himself deep within the Domain of Falling Immortals. After a series of coincidences brought him back to Linjiang, the previous tripartite balance had already collapsed into a single dominant power. His entire family had been wiped out, and the city lord had been replaced by a cruel and violent man.
From his current vantage point, Li Tan swiftly analyzed, “I must have been captured by someone who evaded all the Lin family’s surveillance—an individual whose cultivation surely exceeded the Xiantian realm. They intended to kill me, but midway through, confident in their scheme, they simply cast me into the Domain of Falling Immortals, leaving me for dead. Judging by the outcome, their objective was to unite the three great families. But why resort to such extreme measures?”
They were just a few minor families; if they wanted to eliminate them, they could have done so directly. There was no need for such an elaborate scheme.”
“Besides the three prominent families in Linjiang, there must be a hidden force lurking in the shadows. All the events happening now might be orchestrated by them, including my father’s death later on.”
Li Tan’s fingers gently trembled against the qin strings, pressing down harder, a flash of killing intent flickering in his eyes, “Last time you toyed with me at your leisure. This time, I will definitely turn the tables!”
The anger quickly dissipated, returning to calmness. Li Tan redirected his focus to Jiang Xin, channeling his spiritual energy into her spiritual form before plucking the strings. The qin’s melody was long and distant, filled with boundless sorrow.
A song accompanied the music: “Remembering the old friend in the Domain of Falling Immortals, losing the homeland, who knows how many times the heart has chilled?”
When the song ended, time itself seemed forgotten, insignificant.
Li Tan raised his head and noticed more liveliness in Jiang Xin’s dark eyes. Her body no longer struggled as violently as before.
“Do you remember someone playing this piece for you somewhere else?”
Li Tan asked gently.
She seemed to mutter to herself with difficulty, forming syllables one by one until they formed Cui Hao’s name.
Li Tan cautiously released the spiritual bindings on Jiang Xin. She neither used illusions nor tried to escape. He asked more questions about Cui Hao, and although Jiang Xin couldn’t answer any of them, Li Tan felt joy inside. Her reactions meant there was hope of restoring her consciousness. Once Jiang Xin awoke, besides helping Cui Hao, many other matters would also be resolved.
“For now, this will do.”
Muttering a few words, Li Tan turned to Jiang Xin and said, “You are not a soul. You must be existing through some object. Try not to appear often in the future to avoid unnecessary trouble.”
Jiang Xin’s spirit leaned against the qin, staring blankly at Li Tan.
“Oh, you can’t understand.”
Li Tan infused a strand of spiritual energy into her spirit.
This spiritual energy was specially formed to protect Jiang Xin while also preventing her from suddenly attacking people.
Thinking of this, Li Tan’s gaze shifted to the guard’s corpse, sighing helplessly, “One trouble after another. I haven’t even resolved the matter with Lin Jingwu yet.”
He slightly lowered his head, thinking for a moment before saying, “Lin Yuan will definitely target him against me. If things get too bad, I’ll have no choice but to reveal my hand early.”
Muttering a few more words, Li Tan, unable to dispose of the body, simply left the guard lying in the storeroom and directly returned to his bedroom to cultivate.
In Lin Mansion, within an ancient courtyard, a half-open window glowed with lamplight. Inside was a study, yet it contained no books; the shelves were empty, adorned only with various decorative items.
Lin Long sat slumped at the desk, while Gu Lin gently massaged his shoulders.
“Li Tan has moved into that courtyard house.”
Although Lin Long’s expression remained neutral, concern flickered in his eyes.
“You’re worried about his safety?” Gu Lin asked slowly.
Lin Long nodded, “That place isn’t safe. I fear something might happen to Li Tan.”
After a moment’s thought, Gu Lin said, “My lord worries too much. Nothing has ever happened there. However, there is one thing I don’t understand.”
“Please speak freely.”
Lin Long responded.
Gu Lin showed a puzzled expression, “Why has that courtyard house, which has never been vacant, never been torn down?”
Lin Long sighed, “My father gave strict orders never to touch it.”
“Master Lin was wise all his life. Although this order seems strange, there must be a reason,” Gu Lin mused.
“Yes, back then the Lin family was merely second-rate. It was entirely due to my father’s brilliance that we attained our current status. How could I possibly defy his last wishes?”
As Lin Long spoke of his father, admiration filled his expression.
Gu Lin smiled slightly, “Still, that place is indeed eerie. In summer, it’s unbearably hot outside but chillingly cool inside. To prevent any accidents, perhaps tomorrow we should have Li Tan move elsewhere.”
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