Chapter 47: A Millennium of Separation Part 1

Zhang Qingshui and Huang Qi retreated all the way to the end of the plank road, almost pressing up against the roots before they stopped. Both of their faces looked very unsightly, and Zhang Qingshui’s complexion was especially pale.

Huang Qi whispered, “Qing Jie, I always felt that Wang Ya wasn’t like an ordinary great demon possession.”

Zhang Qingshui nodded gravely, let out a soft “mm,” and lowered her voice. “Little Qi, right now our lives hang by a thread. We can only watch and wait. Can you hear the conversation between Wang Ya and that spirit body that suddenly appeared?”

Huang Qi said, “I don’t know, I’ll try.” No sooner had she spoken than Wang Ya’s voice faintly drifted over. In a low voice, she said, “I can hear some of it.”

Wang Ya stared at the green shadow woman in front of her and softly called out, “Ye Zi?” As her voice fell, a low and slow voice responded, “How many years has it been? The flower unseen by the leaf, the leaf unseen by the flower. Yet I never imagined we would meet in this way.” The voice was very soft, so soft it didn’t seem to come through vocal cords. Wang Ya didn’t know what to say. Countless images flashed through her mind, as if there were so many words she wanted to say, yet nothing at all. In the end, she only sighed and said, “I came here to find the Feng Family descendant, Feng Yuqin.”

Ye Zi asked, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Wang Ya closed her eyes to steady herself, trying hard to dispel those memories and emotions that surfaced in her mind and didn’t belong to her. She said, “My name is Wang Ya.” As she spoke, she opened her eyes and stared at the green shadow in front of her. “Can you explain this bizarre situation on my body?”

Ye Zi murmured, “Wang Ya? That’s your name now?”

Wang Ya let out an “mm” and said, “If I’m not mistaken, you are the Leaf Soul formed from the Leaf Essence Soul of a Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower that became a demon. Somehow, the Flower Soul of that Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower burrowed into my body, right?”

Ye Zi’s pair of eerily cold green eyes stared unblinkingly at Wang Ya for a long time before she slowly nodded.

Wang Ya asked, “Why did the Flower Soul possess my body? Because I obtained the Feng Family’s inheritance? Because the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower has ties to the Feng Family?”

Ye Zi countered, “Why ask me?”

Wang Ya said, “Who else can I ask? The Feng Family was wiped out, with only my Grandma escaping with her life. She might be the only one left who knows these things. She’s being hunted by our enemies and fled into the Yellow Springs—life or death unknown. Besides you, who else can I ask?”

“Grandma? You call a Feng Family descendant ‘Grandma’? Do you even remember who you are? Wang Ya? Heh! After a millennium of separation, I waited for your return, and yet you’ve forgotten who you are?”

Wang Ya asked with a laugh, “Are you saying that I’m the reincarnation of the Flower Demon? All these jumbled emotions and memories in my head are from my past life?”

Ye Zi countered, “Do you think not?”

Wang Ya was speechless. A voice in her head told her that she had once been the Flower Soul of a Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower, but her rationality told her that past and present lives were too unreliable. Didn’t reincarnation involve drinking Grandma Meng’s soup? If she were the Flower Demon’s reincarnation, how could she remember her previous life’s affairs? If everyone remembered their past and present lives, the world would be in chaos. Why bother with this life if everyone just sought their previous one?

Ye Zi laughed, but a touch of desolation floated across her stunningly beautiful face. “You told me that one day we could break our fate of flower and leaf never meeting. You told me that one day we wouldn’t have to sense each other blindly, that we could see each other face to face. Yes, now you’ve done it. We’ve met. But are you still you?”

Wang Ya said nothing.

Ye Zi continued, “Are you comfortable in that skin? Why not shed it and come back? Even if we don’t meet, at least we’d be together.”

Whether it was Wang Ya herself or the voice in her heart, both told her no. Wang Ya said, “I still need to find my Grandma and my dad. Did you capture my dad?”

Ye Zi said disappointedly, “You won’t?” She sighed, then asked, “Then can I touch you?”

Wang Ya nodded lightly.

Ye Zi, shrouded in green fluorescence, slowly walked to her side. As she approached, Wang Ya saw a soft glow emanating from her body, with a rich jade-like luster that was hazy and unreal, giving off a beauty that didn’t belong to the mortal world and stirred the soul. Wang Ya inexplicably felt a touch of sorrow, perhaps like the Other Shore Flower in full bloom—reaching its peak beauty only to face withering. A cold palm covered her face, thick with yin qi yet carrying a refreshing woody fragrance that soothed the heart. Wang Ya saw Ye Zi gazing obsessively at her face, but those eyes weren’t looking at her—they were looking at the Flower Demon inside her body.

Ye Zi said softly, “Every time I awoke, I saw petals scattered on the ground. I longed endlessly to see you in full bloom… When you were here, I could still feel your presence. After you left, I stayed here alone, becoming a Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower that hadn’t bloomed in a millennium. When will you return? When will you bloom again? A thousand years have passed. The Other Shore Flowers on the Yellow Springs Road bloomed and withered, withered and bloomed again, but none was you.”

The obsessive, resentful murmur made Wang Ya feel very uncomfortable. She couldn’t help but retort, “I bloomed on the Yellow Springs Road just now.” She shrugged casually, looking helpless. “But then, all the flowers on the entire Yellow Springs withered!”