Difficult to tell the ways of the world, crossings are made without tribulation; no words can exhaust the sorrows of mortal life, nor tell the end of recurring wishes in past lives.
——Prologue
Xueling originally had no real grievance with Muyin. It was simply that he happened to see Muyin taking Abu out for a walk, took a fancy to the little furball, and when his request to have it was refused, he tried to borrow Abu to play with for a few days, intending at worst to return it later.
As it turned out, not only did his attempt to dognap fail, but it also infuriated Muyin, who hit him with a Blood Curse. He felt profoundly wronged. There are risks to being a thief, and dognapping requires caution!
Muyin held no grudges, because whatever grudge she had, she settled on the spot. Carrying grudges around is just too tiring! As for the saying "A gentleman takes his revenge ten years later," Muyin thoroughly disagreed; she believed that anyone who lived by that was either making things difficult for themselves or making excuses for their own cowardice!
Actually, the Blood Curse she cast on Xueling wasn't a fatal one; it simply scrambled his spiritual energy and made it hard to control. It wasn't a matter of deep hatred, and Muyin felt that such a light punishment was quite sufficient.
Still, losing control of one's spiritual energy was hardly a good thing, especially when facing a stubborn opponent. Being unable to properly control one's power made one vulnerable, so he still hoped to find Muyin and lift the curse—though all of that comes later.
The time Alin and Muyin spent together was neither long nor short. It was long enough for the two of them to become intimate confidantes who shared everything, and short enough that before they could properly say goodbye, Alin left on her own.
Not saying goodbye—was it in anticipation of meeting again, or of never seeing each other again?
Muyin had never pondered that question, but she believed Alin must have had unavoidable reasons. Everyone has responsibilities they must bear. Meeting is a matter of fate, and parting is too, so there was no need to say goodbye; if they were destined to meet, they would meet again.
Yet what she had not expected was that once Alin left, she vanished without a trace. Time flowed on like water, hundreds of years slipped away in the snap of a finger, and Alin never came back to look for her. Therefore, when Alin appeared before her eyes once more, Muyin felt as though a lifetime had passed.
Alin was still the same as before, dressed in a water-blue gown with dark hair draped over her shoulders, a simple topknot on her crown from which two small braids hung down. The teardrop forehead ornament was a gift given to her later by Sound Spirit Qian, and Muyin thought it suited her perfectly.
Looking at the fan-shaped pendants on Alin's ears—which were identical to her own—Muyin smiled. "You're finally back. Where on earth have you been all these years? Ah!"
"I..." Alin's words were cut short as a furry, gigantic form slammed into her. The massive body of the Snow Mastiff knocked her off balance, and clutching Abu, Alin tumbled backward into a pile of golden ginkgo leaves. Abu stuck out its tongue and enthusiastically licked her all over the face.
With some difficulty, Alin pushed herself up into a sitting position, hugging Abu and staring eye-to-eye with it for a long time. "Let me see, are you Abu's son or his grandson? No, you're Abu himself! What on earth did Muyin do to you to turn you into an immortal spirit beast?"
Abu looked innocently at its master, then back at Alin, let out a satisfied yawn, and comfortably stretched out in the pile of fallen leaves, letting Alin scratch its itch.
Alin and Muyin chatted on and on for a long time. Muyin finally learned from Alin about Xueling searching for her, and she pursed her lips and smiled for a good while—she had completely forgotten about casting the Blood Curse on Xueling. To think she had messed the guy up so badly; just thinking about it brought her joy!
Watching Muyin laugh until she was shaking all over, Alin wore a look of utter perplexity. "Your arch-enemy is searching the whole world for you, and you're laughing your head off? Is your life so boring that you're looking for someone to fight?"
"Am I that kind of boring person? Come here, let me tell you, actually that Blood Curse..." Muyin pulled Alin close and whispered in her ear. In the end, the two of them exchanged a glance, their faces wearing identical mischievous grins!
"You really have nothing better to do. Putting it that way, you were just messing with Xueling for no reason. What did he ever do to you? Quick, tell me!" Alin's eyes were practically starting to sparkle.
"That? Well, it goes back to the days after you left. Back then, you left without a word, and I didn't know where to look for you, nor could even Abu pick up your scent. I figured you must have had some urgent business to attend to, and once you finished, you'd likely come back—after all, you loved Abu so much. Little did I expect that once you went away..." Muyin paused, a trace of reproach in the look she gave Alin—after all, Alin was her first and only friend.
"I... I received a message from my master back then and had to hurry back. I thought I'd be able to come back and find you before long, but things went wrong halfway through. In a moment of foolish playfulness, I used the Nine-Tone Zither my master passed down to my senior sister to summon the Fire Spirit, and everything that followed completely spiraled out of control..." Whenever Alin recalled this matter, her heart could never find peace. Even after all these years, the self-reproach remained undiminished.
"Because of me, I almost got my senior sister killed..." Alin's voice dropped.
"Your senior sister—I remember you mentioning her, Sound Spirit Qian, right?" Seeing how upset Alin was, Muyin found it hard to scold her further.
"Yes. Senior sister was very good to me and always took great care of me as her junior sister, yet all I ever did was cause her trouble." Alin paused, her eye rims turning slightly red.
"So what happened after that? How is your senior sister?" Muyin sighed, patting Alin's shoulder, feeling a pang of sympathy for her slender frame.
"Well, later on, senior sister had a fierce battle with the Fire Spirit, and she consumed far too much spiritual energy. The Fire Spirit went berserk and burned Shengyin Lake dry with a single fire, almost causing senior sister's soul to scatter. Fortunately, Feng Ling intervened in time, woke the Fire Spirit from its madness, and saved senior sister." Alin forced a smile. "My cultivation wasn't enough back then, and my mind broke down. I nearly caused a catastrophic mistake, and Feng Ling had no choice but to help seal my memories."
"So, Alin, you really caused quite a lot of trouble! No wonder you haven't come to see me and Abu all these years—it turns out you had amnesia!" Muyin sighed and handed a cup of tea to Alin.
"Muyin, have you been doing well all these years?" Alin twirled her teacup, looking up at Muyin. Time had always been merciful to beings like them who were spirits; their appearances remained completely unchanged, exactly as they had been when they first met. The only thing that had changed, perhaps, was their state of mind.
"Me? I've been doing quite well. I went to a few places, met some people... I always thought of you, wondering when you'd come back..." Muyin gave a small smile, then added, "By the way, sealing memories—that's not something an ordinary person can pull off, is it?" With lingering unease, Muyin glanced at the young woman in red who had come along with Alin, wanting to hear how she, as the Spirit of Memory, would explain it.
A faint smile hung on the lips of the young woman in red. If she hadn't detected Muyin's presence lingering in Alin's memories—something that hadn't completely vanished even after she and Feng Ling had jointly wiped them clean—how else could she have followed the clues in those memories to find Muyin so quickly? Seeing old friends reunited, she, as the younger sister, was happy for Alin too.
"Mm, it's not very easy. Sealing memories is different from amnesia. Amnesia is usually caused by severe psychological shock or brain damage, which can sometimes be cured and recovered from if handled properly, though in severe cases permanent amnesia is of course possible. Sealing memories, however, causes no actual physical harm. If your power is strong enough, you can even selectively seal part of your memories; as long as the seal is lifted, the memories return without fail." The young woman in red raised her head, looked at Alin, then at Muyin, and continued, "Xiaoying is already able to seal partial memories now, but back when my sister had her accident, Xiaoying didn't have that capability yet. It was thanks to big brother Feng Ling stepping in to help that the seal was completed." Being able to see her sister again made her deeply grateful to the heavens for granting this wish.
"Did he... offer to help you of his own accord?" Alin's voice held a trace of a sob—just how difficult must it have been, what kind of determination must one have had, to personally seal the memories of the one you loved, erasing along with them everything of your existence in the other person's heart? It was not hard to imagine the inner pain and helplessness Feng Ling must have felt when making that decision.
"Don't be sad anymore. Fortunately, you remember everything now. Besides, there's no one to blame; it was just a joke played by the heavens. After all, few things in life go completely smoothly—good things take time." Muyin stood up, gave Alin a hug, and offered both sisters an encouraging smile. "Alright, it's getting late. Let's take Abu for a walk on our way back."
With those words, she pulled Alin and Xiaoying to their feet, woke the dozing Abu, and walked deeper into the forest, crunching across the blanket of golden leaves.
Fully rested, Abu happily wagged its fluffy tail and marched proudly at the front to clear the way.
After walking a few steps, Alin simply made a leap, landed right on Abu's back, and sat upon the snow-mastiff's smooth, white fur, grinning from ear to ear with delight!