THIP Chapter 83

“Cousin…” Lin Xi asked softly, her light-colored eyes shimmering with a hint of moisture. “Do you blame me?”

Mu Liuyin let out a quiet sigh. How could she not blame Lin Xi? If she truly didn’t, then why would she—upon sensing Lin Xi’s feelings for her and knowing full well she was going to die—still confess her love?

Because of that one sentence, Lin Xi entered the Temple of National Protection. Even in death, she lingered in the mortal realm for nearly nine hundred years, unable to reincarnate.

But now, Mu Liuyin said quietly, “I don’t blame you anymore.”

“Your heart is always the softest,” Lin Xi murmured, a faint curve to her lips as tears shimmered in her eyes.

Mu Liuyin gently ruffled her hair and replied in a low voice, “It’s not softness—it’s heartache.”

Lin Xi rested her fair cheek against Mu Liuyin’s chest, listening to the vivid thrum of her heartbeat. She still remembered how that heartbeat had once stopped for her, how that body had gone cold as Mu Liuyin died saving her. Nestled against her now, Lin Xi slowly closed her eyes and whispered, “You’re not allowed to leave me again.”

Mu Liuyin was silent for a moment. She stroked Lin Xi’s silky black hair that had spilled over her body and said softly, “Get some rest.”

“Mm.” Lin Xi gave a small smile.

Mu Liuyin kept her eyes open, mind clouded. The heartache was real, but did she truly love Lin Xi?

She closed her eyes slightly and asked Xiao Jiu the question she had once asked long ago, a question she’d never gotten a straight answer to:

“Xiao Jiu, are all of these mission targets the same person?”

Xiao Jiu covered its eyes, not daring to look at the two embracing girls. It stammered out a meow, “Xiao Jiu doesn’t know…”

“You don’t know?” Mu Liuyin chuckled dryly. “I remember when I asked you before, you said you couldn’t tell me.”

Xiao Jiu: 【QAQ】

Mu Liuyin didn’t press further. In truth, Xiao Jiu’s hesitation was answer enough: all the mission targets in these different worlds were, indeed, the same person.

She opened her eyes and stared at the red-robed girl nestled in her arms, dazed. Before she began this journey through multiple mission worlds, Mu Liuyin had never imagined she’d fall in love with a girl.

And yet, despite taking emotional-suppression pills in every world, the Mu Liuyin who retained her memories could feel the obsessive love each version of that girl held for her.

If they were all the same person… then Mu Liuyin already had her suspicions.

The same pale eyes. The same stubbornness. The same unwavering, deep love in every world.

In the real world, Mu Liuyin had never been in a romantic relationship. But back in high school, a girl had once earnestly and persistently confessed to her after graduation.

That might have been the most sincere Mu Liuyin had ever seen her.

But back then, the confession had come too suddenly. Mu Liuyin rejected her decisively, treating the whole thing as a joke—until, sometime after college, she heard that the girl had died.

Not in an accident, but from a terminal illness.

Mu Liuyin was stunned for a long time after hearing the news. She hadn’t loved that girl, but somehow… that girl had meant more to her than a typical friend.

So, after being bound to Xiao Jiu and learning of the mission rewards, she had felt a spark of longing for the first time.

And now, she was in the very last mission world.

Once she completed this world’s mission, she could make her one wish come true.

Mu Liuyin gently caressed Lin Xi’s hair. If her guess was right, that girl was the mission target across every world. But if she was wrong… would she never see Lin Xi again?

“If I keep failing the mission, will time just keep rewinding endlessly?” she asked Xiao Jiu.

“Technically, yes,” Xiao Jiu answered cautiously. “But each reset weakens both you and the mission target’s souls. Eventually… you might both vanish completely.”

“Don’t you want to finish the mission and move on?” it added nervously.

“I understand,” Mu Liuyin replied quietly.

She pressed a kiss to Lin Xi’s brow and pulled her a little closer.

In the days that followed, Mu Liuyin never brought up reincarnation again.

But she continued to train diligently every day.

Lin Xi asked her once why she worked so hard.

Mu Liuyin answered, “So I can live longer and stay by your side.”

“It’s okay,” Lin Xi smiled softly. “Even if you reincarnate again, I’ll find you.”

Mu Liuyin hesitated. “But what if I don’t remember you at all?”

Lin Xi blinked. “Well… that’d be a problem.”

Still, ever since Mu Liuyin admitted her love, Lin Xi had grown increasingly bold.

At first, Mu Liuyin would blush at Lin Xi’s flirtatious advances—but within a week, she’d gotten used to the daily kisses.

However, seeing Mu Liuyin spend most of her time cultivating, Lin Xi became a little annoyed.

One day, as Mu Liuyin opened her eyes from meditation, Lin Xi floated over and leaned close to her ear.

“Ah Jue,” she whispered with a playful gleam in her eyes, “let’s dual cultivate.”

Mu Liuyin’s lips twitched. She had no idea where Lin Xi had gotten that idea. Dual cultivation? Wasn’t that something only seen in cultivation novels?

Still a bit stunned, Mu Liuyin mentally flipped through the ancient cultivation texts Xiao Jiu had once given her, and was startled to find an actual section on dual cultivation.

Male-female, male-male… and yes, female-female too.

Her ears turned red.

And before she could react, Lin Xi had already pushed her down onto the bed.

Soft lips met hers, gentle and warm.

Mu Liuyin’s ears turned an even deeper red, but she didn’t resist—at least, not at first. Only when Lin Xi had removed all of her clothing did she start struggling.

“Don’t be afraid,” Lin Xi whispered, kissing her pale, pain-stricken face. “Don’t be afraid.”

Mu Liuyin’s mind went blank. She hadn’t even realized what was happening—she was planning to take the lead! How did Lin Xi end up on top? How did this even happen??

Tears welled up in her eyes from the physical pain, and she bit her lip, angrily stammering, “Get out… ngh—dual cultivation between men and women doesn’t… doesn’t go like this…”

Lin Xi kissed the tears slipping down her cheek and said innocently, “But Ah Jue’s soul is clearly that of a girl.”

Mu Liuyin: “……”