Jingliu walked down the street at an unhurried pace, utterly out of step with the bustling crowds around her.
The Luofu's streets were as lively as ever. Hawkers cried out their wares, children laughed and played, and passersby chatted among themselves, weaving together a picture of everyday mortal life.
And yet, in Jingliu's eyes, all of it seemed veiled in a faint sense of unreality.
It had been too long since she had returned here.
Far, far too long.
So long that even she herself could no longer remember when she had last set foot upon the Luofu.
Time had changed everything.
For someone like Jingliu, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that not only things had changed, but people as well.
By now, there were probably very few left on the Luofu who still remembered her name.
Jingliu came to a halt, closed her eyes, and drew in a slow breath.
Beneath the eyepatch, her eyes began to burn faintly—the first sign of mara.
Ever since she had left the Luofu, this had not happened in a very long time.
But now that she had returned to this place, this land burdened with too many memories, the turmoil she had thought long buried was beginning to rise again.
"Bailu…"
Jingliu murmured the name softly.
That small figure from earlier. That young face. Those innocent, unknowing eyes.
It was her, and yet it was not her.
Jingliu understood that perfectly well.
The real Baiheng was dead. She had died in that disaster long ago.
And the child now called Bailu was merely the Vidyadhara High Elder reborn—a completely new individual, a life that had nothing to do with Baiheng.
So why, when she looked into those eyes, had her heart still rippled like that?
Was it because the spark in those eyes resembled Baiheng's so closely?
Or because, deep down, she simply wanted to believe that the friend who had once risked everything to save her still existed in this world in some form?
Jingliu did not know the answer.
But she regretted coming.
Because after this meeting, it seemed she was no longer able to suppress the mara within her.
Then a voice sounded from behind her.
"Miss, you seem rather troubled."
Jingliu spun around at once, frost surging instinctively from her body.
But when she saw who it was, that killing chill froze in place.
Standing before her was a white-haired woman.
She had a gentle, waterlike temperament, a face so soft it seemed capable of melting all sharpness in the world, and eyes that were clear yet deep—eyes that seemed able to see through a person without ever making them feel exposed.
What caught Jingliu's attention most, however, was the faint aura surrounding her.
Abundance.
And not just any trace of it—pure, unmistakable Abundance.
"Who are you?" Jingliu's voice turned cold.
The white-haired woman smiled gently. "My name is Cecilia. I'm a doctor."
Yes, the newcomer was Cecilia.
As agreed earlier with Fu Xuan, she had arrived on the Luofu as promised.
What Cecilia had not expected, however, was that she would happen to run into Jingliu on the street.
Now this was an unexpected harvest.
"A doctor?" Jingliu studied the woman before her. "A person who skulks about in secret and follows others calls herself a doctor?"
Cecilia showed no displeasure at Jingliu's tone. On the contrary, she observed the swordmaster with growing interest.
Jingliu was right. Cecilia really had been following her for some time already.
It was simply that, at Cecilia's current level, even someone as strong as Jingliu would have difficulty noticing her.
Only after Jingliu had parted ways with Bailu did Cecilia deliberately reveal her presence.
"You followed me. What do you want?" Jingliu asked again.
Her hand had already settled on the hilt of her sword.
Cecilia merely shook her head lightly.
"Don't misunderstand. I wasn't deliberately following you."
She pointed toward the direction of the Divination Commission in the distance. "I came to the Luofu today at Lady Fu Xuan's invitation. I only happened to sense your presence while passing by."
"My presence?" Jingliu frowned.
"Yes. The aura of mara that you're very nearly failing to suppress."
The moment those words were spoken, the chill around Jingliu spiked violently.
For every long-life species of the Xianzhou, mara was a forbidden subject—let alone when it was named so casually by a stranger.
If Cecilia had not mentioned it, things might have been one way. But hearing it spoken aloud immediately dragged Jingliu's thoughts back to her meeting with Bailu.
Damn it. She really was on the verge of losing control now.
Jingliu wanted to leave at once. Given her strength, if she were to lose herself and erupt here on the Luofu, the woman before her would almost certainly die.
And that would also ruin the purpose of her return to the Luofu.
Just as Jingliu was about to go, she discovered that her body had been fixed in place by some unseen force.
She lowered her gaze and saw that, at some point, a pale white radiance had spread beneath her feet.
Like vines, those strands of light curled around her ankles, winding gently upward.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave." Cecilia stepped closer until she stood directly in front of Jingliu. "In your current state, you won't get very far."
Jingliu raised her head and stared coldly at this woman who called herself a doctor.
She tried to draw the sword at her waist, only to find her hand trembling.
Not from fear, but because the encroachment of mara was worsening.
Not good.
Jingliu's heart sank.
She had been careless.
Returning to the Luofu had always been a risk, and seeing Bailu had unsettled her far more than she had expected.
"…Leave. If you stay, you'll die by my hand."
Yet Cecilia did not move.
She simply looked at the woman before her, so close to losing control, with a kind of strange gentleness in her eyes.
"No, I won't," she said.
Jingliu almost wanted to laugh.
She wanted to tell this woman, who clearly didn't understand the scale of things, that when Jingliu had wielded her sword across the stars, the woman's ancestors were probably still somewhere suckling milk.
But she could not say it.
Because the white radiance wrapped around her ankles had begun to seep into her body in a way that defied reason.
It was warm.
That was Jingliu's first thought.
A warmth she had not felt in a very, very long time.
Not the heat of clashing blades.
Not the boiling blood of battle.
But the kind of warmth she had once known, many years ago, when she was still young—when she had leaned against someone's shoulder and felt safe.
In that instant, Jingliu seemed to see one of her old friends reaching out to her.
"Baiheng… is that you?"
"Did you come to find me?"
Huh? Since when had this turned into some substitution-drama nonsense?
Cecilia quietly watched the faltering Jingliu before her.
To actually mistake her for Baiheng—this woman really was seriously ill.
Ah well. Since Cecilia was, after all, a good person—
In the next instant, Cecilia moved, closing the distance to Jingliu in a flash.
"Sleep. You'll be fine when you wake up."
She brought down a heavy chop with the edge of her hand. Completely unprepared, Jingliu lost consciousness at once, her body going limp as she fell against Cecilia.
Heh-heh. Successful pickup.
Join here to read ahead.
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
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Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
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I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
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