A piece of Japanese incense

Chapter 254: Re-living a new life?

Zhi Yihe leaned against Yu Nian's back. Yu Nian held her hand, leaned over slightly, and whispered comfortingly in her ear: "Don't be afraid. Think about how you can see the world clearly again. Think about us going to Leyu together... I'm right here, always here, waiting for you to come out. Come on! I believe in you."

"Oh." Zhi Yihe nodded.

At that moment, another maid, also dressed in a gray robe and with an expressionless face, quietly emerged from the dim light inside the doorway. She held an ebony lacquer tray, upon which lay a neatly folded dark gray linen robe of the same material. She also held a simple bowl, neither made of gold nor wood, half filled with a liquid that exuded a pungent, sweet, and fishy aroma.

"Please change your clothes and wash your hands." The maid who came later presented the lacquer tray to Zhi Yihe in a flat voice.

Zhi Yihe changed into a linen robe. The robe was loose and had a scent of aged herbs. It wrapped her whole body, as if isolating some of the aura belonging to "Zhi Yihe".

Zhi Yihe took the lacquer tray, stood at the door, took a long breath, and stepped over the threshold engraved with runes alone.

As soon as I entered, the door behind me creaked and closed tightly.

Outside the door, only Yu Nian was left, staring at the closed door with a serious look.

Zhi Yihe walked a few steps with the bowl of liquid and then dared not move forward or backward.

Just as she stood there frozen, almost on the verge of collapse, a faint fragrance penetrated her nostrils.

It was a... familiar fragrance, but she couldn't remember where it was, so she concentrated on following the direction of the fragrance, fearing that it would suddenly disappear.

After about seven or eight steps, a voice rang out without warning: "Reincarnate your sister's life, steal her destiny, and occupy her nest! Now, have you achieved your wish?!!"

"Sister? Live again?" Zhi Yihe felt confused. Whether here or in modern times, she had no sister.

Just as she was about to retort, the lacquer tray in her hand began to shake violently, and an indescribable sound filled her ears, like the wailing of thousands of ghosts. Countless shrill, painful, desperate, and resentful howls, cries, and roars intertwined together and came from all directions. It felt like countless hands were struggling to crawl out from the ground to grab her.

"Ah!" Zhi Yihe dropped the bowl onto the stone slab with a clang. She curled up, and just before her spirit was completely destroyed by the sound, a clear female voice suddenly pierced through the layers of ghostly howls and penetrated her consciousness: "My life is doomed, this is fate! But I am unwilling to accept it, and hatred is overwhelming!"

The woman's voice was filled with venom. "Today, I will use the resentment of countless souls as my guide, and these ten thousand natal lamps as fuel to burn out all life in this world! I do not ask for a life extension from the heavens, but only seek to reverse the chaos of yin and yang, turn the world upside down, and live another life!!"

Destiny lantern? Change fate? Live a new life? Reborn for my sister?

What is imprisoned within this formation? Whose voice is this? Is this an illusion created by the witch? Or is there some horrific past sealed here?

"What is going on? Didn't you say you would detoxify me? If you keep trying to scare me like this, I... I'll leave!" Zhi Yihe shouted at the air.

"A partridge sings beneath the crabapple blossoms, a cuckoo crows on the willow branches. Why not name the child Yun Tang?"

"Not 'Zhi'?"

"He has married someone else, and the child will only be mine. Besides, our Cui clan is a matrilineal clan. According to tradition, children should take their mother's surname, right?"

"Okay! It's all up to you. But... He He, there's something I haven't told you."

"What's the matter?"

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal. Our Cui family has been burdened with a long-standing fate since ancient times, one that's unclear whether it's a blessing or a curse: if the eldest daughter of the family enjoys good fortune, another family member will inevitably suffer corresponding or even double misfortune; conversely, if the eldest daughter encounters misfortune, her younger sister will often turn the misfortune into good fortune and live a smooth life."

"Mom! Why have I never heard you mention it?"

"This law is passed down only to daughters, not sons. To break this balance and prevent future generations from suffering, the Cui clan leaders of all generations have chosen not to have any more children after giving birth to their eldest daughter. However, Tang'er has already been born..."

……

"Why did the man I truly love only see me as a stepping stone to gain power, using me to my heart's content and then discarding me like a worn-out shoe?

Why is it that the husband I married loves the bright and cheerful Yun Tang in his heart, and treats me with such cold and distant respect?

Why do my parents always keep their eyes on Yuntang? I feel like an outsider.

Why do I have no friends? Even my allies betrayed me, and my entire family was framed and convicted, and their property was confiscated and their clan was exterminated.

Why is it that until my death, there is no one around me who treats me sincerely and whom I can trust?

Why is my life filled with betrayal, exploitation, indifference and despair?

And Yun Tang! She was held high above all others, with a naturally cheerful and bright personality, bringing joy wherever she went! Her parents loved her, her family cared for her, and even her servants were especially kind to her! She treated everyone she interacted with, regardless of gender, with sincerity! Even when her entire family was facing catastrophic disaster, loyal servants risked their lives to protect them, and noble people secretly helped her escape!

Why! Why should I, as the eldest daughter, bear all the misfortunes? Why does Yun Tang's existence doom me to suffer? This is unfair! This is fate! I will never accept it!

I want to give myself a chance to live my life again! I want to rewrite this damn fate! I want to make everyone who has wronged me, bullied me, and humiliated me pay with blood!!!"

Zhi Yihe's eardrums were ruptured by the woman's roar, and blood flowed from her ears. She covered her ears and tried to escape the room, but a flash of blood flashed before her eyes.

Thousands of people wailed, the sky and the earth changed color, as if the end of the world had come.

She saw a girl desperately breaking through the obstacles and rushing to the altar. At this time, space was distorted and the laws collapsed. The formation had already been activated and could not be reversed.

She burst into tears: "No! Sister! Stop it!

Heaven be upon me! I, Yuntang, voluntarily give up all the luck and fortune in my life!

If my sister insists on living again, I will sacrifice my soul, my destiny, my very existence! I pray to God—let my sister be reborn in a world of peace and abundance! Let her live a life free from war, conflict, famine, and disaster! Let her not have to experience the hardships of her past life, the turmoil of displacement and the destruction of her family!

All the pain, loneliness, betrayal, despair she endured... all the suffering! Please put it all on me! I, Yun Tang, will bear it for her! !

Light flashed! Laws roared!

Two completely opposite but equally powerful wishes collided and intertwined violently at the core of the collapsed formation. In the end, a change occurred that no one had expected.

When the devastating light fades...

In her previous life, Zhi Yihe was successfully reborn with resentment and hatred towards her fate. She went a thousand years later and became Nanyin.

And Yun Tang, her existence, her name... completely erased. She fulfilled her vow—she was not born in this life. She transformed all her fate, her destiny, even the traces of her existence, into a "shield" and "substitute" to protect her sister. In her sister's place, she lived in that reversed world, enduring the "unfortunate" life that should have been borne by Zhi Yihe.

At this moment, in the formation.

Zhi Yihe curled up on the ground, soaked in cold sweat, and all the memories of her past life rushed into her mind.

"Yun Tang?..." She murmured the name, her heart feeling like it was being gripped by an icy hand, the pain so intense it made it hard to breathe. Hot tears streamed down her face.

It turns out...it turns out that "living a new life for your sister" is true.

She actually...lived a new life...

"No...it shouldn't be like this..." Zhi Yihe shook his head painfully.

The familiar fragrance became clear again, and a slightly cool hand pressed on her shoulder.

An old and tired voice sounded in her chaotic sea of consciousness:

"Now, do you remember everything?"

The witch's voice was unusually calm, as if she were recounting a past event that had nothing to do with her. "In my previous life, I was forced by your immense power. A single thought led me to make a grave mistake. Activating that heaven-defying forbidden formation... the price... is it something a mortal could bear?"

All spirits retaliated, and the flames of karma burned him… Although he was lucky enough not to be shattered on the spot, his cultivation was completely destroyed, his spiritual roots severed, and he became a useless person. He was also burdened with unforgivable sins, and his life was worse than death.