Chapter 21: Avenging Brother Chong

"You... come with me."

The old musician had intended to offer a rebuttal, but upon seeing the icy, murderous glint in Chen Ping'an's eyes, he swallowed the words back down, his throat bobbing.

The two left the small garden, one following the other.

Half a cup of tea later, the old musician led Chen Ping'an to the exterior of a side hall.

"My Lady Sect Master, someone claims to have grasped the ultimate essence of flute playing," he said, bowing low.

Inside the side hall, the Sect Master, who had been polishing a jade flute, suddenly stiffened, her alabaster fingers freezing. A wave of agitation stirred within her. Her beautiful eyes grew clouded, as if long-buried memories were struggling against some restraint, looming on the verge of surfacing.

"Enter," she murmured softly.

The two pushed the door open and stepped inside. The Sect Master cast a deep, meaningful glance at the old musician. "Teacher, please excuse us."

The old musician was taken aback. What was this? Could he not even observe the revelation of the ultimate essence of flute playing, he who was a master of music?

"Very well." Facing the Sect Master's authority, he stood silent for a few seconds before turning to leave, resigned.

The vast room was dimly lit, leaving only the two of them.

"Ding! Detection of a suspected former girlfriend confirmed. Host, please verify. Reward for mission completion: three Resurrection Cards."

The system's voice rang out.

Chen Ping'an paused, puzzled. "System, shouldn't you have detected her the moment I entered the Five Poisons Sect?"

"This system is very busy, so the detection function for former girlfriends is randomly triggered. There is a certain chance it won't trigger..." the system explained.

Chen Ping'an felt a vein throb in his forehead. This system was treacherous; perhaps it was behind the reincarnation of so many of his former lovers. He didn't want to squabble with the system—it was pointless, especially since his path to immortality in this life still required the system's support.

"You... have grasped the essence of flute playing?"

Beneath the dim light, the Sect Master, her hair disheveled, looked like a ghost hiding in the shadows. Her voice was low and raspy, yet it carried a peculiar rhythm that echoed through the air. Nearby, an incense burner emitted wisps of faint blue smoke.

"Yes," Chen Ping'an said.

Hearing that raspy voice, he frowned. He remembered that Lan Fenghuang's voice had not sounded like this before; it was as if she had contracted laryngitis.

The Sect Master stood up abruptly, a murderous intent surfacing in her eyes. "Very well. Demonstrate this essence. If you are deceiving me, I will ensure you die without a burial place!"

"Heh..." Chen Ping'an chuckled. This overbearing personality was exactly like the Lan Fenghuang he remembered.

He raised his jade flute and made a gentle gesture. It was a slow motion, as if slowed down dozens of times, making the space within the hall feel as though it had come to a complete standstill.

The Sect Master's breathing grew rapid.

"The flute player, it is called playing the flute, not just blowing into the flute..."

A lonely, desolate sound resonated through the dark space, and the sunlight streaming through the window lattice suddenly dimmed.

In that moment, time seemed to freeze, and the river of years flowed backward.

Chen Ping'an's eyes were clouded as if veiled in mist. Through the hazy light and shadow, he saw that pair of lovers again, walking hand in hand across mountains and rivers, through lakes and seas. They played the flute by the river, in the woods, and upon the mountain peaks; their moving melodies echoed between heaven and earth. Back then, they were free and unconstrained, filled with joy.

The Sect Master was struck as if by lightning.

*Crack!*

A change occurred within her clouded eyes. Like gathering storm clouds, violent winds began to howl, and bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens.

*Boom! Boom!*

Her once empty sea of consciousness surged with massive, sky-high waves. Fragments of shattered memories surged up with the tide.

"You... you..."

Her delicate body trembled violently. She stared fixedly at Chen Ping'an, muttering incoherently, as if struggling to digest the fragments of memory caught in the storm.

"Lan Fenghuang, do you still not remember who you are?" Chen Ping'an shouted.

His voice was like a lightning strike piercing the infinite darkness, illuminating the entire world of her consciousness in an instant. The sea of consciousness froze.

"Chong... Brother Chong?"

She gazed at Chen Ping'an blankly. Her eyes gradually cleared, and after her lips trembled for a long time, she finally managed to utter the two words with great difficulty.

"Lan'er, I never imagined we would meet again in this life!" Chen Ping'an said with emotion.

"Have we... met before?" she whispered softly, desperately searching the blank spaces of her mind for that lost piece of memory. She recognized him, but as for their past together, she remembered nothing.

"This isn't right..." Chen Ping'an took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn. He realized immediately that what had happened to Lan Fenghuang was far from simple.

With a heavy heart, he walked over to her, brushed aside her messy hair, and looked into her still-hazy eyes. "Don't rush," he said, comforting her gently. "Take your time."

System: "Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully verifying former girlfriend Lan Fenghuang. Reward: three Resurrection Cards."

Facing the reward, Chen Ping'an felt not a ripple of emotion. He gently combed Lan Fenghuang's hair, while in his mind, the image of the green seven-star mark on Fu Hongying's body appeared. He remembered what the Profound Ancestor had said: the Seven-Star Soul-Breaking Poison caused intermittent mental confusion in its early stages; in the middle and late stages, the victim would lose their mind and memory; and in the final stage, the seven stars would surface on the body, and the victim would fall into a permanent coma.

Could it be that Lan Fenghuang had also been poisoned by the Seven-Star Soul-Breaking Poison?

Just as Chen Ping'an was pondering this, a crimson light began to glow within an underground palace a hundred miles away from the side hall.

Deep within the subterranean structure, a high platform rose from the ground. A woman in red sat cross-legged atop it, her eyes closed. Her hands formed a strange seal as her body absorbed the dark red beams of light shooting from seven alchemical furnaces surrounding her.

*Sizzle...*

A wisp of blue smoke rose from her body, and the pained expression on her face began to fade. The light from the furnaces vanished.

*Hoo—*

The woman in red breathed a sigh of relief and opened her eyes, a glimmer of joy in her clear gaze. She was exceptionally beautiful, with skin as fair as snow, exquisite features, and a noble, imposing grace. Her temperament was as cold as a fairy's, her eyes rippling like water, and her long dark hair cascading behind her like a galaxy.

"Congratulations, Sect Master!"

A beautiful woman in black, whose aura was at the Divine Void Realm, drifted down and bowed.

"The poison of the Life Gu has finally been cleared..."

The woman in red slowly rose. Her expression shifted from joy to determination, then clouded over with murderous intent. A layer of frost covered her fair face as she looked toward a certain direction and sneered, her voice turning sharp.

"The Life Gu is dead. That wretched servant, Lan Fenghuang, is of no use anymore!"

The woman in black quickly said, "Sect Master, I shall send men to kill her at once."

"No, I will kill Lan Fenghuang myself to avenge Brother Chong!" the woman in red said coldly.

As she spoke of Brother Chong, her lake-like eyes softened with tenderness, as if every other man in the world had paled into insignificance in her sight.

The woman in black was stunned. She had heard of this "Brother Chong" many times over the years. What kind of man could make a woman as beautiful as the Sect Master pine for him so deeply?

"Follow me!"

The woman in red left this command and flew out of the underground palace. The woman in black followed closely behind.

Not long after, the two descended outside the side hall in a courtyard of the Five Poisons Sect.

*Bang!*

With a wave of her hand, the woman in red caused the main doors to explode. She flashed inside.

Chen Ping'an was standing with his back to the door, gently combing Lan Fenghuang's hair.

"Hongyun, you killed my Life Gu!"

Lan Fenghuang, having broken free from her previous state of calm, suddenly acted with a manic intensity, rushing past Chen Ping'an toward the woman in red.

*Bang!*

Before she could reach her, Lan Fenghuang was struck by an unseen force and fell heavily to the ground.

*This woman... her voice is so familiar.*

Chen Ping'an turned, startled, and saw the familiar woman in red standing a few yards away.

*Brother Chong?*

The woman in red was shocked. As she gazed at the handsome man who had turned around, her emotions spiraled out of control, and her body could not help but tremble violently.

"Are you... Little Mantou?"

Chen Ping'an felt a sudden daze. He blinked, and in an instant, he recognized the woman in red.