***

"Ying Yueru-! It is only a matter of time, just a few more years." That man had embraced Wei Ziya's body and cried. "Before long we will be legitimate lovers and no one will ever come in between us. After we have dealt with this rumor of divined Heaven's daughter - we, yes, you and I will become a Taoist couple! And no one can stop us this time. No chosen one will ever come in between us. I swear to heaven – I, Chen Jinhua, swear that I will never fall in love with another woman after you, Ying Yueru or else I will have my cultivation ruined, my life shattered under thunder strikes to never be reborn again!"

"Don't - You don't have to do this!"

"But I do. My love needs no proof lower than this. I love you."

"But what about that immortal fate? Master Ming already predicted that you will have a smooth-sailing life if you entered into matrimony with her - that phoenix. Your dragon blood can only be tied down to her - she is your destined partner, for heaven’s sake! What about the love your men have for you? Their expectations...? How will you answer them? After all, the emperor of the Spiritual realm is no light title...your Dragon blood makes you its natural heir."

Ying Yueru had cried with her doelike eyes flooded with tears. "What about those Taoists divining that only a daughter of heaven can ever completely get you rid of your bad-luck? I don't want to be the reason for your death! Moreover, can I believe that you will forgo that temptation - of ascending to heaven with no hurdles in your path? Becoming an entity who can rule a whole realm? Can you deny its allure and not blame me for keeping you away from all that? You will easily succeed and ascend to the spiritual realm with her help, and then your dragon clan, your father and mother will be expecting you to have done that! Don't persuade me otherwise - please!"

Wei Ziya remembered feeling disgusted at that charade. That woman was clearly pretending - she had seen her personally kill that phoenix seed in a cradle in the mortal world and then suck out all its luck!

As she recalled this conversation, Wei Ziya couldn't help but shiver. There were so many alien forces penetrating her mortal realm... If Ying Yueru doesn't take that Phoenix seed or kill that infant - will this mortal realm see the rise of another heroine? Will this chosen daughter of heaven become another antagonistic element to this world?

Wei Ziya shirked away her thoughts and continued recalling.

"But Ying Yueru...there is still no such person in this world right now! And I fell in love with you -and that is a fact. There will never be anyone better than you, purer than you, more loving and kind-hearted than you. How could I ever dream of leaving you? And did not the master Ming of the Qiyun sect foresee that it is more likely that such a woman had already appeared? If it was my fate to love her - then why don't you believe that you, Ying Yueru are the one being talked about in these divinations? Because that is more likely than thinking I could ever betray you!"

The young man had traced her body's falling tresses and whispered into her ears. "You are the youngest Mahayana cultivator. There is no one who can compete with you when it comes to luck or resources or ability - they cannot even do that in their dreams. Who doesn't know of your high accomplishments in alchemy? The God of medicine himself left you an inheritance! If there is a heaven's chosen daughter with heaven piercing luck, a blessing for the whole cultivation realm, then in my heart it can only be you!"

"But what if-?! What if there is a soul who owns such a fate? Who is the protagonist of this world – who should be your one true love and the one who you should have loved, not me?! What if she suddenly knocks on the door one day and then you just leave me behind to go after her?"

"But there is no such person! Do you think so low of my love-? Can anyone sway me away if they wanted to? What are you even thinking about ru’er?"

"What if!? We both know how powerful destiny written by heaven can be. I…I am just afraid that you will change one day."

"Then I can only disappoint others, and go against heaven! We cultivators were originally destined to go against the heavens from the day we started practicing. Our existence on its own is a huge resistance against this natural order of heavenly rule. Attempting to keep my love for you intact and be with you in all the difficulties and pleasures of my life - how could I disappoint you in that vow? I have already promised, I will only love you -Ying Yueru! I will fulfill that, no matter what comes in my way! You just need to believe in me."

"Then...I will believe you. But remember these words you said to me."

***

And he was right, that man. That woman really was heaven's daughter - even if she had never let anyone know of that fact. Or that she had stolen that fate from a baby. While the world searched for a sign of this chosen daughter, she was lurking in the shadows watching everyone play a game of tag. How she knew of that Phoenix seed, or who let her know that it could make her the noblest of heaven's creation – Wei Ziya could only wonder. It was just a pity that she didn’t know the place where that child was born, or else she could go herself and see if anything could be done to stop another Ying Yueru from rising up.

Wei Ziya thought and imagined with great intensity; a world where Ying Yueru was missing. What would such a world look like? Another woman will be the first to rank in halls and lists of greatest of cultivators - perhaps it could be that baby who will grow up intact this time. Another person will snatch that alchemy inheritance she prided on. And that lover - he will lie in the laps of a different woman! All that just because she couldn't snatch a mere mortal soul-!

Wei Ziya tiredly squinted out the water from her eyes. New tears kept flooding down her cheek, warming her face.

Yet, she had been unfortunate to only come back at this point. A year or two more - she could have done so much to help the resistance. But now, everything was already on the path of no return. The ritual ceremony of sacrifice will be carried out next year. Two years later, this world will erupt in an all out war draining away all its peace and prosperity. Humans will stand tall against cultivators - but with such power imbalance and disparity, anyone could foresee the outcome.

Wei Ziya thought as she wrung water out from her cloak, which was now hanging heavily on her body. She wrung her long tresses. Wiped her cheeks of the tears but some more poured out. Salty water drenched her face, those drops of heated liquid made her lose all her grace and bearing. Her cracked lips lined into a whimper, shivering in emotion and cold. "But this time, when everything enters darkness – I wouldn't be left alone wondering why."

But was it really her soul's rebirth tonight? Not a cruel joke by that woman's father - that red phoenix? Or those high immortals of the spiritual realm to win her favor? Showing her what she wanted the most to only snatch it away later - haven't they already done that a million of times?

But this event, to-night, was so personal to that woman? How could she let a soul know of this night? She hadn't even shared that secret with her lover! After all, it was a taboo whether in the cultivation realm, or spiritual realm – to take over someone else's body was considered the most frowned upon thing. Only heathens did that, no orthodox cultivator could ever fall to such a degree. Especially, not a pheonix seed, someone with noble phoenix blood and inheritance!

Or could it be that she was dreaming? Was that all that happened in her previous life rather a dream, a premonition that unfolded her destiny foretelling all her fallings and victories? A forewarning? A blessing from the dark- from some unknown force that wanted her to escape those dark days and those vile men and women? Mother goddess-?

But Wei Ziya shook her head. No, the mother goddess is dead.

'No,' she argued with herself softly. 'How could someone give me this chance if he wanted me to fulfill my predestined role? And if he was against this predestined fate- why chose me, a shell with no value? I, myself, am not that worthy - to shoulder this heavy duty of saving a world. In fact, all my life, I have been struggling with bad-luck of the most horrific kind. Living like a mirror, only reflecting what others did and wanted. While I remained stifled in an inhuman state - is there any ability still left in me? Always lingering on the periphery of being discovered, destroyed and being punished and facing blood curdling helplessness. As if the dictates of my fate were those failures – and my sinful birth only deserving of this treatment. As a shell who cares what befalls me? But why...why only me?"

As pain numbed her senses, doubts arose in her mind.

Was this bad-luck result of her birth? Yes, she shouldn't have been born – as a proof of the sins of old, a detestable existence like her should never have a happy ending. Karma was never on her side. But – being born only to die? Who chose this punishment? Why should her life be taken just to fill in a gap for others - acting like a body container for a foreign soul -like an empty casket which could be emptied at will?

"Do I deserve being treated like that?" Her voice cracked, piercing through the silence.

'No,' Wei Ziya shrunk her shoulders and broke out into shivers. 'I am not made of wood. Of course, I shouldn't have been treated like that! Look, when my ashes should have settled in the river of time, I am back here. Whatever the cause, I am still me. No one, no soul knows I am back here! Look – look at these arms, these limbs and myself- I am still me! This is me! Even if this is another dream they weave, I will break through it, one day...one day. Even if it's another evil trick – I will live through it like all those other times. Yes, I was never an unthinking log of wood...I had always been a human. I will never think of myself so low...no-! No one knows what happened in a previous life. No one."

"Tip-tap-tip"

Water droplets dripped from the eaves.

Wei Ziya jerked awake. Her eyes took in her present surroundings, finally coming out of her deep thoughts. The pond and those time ravaged buildings...it was night time, still. Her eyes contracted with a strange, weird yet apprehensive glint. She looked around once more, finding no other figure near her. There were no maids around.

Way past twelve in the night. Perhaps way past even the most of the night! The silence was dead, as gloomy as penetrating despair. No cricket chirping. Even the wind had fallen down, leaving no trace of itself behind.

Wei Ziya hurriedly retracted her feet which were still dangling inside the water. She crawled back with so much intensity that for a while her whole body ached and trembled. But she didn't care for that. In the rush of the moment, the sharp blades of tall grasses cut several lines on her wrist – she didn't feel it bleeding too. All she had in her mind was how to rush back. She had to run, but her legs were not rising up. She limped along the unpaved path, while strenuously struggling to increase her pace.

She couldn't stay outside. The family warning resounded in her mind; her grandfather had strictly restricted anyone, not even night-watches and guards could remain outside their chambers during night-time. She didn't know the reason in her past life, but she knew that whatever was restricted was for a reason.

'I should go back.'

So, we have two people right here who have clearly reincarnated, reborn. Wei Zhiruo/ or the heroine is someone who has taken over someone else's body. Opposite to her, Wei Ziya is someone who had her body stolen in her previous life. Definitely, Wei Zhiruo is something Wei Ziya as a victim will abhor; and with valid reasons too. Having her life-stolen, and watching her body do things as a bystander - that's clearly the worst fate anyone could have suffered, and seeing it happening again to one of her sisters? That's a clear reason for antagonism. But with the world at the brink of end, does she have time to think about things like this? Wei Ziya is clearly ready to die anytime this time around, because she knows her limits as a human. She isn’t Wei Zhiruo with a special bloodline, a history of past struggle with forces far greater than her.

Wei Ziya definitely is a human with no strength or determination to face the upcoming end of her world and save everyone; that’s not something she could ever do even in her dreams. Her greatest determination ends with her declaration to not escape through the channels she knows she can escape (having watched the body-snatcher do it in her previous life). She knows she will never have a chance at getting things back to before, or save anyone in one years’ time. All this explanation, because I want to tell you that Wei Ziya is not the antagonist of this story. She is not the heroine of the book in which Wei Zhiruo finds herself. She is just another side-character who had everything snatched, and is surviving another bout of torture. The real heroine will come later.

Thank You and happy reading~