Chapter 281: [Unswerving Devotion] Loss of Memories
It was a woman’s silhouette.
Her form shifted steadily from blurry to crystal clear.
Her frame was slender and frail like a willow swaying in the breeze, her dark hair pinned with golden hairpins, her features picturesque as if drawn by a master’s brush.
She carried an aura of gloomy, icy sorrow about her, her brows laden with heavy melancholy—a woman who looked so much like a classic ancient painting at first glance.
Her age appeared to be around twenty.
The moment she materialized, she fixed an aggrieved, sorrowful gaze upon Bai Cha.
“You young girl, how can you be so utterly lacking in manners?”
As she spoke, Bai Cha discovered that the clothes she had previously taken off were now placed neatly before her on a table that had popped out of nowhere.
Bai Cha cast a glance at them, ignoring them completely.
“Not wearing them. Too troublesome.”
The woman’s gaze swept over her, letting out a faint, haunting sigh.
That single sigh felt almost capable of dragging anyone who heard it into endless sorrow.
Sensing that the other party could influence her emotions, Bai Cha grew even more vigilant in her heart.
Yet naturally, her vigilance could be perceived by this woman as well.
The other party offered a helpless smile, taking a single step forward, materializing right before Bai Cha.
“It is quite troublesome if you refuse to behave obediently.”
A bone-chilling coldness radiated from her body.
“Though speaking of which, this bloodthirsty, malevolent aura across your body is truly terrifying.”
Even as she said this, her slender fingers gently hooked beneath Bai Cha’s chin.
“You are not a resident of my city, are you?”
Bai Cha felt a surge of danger.
Keeping her expression unchanged, she casually planted a Dodder Vine seed—after all, it was a rare opportunity to touch the other party without having to create an opening herself—while countering with a question: “Whether I am or not, do you not know, Madam?”
The woman let out a soft chuckle, followed by another faint, haunting sigh.
This sigh sounded even more sorrowful and aggrieved than the one before.
And it was delivered right in front of Bai Cha’s face.
Almost in a single instant, Bai Cha’s emotions felt as if they were dragged into a painful hell; sorrow and despair surged over her like a tidal wave, suffocating her to the point of breathlessness.
Her face turned deathly pale, her vision darkening in waves.
“A young girl like you, in the prime of your youth, ought to dress yourself up nicely.”
As the woman spoke, she gently helped her put on her clothes properly.
Bai Cha wanted to retreat, but her body was completely incapable of moving.
“And then you ought to seek out an ideal husband; otherwise, how will you manage to support a household on your own?”
A trace of pity and tenderness seemed to weave through her voice, coaxing one into sinking deep within it almost immediately.
This NPC’s strength was formidable.
Her skill tree was allocated quite differently from the NPCs encountered in the past.
Bai Cha summoned a length of Dodder Vine, coiling it tightly around her own fingers and constricting them; the sharp pain it brought restored a sliver of clarity to her mind.
“And what about you, Madam? Are you the City Lord, or the City Lord’s wife?”
Bai Cha’s voice was thin and weak; under the influence of the other party’s emotional manipulation, she was already weeping uncontrollably.
Controlling her own emotions was a world apart from having her emotions controlled by someone else.
This unsuppressible sorrow and despair felt almost as if her heart were being squeezed tightly by a hand.
Only her eyes managed to retain a flicker of resolve.
Seeing this, the other party extended her hand once more, covering her eyes.
“I am naturally the City Lord’s wife. You are feeling so miserable now; do not resist any longer.”
“Come, I can take you to find a good marriage match.”
She took Bai Cha’s hand in hers.
The Dodder Vine on Bai Cha’s hand seized the opportunity to strike out at the woman.
Yet the moment it made contact with her, the woman dissolved away like mist.
Not a single shred of energy could be drawn, for there was nothing to cling to.
The woman coalesced back into clarity once more, letting out another sigh.
This one proved even more despair-inducing.
Uncontrollably, Bai Cha recalled every single event from the past twenty years that had pained her to the point of wanting to end her life.
Flashing past her mind like a revolving lantern, it nearly brought her mental defenses to a total collapse.
“Look, you have endured so much suffering. How miserable it must be; I feel what you feel.”
The woman continued to hold her hand, gently pulling her into a soft embrace.
“When you were sick, when you weren’t understood by others… so many times, when you clearly detested the things they said—like ‘Why don’t you go exercise? Your health is far too poor, you need to take better care of yourself.’—look, what do they even understand?”
With sorrow draped across her face, she patted Bai Cha’s back softly. Bai Cha’s entire frame was trembling violently; she couldn’t even stop herself from weeping aloud in anguish.
“They understand nothing. They do not know how miserable you feel. Illness has made you sensitive, yet that was clearly not your fault. Why does everyone always say, ‘You fall sick all the time; what will you do in the future?’—when you clearly haven’t failed at anything?”
“Oh no, you indeed haven’t done well. You miss out on important things because of your health, like the graduate entrance exams; you are unable to continue working because of your health. How sad… why is this body so awful…”
“Would it be better if you switched to a different body?”
She pressed her face softly against Bai Cha’s cheek.
That face, which resembled a classic painting, gradually surfaced a sinister, eerie smile.
She parted her red lips.
Inside her mouth lay an eye.
That eye twitched subtly as her tongue steadily extended outward.
Right at this moment, the woman emitted a piercing shriek.
She shoved Bai Cha away violently.
Slumping onto the floor, Bai Cha remained unable to control her emotions, her entire body shuddering uncontrollably.
Yet inside her eyes, a flame seemed to burn with fierce intensity.
“None of your… damn business!”
She was weeping so hard she couldn’t control herself, her speech slurred and muddled.
Yet moments ago, she had indeed thrust Fuhan Mountain directly into the woman’s body.
She hadn’t originally intended to use this sword again.
Yet when the Dodder Vines proved incapable of dealing direct damage to this woman, Bai Cha knew full well that only two items in her hands could still hurt her.
Fuhan Mountain and the Tai Sui.
Both were exceedingly dangerous.
The latter had already gorged itself on a feast during the last round and needed to be set aside for a while.
As for the former…
Clutching her chest, the woman yanked Fuhan Mountain out in a single motion, flinging it onto the floor.
She cast a venomous, malicious glare at Bai Cha.
“Little girl, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit! You come to my domain and expect not to follow my rules?!”
As her words fell, the floor beneath Bai Cha transformed into a black void.
Her entire body plummeted downward.
“Then you shall remain here forever!”
That was the final sentence Bai Cha caught as she fell.
Her consciousness slipped into total darkness.
Xu Taotao snapped her eyes open, sitting up abruptly from her bed.
The sensation of weightlessness made her heart race violently.
In a state of dazed confusion, she clutched her chest.
“Miss, what is wrong? Did you have a nightmare?” A maid walked inside.
Xu Taotao looked over.
“Biyun…” She uttered the maid’s name, feeling that something was slightly off, yet no matter how hard she tried to think, she couldn’t recall what it was.
Her head throbbed with severe pain as well.
“Miss, are you feeling unwell anywhere? I shall inform Madam and fetch a doctor for you!”
Even as Biyun spoke, she had already scurried outside.
Xu Taotao watched her receding figure, a trace of confusion lingering in the depths of her eyes.
Had she had a dream? Yet she couldn’t remember a thing.
Getting up, Xu Taotao draped a robe over herself and sat before the dressing mirror.
In the mirror, her face looked so familiar, yet subtly strange.
She was fifteen this year, her features gradually shedding their childhood innocence to blossom into a striking beauty.
Her parents often praised her as well, saying that with such fine looks, she was bound to marry into a good family.
Right… it seemed people were looking to arrange a marriage match for her recently.
A thread of revulsion welled up within Xu Taotao’s heart.
