Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

"Recently, many of my senior and junior sisters have left..."

Now, the Great Zhao Kingdom is exhausted, and there are worries of uprisings in all directions. The world is about to fall into chaos. Most of the senior and junior sisters in the Sword Academy are from wealthy families, unlike Xi Heng, who is all alone and cannot disobey the call of his family.

The number of people in the courtyard has been decreasing. In just three months, the number has dropped from sixty or seventy to less than twenty.

As the excitement faded, the Sword Academy gradually became desolate and lonely.

All the junior sisters that Xi Heng had met in the past few months had left, leaving only some old-timers of the Red Thread Sword, who were barely keeping the Sword Academy running.

"All good things must come to an end. Before long, this place will gradually decline like other martial arts schools," Xi Heng said softly.

The girl sighed softly, stepped out of the room, and went to the courtyard as always.

She drew her long sword in the training ground and quietly looked around as she warmed up with her sword.

Looking at this familiar place, as I reminisce, the figures that appear in my mind are also imprinted in various familiar locations.

Wherever Xi Heng's long sword points, he recalls a figure who often practices swordsmanship in that direction...

In the empty arena, the girl wielded her lonely sword.

The sun slowly rises from the east, its pale light illuminating her sword and body.

The cold winter wind blows, bringing a chill.

After warming up with several sword dances, Xi Heng sheathed his longsword and walked towards the spring, panting softly.

Just as I was about to use the bamboo tube to collect water for drinking as usual, I saw that the flowing water had already frozen.

"Winter is here again." The girl tapped her fingers.

The ice was too thick, so I didn't try to break it open to get water.

She then left the sword-fighting area and went to the flower bed, where there was a well, and the groundwater flowing at the bottom of the well should not freeze.

In winter, only a few flowers remain blooming on the altar, their scattered colors dotting a patch of grayish-blue branches and leaves, equally forlorn.

As he approached, Xi Heng saw Senior Sister Hong Miao supporting an elder from the Sword Academy as they slowly walked around the flowerbed.

The crooked wooden cane made a soft thud on the ground, and a cold wind blew across the lifeless flower bed, carrying away another small petal.

"Master, Senior Sister," Xi Heng approached and addressed them respectfully.

"Hmm..." The old woman squinted her eyes, her movements and voice slow and deliberate.

Her eyes were cloudy; it was unclear whether she had seen Xi Heng's image.

"How's your training going? Have you mastered it yet?" The other person's voice was slow, deep, and hoarse.

"Mastering the Ming Jin skill still feels quite far away..." Xi Heng said helplessly. In the past three months, she had rarely felt any improvement in her swordsmanship.

Although the moves become more and more familiar during martial arts practice, and the control of qi and blood becomes more and more proficient, which definitely leads to improvement, it is too subtle and gradual.

Rather than this gradual approach, Xi Heng preferred to achieve mastery of Ming Jin (明劲) in one go, or even break through to An Jin (暗劲).

If possible, I would accept it even if it cost her her life, but unfortunately, I can't.

"Hmm, take your time." The cheap cook didn't say much about it, but turned to the other person beside him and said, "Hongmiao, help me here... Judging by the time, it's almost New Year's Eve. Let's have a New Year's Eve dinner in the courtyard."

"New Year's Eve?" Hong Miao rarely showed a look of confusion.

Xi Heng understood why. Last year, they didn't celebrate many holidays at the Sword Academy. Not to mention New Year's Eve, they practiced swordsmanship as usual on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Furthermore, there were no couplets on the doors of the Sword Academy, and no "double happiness" characters were ever pasted on any of the doors, so there was absolutely no festive atmosphere whatsoever.

The elder's sudden mention of this matter seemed to have caught Senior Sister Hongmiao somewhat off guard.

"I remember back in the Sword Sect, every New Year's Eve, the sect leader would buy lots of meat and vegetables to make fillings, roll out dough, and have the senior and junior sisters make dumplings together..." As he recalled these words, the elder's lips curled into a slight smile, and his eyes lingered.

She stopped and stared at the empty space ahead, as if the scene from years ago was playing out before her eyes.

"My senior sister Zhao didn't know how to make dumplings back then, so I taught her step by step," she whispered. "I told her it was so embarrassing that she couldn't even make dumplings at her age... She would blush and try to be brave, and the dumplings she made were all weirdly shaped, but I picked them all out and ate them..."

The elder stood there, muttering to herself. She had so much to say, but only a few words were revealed unconsciously.

It took her two or three minutes to slowly come to her senses.

"Hehe." The voice sounded like a sigh or a laugh, making it hard to tell.

The elder slowly turned around, leaning on his cane, and looked back at Xi Heng and Hong Miao.

“I’m craving dumplings, Hongmiao,” she said.

“I’ll go prepare right away,” Senior Sister Hongmiao replied.

The elder nodded gently and left with a kind expression.

After the hunched figure disappeared around a corner, Hong Miao tapped Xi Heng's shoulder with her fingertip.

"The elder is becoming more and more nostalgic," she remarked.

“You get old, that’s how it is,” Xi Heng said.

"These days, the elders often mention Senior Sister Zhao. What kind of person is she?" Senior Sister Hongmiao asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know. Although she is my aunt, I only received instruction from her for a period of time when I was a child." Xi Heng lied without changing his expression.

Besides swordsmanship and martial arts, she is also becoming increasingly adept at lying.

"After that, she joined the army to guard the frontier, and I haven't seen her much since."

Xi Heng believed that his lie was flawless.

"I really want to know what kind of person this is that the elders have been thinking about for so long," Hong Miao sighed.

"Master is just reminiscing about the past. Perhaps my aunt wasn't all that special," Xi Heng said.

"Hmm..." Senior Sister Hongmiao shook her head gently, changing the subject, "The elder said he wanted to eat some dumplings, but the ingredients in the canteen are rather limited. I'm free today, so I can go out for a stroll and buy some. Would you like to come along?"

Xi Heng's first thought was to decline, as she still needed to practice her sword.

But thinking about it, Senior Sister Hongmiao rarely invites her out, especially not to go shopping together like this...

His eyes flickered for a moment, but he finally nodded in agreement.

"Let's go." Hongmiao didn't prepare anything further and directly led Xiheng away from the Sword Academy and out into the outside world.

……

For months, the entire territory of the Great Zhao has been in turmoil. In the south, the Tianliang Army has revolted and caused chaos. In the east, the Huangmei Mountain Army, composed of martial artists, frequently harasses the region. The northern border has never been stable, and even in the west, barbarian tribes often commit crimes.

With the country in such turmoil, the people of the Great Zhao Kingdom could hardly find peace.

The common people struggle to find enough to eat for a day, and the masses toil away, barely able to ward off the chill of a half-night's sleep.

Under such circumstances, even though today is Lunar New Year's Eve, there is little festive atmosphere in the entire city of Jinshi.

The city was devoid of any lively atmosphere, with no firecrackers or children running around, and no people visiting each other to exchange greetings.

There were many homeless beggars dressed in tattered clothes on both sides of the street, shivering from the cold wind, but apart from holding a broken bowl by the roadside and saying a few more words of kindness, there was nothing else they could do.

The road was desolate, and most of the pedestrians looked lifeless. Only a few wealthy people who were still wearing brocade clothes had a bit of spirit left.

Even so, most of them looked quite exhausted from their running around.

It seemed that only Xi Heng and Hong Miao were unaffected by the atmosphere, and they continued to chat casually along the way.

The topic that Sister Hongmiao was most interested in today was related to Xiheng.

"Speaking of which, since that Senior Sister Zhao is your aunt, you should also have the surname Zhao, right?"

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up..." Xi Heng glanced at the other person.

"And you have a grudge against the Emperor of Great Zhao..." Senior Sister Hongmiao deliberately pretended to think, and tentatively asked, "So you are also a member of the royal family?"

"I suppose so." Xi Heng stated bluntly: "If I were in the palace right now, my identity would be one of the imperial princesses of the current dynasty."

Hongmiao had already guessed this would be the case. After expressing some surprise, Xiaoxiao asked, "Then why did you leave?"

“When I was six years old, someone took me away from the palace.” Xi Heng replied casually, “Never mind what happened before, it’s been so long.”

"Oh... will you go back to the palace?" Then Hongmiao started asking about what would happen next.

This person seemed quite interested in the fact that Xi Heng was actually a princess and was unwilling to change the subject.

Xi Heng shook his head: "The emperor has gone mad. I'll die if I go back."

"Why?"

"He thought he could live forever by eating me." Xi Heng yawned, waved his hand, and said no more.

"Can it be done?"

"Nonsense." Xi Heng's forehead creased with annoyance. "Do you think I'm some kind of immortal being or a ginseng fruit? I'm just an ordinary person, okay?"

"Should I try some?" For some reason, Senior Sister Hongmiao seemed to be extremely curious today.

Xi Heng found this guy increasingly unfathomable.

At first, the senior sister seemed quite reliable to her, but as their relationship grew closer, she gradually revealed a childlike and curious nature in front of her.

The more Xi Heng spent with this senior sister, the more he realized that he didn't really understand her.

After sighing inwardly, the girl outwardly displayed an attitude of disdain:

"Never."

Then, Xi Heng quickened his pace, as if trying to leave his senior sister behind.

Hong Miao followed a step or two behind, covered her lips and chuckled softly, then continued to follow beside Xi Heng.

Seeing that Xi Heng didn't seem to like the topic, she suppressed her curiosity for the time being.

However, their gazes began to be drawn to Xi Heng's exposed skin.

Although it was known that the emperor was more likely to have gone mad than to gain immortality by eating people.

But having heard this explanation, she couldn't help but become more concerned about Xi Heng's health.

"What are you looking at?" Xi Heng noticed the strange gaze and glanced at his senior sister behind him.

But the senior sister's expression remained as natural and smooth as ever. She casually said it was nothing, then stepped forward and took Xi Heng's right hand.

"Why are you suddenly holding hands again?" Xi Heng felt something was off.

"Isn't it possible?"

“It is possible…” Xi Heng hesitated for a moment, but did not offer any resistance. However, she felt that something was not quite right.

"Let's go then." The eldest sister took his hand and quickened her pace once more.

……

By afternoon.

Xi Heng and his senior sister carried several packages of various sizes tied with ropes back to the Sword Academy.

The price of grain in the city had nearly doubled, so much so that Senior Sister Hongmiao did not have enough silver, and Xiheng had to add some more to buy enough ingredients.

"Thank you very much." Senior Sister Hongmiao accepted the help readily and returned to the Sword Academy to place the flour and vegetable and meat filling for making dumplings on the table.

"Senior sister, there's no need to thank me." Xi Heng looked at the pile of packages of various sizes on the table and asked:

"What's next? Kneading the dough?"

"If you want to make dumplings, you need to prepare the dough first, right?" Senior Sister Hongmiao clearly doesn't have much cooking skill, so asking her to do this kind of housework is really difficult for her.

"Do you know how?" She could only turn to Xi Heng for help.

"Hmm...no." Xi Heng shrugged; she wouldn't lie about this.

"..."

The two looked at each other and fell silent.

"Then how do we make dumplings?" Hongmiao rarely showed such disappointment.

"I'll leave it to the canteen staff." Xi Heng yawned, then thought about running outside to practice his sword.

“I want to wrap some myself.” The other person shook their head: “Just like the elders remember.”

"Then let the canteen roll out the dough and divide the fillings, and we'll handle the final wrapping ourselves," Xi Heng suggested earnestly.

“Alright…” Senior Sister Hongmiao stared at Xi Heng’s languid appearance, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes.

……

As the sun set in the west, Xi Heng practiced his moves dozens of times in the empty and desolate training ground, expending his energy to complete his training plan for the day.