Echoes of Longing
"I've already come out of the book, are these locked chapters still unreadable?" Yingshi said as she cried. "I want to see how Shuangjian is doing now..."
He was still sending her signals through the titles.
Before finally being swallowed by Xiangxiang, the Nether Demon Lord self-destructed, and the entire Immortal-Folding Cave was collapsing. She still didn't know if Shuangjian had suffered severe injuries, if seeing her disappear would break his heart, or if he would feel even more lost and helpless facing a world made increasingly absurd by Jing Fengliu's interference!
How could she not cry? How could she not despair?
Returning to reality, returning to her family and friends should clearly be the happiest thing, but now her heart felt soaked in seawater. She couldn't taste the slightest joy of escape, as if she would never be happy again!
Shuangjian was such a gentle person. Even though he became the one left behind, his despair must be many, many times greater than hers, yet his first reaction was to try and comfort her...
"I can't open them," Jing Fengliu said gloomily. "I tried long ago. This main text is completely the version you modified. Whether you come out or not, the impact you left behind is already sealed inside the book. Otherwise, why would it be so difficult for me to modify anything? All I can operate are the various auxiliary functions, items, and character designs in this draft box. I can't touch the main text!"
"..."
Yingshi couldn't listen to a word he was saying. She glared angrily at Jing Fengliu as tears washed down her face in streams. At this point, the tears themselves were no longer just venting her emotions, but an endless flow from a physiological reaction. No matter how much she cried, it couldn't wash away her powerlessness and sorrow.
Her hands were clenched into fists, her whole body tense. It was a highly hostile posture, as if in the next second she would throw one punch right at the dog author's face and another at the computer screen.
"...Don't look at me like that." Jing Fengliu awkwardly avoided her gaze. He swallowed and said weakly, "Even if Zhubao didn't act as I envisioned, the two of you couldn't have come out smoothly anyway. Who told you that everything would end once the Nether Demon Lord died? My plot isn't supposed to wrap up until two years later. You achieved the final goal early, but time still has to move forward! Otherwise, if you killed the Demon Lord on the first day, what else would there be to read? In the book world, this is called axing the outline..."
As he spoke, the aforementioned Zhubao quietly walked out of another room, grunting softly.
Seeing that small teacup pig, whose appearance was incredibly familiar with only a slight difference in size, Yingshi was both shocked and angry.
"Xiangxiang?! It really was your spy! How did you write it in!"
Seeing that she seemed about to rush over, Jing Fengliu hurriedly blocked the little pig. "What are you doing? Zhubao is innocent, it doesn't know anything! It's merely the prototype I used as a reference for the setting!"
He didn't have the ability to send the soul of a little pig envoy to transmigrate. Otherwise, why wouldn't he use this ability on himself?
Why not just design himself as an invincible and unattackable existence like a game GM, enter the book world, go on a killing spree, and ruthlessly crush the male lead into the sand?
—He didn't possess that kind of authority.
Even the rule that modifying minor settings required him to exchange popularity points was something he only figured out later.
As for Yingshi transmigrating into the book, that had absolutely nothing to do with him!
This was also one of the reasons why he wanted to take control of everything—the book he wrote seemed to be autonomously absorbing a specific innocent person. This was something he needed to stop!
Yingshi's footsteps paused slightly. Hearing his words, the light in her eyes that had finally sparked rapidly dimmed again. She bit her lip until it almost bled, and finally couldn't help but squat on the ground, crying out loud.
"I don't want you to streak naked, I want to see Shuangjian! Jing Fengliu, I hate you to death, I've hated you for a long time!" she shouted.
Indeed, the moment she saw Xiangxiang, the hypothesis that Jing Fengliu sent her back to the alternate world by modifying the settings quickly formed in her mind, but unfortunately, it was vetoed before she could even bring it up.
Then... was there really no other way?
Jing Fengliu couldn't send her... Right, exactly, because I See Frost and Snow was already a Domain. She and Shuangjian had discussed matters regarding Domains. It was so mysterious, and they had once entered the same Domain twice within the altar. This must mean that it wasn't impossible for her to return to that alternate world where Shuangjian was left behind... She could definitely still bring him home! As long as she found the real method.
Just like how getting out of the Domain meant completely absorbing the core value of the Marrow Cleansing Spring, and then being able to find that spring eye... And when they wanted to return to the Domain, what did they do? Or rather, what happened?
The first time, at the bottom of the Repentance Cliff, she severed all the chains under Shuangjian's instructions.
The second time, inside the Gate of Death, Xiangxiang mistakenly ate the spirit charm within the karmic fire.
The third time... was there a third time?
Of course there was! However, it shouldn't be called the third time. For her, that was clearly the true first time—she saw the locked-novel declaration on the trending searches, stayed up late reading the book, and transmigrated into the book I See Frost and Snow. That was her first experience entering the Domain!
The crying stopped abruptly.
"..."
Jing Fengliu stood stiffly in place.
Facing Yingshi's emotional outburst, before losing the bet, he still had some will to debate with her. But ever since being shocked by that new three-character title, he had visibly become much more guilty. He couldn't utter any more smears against Shuangjian, yet he didn't know how to console this junior who was over ten years younger than him—alright, he had to admit that his own temperament was also extremely childish.
After all, apart from the difficulty of writing novels unsmoothly in his youth, he was a rich second-generation slacker with a fairly leisurely life and no goals to strive for.
Choosing to fill the plot holes was entirely an attempt to salvage his few remaining life values. In the end, it would have been better not to make such a struggle...
Jing Fengliu was speechless for a moment. Seeing that Yingshi had stopped crying, he tightened his heart and whispered, "Have you calmed down? We can still discuss this together..."
The young girl actually raised her head. Her face was mottled with tear stains, but there was actually a hint of calmness in her expression.
If her family and friends saw it, they would probably feel it was incongruous, because that was not a Yingshi brand expression, but rather gave a strong sense of deja vu of a certain Qidian male lead.
Jing Fengliu couldn't help but be stunned by it. Immediately after, he heard the young girl's trembling voice say, "Okay... but before that, can you first add a setting to the book?"
One month in the book was merely one hour in reality.
She had been awake for less than three hours and had cried until she was out of breath, while Shuangjian had already experienced almost a whole season of such pain.
Between them, even comfort had a time difference.
"What setting?" Jing Fengliu furrowed his brows.
His method of acting crazy on Weibo to trick traffic was no longer going to work, but when he posted the missing person notice at the end, he seemed to have gathered a small wave of popularity. This request... wasn't entirely impossible, right.
"Just write that a type of egg called the 'Yingshi Beast' has appeared on the Holy Spirit Mountain, but it still needs time to incubate. This egg naturally chose Shuangjian. If he is sad, sorrowful, mistreats himself, or exchanges anything at the cost of self-mutilation, the egg will not grow healthily..." Yingshi lowered her head and said hoarsely, "At most, two years—which is the time when the plot would normally end—the Yingshi Beast will definitely hatch."
"..." Jing Fengliu's mouth twitched.
Under normal circumstances, he would definitely refuse this request.
How could something that sounded as ridiculously funny as a "Yingshi Beast" appear in his book?
But now his book was a complete mess. Ever since Perfected Lord Dongming, Xu Mingcheng and his son, and Mr. Hundred-Thousand-Know-It-All rushed to the Holy Spirit Mountain from all directions to corner someone, there was no possibility of salvaging it.
"Fine," Jing Fengliu sighed. "However, you still have to realize that even if two years pass, this egg won't hatch, and even if it does, it won't be you..."
"Who said so?" Yingshi looked at him expressionlessly. She stood up, walked to the table, and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose. "My extreme 24-hour rescue plan hasn't even started yet."
Jing Fengliu looked up in astonishment. "What is that? No, you still haven't given up?"
Yingshi's response to this was a cold sneer, followed by the whisper of a demon: "Teacher Jing Fengliu, you shouldn't be short on money, right? Go buy some internet ghostwriters and try it out."
"..."
"Remember to buy them for 'I See Frost and Snow', stop hyping yourself up."
"...Why?"
"Because the first time I transmigrated, the trending topic was about 'I See Frost and Snow' being locked, not about Jing Fengliu suspected of being diagnosed with schizophrenia."
"Ah? Does it have anything to do with this! And, can we really buy ghostwriters?" Jing Fengliu suddenly realized and sat down at the computer desk. His hands were already typing on the keyboard, but then he suddenly froze—wait, why was he cooperating?
...
The weather turned cooler. In the blink of an eye, another winter was approaching.
While carrying out a mission, Xinmei walked through the mortal world, her footsteps involuntarily stopping in front of a small vendor selling flatbreads.
The last time she met Yingshi, she had wanted to try making flatbreads to treat them.
But time was tight back then, and they never got to enjoy that treat.
As for later...
Xinmei sighed, opened her palm, and stared blankly at the coin in her hand.
Sometimes, she felt that the world she lived in was a bit strange.
Like this thing—a new type of currency that had appeared in the cultivation world over the past few months, engraved with the portrait of a young girl.
It looked so much like her former sect sister, Yingshi, who had disappeared on the Holy Spirit Mountain about a year ago.
In fact, there were quite a few similar strange occurrences, but most of the time everyone took them for granted. Only very occasionally would someone like Xinmei space out and feel a sense of anomaly.
However, even if the anomaly was felt, it was difficult to capture that feeling thoroughly and permanently.
Xinmei carefully handed the coin over. "Boss, I'd like a stuffed flatbread..."
The boss stood there dumbfounded, his gaze passing over her to look behind.
Xinmei turned her head to follow his gaze and couldn't help but freeze as well.
The young man seemed taller than last year, and the unique innocence of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old had faded.
He rode past on horseback, his bamboo hat blown up by the wind, his expression indifferent, his hair fluttering lightly.
Indeed... it was a stunning appearance. For mortals seeing him for the first time, the impact must have been even stronger. It was normal to be dumbstruck.
Xinmei had also heard these past two days that a great hero who had slain a snake demon had arrived in the city. Today must be the day he returned to his sect.
Junior Brother Han... No, that wasn't right. He was a disciple of the Dao One Immortal Alliance; she shouldn't call him Junior Brother anymore.
Han Shuangjian didn't seem to have changed much from her memory, but suddenly seeing an old acquaintance, Xinmei couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow.
She thought of the times she had schemed and gathered intelligence for Yingshi.
At that time, she couldn't have predicted that not long after, what she received wouldn't be the good news of Yingshi and Shuangjian falling in love, but the news of the young girl's unknown whereabouts and suspected demise...
Xinmei's heart ached slightly. She couldn't help but withdraw her gaze and clenched the coin in her hand.
This flatbread... she'd better not buy it after all.
...
The seasons in the Dao One Immortal Alliance changed according to mood.
The osmanthus flowers that had bloomed for several seasons finally withered.
Not due to wind and rain, nor due to the spring chill, but just one early morning, when the disciples pushed open their doors and windows, they saw the ground covered in fine golden stamens, the branches already completely bare.
Almost as if making way, they withered entirely overnight, replaced by another newly born plant—they grew extremely fast, becoming tall and canopy-like in just a few days. The shape of the branches and leaves was very special, with a lovely roundness, and the back of the tender green leaves had silvery-white fuzz.
The fragrance was also different from osmanthus, clear and sweet with a slight tartness, like the scent of some unripe fruit. When the wind blew, the fragrance could drift very far.
Bai Fangsui quite liked this plant that had replaced the osmanthus trees, except it had an incredibly strange name—the Yingshi Tree.
The first time she heard the name of this tree, she couldn't help but frown.
It was too bizarre, wasn't it?
This kind of tree grew overnight and bore someone's name, so why did everyone accept it so naturally?
But her Master liked this plant very much. When she went to pay her respects, she often saw her standing by the window admiring the flowers.
Bai Fangsui liked the peace her Master exuded at those times, so she also came to like this plant called the Yingshi Tree, even though its existence was so abrupt, causing her to space out a few times.
While collecting flower dew for her Master, she saw a familiar yet unfamiliar man standing under the tree in the distance, and couldn't help but stop in her tracks.
It was Han Shuangjian.
The person suspected of entering demonic cultivation whom she had once viciously targeted.
At this moment, he stood silently under the tree, seemingly staring blankly at the flowers and leaves.
Bai Fangsui pursed her lips. She vaguely knew that this person had come down from the Pagoda of Stupa.
She owed him... them an apology.
Now, she would no longer suspect Han Shuangjian of being a demonic cultivator—only those with the most resolute Dao hearts could ascend the Pagoda of Stupa.
Two months ago, she challenged the seventh floor and could go no higher, yet she heard that the person before her had already cleared the top floor.
If it were that young girl... how many floors could she have broken through?
She heard that originally, they were both going to become disciples under Perfected Lord Dongming together, but a few months later, Han Shuangjian was the only one left to enter.
Bai Fangsui felt a faint, inexplicable melancholy of times having changed. She turned around in silence and took a detour back.
Anyway, that tree full of flowers probably only wanted to bloom for a certain someone to see.
...
By the time Duan Qinghe ascended the Holy Spirit Mountain, it was already the autumn of the second year.
He was already an outstanding figure among his peers, but compared to that person, he was still far behind.
In fact, strictly speaking, the other party was his junior.
—Han Shuangjian.
Legends about him were everywhere in the cultivation world. He seemed to have become the universally recognized strongest expert.
Such a person should rightly be praised, worshipped, and surrounded by the world... but strangely, he wasn't.
He always came and went alone, keeping his mouth shut, like a ghost floating through the cultivation world.
Clearly, Duan Qinghe had seen him traveling with companions before, but that had been two years ago.
...Was it because he was simply too lonely?
Many of his choices and actions were somewhat incomprehensible to Duan Qinghe.
With his strength already at such a staggering level, what need was there for him to study at the Dao One Immortal Alliance? What need was there to take on ordinary demon-slaying missions? What need was there to brave various secret realms, only to desire absolutely none of the rewards hidden within?
It was as if he were merely going through the motions, only caring about the process and indifferent to the result—or rather, indifferent to the superficial result...
Duan Qinghe gazed at the figure standing on the mountain peak, silently shook his head, and withdrew his sight.
Looking at the barefoot girl in yellow walking toward him with a small booklet in hand, he smiled. "Miss Qiaoyuan, it is said that the Holy Spirit Mountain was nearly destroyed by a disaster two years ago. Looking at it now, it seems to have been mostly restored."
Qiaoyuan blinked at him, made a shushing gesture, and handed the booklet over.
"The answers you are looking for are inside. Feel free to read through it yourself."
"Thank you for the trouble." Duan Qinghe nodded. Realizing that Qiaoyuan had no desire to discuss anything related to the disaster from two years ago, he quickly lowered his eyes and began to examine the illustrated book.
He had come here for the Divine Eagle spiritual pet he had just subdued.
However, this spiritual pet possessed an incredibly proud nature. To completely bind with it, he had to be able to answer a specific question about it. Climbing the Holy Spirit Mountain and enduring the perilous journey to seek out its origins was the only way.
He gently turned the yellowed pages, only finding the section on the Divine Eagle at the very end.
Lineage: Divine Eagle
Rank: Supreme
Talent: Lightning
...
His gaze rested on the page, yet he could not focus. His eyes could not help but drift further down.
Beneath the introduction to the Soul-Guiding Beast, there was another exceptionally bizarre description—
Lineage: Yingshi Beast
Rank: Legendary
Talent: ...
"Time and space travel?" Duan Qinghe murmured softly.
