Rebirth: Phoenix Riding the Ninth Heaven

When the golden sunset casts its afterglow all over the earth, the birds have already chirped and happily flew back to their nests. Under this golden sunset, there is an ancient Taoist temple.

This Taoist temple is not big. Under the setting sun, the roof looks like it is covered with glazed tiles. There are many lifelike mythical beasts carved on the roof. Compared with the noisy streets, this Taoist temple is quiet. Listening to the deep and eternal bells as the sun sets and feeling the scene of natural light is a unique experience.

Follow the winding mountain road, walk into the gate of the Taoist temple, push open the door, walk to the center of the courtyard and look up to see the endless sky. Although the Taoist temple is small, it gives a feeling of being out of the world and having no desires.

Although the courtyard of the Taoist temple is relatively small, the ginkgo tree in the courtyard appears to be extremely huge. Although it is late autumn, the tree is still so tall, and the leaves are already full of golden leaves. The scattered golden leaves are scattered all over the courtyard, as if the courtyard was paved with a layer of golden tiles.

Inside the main hall of the Taoist temple, a group of Taoist priests were performing evening prayers. Their chanting added a mysterious and tranquil atmosphere to the quiet evening.

Directly in front of the main hall sits a majestic statue of the Three Pure Ones. Their eyes gaze down upon the living beings below, filled with pity and relief, as if they see them. In front of the main hall, a few birds have returned, chirping from their nests, as if echoing the melody of the Taoist chant within.

There is a separate small courtyard on the left side of the main hall. From a house in the courtyard, the sound of a woman crying sadly was heard.

Unsure whether it was a dream or reality, Li Ruoyue seemed to see cracks appearing in the ground beneath her feet amidst her cries. She kept falling, falling, into the water. In her dream, she frantically clawed at it. Then, her feet sank, and a flood of icy water rushed in from all sides, leaving her feeling incredibly oppressive and suffocating. The chilling water, chilling her to the bone, enveloped her.

Li Ruoyue knew she was doomed, yet she felt no pity. But whose voice was that? It felt faintly familiar. Who is calling me?

Li Ruoyue subconsciously kicked her legs and tried to get closer to the man, but at the moment of kicking, she seemed to get some fresh air. She let out a long breath and woke up when she opened her eyes. He did not sink to the bottom of the water, but was lying on a bed.

While crawling around randomly, Li Ruoyue sat up from the bed in shock.

Li Ruoyue broke out in a cold sweat and cried out. In her dream, a voice reminded her that she must go back and grasp the happiness that she could not achieve and possess. She must try one by one and do not let me down!

Her feet sank, and then countless cold waters came from all directions, making her feel extremely depressed and suffocated. The cold water that chilled her to the bone marrow enveloped her.

Li Ruoyue knew she was doomed, yet she felt no pity. But who was that voice? It felt faintly familiar. Who is calling me?

The room was very clean, and the light outside the window was quite dark. The medicine pot on the stove was steaming and emitting a strong herbal aroma.

Li Ruoyue felt a chill spreading from his limbs and a burning pain in his chest. It made him clearly feel the taste of being alive. All the hatred and suicide attempts seemed to have turned into an extremely distant dream, leaving him with a trance-like feeling of surviving a disaster.

Li Ruoyue gently exhaled the foul air that was stuck in her chest.

She was halfway through her breath when suddenly a petite figure from the bedside threw herself into her arms. She raised her large head and cried and laughed at her, her eyes red as she wiped away tears and chattered non-stop.

Li Ruoyue was still a little dazed, and the girl was also a little dazed when she saw Li Ruoyue not moving.

The girl touched Li Ruoyue's body up and down, and kept saying: "Miss, where do you feel uncomfortable? Tell me quickly, don't scare Luzhu! Miss, don't scare me."

Seeing that Li Ruoyue didn't answer, she started to cry while speaking, crying, and said: "Miss, are you stupid? But don't scare me, why don't you speak? Please speak quickly and don't scare me!"

Li Ruoyue gradually came back to her senses, and her ears were buzzing as if a swarm of bees had entered them.

Li Ruoyue said helplessly: Stop talking, it’s too noisy!

The girl stopped crying and looked up to see that she was speaking clearly and looking lucid. She was overjoyed and said excitedly: "Miss, you are finally awake."

Suddenly, a wave of sadness surged in Luzhu's heart. She slumped down in front of the bed, put her handkerchief on her face and burst into tears: Miss, Miss, you have such a hard life, wow!

Li Ruoyue coaxed helplessly: Don’t cry yet, tell me what’s going on first! Where are we?

Luzhu took the handkerchief away from her face and said with sobs: We are in a Taoist temple.

As he spoke, he stood up and walked to the stove, picked up the bowl next to him and poured the liquid into it carefully.

Luzhu turned around and brought the medicine to Li Ruoyue and said: You drink the medicine first, I will talk to you while you drink.

After drinking the medicine, Li Ruoyue's body began to warm up a little and she felt a little better.

It turns out that this girl's name is Luzhu, and she is Li Ruoyue's personal maid who takes care of her daily life. But now they are living in the Taoist temple, and their lives are very miserable. They all live in the Taoist temple on the mountain.

Could it be that he traveled back twelve years ago, when she fell seriously ill and could not be cured for a long time? Her stepmother took charge and took him to a Taoist temple, saying that it was a place of good fortune and maybe he could recover there because of the presence of the Three Pure Ones.

Li Ruoyue's serious illness was caused by falling into an ice hole in winter. How did she fall into the ice hole? Oh, it turned out that she wanted to save her half-sister Li Ruoliu. She pushed him to the shore and climbed out of the ice hole by herself. But she sank into the water and nearly died!

Originally, these memories were already fuzzy, but after Luzhu recounted them, Li Ruoyue vaguely remembered it again. It seemed that this was the case. She stayed in the water for too long that year. When the winter wind blew, her bones felt like they were filled with ice water, and the cold was biting.

Lu Zhu said indignantly, "Miss, Second Miss, she must have done this on purpose. I think she has ulterior motives. She dragged you underwater and forced you to climb out. After you emerged, she sat by the lake in silence, without calling out to anyone, watching you scream and struggle in the water. She clearly intended to kill you so she could replace you in the Li family."

Luzhu wiped her tears as she spoke, "I almost never saw my young lady again. My young lady, you were so scared that you thought you would never see me again."

When she said this, Luzhu started to sob again.

Li Ruoyue was helpless and just wanted to plug her ears with cotton.

The reason why Li Ruoliu dared to do this was that her mother, Concubine Yun, and her stepmother were in charge of the trivial matters at home.

Furthermore, while the Marquis was busy with military affairs and away from home, he unexpectedly sent the young lady to this Taoist temple. He said that the temple was quiet and good for recuperation, but then he never cared about her again.

Lu Zhu complained, "When I got here, not to mention any medicine or supplements, I wasn't even allowed to bring money or servants. They only let me serve, saying they were worried that too many people wouldn't be conducive to my recovery. It's clear that Concubine Yun wants you to fend for yourself and never go back. She and the Second Miss want to monopolize the Marquis' Mansion."

Li Ruoyue listened for a long time without saying anything. Seeing this, Luzhu stretched out her hand and waved it in front of her. Li Ruoyue raised her eyes and looked at Luzhu calmly. She asked: What did you say the second young lady's name was?

Luzhu was confused and said anxiously: "Your name is Li Ruoliu. You usually call me Sister Liu'er. Did you fall on your head and become stupid? How come you don't remember it?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she felt something was wrong. Oh my God! Lu Zhu exclaimed: "Miss, you didn't really hit your head and forgot the name of the second young lady? But she is the one you always keep by your side, the one you consider the best sister!"

Li Ruoyue murmured darkly: "Liu'er, Liu'er, is that you? My dear sister will definitely love and cherish you."

Li Ruoyue raised her hands and looked at her delicate and tender skin, then lowered her head and checked her childish and weak body.

After a long silence, Li Ruoyue said, "Maybe it's because I've been sick for so long that I can't remember anything from the past. But it doesn't matter. As long as I'm alive, I'll remember it one day."

Li Ruoyue just turned thirteen not long ago, her body has not fully grown yet, so everything is still as immature as before.

Li Ruoyue realized that God had mercy on her and allowed her to be reborn again, and she was reborn twelve years ago when she had not yet arrived in Yong'an City and had not been harmed by Li Ruoliu.

The memories of her childhood were no longer important. She only lived in darkness and torture in the capital of Dashun for nine years. It was like a sharp knife carving into her brain, every word, every scene and every object, and she could not forget them even if she drank Meng Po soup.

Luzhu looked at the young lady in fear, sneering with gritted teeth.

She was alive again, so how could she not laugh? Not only did she have to laugh, but she had to laugh to the end, laughing as she watched them suffer a fate worse than death.

The laughter that came out of the young lady's throat sounded to Luzhu like the triumphant laughter of a ghost crawling out of hell.

Lu Zhu said in a trembling voice: "Miss, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me. What's wrong with you? I'm scared, Miss, don't scare me, I'm scared."