Chapter 295: I Was Too Stupid, I Only Recognized You Now

"Senior?"

Luo Linlang, who had noticed Xie Ningyuan was awake and had come over, looked quizzically from Lu Sangjiu to Xie Ningyuan. Then, her face filled with worry. "Oh no, has he gone crazy?"

’You’re the great senior who’s lived for hundreds of years, so why are you calling my twenty-something Little Junior Sister ’Senior’?’

Lu Sangjiu, however, stared blankly at Xie Ningyuan, her heart skipping a beat.

His gaze was clear; he didn’t seem confused at all. That meant he could only have called her "Senior" because... she’d been exposed.

Lu Sangjiu didn’t know what he had seen in the Heart Demon Illusion Realm. Why was he suddenly so certain of her identity upon waking up?

Her heart was pounding. She couldn’t quite put a finger on what she was feeling. Awkwardness? Surprise? Or maybe... a secret joy.

The two of them stared at each other in silence. Neither spoke.

Luo Linlang, standing to the side, waited for a moment. When Lu Sangjiu didn’t answer, she couldn’t help but look at her again. "Little Junior Sister? Have you gone crazy too?"

Lu Sangjiu finally pulled her gaze away, pursing her lips and forcing a smile. "No, and he’s not crazy either... It’s a code word we decided on. If he was okay, he was to call me ’Senior’ so we’d know he wasn’t secretly being controlled by his Heart Demon."

She casually made up a reason, completely fooling Luo Linlang. Luo Linlang was even amazed. "Little Junior Sister, you’re so smart, thinking of everything in advance!"

After saying this, she beamed. "So, Xie Ningyuan’s Heart Demon is completely gone, right? In that case, doesn’t that mean we’ll have a Body Integration Realm fighter by our side from now on?"

Luo Linlang’s thoughts were full of happy prospects. She felt no awe toward Xie Ningyuan just because he had recovered his cultivation.

She was simply thinking that since Xie Ningyuan had always been on good terms with her Little Junior Sister, and she was on good terms with her Little Junior Sister, then by extension, she was on good terms with Xie Ningyuan too!

Besides, Xie Ningyuan had always been following Lu Sangjiu, and he would probably continue to do so. Didn’t that mean they had an extra Body Integration Realm fighter?

In that case, wouldn’t she no longer have to fear others coveting her Word Spirit Technique?

’Hehe, Little Junior Sister is just so capable! Long live Little Junior Sister!’

Lost in her joyful imagination, Luo Linlang couldn’t help but let out a silly giggle.

By now, the others had also gathered around to ask about Xie Ningyuan’s condition. When they learned his Heart Demon was completely gone, the weight that had been crushing them for three days finally lifted.

Then, everyone tactfully decided not to disturb them any longer, each finding an excuse to do something else.

Even Luo Linlang, who was still giggling foolishly, was dragged away by Shen Yuzhao and Yan Zui under some pretext.

Everyone had seen how worried Lu Sangjiu had been about Xie Ningyuan over the past three days. Though no one said anything, anyone could see what was on her mind.

Falling for a Buddhist Practitioner was a path destined to be difficult, but... at least for now, there were no problems. They couldn’t very well deny the pair even this brief moment of happiness.

Seeing that the others had moved away, Lu Sangjiu finally spoke up. "Do you want to... go watch the sunrise together?"

Without any hesitation, Xie Ningyuan hummed in agreement. "Okay."

On the summit of Qingyue Mountain, Lu Sangjiu stood by the edge of a cliff, watching the sun slowly rise in the distance. It was a long time before she mustered the courage to speak.

"Why... why did you suddenly call me ’Senior’ earlier?"

Although she was fairly certain he had found her out, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but cling to a sliver of hope as she asked.

Xie Ningyuan turned to the side to look at her, raising an eyebrow slightly. "You know, always clinging to false hope isn’t a very good habit."

"Besides... I thought you had already decided to tell me the truth, didn’t you, Senior Gu Huang."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

’Alright, he’s put it that plainly. There’s really no room for argument.’

’I had decided to tell him before, but when the time came, I couldn’t do it.’

’Later, I figured it didn’t really matter whether I told him or not. Being exposed so suddenly has left me a little flustered.’

’But... even though my body was completely remade, someone was still able to recognize me. That’s actually something to be happy about.’

After a long silence, she let out a breath as if a heavy weight had been lifted. "To be honest, carrying a secret alone is a bit tiring. Having someone else to share the burden with... is actually pretty nice."

"But... can I ask how you knew?"

Xie Ningyuan smiled, gazing at the slowly rising sun in the distance. "Because my Heart Demon recreated that world for me again. Every detail I had forgotten was replayed before my eyes with perfect clarity."

Everything that had grown hazy in his memory was forcibly reawakened. He saw Gu Huang’s every smile, every frown, every single movement.

A person’s appearance can change, but their habits don’t.

Before, he wasn’t very familiar with Gu Huang, nor was he very familiar with Lu Sangjiu, so he had overlooked many things.

But now, all of Lu Sangjiu’s habits and mannerisms were incredibly familiar to him. When he saw the memories of Gu Huang, the images of the two women easily overlapped in his mind.

To be fair, the current Lu Sangjiu was a bit different from the Gu Huang of the past.

She had lost the spirited arrogance she once had when she looked down on the world. She’d gained a touch of worldliness and lost some of her pride.

But... deep down, the person she was at her core had never changed.

She was still the same loyal person who valued her relationships and would never abandon her friends.

At this thought, Xie Ningyuan chuckled softly and turned his head to look at her. "Actually, the answer was right in front of me all along. I was just blinded by appearances... I’m sorry. I was too slow to recognize you."

His apology made Lu Sangjiu a little embarrassed. "It’s not your fault you didn’t realize... My body was completely remade, and even the aura of my soul changed. I was also intentionally hiding it, so it’s only normal that you didn’t notice."

Speaking of which, Xie Ningyuan was truly curious. "So... what exactly happened to you?"

At this point, there was really nothing left to hide.

With unprecedented openness, Lu Sangjiu told Xie Ningyuan everything that had happened to her, including the parts about Ye Zhiyao and the Pseudo Heavenly Dao.

Xie Ningyuan thought he knew Lu Sangjiu well enough, but he never would have imagined that she was hiding so many earth-shattering secrets.

He was especially perplexed about the Bodhi Pearl saving her.

He took the Bodhi Pearl from Lu Sangjiu and studied it seriously for a long time, but he couldn’t find anything unusual about it.

"This Bodhi Pearl is clearly an ordinary mortal object. How could it possess such immense power?"

To save Lu Sangjiu from Heavenly Punishment and even remake her body—not even an Immortal Artifact could do that!

Lu Sangjiu hesitated for a moment before tentatively sharing her own guess.

"Actually, over this period of time, I’ve noticed many different things about you."

"For example, besides this Bodhi Pearl, your Magic Treasures also seem to be exceptionally powerful. Take the Thousand Faces of Life you gave me—an ordinary Magic Treasure could never have such an effect."