Rumor had it that the Disciples of Yin Yang Heaven conducted themselves improperly, their behavior loose and unrestrained. But who among them truly knew that these seemingly frivolous and uninhibited people were, in fact, the most devoted of lovers?
Many Disciples of Yin Yang Heaven entered the Samsara Pavilion to cultivate, setting up mental barriers for themselves—only to become lost within them, unable to break free.
Since ancient times, who knew how many Yin Yang Heaven Disciples had been trapped in the Samsara Pavilion, unable to distinguish between sanguinary cycles and reality, drifting and sinking through lifetime after lifetime of reincarnation.
Luo Tinghe was one of them. Two thousand years ago, she had entered the Samsara Pavilion and never been heard from again—until today.
"Senior Sister cultivated the Path of Affection, and she also had a partner whose heart was in tune with hers. That trial, though difficult for the two of them, should have been something they could complete. It's just a pity..."
"Pity what?" Qu Huashang asked tensely. Though she already knew something must have gone wrong—something that had trapped Luo Tinghe in the Samsara World for two thousand years—she couldn't help holding her breath.
Yu Xiangdie shook her head with a sigh. "Senior Sister's temperament was wild and unpredictable. Sometimes, once an idea struck her, nothing could stop her. That day, Xu Manzi somehow got into an argument with her, claiming that no one in the Samsara Pavilion could ever complete the trial of Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation. Senior Sister said she could, so without so much as a word to anyone, she charged right into the Samsara Pavilion. Xu Manzi and I tried to stop her, but we couldn't. And at that time, Senior Brother Sun was in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven realm."
She didn't specify who Senior Brother Sun was, but both Yang Kai and Qu Huashang understood—he must have been Luo Tinghe's partner. She had believed in the bond between them, and she had believed that Senior Brother Sun would come to pull her out of the Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation, so there was no need to discuss it with him.
"Senior Brother Sun ran into an accident during his advancement. He perished!" Yu Xiangdie's expression grew sorrowful as she recalled the events of two thousand years ago. "Advancement in the Open Heaven realm grows more difficult with each order. Though Senior Brother Sun had made every possible preparation, in the end, it still wasn't enough."
"So that's why Senior Aunt Luo was trapped in the Samsara Pavilion?" Qu Huashang asked.
Yu Xiangdie nodded. "With Senior Brother Sun gone, no one else could break through Senior Sister Luo's mental barrier. Naturally, no one could bring her out."
At that moment, Qu Huashang seemed to recall something and said in sudden realization, "So Senior Aunt was the one Master mentioned before."
Yu Xiangdie glanced at her curiously. "What did Xu Manzi say?"
Qu Huashang replied, "One time, Master seemed to have had too much to drink. He said that in this lifetime, the person he had let down the most was a senior sister of his, though he didn't say much more, so I never knew the details. Now it seems he must have been talking about Senior Aunt Luo."
If he hadn't argued with Luo Tinghe back then, she wouldn't have impulsively charged into the Samsara Pavilion, and she wouldn't have been trapped inside, stripped of her freedom.
Yu Xiangdie gave a cold snort. "The one he let down was far more than just one senior sister!"
Qu Huashang clearly knew something about the history between her own master and Yu Xiangdie, so she didn't dare say anything more, simply sticking her tongue out at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai, however, suddenly realized something. "After Senior Aunt Luo entered the Samsara Pavilion, Senior Brother Sun perished. Now two thousand years have passed, and Senior Aunt Luo has only just escaped from the Samsara Pavilion. Doesn't that mean she has no idea about his death?"
"Senior Sister probably knows," Yu Xiangdie said with a bitter smile. "Back then, both Xu Manzi and I went deep into the Samsara Pavilion searching for her. Once, we actually managed to find her and told her the news. That lifetime's version of Senior Sister had recovered her original memories, but she quickly moved on to the next lifetime, and Xu Manzi and I could never find her again."
Yang Kai nodded.
Qu Huashang was puzzled. "If that's the case, then why did Senior Aunt Luo escape together with me?"
Yu Xiangdie said, "That's exactly what you should be thanked for. You must have experienced Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation, correct?"
Both Yang Kai and Qu Huashang nodded.
"Back then, the argument between Xu Manzi and Senior Sister was about whether anyone could ever complete the trial of Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation. Senior Sister said that she and Senior Brother Sun certainly could, so she barged into the Samsara Pavilion. Both Xu Manzi and I assumed that the mental barrier she set for herself was connected to her and Senior Brother Sun—that they would need to experience the Nine Lifetimes trial together. But looking at it now, that may have been only one way to break the barrier. Another way would be to personally witness someone else completing the trial of Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation. You completed it, so Senior Sister Luo's barrier was shattered along with it, allowing her to escape from the Samsara Pavilion."
Yang Kai's eyes lit up with understanding. "No wonder! No wonder Senior Aunt kept appearing beside us from the sixth lifetime onward. Our reincarnation cycles were tied to Senior Aunt Luo's mental barrier all along."
That was the most logical explanation—and the only one.
Yang Kai had been puzzled for some time about why Xiao He had kept appearing beside him and Qu Huashang in different identities starting from the sixth lifetime. He had originally assumed that some powerful figure from Yin Yang Heaven had been swept into the reincarnation, but now it was clear that it had to do with Senior Aunt Luo's own mental barrier. She had needed to witness Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation, and starting from the sixth lifetime, she had participated in it firsthand.
The experiences of the other lifetimes were one thing, but when Yang Kai thought back to the ninth lifetime—Senior Aunt Luo had served as his personal bodyguard, and he had bossed her around nonstop—he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
He lowered his voice and asked, "Senior Aunt Yu, is Senior Aunt Luo the type to hold a grudge?"
Yu Xiangdie shot him a sideways glance. "Why? Did you do something to wrong her in the Samsara Pavilion?"
Yang Kai hastened to deny it. "No, no, of course not."
Yu Xiangdie chuckled softly. "Whether Senior Sister holds grudges, I can't say for certain. But Xu Manzi was bullied by her so badly as a child that he could never hold his head up. Come to think of it, both Xu Manzi and I were essentially raised by Senior Sister. To the two of us, she was both sister and mother. If Xu Manzi knew that Senior Sister had escaped from the Samsara Pavilion, he would surely be overjoyed."
Yang Kai remarked casually, "When Lord Xu returns to Yin Yang Heaven, he'll naturally learn this tremendous news."
Yu Xiangdie and Qu Huashang both fell silent.