Chapter 29: Echoes of the Past

The barrier dissipated, and Lu Shiyuan heard the door creak open before being carefully shut again. Faint whispers drifted in from the courtyard outside—Qin Xinying and Shang Si speaking in low tones. Their voices gradually faded into the distance, leaving the small courtyard wrapped in perfect stillness.

Lu Shiyuan sat dazed by the edge of the bed for a long moment. Then she lowered her gaze and lightly clenched her empty palm, her mind wandering. The faint itch left by Shang Si’s fingertip hadn’t eased with her departure. If anything, it had grown stronger.

While she’d been speaking earlier, she’d clearly traced the character for “Lu” right there in Lu Shiyuan’s palm.

Lu Shiyuan was certain of it.

She wrinkled her nose. Only now did she realize how stuffy the room felt, her ears burning hot. She rose and flung open every window. Once the cool breeze swept in, the restless flicker of heat in her chest finally began to settle.

Right. She needed to calm down and think this through properly.

“Hmm…” Lu Shiyuan gripped the windowsill, let out a long breath, and closed her beautiful almond-shaped eyes. But the instant her lids met, Shang Si’s striking features bloomed in her mind once more. Her soft, murmuring questions echoed endlessly in her ears.

The images looped relentlessly, like a film on repeat, shattering the fragile mental walls Lu Shiyuan had only just built.

“Oh god.” The calm on her face crumbled. She spun around, pressing her palms to her burning cheeks as she leaned back against the windowsill. Slowly, she slid down the wall into a crouch.

After a long pause, a faint, bewildered whisper slipped through her fingers. “How could Shang Si possibly like me?”

The empty room offered no reply. Lu Shiyuan furrowed her delicate brows and rested her hands on her knees, methodically dissecting what Shang Si meant by her heart having “stirred.” When had it begun?

It seemed to trace back to their very first meeting, when that strange bond had taken root.

All Lu Shiyuan knew was that being near Shang Si made her feel utterly relaxed and at ease, to the point where she forgot time itself was passing.

In the three years since, her most cherished moments had been those quiet nights alone together. Under the pretext of healing, she could stay by Shang Si’s side openly, even if they exchanged not a single word.

And then there were those occasional sparks of desire that Shang Si unwittingly ignited in her. Lu Shiyuan had to conclude that she liked Shang Si too. How else could she explain those sudden, heart-fluttering throbs?

With that realization, she reached into her Spirit Ring and pulled out several Sound Transmission Talismans, activating them one by one.

“Senior Brother, Shang Si just told me she likes me.”

“Master, Shang Si says she likes me!”

She sounded just like a lovestruck girl, bursting to share her budding feelings with her closest confidants. Yet the responses couldn’t have been more different from what she’d imagined.

Three years ago, Shen Guang had received a life-saving favor from Shang Si herself. Now, hearing his little junior sister’s message, he was still disapproving but far more polite about it. He simply cautioned her to stay wary of the Ye Lord and not to trust too easily.

Her master was another story entirely. The moment he heard from his rare proactive disciple, he didn’t even register the content before launching into wails. “Oh, the injustice! My poor, suffering disciple—you’ve been through so much these past few years!”

Lu Shiyuan instantly lost any desire to keep talking. She simply severed the talismans.

How could she not know the deep-seated prejudices the immortal sects of the Human Realm held against Yedu? She couldn’t change their views on Shang Si overnight. They were the narrow-minded ones!

Lu Shiyuan pursed her lips, her mind filling with memories of Shang Si’s kindness toward her over the years. She shook her head to herself.

Her master and senior brother were too shortsighted!

What did they know? This wasn’t some calamity for her. It was her blessing!

And the best was yet to come!

After some thought, only one person remained she could share this with.

“Hua Qiu.” Lu Shiyuan lit the special Yedu-issue Spirit Talisman. Fortunately, Hua Qiu didn’t seem busy at the moment.

“Shiyuan?” Hua Qiu’s clear, slightly puzzled voice came from the floating talisman. “Why the sudden message? Aren’t you with A Si?”

“She went off for a private talk with Qin Xinying. I didn’t tag along.” After a quick reply, Lu Shiyuan could barely contain herself. She paused, deliberately softening her voice. “Hua Qiu, I’ve got something to tell you. Shang Si just… said she likes me.”

One second. Two. After blurting it out, Lu Shiyuan’s lips curved unconsciously into a silent smile.

But Hua Qiu’s reaction was utterly calm—no surprise whatsoever. “Oh. She finally said it, huh?”

The delight in Lu Shiyuan’s eyes slowly morphed into bewilderment.

However, Hua Qiu’s teasing words kept coming: “This isn’t anything new. Who in the entire Imperial City of Yedu can’t see that she likes you?”

Although everyone on the inside knew these two were merely putting on an act under a gentleman’s agreement, time had a way of revealing subtle favors and concerns that were impossible to hide completely. Naturally, the scales in their hearts had tilted along with Shang Si’s attitude.

Otherwise, why would people like her and Nan Jin treat Lu Shiyuan any differently—truly regard her as one of their own?

Hua Qiu’s words jolted Lu Shiyuan awake, sobering her a little more.

The two didn’t chat for long. In the end, Hua Qiu complained, asking Lu Shiyuan to put in a good word with Shang Si at pillowside and urge her to return early to handle Yedu’s messy affairs. But Lu Shiyuan wasn’t listening to a single word.

She severed the spirit talisman, patted the dust from her skirt, and rose from the ground. Pushing open the door, she gazed at the empty little courtyard, a hollow ache settling in her chest.

In that instant, the scene before her eyes seemed to overlap with the Cold Mountain Courtyard.

At the same moment, Lu Shiyuan’s hands unconsciously formed a spell gesture that felt somewhat unfamiliar. Once the incantation was complete, petals rained down across the courtyard—pale pink blossoms drifting gently to the ground, the stone table, and her skirt, painting a scene as beautiful as any masterpiece.

Yet the one who had conjured this breathtaking sight had no heart to admire it.

Snapping back to reality, Lu Shiyuan stared at her hands in shock and bewilderment, her expression a mix of strangeness and confusion.

The scene was identical to the one she had witnessed earlier in the grand formation’s illusion. The only difference was that the caster back then had been a young Shang Si—while now, it was herself.

But she had never learned this spell…

Even after the last petal drifted down from the sky, Lu Shiyuan still couldn’t make sense of it.

She tried to focus and recall the moment her fingers had shaped the gesture, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember how the strange spell had been cast. That instant had felt like an action etched into the depths of her soul, executed with effortless naturalness. Now, forcing herself to revisit it, all that remained was a sense of utter unfamiliarity.

Shang Si didn’t return until an hour and a half later.

The moment she stepped into the courtyard, she froze at the sight of petals scattered everywhere, as if the scene stirred memories from some distant time.

Just then, Lu Shiyuan emerged from the room.

“A Si,” she said the moment she laid eyes on Shang Si. Far from broaching the subtle ambiguity between them, her tone was deadly serious. As Shang Si looked up, Lu Shiyuan’s expression grew grave. “Do you know any way to probe a person’s past?”

“There are some oddities about me that I don’t even know myself, but I can’t trace their source.”

Once could be chalked up to coincidence. A second or third time? No longer.

Putting together the things she had glimpsed in various scenes before, and now this—casting a spell she had never encountered, without any warning—Lu Shiyuan was convinced she harbored some hidden secret.

Once she was certain of that, her first thought was to turn to Shang Si for help. She gave a rough account of all the previous instances she had witnessed.

At the end, she added, “The you from back then… you had this blazing fire around you, like the scorching midday sun.” It was an inexplicable pull, one that drew anyone who saw it irresistibly closer.

What had started as a solemn discussion suddenly took on a flirtatious edge because of Lu Shiyuan’s words.

The two sat side by side at the table. Hearing this, Shang Si propped her chin on one hand atop the table and curved her phoenix eyes toward Lu Shiyuan. “So, was that version of me to Shiyuan’s liking?”

Time had passed so long that Shang Si had nearly forgotten what she had been like in her youth. She only remembered the Three Realms at peace, Eldest Sister still alive, and herself roaming freely across the five continents and four seas.

The question was an obvious test.

A suspicious flush bloomed on Lu Shiyuan’s face. She clenched her fingers, a touch of annoyance in her voice. “I’m trying to talk serious business here.”

“But I’m talking serious business too—perfectly earnestly.” Shang Si’s phoenix eyes arched playfully. Though she said as much, she didn’t press Lu Shiyuan further.

After a moment of silence, she gathered her thoughts and gave the answer Lu Shiyuan sought. “Before the Underworld fell, the Book of Life and Death could be consulted. Now, that’s no longer possible. If you insist on digging deep, the Reincarnation Pool is your only option.” The pool, a remnant of the old Underworld, served not just for reincarnation. Any being from the Three Realms who stood before it could glimpse their past lives. It was the first thing that came to Shang Si’s mind.

But for those like her, Hua Qiu, and Nan Jin—beings outside the Three Realms—nothing would be revealed.

With that, Shang Si noticed Lu Shiyuan fidgeting restlessly and added softly, “However, the Reincarnation Pool lies deep underground in Yedu. If we want to try it, we’ll have to wait until we wrap things up here and head back.”

In other words, this couldn’t be rushed.

No matter what past events lingered, Shang Si believed the top priority right now was helping Lu Shiyuan repair her spirit veins. Everything else could wait.

But Lu Shiyuan dug in her heels on this, unwilling to sit there listening to the two of them chat without picking up a single useful scrap of information.

She furrowed her brows tightly. After a long moment, she suddenly turned to the woman beside her, her voice dropping low. “Even if we can’t probe the past events buried within me just yet, there are some things you should know.”

“Hm?” Shang Si tilted her head slightly, meeting Lu Shiyuan’s gaze. “What do you want to ask?”

Shang Si didn’t quite grasp what Lu Shiyuan meant. She waited quietly for her to continue, never expecting her to speak a name that felt both intimately familiar and utterly alien—

“A Si, let me ask you… do you know who A Jin is?”