July 17th, the weather was overcast, faint rumbles of thunder echoed, and a torrential rain was imminent.
This was a familiar scene that appeared in Shang Can’s nightmares every midnight.
The wind, carrying the scent of moisture, brushed past her ears, allowing Shang Can to vividly smell the essence of that day. The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the wind howling mournfully.
For nearly ten years, she had suffered from headaches, and now being pulled into the vividly terrifying scene of a nightmare left her gasping in pain. Her forehead burned with pain, sweat beaded down, sticking her hair to the side of her face.
Shang Can swayed in the wind, the piercing voice had long since faded away, and she gritted her teeth, pressing hard against her temples, striving to detach herself from her emotions and think calmly.
She had fallen into Qin Yi’s trap.
Perhaps it had begun the moment she saw that talisman, or maybe it was the strange look Qin Yi had given her while disguised as Yun Duan—Shang Can closed her eyes, irritated with her own ignorance.
The surroundings had completely transformed into the familiar scene. With great effort, Shang Can took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and slowly turned to look at the unremarkable pavilion beside her.
It remained intact, yet a storm was clearly brewing.
It felt as if she had been pulled into another illusion, but unlike before, she retained her mental clarity, fully aware that she was in an illusion. It was more like being a spectator,
and aside from the intense headache, her spiritual power remained unaffected for now.
Shang Can pressed her lips tightly together and spoke in a low voice, “Qin Yi, what exactly do you want?”
“Ha.” The piercing voice suddenly rang out, laced with sarcasm. “Want to kill you. Isn’t that obvious?”
“Then come at me.”
Shang Can moved her lips, forming an emotionless smile, her voice suddenly turning gentle. “Let’s see if you have the capability. With you hiding like this, what can you possibly achieve?”
“…”
The voice let out a few light laughs, its tone filled with amusement. “Perhaps I can’t achieve much.”
“But Shang Can,” the voice suddenly morphed back into the tone of Qin Yi from Shang Can’s memories, as if it were coming from a nearby place, filled with playful mirth. “As long as I can see that expression on your face, I’m already beyond delighted.”
As the words fell, the scene around Shang Can suddenly twisted, like flickering white noise. Her vision blurred, and she realized she had appeared in a dimly lit room—inside the pavilion.
Qin Yi stood right in front of her. The person before her had shed the mild demeanor of the acting leader from Tianwai Tian, and the ever-smiling face was now replaced with a cold smile filled with delight, eyes gleaming with a hint of madness.
“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
She said joyfully, suddenly reaching out a hand towards Shang Can. Shang Can instinctively dodged, immediately launching a counterattack, only to find herself grasping at air.
As if passing through the air itself, she had gone straight through Qin Yi’s body.
Shang Can’s heart skipped a beat, barely stopping her momentum. When she turned around, she found that this Qin Yi seemed completely unaware of her actions or even her presence. She didn’t even blink, only bending down leisurely to grab the collar of a person lying on the ground, pulling her up forcefully.
“…It took over a dozen people to catch me.”
The familiar yet strange voice echoed, dripping with derision even in captivity, laced with laughter, appearing arrogant and disdainful.
“Qin Yi, aren’t you ashamed?”
Shang Can paused, taking a few slow steps forward to see the face of the person Qin Yi had captured.
It was a clear and elegant face, with strikingly beautiful peach blossom eyes, slightly upturned at the corners. However, they now held an unmistakable disdain for the person in front of her.
—It was her own face, Shang Can from ten years ago.
“Don’t waste your breath.”
Qin Yi coldly laughed and released her grip, throwing Shang Can heavily onto the ground. “The ropes binding you are specially made to suppress a cultivator’s spiritual power. You won’t be able to break free.”
With her hands and feet tightly bound, Shang Can lay awkwardly on the ground, her disheveled hair covering half her brows, but her eyes still sparkled with a captivating light.
“Truly worthy of being the acting leader of Tianwai Tian,” she said sincerely, seeming quite impressed. “To catch a mere little cultivator like me, you’ve gone through so much effort—if I really did break free, wouldn’t you feel embarrassed?”
Qin Yi stared at her for a moment, suddenly kicking Shang Can in the stomach with great force.
She didn’t hold back at all, yet Shang Can made no sound, curling up slightly, her stunning eyes still fixed on Qin Yi, icy with mockery.
“You finally managed to tie me up just to do this?”
Shang Can’s voice was as gentle as a spring breeze, completely devoid of any trace of the treatment she had just received. Polite, she said, “Is this what you’ve been thinking about since I defeated you in the arena all those years ago? Congratulations to the acting leader; you’ve finally achieved your wish.”
“Now all you have left is this mouth, isn’t it?”
Qin Yi seemed much more pleased, strolling leisurely to stand before Shang Can, squatting down with a smile.
“How careless of you, Shang Can. You rushed out just because of some ambiguous news about your junior sister…”
As Qin Yi spoke, she reached out to touch Shang Can’s face, but Shang Can dodged away, making a disgusted expression. Without hesitation, Qin Yi seized Shang Can’s chin, forcing her to turn her head to meet her gaze.
“Being deceived by such a simple trap, so easily caught by me—” She looked into Shang Can’s cold eyes, a flicker of unidentifiable emotion crossing her own. “It seems I overestimated you.”
“Indeed.” Shang Can’s expression was indifferent, though her tone was polite. “When it comes to scheming and plotting, I can never compare to you; the acting leader is far too humble.”
The two stared at each other, sharing a smile, yet the atmosphere grew increasingly tense with that exchange.
“You seem to have weakened quite a bit.”
As if caressing a lover’s cheek, Qin Yi gently stroked Shang Can’s face, her tone soft. “When I caught you, I hadn’t even laid a hand on you. What happened? Are you worried about your junior sister… so you’re distracted?”
Shang Can’s gaze flickered slightly, and she smiled. “You needn’t worry about that, acting leader.”
Qin Yi looked at her deeply, suddenly raising her hand and standing up. She turned and sat down in the only chair in the room.
Shang Can, who had originally been sitting in the chair silently watching the drama unfold, clicked her tongue and hurried to the corner of the room.
This scene was indeed somewhat absurd.
Shang Can’s head throbbed painfully. She shot Qin Yi a glare and glanced at her younger self lying on the ground, having tried countless times to break free of the ropes without success, cursing the real Qin Yi who was nowhere to be found in her mind.
Since earlier, she could only be a bystander. She couldn’t leave the room, nor could she influence anything happening inside; even if she summoned her heavenly fire, it wouldn’t burn anything. It felt as if she was trapped in another dimension, merely observing her past memories through a screen.
She attempted numerous ways to break free, but all ended in failure. The dialogue unfolding before her was no different from her past, and Shang Can felt increasingly restless. She could almost sense that every minute she spent here was causing her body to deteriorate, for she knew better than anyone what would happen next.
On that July 17th, she had originally gone down the mountain secretly out of frustration. After descending, she was informed by the cultivators from Tianwai Tian that Yun Duan was in danger. During those days, she couldn’t bear to hear Yun Duan’s name, and without a moment’s thought, she rushed over, only to fall into Qin Yi’s trap and be captured.
During that time, Shang Can had been in a state of deep despondency.
She clearly remembered that ever since she returned from her studies at the Celestial Realm with Yunduan, her body had started to feel off, especially whenever she saw Yunduan, her condition worsened. Her body would involuntarily become feverish, as if boiling magma flowed through her veins, craving a cool comfort.
At that time, she didn’t understand her own strange changes; even when she consulted doctors, they couldn’t find any clues. Shang Can was terrified of the unknown transformations and subconsciously felt that it was something she couldn’t discuss with others, so she forced herself to endure it, consciously keeping her distance from Yunduan.
Yet ultimately, it was of no use; she would always lose her composure upon hearing Yunduan’s name.
Shang Can was forcibly dragged back into this memory. She glanced at her younger self; Qin Yi wasn’t boasting— the ropes binding her were indeed difficult to deal with. Unable to use her spiritual power, she could only attempt to break free with her own strength time and time again. The thin and tough ropes had already rubbed her wrists raw, but the younger Shang Can seemed oblivious, stubbornly continuing to struggle.
Her eyes were bright, still holding a defiant spark.
She had no idea what would happen in just a moment.
“The taller the tree, the harder it falls.”
Watching Shang Can’s actions with interest, Qin Yi leisurely spoke, sighing, “You can only blame yourself for being too prominent, Shang Can.”
“If I want the Celestial Realm to hold its position as the foremost sect in the world of cultivation, then you cannot be spared.” There was a hint of madness in her eyes as she lowered her gaze, “You should feel honored, Shang Can; you are the first.”
“All of this is for the Celestial Realm.” It was as if she was trying to convince someone, and Qin Yi softly repeated, “… All of this is for the Celestial Realm.”
“… You’re insane.”
Even Shang Can’s expression changed at this moment; she gritted her teeth and said, “For something like this… What do you mean I’m the first? What do you want to do with the others?”
Qin Yi laughed without a word, suddenly changing the subject, “By the way, there’s something I forgot to tell you.”
“I sent someone to tell you about your junior sister’s predicament,” she said with a cheerful smile, “It’s not considered a lie.”
“…”
Shang Can paused her movements and slowly raised her head to look at Qin Yi. For the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on her face as she stared at the jade tablet that Qin Yi was waving between her fingers.
“I heard that your Qingyu’s jade tablet has a positioning function,” Qin Yi gently traced the characters “Shang Can” on the jade tablet, smiling slightly, “You say… once your junior sister receives the message, will she come rushing over like you did?”
“She probably would.” Before Shang Can could respond, Qin Yi answered herself, suddenly tightening her grip on the jade tablet, her gaze darkening, “Otherwise… it would be a waste of your deep feelings, wouldn’t it?”
As her voice fell, the room fell silent for a moment.
“… What do you want to do with Yunduan?”
Shang Can’s voice was low, her whole being like a taut bowstring.
“I want to kill her,” Qin Yi casually twirled the tassel of the jade tablet around her fingertip, “Isn’t it obvious?”
“But don’t worry, I don’t plan to kill you yet.”
As Qin Yi said this, she stood up from the stool and shifted her gaze away from Shang Can.
“I haven’t had enough of that expression on your face yet.”
“…”
Shang Can took a deep breath, her tone cold, “Yunduan will bring people with her; you might still have time to escape now.”
“She won’t.” Qin Yi raised her eyebrows and smiled, turning to look at the door, “… Because I told her that if she brings people, you will die.”
Standing in the corner of the room, Shang Can had already heard footsteps approaching from outside. She knew that her younger self had heard them too because she could still vividly recall the panic that had suddenly surged within her at that moment.
In the next second, with a flash of bright sword light, the door of the room shattered and fell in two halves. A figure in white, wielding a sword, stepped in, her moonlight-like visage clear and beautiful, exuding a calmness like water, yet burning like a quiet flame.
“I’ve come to find my senior sister.”
Yunduan spoke, her voice as cold and hard as breaking ice and cutting snow.
“Return her to me.”
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