Chapter 467 - 448: When Will These Days Ever End
The world crumbled before her eyes, shattering into countless fragments, only to reassemble itself again.
Gradually, a ringing filled her ears, and a clamor of voices grew louder.
"Oh, Mr. Lin, please forgive this unannounced visit. As you know, this Nabo Garden is a matter of great cultural importance for the entire city..."
Light and shadow coalesced once more.
Su Ling’er opened her eyes.
The familiar gate, the familiar stone lions, and that fat steward, whose familiar face made her want to vomit up her breakfast.
The rolls of fat on his face quivered as he spoke, the sycophantic expression caught in their creases identical to before.
She was back again.
Once more, she stood before the gates of the Lin Mansion.
Su Ling’er’s eyes darted to the figure standing beside her.
Lin Qingfeng stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering, his expression impassive.
At this moment, the real Lin Qingfeng had already logged off. The one present now was an automated version, managed by the system based on his behavioral memory!
Not a trace remained of the bloody mist or the brutal methods he had employed at the underground auction just moments ago.
It was as if it had never happened.
A chill ran down Su Ling’er’s spine.
’Is this the handiwork of that Demon Venerable?’
’Is it because he was dissatisfied with First Senior Brother’s righteous slaughter? Because he didn’t get to see First Senior Brother fall and become what he wanted, so he just reset everything all over again?’
This was conditioning.
This was blatant torture.
He was forcing First Senior Brother to bow his head, forcing the righteous backbone in this den of demons to bend.
"The steward speaks truly!"
Lin Qingfeng spoke.
His voice was clear, his pace steady. Even the upward inflection on the final syllable was identical to the last time, the time before that, and the very first time.
"I have been nurtured by this land and often ponder how to give back to my community. Now that there is such a brilliant plan to gather our cultural heritage and benefit the entire city, what are a few mere worldly possessions? They can be brought out! To grace Nabo Garden and to delight the eyes of the city’s people! It is my honor!"
Not a single word was different.
Su Ling’er’s breath caught, her heart constricting.
’First Senior Brother... still chose this path.’
’Even knowing it’s a trap, even knowing it’s the Demon Venerable’s game, he still chooses this method to express his convictions directly, to push back in his own quiet way.’
The scene shifted, day turning to night.
Time lost all meaning as scenes flashed by in rapid succession.
In the blink of an eye, the cold, damp air of the underground washed over her.
The underground auction.
The gold-lacquered pillars were as lavish as ever, and the masked bidders surrounding them were just as greedy.
"Honored guests, today’s first auction item is the ’Nightlight Glazed Cup,’ a tribute from the Western Regions! It flows with radiant light! The starting bid is five hundred taels!"
The auctioneer’s gaunt fingers shot up, his voice high and shrill.
"Six hundred taels!"
"Eight hundred taels!"
"One thousand taels!"
The background extras, those nameless faces, called out their predetermined lines on cue.
Su Ling’er stared intently at the back of the figure in the Grandmaster’s Chair.
He raised his paddle.
"Five thousand taels."
Lin Qingfeng’s arm rose at a perfect angle, his voice steady.
"Five thousand taels, going once! Five thousand taels, going twice! Sold!"
Knowing full well the glazed cup was useless, knowing it was just an ordinary mortal object, First Senior Brother still bought it this time, just as always.
Next came the red coral.
The broken pipa.
The unidentified beast bones.
Lin Qingfeng continued to raise his paddle, buying up everything.
His movements were fluid and practiced, betraying no extraneous emotion—no anger, no impatience, and certainly not a hint of weariness.
Then came the familiar slaughter.
Blood sprayed, and heads rolled.
Su Ling’er watched as her own body charged out uncontrollably, thrust a sword, retreated, and then took a deep breath.
INHALE—EXHALE—!
INHALE—EXHALE—!
Even after so many times, this embarrassing breathing exercise still made her cringe so hard her toes curled.
But she endured it, trying to adjust her mindset. ’Since First Senior Brother hasn’t given up, I can’t show any weakness either!’
Until the last enemy fell.
BOOM—!
The world seemed to collapse once again.
Darkness devoured everything, and then light burst forth.
"Oh, Mr. Lin, please forgive this unannounced visit. As you know, this Nabo Garden is a matter of great cultural importance for the entire city..."
The fat steward’s nauseatingly chubby face loomed before her for the third time.
Su Ling’er clenched her jaw, forcibly suppressing the nausea in her stomach, and tried to straighten her back.
’Again!’
’First Senior Brother hasn’t given up, so I absolutely cannot fall!’
She warned herself: ’Observe! I have to observe! First Senior Brother must be looking for a chance to break the cycle in these endless loops. Even a change as small as a speck of dust could be the key to shattering this demon den!’
The fourth time.
The fifth time.
The tenth time.
...
"Five thousand taels, going once! Five thousand taels, going twice! Sold!"
The Nightlight Glazed Cup was brought on stage for the nth time. The sound of the gavel was like a chisel boring into her ears, making her eyelid twitch uncontrollably.
She looked at her First Senior Brother.
Lin Qingfeng still sat in the Grandmaster’s Chair, holding that eternally full cup of tea.
Su Ling’er felt a strange mix of panic and admiration.
’No matter how many times I have to repeat this, no matter what pressure I face, even if time rewinds ten thousand times, it is not I who am wrong, but this world that has turned black into white!’
He wouldn’t change.
’Is this First Senior Brother’s Dao heart?’
’Faced with this tedious, maddeningly infinite loop, how can he remain so unfazed?’
’Not even revealing a hint of irritation?’
In contrast, Su Ling’er felt like she was about to snap.
Now, whenever she saw that fat steward open his greasy mouth, her mind would automatically supply every single word he was about to say.
"Mr. Lin..."
"This painting..."
This omniscience wasn’t a gift; it was a punishment.
A death by a thousand cuts called "Endless Loop," slicing away at her mental defenses one cut at a time.
But First Senior Brother, facing the Demon Venerable’s torture, still hadn’t stopped in his tracks, still continued to hold to his principles as before.
Even if the entire process was like rowing against the current, no matter how powerful the Demon Venerable behind the scenes was, he had to use this method to display his own value and conviction.
After all, a First Senior Brother whose will could be so easily changed after just a few loops would likely hold little weight in the Demon Venerable’s eyes. Only a First Senior Brother like this was worthy of the Demon Venerable’s personal "tutelage."
Only by carefully balancing on the scales of the Demon Venerable’s judgment—demonstrating his value and conviction without pigheadedly offending him—could he find a way out.
Only then could First Senior Brother survive longer in this demonic sect.
Su Ling’er’s eyes grew warm. The dizzying sensation from the loops was washed away by a surge of hot-blooded determination welling up from her heart.
’Since First Senior Brother is still holding onto his true self in this endless Reincarnation Hell, as the sole follower of the Guixi Sect here, what right do I have to complain of exhaustion? What right do I have to despair?’
’This is true cultivation!’
’This is true heart-tempering!’
As the enemy guards fell once more, the world reset again.
And again.
Ten more times.
A hundred more times.
...
She no longer knew how many loops it had been.
Su Ling’er felt as if her soul was being kicked into a pulp by this endless, repetitive loop. Yet the Supreme Heart-Clearing Soul-Refining Skill kept her lucid, preserving her consciousness so she had to experience it all.
"Oh, Mr. Lin, please forgive this unannounced visit..."
’Shut up!!!’
The moment the voice began, Su Ling’er let out a silent scream in her mind.
She wanted nothing more than to rush up, rip out the fat steward’s tongue and tie it in a knot. She wanted to shatter this false world with a single sword strike and end this endless script.
But her body was welded to the spot. Aside from her eyes, she couldn’t even move a finger.
She could only stand behind Lin Qingfeng, playing the part of the loyal, silent, wooden-plank-like handmaiden.
Listening to the line she’d heard so many times her ears had grown calluses.
Lin Qingfeng spoke once again.
Even if he were here in person, it would be impossible to replicate himself so perfectly every time.
Su Ling’er’s spirit was stretched to its limit.
’When will these repetitive days ever end?’
’First Senior Brother, don’t you feel even a little—just a tiny bit—of irritation?’
’Are you really that principled?’
’Never taking advantage of a situation, never changing strategy, never slacking off or cutting corners?’
’And is the Demon Venerable behind this really so patient in his "tutelage"? After so many times, he’s still this patient and hasn’t made a move?’
’Or could it be... that First Senior Brother is actually using this test from the Guixi Sect’s Demon Venerable to temper himself?’
It’s too hard.
It’s truly too hard.
Su Ling’er gazed at Lin Qingfeng’s back, as straight and tall as a pine tree. The sense of looking up at a towering mountain had now been replaced by a deep sense of powerlessness.
She couldn’t do it.
She really couldn’t be like her First Senior Brother, treating every single loop as if it were the first.
She felt like a caged beast, running desperately on a fixed wheel, her whole body aching, but only ever spinning in place, with no end and no hope in sight.
Was it the thousandth time...?
Or the two-thousandth?
Su Ling’er couldn’t remember anymore.
Her consciousness hadn’t blurred, but her thoughts were turning slower and slower.
Even with the Supreme Heart-Clearing Soul-Refining Skill protecting her mind and ensuring she wouldn’t get lost in the endless loops, all she wanted to do now was throw up.
The moment she saw the red coral, bile would rise in her throat.
The moment she heard the sound of the pipa, it felt like a steel needle was scrambling her brains.
Even her First Senior Brother’s once-dashing motion of raising his paddle now looked sinister and terrifying in her eyes.
’Why can he still be so optimistic?’
’Why does he still have to buy that pile of junk?’
’Is there really some earth-shattering truth of the Great Dao hidden in that pile of garbage? Or is it that...’
A terrible thought flashed through Su Ling’er’s mind.
’Lin Qingfeng... has he actually been driven mad by these endless loops?’
No.
Impossible.
First Senior Brother was the light of the righteous path, the hope for her and all the common people. Even if the entire world went mad, he would not.
Perhaps she was the one going mad.
’My cultivation is insufficient. My mind is not strong enough.’
’First Senior Brother is still holding on, what right do I have to go mad?’
But regardless of whether her First Senior Brother could protect his original intentions, Su Ling’er felt she was truly about to break.
These countless loops kept her nerves constantly on the verge of snapping, yet the Supreme Heart-Clearing Soul-Refining Skill prevented her from breaking. In fact, because of these repetitions, her soul cultivation technique had even improved ever so slightly.
And then, another new loop began.
The underground auction.
Gold-lacquered pillars, brilliant lamplight.
The air was filled with a familiar incense, but now it smelled as nauseating as a corpse.
Su Ling’er stared into the empty space before her, her eyes lifeless.
Next, that damn auctioneer would clear his throat with a cough.
And then he would deliver the opening speech that she could recite from memory even if she were turned to ash.
Su Ling’er gave a bitter laugh in her heart.
’Though I have to admire these people for daring to conduct their private dealings under the government’s banner, couldn’t they change the script a little?’
’When on earth will these days end?’
’First Senior Brother’s spirit is just too resilient. It’s almost inhuman.’
Now, all she could do was watch this never-ending shadow puppet play like a corpse, waiting for the next reboot.
"Honored guests, today’s first auction item is the ’Nightlight Glazed Cup,’ a tribute from the Western Regions! It flows with radiant light! The starting bid is five hundred taels!"
’Here it comes.’
’Here it comes again.’
’That nightmarish paddle raise.’
’First Senior Brother is going to raise his paddle again.’
Su Ling’er desperately wanted to close her eyes, but her body was not under her control. She didn’t even have the right to look away.
She could only wait numbly for that familiar bid.
That flat "five thousand taels."
However, one breath, two breaths, three breaths passed...
And a ripple spread through Su Ling’er’s long-numb, frozen mind.
Huh?!
That familiar voice... didn’t come.
"One thousand taels... are there any other honored guests who wish to bid?"
The auctioneer’s voice was tinged with confusion as he looked toward the VIP seating.
Su Ling’er snapped back to reality, a sudden light flaring in her dim pupils.
’Wait!!!’
’First Senior Brother, First Senior Brother, this time... This time the result is different?!’𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎