The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Weaving."

Xie Jinlian's deep, mellow voice gently brought her back to her senses, like moonlight brushing across water.

"That's no ordinary cult."

He paused, his voice deepening, carrying a solemnity as heavy as a thousand-year-old glacier:

"They are spread throughout the nine provinces, with countless believers. You never know who the person standing next to you really is."

Tangxi Snow is silent.

Of course she knew.

Those people lurked in the shadows, lying in wait among the crowd, like hibernating venomous snakes, coiled in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to reveal their poisonous fangs.

They are probably the kindest old people.

Perhaps the most innocent child.

Perhaps their closest friend.

They can be anyone, if needed.

"With so many powerful forces across the Nine Provinces, how can they be helpless against a single cult?"

Her voice carried a hint of coldness, like a wind chilled by ice.

"They are far too arrogant."

This time, those people made their move near the Moon Weaving Pavilion.

They didn't care about those innocent lives at all.

They even used those children as bargaining chips.

In her view, those demons were completely inhuman and unforgivable.

"The Heavenly Punishment Hall hides far too many array masters; what you've seen is merely the tip of the iceberg."

Xie Jinlian said slowly.

Even he—the Kunlun Sword Immortal—became their prey after news of his crippling status spread.

Those people are everywhere.

everywhere.

"According to the intelligence Wen Song provided, they are divided into one palace, two halls, and three pavilions. The Heavenly Punishment Hall—is only ranked in the second tier."

He paused, then slowly recited the few lines of rumors circulating in the underworld:

"The twin tribulations sever yin and yang, the cycle of reincarnation overturns heaven and earth."

"The first palace sealed the fate of the world, while the second palace guided the soul across the River of Oblivion."

Tang Xixue had known of the existence of the cult before, but she never imagined that their power had grown to such an extent.

One palace, two halls, and three pavilions, intertwined and unfathomable.

She recalled the calamities that Fengxiao Pavilion had wreaked havoc on the Nine Provinces with poison—the Red Plague in the Southern Frontier, the Epidemic in the East Sea, and the Poisonous Miasma in the Northern Border.

She had witnessed those horrific scenes firsthand.

The city was ravaged by plague, the wilderness was littered with corpses, and mountains of bones lay unburied.

The mother cried until she went blind, holding her dead child; the husband stayed by his seriously ill wife's side, seeking medical help in vain; and the child starved to death beside his parents' corpses.

She will never forget those scenes in her life.

"Do they really think they'll face no retribution for their perverse actions?"

Her voice carried a hint of resentment and anger.

Xie Jinlian looked at her, his silver-gray eyes swirling with complex emotions.

"Zhizhi, they are the ones who govern the Heavenly Dao in the human world."

"They are beings protected by the Heavenly Dao, so how can they be subject to retribution?"

He gazed at her, speaking each word as if trying to etch this cruel truth into her heart.

"Their target is all the chosen ones."

He paused.

"Seizing the destiny—that's their real goal."

Tang Xixue's gaze sharpened slightly.

She recalled that destiny book system, which used her body as a medium to painstakingly manipulate those chosen ones of destiny.

One after another, the transmigrated women came, using every means to get close to them, groveling and flattering them.

It's all to make them willingly give up their luck.

Just like Xie Jinlian at this moment.

If he is unwilling, no matter how close she is to him, she will not receive even a fraction of his good fortune.

Luck is a mysterious thing; it can only be truly given when one is willing to give it.

Forcibly seizing something can easily backfire, and even the Heavenly Dao will have to pay a heavy price.

But at the beginning...

She lowered her eyelashes.

At the beginning, she was the person with the most prosperous fortune in this world.

But it was taken away by the will of Heaven.

"Now that the Heavenly Punishment Hall believes you have perished, they will no longer be watching you."

Xie Jinlian continued, her voice carrying a hint of relief, but also a hint of worry.

"Your luck is too weak until you find your soul. We need to arrange a new identity for you."

He has only recovered a portion of his strength so far, and it will take time for him to fully recover.

He once offered his own eyes as a sacrifice, pledging all darkness to the heavens, just to redeem her and give her a glimmer of hope to return to the world of men.

Now, he's willing to risk everything again.

In return, she will enjoy a golden age that never ends, a future paved with the glow of dawn.

"Um."

Tang Xixue nodded.

Princess Mirror's identity has indeed attracted a lot of trouble due to the various actions of those nine time-traveling women.

Although she had paid off some of the debts she owed before, it was all a tragic fate.

Change your identity, change your way of life.

It might not be a bad thing.

"Zhizhi cannot be too far from her teacher now."

Xie Jinlian spoke, her tone firm and unquestionable.

Her soul was incomplete when it returned, and after being suppressed by the Heavenly Fire Array, it became extremely weak.

He couldn't let her out of his sight, not even for a moment.

"Once Zhizhi finds her scattered soul and fortune, everything will be alright."

He looked at her, his voice softening, as if he were coaxing her, or perhaps comforting himself.

"Don't be afraid."

"Master, I don't know where to look. The Nine Provinces are vast..."

Tang Xixue leaned against him, feeling his steady heartbeat.

Very strange.

Every extra moment she lives now feels like borrowed time.

The road ahead is clearly uncertain, as if lost in a fog.

But she was not afraid.

Because he was there.

No matter how difficult the road ahead may be, he will always be there to hold my hand and accompany me.

"Sister-in-law, don't you have a magical object?"

A bright and clear girl's voice suddenly came from outside the window:

"After it recognizes you as its master, it can sense your soul's presence."

Tangxi Xue followed the sound and looked in that direction.

Suddenly, a snow-white figure appeared on the flower vines outside the window.

She was a girl so beautiful she seemed otherworldly.

Her silver hair was like the moon, her skin like snow, and her eyes held the grace of a gentle breeze, drifting clouds, and twinkling stars.

When the wind blows, those silver strands of hair float gently.

She sat on the vines, her long pink and white gauze dress cascading down her back, swaying gently with the pearl-tasseled silver-black star-studded cloak. Behind her were the ever-blooming pink cherry blossom trees of Kunlun Ruins.

She waved to Tang Xixue, her smile radiant.

"Little Lotus Flower—"

Tang Xixue blinked, looking at Xie Jinlian with some uncertainty:

"Is that outside a human or a ghost?"

The girl was so beautiful it seemed unreal.

The cherry blossoms under the moonlight, shimmering with light, complement her beauty.

The pink of the flowers, the pink of the eyes, the pink of the pearl flowers in the hair, have dyed this place into a dreamlike color.

Xie Jinlian glanced out the window with annoyance.

On that refined and otherworldly face, there was an unconcealable helplessness.

"Zhizhi, that's my older sister, Yunmian."

He paused, his tone tinged with a hint of speechlessness:

"I guess you could call yourself a person."

Whose older sister is this, hanging outside her brother's window in the middle of the night to eat melon seeds?

Is this really the dark side of the world?

"Pfft—Little Lotus, hahaha..."

Upon hearing their conversation, Yunmian burst into laughter, bending over backwards.

The laughter, clear and crisp like silver bells, echoed through the night, startling the snow sparrows that were perched in the distance.

The white birds flapped their wings and took flight, tracing graceful arcs in the moonlight.

"Little Zhizhi is so cute, she's practically asking for trouble!"

She covered her mouth, her pink crystal-like eyes brimming with a gentle smile.

"Our family's big iceberg actually has a gentle, warm side. It's rare, so very rare!"

She was absolutely shocked!

She assumed that her twin brothers, who cultivated the path of ruthlessness and had been cold and aloof since childhood, were destined to be single forever.

At such a young age, they are both colder and more sullen than each other, like two walking icebergs, freezing wherever they go.

Unexpectedly—

Why does she become so gentle and tender in front of her younger siblings?

Is this really her brother, who's been a perpetual iceberg for ages?