Chapter 275: Reincarnation

After confirming the hidden location of Lady Qingyi's tomb, Gu Mo issued a command, sending Liu Hong into a deep sleep from which he would remember nothing upon waking. Immediately, Gu Mo and his companions departed Qingyi Village.

Mount Tianyi was not far from Qingyi Village.

Following Liu Hong's directions, they indeed found a sinkhole at the mountain's summit, embedded in the exposed rock layers, resembling the slightly parted lips and teeth of the earth.

The sinkhole, with a diameter of merely ten feet, was rimmed with dark brown moss, and a few fronds of ferns hung down, casting fragmented golden shadows into its depths. As they leaned in, the mountain wind abruptly shifted tone, emitting a low moan and carrying the scent of damp earth from the unfathomable bottom.

Qi Tianshu said gravely, "According to Liu Hong, anyone who enters Lady Qingyi's tomb will be afflicted with her curse upon exiting, which is quite sinister. Therefore, I personally suggest that Great Hero Gu and I descend to investigate."

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "I believe Sect Leader Qi's words are reasonable."

None of the others objected. After all, among those present, Gu Mo and Qi Tianshu were undeniably the most powerful in terms of cultivation.

Immediately after, Gu Mo and Qi Tianshu exchanged a glance, then simultaneously leaped, plunging directly into the sinkhole.

The descending wind created a sharp whistling in their ears. The Gouchen Demonic Blade in Gu Mo's hand instantly blazed with fierce flames. Although Gu Mo's vision was largely unaffected by the darkness, he was accustomed to having light.

At the same time, Qi Tianshu, holding a long sword, drew a cold arc of light in the gloom. The two descended rapidly, their figures passing through layers of shadows in the darkness.

When the descending gale suddenly turned viscous, Gu Mo keenly noticed the shift in airflow. Looking up, he saw a vine-covered opening on the left rock wall, about forty to fifty feet below, exhaling damp mist. Fluorescent moss hung from the edge of the opening, swaying like a beaded curtain.

He instantly moved horizontally, his toes touching mid-air as if sprouted wings, crushing a few clusters of fluorescent spores. He floated towards the opening as if walking on air. However, the moment he stepped inside the cave, Gu Mo suddenly felt a surge of sinister energy that made him very uncomfortable.

Qi Tianshu, on the other hand, swiftly thrust his sword into the rock wall. In the instant of a metallic clang, he used the recoil to spin and ascend, his boots repeatedly stepping on the protruding rock edges, before he flew into the cave with his long sword in hand.

The entrance to the cave was somewhat deep.

After they advanced about thirty feet, the path suddenly opened up into a massive karst cave. As Gu Mo channeled his true energy, the flames of the Gouchen Demonic Blade burned even more fiercely, illuminating the entire cavern.

Stalactites hung from the cavern ceiling like thousands of inverted crystal swords and halberds. The ground was in complete disarray, with mud, scattered rocks, footprints, and even some scattered silver and copper coins reflecting the eerie firelight, clearly indicating that many people had been there before.

The two hurried through the chaotic expanse, water droplets from the ceiling echoing as they hit the ground. As they rounded a corner, they saw a massive bronze coffin, twenty feet tall, standing prominently on a circular stone platform. The coffin was covered in tadpole-shaped inscriptions, and eight iron chains, each as thick as a man's arm, wrapped around it like a spiderweb. However, the connecting points were broken into several sections, lying limp on the ground, with clear marks of pliers and chisels on the chains.

It was evident that two years ago, the villagers of Qingyi were not content with the abundant gold and silver treasures in the cave; they even had to open Lady Qingyi's coffin to find out what was inside.

Qi Tianshu said gravely, "Human nature can truly be detestable sometimes." He pointed at the numerous large treasures within the tomb and continued, "Those people hadn't even finished taking the treasures lying openly here, yet they were so eager to open the coffin. No matter what, Lady Qingyi was the benefactor of everyone in Qingyi Village. With so much treasure already, why disturb and humiliate the deceased further?"

Gu Mo looked around, then pointed at the bronze coffin and said, "Looking at the surrounding arrangement, the design of this bronze coffin, and those iron chains, it seems Lady Qingyi might have been guarding against something before her demise."

Qi Tianshu pondered for a moment and said, "Lady Qingyi must have been a highly skilled martial artist. Perhaps due to a cultivation technique issue, or some other reason, she feared something would go wrong after her death, so she deliberately bound her own corpse. Yet, even so, she couldn't prevent the very people she saved, decades later, from wiping out her entire family, digging up her tomb, and opening her coffin. If that's truly the case, it only proves that the people of Qingyi Village are even more deserving of death!"

Gu Mo nodded slightly. He agreed with Qi Tianshu's use of the phrase "deserving of death" to describe the people of Qingyi Village.

Lady Qingyi had saved Qingyi Village, her descendants had saved the village during a famine, and they had consistently treated the villagers' illnesses and injuries for years. Yet, the villagers of Qingyi collectively annihilated her entire family.

Qi Tianshu and Gu Mo gazed at the bronze coffin. Both bowed simultaneously, murmuring, "Pardon our intrusion."

Afterwards, they approached the bronze coffin. The marks clearly showed that the coffin had been opened; it had not been fully restored and sealed, and there were still gaps.

Just as Qi Tianshu was about to attempt opening the coffin, he suddenly noticed a half-sheet of Xuan paper, sealed with yellow wax, on the coffin lid. It resembled a Taoist talisman, but it had been torn, leaving only half of it.

However, when Qi Tianshu leaned closer and clearly saw the Xuan paper, he suddenly began to tremble all over.

Gu Mo noticed Qi Tianshu's unusual reaction, leaned over, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Qi Tianshu pointed at the torn half-sheet of Xuan paper. Taking a deep breath, he said, "This is... the sword drawing containing my sword intent that... my master asked for the last time I saw her!"

Gu Mo examined it carefully. Although distorted by age, it was faintly discernible that the drawing depicted a sword.

Gu Mo asked, puzzled, "Why would the sword drawing you gave your master be on this coffin? Can your sword intent ward off evil? Is Lady Qingyi your master's enemy... no, that doesn't make sense. Lady Qingyi has been buried here, and for decades only the Lu family knew about it. If this talisman were harmful to Lady Qingyi's corpse, they wouldn't have kept it here all this time!"

"I don't know," Qi Tianshu replied. "Although the sword intent is mine, how it's used or what it's used for is beyond my control." He took a deep breath as he spoke, "At the very least, this proves that even if Lady Qingyi isn't my master, she is definitely connected to her!"

Gu Mo said, "According to you, back when you were the top ranked on the Yunzhou Heavenly List, you still couldn't discern your master's cultivation, and she could approach you without your knowledge. That's enough to show her cultivation was exceptionally high. This Lady Qingyi died over forty years ago, and your master was only in her forties then. With her cultivation, she wouldn't have passed away so young."

Qi Tianshu took a deep breath and said, "I hope it's not my master."

With that, Qi Tianshu placed his hands on the bronze coffin lid, channeled his internal energy, and slowly pushed it open.

As the lid opened, the flames from the Gouchen Demonic Blade shone inside. Instead of skeletal remains, there was an uncorrupted corpse: a young woman in her thirties, clad in elaborate robes with dark embroidered cloud patterns. She lay peacefully on golden silk satin, her brows relaxed as if in light slumber, a faint smile gracing her lips, as if she might part them at any moment. Even more eerily, her skin had a warm luster, and her cheeks even held a natural blush.

She didn't look like a corpse; rather, she resembled a living person asleep.

When he clearly saw the woman's face, Qi Tianshu trembled uncontrollably. For a moment, old tears streamed down his face as he choked out, "Ma... Master... it... it really is my master..."

With a thud, Qi Tianshu knelt on the ground, kowtowing heavily. "Your unfilial disciple has not visited Master for so many years, allowing your descendants to suffer this calamity of annihilation..."

Qi Tianshu's eyes turned bloodshot, his fists clenched, veins bulging on his arms. He gripped his long sword in a reverse grip, took a deep breath, and started walking out of the cave.

"Sect Leader Qi, what are you going to do?" Gu Mo asked.

Qi Tianshu said coldly, "Kill people!"

Gu Mo said, "Sect Leader Qi, you've fallen into a demonic state."

Qi Tianshu abruptly turned, looked at Gu Mo, and said gravely, "Great Hero Gu, those people from Qingyi Village deserve to die; they are beyond redemption. Are you going to stop me?"

At that moment, a majestic sword intent emanated from Qi Tianshu, a deathly sword intent that embraced fatalism.

"Well, well!" Gu Mo chuckled softly and said, "No wonder they say Sect Leader Qi isn't good at fighting, but he's first in life-or-death struggles."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Mo's figure vanished, instantly reappearing before Qi Tianshu.

And at that very moment, Qi Tianshu violently swung his sword, but just as he was about to strike, he suddenly paused, clearly in mental turmoil, as he did not wish to attack Gu Mo.

Gu Mo chuckled softly, then instantly placed a finger on Qi Tianshu's forehead, and coldly reprimanded, "Qi Tianshu, aren't you going to wake up?"

Qi Tianshu felt his mind burst open with a roar, thunder echoing from the depths of his spiritual sea. He instantly snapped back to consciousness and exclaimed, "This is..."

"You've been affected!" Gu Mo explained, "No wonder those who came in turned into idiots. When I entered, I faintly sensed something was off, but couldn't pinpoint it. Now that I think about it, this entire karst cave is a grand formation designed to trap primordial spirits."

As he spoke, Gu Mo pointed to the pillars on the surrounding walls and said, "With nine cardinal pillars as pivots, arranged according to the Big Dipper constellation, along with Zuo Fu and You Bi hidden stars embedded in the earth's spiritual veins, and a bronze mirror with yin-yang fish patterns placed in the center... the most crucial element is this bronze coffin, engraved with runes to absorb the earth's spiritual energy. For extra measure, your sword drawing was even placed on the coffin lid!"

Qi Tianshu said gravely, "This was to trap whatever was in the coffin?"

"Yes," Gu Mo replied. "No wonder I felt uncomfortable upon entering this cave. The grand formation within it has a suppressive effect on primordial spirits. What was originally in that coffin was a particularly sinister mental entity, or primordial spirit."

Qi Tianshu exclaimed, "So what I just saw was...?"

"An illusion," Gu Mo said. "The moment you opened the coffin lid, you were influenced by the lingering spiritual power inside. That's why you saw what you wished to see. It also means you've been branded with a mental imprint, and you... should be able to see Lady Qingyi very soon!"

"What was actually inside?" Qi Tianshu asked.

"A pile of white bones, nothing else," Gu Mo replied. "However, the opponent is definitely a master of spiritual power. Merely lingering spiritual energy was enough to affect you and nearly cause you to fall into qi deviation. Fortunately, your will is firm and you weren't completely controlled, otherwise, we would have had to exchange a few blows just now!"

Qi Tianshu asked, "What do we do now?"

"Lure her out," Gu Mo said. "Remember what Liu Hong said? If anyone tried to escape, they would immediately turn into an idiot. The reason is that once they run far enough, the mental imprint will break free from Lady Qingyi's control. She will sense it and appear immediately."

Immediately, the two turned and walked out of the cave.

After only two steps, Qi Tianshu looked back at the bronze coffin.

Gu Mo said, "Sect Leader Qi, actually, it's highly unlikely that Lady Qingyi is your master. While we can't be certain Xiaobai is definitely your master's descendant, it's confirmed that for her to know your real name and have seen your sword intent, she must have been guided by your master. Furthermore, Xiaobai's bone age is no more than twenty. Coupled with her consciousness and ability to remember your sword intent, even a genius would need to be a few years old. This implies that your master interacted with Xiaobai at most a little over ten years ago, and even then, it was by using your sword drawing to help Xiaobai remember it. Lady Qingyi died more than forty years ago, so she certainly cannot be your master. Additionally, there's another puzzling matter: Xiaobai is no more than twenty years old, yet Dongya Village was renamed Qingyi Village over forty years ago. Why does she keep muttering 'Dongya Village'?"

Qi Tianshu thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps Lady Qingyi and my master were acquainted. My master knew that Lady Qingyi's cultivation technique had issues and that a strange spiritual entity would emerge after her death. Lady Qingyi prepared this grand formation as a tomb to suppress it, and my master specifically borrowed my sword intent as an additional safeguard. However, this strange spiritual entity hadn't been eliminated yet. Because the people of Qingyi Village repaid kindness with enmity, they released this evil entity."

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "It sounds a bit convoluted, but it's quite logical. However, if that's the case, then Lady Qingyi should have been an unparalleled master during her lifetime, yet she had no reputation in the martial world."

At this point, Qi Tianshu had relaxed considerably and felt much more at ease. He said, "That's quite normal. Many masters in the world dislike fame and fortune. Some hide in bustling cities, others in famous mountains and great rivers. In my lifetime, I've met several reclusive masters whose martial arts were no weaker than mine, yet they were completely unknown."

The two continued their conversation as they left the mountain cave.

The cave entrance was eighty to ninety feet below the mountain summit. Gu Mo simply floated up effortlessly, as if treading on air. Qi Tianshu's lightness skill was mediocre, but fortunately, the sword in his hand was a divine weapon of the current age, effortlessly cutting through iron and splitting hairs. So, he repeatedly stabbed his long sword into the pit wall a few times, using the leverage to easily fly out of the sinkhole.

By this time, Gu Chudong and the others were still waiting by the edge of the pit.

Seeing Gu Mo and Qi Tianshu emerge, they quickly came over to ask about the situation.

Gu Mo and Qi Tianshu descended the mountain while recounting what had happened. They did not head towards Qingyi Village but instead went in another direction, hoping to try and lure out Lady Qingyi.

By now, it was evening. The lingering glow of the setting sun painted the mountain ridges like congealed blood.

The further they descended, the denser the trees became, and the darker the forest grew. A chill from the dense woods suddenly swept over them, carrying the scent of decaying leaves. The twilight cut through the light, resembling countless fragments of shimmering gold.

The humus underfoot squelched, as if something was chewing beneath the ground. Occasionally, the crisp snap of breaking branches echoed from deep within the forest, startling a few night herons. Their flapping wings sounded like worn cattail fans trying to ward off persistent spirits.

As they continued walking, Gu Chudong suddenly tugged on Gu Mo's hand and whispered, "Brother, I think we've encountered a ghost wall!"

As she spoke, Gu Chudong pointed to a palm print on a nearby pine tree and said, "This must be the third time we've been here. I noticed something strange the second time we passed, but wasn't entirely sure, so I casually left a handprint."

Li Qiuyu and the others quickly looked over. Immediately, everyone gripped their weapons.

Qi Tianshu, however, gently waved his hand and said, "Lady Gu, there's no need to panic. Great Hero Gu and I noticed it a while ago; we were just waiting!"

"Wuwuwu..."

Just then, a weeping sound seeped from the forest. At first, it was like wind from distant mountains passing through tree hollows, whimpering with a damp quality, but it gradually grew clearer.

Immediately, Qi Tianshu and the others gripped their weapons.

The sound grew closer and closer. Gradually, everyone saw a greyish-white shadow slowly emerging from the depths of the dense forest. It was a woman with disheveled hair, her white dress soaked through with dark red blood. The hem of her skirt dragged on the ground, leaving a winding trail like a dying snake. Her face was buried in her hair, and her shoulders trembled violently. Her crying suddenly turned into a cackling laugh, then abruptly stopped and vanished. In the next moment, she appeared twenty feet away; in the moment after that, she was behind Gu Mo's group, then vanished again, only to reappear right in front of them.

When the woman raised her head, her face was as white as if coated with lime. Her right eyeball protruded from its socket, the lower eyelid rolled back to expose red flesh, while her left eye was merely a black hole, from which blood continuously seeped.

However, when Qi Tianshu saw this face, he flew into a rage, rebuking, "How dare you use my master's likeness to deceive me! You deserve to die!"

A towering sword intent erupted. Qi Tianshu thrust his sword, and a terrifying sword qi instantly pierced through the woman's body, creating a sword-hole in tree trunks within dozens of feet behind her. Then, dense sword qi wildly besieged and shattered her, but in the next instant, the woman's body, cut apart by the sword qi, dissolved into wisps of illusion and vanished.

"Illusion!" Qi Tianshu said gravely. "This scoundrel is truly detestable, daring to transform into my master's likeness again to deceive me!"

Gu Mo looked at the indignant Qi Tianshu, opened his mouth as if to speak, then hesitated.

Qi Tianshu asked, puzzled, "Great Hero Gu, please speak your mind if you have something to say!"

Gu Mo hesitated for a moment and said, "What you just saw... it doesn't seem like an illusion. It's a mental entity, a part of a primordial spirit. In common terms, it's one of the three souls or seven ethereal souls. So, what you just saw should be identical to the main body!"

Qi Tianshu's face instantly turned pale.

Gu Mo chuckled softly. He had deliberately not warned Qi Tianshu because he needed the opportunity to pinpoint the main body. And at that moment, he had indeed located Lady Qingyi's main body. He suddenly looked up and said calmly, "Found her. She's in Qingyi Village."

Immediately, he leaped into the air. The Grand Void Flying Sword instantly transformed into a stream of light beneath his feet. He stepped onto the flying sword and soared over Mount Tianyi, heading directly towards Qingyi Village. At this moment, Qi Tianshu and the others also swiftly employed their lightness skills to follow.

Gu Mo's speed was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in Qingyi Village, descending directly from the sky to land in Qingyi Temple. There, he witnessed a horrifying scene.

At that moment, hundreds of Qingyi villagers, including the young adults who had turned into idiots, were gathered inside and outside Qingyi Temple. They were all kneeling on the ground, kowtowing frantically, their foreheads already broken and bloody. Some had even knocked out their brains, yet they all seemed to feel no pain, kowtowing harder than the last, shouting, "I am guilty, I deserve to die! Lady Qingyi, have mercy! Lady Qingyi, have mercy!"

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"

Dense thudding sounds mingled with hysterical cries, creating an incredibly eerie and terrifying scene.

Gu Mo stood on a wall, his gaze fixed on the stone statue inside Qingyi Temple.

Just then, a woman slowly emerged from within the statue. She appeared to be around thirty years old, with a strikingly heroic countenance.

"Are you Yu Jinghong?" Gu Mo asked.

The woman slowly replied, "I stopped using that name when I was alive. Who are you? And where is Tianshu?"

"He'll be here shortly," Gu Mo said.

Yu Jinghong scrutinized Gu Mo and asked, "You are quite extraordinary for a young man. Are you Tianshu's disciple?"

"No," Gu Mo replied.

"Are you here to stop my revenge?" Yu Jinghong asked.

"No," Gu Mo said. "You know there's a girl traveling with us who is mentally impaired, but her spiritual body is very strong, almost at the level of spirit projection. She is possibly connected to you. Additionally, I want to know about the grand formation on Mount Tianyi that traps primordial spirits. Since you are Yu Jinghong, why would you trap yourself?"

Yu Jinghong chuckled softly and said, "You young man have so many questions, I don't know which one to answer first. Hmm, before I answer, I must remind you that you made a mistake."

"What mistake?" Gu Mo asked, puzzled.

Yu Jinghong chuckled, "Why did you come to find me alone? You should have come with Tianshu. So, I will answer your questions, but first, I must devour your divine consciousness!"

Before Yu Jinghong finished speaking, an abnormal tremor appeared in the void. Streaks of spiritual energy manifested as ethereal blue threads. Seven ominous streams of light burst from Yu Jinghong's fingertips, intertwining in the air to form a web-like cursed seal. A silver thread at the web's center, accompanied by a piercing shriek, tore through the sound barrier and shot towards Gu Mo's glabella.

"Hmph." Gu Mo merely let out a cold snort. The silver thread, precisely three feet in front of him, seemed to hit an invisible iron wall and instantly disintegrated.

Yu Jinghong was greatly alarmed and asked, "Who exactly are you?"

Gu Mo did not answer her. His primordial spirit, stepping on the shattered streams of light, departed his body and flew like a fleeting shadow. In an instant, he was already standing hands behind his back, three feet in front of her.

"Spirit projection, Ascension Realm!" Yu Jinghong's pupils dilated, filled with horror.

However, she had no time to ponder. Her entire being instantly transformed into a sharp spiritual sword, slashing forward. The long sword, imbued with the might of thunder, struck towards Gu Mo's primordial spirit.

Then, just as the long sword arrived in an instant, Gu Mo's primordial spirit remained standing with hands behind his back, merely raising his eyes slightly. It was just a single glance, his gaze swirling with vast divine consciousness, containing immense spiritual fluctuations.

With a crisp "clang," the long sword shattered inch by inch, instantly flying backward. In mid-air, it revealed Yu Jinghong's spiritual body, which quickly fell to the ground, her form beginning to turn ethereal.

Gu Mo's primordial spirit glanced at Yu Jinghong, then instantly flew back into his body, saying calmly, "Can you answer my questions properly now?"

"Ascension Realm? How can there be a true Ascension Realm in this world?" Yu Jinghong spoke in disbelief. And at that very moment, spiritual power suddenly began to wildly fluctuate from within her body, her expression constantly shifting, as if she were suffering from a split personality.

"Kill her... kill me!" At one point, Yu Jinghong suddenly calmed down, but her demeanor had completely changed. She appeared utterly serene, looking at Gu Mo and saying, "Young man, quickly kill me... Don't let her harm the world..."

Just then, outside Qingyi Temple, Qi Tianshu and the others arrived. Qi Tianshu was the first to rush in and saw Yu Jinghong slumped on the ground. He exclaimed, "Ma... Master..."

However, due to his experience on Mount Tianyi, he no longer fully trusted what his eyes perceived, so he instinctively looked towards Gu Mo.

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "It is your master, yet something is not quite right."

Qi Tianshu's body trembled with goosebumps. He looked at Yu Jinghong and asked in disbelief, "Master... do you still recognize me?"

At this moment, Gu Chudong and the others entered. However, none of them could see Yu Jinghong, except for Gu Chudong and Li Qiuyu, who, thanks to their profound cultivation and martial arts mastery, could faintly sense a spiritual fluctuation beneath the Qingyi Temple statue.

The moment Yu Jinghong saw Qi Tianshu, a hint of maternal affection appeared in her eyes. It seemed somewhat strange that Yu Jinghong, with her youthful appearance of a woman in her thirties, looked at Qi Tianshu with such a benevolent and loving gaze. However, it was also normal, as Yu Jinghong was only in her forties when she died and possessed techniques to preserve her youth, making her appear to be in her thirties. Her spiritual body's appearance was identical to her physical one.

As their gazes met, Qi Tianshu confirmed Yu Jinghong's identity, immediately knelt on the ground, and said gravely, "Master, how could this be... What exactly happened?"

Yu Jinghong looked at Qi Tianshu, a faint smile gracing her face, and said, "Tianshu, you've grown so old!"

Qi Tianshu fought back tears and said, "Master, I... I am seventy-eight years old now."

Yu Jinghong sighed, "The year I died, you were thirty-seven. Now... I have been dead for forty-one years. What a pity, just ten more years, alas..."

Qi Tianshu asked, "Master, what do you mean by 'just ten more years'?"

Yu Jinghong explained, "Back then, a problem arose with the cultivation technique I practiced, but it was too late. My soul split, and at that time, I was already on my last breath from qi deviation, with not much time left. The part of my soul that split off contained all my malevolent thoughts. I knew that if I died, it would inevitably take over my body and bring disaster to the region. And what I cultivated was the path of spiritual power, having reached the Half-step Ascension Realm. It possessed my cultivation level; even if my physical body died, it would not perish. So, I made preparations in advance, using my physical body as a vessel to contain it. I also sought out Mount Tianyi, which converges with earthly malevolent energy, and set up a grand formation. In just forty-nine years, it could be eliminated. For extra precaution, I even borrowed a wisp of your sword intent and placed it on the coffin. Should an accident occur and it break out of the coffin, it would be slain by your sword intent.

"However, I miscalculated. Two years ago, in the thirty-ninth year, the formation was unexpectedly destroyed, and your sword intent was also ruined. It was released. But fortunately, my spiritual true essence had not completely dissipated. For the past two years, I have been locked in a struggle with it, complementing and opposing each other. I've done my best to influence it, but for anyone branded with its mental imprint, it can easily pinpoint them. I couldn't stop it from devouring their divine consciousness, only slow down its growth as much as possible. I'm close to giving up. These past few months, the time I can take the initiative has grown shorter and shorter; I'm almost completely devoured by it. But fortunately, you... you have finally arrived! Tianshu, kill me... If you cannot bring yourself to do it, let that young man do it instead!"

Qi Tianshu's body trembled slightly as he said gravely, "Master, is there no other way?"

Yu Jinghong chuckled softly, "Tianshu, when I first met you, you were eight and I was twenty. Though I am your master, I was more like an older sister to you. You know that I always aspired to be a heroine, performing deeds of righteousness. Later, when you grew up, you often mocked me for being naive and innocent. But even though I didn't become a world-renowned hero, everything I did in my life was done with a clear conscience, never betraying the meaning of 'chivalry'! That is not me, Tianshu. That is malevolence, not your master. Even if you don't kill me now, I will be killed by it, and then it will wreak havoc upon the world, betraying my vows and aspirations. Don't be sad; everyone faces this day. To see you again, I am already very happy. Besides, I am merely a wisp of spiritual will now; the true me has long been dead!"

Qi Tianshu knelt on the ground, head bowed, remaining silent.

Just then, Gu Mo spoke, "Senior Yu, what about her?" Gu Mo pointed to Xiaobai and continued, "Since you died over forty years ago, why would this girl know Sect Leader Qi's real name and recognize his sword intent? Is she related to you?"

Yu Jinghong looked towards Xiaobai. Xiaobai seemed to sense something and looked back at Yu Jinghong. Xiaobai appeared to be a different person; she no longer cowered timidly behind Gu Chudong, but instead slowly walked towards Yu Jinghong.

In a daze, Yu Jinghong seemed to understand something and asked in surprise, "Is she... mentally impaired?"

"Yes," Gu Mo replied.

Yu Jinghong's eyes widened. She gasped in astonishment, "Reincarnation... there really is reincarnation... She, she is my reincarnation!"