"Who are you?"
Wen Nianshen hadn't expected someone to suddenly appear and stop her, and instinctively tried to break free. She tried to use force, but the other party gripped too tightly—there was no shaking loose at all. Her face darkened, her gaze fixing coldly on A-Xin.
"You shouldn't have come to meddle in my business!"
As the words fell, Wen Nianshen's figure dissolved into a wisp of smoke. The smoke was golden, and as it drifted out it looked exactly like a little dragon, charging straight at Yuan Ye's position—passing right through the spot over Yuan Ye's heart. A-Xin stood behind and did not stop it.
When the other party tried to charge out of the villa, she floated up, casually laid down a hand seal, and that wisp of smoke was kneaded into a ball that fell into her palm. One could make out, faintly within this little ball, a tiny golden dragon still struggling with all its might. Bound by A-Xin's seal, no matter what it did, it couldn't break free and escape.
A-Xin turned her head and regarded the soundless Yuan Ye, then paid him no further mind. What she'd performed was not a true technique of turning back time; she wasn't there to change the past, nor had she any interest in helping anyone change their fate.
She'd come back for one purpose only: to capture the true killer's aura. With this aura, she could catch the real culprit. This aura of the true killer was one that lingered at the villa—no matter how superb the other party's methods, it could not be erased.
The scene just now had been nothing more than a reenactment. Even if she hadn't acted to collect this aura, once it dispersed, the place would have reverted to the look of the crime scene as before.
When she'd captured the true killer's aura, the surroundings had already changed. Carrying that little ball, she drifted out and leapt into the sky. Using the little ball as a medium, she soon traced the true killer's location.
"The old Jing family residence?"
A-Xin drifted to the location of the old Jing family residence. Inside was an aura identical to the one in the ball in her hand. So—was the true killer of the Jing family? But this aura didn't seem like any evil spirit, and the Jing family were all ordinary people. How could such a formidable figure suddenly appear—one who'd killed Yuan Ye so cleanly and decisively, then framed Wen Nianshen?
She drifted into the old Jing residence, heading straight for the location of that aura.
This was a luxurious, spacious room, every piece of jewelry placed within it priceless. At the dressing table sat an extremely beautiful, regal-looking matron. A-Xin recognized this person—it was Jing Songyuan's mother. She also remembered that Jing Songyuan's mother was an ordinary person.
She stood off to one side without making a sound, her eyes settling on Madam Jing. And looking at her, she saw a problem. Within Madam Jing's flesh was an ordinary person's soul, but the one in command of this body at present was not Madam Jing's soul—it was a golden dragon. Yes, a golden dragon.
Earlier, through the aura at the crime scene, she'd already discerned that the killer was no evil spirit, but rather carried the aura of a golden dragon.
"Hmph! I told that old thing to act, but he insisted it shouldn't be meddled with, lest it draw that person's attention. If I keep not interfering, who knows how much cultivation my son will lose after this tribulation," the woman said to the mirror, her voice cold and biting. "That old dragon thinks I don't know he's keeping a little lover outside? Now he won't even look after his own son—he's probably trying to breed a half-breed with some demoness out there."
"And now haven't I succeeded? As long as Wen Nianshen loses her life by accident in this world, the divine power she sheds will be absorbed by my son. If she dies by accident in every world and loses her divine power, then by the time the trial is over, my son won't lose any cultivation at all—he'll gain a great deal of it. I truly don't understand what that old dragon is so wary of."
"Good thing I took action this time. Otherwise, once my son's fortune in this world declined, he'd probably repeat the same mistake. That old dragon clearly doesn't care about us, mother and son. For now I won't quarrel with him, nor go settle accounts with those demonesses—but once my son's trial is over, not a single one of those demonesses can hope to survive."
"And that little demoness who seduced my son—she needn't think of living either. If not for her, would my son ever have met with this ordeal?"
A-Xin stood to one side and got the gist of it. She did recall something. Years ago, the beloved son of the Dragon Mother and the Dragon King had fallen for a little demon cultivating in the mortal realm. The Dragon Crown Prince was of noble status and was already betrothed; between him and the little demon, there was certainly no way to bear it to fruition.
But because the Dragon Prince's infatuation would not waver, he insisted on being with the little demon. To be together, they had to descend together into a small world to undergo tribulation. As long as they could pass the tribulation successfully, proving that true love existed between them, they could be together upon emerging, with no one to obstruct them. If they failed, then without anyone needing to counsel them, the moment they recalled the affairs of the small world, they would no longer be together.
The golden dragon occupying Madam Jing's body now should be the Dragon Mother.
So it wasn't hard to guess that Jing Songyuan was that Dragon Crown Prince.
There was a trace of bewilderment in A-Xin's eyes. Then who was Wen Nianshen? From the Dragon Mother's words, it wasn't hard to tell that Wen Nianshen's identity was no lowly one either. Then she smiled—of course it wasn't lowly; on Wen Nianshen's soul was a seal belonging to her. From the Dragon Mother's words, she clearly coveted Wen Nianshen's divine power.
How could that do?
Those who harmed Wen Nianshen could not be allowed to get off easy.
"I should be going. If I stay any longer and the world's will senses me and reclaims the fortune I bestowed on my son, it'll likely bring trouble to his trial." The Dragon Mother murmured a line, and a golden dragon emerged from the top of Madam Jing's head. The instant it meant to drift away, A-Xin's figure revealed itself.
The Dragon Mother was at once struck with alarm. With a flick of her tail, she charged outward. But for some reason, she simply couldn't break out of this room. She slammed into it hard several times, only to be blocked each time by a transparent wall. She turned back, wanting to drift into Madam Jing's body again, but A-Xin waved a hand, and Madam Jing's body was enclosed by a dome of light. The Dragon Mother crashed heavily into the light dome, knocking herself dizzy.
By now she knew she couldn't leave. Her form shifted, transforming into a beautiful matron clad in a glittering golden dress. She watched A-Xin warily, her expression changing again and again, until at last she spoke unwillingly: "Miss Shen, why are you here?"
"To catch you," A-Xin said.
The Dragon Mother had already guessed that the other party had heard everything she'd just said. Even the world's will hadn't discovered her presence—so how had this Miss Shen detected her? Even if the world's will had found her, she wouldn't be afraid—but this person, she was scared to death of.
"Miss Shen, how can you say such a thing? I haven't disrupted the order of the small world, nor used divine power to do anything to these mortals as I pleased. You..." The Dragon Mother could no longer get the words out, because she saw A-Xin raise her hand—and in it was that little ball, the golden dragonling struggling and thrashing inside it being precisely an aura of hers.
"Miss Shen, just this once. My acting this time was only for the sake of my son's trial succeeding—there was no other meaning to it."
A-Xin asked, "Truly just that?"
"Naturally." The Dragon Mother's eyes darted about. She didn't believe that this person, who'd been sunk in slumber for years on end, could know every affair of every small world clear as day.
She'd only gone to visit her elder sister's home for a spell and hadn't been watching everything that happened in the small worlds. By the time she returned—counting this world—her son had already been through more than a dozen small worlds. And every ending had been contrary to her wishes, a result that infuriated her greatly. Not only had he failed to absorb the other party's divine power; he'd even lost a great deal of his own. She'd been so incensed that she had no choice but to step in and handle the matter.
She'd never imagined that, just as she prepared to leave, she'd draw out this Miss Shen whom she couldn't afford to provoke.
Wasn't it said that once she slept, she'd sleep for years, and no one could rouse her? The other party could now only move about as a spirit-body, yet she was even more terrifying than before—as long as she existed in the world, nothing could escape her eyes.
"This time you took on Wen Nianshen's appearance and killed Yuan Ye. Once Wen Nianshen's trial comes down, she'll certainly be sentenced to death. Dying such an unexplained, accidental death, the divine power on her body would suffer a loss. Dragon Mother, what a fine scheme! With her gone from this small world, after her death her soul would transmigrate to the next world, and the divine power she lost would, I suppose, fall as a windfall to the Dragon Prince."
"Miss Shen, I..."
"Say no more. Take on Wen Nianshen's appearance, and I won't hold this matter against you."
The Dragon Mother didn't understand—a moment ago the other party had been discussing her crimes, and now she wanted her to turn into Wen Nianshen. She truly couldn't fathom what the other party's aim was. Wary, she asked, "May I ask what Miss Shen wants me to take Wen Nianshen's form for?"
"What else would it be for? To take you to the police station to turn yourself in, of course. The one who killed Yuan Ye is you, not Wen Nianshen. If you don't take on Wen Nianshen's form, how will you turn yourself in? How will you submit to the law?"
The Dragon Mother's expression cracked. She, a dignified Dragon Mother—never mind killing one mortal, what would it matter if she killed a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand? The lives of these mortals—did she need to spare them so much as a glance?
"Miss Shen, this is going too far."
A-Xin only asked, "Will you change, or won't you?"
"Impossible. Miss Shen, I'm a Dragon Mother, after all. If word of this gets sent back, where am I to put my face? I'd likely become the laughingstock of all the heavens." The Dragon Mother shook her head hastily, refusing. "Miss Shen, there's no way I can turn into Wen Nianshen and accept the judgment of mere mortals. I hope Miss Shen won't make things too difficult for me."
"It's not I who am making things difficult for you—it's you who committed the wrong."
"Miss Shen!"
"Fine—it's you who provoked me." A-Xin changed her wording. "Wen Nianshen is my person. You harmed her, so you provoked me. So then, Dragon Mother—will you change now or not?"
The Dragon Mother's pupils dilated, her face turning ashen in an instant, her whole body trembling. Wen Nianshen was this one's person? Her lips quivered, and the next instant she dropped straight to her knees before A-Xin. "Miss Shen, be magnanimous. This time it was my fault—please, Miss Shen, don't hold it against me. There are many ways to clear Wen Nianshen's name; I can use another method. Please, Miss Shen, let me off this once."
"Will you change?"
The Dragon Mother's face shifted and shifted again, but still she didn't agree.
Then she heard a voice, cold and merciless, heedless of all living things: "If you don't change, I'll destroy the world's will and make it replay. Your Dragon Prince's trial will fail then and there—his cultivation gravely damaged, perhaps even beaten back to his original form to cultivate anew. And Wen Nianshen, I can protect. The Dragon Prince—you cannot."
"Miss Shen!" The Dragon Mother jerked her head up to see the white-clad woman before her, her expression cold and detached, not a shred of warmth in her eyes. "Miss Shen, isn't this rather too unfair of you?"
"Where is it unfair? I'm merely telling you to submit to the law. You killed someone—you ought to turn yourself in, Dragon Mother."
The Dragon Mother's face was ashen gray. At last she said, "I'll change. I'll change right away. Please, Miss Shen, calm your anger."