”How troublesome.”
Feng Zhi Hao's words sent a cold sweat down Su Jing's spine. She unclenched her hand and dropped the bead she had just used for a power-up, destroying it to dust once it touched the ground.
The necklace changed to its previous appearance, the bead somehow appearing back on the string beside the jade stone.
What kind of jewellery was that?
Su Jing heard that man say it was a powerful artefact, and now it was clear his sayings weren't unfunded.
Su Jing kept her breath, afraid to be noticed. But as she stood hidden, she couldn't help but take notice of the black fog that was quickly spreading around. It got towards the place where the man's body was killed, increasing in density as it circled Feng Zhi Hao.
That surely did not announce good news. Although Feng Zhi Hao appeared unaffected by it, Su Jing couldn't ignore what this strange mist did to the other previous persons. Every time that fog showed up, it coincided with someone losing their mind entirely! If Feng Zhi Hao fell into one of those deep dream states and went bonkers, too, Su Jing knew she'd be in big trouble.
Her heart raced as she debated whether to warn Feng Zhi Hao and get her out. But would it even work? That fog looked seriously tough to handle - Feng Zhi Hao herself was a difficult person!
As if to confirm her guesses, Feng Zhi Hao placed a hand on her forehead, knitting her eyebrows. She bit her lip, as she tried to resist the force taking over her, her eyes glinted with intense hatred toward whatever haunted her thoughts.
A cold shiver ran down Su Jing's back seeing this. She never saw such intense emotions.
While Feng Zhi Hao's body was gradually enveloped in her memories haze, Su Jing tried to move and tiptoe back down the stairs. The slight hopes of saving Feng Zhi Hao were long gone - because now she wasn't that sure about her own well-being!
But even her futile wish to run away seemed unreachable - as Su Jing felt her body sink into place, anchored to the ground
”What is happening?!” murmuring, she attempted again to lift up her legs but they were unmoving.
That certainly didn't spell good news.
Feng Zhi Hao also seemed to be strangely silent. Su Jing glanced at her and saw how the mist was almost swallowing her whole, showing just how awful her memories were. This was by far the biggest black cloud she had seen on this mountain - and supposedly the one at fault for not allowing her to move!
Su Jing struggled more to move, the panic slowly getting in through her body. The edge of the cloud had reached her, feeling ominous and with Feng Zhi Hao's full emotions of resentfulness.
As it slowly crept over her body, Su Jing felt a cold pressure surrounding her. Her vision darkened, and despite trying to keep her eyes shut to avoid any hallucinations, something still appeared before her, demanding her attention.
Because of that, once Su Jing opened her eyes, she saw a different landscape. A beautiful garden and sunny rays. She was still prompted on the ground, however, someone else was with her.
To be more exact she was kneeling beside an old woman with her head carefully massaged in her lap. Su Jing had the urge to get up and slap the fingers that were touching her but her body continued to be still, sometimes acting on its own.
”Her” palm reached over her mouth as ”she” took the air in boredom. The old lady smiled gently as she was treading Su Jing's hair, the multiple bracelets from her wrist hitting Su Jing's forehead with a cold touch.
Everything seemed so alive, yet when Su Jing looked closely into the grandmother's eyes, she couldn't quite discern what emotion she was hiding. This lady was so distant - so unreal, being obvious, at least from Su Jing's perspective, that she was just merely an illusion.
Was this Feng Zhi Hao's memory? Then that must mean she was currently in her perspective.
”Grandmother, I think my elder sister has already understood what she did wrong. She shouldn't stay further like that.”
Coquettish words started getting out of Su Jing's mouth, with a far different voice from her real one, or Feng Zhi Hao's. Su Jing would have frowned and cringed, but even her facial expressions were not in her control.
The old lady shook her head disapprovingly, her smile dropping into a cold one.
”Huabao, you are too kindhearted. Your sister's fault shouldn't be so easily dismissed. If we did that, she wouldn't learn how to repent.”
Su Jing lifted her head as she was patted. Heavy pins were adorned in her hair and the grandmother was adjusting them carefully.
Huabao surely wasn't Feng Zhihao, but since ”she” was her younger sister, did that mean Su Jing was portraying Feng Huohua right now? The one that people kept complimenting for reaching the immortal realm. Feng Zhi Hao also mentioned her when killing that man - not in a good tone.
Su Jing, or better said, Feng Huohua nodded timidly, hugging her grandmother.
”Hua´er understands, grandmother. Hopefully, elder sister will not take too long to correct her behaviour.”
The woman did not reply anymore, just sighing. Feng Huohua's mouth curved slightly upwards, and as she turned her head behind, Su Jing was surprised to see someone kneeling not too far away, with their head down.
That was Feng Zhi Hao.
Although her attire was clearly more expensive, and her traits more youthful, the haggard state she was in couldn't be hidden. Her hair was messy, and her hands were trembling as they were red, visibly from being spanked on. Just by watching her Su Jing knew her knees must have felt numb.
Perhaps sensing her staring, Feng Zhi Hao lifted her head, her hair cascading over her face. Her fierce eyes pierced through the strands, leaving Su Jing momentarily breathless.
”She has to, ” the old woman replied, continuing to give in and pet Huohua, ”That child surely is as wild as her damn mother.”
The lady didn't even bother to look at Feng Zhi Hao while saying this. Feng Huohua however continued to stare at Feng Zhihao, taking in every second of how Feng Zhihao's hate intensified.
Of course, Su Jing wasn't too dumb to not realise what Feng Huohua was doing, ”She” was mocking Feng Zhi Hao.
The hand on top of her head touched her lighter and lighter, till Su Jing noticed that the persona of the grandma had disappeared, leaving only Feng Huohua. Her body got up, and as she exited the beautiful pavilion, Su Jing had reached in front of Feng Zhi Hao.
Feng Huohua's dress was gorgeous, with pinkish tones and golden embroidery details. Her delicate arms were crossed, having an oppressive and superior stance over Feng Zhi Hao.
”Isn't dear sister content? Grandma had visited you as you wished. Why the long face?”
The voice was now changed, far from being coquettish. She looked down at the kneeling Feng Zhi Hao, hitting her knee slightly with the tip of her shoe.
”What now, can't you hear me?”
Feng Zhi Hao still didn't respond, only clenching her hands. Although she was all silent, Su Jing could still see that she was in a very conflicting mental state.
Huohua continued, her voice dripping with disdain.
“You haven’t changed at all. Always so defiant, always thinking you’re better than everyone else. Even grandfather's death did not seem to have changed something.”
Raising her leg, Feng Huohua's feet had reached Feng Zhihao's shoulder. She pressed on it, forcefully making Feng Zhihao raise her head. The mention of her grandfather had clearly struck a nerve, as Feng Zhi Hao’s jaw clenched tighter.
”Don't you dare mention him.”
She shoved Feng Huohua’s leg away, causing Huohua to stumble backwards. That seemed to enrage Feng Huohua greatly since her smile instantly disappeared, painfully biting her lips while glaring towards Feng Zhihao.
”Ha, you still think you are the grand and favoured miss of the Feng Clan? Stop daydreaming!” She took a whip from her belt, which glistened with sparkles and small lightning bolts. ”You should accept your pathetic fate, you trash!”
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During all this fighting, Su Jing… really felt she was an unwelcome third party. She tried to look around for a way out, but this dream seemed impossible to exit without proper powers.
And the owner of this memory, Feng Zhi Hao, didn't look like waking up too soon. She was more forward in fighting Feng Huohua.
Feng Zhi Hao moved her hands, and a sword materialized out of thin air. The blade glinted menacingly, far more formidable than any normal sword she had seen. Su Jing couldn't fathom how this was possible, but considering this was Feng Zhi Hao's dream domain, it made sense that she had stronger abilities here.
She lunged forward, aiming to strike down Huohua - together with Su Jing! Su Jing panicked, more than ever since she didn't know what Feng Huohua was going to do or how well she was good at fighting.
But thankfully Feng Huohua's mood seemed opposite to Su Jing's, hardly being intimidated at all. Her whip quickly launched towards the sword, intending to smack it from Feng Zhihao's hands.
Unfortunately, the whip did not seem able to stop Feng Zhi Hao's fury. She caught the whip and wrapped it around her palm, pulling it and launching Feng Huohua to the ground.
Su Jing, being in her body, felt how the hard floor scratched her skin - almost feeling too real. Her shoulder hurt, her chest went rapidly up and down, and her throat ached.
Even the beautiful dress from before felt now a bit impractical. Because of that, before Feng Huohua could get back up, Feng Zhi Hao launched herself, with a clear intention to stab her sister to death. Su Jing quivered in fear.
Feng Huohua quickly raised her arms to block the attack. That resulted in the weapon being caught in Feng Huohua's palms, millimetres away from her body.
”It was you who killed grandpa!” Feng Zhihao shouted madly.
Su Jing couldn’t help but hiss inwardly as the blade was pressed harder against her hands. Although this was just a memory, the pain felt alarmingly real, and something told her that dying here could represent a big problem for her body outside.
That's why, Su Jing focused on Feng Huohua’s hands, as ”she” was more preoccupied with insulting Feng Zhihao and making her angrier. A tingling sensation passed through her head, making her arms tremble and fingers feel even hotter. Unsure whether it was her own sensation or Feng Huohua's, Su Jing kept still, desperate to hold the sword away from her,
But Feng Zhihao seemed determined and powerful enough to break Feng Huohua's forces. The blade began to slip from her grasp, even though both Feng Huohua and Su Jings were holding onto it. Feng Huohua didn't look like worrying about the situation as she continued smirking, further provoking Feng Zhihao.
”And in the end, grandfather still chose me, not you. Nothing can change that.”
The craziness overtook Feng Zhihao, along with the black mist that wrapped around her body. The blade went closer to her flesh, and just as it was about to pierce her, a sudden, sharp crack echoed through the air.
Su Jing held her breath, her fingers feeling hot. Her gaze was locked on the blade as she watched cracks rapidly spread across its surface.
In mere moments, the sword burst into a dazzling display of light, shattered into fragments. The bits flew everywhere, disappearing around the two of them.
Feng Zhi Hao’s eyes widened in shock at such a scene. Her actions seemed to pause, as if confused and still not processing that her sword was gone. Only after Feng Zhihao started to tremble did she get away from Feng Huohua's body, coughing violently and clutching her stomach.
Unconsciously, Su Jing wanted to reach after Feng Zhihao. Her hands moved and that made Su Jing momentarily stop as she realised Feng Huohua's presence faded. Her fingers easily responded to her commands.
Su Jing looked around, her heart racing as the dreamscape began to dissolve. The enchanting fairy garden and elegant courtyard melted away, their vibrant colours changing into the harsh and cold mountain view.
With a gasp, Feng Zhi Hao was forcefully pulled back to reality. She vomited blood, trembling from the rough awakening. Su Jing felt herself being pulled back into her own body. The disorientation was brief as she rapidly sought cover, not wanting to be seen by Feng Zhihao.
The fog continued to cling around Feng Zhihao, thickening and swirling in a last-ditch effort to suffocate her. Gasping for breath, Feng Zhihao's trembling hands fumbled for the necklace around her neck.
She clutched it tightly, the jewel emitting quickly in response a brilliant, golden light, of the same calibre she used to kill the previous dude. The intense glow cut through the fog, causing it to dissolve rapidly into nothingness.
Amazingly, her condition improved almost immediately, shocking Su Jing. She wanted to continue to keep an eye on Feng Zhi Hao, but the show of light seemed to blind her, and her vision got blurry. Pained, Su Jing put her palms over her face, but her head continued pounding, and nothing she did made it better.
She wondered whether the fog was causing this, but it was already fading away. Her head felt like splitting open. As she struggled to keep herself conscious, different kinds of images flooded in, each distinct and unfamiliar. There were no angry villagers or a Village Head this time, nor Feng Huohua or Feng Zhihao - just an ongoing mess hard for her to decipher.
Su Jing did not know how much time passed or if something happened in her surroundings.
When she finally regained consciousness, nothing could be heard, and Su Jing needed a few seconds to realise where she was. Her body felt numb as if it was lying down for a long time.
Feng Zhi Hao was gone, and a scary silence enveloped the whole place.
She needed a few minutes to put together what was now happening in her head. With each moment, her expression petrified more and more, having a slight moment when she did not even know if what she was living was a dream or reality.
This world was a story.
Su Jing breathed in and out at this affirmation, as still, she needed some time to completely believe that - however, all the happenings from before told her what she knew now weren't lies.
No wonder she felt a weird vibe around Feng Zhi Hao and the two immortals, Bai Xiu Ying and Zhu Tai Chang.
They were one of the main characters in this world story!
Especially Feng Zhi Hao, the young lady Su Jing encountered was the illustrious and lucky female protagonist!
She was everything that the genre cliches had to offer - reborn, with a powerful secret bloodline, heavenly medical knowledge, and a farming space. She had many love interests, but Feng Zhi Hao remained utterly oblivious to their affections, consumed by her dedication to the dao and getting revenge on the ones who betrayed her.
This transmigration was totally out of her scope. If you want someone to change the flow of the story, why don't you take one of these usual military, spy, killer women? Su Jing read a lot of crossover stories, but neither of the transmigrators was as pitiful as her.
What worried Su Jing even more was that she didn't remember a character named after herself. She might have remembered her past life, but her current one was still unclear!
There is a big possibility of her forgetting, however, Su Jing is sure she wouldn't easily pass over a character having the same name.
Upon deeper reflection, Su Jing realised she might be one of those one-sentence characters. After all, why would she be announced right before the mighty female lead?
And the other two - Zhu Tai Chang and Bai Xiu Ying.
In her modern past, where she read about this story, she did not even seem to do anything grandiose apart from living a normal, boring life. Su Jing hadn't a clear scope over those memories either, these running like sand out of her fingers.
Su Jing preferred to avoid becoming collateral damage in Feng Zhihao's epic adventures, either way.
Feng Zhi Hao, was as Su Jing suspected, a dangerous fella, if not handled well. The person Su Jing saw dying wasn't the first person Feng Zhi Hao had killed, but one of the many victims she had finished to make them pay for her suffering in her first life.
The story already passed a few arcs. Right now it was somewhere in the middle, where Feng Zhi Hao escaped the mortal realm after finishing getting revenge on her family, other clan nobles and academic schoolmates.
To take it from the beginning, Feng Zhi Hao was a noble concubine daughter of a very famous family in Qi Country. At first, she was elated as a talented and proud miss, but once it was discovered she did not have talent in cultivation, after an accident which also made her dumb, people began to ignore her since the motto of this story is ”only the strongest rule”.
Although quite true, Su Jing would want to add that, ”the majority of people are also dense”, since they ignored, again and again, the signs of superpower Feng Zhi Hao had shown.
In her last life, Feng Zhi Hao died because of being poisoned by her stepmother, half-sister and fiance. While the sister and her taken lover went to the immortal realm, Feng Zhi Hao died slowly in loneliness, ignored by everyone.
Thus Feng Zhi Hao was given a chance from heaven and got reborn just before her half-sister and fiance left for the immortal realm, in the said accident that made her dumb. With the knowledge of her past life, Feng Zhi Hao played the role of a mindless girl, wearing a weak and docile mask, while plotting how to ruin everyone.
But first, to gain power, she needed to cure her poisoned body. Feng Zhi Hao had no cultivation abilities and neither the normal mortal medicine seemed to work.
Thankfully, she somehow got lucky and discovered that the necklace her mother left her wasn't a normal one, but a spiritual heirloom. This powerful tool had a farming space and many other treasures, like cultivation and medicinal books, spiritual springs and weapons.
And like this, she was able to cure herself, unlock her meridians and start cultivating and being a doctor, while still hiding her new powerful constitution with an elixir.
The next time someone started bullying her, she either created an unfavourable situation for them or simply killed them in secret, making everyone pay.
She began by killing her noisy grandma who only favoured her step-sister, slapped the stepmother till she got exiled to a distant residence, and made sure her bully cousins were made a laughing stock in the nobility - all this while pretending to be innocent and too stupid to think of such scheming things.
And that wasn't all, since from the moment she succeeded in gaining her ignorant father's approval to go to the Qi Country's academy, she continued creating a riot there too!
Talking about an ambitious and vengeful female lead, Su Jing was sure no one could pass over Feng Zhi Hao!
Was this all finished?
Of course not. Feng Zhi Hao found through her mother's notes that she could still be possibly alive, somehow hidden in the immortal realm.
This realm, although desired by many, was difficult to get into for mortals. This implied passing by numerous dangerous areas.
Every country from the mortal realm needed to send a representative to show their respect to the immortal who descended down. Qi Country, even though being the weakest and most far away, still tried to send as many people as they could. After all, many wished to ascend to immortality!
So how did the ridiculed Feng Zhi Hao succeed in reaching the immortal root selection?
Feng Zhi Hao's cousin was supposed to come to this root selection by the imperial order, but since the Feng Clan feared losing her because of the dangerous path there, and because she had an engagement to the crown prince, her Aunt, together with the remaining members and the exiled stepmother, decided to throw Feng Zhi Hao instead there.
It might have looked unfavourable and a dead end, but for Feng Zhi Hao it was the best situation ever!
Together with some other rich noble heirs, she passed through perilous small-scale events, the arrogant heirs either getting killed by the monsters or by Feng Zhi Hao herself.
During one of those situations, she encountered Zhu Tai Chang, embarrassing him in a contest. He grew furious and wanted to attack her, however thanks to Bai Xiu Ying, they left without doing anything to Feng Zhi Hao.
As an apology, Bai Xiu Ying gave Feng Zhi Hao a map with the way towards Mountain Shun, where the root selection was supposed to take place.
Easy peasy then, and Feng Zhi Hao successfully reached the root selection. The only problem was that she had not expected the sect to reject her only on the quality of the roots.
Although she cultivated, it was true her roots were not that good to impress an immortal. But that wasn't enough to stop her - since she decided to go on her own towards the immortal realm.
She killed numerous beasts in her way, gaining more strength and abilities. When she saw people she knew who ridiculed her, she killed them with no words to spar. The man Su Jing saw was such a victim.
It was interesting to know that this mountain had a special spell that made you fight your inner demons. When Feng Zhi Hao stood immobile then, she remembered some painful events from her past - and because the man decided to mock her at the wrong moment, she threw her frustration at him and killed him.
Then she entered the next stage of inner demon fighting. This part was what worried Su Jing since the actual story dictated something else.
Although Su Jing mostly followed Feng Huohua's will according to Feng Zhihao's memories, the dream state didn't end that fast, since the false Feng Huohua was actually killed by Feng Zhihao! After that, the memory would have regressed to a part where she was scolded by a false grandpa, who told her she was not worthy of the Feng family name.
The end was with Feng Zhihao realising she was in fact in a fake dream when the grandpa accidentally said something out of his character. She slashed him with her sword, thus clearing her inner demon. This made her pass over her bottleneck, reaching the Fifth Stage of Qi Energy Refinement.
Well, that clearly didn't happen anymore. Feng Zhihao missed her chance to increase in cultivation. Although Feng Zhihao might have entered again while Su Jing was unconscious, she still suffered a great impact when the sword broke. Su Jing didn't know at the time, but that sword was made from her inner Qi, thus breaking it meant having serious inner wounds.
Was it because of Su Jing? Two people in the same inner demon weren't something that ever happened with other characters.
Not that Su Jing was a normal one either.
Su Jing was an external soul with amnesia, and probably the fog's power was not working on her. So what if she had some bad villagers wanting her dead? If Su Jing hadn't attributed those memories to herself, it would have hardly had an emotional effect on her mind.
So she was put in someone else demon dream, the mechanism pursuing her to test her mental cultivation, in one way or another. Too bad that this affected Feng Zhihao's own testing and made her fail. Maybe her sword wasn't meant to handle anything else besides the fake memories, so when fought with something external - like Su Jing, it broke.
Remembering how it only cracked when it touched Feng Huohua, it was the only reasonable explanation. Inner demons were after all very sensible.
Su Jing hit her head, wondering if this small mishap would now doom Feng Zhihao's entire journey. She was meant to still explore a forest and train when reaching the immortal realm, so maybe she would succeed then in passing her bottleneck. Her farming space was full of meds and overflowing spiritual Qi, anyway.
But what about her past life memories? Su Jing had a hunch that she transmigrated way before, but her memories were only unlocked now since she had the fog as a stimulus.
Recalling how she found herself totally confused at the root selection, Su Jing was sure that was when she first arrived in this world - since then she appeared in this story! That was when Feng Zhi Hao saw her, in other words.
Feng Zhi Hao has no business with Su Jing's life, so it was understandable why the story wouldn't tell about her past, actual life or future.
She was a simple extra, a poor mortal girl who most probably went back to live a normal mortal life in another village, away from those who wanted to kill her. Even if she still pursued going to the immortal realm like Su Jing, it was hardly probable that she actually passed her own inner demons. Being made an enemy with an entire community wouldn't be easy for a young girl.
Su Jing did not want to risk it and return there. Who knows what would they do if they accidentally saw her?
Su Jing trembled as she hadn't enough big balls to scheme revenge on them. She had no talent, no cheat, no relatives, no home. In what way could she do something? Even cultivation power was out of the list since she was so weak the sect rejected her!
She needs to survive first. And for that to happen, she had to find a place for herself in the immortal realm, away from the plot.