Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 263: Long-awaited Reunion

Anji spent more time chatting with Lady Mang Yuan while the shrine followers mulled over their important decision. The great snake spirit did not dislike Anji’s constant company. If anything, she relished the persistent visitor, as it kept boredom at bay. It was not a bad way to spend her final days with an adorable conversation partner. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Lady Mang Yuan shared stories from eons ago, and Anji soaked up every bit of gossip. Contrary to her believers’ belief, Lady Mang Yuan could be quite crass. She often reminded Anji of Hong Nian Niang and her sophistication. The great snake spirit could be eloquent and elegant, but her real personality when mad at someone could be quite pointed. Perhaps it was in her nature to be serpent-tongued when she was not conscientiously restraining the evil in her.

"Is it not difficult to resist the natural instinct as a serpent?" Anji asked out of curiosity.

Feeling more comfortable in her snake form than her human form in her small world, Lady Mang Yuan flicked her tongue and tilted her head to one side. After residing underground for so many years, she had lost all her pigment and turned into an albino great snake after many shedding sessions.

"I have been practising for thousands of years," she replied, sounding amused. "A hatchling like you cannot trigger my natural instincts. My self-control is not that weak."

Confused, Anji wondered why Lady Mang Yuan spoke with her so candidly as if they were equals. When the great snake spirit heard it, she laughed so hard that her small world shook.

"When you get to a certain level of enlightenment, you come to understand that ranks are merely illusions. Is the life of an ant less important than the emperor’s? When you can accept that the emperor is no different from an ant, you lose any need to give or receive etiquette. I only act more superior for my shrine followers because that is what they need from me."

The answer was puzzling. However, Anji could start to understand why the sages in all her memory crystals acted ’selfishly’ in their final phases right before ascending. Lady Mang Yuan, like her shifu, was already a sage in their own right. All that was left was for them to accept ascension and let go of their worldly attachments. For Lady Mang Yuan, it was to see her followers return to the rightful cycle. For Yan Ping, Anji wondered what her shifu needed before she could embrace sagehood.

Conversations with the great snake spirit helped Anji better understand her path. The more she listened to the wisdom of Lady Mang Yuan, the clearer Anji’s vision of empty compassion became. Unlike the other sages and her teacher, Anji’s empty compassion was uniquely different. Unlike the other sages, she realised how incapable of disassociation she was. Anji loved the world too deeply to be unattached. It was closer to say she was one with the existence of the world in her form of empty compassion, something that even Lady Mang Yuan found interesting.

In between idle chats and checking on the shrine followers, Anji won them over one at a time. She spent time gathering personal objects and preparing the soul-binding spells for these objects. The hardest to convince had to be the most intelligent shrine keeper, who refused to meet with Lady Mang Yuan because she knew that she would have to bid goodbye to the person she loved so much when they finally reunited.

It was not as if Anji could not understand the shrine keeper’s devastation. However, staying here as a decaying soul was not the answer either.

"Partings are sad," Anji acknowledged. "I understand that you do not wish to leave. However, it is Lady Mang Yuan’s wish. You probably already know this, but Lady Mang Yuan’s time here is limited. She is ready to take the next step, but she cannot do it without you."

It was cruel. Anji knew that this method of persuasion was too cruel. Nothing hurt more than the truth born from kindness and sacrifice. In the same way her father made the decision to give her permission for her risky surgery, the shrine keeper had to now make this decision for the deity she adored. Love was a painful thing. Nothing good ever came out of it, but it was the one thing that kept people alive. Anji knew that without the love from her family and sect, she would not have fought as hard as she did to get better when she had been born so sickly. Yet, she believed the shrine keeper would make the decision of least regret despite the agony because real love never falters despite the storm outside. It builds a small but steady fire that warms the hearth inside.

"It’s not farewell," Anji smiled as the shrine keeper’s soul quivered. "It’s a see you later greeting. If there is something I learned about the crazy researchers of the Mystical Qilin Sect, it is that you can return to the cycle of life by paying a toll to be with who you want to be with if you truly wish for it."

A toll? The shrine keeper had never heard about it, even if she learned cultivation from the best.

"Can I really do that?" she asked.

Hope was a contagious thing. The moment it catches fire, it spreads quickly and rampantly before anyone can notice.

Striking while the match was lit, Anji divulged the secret that Elder Zhu had been researching his whole life. When the shrine keeper heard the theory, she eventually made up her mind.

"Even if I must be reborn as a dung beetle, I must become a dung beetle reborn near Lady Mang Yuan!" she declared. "Do you think I have enough karma to be reborn as a dung beetle near her?"

Anji smiled serenely. "I think you have enough karma to at least be reborn as a bird and not a dung beetle. You’ve done so much good in your life. It would be a shame not to at least see the blue skies and feel the thrill of flight. Although there is no hurry, Lady Mang Yuan misses all of you as much as you’ve missed her."

Caving at last, the shrine keeper told Anji where her precious remains were. She had no personal items of deep attachment, as Lady Mang Yuan was her only obsession even when she was alive. Thankfully, some bones were still in great condition, even if many others had decayed over time.

With all the personal soul-anchoring items ready, Anji made preparations and scheduled a meeting with Lady Mang Yuan. For the shrine followers and Lady Mang Yuan to spend the most time together, Anji had to wait four more days before she rebounded the souls to their temporary host items. Timing it to the lunar cycle carefully, Anji coordinated the long-awaited reunion.