Renegade Immortal

Inside the rain curtain, the soft rain was like a gentle mutter. As the water scattered, the sound of the wind fused with it and formed a wisp of dream that came from a previous life.

The butterfly around Qing Hong landed in her hand and she gently gave it shelter from the rain and wind. It was as if she was the red butterfly, but it was unknown who in this world could shelter her from the same wind and rain.

She turned around and saw a stranger in white under the oil paper umbrella.

“Red Butterfly… That name is very beautiful.” Qing Hong looked at the white-haired youth and smiled. This smile was like a lonely rose in full bloom.

“If you’d like, you can become Red Butterfly.” Wang Lin looked at the beautiful woman. What happened back on planet Suzaku appeared in his eyes.

The woman smiled slightly but didn’t speak. She looked at Wang Lin. Their gazes met in the rain and lingered for a long time.

Qing Hong looked at Wang Lin and softly said, “I met you in my dream. When I became a third step cultivator, I met you in my dream.”

“Do you believe in reincarnation?” Wang Lin’s gaze moved from the woman to the rain falling from the sky.

“Do you believe in it?” the woman questioned back.

“I….” Wang Lin’s voice stopped, and after a long time, he nodded.

“I believe in it.”

The woman turned to look at the rain and softly said, “If even White-Haired Ascendant Empyrean believes it, then I also believe it.”

“I always felt like I was waiting for someone to give me an answer… When I reached the third step, I knew the person I was waiting for was you.

“Reincarnation, I always wondered if I had a previous life. Otherwise, why would I like red or butterflies? I also thought about why I would like something. It doesn’t come from thin air, and if it’s not this life, it’s the previous life.

“I was called ‘Red Butterfly’ in my previous life, correct?” The woman didn’t turn her head and her voice was calm.

“However, in my dreams of my previous life, there was another previous life… In that life, I also saw you.”

Wang Lin was startled.

Qing Hong looked as the horizon as she said, “In that lifetime, I remember you asking me a question. A question that I only got the answer to now. Do you want to hear it?”

Wang Lin silently pondered for a moment and said, “What question did I ask you?”

“Do you want to keep your current life’s memory or restore your previous life’s memory?” Qing Hong turned around and looked at Wang Lin. In her beautiful eyes, there was a light Wang Lin could not see through.

Qing Hong sounded emotional as she softly muttered, “A past life and the current life can coexist, but once the memories of the past are restored, the current life gains a lot of baggage. If it’s not restored, then I won’t know, and if I know, I can’t forget it. That is my understanding.”

Wang Lin’s eyes were filled with confusion as he looked at the woman before him and asked, “How did you answer me then?”

Qing Hong’s expression was complicated as she whispered, “Forget the past and only remember now. If I continue to persist time and time again, it will bring pain and confusion.”

“I understand.” Wang Lin let out a sigh. He knew that Red Butterfly remembered something, but what she had said about the life before the previous life caused Wang Lin’s heart to tremble. He thought about the dream dao on planet Suzaku, where it was also in the curtain of rain that a woman appeared before him holding a baby girl.

There was a red butterfly in the rain curtain, finding shelter from the rain under a leave. As the woman was thinking of a name for the baby girl, he muttered the words “red butterfly.”

Wang Lin silently pondered as he turned and walked into the distance.

“I have already forgotten a lot about that life. I only remember you and this question… And another… He said something to you.

“I still remember that line.” Qing Hong closed her eyes and her voice was soft.

“What line?” Wang Lin didn’t pause as he walked into the rain.

“Hearts dead, already forgotten…”

Inside the rain, Wang Lin’s body trembled and he suddenly turned around. He was filled with shock. This shock came from his soul. The oil paper umbrella in his hand fell on the ground and was soaked in the rain.

“Mo Zhi.” Planet Suzaku appeared in Wang Lin’s eyes. When he was a low level cultivator, it was also during a rainy night that he met a bald man whose eyes were filled with confusion. He looked at Wang Lin and said one line.

“This rain is born in the sky and dies on the earth. The process in between is life…

“Hearts dead, already forgotten…”

These words echoed in Wang Lin’s mind, and the gaze of the bald man appeared clearly in his mind. Wang Lin could not understand it before, but, looking back now, he could clearly feel the pain and sorrow.

Wang Lin left with confusion and the answer he wasn’t willing to think about.

Qing Hong looked at where Wang Lin had gone and stood there for a long time. It wasn’t until the rain had disappeared that she opened her hands. The butterfly circled her a few times before flying off into the distance.

“When will you forget… Perhaps you would never choose this.” Qing Hong lowered her head  and walked into her cave, lonely and crestfallen.

Wang Lin silently pondered.

“Reincarnation. When I unlocked the memories of the people in reincarnation, I didn’t wonder if I’m also in a reincarnation… If I’m really inside a reincarnation cycle, then who will unlock my memories?” When Wang Lin thought of this, he laughed and continued to laugh until tears fell.

“Reincarnation, this is reincarnation!! But even if I’m inside a reincarnation, I’ll never choose to forget, never!!” Wang Lin laughed. He suddenly thought of the figure that was roaring at the sky that he saw during his Ancient Dao Three Soul Splits.

The words from that figure echoed in his ears once more.

“Heaven and earth!!

“What’s the point of being at the top of the heavens and earth!?

“What’s the point of being worshiped by all!?!

“What’s the point of passing endless scriptures!?!

“If the world is like this, why not destroy it!?!

“If all life is like this, why not disappear!?!

“If the scriptures are like this, why not end it!?!

“Since it’s like this, I’ll use my own method to make the sky close its eyes, to make the earth sleep, to make the underworld river flow backwards, to make reincarnation stop, to make the world… no longer exist!!!”

Wang Lin muttered these words as they echoed in his ears. This voice grew louder and louder until the sky shook, the earth trembled, and a storm was set off on the Immortal Astral Continent.

At the celestial clan’s Eastern Continent, in the southwest part of the Lin Hua continent, there was a large city. This city looked like a giant beast laying there and gave off a majestic aura.

In a remote location of the city, there was a blacksmith shop. Business here was good enough for the family to live well. This was because the owner of the shop treated his work very seriously and had gained a good reputation over the years.

The master was a burly man who looked to be around 30 years ago. He was very strong and his upper body was exposed as he hammered the iron. Sounds of metal colliding came from the shop.

The backyard of the shop was where the family lived. The burly man had a beautiful wife and an eight-year-old daughter. The little girl was in the shop and didn’t mind the heat. She would often bring the man towels to wipe away the sweat.

Whenever that happened, the burly man would reveal a happy smile.

He was very satisfied with his current life. Although it was simple, he was very content with his lovely daughter and loving life. He wanted to do his best for his family, to make their lives better and his daughter’s future better.

In order to achieve this goal, he worked hard as a blacksmith and did everything seriously.

His life was simple, but there was a warmth he cherished. He had been born in this city and had a lot of playmates he had grown up with. Although they all had their own families, they would often drink together, laugh together, and recall the past together.

At night, when he was asleep, he would have a dream. In the dream, he swept across the world. He seemed to be a celestial emperor who led people to fight against his enemies.

In the dream, there was separation, blood, and sorrow. In the dream, he also had a daughter named Shuang… The same name as his current daughter.

However, this dream was not real. Whenever he woke up from the dream, he would look lost and look out the window at the night sky. His heart desired for everything in the dream, but when he looked at his sleeping wife and his eight-year-old daughter, who still didn’t dare to sleep alone, he would smile and forget everything about the dream.

If he had a choice, he would choose his own family and not the life in his dream.

He didn’t know that there was someone looking at him from the night sky as he looked at his family.

Wang Lin looked at the blacksmith’s family. He could feel Qing Lin’s happiness and satisfaction. Qing Lin was a Celestial Emperor in the cave world, and now he had been reincarnated as a mortal, but he had obtained happiness and warmth.

Wang Lin was very envious as he looked at Qin Lin, and after a long time, he left.

“Like Red Butterfly, his choice is to forget… forget the past, forget his previous life and become immersed in his current life, going through the cycle again and again and cherishing each time.

“Their choices are the right ones… My choice is also the right one!” Wang Lin muttered to himself.