Zhu Xian: They've all been reborn

Listening to the Rain Pavilion, a stone chamber.

Jiang Xiaochuan was still unconscious.

The large lump on my forehead has subsided considerably.

Thanks to the combined effects of the Qingyun spiritual medicine brought by Lu Xueqi and the ointment with a strange fragrance that Xiaobai somehow produced, only a faint blue mark remained.

His breathing was steady, but his brows were still slightly furrowed, as if he couldn't find peace even in his sleep.

Inside the stone chamber, the suffocating triangular standoff temporarily transformed into a silent, turbulent "discussion" between the three parties due to the protagonist's "departure."

Biyao sat at the foot of the bed, closest to Jiang Xiaochuan, unconsciously stroking the cold shaft of the Soul-Devouring Staff in her hand.

Her eyes would occasionally dart towards the unconscious Jiang Xiaochuan, then warily sweep over Lu Xueqi sitting at the table and Xiaobai leaning against the window.

Her tear tracks had dried, leaving only slight redness and swelling, and her eyes were filled with resentment and a stubborn determination to burn her bridges.

Lu Xueqi sat at the table, with a cup of tea that had long since gone cold in front of her.

She sat upright, her moon-white Taoist robe spotless, the Tianya sword resting on her lap, her fingers unconsciously stroking the ice-blue scabbard.

His gaze was lowered, watching the tea leaves floating in the cup, his expression unreadable.

Only the cool, calm aura emanating from him, as if he were detached from all worldly concerns, stood out against the eerie atmosphere of the stone chamber.

Xiao Bai remained leaning against the window, arms crossed, bare feet lightly touching the ground. Her silver eyes slowly swept between the three, carrying a playful yet deeply weary expression.

She was the only one who looked relatively "relaxed," but her slightly furrowed brow betrayed her inner turmoil.

The silence lasted for a long time, so long that even the faint sound of the wind coming from outside the stone chamber seemed exceptionally clear.

"This can't go on forever," Xiaobai finally spoke, her voice lazy but breaking the suffocating silence.

"Xiao Chuan Chuan can't stay dizzy forever."

He's awake. What are you planning to do? Push him again?

Let's see if he punches himself again, or... hangs himself with a rope?

Biyao bit her lip and didn't say anything, but she gripped the Soul-Devouring Staff even tighter.

Lu Xueqi paused slightly as she stroked her sword, then raised her eyes, her cool gaze sweeping over Xiaobai, then over Biyao, finally settling on Jiang Xiaochuan's sleeping face. Her voice was calm and unwavering: "He won't choose."

She spoke with certainty, as if stating a fact that had already been proven.

"In my past life, he was between her and me," Lu Xueqi said, her gaze sweeping lightly over Biyao.

"He wavered back and forth, hesitant and indecisive. He was soft-hearted, sentimental, afraid of hurting others, and even more afraid of making a decision. It was me... step by step, who kept him by my side, so that he could no longer see anyone else in his eyes and heart."

She paused, her tone devoid of emotion, revealing only an almost cold clarity.

"I coaxed, lied, and forced him until finally he was completely mine. At that time, I could say I didn't mind, because I knew I was the one who won in the end."

Her gaze returned to Xiaobai and Biyao, her eyes deep: "But now, things are different."

Xiao Bai raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. Bi Yao also looked up, staring intently at Lu Xueqi.

"In my past life, she was the only 'accident'."

Lu Xueqi's gaze lingered on Biyao's face for a moment, "In this life, you're here too." She looked at Xiaobai.

"And then there's Tian Ling'er. Even..." A barely perceptible glint of cold light flashed in her eyes, "...there might be other variables we don't know about. He can't bear it, and...he can't choose."

She leaned slightly forward, her fingertips tapping lightly on the cold stone table, producing a crisp sound:

"More importantly, he knows nothing right now."

There are no memories of past lives, no shared emotions.

In his eyes, you're a kidnapper, a madman.

She looked at Biyao.

"You are a mysterious and unpredictable old monster." She looked at Xiaobai.

"And me..." she said with a self-deprecating smile, "I might just be a stubborn, terrifying, and demanding 'junior sister' or 'senior sister'."

"Let him choose now?" Lu Xueqi shook her head, her tone carrying a barely perceptible weariness, and an understanding and indulgence of that person that she herself was unaware of.

"He'll only run away, like he did just now. Or, if he's driven to a corner, he'll do something even more extreme."

Biyao's face paled.

She recalled Jiang Xiaochuan's various acts of resistance over the past few days, and his final, decisive punch.

Lu Xueqi is right. He's afraid of her now, and he hates her. How could he possibly choose her?

Xiao Bai also fell silent, a complex look flashing in her silver eyes.

Yes, in this life, Jiang Xiaochuan is still the same husband from his previous life who was "pampered" by Lu Xueqi for hundreds of years, a coward but very shrewd man.

He is now just an ordinary teenager who has been suddenly caught in a storm, bewildered, and timid.

Forcing him will only push him further away, and might even... ruin him.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Biyao finally spoke, her voice dry, filled with resentment and a hint of confusion.

"Could it be... that's all we're going to do? Give it back to you? Or... give it to you?"

She spoke the last few words with extraordinary difficulty, as if she had used up all her strength.

"Give it back? Let it go?" Xiaobai chuckled and shook her head, her silver hair flowing with a moonlit luster as she moved.

"Silly girl, when it comes to matters of the heart, there's no such thing as repaying or giving in."

Even if Lu Xueqi gives in now and takes him back to Qingyun Sect, do you think you can let go of him?

Do you think I...would be content to just be a spectator?

She walked to the bedside, looked down at Jiang Xiaochuan's sleeping face, reached out and gently brushed her fingertips across the bruise on his forehead, the movement carrying an indescribable tenderness and affection.

"I want him." Xiaobai withdrew her hand, turned around, and looked at Lu Xueqi and Biyao. For the first time, all laziness and playfulness disappeared from her silver eyes, leaving only a calm yet surging persistence that had been accumulated over thousands of years.

"In this life, I don't want to miss out again, and I don't want to be just a bystander again."

I want to stand by his side, as a woman, to love him and stay with him.

No matter how long, no matter what method.

Biyao suddenly stood up, a blood-red light flickering on the Soul-Devouring Staff: "I want it too! I need it more than any of you! What's the point of my life without it?! In this life, I will never let go, even in death!"

Lu Xueqi didn't speak, but simply watched them quietly. The Tianya Sword rested on her lap, emitting a low, resonant hum.

She didn't need to announce it; her actions and her eyes had already said it all. She wanted him, from beginning to end, and that had never changed.

Three women, each with three distinct yet equally intense and obsessive emotions, collide in this cramped stone chamber, silent yet seemingly sparking with life.

"So, what should we do?" Xiaobai shrugged, his tone returning to its lazy helplessness, but his eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"They all refused to let go, no matter what."

Lu Xueqi, in your past life you could tolerate Biyao's "longings", in this life, can you still tolerate the two of us living people, who are always in front of you?

Not to mention, there's also Tian Ling'er, who's eyeing the place covetously.

Lu Xueqi's eyelashes trembled.

In her past life, she was indeed "tolerant" because she had absolute confidence that Jiang Xiaochuan's body and soul belonged to her.

Biyao's hopeless and infatuated love.

In her view, he didn't even pose a threat, and occasionally he made her feel more clearly her complete possession of Jiang Xiaochuan.

But in this life...

She slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again, revealing a bottomless, icy pool in them.

"Now," she said, each word clear and distinct, with a coldness that severed all illusions, "I can't accept it."

She is not a saint.

The hundreds of years of possessiveness in her past life had already etched the idea that "Jiang Xiaochuan belongs to Lu Xueqi alone" into her soul.

In this life, although nothing has happened yet, seeing Biyao bind him to her side in that way, seeing Xiaobai's undisguised longing for him, and thinking of Tian Ling'er's stubborn tears...

The chilling, possessiveness and murderous intent that surged from the depths of her soul almost overwhelmed her reason.

Sharing a husband with another person? Sharing him?

Watching him smile at other women, be nice to other women, and even... have children with them?

Just thinking about it makes her feel like her heart is being gripped tightly by an icy hand, the pain is so intense she can't breathe, and what follows is a violent impulse to destroy everything.

The humming sound of the Tianya amulet was clearer on her lap.

"I know you might think that it's okay to 'share'." Lu Xueqi's voice remained calm, but it carried a chilling undertone.

"Biyao, you might think that as long as you can stay by his side, you don't care about anything else. Xiaobai, you've lived too long, so perhaps you're more open-minded and think that having a few more people doesn't matter."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the unconscious Jiang Xiaochuan, a faint, almost heartbroken helplessness flashing in her eyes: "But have you ever thought about him?"

"With his personality, he's timid, soft-hearted, hates trouble, and even more afraid of hurting others. If you really put him among us, let him navigate, let him choose, let him face the potentially endless arguments, jealousy, and even covert struggles between us..."

Lu Xueqi gently shook her head, her voice lowered, carrying an almost prophetic certainty.

"That's not happiness, that's hell. It will drive him crazy, and it will... drag us all into the abyss. In the end, no one will get it."

"More importantly," she raised her eyes to look at Biyao and Xiaobai, her gaze carrying an almost cruel clarity.

"Do you think, with his current cultivation level, his small frame... can withstand it?"

These words were loaded with meaning, carrying a hint of unspeakable bitterness and... embarrassment.

Biyao and Xiaobai were both stunned. Then, an unnatural blush rose on Biyao's face, which quickly faded and turned into a deeper stubbornness.

Xiao Bai raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of understanding and... amusement flashing in his silver eyes.

Yes, even if they could "reach an agreement," would Jiang Xiaochuan's meager skills be enough to compete with these women who are at least high-ranking officials of the Shangqing (Lu Xueqi), unfathomable (Xiaobai), and wield the Soul Devourer (Biyao)?

If it were even slightly "intense," it could have cost him half his life.

Not to mention the complicated emotional entanglements and potential mental stress.

Silence fell once more within the stone chamber. This silence was heavier and more desperate than before.

Because they realized that what lay ahead seemed to be a dead end.

No one is willing to let go, no one can truly possess it, and no one can accept "sharing." The center that is being fought over is too fragile to withstand the intense "love" from either side, let alone the pulling and tugging from all sides.

What should I do?

Forcing him to stay? That will only drive him to his doom.

Let go? Who can do that?

Sharing? Who can accept that? Even if someone reluctantly accepts it, how can we guarantee it won't escalate into an even more terrible conflict?

A stalemate. A seemingly unsolvable stalemate.

Three women and a comatose man, in a stone chamber deep in Fox Hill, face the most greedy and cruel side of love.

Outside the window, the wind howled even louder.