"Then, then—" Bai Roushuang stamred, "what happened next? Did you… kill them?"
"No," Xu Shulou glanced at her. "If I had, you would have heard about it."
"Why didn’t you?"
Xu Shulou smiled faintly. "Let’s talk about it once we’re out of here."
"Alright."
Xu Shulou waved her hand, and the imperial palace before them dissolved, replaced once more by the scene of the brothel from the mont Bai Roushuang had first entered.
The illusion froze at the exact mont she had left with Elder Changyu.
"I want to see it again," Bai Roushuang murmured softly.
Xu Shulou didn’t ask what she wished to see, simply standing quietly by her side.
Bai Roushuang walked familiarly toward the rear courtyard. "I want to see Sister Lan’s jealous face after I was taken away by my master."
The scene before them flickered to life.
Under the moonlight, Sister Lan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she gazed at the direction they had flown away. "I wronged you, Shuang’er. May you achieve immortality and live a life free from suffering, never again enduring the hardships of this world."
Bai Roushuang’s simring fury abruptly wavered, caught between burning brighter and dissipating entirely. She could only stand there, stunned.
Xu Shulou stepped beside her and sighed. "Human nature is complex."
Bai Roushuang didn’t want to look at her. This senior sister of hers was a saint who could even let go of the destruction of her kingdom and family—how ironic, Bai Roushuang thought bitterly. The last thing she needed right now was soone urging her to forgive.
She bit her lip. "With your temperant, you’d probably want to forgive her."
"Of course not. What she did to you was inexcusable," Xu Shulou shook her head. "I haven’t lived through your suffering, so I have no right to impose my ideals on you."
"That’s a relief," Bai Roushuang exhaled softly. "I was afraid you’d imdiately tell that if even you could let go of such a great vengeance, why couldn’t I?"
"My grudges are mine, your hatred is yours. Who decided my vengeance must weigh heavier than yours?" Xu Shulou blinked at her. "Do I really seem so self-important?"
Sohow, Bai Roushuang found herself soothed by Xu Shulou’s words. She remained still for a long mont before sighing again. "Aside from the real mories, is everything in the water mirror truth or illusion?"
"I don’t know either," Xu Shulou admitted. "If you wish to believe it’s real, then it’s real. If you’d rather it be false, then it’s false."
Bai Roushuang pondered this. "Then… can I believe Sister Lan’s tears were real, and my mother’s cruelty was false?"
Xu Shulou chuckled and lightly touched her hair. "Of course you can."
Bai Roushuang tilted her head up, as if afraid her tears might spill. The night sky stretched endlessly above them.
"I never realized the moonlight was so beautiful that night."
The stars dissolved into a flash of white light, the illusion shattering into fragnts that scattered with the wind. Bai Roushuang was expelled from the water mirror.
Her first instinct was to search for Xu Shulou. Turning, she saw her senior sister smiling at her from behind, and her heart settled.
Just then, a male voice called from nearby, "Junior Sister Bai! You’re here too?"
The two turned toward the sound and saw a group from Lingxiao Sect soaring up the mountain peak on their swords.
Bai Roushuang still had countless questions for Xu Shulou, and the sight of Lu Beichen struck her as rather untily.
Lu Beichen flew straight to Bai Roushuang, landing with a flourish before his sword sheathed. When he saw her expression, he paused in concern. "Junior Sister Bai, have you been crying?"
Bai Roushuang instinctively touched her face. She had shed too many tears in the illusion, and her eyes were still red and swollen.
Lu Beichen turned to Xu Shulou. "Did soone bully her while I was away?"
Xiao Ya landed behind Lu Beichen but kept her distance, watching Xu Shulou warily, clearly on guard.
Bai Roushuang quickly shook her head. "No, I accidentally fell into the Heart Demon Mirror, and Senior Sister rescued ."
Realizing his mistake, Lu Beichen’s expression softened slightly—but Xiao Ya’s face darkened. Her hand flew to the weapon at her waist. "Xu Shulou, you entered the Heart Demon Mirror?"
Even Lu Beichen was taken aback. "Junior Sister Xiao, what are you doing?"
"Senior Brother Lu, you know exactly what the Heart Demon Mirror is—and you know my history with her," Xiao Ya said coldly. "What else could Xu Shulou’s inner demons be, if not the destruction of her family and kingdom? She’s just erged from the mirror, her emotions still unsteady. What do you think she’ll do to the mont she sees ?"
Xu Shulou.
Xiao Ya repeated the na silently in her mind. When her parents had sent her to the cultivation world, they had warned her that descendants of the forr royal family still lingered among the sects. She had been told to stay vigilant.
It was Xiao Ya’s grandfather who had overthrown the Xu dynasty. As the sole princess who had witnessed the massacre firsthand, how could Xu Shulou possibly harbor no hatred? How could she not seek revenge?
If their positions were reversed, Xiao Ya knew she would stop at nothing to retaliate.
When she first joined Lingxiao Sect and learned of the engagent between Lu Beichen and Xu Shulou, she had nearly panicked. Only after realizing that Lu Beichen seed reluctant to proceed did she dare stay and continue her training.
Before Xu Shulou could respond, Bai Roushuang spoke up indignantly, "My senior sister hasn’t done anything to you, yet you’re the one who’s been hostile all along!"
Lu Beichen stared at Bai Roushuang in surprise. She had always been delicate and sweet-tempered in his presence, but now she t his gaze without flinching. Soone as kind-hearted as her senior sister might tolerate such behavior from sect mbers, but Bai Roushuang refused to let outsiders bully her.
Xiao Ya barely glanced at her, disdain radiating from her silence.
The disciples of Dustless Island noticed the tension. Protective of their own, they rushed over without hesitation, weapons drawn, ready to stand by their senior sister.
Xiao Ya scoffed. "Even if you’re powerful, Xu Shulou, do you really think your handful of people can take on a hundred cultivators from Lingxiao Sect?"
Lu Beichen frowned. "Junior brothers and sisters, please grant so face. Let’s not act impulsively. We can talk this through."
Xiao Ya kept her eyes locked on Xu Shulou. "Senior Brother, your face alone won’t be enough—unless your fiancée is willing to oblige."
That seed unlikely. Lu Beichen cleared his throat and stepped between them, urging Xu Shulou to consider the bigger picture—starting a fight in the secret realm would be unwise.
"Miss Xiao." Xu Shulou brushed past Lu Beichen with a flick of her sleeve and approached Xiao Ya. She held out a handkerchief.
"What is this?" Xiao Ya didn’t take it, only scrutinized it warily. The cloth bore the royal insignia of Xiao Kingdom. "An item from the Xiao royal palace? Where did you get this?!"
"Decades ago, I visited the Xiao Kingdom’s palace," Xu Shulou said calmly. "I went there to kill."
She wasn’t lying. Back then, she had indeed intended to slaughter everyone within those walls.
Xiao Ya’s face paled. "You—"
Xu Shulou casually cast a soundproof barrier to prevent others from overhearing her conversation with Xiao Ya before continuing, “Back then, I landed in the imperial palace, right in front of a six-year-old girl. She probably mistook for so celestial being, oblivious to the murderous aura around , and instead asked, ‘Fairy sister, can I make a wish?’”
Xiao Ya fell silent.
“She said her imperial grandfather had stayed up all night again tending to state affairs, coughing up blood from exhaustion. She asked if I could bless him with health and peace.”
“...”
“I asked her, ‘Why do you think your grandfather rebelled?’” Xu Shulou spoke slowly. “Your grandfather… Xiao Juncheng was the most trusted general under my father, and they were even friends in private. Back then, I used to call him ‘Uncle Xiao’ every ti we t. You even had an aunt who was my study companion. I could never understand why he did what he did. That’s why I asked.”
“...”
“Do you rember how she answered?”
Xiao Ya murmured in response, “The little girl proudly replied, ‘Because the last emperor of the forr dynasty was a tyrant, and Grandfather had the ability to give the people a better life. The throne belongs to those who are worthy.’”
Those were words her grandfather had once spoken, and Xiao Ya, eager to please him, had morized them since childhood.
Xu Shulou nodded. “Then she handed a handkerchief, telling to dry my tears. I said I wasn’t crying, but she insisted… ‘But you look like you’re about to.’”
“...”
“And that’s the origin of this handkerchief.” Xu Shulou offered the cloth once more.
That had been their first eting.
“...” Xiao Ya took the handkerchief, her heart in turmoil. She had been too young back then and soon forgot about the encounter with the “celestial being.” Now, hearing the story from Xu Shulou herself, she realized that the “fairy sister” she t as a child had been none other than the fallen princess—and that her six-year-old self might have narrowly escaped death.
“Why?”
Why hadn’t Xu Shulou killed her?
“My father treated with endless kindness. I should have avenged him, but…” Xu Shulou shook her head. “To , he was a good father. To my mother, a good husband. To those around him, a good friend. He was such a wonderful person—how could I ever let go of this hatred? And yet… to the people, he was not a good emperor.”
“...”
“But your grandfather, cunning and deceitful, betrayed my father under the guise of friendship. He was ruthless—during the war, when my childhood companion was pushed to the front lines, Xiao Juncheng didn’t hesitate. He shot an arrow at his own daughter without a word. Only the distance weakened his aim, and it rely took off half her ear.” Xu Shulou smiled bitterly. “Yet he is praised by the people as a wise ruler. If I killed him, I would be betraying the common folk.”
“...” Xiao Ya knew this story. Later, before the palace fell, the last emperor of the forr dynasty, realizing his defeat, had spared that very companion—letting her flee for her life.
Xiao Ya had always privately scorned the forr emperor for this rcy. How could a ruler hold the throne without a asure of ruthlessness? Yet hearing it from Xu Shulou’s lips stirred an unexpected pang of pity in her.
“At my most hateful, I even thought—what do the people matter to ? If they chose to submit to the new dynasty, they deserved to die too,” Xu Shulou sighed. “But in the end… I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
That day, she wandered away from the palace in a daze. A heavy rain poured from the heavens, and Xu Shulou, refusing to use her spiritual power, walked through the downpour until a kind passerby offered her shelter under an umbrella.
“...”
“I traveled the land and spoke to countless commoners. Under Xiao Juncheng’s reign, corruption was purged, taxes were lightened—the people praised him overwhelmingly.” Xu Shulou exhaled. “I had to accept the truth: a ruler who brings prosperity to the people is a good emperor, regardless of his character. Right or wrong is for the people to judge, and only the people. I had no right to decide, no matter how deep my hatred ran.”
Xiao Ya could find no words.
Xu Shulou gazed into the distance, her eyes tinged with nostalgia and quiet resignation. “In truth, back then, there was no ‘fallen kingdom’—only a change of dynasty. The only ones who perished were the Xu imperial family.”
“...”
“I spent decades in the mortal world, living most of it as an ordinary person,” Xu Shulou admitted with a self-deprecating smile. “I told myself—if the Xiao family ever produced a tyrant, I’d take my revenge without hesitation. But…”
“...” But they both knew—this vengeance would likely remain forever unfulfilled.
In those few words, Xiao Ya glimpsed the hatred, helplessness, and eventual acceptance of a fallen princess.
Xu Shulou steadied herself and turned to face her. “Miss Xiao, I told you this so you could set your mind at ease. There’s no need to guard against . If I didn’t harm you back then, I won’t now.”
Having seen such clarity in her, Xiao Ya could only nod stiffly. “I believe you.”
Though the others couldn’t hear the exchange, their expressions and gestures made it clear a fight had been averted—for now.
Lu Beichen exhaled in relief but didn’t dare invite the Dustless Island group to join his party again. After exchanging a few concerned words with Bai Roushuang, he led his team toward their objective.
Once he was gone, Bai Roushuang hurried to find her senior sister—only to discover Xu Shulou lost in thought beside a clay pot in the sheltered corner of the cave.
She approached cautiously. “Senior Sister, what are you doing?”
Xu Shulou fanned the small stove beneath the pot. “You were frightened in the Heart Demon Mirror. I’m brewing so calming tea for you.”
Bai Roushuang’s eyes reddened. “Senior Sister…” she whimpered.
Xu Shulou smiled at her. “Don’t cry. Don’t worry—it won’t taste bitter.”
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