Phoenix Terrace was blanketed in fallen petals.
Each one clustered together, vivid as coral beads.
The hem of Gu Baiyi's dark robe had been flicked open by the Qinghe Sword, now hanging loosely from her shoulder. Her long black hair draped over her collarbone, revealing the faint, slender contours beneath.
She stood quietly, gazing at Ji Rong, a trace of crimson rising in her eyes.
Ji Rong noticed the red gleam and didn't take it to heart.
Heh, already tied up by me, and you still think you can pull something?
Confident in her use of Canglang Washes the Feet to bind Gu Baiyi, Ji Rong studied the red glow in the other girl's eyes. Her lips parted slightly as she asked, "So, are you Gu Baiyi now, or the heart demon?"
Gu Baiyi smiled faintly, as if unsurprised Ji Rong knew about the heart demon.
Looking into her eyes, Gu Baiyi replied calmly, "Both."
With that, she lifted a hand and pointed toward the layers of gauzy curtains, behind which a faint mist of blood shimmered.
Her long hair spilled down freely, and the red in her eyes deepened.
Gu Baiyi smiled again and said, "Senior Sister… there is no heart demon. It's only you."
"My heart demon is you."
She confessed it plainly, and then added softly, "So…"
"So you got it wrong."
Before Gu Baiyi could finish, Ji Rong shook her head and cut her off.
Gu Baiyi narrowed her eyes. "What did I get wrong?"
After the day's surreal chaos, Ji Rong was honestly exhausted.
Sure, her original goal in coming to this world was just to survive. But now… was survival still really that important?
Even in her old world, Ji Rong had never felt like she truly belonged anywhere.
She didn't know what the point of her existence was. She hadn't found anyone who truly understood her.
She'd always followed the rules, stumbling numbly through life.
All in all, her brief life had been largely meaningless. The most emotionally stirring moment she could recall was… a late-night dungeon run in a video game.
Back then, she had pressed the keyboard, watching the screen light up.
The heroine leapt into the sky in sync with her keystrokes, landing atop a tall building. Sitting on the roof of Chonghua Pavilion, she gazed up at the sky filled with floating lanterns.
The lanterns glowed like stars, rising higher and higher.
Upward. Always upward. Soaring toward a distant end that could no longer be seen.
And then they dimmed, falling, their radiance fading.
Watching that scene, Ji Rong found herself crying without even realizing it.
She sat there before the screen, staring at the heroine for a long time. And suddenly, memories began to flood back.
She remembered when the heroine had been pulled from the ghost town's sands by Mei He. She remembered how she had clumsily trained with the Hanshui Sword in Wanjian Sect, enduring ridicule from her peers.
That small girl had once knocked over someone's teacup. Boiling water scalded her skin, but she said nothing, just stood there, quietly taking the scolding.
Ji Rong had played many games. But none of them had ever made her feel this invested.
She had poured in money by the truckload just to max out the heroine's level and help her take revenge, slapping every villain's face along the way.
By the end, the heroine had everything.
She reached the peak level, became the Demon Lord, and slaughtered her enemies, bathed Wanjian Sect in blood.
On the final day of the game's main storyline thirty-eight: Gu Baiyi raised her silver sword, standing alone in the sect's great hall. Her gaze fell on the blood splattered across the jade tiles.
Ji Rong had thought she'd feel a rush of satisfaction from revenge fulfilled.
But she didn't.
That day, a heavy snow had fallen on Bixue Peak.
The courtyard was soaked in blood. Gu Baiyi stood alone, clutching the bloodied Hanshui Sword, in the vast and empty hall.
No one could rival her. Yet she seemed endlessly, unbearably lonely.
Ji Rong remembered wondering, at the exact moment the heroine's revenge was complete, what was she thinking?
Was she recalling the darkness of the past? Or the path she'd walked, stepping over corpses, ascending that throne?
But what truly shocked and even angered Ji Rong wasn't that the Bai He CP didn't get a happy ending.
It was that when Gu Baiyi looked down at the pool of blood, the memory that surfaced wasn't of her enemies, it was of the plum blossoms she'd seen scattered on the ground the day she first joined the sect.
Ji Rong had been furious.
So all that money she'd spent was for nothing? After everything the heroine had gone through, the one thing she still couldn't forget was plum blossoms?
Heh. What a noble "never forget your original heart."
Others might find meaning in that. But for Ji Rong, who had spent a week up all night grinding levels, she just couldn't accept it.
But after being pulled into the game world herself, Ji Rong finally realized.
Maybe Gu Baiyi never wanted revenge, or power, or to slap faces.
Maybe the smiling, blackened version of her who secretly lowered her affection score behind the scenes was, at her core, just a child starved for love.
A stubborn, awkward girl who kept everything bottled inside.
Ji Rong thought back to the night it rained on the empty mountain. Gu Baiyi had stood silently under the eaves, eyes lowered to her rain-soaked shoes.
She only looked up when she heard Ji Rong approaching.
That glance, Ji Rong's heart had skipped a beat.
Like a crabapple flower touched by morning dew, there had been a storm behind Gu Baiyi's eyes.
The moonlight spilled across the floor. The night rain wept quietly.
Gu Baiyi's clear eyes reflected the pale glow of lanterns behind silk.
She was clearly smiling, yet Ji Rong felt there was not a trace of joy in it.
The heroine's smile… was the loneliest thing she'd ever seen.
At that thought, Ji Rong couldn't help but sigh. When she was Gu Baiyi's age, she'd still been wasting time gaming and waiting to die. But Gu Baiyi, so young, had already endured so much.
Her mind had wandered far and wide, so she didn't answer Gu Baiyi's question right away.
What brought her back was Gu Baiyi speaking again, softly:
"Senior Sister… what did you mean, I got it wrong?"
Ji Rong looked at the girl in front of her, smiling faintly.
A flood of images rose in her mind.
Winter plum blossoms are blooming at Wantangju. In the moonlight, Gu Baiyi practiced her sword alone in the courtyard, while another woman leaned against a corridor post with a wine cup, quietly watching the falling snow.
The scene shifted. The fragrance of plum faded.
Gu Baiyi knelt in the Hall of Judgment, cradling the blood flowing from her shattered dantian, and slowly looked up, at the hem of snow-colored robes.
Even then, even after having her dantian pierced by that woman's sword, Gu Baiyi only thought, Senior Sister is so clean. And I… am so filthy.
Ji Rong had to admit—she was jealous.
She was jealous of the original Ji Rong.
Because no matter what happened, someone had once truly, fervently loved her with all their heart.
Unlike her, who had lived so long and wasn't even sure the sister she trusted most was real.
With that, Ji Rong came back to herself.
She looked at Gu Baiyi and said, "I said you got it wrong… because I'm not her."
Gu Baiyi looked at her, eyebrows knitting slightly.
She'd said those words once before.
After Ji Rong finished speaking, she fell silent for a long time.
She thought to herself, Back in the modern world, I was a total slacker, might as well win a round in this one.
To maintain the original character's persona, Ji Rong still spoke with that same calm, detached tone.
But what she said next was anything but calm.
"You already know that I'm aware of many things. But what you don't know… is that I know everything you went through in your previous life."
Gu Baiyi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.
In that brief instant, countless possibilities flashed through her mind.
Maybe Ji Rong could read minds.
Maybe Ji Rong, like herself, had lived two lives.
But it was just a fleeting thought.
Because Ji Rong's next words shattered all her guesses.
Ji Rong furrowed her brow slightly and said, "I'm not sure if this counts as breaking character, but even if it does, I have to say this today."
Of course, if she weren't so set on keeping up the act, what she really wanted to say was: I'm done pretending, damn it.
Gu Baiyi stopped speculating.
Because, truth be told, she didn't even know what "breaking character" meant.
Seeing that the system hadn't issued any warnings, Ji Rong decided to push the limits and test its boundaries.
After a moment of consideration, she slowly said, "When I say I know everything about your past life, I don't mean that I'm Ji Rong and saw it all from her perspective."
"In truth, I saw it all… through your perspective."
At that moment, Gu Baiyi was genuinely stunned.
She might as well have had I don't get it written across her face.
Ji Rong didn't care whether Gu Baiyi understood or not, she hadn't expected her to, anyway.
She was just tired. Tired of keeping up the act. Tired of pretending. She desperately wanted to talk to someone like a normal person for once.
In other words, living like she was walking on eggshells in this cultivation world had drained her of any will to keep going.
She desperately wished someone could understand, understand that she didn't belong in this world at all.
She was an anomaly, an accident.
Over time, that sense of isolation turned into a desire to be seen through, to be understood.
That lonely feeling of being a stranger in a strange land had completely consumed her after she found out even her older sister was a fake.
It overwhelmed the survival instinct that had been driving her all this time.
To hell with it. Who cares if I live or die.
So Ji Rong decided to just go all in and told Gu Baiyi, "Of course, I only saw your life through your eyes. I'm not you. I was just a bystander who watched your entire life unfold."
Gu Baiyi frowned slightly. "Senior Sister, what do you mean by this?"
Ji Rong said, "What do I mean? I mean, I knew everything about you. I was never there, but I knew."
"I knew you woke up at the hour of the rabbit and practiced swordsmanship during the hour of the dragon."
"I knew you liked light tea and hated anything too strong. I knew that when you took on sect missions, you always greeted the elder issuing the token with a polite smile, because you thought it was the respectful thing to do."
Gu Baiyi stared at Ji Rong, utterly speechless.
Ji Rong's lips curled into a faint smile as she recalled scenes from the game. "I also knew that one day in alchemy class, you fell asleep and propped a book in front of your face to hide it, but Master Fang actually praised you for paying close attention."
"You were so embarrassed afterward, but still decided to nap again the next day."
What Ji Rong didn't mention was that it was she who had picked that option for Gu Baiyi.
Gu Baiyi's life… it was like the choices were hers, yet somehow not hers at all.
Because Ji Rong had a feeling, this was exactly what Gu Baiyi would've done anyway.
She looked at Gu Baiyi and saw that same wide-eyed girl from the start of the game, the one brought into the sect by Mei He, gazing curiously at the mountain gate.
Then she looked at the girl beside her now, taller than her, wild and unpredictable, and was filled with mixed emotions.
Look at that… my little girl's all grown up.
So Ji Rong went on and on.
She talked about the Wanjian Sect. About the Demon Sect. About the dark blood fog inside the demon halls and the field of corpses on Phoenix Terrace.
She kept talking until there was nothing left to say.
Gu Baiyi remained silent the whole time, simply listening. Her face gave nothing away.
Ji Rong's throat was dry from talking, but her heart felt unburdened. Free.
It was, without a doubt, the most cathartic thing she'd done since entering this godforsaken game.
She was certain, no other transmigrator had ever pulled off something like this!!
After all, when it came to "ripping off the mask," she was truly one of a kind.
Now that she'd said her piece, Ji Rong smiled and asked, "So? Do you understand now?"
Gu Baiyi took a while to process it all, then finally nodded. "I understand."
Ji Rong nodded, satisfied. Finally, the heroine understood, they weren't from the same world. Maybe now she'd stop projecting all her unresolved love and hatred for the original Ji Rong onto her.
Just as she was about to undo Gu Baiyi's restriction, Ji Rong suddenly noticed something strange, Gu Baiyi had already removed it herself.
Shock gave way to irritation.
So the heroine had been pretending she couldn't break free?
Ji Rong frowned, just about to question her.
When Gu Baiyi suddenly stepped forward and pushed her down.
Her long black hair spilled across Ji Rong's face, brushing her cheeks and tickling her eyes.
Gu Baiyi's features were striking. Framed by the heavy curtains, she looked like a delicate petal fallen on Phoenix Terrace. But her expression was soft, gentle even.
Under Ji Rong's stunned gaze, Gu Baiyi leaned down, and kissed her.
Her lips were cool and soft, like phoenix petals, with the faint metallic tang of blood.
At first, Gu Baiyi only brushed her lips against Ji Rong's. Then, her breath grew hot, her kiss turned rough, and she began to bite and nibble.
Only when she tasted the cold scent hidden deep in Ji Rong's blood did Gu Baiyi slowly pull away.
She had to, any longer, and she feared she'd lose control.
Pinned beneath her, Ji Rong showed no emotion.
She stared up at Gu Baiyi and sneered coldly. "Gu Baiyi, are you a dog?"
Gu Baiyi looked at her and shook her head.
Ji Rong wanted to say, "Then what the hell are you chewing on me for?"
But then she realized, saying that would just be insulting herself.
Calm down. You must stay calm, Ji Rong told herself furiously. Don't stoop to the level of a lunatic.
She took a deep breath and asked, "Gu Baiyi, did you really understand what I just said?"
Gu Baiyi replied, "I did."
Expressionless, Ji Rong asked, "Then if you know I'm not her, if I'm not your Senior Sister, why did you bite me?"
Gu Baiyi paused to think, then answered, "Because I like you."
Ji Rong: "..."
Stay calm. Stay calm.
But she couldn't stop her expression from twisting as she gritted her teeth. "I told you, I'm not her! I'm not your Senior Sister—"
Gu Baiyi cut her off, smiling. "I know. I like you."
Ji Rong was dumbfounded.
What kind of crazy nonsense is this heroine spouting now?
But Gu Baiyi only smiled, her voice soft as she said, "I used to think you and she were the same person. That's why I kept thinking about the past whenever I was with you. But now I realize… the reason I like you in this life is because you are you."
"Senior Sister… it's always been you."
"This life, I've only ever liked you."
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Note:
They're the same person (The Senior Sister from the past and present is the same person. As for which came first… well, the timeline's still a bit fuzzy)
What Baiyi means is: she likes the real Senior Sister, not the one forced to play a role…
That's the general idea~