I've never felt happy to become an immortal.

Chapter 214 Calling Your Name (Third Update)

A snowflake landed on Bai Xuan's brow, a small animal crossed beside him, and the roar of beasts echoed from the distant mountains and forests.

Bai Xuan snapped out of his daze, reached out and wiped the snow off his shoulder. As he looked down, snow fell from his head.

He looked like he had been standing there for a long time.

Ahead was a courtyard with a round archway, and many plum trees grew in the courtyard.

He walked into the plum garden and vaguely heard someone standing on a stage singing opera, making a lively noise.

Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the play being performed on the stage was "Erlang Shen Splitting the Mountain to Save His Mother".

But why is this scene playing out here?
Isn't this a culture from Earth?

"Because this place doesn't belong to the outside world..."

Someone answered his inner question on his behalf.

Bai Xuan wondered, "Who is speaking? How can they hear my thoughts?"

"I didn't hear your true feelings, but I know you very well and can read your mind."

...No matter who you are, demons and monsters, show yourselves quickly!
"I'm behind you."

Bai Xuan heard that voice again. Driven by curiosity, he turned his head, and then a finger poked his cheek.

Standing behind her was a woman dressed in modern clothes, jeans and a fitted short-sleeved shirt. A rope belt cinched her slender waist, and her long hair was casually draped over her back and shoulders. She wore non-prescription glasses, her right hand on her hip, and a... um? dog tag on her left wrist?
Because her attire and appearance were exactly like those of a modern urban woman, and her features were so exquisite and perfect that they were beyond reproach...

No one recognized Bai Xuan for a moment.

"Who are you?"

"How rude." The beautiful woman, who looked like a sophisticated urbanite, raised her eyebrows sharply. "You, surnamed Bai, are still the same as always, only recognizing clothes and not people."

Bai Xuan retorted, "Don't portray me as a scumbag. What do you mean by only recognizing clothes and not people? I've never seen you without clothes on."

"Hmph, same thing, you don't recognize me just because I changed my clothes?" The woman said, taking off her sunglasses. "Besides, didn't you ask me to come out?"

The moment she took off her sunglasses, her entire demeanor changed.

A dazzling halo spread out from between his brows, a divine pattern of light appeared on his forehead, and his pupils changed color, revealing heterochromatic eyes.

Her loose long hair was gathered up by a hair crown, and her well-fitting clothes were transformed into the shape of armor. The dog tag on her left wrist slipped out and turned into a majestic white dog.

Upon seeing her face, Bai Xuan suddenly regained his senses and remembered what he had just experienced.

The secret realm, the Six Desires Demon, the Third Immortal Slayer, and...

“Weary, yet knowing to return.” Bai Xuan was enlightened, his eyes showing a look of sudden realization.

"Yes, it's me." She replied, "You can only recognize me when I'm dressed up in my public persona."

After uttering a complaint, she put her sunglasses back on, and her once imposing appearance immediately stopped transforming, as if rewinding a tape, returning her to her ordinary urban woman look.

These sunglasses are just like the black-rimmed glasses and braids worn by a female protagonist in a transformation story; they can easily seal away an immortal's peerless beauty.

"come on."

She waved and then sat down at a plum blossom table in the plum garden.

"How did you end up here?" Bai Xuan asked immediately after sitting down.

“I’ve always been here,” Juan Zhihuan said matter-of-factly.

Bai Xuan looked at the plum garden, then at the opera performers, and then at Juan Zhihuan's attire: "No, that's impossible... You shouldn't know these things, and it's clearly snowing, yet you're wearing short sleeves?"

"What's wrong with short sleeves? You can eat hot pot in the dead of winter, so why can't you wear short sleeves?" Juan Zhihuan pinched his shirt with both hands, then let go. The highly elastic fabric shrank back, causing the exaggeratedly elastic ball to bounce.

Bai Xuan stared at her for two seconds, his heart unmoved... He really couldn't feel any lust for her.

"What do you mean?" Juan Zhi glared at him fiercely. "What's wrong with my figure?"

Bai Xuan shook his head: "We are sworn enemies and rivals. Sworn enemies are..."

"She can't be a wife?"

“It’s true that I can’t, but what I’m trying to say is that I’m not into your taste…” Bai Xuan paused, realizing something was off: “Wait, isn’t the topic going off track? Why would I want to discuss my own preferences with you? And how did you manage to switch on so seamlessly?”

He was plunged into a deep confusion and doubt, then a sudden thought struck him: "Wait, am I under some kind of spell? For example, is the you I'm seeing now not the real Juan Zhihuan, but something I've imagined?"

"Perhaps I have already sent the real one, and am currently just trapped in some kind of mental illusion..."

Juanzhi squinted and said, "You've definitely watched a lot of movies."

“The real Juanzhi couldn’t possibly know these things. Even if she were a terrestrial immortal, she would still be an ancient person. How could she dress so fashionably like you and wear such extravagant clothes? You are not Juanzhi!” Bai Xuan was even more certain: “Retreat, old illusion, you are nothing but my inner demon!”

"Give it to me, broken!"

Nothing happened.

"break!"

"..."

"Hiss... Your inner demons are quite stubborn."

Juanzhi rested his chin on his hand, his eyes blank. "Have you made enough of a scene?"

She rested her chin on her hand, her smile perfect: "Don't force me to slap you during this rare reunion."

Bai Xuan: “…”

This personality is really like that of Qingyuan Zhenjun; he always likes to say terrifying things with a smile, and he's also a master of ideas.

But it's so strange.

"People's temperaments can change," Juan Zhi said calmly. "Why worry about such details?"

“A person’s temperament can change, but their character will not.” Bai Xuan looked him up and down. “You feel very unfamiliar to me.”

He was certain whether what he was seeing was an illusion or reality.

He felt that no matter how thirsty he was, he couldn't possibly still have sexual fantasies about Juanzhi, could he? Weren't the anime characters in the second game appealing and soft enough? I fantasize about Rei Ayanami and Alicia, aren't they better than her?

Kakakaka——!
The plum blossom table cracked on the spot, and a corner broke off.

Juan Zhihuan's smile instantly turned terrifying: "Think it over again?"

"You really are good at reading minds." Bai Xuan pressed his chest: "Impossible, you still say it's not my inner demon."

"If you insist it is, then so be it." She interlaced her fingers and stretched lazily. "But before you get hung up on who I am, shouldn't you ask something else?"

"What's there to ask?" Bai Xuan held the back of his head and leaned back slightly. "Anyway, I guess I'll have to start all over again."

"If you're going to give up like this, then it doesn't matter." Juan Zhi took out two cups from under the table, then took out a pot of wine and poured it into the cups.

"What wine?"

"Green plum wine."

"As expected of my inner demon, it understands my tastes."

We raised our warm wine glasses, clinked them together, and drank.

Bai Xuan exhaled a puff of white mist, then asked, "How did I get here? And what is this place?"

“You met the conditions, so you came here, and so I am here. It’s both a coincidence and an inevitability,” Juan Zhi replied. “A place? Just think of it as a dream.”

"You start dreaming when you're about to die?" Bai Xuan looked at the blurry reflection in the wine glass: "A revolving lantern?"

“You are still alive, at least for now. Of course, death is not far away from you at this moment.” Juan Zhi also pointed to the stage where a play was being performed not far away: “You should have noticed that half of what remains here is mine, and the other half is yours.”

"Aren't they all mine?" Bai Xuan looked at her. "Even you are mine."

Juan Zhi opened his mouth, then, as if unable to find a reason to refute, curled the corners of his lips and snorted softly, "You're smart enough to know what's good for you."

"I'm not dead yet, so do you have a way to help me?" Bai Xuan continued to ask.

"Yes." Juan Zhi picked up his wine glass and sipped it slowly. "That's why I stayed here to wait for you."

Bai Xuan sat upright and solemnly, bowing respectfully and asking, "Please teach me, young lady."

"I know the real name of the third piece of remains."

Juan Zhihuan crossed his right leg over his left, creating a less-than-perfect cross-legged position.

"..."

The true name of the third piece of remains.

Once you know it, there's a possibility of breaking the deadlock.

But Bai Xuan did not show any surprise.

He was unaware of this information; if he himself was unaware, why would she know?
Could it be that I developed a second personality at some point?
However, even a second personality cannot know information that it does not know.

For a full five hundred years, he was unable to return to the world of true cultivation.

He had no way of knowing or understanding any information about the remains of all the sword immortals.

Her confident and composed attitude made Bai Xuan wary, as if he were wary of a tumor in his head becoming sentient.

"who are you?"

The woman sat in the plum garden where snow was falling heavily, pouring herself wine and drinking alone.

"You called my name with your own voice."

She stood up, placed her hands on the stone table, bent down, took off her sunglasses, and stared directly into the young man's pupils with her beautiful heterochromatic eyes, like the moon's reflection in water.

That's why I'm here.

Bai Xuan looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar woman and remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"Juan Zhi Huan, it's been a long time."

"Bai Wuming, we finally meet."

(End of this chapter)