Chapter 722: Talking Past Each Other

Chapter 722: Talking Past Each Other

“What?”

Lin Nuo was utterly confused as Liu Shuqin’s face pressed against his palm, her eyes closed in contemplation. Suddenly, she hugged him.

That wasn’t even the weird part; the bizarre part was that she was comforting him in the tone usually reserved for frightened children!

What is going on? If anyone should be seeking comfort, it should be you after a fright, right? Why is this backwards?

Professional hazard, I guess—after having consoled the weak so much, I’m now mistaken for one who’s psychologically traumatized, and here’s Liu’s hug therapy happening on site.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lin Nuo asked in confusion.

“Junior Martial Brother, I think I can understand what you meant about fleeing, being hunted down, misunderstood, and living in a dark hell of escape.”

Liu Shuqin lifted her head, looking at Lin Nuo, her eyes shimmering with a hint of tears.

Indeed, she had tears glistening, a young girl so enchanting that it stirred feelings of pity within him.

Lin Nuo had no idea why she felt this way, but he could tell it wasn’t an act.

“How do you understand? This isn’t just for fun,” he replied.

“I’m not joking. It’s just… I feel like I saw you in distress…”

“What?!”

Lin Nuo was more bewildered than ever. It wasn’t even dark yet, and she was speaking nonsense! Was she drunk, or was this some kind of drunken babble?

“Calm down; you’re acting very strangely, like you’re rambling.”

“I’m not rambling! Junior Martial Brother, do you remember I told you I had a dream? I saw you facing thousands of foes on the battlefield, blood flowing like a river.”

“What? Did you dream again last night?” Lin Nuo questioned.

“No… as soon as I closed my eyes, other scenes flashed in my mind.”

“So? What did you see?”

“I saw you fleeing from the Xuanyun Sect, those cultivators saying you had turned to demonic cultivation, and they were trying to bring you back. Then you escaped, only to run into Zhao Kuo’s troops, and you jumped into a river where the relentless waters swept you away…”

“What?! What did you see?! Demonic cultivation? Swept away by the raging waters?!”

Lin Nuo’s mind was hit with disbelief, it was outrageous beyond comprehension, the kind of outrageous equivalent to having a door opened by outrage itself.

What on earth is this? Were you peeking at the script and flipping through my past playbook?! You even know the plot twists?

Seriously, at this point, a villain would be aiming a gun at her head saying, “You know too much,” and then pull the trigger.

It was too strange; this was literally his past encounter, the start of his descent into demonic paths.

Being tormented, fleeing, jumping into the river, surviving, fleeing again, then enduring a life of endless torment—what began as a desire to be a great hero devolved into an ordinary existence, and eventually, a forced path down the villainous road.

This was an unfoldment never imagined, and strangely, it looked good!

But this was just a past life; how could it possibly relate to this life?

What was Liu Shuqin doing in the last life?

Oh, right, she was dead, playing the piano in heaven, singing the absolute melodies.

Could it be that she has divine insight now, bringing her to the present?

Lin Nuo wore a ghostly expression as he broke free from Liu Shuqin’s embrace, taking a few steps back, eyeing her with a strange gaze.

“Are you a time traveler?”

“What time traveler, Junior Martial Brother…?” Liu Shuqin replied, baffled.

“Then—are you a reincarnated person?”

“What reincarnation…?” Liu Shuqin continued to be confused.

“Do you remember how you died?”

“Um… what is this…?”

To Liu Shuqin, Lin Nuo’s words were astonishing, though he often enjoyed confounding her with riddles, but right now, it felt like they were speaking entirely different languages and she couldn’t grasp it.

So, who was going crazy here? Was she suffering from auditory and visual hallucinations?

“Are you not?” Lin Nuo asked.

“I, what…?”

“You tell me what you are.”

“I… don’t know what I am…”

This was a classic example of talking past each other; neither understood the other’s situation.

The two stared at each other in silence, awkwardness hanging thick in the air.

They were clearly talking across galaxies, not just dimensions.

After a moment of silence, Lin Nuo spoke again:

“Didn’t you see any other scenes? Just about me? None about you?” Lin Nuo inquired.

Liu Shuqin shook her head, “No… only you. It revolved around your demonic path, very strange, but… it felt so real…”

“…”

This left Lin Nuo completely at a loss. If Liu Shuqin were a reincarnated person, how could she not know her own past while knowing his?

Moreover, she was dead; she wasn’t even a party involved, so how would she know any of this?

In the last life, no one had knowledge of those two incidents; after all, those were two different people, and their states were distinct as well.

This was bizarre. Just plain bizarre.

Lin Nuo held his head; this was beyond his plans and expectations—Liu Shuqin might turn out to be a significant variable.

This variable could very well disrupt the entire plot! After all, now there were two people holding onto the script, and his script would no longer hold its advantages.

Seeing Lin Nuo react so strongly, Liu Shuqin began to piece things together.

It seemed there was something real about this; although the idea was hard to explain given time, it surely never happened before.

So, here’s the issue: this has happened, so it must have come from the past, or was it the future? If it’s the future, how could it be something that’s already occurred?

Liu Shuqin’s thoughts were in a mess, unable to straighten things out.

Could it be that Junior Martial Brother is someone who can foresee the future?

Or is he someone who came from the future?

“Junior Martial Brother, could this… really be true…?” Liu Shuqin asked.

“I suggest you don’t overthink it. The images you saw are mere fabrications, a psychological effect. Rest well, don’t let your thoughts wander, and you won’t see them again.”

Lin Nuo hurriedly said, even though Liu Shuqin had this foreknowledge, she wasn’t totally sure of its truth.

“Really? But what you just said doesn’t sound fake. Junior Martial Brother, if this is true, I would understand you, your struggles, your despair, and how it led to your heartache. As you’ve said, it’s the path towards becoming a harm to all. It also shows that you’re not inherently bad. I don’t want to see you turn into such a person; we need to have a good talk, whether it’s about your hatred or grievances.”

“Turn around and face away from me. I’ll tell you.”

“Hmm, okay.”

Liu Shuqin followed Lin Nuo’s instructions and turned her back to him.

If Lin Nuo could open his heart to her, that would be the best outcome.

Lin Nuo drew a dagger, aiming it at Liu Shuqin.

Liu Shuqin was a significant variable; knowing the future would mean knowing about him, which posed a massive threat to him.

Even predicting his plans and sabotaging them, he would lose the scripted advantage and face many more unknown disasters.

The worst-case scenario was him being captured or killed—far more humiliating than in the last life.

So, someone who posed a threat couldn’t be allowed to survive.

His dagger lunged toward Liu Shuqin’s back, and just as it was about to strike, his hand froze.

He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“What a useless piece of trash I am.”

Lin Nuo tossed the dagger away, self-deprecating.