Chapter 245: A Clear Well

Translator: Tim Editor: Chrissy

Ye Mo coldly glanced at Jing Xi. "If you're asking about the Face Preserving Pills, I don't have any. They're not mine. If you have no other questions, I'm leaving."

Jing Xi giggled. "You little guy, don't be so dramatic. Can you just leave? Susu's getting engaged to someone from the Dian Cang Sect next month—I arranged it…"

Ye Mo stood abruptly. "Take me to Susu now. If she's willing, fine. But if you forced her, you'll regret it."

"Aiyah, so much anger! Even if I don't take you, what are you going to do? You're just a Black Level martial artist. The Dian Cang Sect could kill you with a finger!" Jing Xi remained unconcerned.

Ye Mo was silent for a moment. "I don't have the Blue Carrot flower, but I can get it for you. And I can ask that qianbei for the Face Preserving Pills."

"I also want your qing gong," Jing Xi stated plainly.

Ye Mo looked coldly at Jing Xi. "Even if I gave it to you, you couldn't learn it."

Jing Xi said contemptuously, "That's my problem. Just say yes or no."

"Okay, if you take me to Susu," Ye Mo agreed readily. The Cloud Shadow Step meant nothing to him; as a cultivator, he didn't care about martial arts.

Jing Xi smiled. "So obedient. Come on, then."

Seeing Jing Xi ask for nothing more, Ye Mo was taken aback. "You're not worried I'll go back on my word?"

Jing Xi laughed. "Only if you can. Do you think you can leave without me once I've brought you in? I'm actually starting to like you—you're so naive."

Ye Mo was disgusted, but understood her meaning: a key was involved. Fortunately, Jing Xi didn't know he had the key; his possession of it had made him forget it was needed.

Jing Xi led Ye Mo across the metal chain bridge to a small door in the cliff face. Using a card, she opened it and ushered him inside. Noticing his lack of surprise, she asked curiously, "Why aren't you surprised? Could you have found this place without me?"

Ye Mo, suspecting Jing Xi's easy compliance hid ulterior motives, thought contemptuously, "Without you, I'd have been here faster."

His tone was bland, leaving Jing Xi feeling as though she'd punched cotton. Little did she know, he was telling the truth in a way—he couldn't have entered before, but now he could.

…

The metal chain bridge was retracted. Xi Wushan and Shixiong Yu stood there, grim-faced.

"Was he eaten by a giant snake?" Lady Fang asked.

Xi Wushan frowned. "I doubt it. Mo Ying's last attack was strange, and the place he fell…it seems deliberate. If so, no snake could have gotten him. Plus, there are no large snakes nearby, and we haven't found his sword. Still, no one survives a fall from there, let alone a Black Level martial artist."

"We found the sword, Elder Xi," a man in his thirties announced, ascending the stairs, a broken sword in hand.

"So, he was eaten?" Xi Wushan questioned suspiciously.

Shixiong Yu, who had remained silent, said bleakly, "Alive or dead, we must find him. He possessed incredibly potent pills; even the method is worth a fortune. With them, our Space Organization would be unrivaled."

…

As Jing Xi brought Ye Mo to the Serenity Sect entrance, two young nuns greeted them respectfully. Seeing Ye Mo, they were surprised.

An older nun approached, also shocked. "Shimei Jing Xi, this is...?"

Jing Xi bowed slightly. "Shijie Jing Xian, this is Mo Ying. He's looking for Susu."

Jing Xian frowned. "Shimei Jing Xi, we don't allow outsiders, especially men…"

Ye Mo used his spiritual sense to scan the area, finding no sign of Luo Susu. He explained, "Respected senior, Luo Susu once saved my life. I've come to thank her. Please forgive my intrusion."

Jing Xian shook her head. "Luo Ying is in solitary training. Please leave." She turned to depart.

Ye Mo was stunned, as if struck by lightning. Luo Ying?

"Respected senior, wait!" Ye Mo reacted and intercepted Jing Xian.

"What is it?" Jing Xian frowned, increasingly displeased with Jing Xi for bringing a man into Serenity.

"Respected senior, you called her Luo Ying?" Ye Mo asked shakily. He'd thought about her constantly, never expecting to hear that name here.

Jing Xian looked at him strangely. "Luo Ying is Luo Susu. She changed her name."

Ye Mo asked shakily, "Why did she change her name?"

"Susu dreamed of being called Luo Ying, so she did," Jing Xian sighed, shaking her head and turning to leave.

Ye Mo's mind buzzed. It was his master! She'd transmigrated, just like him, but only remembered her name.

"Master, I've found you! Luo Ying! No wonder I felt a familiarity with Luo Susu in the desert. She is Luo Ying!"

But why was Susu here so much earlier? Had he arrived at birth but only remembered things after a trauma? Or was it a time-space anomaly, bringing him here twenty years later?

Emotion overwhelmed Ye Mo; it felt like his chest was burning.

In a stone room on Serenity's back mountain, a white-clothed woman, like an ethereal goddess, sat quietly on a cushion, motionless. Her face was pale, but her beauty was undeniable. Blood stained the stone floor—hers. She'd stopped cultivating; further practice would cause her to cough up blood.

She held an empty water bottle, her eyes clouded. A figure constantly appeared in her dreams and consciousness, disappearing when she tried to see it clearly. Now, unable to cultivate, the figure appeared more often. It felt like she'd known him for a long time. Eventually, the figure solidified into Ye Mo's image.

After a long while, she breathed deeply, touching the jade necklace around her neck, pea-sized. It was keeping her alive in this freezing room. But she sensed Ye Mo's chi on the jade. Was she overthinking?

Three years. She smiled bitterly. She couldn't even last three months. Even her master hadn't lasted two years.

Memories of Ye Mo flashed: He pointed at the clear well in the desert and said, "Happy birthday! This is a gift from Heaven. Do you like it?"

"I like it. It's the best gift ever. Thank you, Ye Mo…" The white-clothed woman murmured, softness in her eyes. Why bother suppressing her feelings? She saw his dried blood on the cushion.

A strong desire to see Ye Mo overcame her. She wanted to ask if he was the figure in her dreams, but knew she couldn't, and he wouldn't understand. She longed to see the clear well again, with him.

Some people are destined to be remembered forever; even reincarnation can't erase that memory…