Phew! I didn"t I would be able to finish this chapter so soon. I will try to finish 1 chapter per week.
Another thing to add is I keep the names of the organisations and palaces or spells in their original names (in chinese p.r.o.nunciation). I have gooseb.u.mps when I translates them and they are pretty difficult to translate. Heehee..
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 1 Part 3 – Nine Turns of Exquisiteness is the Number of Drunk Incarnations
She feels slightly cold in her sleep. Her wet clothes stick onto her skin, the coldness seeps into her bones. There are sounds of waterfall and the warmth of the sun around her. Ning Wen Qing opens her eyes reluctantly. A glaring light shines into her eyes, forcing her to turn her head to avoid the sudden glow of the light. Looking back when her eyes has adapted to the light.
Lofty mountains and steep hills, clear water shoal, pa.s.sing of the wind intoxicating her mind, as though she currently in a beautiful dreamland. Ning Wen Qing blinks, she is slightly confused. Such a real dream… surrounding her is green mountains, covered with dense forest. In the boundless and vast blue sky, you can see the waterfall flowing out from the top of the mountain, like a white flowing silk, like scattered pearls and splashing jade. Distinct sound of the water, falling gradually from the mountain top, gathering as a clear river, finally disappearing in the luxurious mountain way. While she is currently next to this water pool, wearing a white dress, with a string around her waist, long skirt and wide sleeves. A bamboo basket next to her hand, containing some medicinal herbs that she cannot name.
Ning Wen Qing gets up and feels the sudden pain from pressing onto slightly sharp rocks. This point brings her to a sudden realisation and proof that she"s not dreaming. She looks around, starting to feel anxious, in this wilderness, she cannot see any birds or animals, only a slight wind blowing onto her face, a slight silhouette reflected on the water.
The woman in the water is wearing white clothes and has long hair, a totally different person. Ning Wen Qing frowns, walks forward and bend towards the water, the reflection follows her and becomes clearer, surprising her.
The person in the water is definitely not her, but gives off the same feeling as herself. Waterfall like long black hair that flows down her shoulder, black long eyebrows that was shaped nicely, cherry like thin lips, only her eyes in the vague reflection of the water, still the same, still the pair that she"s familiar with. A piece of leaf falls on the water, creating a ripple on the reflection, looking at the reflection again, those pair of eyes are like the others on the water, under the hazy light, even her eyes looks different now.
Right at this time, she heard a hardly audible voice in her ears: "Ai, I think it"s completed"
Ning Wen Qing was surprised, and asked: "Who?"
The person from the reflection softly replied: "I"m called Feng Qing Chen, but maybe from now on, you are Feng Qing Chen."
"What did you say?" Ning Wen Qing looked at the water, confused, she is not sure what is happening at the moment.
The reflection sighed again, gently said: "This is not something I can explain in a few words, please extend your hand into the water."
Ning Wen Qing hesitates, she feels that this matter is strange. However, after hesitating, she still extends her hand into the stream. When the tourmaline on her hand touches the water, it released a gentle glow, shining upon the sun light on the water, dazzling her. In a short while, maybe it"s the coolness of the water or maybe the coolness from the tourmaline, slowly spreads through from her wrist to her body.
At the same time, she seems to have seen countless screens pa.s.sed through her eyes, silhouettes of people, quite without sound, as though skimming the surface, replaying several times, settling down after experiencing tens-thousands years, accidentally, something enters her mind, and quietly settled down.
When the light disappears, the reflection in the water asked: "Do you know now? These are my memories, although not complete… but I have no other way, so I can only do this."
Ning Wen Qing unconsciously touches her forehead, trying to organise the thing that came suddenly. The first thing that clears up in her brain are the medicinal herbs and skills, completing her many years of study in the healing department during her university. Time is confusing, layer by layer hitting her heart, feeling different emotions, but there is coldness spreading through her body, accompanied by a slow feeling of fear and anxiousness.
Thinking of this, she suddenly inhale a cold breath, looked at the reflection in the water, said: "You, this is…"
"It"s a heart disease," the reflection in the water said, "Even though I study medicine since young, actually, it can be said treating old illness becomes a doctor."
Ning Wen Qing pressed her chest with her hand, still not feeling anything strange, walks closer, impatiently asked: "What is this place? Why am I here? And how did I become looking like you?"
Receiving her continuous flow of questions, the reflection stills for a moment before saying: "This place is within the territory of the imperial court, it"s close to the Gobi desert. I"m really sorry, it"s because my heart disease acted up, forcing me to use the forbidden spell from the witch race to save my life, but did not think that an accident would happen, to even implicate you."
"Imperial Court… forbidden spell of the witch race? What are you talking about?" Ning Wen Qing frowns and asked.
The reflection said: "Master said this forbidden spell is called "Nine Exquisite Rounds", is a secret spell from hundreds years ago that was not handed down. It is said that this spell uses the energy from nine rounds of spiritual stones, able to replaces tens-thousands of events, controlling incarnations, if nine stones are gathered, you can open the door to 4 worlds 8 million levels of the sky, 9 million 9 hundred and ninety thousand levels of emptiness, enabling a person to move their soul, not limited by the law of the sky and reincarnation, he can even incarnate into a different world, becoming another person."
"Nine rounds of spiritual stones… how does this relates to me?"
The reflection sighed and said: "Everything is fated, you owns the nine rounds of spiritual stones. You have also arranged them into the Nine Exquisite Rounds spell, maybe it is something that has been fated to happen."
Ning Wen Qing thought of the nine crystal stones bracelets that she took out before sleeping, opens her mouth, but feels that things are irrational, not sure what she should say, finally hearing the reflection speaks again: "Anyway, I have implicated you, there is no use to keep apologising. I did not know that the aftereffect can be so serious, in order to make sure that your spirit is unharmed, I have pa.s.sed all my vitality and memories to you. I have received many years of teachings from my master*, I learned a wide range of topics, at least astrology and healing skills will be useful, maybe we can count this as a little compensation. This is all I can do, maybe… you can use the tourmaline on your hand to look for Ming Yi Lou. In the future, everything will depend on your fate."
*(T/N) The novel wrote the master as 先师 (xian Shi) meaning her master who has pa.s.sed away.
Ning Wen Qing unconsciously touches the bracelets on her wrist, bends down and asked: "Based on your explanation, I have become you, then what about you?"
The reflection shakes her head but did not say a word and gently smiles in the ripples of water, the smile slowly broke into pieces and melts. Finally, disappears without a trace, turning back into Ning Wen Qing"s unfamiliar face, a carbon copy, except the confused expression.
"Wei! Don"t go, Ming Yi Lou what…" Ning Wen Qing continued to ask, but there is no more reply from the water, she fell sitting on the stone sand on the side, she does not even know if she"s alive or dead. Her body, her mind and soul, which one is her proof of existence? Who is she now? Another her? Where is she, really? And what does she need to do now?
Two different memories melting into one giving her the feeling of helplessness, Ning Wen Qing hooks her hand onto the clear stones, telling herself that this is just a preposterous dream, everything will be back to normal when she wakes up. However, the glaring sunlight and clear sound of waterfall keep reminding her that everything in front of her is real. From now on, she is not who she used to be, this unfamiliar place really exists.
The sun moves slowly to the west, giving off the colour of blood red on the horizon, Ning Wen Qing that has slowly calms down, maybe we should say Feng Qing Chen, examines her surrounding and thinks. After a long while and getting ready to go home, a pair of big hands covers her mouth from her back.
This ends the chapter! See you next week!