After Rebirth, the Heroine is Consumed by Overwhelming Regret Chapter 2

She heard the rushing sound of wind as she fell, saw a wedding hall flash past. That wedding hall was truly beautiful, vividly red and brightly lit. It was just a pity the person standing in the hall wasn’t her.

She was dead.

Falling from such a height, even a great immortal would have found it hard to save her, let alone with her broken body. Before she even hit the ground, the evil spirits at the bottom of the valley had already gathered, ready to feast on her soul.

The last thing Qi Qing saw was her name exploding brightly in the night sky, also vividly red and brightly lit, as if she were holding a wedding for herself, all alone.

Her consciousness gradually faded, and her vision blurred.

She seemed to hear the awkward silence as the wedding music suddenly stopped, followed by the clamor of the crowd, women’s arguing voices, the sound of swords cutting through the air, and Ling Aorui rushing over, crying out as she held her in her arms.

Of course, this was just her fantasy.

Ling Aorui couldn’t have arrived so quickly, nor would she have held her and cried. She had killed herself on the other’s wedding night. Every year after, their anniversary would be accompanied by her death anniversary. Causing such great misfortune, she’d be lucky if her corpse wasn’t dragged out and flogged.

Fortunately, her body had shattered into pieces. Even if someone wanted to flog her corpse, they couldn’t.

…

…

…

After an unknown amount of time, Qi Qing suddenly regained consciousness.

Her body felt no pain, and her breathing was smooth.

She opened her eyes to a familiar ceiling. Looking around at the furnishings, it looked very much like her disciple quarters from when she first joined the sect. Next door, she heard the chattering of junior disciples. They seemed to be discussing something, but her mind wasn’t fully awake yet, so she could only lie there and listen passively.

“Who do you think will win this year’s Summer Hunt?”

“Does that even need to be said? It’s definitely Senior Sister Ling! Her cultivation is profound and unfathomable, and she received cultivation techniques personally taught by the Sect Master. She’s planning to show off her skills in this Summer Hunt!”

“I don’t disagree that Senior Sister Ling is the most beautiful, but her cultivation is probably still a bit weaker than Senior Brother Liu’s. I heard Senior Brother Liu spent a lot of money refining a new set of talismans. If you ask me, it must be for this Summer Hunt.”

Summer Hunt?

Qi Qing was suddenly a little dazed. Where on earth am I?

Wasn’t I already dead? How can I still hear about the Summer Hunt? Could it be that the underworld also deals with subduing demons and monsters?

The so-called Summer Hunt referred to the annual training for new disciples. Because new Foundation Establishment disciples appeared every year, and these disciples needed to go down the mountain for experience, the time was standardized. It was held in summer, when demons and ghosts were most numerous, with senior sisters and brothers escorting them to see the world.

The participants in the Summer Hunt were all novices, so they wouldn’t go too far, and the monsters’ levels weren’t high either. But since it was the newcomers’ first time down the mountain, they would team up and choose sufficiently strong senior brothers and sisters to ensure their safe return.

Ling Aorui used to be in charge of leading the Summer Hunt teams. But ever since that accident where she went blind, she had never participated again.

Either I’m dreaming, or…

“No need to doubt it. You’ve been reborn.”

A voice slowly sounded, tinged with a hint of helplessness.

Qi Qing immediately recognized it as her system. When she had first transmigrated, she was unfamiliar with everything and relied entirely on chatting with the system to relieve her boredom, so she was very familiar with its voice.

But what’s this about being reborn?

“I requested this chance for you to be reborn. Mainly because your ending was too tragic. If a script like that was submitted, forget the readers, even I would feel frustrated. But this is a one-time chance. If you fail the capture mission again, I can’t protect you anymore.”

Qi Qing opened her mouth. Frustrated? Of course, I was frustrated. If I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have gone and killed myself. But I didn’t expect to find no peace even in death, only to be forcefully dragged back.

I can’t possibly try to capture Ling Aorui again covered in scars like this. I can’t do it, and I won’t.

“Can I choose not to capture her?”

“Absolutely not! Capturing her is your mission. If you don’t carry out the mission, you’ll be immediately obliterated!”

“Then… can I capture someone else?”

“What?”

“You saw it too, Ling Aorui’s heart already belongs to someone else. My attempt to capture her is very likely to fail. You don’t want me to repeat the same mistakes, do you?”

“Her heart belongs to someone else because you violated the rules and healed her eyes! If you hadn’t healed her eyes, none of this would have happened! I don’t want you to fail again. But she’s the female lead! If you don’t capture her, who will you capture? If you capture someone else and they die halfway through, wouldn’t you end up with nothing at all?”

“I don’t want to ‘end up with’ anything. I just…”

Qi Qing found it hard to continue. Actually, her reason for not wanting to do the capture mission was simple: she just didn’t want to see Ling Aorui again, let alone try to please her.

She wasn’t shameless; it was only natural that she didn’t want to see her again.

But the system wasn’t a real person; it couldn’t understand Qi Qing’s self-respect. It continued to prattle on, trying to argue that her mistake lay in deviating from the original plot, and that as long as she stopped making pointless sacrifices, everything would be fine.

Qi Qing no longer refuted it. She had just endured heart-piercing agony and excruciating pain. Although her body didn’t feel pain, her heart felt as if it had aged decades. Forcing her to argue with someone again was truly difficult.

But as soon as she closed her eyes, scenes from her past life appeared like lingering ghosts. The thought of herself dying by suicide for that person made her vital energy and blood surge, and a sweet taste rose in her throat.

“Qi Qing! How are you! Are you okay?”

The system’s voice was urgent. It thought she had brought back injuries from her past life. After a careful check, it found that Qi Qing’s body was mostly fine, her breathing merely disordered due to emotional agitation.

“I’m fine. I want some quiet, can I?”

“Of course. Get some rest. Call me if you need anything.”

After a long while, Qi Qing gradually calmed down.

Just as she was about to sit cross-legged and regulate her breathing, she heard a young attendant announce from outside the door that her Master had summoned her. Qi Qing responded, straightened her clothes, and went out, heading towards Verdant Peak where her Master resided.

Her Master’s name was Su Miaoyin, also known as Immortal Lord Qing Shan. She was a Soul Transformation cultivator over six hundred years old. Being in her prime, she had many disciples. Qi Qing was inconspicuous among them; she lacked a prominent family background, and her aptitude wasn’t considered good. Every day, she would follow behind her senior brothers and sisters to pay respects, mostly just to make her face known.

In her previous life, she wasn’t close to this Master and really couldn’t figure out why she would be summoned. Feeling uneasy, she flew all the way, arriving before she could make sense of it.

The Immortal Lord’s cave residence was heavily guarded. Only after her arrival was announced through several layers did someone relay the message to let her in.

Qi Qing roused her spirits and went in to pay her respects to her Master.

Su Miaoyin was holding a cup, sipping tea. Seeing Qi Qing standing there timidly, she smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid. I didn’t call you here to reprimand you. Come, sit.”

If it wasn’t something bad, she could have said it in a few sentences. Why ask me to sit? This so-called ‘being courteous for no reason’… well, it doesn’t feel like the normal way of handling things.

Qi Qing didn’t believe her words, but she sat down as told.

There was no choice; she still needed her status as a disciple. This world revered masters and respected their teachings. Unless there were special circumstances, if a Master gave an order, a disciple had no room to refuse.

“Qi Qing, you’ve been here for some time now. How are you? Are you settling in well?” Su Miaoyin poured her a cup of tea and elegantly pushed it towards her.

“Thank you for your concern, Master. I’m doing well,” Qi Qing replied, lowering her head to look at the tea. It shimmered with a golden light; clearly, it was very valuable.

“That’s good. As for me, I have many disciples, as you know. It’s inevitable that I might neglect or overlook someone at times. That’s normal. Don’t take it to heart. Interact more with your fellow disciples, and when things happen, try to be more open-minded. Nothing in this world is perfect. As long as you have the Dao in your heart, the Dao will naturally grant you fulfillment.” Su Miaoyin spoke very slowly, as if afraid Qi Qing wouldn’t take it in, and even used a Heart-Clearing Incantation.

Of course, with her current cultivation level, Qi Qing wouldn’t be able to sense it. But now, her body housed a Nascent Soul stage spiritual sense. This minor interference was easy for her to discern.

But, what was the meaning of saying all this?

Qi Qing didn’t quite understand. Did her Master summon her just to say these pointless things?

She could only hesitate and say, “This disciple will respectfully follow your teachings.”

Su Miaoyin nodded faintly. In her pair of languid, peach-blossom eyes, there seemed to be a spiritual light capable of seeing through heavenly secrets.

She didn’t dare to meet her gaze and quickly lowered her head, averting her eyes.

“Alright, I didn’t call you for anything major,” Su Miaoyin said. “The Summer Hunt team will depart in a few days. Don’t go see them off. I have another task for you here.”

Qi Qing took the assignment letter and found it was a task to deliver an invitation. The recipient was a reclusive great power known as Immortal Lord Ming Huai. He was mentioned in the original book; it said he was as beautiful as a heavenly immortal, his beauty stunning all the lands. However, he had been in secluded cultivation for many years, and she would most likely be turned away.

Qi Qing immediately understood: this was a cushy job.

If her Master hadn’t personally assigned it, it would never have fallen to her.

Because delivery tasks were low-risk and well-rewarded, they were usually given to those with high cultivation. Such cultivators were fast and could make a round trip quickly. Someone at her Foundation Establishment stage would take at least twice as long.

“This…”

Su Miaoyin said, “Your senior brothers and sisters are going to lead the teams. This matter isn’t urgent, so just take your time going and coming back.”

That explanation seemed reasonable. But if it wasn’t urgent, a young attendant should have been sent. Young attendants were transformed from plants, felt no fatigue, and required no payment, making them more cost-effective.

No matter how one looked at it, it shouldn’t have been her turn.

Seeing her hesitate to respond, Su Miaoyin sighed almost inaudibly. “What, do you still want to go see off the Summer Hunt team?”

Qi Qing quickly shook her head. Seeing off the team was something disciples did voluntarily; it was really just to join in the excitement. In her past life, she had indeed gone, intending to catch a glimpse of Ling Aorui. Unfortunately, there were too many disciples at the docks, and she had only managed half a sentence before someone else interrupted.

“Good that you don’t. Go on then.”

After bidding farewell to Su Miaoyin, Qi Qing walked out, carrying the invitation. She still hadn’t figured out her Master’s true intention in summoning her. It felt like her Master wanted to stop her from seeing off the team, but what was the point of that?

While she was pondering, she suddenly heard the sound of landing ahead.

She looked up and saw a familiar figure jumping down from a paper crane. This person wore wide robes with broad sleeves, their white clothes purer than snow. A cascade of ink-black hair flowed down their back, gently dancing in the night breeze.

The person put away the paper crane and came face to face with her.

“Junior Sister Qi Qing, are you heading back now?”

It was Ling Aorui’s voice—gentle, kind, just like before.