Ties of Love, Ruan Wan

The fact that the blood could seep down indicated that the ground underneath was porous, or even possibly hollow. Ruan Wan became increasingly convinced that the ground beneath was an ancient altar.

To prevent a shortage of sacrificial animals, ancient sacrifices generally used cattle and sheep, as the blood from chickens and rabbits was far from sufficient.

Ruan Wan and Lou Qianyuan went ahead to catch more pheasants and rabbits in advance, in preparation for bleeding them out the next day.

After Ruan Wan and the others left, Mao Chihua stood there, looking thoughtfully at the pheasant and rabbit carcasses on the ground.

Time flew by and it was noon the next day. Mao Chihua glanced at the sun in the sky; it was almost noon.

Mao Chihua nodded, and Lou Qianyuan began to kill chickens and draw blood, while Liang Kun watched the live chickens and rabbits from the side.

Ruan Wan watched the ground's reaction, while Mao Chihua stared intently at Ruan Wan and Lou Qianyuan, quietly backing away.

When the fifth chicken was killed, there was still no reaction from below, and the sun was about to reach its zenith.

Suddenly, a scream rang out. Ruan Wan looked up and saw Liang Kun clutching his neck and running towards them, with Mao Chihua following behind, holding a curved knife.

Liang Kun had a large, deep cut on his hand, and a shallow wound on his neck that was oozing blood.

Lou Qianyuan immediately raised the dagger in his hand, coldly staring at Mao Chihua, "What do you want to do?"

Liang Kun said with a pained expression, "This woman tried to ambush me. Luckily, I reacted quickly, or she would have slit my throat."

Ruan Wan found a few small thistle leaves nearby, crushed them, and tore a piece of cloth from her skirt to stop Liang Kun's bleeding and bandage him.

Mao Chihua hadn't lowered the knife she was holding, staring at Liang Kun like she was prey. "In the past, sacrifices were performed using living people. Ruan Wan, if you don't want to disappear, you'd better kill him with me."

Lou Qianyuan, his blade still pointed at Mao Chihua, turned his head and asked Ruan Wan, "Disappeared? Why did you disappear?"

Ruan Wan took the pheasant that Lou Qianyuan hadn't yet slaughtered, stepped forward, took the curved knife from Mao Chihua's hand, and said, "I'll kill all these chickens and rabbits first, bleed them, and if there's no reaction, the four of us will take turns bleeding them a little more."

Ignoring everyone else, Ruan Wan raised her knife and struck repeatedly until she had only one rabbit left in her hand.

All three of them stared intently at the rabbit in Ruan Wan's hand, making Ruan Wan nervous as the sun passed its zenith and was about to shift.

Ruan Wan still swung the knife one last time, and even as the last drop of blood was drawn, there was still no reaction from the ground.

Mao Chihua sneered at Liang Kun, "You still need human sacrifice to summon the altar."

Liang Kun clutched his neck and took a step back.

Ruan Wan kept staring at the ground when suddenly, something appeared on the ground: "Look, the blood has stopped flowing!"

Mao Chihua immediately squatted down to look, and sure enough, some of the blood had not seeped down.

The earth began to shake the next moment. The once tranquil forest was filled with birdsong and deer calls. The animals seemed to sense the disturbance and began to scatter in all directions.

The shaking became more and more intense, and Ruan Wan felt dizzy. Lou Qianyuan tried to support Ruan Wan, but he was also unable to protect himself.

Finally, the shaking stopped, and the four of them were thrown about. When Ruan Wan could distinguish between the sky and the ground, she realized that she was standing on the ancient altar.

Mao Chihua was excitedly looking at the black Qilin beside her, which was about four people tall.

When Ruan Wan stood up, she realized that there was more than one black Qilin; one was in the southeast corner and one in the northwest corner, staring at each other.

The ancient altar beneath my feet is dark red, apparently stained with blood. It feels more like stone than wood when I step on it.

But the clear growth rings and the bark around its edges prove that it is indeed a tree.

Lou Qianyuan and Liang Kun were also so shocked that they were speechless.

Suddenly, Mao Chihua looked at the dense forest not far away and shouted, "Come out! We've already spotted you!"

Ruan Wan looked towards the woods and could indeed see several dark figures.

Ruan Wan immediately gathered with Lou Qianyuan and Liang Kun, keeping a close eye on the woods.

A figure stepped forward first; it was the Grand Elder, followed by Meng Cilan and Meng Cilu, but no one else followed behind.

Ruan Wan secretly calculated in her heart that Lou Qianyuan knew martial arts, and although Liang Kun was injured, he was stronger than a weak woman. They should not be afraid of each other.

Who knew that the Grand Elder, Meng Cilan, and Meng Cilu had framed Mao Chihua for bowing and saying "Greetings, Holy Maiden"?

Mao Chihua glanced at the sun and said, "I don't have time to say more to you. After the ceremony, you must send the three of them back to Daxia, otherwise, Miao Jiang will surely perish."

Meng Cilan and Meng Cilu wanted to step forward, but were stopped by the Grand Elder, who calmly said, "We will obey the Holy Maiden's decree."

Mao Chihua glanced at Lou Qianyuan and said, "You two go outside the altar."

Lou Qianyuan had no idea what magic Mao Chihua's words held, but the two of them actually walked outside the altar.

Then Mao Chihua moved Ruan Wan to the northwest corner of the altar, while she herself stood in the northeast corner. With everything ready, Mao Chihua said, "Let's dance the sacrificial dance together."

Before Ruan Wan could react, her body had already started moving, and the two danced in perfect unison.

Rays of sunlight were captured by Ruan Wan and Mao Chihua, forming two radiant golden feather robes behind them.

The flowers in the forest bloom and wither continuously; the passage of time here seems to have transcended the real world.

One moment flowers are blooming, the next leaves are falling, and then snow is falling. Ruan Wan could hardly believe the scene before her eyes; the seasons changed in an instant.

As the dance slowly came to an end, the Grand Elder looked up at the sky, where a strange phenomenon appeared.

A moon separated from the sun, and the sun and moon shone together.

Ruan Wan could hear the sound of the wind, the sound of birds flapping their wings, and everything around her seemed to slow down dramatically.

Mao Chihua walked towards Ruan Wan at a normal pace and extended her palm.

Ruan Wan immediately recognized the items in Mao Chihua's palm as the red rope and bell she had lost many years ago.

After the sacrificial dance was over, Ruan Wan and Mao Chihua maintained the same posture, and everything around them seemed to return to normal.

Just now, Mao Chihua didn't seem to be walking towards her; she was just dancing.

But as a clear bell rang, Ruan Wan realized with a start that it was not a dream.

A red rope and a bell were hanging on Mao Chihua's ankle.

Ruan Wan had many questions to ask, but Mao Chihua was very anxious. She jumped off the altar, hugged the wooden basin that Ruan Wan had made, and then jumped back onto the altar.

Mao Chihua looked up at the black Qilin, while the black Qilin, which had just been looking up at another Qilin, now lowered its head and opened its mouth wide.

In Ruan Wan's mind, a scene from her dream appeared: the black Qilin devoured the Holy Maiden.

Ruan Wan tried to pull Mao Chihua back, but Mao Chihua turned around with a smile and said, "I'm going to your world. Only when I go to your world can you live well in this world."

The next moment, a gust of wind swept across the ground, and the Mao Chi flower was sucked into the black Qilin's mouth and disappeared.

The altar began to shake again, and Lou Qianyuan rushed over and pulled Ruan Wan down.

Moments later, the altar and the black Qilin disappeared underground, and the ground returned to its previous state, but the stench was gone.

Ruan Wan was still in shock when suddenly her eyes widened as she recognized the wooden basin.

She had seen it several times in her past life. Every time she worshipped her ancestors during the Lunar New Year, her great-grandmother would take her to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors, and this wooden basin would be placed on the altar.

Ruan Wan was very curious at the time about why there was a dark wooden basin on the altar.

However, Ruan Wan never dared to ask.

Ruan Wan's mind was suddenly filled with all sorts of information, and her head felt like it was going to explode. All of this seemed to give Ruan Wan a clue, but she couldn't quite grasp it.

Ruan Wan had a splitting headache, and the next second, she fainted. Fortunately, Lou Qianyuan was there and caught her.

Ruan Wan fell into a dream where scenes from her past life and her present life merged.

The surrounding environment was still the house she lived in when she was a child, a small room, a small and dimly lit environment, and posters pasted on the walls. This was undoubtedly the room where she lived in her previous life.

Ruan Wan ran out of her room and into the living room. Her great-grandmother was still devoutly worshipping the statue, but the original Guanyin statue had now turned into a Qilin.

The fruits and pastries on the offering table were all gone, leaving only the black wooden basin.

Ruan Wan walked around the living room and went to her great-grandmother's room. The door was open, and Ruan Wan could hear the conversation inside.

Ruan Wan walked to the door and found Mao Chihua sitting inside. She was still wearing her own clothes and was snuggling in her great-grandmother's arms.

Grandma was all smiles as she coaxed Mao Chihua, a treatment Ruan Wan had never received in her previous life.

Ruan Wan was startled. Wasn't her great-grandmother just worshipping the gods in the living room? Ruan Wan turned around and saw that her great-grandmother was no longer in the living room.

A black Qilin opened its blood-red maw and pounced towards Ruan Wan.

Ruan Wan woke up with a start, realizing that everything that had just happened was just a dream.

Before Ruan Wan could recover from her nightmare, everything around her made her restless again.

Isn't this Qian Siye's merchant ship? This is clearly the cabin where they live. Her and Lou Qianyuan's bundles are still by the bedside.

Ruan Wan pinched her face hard; the obvious pain meant it wasn't a dream.

Could it be that everything I experienced before, the so-called Southern Frontier, the so-called Holy Maiden, the Qilin, was just a dream?

But this dream felt too real.

Ruan Wan looked down and realized something was wrong. The clothes she was wearing were indeed Miao clothes, but how did she end up back on the boat?

Where did Lou Qianyuan and Liang Kun go?

Ruan Wan got up, wanting to go out and find out what was going on. As soon as she pushed open the cabin door, she saw Lou Qianyuan standing at the door.

Lou Qianyuan, carrying a pot of water, smiled and said when he saw Ruan Wan wake up, "You're awake. Here, have some water."

Ruan Wan didn't even bother to drink water. She pulled Lou Qianyuan inside and asked, "What exactly happened? How did we end up back on the ship?"

Lou Qianyuan poured a bowl of water and handed it to Ruan Wan. "Before Mao Chihua left, she asked the Grand Elder to send us back to Da Xia. I didn't expect them to actually send a carriage to take us back to Lin Yuan Ferry. Just then, Master Qian's boat docked, so we boarded it again."

Ruan Wan breathed a sigh of relief, took the water, took a sip, and asked, "How long was I unconscious?"

"You've been asleep for five days. If the ship's doctor hadn't checked your pulse and said you were alright, I would have been terrified."

I can't believe I slept for so long, but it felt like I only had a very short dream.

Ruan Wan then asked, "Where is Uncle Liang?"

"He's in the cabin next to ours. This Master Qian is an honest man. We've been missing for so long, and every time his boat passes by, he stops at Linyuan Ferry for two days, and he always leaves our belongings for us."

Ruan Wan went up to the deck and took a look. The ship was indeed heading towards Daxia. The Wudu River was in its high-water season, and the wind and waves were fast, so the ship was moving even faster.

The passengers on the ship had all changed, and when Master Qian saw Ruan Wan, he simply nodded in greeting and did not disturb her further.

Is the matter in Miao territory really over just like that?

Ruan Wan took Mao Chihua's last words very seriously.

The fact that Ruan Wan and her group returned to Da Xia was crucial in preventing the Miao region from being destroyed, which means that Ruan Wan's fate was still closely intertwined with that of the Miao region.

The wooden basin made by Ruan Wan was eventually placed in her ancestral hall for worship, and it is said to be a treasure left by her ancestors.

That means that Mao Chihua did not go to the modern era, but to the distant ancient times, where she became Ruan Wan's ancestor.

Ruan Wan's soul is a descendant of Mao Chi Hua, while her body is a descendant of her twin sister.

The soul and bloodline of the saintess, separated decades ago, have merged across time and space in Ruan Wan's body.

A perfect closed loop has been formed.

No wonder Mao Chihua kept emphasizing that Ruan Wan would not exist if the ancient altar had not been found.

Indeed, if Mao Chihua had not been able to successfully travel through time, Ruan Wan in her previous life would not have been born, and Ruan Wan in this life would have died at the age of five, her soul buried on a cliff.

Ruan Wan never thought of herself as special. Even after experiencing such a bizarre thing as soul travel, Ruan Wan did not want to think of herself as special.

Special people are destined to experience special things and bear special fates.

Having lived in fear of death throughout her previous life, Ruan Wan's only dream was to experience the full cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death like an ordinary person. That would be enough for her.

But everything she had experienced over the past ten years made Ruan Wan feel that she could not escape her fate. Whether she wanted to or not, there was a mysterious force pushing her forward.

The boat sailed westward with favorable winds and currents, and arrived at Huangfeng Ferry in ten days.

As Liang Kun disembarked, tears welled in his eyes. Looking at his familiar homeland, he thought, "It's been over twenty years. This ferry crossing has changed so much; I hardly recognize it anymore."

Lou Qianyuan comforted him, saying, "Nothing much has changed in the capital. It's still the same as always. Uncle Liang, your house is also the same as always. Father has sent people to guard it, so you can go back and stay there."

Meng Cilan was still somewhat kind-hearted; she gave Lou Qianyuan and the others a lot of travel expenses when they boarded the ship. Otherwise, they would have had to walk all the way back to the capital, which would have taken until the end of the year.

Ruan Wan bought a carriage right at the ferry crossing, and the three of them headed straight for the capital.