Chapter Eighty-Four: Encounter with the Morro Sect Once Again
Shen Baiyu smiled gently. “How can you be so sure we didn’t know each other in a previous life?”
Miao Shihai was taken aback, suddenly enlightened, and replied with a bitter smile, “Past events are but fleeting clouds. We live for the present, walk in today. Even if my previous incarnation was indeed your old acquaintance, things have changed now—people, places, everything. Why force what cannot be?”
Shen Baiyu countered, “But if you know nothing of your past lives, how can you know you don’t want to know?”
Miao Shihai, emboldened by some unknown courage, retorted, “But… is the person I was in a past life really still me?”
“How could it not be? You are him, and he is you. Besides, if I help you recover your memories from before, it won’t erase who you are now. Rest assured—even if you regain those memories, you’ll still be the one in control.” Shen Baiyu, seeing Miao Shihai’s concern, explained gently.
Miao Shihai looked at Shen Baiyu with a complex gaze, silent for a long time.
His intuition told him she was not lying, but reason reminded him she was a spirit—her greatest skill was beguiling hearts. He must not fall for her tricks.
Shen Baiyu said no more. Miao Shihai was, after all, just an ordinary person; the pressure from their conversation was considerable, and he needed time to digest it. She turned her eyes to Yi An. “Now you see, I mean him no harm?”
Yi An seemed reminded of something and asked, “But as far as I know, once someone falls and crosses the River of Forgetfulness, after drinking the Broth of Lady Meng, all past memories are wiped clean. What method do you have to restore what’s been erased?”
Indeed, Shen Baiyu was only a cultivator of the Day Wandering realm. Even the lofty immortals and gods of old might not be able to achieve such a feat.
Once the Broth of Lady Meng is drunk, worldly memories vanish in an instant, obsessions are released, ties to the mortal realm severed, and the journey to rebirth marks the absolute end of the past.
Thus, Yi An could not fathom what means Shen Baiyu possessed to accomplish this.
Shen Baiyu was surprised, her suspicions confirmed: Yi An was no ordinary person. Most cultivators would not know such secret matters.
---
“To awaken memories? I have no such power. But what if I act before reincarnation?” Shen Baiyu said with a smile.
“How so?” Yi An had an inkling, but remained doubtful.
“Well, for that, I must thank your master, Lingxuzi. It was his idea.” Shen Baiyu continued.
Xuan Yangzi was startled and asked hastily, “My… my master? You know him?”
Shen Baiyu pondered briefly. “Long ago, my senior brother Li Qingshan and I were disciples of Mother Wu Yue of Tiantai Mountain. We grew up together—childhood friends, inseparable. After we completed our training, we ventured out into the world, eventually arriving in Hangzhou.”
“But we underestimated how treacherous this world had become. As soon as we entered Hangzhou, trouble awaited us.”
“A hundred miles outside Hangzhou lived a demon cultivator called Master Jiuwu, infamous for his wicked deeds and harm to the innocent. He was powerful, and my brother and I wanted nothing to do with him. Yet somehow, he learned of us and came seeking trouble, harboring improper intentions.”
Xuan Yangzi mused, “The name Master Jiuwu was renowned in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region centuries ago. I’ve heard of him, though I never knew why he vanished so suddenly. Was it connected to you?”
Shen Baiyu nodded. “Indeed. Though he was strong, my brother and I were not easily bullied. After a fierce encounter, neither side prevailed, but he gained nothing. We thought the matter settled, planning to revisit it once we grew stronger.”
“So how did my master become involved?” Xuan Yangzi pressed.
“Shortly after the demon left, your master approached us, seeking an alliance to rid the world of Master Jiuwu. After some deliberation, we agreed—as your master said, mutual benefit, both sides got what they needed.” Shen Baiyu’s gaze flickered with a hint of complexity.
If only things had been that simple.
She was young and naïve then, unaware of the deeper dangers, and thus brought disaster upon herself.
---
“So that’s the real reason for the demise of the once-famous Master Jiuwu,” Xuan Yangzi realized.
Given his master’s fierce hatred of evil, if he encountered a demon harming innocents, he would step in without hesitation. If he failed to destroy it, he would lose sleep—such was his nature. Breaking a few of his own rules under necessity was understandable.
This is what they call fighting evil with evil.
Shen Baiyu sighed. “Unfortunately, things were not as simple as they seemed. Not long after we joined forces to defeat Master Jiuwu, more trouble arrived. None of us anticipated that Master Jiuwu had powerful connections. Soon, a cultivator of the Day Wandering realm from an evil sect came to avenge him. My brother and I had only just entered the Night Wandering realm and were no match.”
“That evil cultivator belonged to a sinister organization called the Moruo Sect, and held a high position. He said if my brother and I joined them, the matter of Master Jiuwu would be forgiven.”
“We knew we were outmatched, so we pretended to comply, hoping to find a way out later. But the enemy anticipated this and produced two unfamiliar pills, insisting we take them.”
“Their intentions were clearly malicious, and my brother and I refused to be controlled. As I hesitated, my brother used a secret life-preserving technique, temporarily gaining the Day Wandering realm. With some advantage in spells, he defeated the evil cultivator. Yet the technique came with a fatal flaw—anyone who used it could not escape dire consequences…”
“Moruo Sect again…” Yi An’s eyes flickered. The Moruo Sect was truly a persistent menace. Since arriving in Hangzhou, this was the first he’d heard of them, but compared to the north, their arrogance was somewhat muted here, their actions more covert. In the north, Moruo Sect’s recklessness knew no bounds.
Moruo Sect was the greatest cancer in the Yanbei Dynasty, a source of endless calamity.