Zhu Xian: They've all been reborn

Jiang Xiaochuan closed his eyes tightly, his eyelids trembling slightly from the effort, and he even held his breath.

My whole body was stiff as a piece of frozen meat thrown on a chopping board, and only one thought was screaming wildly in my mind:

You can't see me! You can't see me! I'm dead! I'm just a mindless corpse!

However, those three seemingly tangible gazes did not shift in the slightest because he was "playing dead." Instead, they seemed to pierce through his eyelids and nail themselves to his soul.

An even more eerie and dangerous atmosphere permeated the air.

The sweet incense from Biyao, the crisp plum blossom scent from Lu Xueqi, and the languid, warm fragrance from Xiaobai—three distinct yet equally powerful scents—silently clashed and pressed against each other in the cramped stone chamber.

Just as Jiang Xiaochuan felt he was about to suffocate or be slowly tortured to death by that gaze, Xiaobai, who was leaning against the wall, suddenly moved.

She didn't look at Lu Xueqi and Biyao, who were at each other's throats, nor did she pay attention to Jiang Xiaochuan, who was "playing dead".

Instead, he slowly walked to the bedside and sat down next to Jiang Xiaochuan, next to his arms which were bound with straps.

The stone bed was cold and hard, but she felt as if she were sitting on the softest brocade cushion, and even gently swayed her bare feet that were dangling over the edge of the bed.

Then, she reached out and gently put her arm around his shoulder, pulling his half-stiff body into her embrace in an extremely natural, even somewhat intimate, manner.

Her body heat seeped through the thin fabric, carrying a strange warmth that, mixed with her languid fragrance, instantly enveloped him.

Jiang Xiaochuan's body trembled violently, and he almost lost his "pretending to be dead" state. He tried to break free, but she held him even tighter.

He was horrified to feel that Biyao's gaze instantly became colder and sharper, like a poisoned ice spike; Lu Xueqi's aura also became more concentrated, chilling to the bone.

Xiao Bai seemed oblivious, gently resting her chin on Jiang Xiaochuan's stiff and tense shoulder, her silver hair falling down and brushing against his neck, bringing a slight tickle.

She spoke, her voice low, carrying a strange languor and...melancholy, a longing for the past, which resonated clearly in the deathly silent stone chamber:

"Xiao Chuan Chuan, do you know? Actually... this isn't the first time we've met."

Jiang Xiaochuan's heart skipped a beat.

Not the first time?

"Or rather, for you, it's your first time. But for the rest of us..."

Xiao Bai paused, turned his head to the side, and his deep silver eyes first swept lightly over Bi Yao, whose expression had suddenly changed, and then over Lu Xueqi, whose eyes were slightly narrowed.

Finally, his gaze returned to Jiang Xiaochuan's earlobe, which was so close to his and slightly reddened with nervousness.

"...This is already the second life, or even...the hundreds of years ago."

A second life? Several hundred years later?

Jiang Xiaochuan's mind went blank with a "buzz".

What is she talking about? What second life? What hundreds of years?

Xiao Bai didn't seem to be in a hurry for him to understand; instead, she continued slowly in a calm yet reminiscent tone:

"In your previous life, you and Xueqi were a legitimate husband and wife."

After paying their respects to heaven and earth and entering the bridal chamber, they lived a carefree and harmonious life on Qiyun Peak for hundreds of years.

She teaches you cultivation, cooks for you, adds clothes for you when you're cold, and fans you when you're hot. At night... well, she takes good care of you.

You also have two children, a son and a daughter, both bright, clever, and incredibly adorable.

Her voice was calm and unhurried, but the scene she described sent a jolt through Jiang Xiaochuan's heart!

Are he married to Lu Xueqi?

Hundreds of years?

There are children too?

How... how is this possible?

He has absolutely no recollection of it!

Wait...rebirth?

A word suddenly flashed through his mind.

He himself was a transmigrator and reborn, but his memories of the time before his rebirth were hazy. He only knew that he had to avoid the plot and live a peaceful life.

Could it be that... Lu Xueqi, Xiaobai, and even Biyao... were also reborn?

Moreover, it also retains memories of its past life?

This thought struck him like a thunderbolt, shattering his chaotic mind!

No wonder!

No wonder Lu Xueqi's attitude towards him was so strange, forceful, and persistent, as if there was already some kind of inseparable connection between them!

No wonder she said "it will be mine sooner or later," and even said she had "the biggest secret"!

No wonder Xiaobai always had this strange attitude of knowing him inside and out, yet also having "raised him for years and finally gotten to know him"!

Even... Biyao's obsessive and insane "like" and "possession" seem to have some explanation?

Do they all remember their "past lives"?

And he's the only one who doesn't remember?

What a melodramatic plot!

"Where is Biyao?" Xiaobai's voice continued, with a barely perceptible sigh, his gaze sweeping over Biyao, who was pale and biting her lip tightly.

"In her previous life, she also loved you, loved you so much she was almost going crazy. But you came too late, your heart was already completely occupied by Xueqi, and you couldn't spare even a little bit for her."

She was all alone, guarding that love that would never be reciprocated, guarding the Ghost King Sect, watching you two be loving, watching your child grow up... Stubborn, so very stubborn.

Sometimes I couldn't stand it and tried to persuade her to let it go, saying, "Why bother?"

But she just laughed, and then she started crying, saying she couldn't let go, she couldn't let go even if it meant death.

Biyao's body trembled slightly, and her knuckles turned white from gripping the Soul-Devouring Staff so tightly.

Intense emotions surged in her deep green eyes, tears welling up, but she held them back with all her might.

Those past life scenes that Xiaobai described so casually were like poisoned knives, slowly torturing her heart.

Yes, she just can't let go.

That's why in this life, she's willing to use any means necessary to get him back first!

Even if it's unethical, even if he hates me, I'll keep him by my side!

"As for me..." Xiaobai chuckled self-deprecatingly, tightening her arm around Jiang Xiaochuan's shoulder slightly, as if trying to draw some warmth from him.

"I'm just an observer."

We're too late; the play is already halfway through, so we shouldn't disturb them.

Occasionally, I'll transform into my fox form and rub against your knees on Qiyun Peak, bask in the sun, and smell the sweet scent of your love.

It's good to see you all happy.

Sometimes... I feel a little empty inside, and I think, if I could have come sooner, met you sooner, would things... have been different?

As she spoke, she finally released her grip on Jiang Xiaochuan's arm, sat up slightly, turned to the side, and looked directly at him.

Jiang Xiaochuan could no longer pretend and had to open his eyes, meeting Xiaobai's silver eyes, which were now incredibly serious, devoid of all playfulness and languor, and filled only with deep, ocean-like emotions.

"Xiao Chuan," Xiao Bai looked at him and said each word clearly, her voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity and a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

"The past life is the past life."

All that love, all that entanglement, all that regret—it's all in the past.

In this life, nothing has happened yet. You and her," she glanced at Lu Xueqi, "are not married yet. You and her," she glanced at Biyao again, "are not enemies or... lovers yet. You and I have only known each other for nine years."

She took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, before uttering the following words, her gaze fixed firmly and unwaveringly on Jiang Xiaochuan's bewildered eyes:

"So, Jiang Xiaochuan, now, I, Xiaobai, with a completely new identity in this life, formally ask you."

"Could you...give me a chance to love you?"

"I'm not trying to steal it, and I'm not trying to argue about who came first."

I just... don't want to miss out again.

In this life, I want to stand by your side, not as a pet, not as a spectator.

"As a woman who loves you."

"May I?"

Her voice was soft, yet it was like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, stirring up a tidal wave in Jiang Xiaochuan's heart!

Looking into Xiaobai's eyes, at the undisguised, deep, yet almost fragile expectation, his mind went completely blank, as if he had been stuffed with a lump of hot, unresolved paste.