TNSFC – Chapter 83

Gu Shanxue was currently taking a temporary break in the conference room with Kunna and other team members. She was eating and staring at her screen, seeing the message Que Yining had sent.

【Ningning】: Actually, it’s not very cold tonight.

【Ningning】: [Image]

Gu Shanxue hadn’t even clicked on the image yet; she could tell from the thumbnail that there was something very conspicuous. She unconsciously put down the sandwich in her hand, wiped her fingers with a napkin, and tapped open the picture.

In Gu Shanxue’s eyes, Que Yining had always been someone who shone brightly, outstanding and eye-catching in every way—her appearance, her personality, her gaze, her voice, and even her body.

Que Yining was very fair. Having recuperated in the hospital for a long time after the accident, her skin was dazzlingly white, especially contrasted against the red dress. Her eyes crinkled with a smile, and as she leaned forward slightly, a glimpse of snowy white was tantalizingly revealed.

Such a pose didn’t look vulgar or coquettish on her; instead, it exuded a more sophisticated and glamorous charm.

Gu Shanxue took a sip of coffee as if to hide her reaction, easing the dryness in her throat. Her finger swiped across the image, and she unconsciously tapped “save.”

“Gu, what are you looking at?”

Kunna thought Gu Shanxue was looking at work-related documents and leaned over, curious.

“Nothing.”

Gu Shanxue tilted her phone towards herself, not letting Kunna see the screen.

“Oh, I know. Que sent you a message, right?”

Kunna said. Seeing Gu Shanxue didn’t refute it, she knew she had guessed correctly. A slightly smug smile appeared on her face as she teased Gu Shanxue.

“Still calling yourselves ‘friends’? It’s obvious you like her a lot. Some people, they’re just pretending to be serious.”

Kunna tutted, taking a bite of the roasted wing she had.

“By the way, Gu, why are you in such a hurry to go back before Wednesday? That’s really cutting it close.”

“I have something important to do.”

Gu Shanxue put her phone aside, quickly finished her food, and continued working.

Kunna looked at her not-so-serious expression and thought it must be something good.

Several time zones away, Que Yining, lying in the car, stared wide-eyed at the message box that showed no reply for a long time after she sent the photo.

Gu Shanxue actually hadn’t responded to her!

Was she busy and hadn’t seen it?

Que Yining sent a few more messages. Seeing the status bar still showed no response, she sighed.

If only Gu Shanxue were in front of her. Then, would she still worry about Gu Shanxue not seeing it?

Que Yining pressed the button for the partition and asked the bodyguard to drive back to the Que residence.

It wasn’t until night that Gu Shanxue replied, making no mention of the previous picture. The more Gu Shanxue avoided it, the more Que Yining wanted to tease her.

【Que Yining】: I gained a lot of weight from lying around for so long after the accident. I feel like my chest has gotten bigger too. Shanxue, do you think so?

Gu Shanxue was so embarrassed on the other end that she couldn’t speak. She tapped on the keyboard for a long time, her face red, not knowing how to reply. After a good while, she hesitantly sent a few words, avoiding the main point.

【Cutie Gu】: You haven’t gotten fat.

【Que Yining】: Yes, I have. My tummy has gotten bigger, and my chest really has too. Next time you come back, you can feel it. When I lose weight, you should be able to feel the difference.

【Cutie Gu】: Being healthy is good. Don’t deliberately try to lose weight.

【Que Yining】: I understand. You like my chest a bit bigger.

Gu Shanxue, finding no escape from this topic, quickly made an excuse about having to work and immediately went offline.

Que Yining laughed so hard she pounded the bed, thinking Miss Gu was just adorable.

Day broke and night fell, the moon waned and the sun rose; in the blink of an eye, it was Monday.

In an ancient temple thousands of miles away, the evening bell hummed, mingling with the misty clouds and sunset glow, cleansing the mortal world.

Que Zixi was still kneeling, her figure solitary and desolate.

Her face was pale, her forehead bruised and swollen. Her body was already swaying unsteadily, yet she still looked upwards with determination.

With a creak, the wooden door made a soft sound.

“Patron, this old monk has already answered your previous questions. There’s nothing more to say. Go home. Even if you kneel here for days and nights, or even for more than ten years, the answer will still be the same.”

“Master,” Que Zixi’s voice was dry and hoarse, but she continued speaking, oblivious, “Previously, I asked you if that person was the original person, and you said, ‘Flower is not flower, mist is not mist.’ I then asked you where the original person went, and you said, ‘That person has passed, irretrievable.’ Then I asked you why this happened, and you only said it was karma.”

“What karma? Why can’t it be spoken of? If you don’t tell me, I will continue to wait. I should be able to get an answer eventually. That person doesn’t know either, but she said she died, was drowned in a river, died an unclear death. I need an answer.”

Que Zixi’s face was haggard and full of exhaustion, but her eyes were astonishingly bright.

She was a mere drifter in the mortal world, a grain of sand among the myriad beings. As an ordinary person, she couldn’t see through karma or guess the answer. All she had was a heart full of persistence, wanting to do something, anything, for the person she cared about.

She couldn’t just accept it, accept that a living person would die in the future, and a strange soul would take over their body to live on. She bore no ill will towards the person occupying her sister’s body, but that didn’t stop her from rejecting it.

If the person she knew truly couldn’t come back, then she had to find out why she died.

If she hadn’t died, then things wouldn’t be like this now.

“Enough. Follow me.”

The wind lifted the abbot’s kasaya, and his sigh mingled with the breeze.

“It’s not that this old monk is unwilling to speak of karma, but it is difficult to fathom. This old monk can only tell you how this karma came to be. For the rest, this old monk is powerless.”

The evening wind swept away fallen leaves, and the world became even more empty and desolate.

At ten o’clock at night, Que Yining received a call from Que Zixi.

Que Zixi told her a location and hoped they could meet there.

This was a bit strange. Que Zixi had disappeared without a word for five days, and now she wanted to meet her at a place that sounded like it was outside the city.

Que Yining pondered for a moment, then took her bodyguards and headed to that location.

The car stopped smoothly in the outskirts. Que Yining, inside the car, looked at the surroundings.

This was an abandoned area. Beside the road were trees, and further in was an unfinished building. The ground was overgrown with weeds, looking very desolate.

The surroundings were eerie. Only one person stood under the moonlight. At a glance, Que Yining wasn’t even sure if it was Que Zixi.

The atmosphere was indescribably strange. Que Yining, sitting in the car, dialed a number.

The person in the distance picked up their phone, turned around to look at her, and started walking in her direction.

The bodyguards watched warily, ready to act at any moment.

When Que Zixi got closer, her appearance startled Que Yining.

She looked much thinner, more haggard, and older than a few days ago. The previous Que Zixi still had some spirit, but the Que Zixi before her now looked as if life had worn her down a hundred times, as if she had been abused and tortured. Her eyes were full of red bloodshot veins, her hair was messy, her forehead was bruised and swollen, and her cheeks were sunken.

She was so thin she was almost unrecognizable, like a skeleton draped in human skin.

“I found out some things. Maybe it can help you remember something. Please come over and try.”

Although she used the word ‘please,’ Que Zixi’s attitude was urgent and didn’t allow for consideration; it was practically a ‘demand.’

Que Yining had thought she had just gone to pray for the original owner’s well-being, but looking at the current situation, it seemed it wasn’t that simple.

Que Yining neither agreed nor disagreed, remaining seated in the car, weighing and considering the situation in her mind.

“This is that river. The master gave a time. Although I don’t know the exact day, as long as it’s within this timeframe, it’s possible for you to remember those things. Hurry up and get out.”

Que Zixi became even more urgent, her voice extremely hoarse from not speaking for several days.

The bodyguard glanced at Que Yining, asking if he should ask the person to leave.

Que Yining refused with her eyes and placed her hand on the car door.

Que Zixi looked erratic and quite mad. If a stranger saw her, they would definitely think she was mentally unstable. Que Yining was also very skeptical about this so-called recovery of memories.

But she knew that if she refused, Que Zixi might go completely mad and would do everything possible to make her come here.

To Que Zixi, she was just a wandering spirit occupying her sister’s body. If Que Yining herself saw someone she cared about with a different soul in their body, she would probably go mad too.

Que Yining had the bodyguard help her out of the car, and headed towards the place Que Zixi mentioned.

She lowered her head and sent a message to Gu Shanxue on her phone.

The closer she got to the place Que Zixi mentioned, the stronger Que Yining’s palpitations became. By the time she neared the area, she could barely hold her phone.

Before her was clearly a wasteland, yet Que Yining smelled the damp scent of water.

She had dreamed of that river many times, but there were no buildings around it. She didn’t know which river in Lu Su City it was.

Her heart suddenly clenched, her nasal passages seemed blocked by something, and even her breathing became somewhat heavy.

Que Zixi squatted on the ground and lit a few incense sticks.

The incense sticks were blood-red, and a few wisps of white smoke drifted straight up.

She began to chant something softly, her gaze melancholic and regretful.

Seeing Que Yining’s face turn pale, the bodyguard immediately bent down to ask about her condition.

Que Yining couldn’t move. Que Zixi’s soft chanting was clearly distant, yet it seemed to bore into her mind.

“Present soul… thinking of past life… thus… can return…”

The low chanting made her head spin even more. Her surroundings felt as if they were cut off by a curtain of water, and then everything went dark.

“What did you do?”

The bodyguard snapped angrily. Que Zixi just looked at Que Yining, her face showing a hint of expectation.

The bodyguard had long seen she wasn’t normal. He knocked her unconscious, pushed Que Yining towards the car, locked Que Zixi in the trunk, and rushed to the hospital.

Que Hanyi and You Lanqing were scared out of their wits when they received the call. They immediately rushed to the hospital. Seeing Que Yining being taken into the operating room, they hurriedly asked the bodyguard who had caused Que Yining to lose consciousness. When they saw their third daughter, who looked almost completely different, in the trunk, they received a second shock.

Que Zixi was also carried into the hospital. After a short while, both their examination reports came out.

“Her legs are recovering. We did a scan. Strangely, apart from that, her body is relatively healthy.”

You Lanqing: “Then why did my daughter faint?”

The doctor shook his head, somewhat puzzled, and said, “Perhaps it’s due to mental exhaustion? Let her rest and see. If she’s still not okay tomorrow, we’ll do more tests. The other one’s problems are more significant.”

“Anemia, hypoglycemia, gastric problems and endocrine disorders likely caused by not eating properly for several days. Severe abrasion on the knees, and the bruise on her forehead looks like it was from a knock. If she was abused, I suggest calling the police.”

You Lanqing and Que Hanyi exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with helpless confusion.

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