Qian Renxue's Sea of Consciousness was still a vast expanse of white. The Light Mirror floated in midair, clearly reflecting Xue Qinghe slumped outside.
She watched the deft way her own body had handled him. Excitement glittered in her golden eyes, and her little face was full of admiration.
"Master is amazing!" She clapped her hands, her transparent little feet bouncing through the sea of clouds as her golden hair fluttered with every movement.
"He took control of Xue Qinghe in an instant! As long as he obeys, when he takes the throne one day, won't the Heaven Dou Empire basically be in my hands? Master is so clever!"
Her eyes rolled as she remembered that strange Slave Contract. She clenched her little fists. "I want to learn that, too! Once I've got the hang of it, I can control lots of people and make them work for Spirit Hall!"
Just as she was cheering with delight,
the black orb of light that Chen Qingxuan had once removed began to change in the distance. An invisible force stretched and enlarged it, drawing it out until its edges gradually became clear. In the end, it coalesced into a human-shaped shadow, its blurred outline impossible to make out.
The shadow slowly straightened and walked toward Qian Renxue, one step at a time. Faint ripples spread across the sea of clouds beneath its feet.
Qian Renxue's vision suddenly went dark. An inexplicable chill shot from her spine to the top of her head, and even her Sea of Consciousness seemed to grow sluggish.
"Master? Master, is that you?" she called tentatively, but got no answer.
Something was wrong.
Alarm bells rang in Qian Renxue's heart. She instinctively twisted around, feeling as if a block of ice had been pressed against her back, cold enough to pierce to the bone.
Something was there!
She suddenly strained with all her might. Her spirit form burst with power, breaking free of the invisible restraint, and she staggered several steps forward.
She spun around and saw the figure clearly. It was a girl with a build exactly like hers.
The black outline faded, revealing delicate features. Silver-white hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and purple eyes gleamed like gemstones immersed in a frozen pool. Even her clothes and height were exactly the same as Qian Renxue's—as if she had stepped out of a mirror.
"Who are you? Why are you in my Sea of Consciousness?" Qian Renxue's golden eyes contracted sharply. Her little body tensed like a drawn bow, and her hands instinctively came up in front of her.
"I'm you, Qian Renxue." The silver-haired woman curled her lips. A hint of amusement flickered in her purple eyes, and her smile held both a touch of wickedness and a trace of familiarity.
"How dare you! You're impersonating me!" Qian Renxue glared at her, fury flaring in her golden eyes as she stood up straight.
"My grandfather is Qian Daoliu, the Grand Elder of Spirit Hall, and my master is terrifyingly powerful!"
"Leave right now. If you don't, once they get here, you'll never get out!" As she spoke, she tried to puff out her chest and strike an intimidating pose, but the lack of confidence in her voice gave her away.
"Hehe, Qian Renxue, you're so cute." The silver-haired woman blurred and appeared right in front of her in an instant, then reached out and pinched her cheek.
"Let go of me!" Qian Renxue slapped her hand away and staggered several steps back, her golden eyes full of panic.
"Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll call my master!"
She was horrified to discover that her spirit form could do nothing but run and talk. She couldn't muster even the slightest bit of strength, and could only watch helplessly as the other woman approached.
"You hurt me." The silver-haired woman pouted, a hint of grievance flashing in her purple eyes before she broke into a sly smile again.
"I won't tease you anymore. I'm serious—I'm you, and you're me. We're the very same Qian Renxue."
"You're lying!" Qian Renxue shook her head hard in refusal. "I'm me, one of a kind! How can you say you're me and I'm you? If you're going to lie, at least come up with something believable!"
"Then take a good look." As the silver-haired woman spoke, she touched a fingertip to the center of her brow.
In an instant, Qian Renxue felt the world spin around her.
Until then, she'd only had the silver-haired woman in her field of vision. Now, it was as if she had gained a double perspective: one view was her familiar sight, while the other clearly showed "herself," including every trace of anger and alarm on her face.
She tried raising a hand. The arms in both perspectives moved at the same time, in perfect unison.
"Wh-what is going on?" Qian Renxue was utterly stunned. Her golden eyes were round as saucers, her little mind completely blank as countless questions whirled through it.
"As you can see, we share our vision." The silver-haired woman's voice rang in her mind, yet seemed to come from right in front of her, too.
"You didn't notice before because I blocked our connection. Now that I've lifted the restriction, you can naturally see what I see."
She paused. "It's not just our vision. We share memories, too. I know every experience you've ever had."
"That's impossible..." Qian Renxue murmured to herself, then instinctively turned and ran. Her transparent figure stumbled through the sea of clouds.
"Master! Master, where are you?!"
She was terrified. It was as if an invisible hand had clenched her heart, and the fear that she was "no longer herself" threatened to drown her.
Thump!
The silver-haired woman suddenly pounced on her, pinning Qian Renxue to the sea of clouds and straddling her waist. Her purple eyes locked onto Qian Renxue's as she snapped, "Calm down!"
She pressed a hand against Qian Renxue's struggling shoulder. "I've always lived in your subconscious. We share the same origin."
"It was your master's energy that let me leave your subconscious and take on a physical form."
"I'm real, and so are you. We're both Qian Renxue."
Qian Renxue stared at her, emotions churning in her golden eyes—from shock and anger, to disbelief, and finally to a trace of bewildered acceptance.
She looked at that face, identical to her own, and sensed the familiar aura coming from the other woman. Without her realizing it, the barrier in her heart—the one that branded her a "fake"—had begun to weaken.
"You..." The silver-haired woman parted her lips, wanting to say something.
Qian Renxue suddenly twisted at the waist and rolled over, pinning the silver-haired woman beneath her instead.
She bent her head and fumbled over the other woman, feeling from her shoulders down to her waist. Her outline was indistinguishable from her own.
"Hehehe... What are you doing? That tickles! It tickles!" The silver-haired woman couldn't help laughing as Qian Renxue groped her. Mischief filled her purple eyes as she twisted away. "Stop it! Stop!"
A few seconds later, Qian Renxue stopped. Looking down at the silver-haired woman pinned beneath her, she muttered, "You really are the same... Except for your hair and eyes, everything else is identical."
"Then get off me! You're making me so uncomfortable." The silver-haired woman pushed at her shoulder, grumbling.
But Qian Renxue didn't move. Instead, she pinned the other woman's wrists against the sea of clouds, leaned forward slightly, and stared into her eyes. "Why did Master bring you out?"
"How should I know?" The silver-haired woman pursed her lips and answered indifferently.
"Anyway, now that I'm out, I have no intention of going back. I don't want to, either."
"Hurry up and let go, or I won't go easy on you!"
Qian Renxue's eyes darted about, and a sly smile curled her lips. "I'll let you go, sure—but only if you call me big sister."
"Not a chance!" The silver-haired woman shot back at once. While Qian Renxue was distracted, she thrust her knee upward.
"Ugh!" Qian Renxue was caught off guard, and her body instantly tilted. The silver-haired woman seized the chance to roll over and pin her beneath her.
The two immediately started wrestling. Their transparent figures tumbled and grappled through the sea of clouds, their golden and silver-white hair tangling together.
"I existed before you, so I'm the big sister!" Qian Renxue shouted as she struggled.
"Why should that matter? I can beat you now, so I'm the big sister!" the silver-haired woman retorted, reaching to tickle her under the arms.
"I'm the big sister!"
"I'm the big sister!"
Their childish shouts echoed through the vast white Sea of Consciousness. The two nearly identical figures tussled among the clouds, impossible to tell apart. Yet amid the tangle of limbs and hair, a strange understanding slowly began to grow between them.
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