The Lord of Reincarnation

Until one day, the entire Sea of Samsara trembled.

The seawater suddenly turned blood-red, the eyeballs in the sky rolled frantically, and the entire space let out a piercing wail.

A man with only one arm left, exuding a thick stench of blood and death, staggered inside.

He was too strong.

So strong that even this space woven from the laws of reality was trembling, attempting to reject him.

The aura around him was terrifying; it was the murderous aura accumulated after slaughtering countless lives and exterminating countless sects. This aura materialized, forming a sea of blood behind him where countless vengeful souls wailed and cursed.

Yet, he was also in a miserable state.

His right arm was gone, leaving only a bloody wound that constantly dripped crimson.

His body was covered in scars, sword wounds, saber cuts, scorch marks from lightning strikes, and burn scars from fire.

His soul was riddled with holes, the bitter fruit of excessive slaughter and karmic entanglement. Countless threads of karma coiled around him like venomous snakes, devouring his life force.

His eyes were hollow, filled with exhaustion and despair.

Seeing him like this, the heartache in Yun Meng's eyes nearly overflowed.

She wanted to step forward and heal him, to wash away his sins with her origin power, to hold him and tell him that everything would be alright.

"Don't come closer!"

One-armed Ye Xuan roared and backed away, his eyes filled with self-loathing and fear.

He fell to his knees on the sandy beach, agonizingly gripping his hair, which snapped strand by strand in his hands:

"I am dirty..."

"Yun Meng, I am too dirty..."

"In this life, I have killed countless people, destroyed countless sects..."

One-armed Ye Xuan's voice was full of pain and self-reproach:

"For authority, for power, to achieve my goals... I slept with countless women, I toyed with countless people's feelings..."

"I betrayed those who trusted me, I killed those who showed me kindness, I ruined countless families..."

"I am an absolute devil! A beast! Scum!"

One-armed Ye Xuan looked up at Yun Meng, his eyes brimming with despair:

"I... am completely unworthy of you."

"You are so pure, so beautiful, while I... I am just a puddle of mud, a pile of trash."

"I will defile you."

He did not dare to look at Yun Meng.

He felt like a puddle of mud that would taint this purest lotus flower in the world.

He felt he had no right to stand before her, no right to breathe the same air as her.

However.

A pair of cold hands gently wrapped around his trembling shoulders.

A warm embrace pulled his bloodstained, sin-ridden body into its hold.

No matter how much stench of blood he carried, no matter how much perfume of other women lingered on him, no matter how many karmic threads entangled him.

Yun Meng did not care.

She simply patted his back gently, speaking with the simplest, most straightforward, and purest logic:

"Ye Xuan... is Ye Xuan."

"No matter what he becomes, he is still my Ah Xuan."

"No matter what he has done, he is still my Ah Xuan."

Yun Meng's voice was very soft, but every word struck like a heavy hammer against One-armed Ye Xuan's heart:

"You killed people, that was your choice."

"You did wrong things, that was your choice."

"But you are still you, still the Ye Xuan I know."

"I don't care what you did, I only care who you are."

These words became the final straw that crushed his mental defenses.

This man, who killed without blinking, had a heart of iron, and was viewed as a demon by the entire cultivation world, cried like a child in her embrace.

His tears flowed uncontrollably, like a breached dam.

He held onto Yun Meng tightly, as if grasping his last lifeline:

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"I am really... really so tired..."

"I don't want to kill anymore, I don't want to scheme anymore, I don't want to live wearing a mask anymore..."

"I just want... want to be with you, to live a quiet and peaceful life..."

Yun Meng gently patted his back, as if coaxing a wounded child:

"I know."

"I know it all."

"If you are tired, then rest."

A long time passed.

One-armed Ye Xuan calmed down.

He took out a black book from his robes.

This book was already filled with names, every page stained with fresh blood and exuding a heavy aura of death.

This was the Six Paths of Samsara Heavenly Scripture, the ultimate cultivation method he had completed using countless lives, countless reincarnations, and countless trials and errors.

"It is finally... complete."

Ye Xuan looked at the book, a trace of liberated tenderness flashing in his eyes.

He lay down, resting his head on Yun Meng's thighs.

Just like the cowherd from his first life, just like the scholar from his second life, just like the Ye Xuan from countless lifetimes.

Only this time, he was no longer insecure, no longer regretful, and no longer afraid.

"Yun Meng."

His voice grew fainter, his flame of life extinguishing.

"I don't want to suffer anymore."

"After reincarnating so many times, making so many mistakes, experiencing life and death so many times..."

"I am truly... so tired."

One-armed Ye Xuan raised his hand, caressing Yun Meng's cheek with a firm and passionate gaze:

"This time, I will definitely succeed."

"The next life... will be the end."

"In the next life, I will come clean."

"I will have the strength to protect you, I will have the ability to take you away from here."

"We... will never be separated again."

Yun Meng looked at him, a trace of reluctance flashing in her eyes.

She wanted to say something, but ultimately just nodded.

"Okay."

"I will wait for you."

One-armed Ye Xuan smiled, a very satisfied and happy smile.

"This time... I won't make you wait too long."

"Because..."

His voice grew smaller and smaller:

"I have already... found a way to restore my memories..."

"In the next life... I will remember everything..."

"I will remember you..."

"I will..."

Before his voice faded.

His hand slipped down.

Ye Xuan, perished.

Yun Meng held the gradually cooling corpse.

She still did not cry.

Because she knew he would return.

He said that the next life would be the end.

He said that they would never be apart again.

However.

In an instant.

Across the originally calm sky of the Sea of Samsara, a world-shaking thunderbolt suddenly flashed.

That thunderbolt was no ordinary lightning; it was the lightning of laws, the lightning of the Heavenly Dao.

The silver sea surface churned with towering, raging waves.

The raging waves were no ordinary ocean waves; they were the furious tides of time, the furious tides of karma.

The entire space was trembling, wailing.

It was the lamentation of heaven and earth.

And the tears of gods.

Yun Meng lowered her head and gently kissed One-armed Ye Xuan on the forehead.

That was a kiss of farewell, and also a kiss of promise.

In her eyes, a glimmer of tears flickered, vanishing in an instant.

She held him in this desolate world, murmuring softly:

"We will meet again."

"Ye Xuan."

"This time..."

Yun Meng's voice turned resolute:

"I won't let you bear it all alone anymore."

"In the next life, I will help you."

"I will..."

She paused, a trace of unprecedented resolve flashing in her eyes:

"I will break this cycle of reincarnation."

The memory ended.

Yun Meng still stood on the beach.

The shell in her hand had been clutched so tightly it grew warm. Though the original heat had long dissipated, she still held it tightly, as if clutching a promise.

She raised her head and looked in the direction where Ye Xuan had just disappeared.

The sea breeze blew past, lifting her long silver hair, letting those strands dance in the air.

That touching smile once again curled the corners of her lips.

Her smile was no longer hollow, no longer mechanical.

Instead, it was filled with warmth and expectation.

"Ah Xuan."

She murmured softly:

"This time... don't make me wait too long."

She turned around, humming an unknown tune.

It was the melody the cowherd often hummed in their first life, a simple, rustic folk song filled with the flavor of the countryside.

"The little river winds and flows to the east, reaching the sea and never looking back..."

"The maiden waits for her lover who does not return, even turning to stone as she waits..."

Yun Meng's voice was very light, very soft, carrying an indescribable gentleness and firmness.

She bent down and continued to pick up shells.

But this time, her movements were no longer mechanical, no longer hollow.

Every time she picked up a shell, she would look at it carefully before gently placing it in her basket.

"This is the one Ah Xuan picked for me in the first life."

"This is the one Ah Xuan picked for me in the third life."

"This is the one Ah Xuan picked for me in the tenth life."

"This is the one Ah Xuan picked for me in the one hundredth life."

She muttered to herself as she picked them up, as if counting precious memories one by one.

Every shell represented a Ye Xuan.

Every shell represented a memory.

Every shell represented an encounter and a parting.

"This is the one Ah Xuan picked for me in his final life."

Yun Meng picked up that heart-shaped shell and gently placed it against her chest.

"He said, this is his heart."

"Then I will keep it safe."

"When he returns, I will give it back to him."

Yun Meng smiled, a very sweet and happy smile.

She stood up and looked at the basket full of shells.

In the past, she would throw these shells back into the sea at night, then pick them up again the next day.

Going round and round, with no beginning and no end.

That was a curse, a torment, an eternal loneliness.

But it was different now.

Now, every shell had a meaning.

Every time she picked one up, she was reminiscing.

Every time she put one down, she was anticipating.

"I won't throw them away anymore."

Yun Meng said earnestly:

"I want to keep them all."

"When Ah Xuan comes back, I will tell him about them one by one."

"Tell him our stories."

"Tell him our memories."

"Tell him how I..."

Yun Meng paused, a blush appearing on her cheeks:

"Tell him how I fell in love with him."