Chapter 47: Du Xian Sect 5 Part 3

In the next life, she’d go to Du Xian Sect as a righteous, powerful Sword Cultivator, or to Biluo Sect as a beautiful Sound Cultivator playing zither and dancing, or to Heguang Sect as a wealthy Artifact Cultivator draped in finery—anything but tangle with Baochan Temple’s monks again. Life was only one; love was nice, but too life-consuming.

She handed the Iron Chisel to Fan Tian. “Make it quick when you strike; it hurts quite a bit.”

Fan Tian stared at her unblinkingly. After a long moment, he took the chisel.

“Alright.” He said. “Qingming, as long as it’s your wish, I will grant it.”

Fan Tian turned toward the Snake Woman Statue. His back was tall yet desolate and lonely; an inexplicable pain stabbed Qingming’s heart.

In the ruined Snake Woman Temple, faint Buddhist light emanated from the man. It flashed through the stone eyes of the beautiful Snake Girl statue. Fan Tian reached out, caressed the statue’s cheek tenderly, and lightly kissed the Snake Girl’s cold lips.

Qingming felt her lips heat up, the pain in her chest deepening. “Fan Tian, don’t do such unnecessary things. Hurry…”

Before she finished, Fan Tian raised the Iron Chisel and smashed it heavily into the statue in his arms.

Stone shards flew, dust rose to the sky, and the lifelike statue crumbled into ruins in an instant.

The expected pain did not come. Qingming dazedly touched her face—no cracks, no blood.

She did not die. Fan Tian did.

Buddhist light shot to the heavens, piercing Ku Xian Village’s dense bamboo grove. Fan Tian’s mangled flesh mixed indistinguishably with the statue’s debris. From the ruins, a golden vine sprouted, absorbing Fan Tian’s blood and flesh, growing rapidly. Soon, a golden flower bud formed at its tip.

Qingming stumbled over and gently touched the golden bud. It seemed sentient, affectionately wrapping around her palm and blooming obediently in her hand.

In the flower’s heart lay a crystalline Buddha Heart Relic.

Qingming stared blankly for a long time, then suddenly laughed.

“As long as it’s your wish, I will grant it… So that’s what you meant.”

For a Buddhist cultivator, even in death, as long as the Buddha Heart Relic remained, they could cultivate the Buddhist path again in the next life, accumulate merits through the ages, and eventually achieve sainthood. But once the Buddha Heart Relic was removed, it meant complete death of body and soul, merits erased.

Qingming didn’t want to meet him in the next life, so Fan Tian simply ensured he had no next life—how was that not fulfilling her wish?

“Junior Brother!” A grief-stricken cry shook the heavens as Fan Hai arrived in a beam of light.

Fan Tian was gone; only a pile of bloody ruins remained, and a woman holding the Buddha Heart Relic.

Fan Hai’s face was etched with sorrow. He chanted sutras softly to bid farewell to his departed brother.

“Monk, why did the Snake Woman Statue shatter, yet I lived while he died?” Qingming’s expression was calm as she turned to the chanting Fan Hai. “You should know the reason.”

“Amitabha.” Fan Hai sighed lowly. “Before his death, he formed a life-swap pact with the Snake Woman Statue. All karma returned to him.”

It was that kiss. Qingming realized. “What a cunning monk.”

“Snake Demon Qingming, Junior Brother Fan Tian had tasted the bitterness of emotions. After this, he could have ascended the Passing Immortal Bridge directly to perfect ascension.” Fan Hai said. “But he took on the karma for you, severed his reincarnation, and left the relic—yielding the chance to ascend immortality to you. Cultivate with this relic, and your cultivation will advance greatly. Remember to cultivate vast merits, cross suffering with yourself, and not waste his intentions.”

“His intentions?” Qingming laughed. “Your Baochan Temple monks appear righteous and moral, but are the most cunning.”

“You!” Fan Hai glared furiously. “Don’t spout nonsense!”

“Did I say wrong?” Light flashed in Qingming’s beautiful eyes. “I am the Snake Demon Qingming, born in Luo Water, trapped in the mortal world, saved by Fan Tian, and fell in love with him. Ku Xian Village owed me much and shouldn’t have sacrificed me to extend life, but I also owed Fan Tian my life. So I willingly fulfilled his path of saving the world, repaying his life-saving grace and our spousal bond.”

“With that, we would be even. In the next life, whether I became pig or dog, flower or grass, it would have nothing to do with Fan Tian. But he wasn’t content!”

Two clear tears streamed from Qingming’s eyes. “He couldn’t bear our marriage ending here, yet couldn’t abandon Ku Xian Village’s hundreds of lives for me alone. So he chose to swap lives, taking the disaster for me, making me owe him another life.”

“He kept his promise, destroying his own reincarnation so we wouldn’t meet in the next life. But if I ascend the Passing Immortal Bridge to the upper realms, with this life’s long lifespan, I’ll forever owe him, forever unable to forget him!” She demanded fiercely. “He cultivates the path and heart, yet wants to become my heart demon. Tell me, isn’t he the most cunning of all!”

Fan Hai was speechless for a moment.

“May I find a good match, never to part until death…” Qingming murmured. “Stinky monk, you broke the pact first.”

She let go, and the Buddha Heart Relic fell from her palm, its crystalline glow dimming instantly as it rolled into a corner amid dust and debris. In that instant, the golden flower bud withered as if drained of life.

“That’s his Buddha Heart Relic—how could you?!” Fan Hai cried in horror. “All he did was because he couldn’t break free from emotional suffering. Even if you resent him, you shouldn’t…”

“Resent him?” Qingming curved her lips in a shallow smile, just like the Snake Woman Statue that had stood for a century. “I wouldn’t let him off that easily.”

The bitterness of emotion: hatred and resentment, love and separation, unfulfilled longing.

“I hate him.” She said. “He wanted me to love him forever; I’ll defy that wish. I’ll hate him forever.”

Radiant light flowed over her body as a century of cultivation dispersed in an instant. A verdant little snake fell into the grass and vanished.

The Snake Woman Temple lay in desolate ruins, with only the wind wailing, weeping their farewell.