440: Chapter 440 My Beloved from a Past Life

He covered his face and wept for a long time. His comrade in the next bed was woken up by his noise, cursed, "What are you crying about in the middle of the night?", and turned over to go back to sleep. Li Ergou ignored him and continued to cry.

Liu Ruyan drifted out of the barracks and returned to Tianxin's side. The ill-fated connection of six lifetimes ended here. The black Qi on her body had almost completely dissipated, leaving only a pure, silvery-white radiance. But there was still one knot that had not been untied.

Liu Ruyan looked toward the southern sky; at the end of her gaze was the small town at the foot of the Wuxiang Sect.

The Reincarnation of the seventh lifetime was there—the soldier she had not failed, yet whom she had misunderstood for an entire cycle of Reincarnation. He was twelve, still studying, and did not yet know that in his past life, he had guarded the border, had been imprisoned in an enemy dungeon for three years, and after escaping, had knelt before her grave for a day and a night before drawing his sword to end his own life.

Tianxin asked softly, "Shall we go?"

Liu Ruyan was silent. The black Qi on her body had scattered, and there was no more resentment to support her footsteps. But this hurdle of the seventh lifetime was not to let go of hatred, but to see the person she had waited for for a lifetime, hated for seven hundred years, and in the end, realized she had misjudged.

She looked at the distant sky and said softly, "Let's go."

"He waited for me for so long. At least let me see if he is living well in this lifetime."

Qingshi Town, at the foot of the Wuxiang Sect, was a small place with only about a hundred households. The town was not large, with one main street running east-west and a few alleys running north-south. At the entrance of the town stood an old banyan tree, under which several old men sat playing chess all year round.

When Tianxin arrived with Liu Ruyan, it was already late at night. The households in the town had all extinguished their lamps, and only the sound of the night watchman's clapper echoed in the alleys.

Tianxin squatted under the old banyan tree at the town entrance and unfolded the map Su Ning had given her to determine the exact location of the seventh Reincarnation. The Spirit Fox lay at her feet, too sleepy to even open its eyes. Liu Ruyan's phantom hovered among the branches of the old banyan tree, gazing at the dark, heavy rooftops in the town, saying nothing.

"The third house on the east end of town." Tianxin put away the map and stood up, brushing the dust off her robes. "His surname is Yang, and his name is Yang Tiezhu. He is twelve and studies at the local private school. His father died early, his mother remarried, and he lives with his grandfather. His grandfather is an old blacksmith who makes a living by forging farm tools. The family isn't wealthy, but they can afford to send him to school."

She paused and turned to look at the ball of silvery-white light. "Do you want to go see him? We can just take a look from afar; we don't have to enter the house."

Liu Ruyan's phantom did not move. She looked toward the east of the town for a long time, so long that Tianxin thought she didn't want to go. Then, she drifted out of that ball of silvery-white light, her figure more solid than it had ever been before. The black Qi had completely dissipated, leaving only pure, silvery-white light.

"Let's go." Her voice was very soft, like a petal falling onto the surface of water.

Tianxin did not disturb anyone. With a short-distance teleport, the Spirit Fox brought her and Liu Ruyan directly into the Yang family's courtyard. The courtyard was small, paved with blue bricks, and some blacksmithing tools and semi-finished products were piled under the wall. There were three main rooms. An oil lamp was lit in the east room, casting the silhouette of an old man onto the window paper. The west room was dark; that was Yang Tiezhu's bedroom.

"He is in the west room," Tianxin whispered.

Liu Ruyan drifted to the window of the west room. She did not pass through the wall but just hovered quietly outside, looking in through the thin window paper. The room was very dark, with only a sliver of moonlight leaking in through a crack in the window, illuminating half of his youthful face. The twelve-year-old child was sleeping deeply, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, as if having a pleasant dream.

Liu Ruyan just watched him, motionless. The letters he had sent from the border seven hundred years ago, wearing his armor, were short but filled with deep affection. Seven hundred years ago, his comrades said he had defected to the enemy and betrayed her; she had believed them and hated him for over seven hundred years. Seven hundred years ago, he had not failed her.

Tianxin stood behind her without urging her. The Spirit Fox lay on the well platform, burying its head in its paws.

After a long while, Liu Ruyan's phantom moved. She did not enter the room but stepped back a little to let the moonlight shine on her. Then, her phantom slipped into the space between Yang Tiezhu's eyebrows.

A dream.

In his dream, Yang Tiezhu saw a place he had never seen before—it was the border, with yellow sand filling the sky, towering city walls, and beacon towers emitting black smoke in the distance. He stood on the city wall, wearing heavy armor, holding a spear much taller than himself in his hand. He was not afraid.

Someone called him General Yang. He was surrounded by a group of people wearing enemy armor. There were many of them, a dark, overwhelming mass. He fought valiantly, his spear sweeping across, and many fell around him. But the enemies kept surging forward. He was captured.

Liu Ruyan watched all of this, reaching out to touch him, but her fingers passed through his body, touching nothing.

The scene changed. The dungeon was dark and damp, with rats crawling on the ground. He was chained up, his body covered in wounds, new injuries added before the old ones had healed. An enemy officer stood before him, asking where the border defense map was. He would not say. He never said. Someone beat him, branding his chest with red-hot iron. He gritted his teeth and passed out. When he woke up, it was the same answer: "I don't know."

He was imprisoned in that dungeon for three years. In those three years, the enemy used every torture, but never pried a single word out of him. He was so thin he was nothing but skin and bones, his fingernails pulled out, his body covered in scars. Yet, he never forgot that name. On the edge of every loss of consciousness, he was reciting: "Ruyan, wait for me to return."

Liu Ruyan began to cry in the dream. She knelt in that dark, damp dungeon, her tears flowing uncontrollably.

Three years later, he was released. The enemy released him during a prisoner exchange. He was no longer human in appearance; his once robust body had withered into a skeleton, and his once handsome face was covered in scars. He leaned on a cane, walking step by step into the gates of his hometown, but no one was waiting for him. He went to Liu Ruyan's house; the door was locked, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds. Neighbors told him that Liu Ruyan had been dead for three years.

Liu Ruyan saw herself in the dream kneeling before that grave. Moss had already grown on the soil of the fresh grave; at that time, he had not yet returned. His hand stroked the two characters "Ruyan" on the tombstone, over and over again, over and over again.

He said, "Ruyan, I have come too late."

Then he drew his sword.

Yang Tiezhu woke up from the dream with a start.

He lay with his eyes open, staring at the rafters above, his face covered in tears, his chest heaving violently. He did not remember the details of the dream, only that a woman was crying. She was crying so sorrowfully, so sorrowfully. He knew what she was crying about—he wasn't clear, but he just knew that her tears were shed for him. He slowly sat up, his bare feet stepping on the icy floor.

Liu Ruyan drifted out from between his eyebrows. Her phantom was still trembling slightly, her face covered in tear tracks. She looked at him, looking at this twelve-year-old child; he knew nothing. He did not know that in his past life, he was a towering, upright general, did not know that he had been imprisoned in an enemy dungeon for three years, suffered every torture, and never betrayed his country, and did not know that he had knelt before her grave and drawn his sword to end his life. He was just an ordinary child of a blacksmith, who had to get up early tomorrow to study at the private school.

Yang Tiezhu seemed to sense something. He looked up toward the window. The moonlight shone on the window paper, making it impossible to see the scene outside. But he felt there was something outside the window.

"Who is there?" Yang Tiezhu's voice was hoarse.

Tianxin did not answer. The Spirit Fox pricked up its ears, and Liu Ruyan did not speak either. Yang Tiezhu stared blankly on the bed for a while, then pushed open the window. Moonlight spilled into the room; the courtyard was empty, with only the blacksmithing tools and semi-finished products gleaming coldly in the moonlight. He saw nothing.

He retreated back into bed, pulled the quilt up to his chest, stared at the ceiling, and slowly closed his eyes. The crying of the woman in the dream was still echoing in his heart.

Tianxin took a cloth bundle from her sleeve, which contained a few books and some broken silver. She placed the bundle on the windowsill and took out a peace talisman to press down on the bundle.

Liu Ruyan stood behind Tianxin and asked softly, "What will happen to him in the future?"

Tianxin used her spiritual sense to perceive the gleam of spiritual light that had not yet completely dissipated between the boy's eyebrows. "He will grow up safely. He will study and also learn martial arts. He will not become a general, but he will serve as an ordinary captain at the border. He will marry, have children, and live a peaceful life to the end."

Liu Ruyan wanted to ask something else, but she opened her mouth and made no sound. In this lifetime, she would no longer appear in his life.

The sky brightened quietly. The sound of the night watchman's clapper was replaced by the crowing of roosters, and the town woke up. Yang Tiezhu got up to wash, saw the cloth bundle on the windowsill, and was stunned for a moment. He picked up the bundle and opened it; inside were a few books, some broken silver, and a peace talisman. He ran into the courtyard and looked around; his grandfather hadn't risen yet, and the alley was empty. He gripped the peace talisman, dazed, his palm feeling warm.

Liu Ruyan's phantom watched this scene from the old banyan tree at the town entrance, only retracting her gaze after it ended.

"Let's go," she said to Tianxin. The sixth lifetime ended, and the obsession of seven lifetimes had finally reached its end. The black Qi on her body had dissipated, and her phantom had become pure and transparent, like fresh snow, almost melting into the morning light.

Tianxin stood under the old banyan tree and looked at her. "You know the Lord's weakness, don't you? You said before that he fears light, fears the light of the Soul, and fears the light of the human heart. You said that if Luo Li's music were infused with true emotion, it could restrain him. Is there something you haven't told me?"

Liu Ruyan lowered her head and was silent. The silvery-white light on her body trembled slightly, like butterfly wings.

"His weakness is indeed the light of the human heart. Kindness, sincerity, love—these can shine into the core of his true form, suppressing his dark power to its weakest. But he has another weakness, a weakness that only I know."

"What is it?" Tianxin looked up.

Liu Ruyan looked up, her eyes full of tears, but there was no sadness in those tears, only relief.

"Deep within the core of his true form lies a 'Seed of Kindness.' That is the only trace of humanity he has left. Before he fell into Qi Deviation, he once saved a beggar who was about to starve to death. Before the beggar died, he said to him, 'You are a good person.' That one sentence became the only light in his heart. That Seed of Kindness has been sleeping deep within his core."