I Ruined the Long Ao Tian Script-Chapter 138

A Twist of Fate

The dim corridor was silent and cold, just as it had been when she left.

Bai Roushuang was nowhere to be seen. Xu Shulou frowned and ran far down the unobstructed hallway, calling out "Bai Roushuang!" and then "Xu Shulou!"—yet no one answered.

Pausing, she thought for a moment, then left a note in the corridor, instructing her junior sister to wait there and not wander off. Only then did she prepare to try pushing open the surrounding wooden doors to search for Bai Roushuang inside.

Still worried the note might go unnoticed, she retrieved a large luminous pearl from her Qiankun Bracelet and placed it atop the paper as a marker. Then, she began testing which doors could be opened.

The first door she pushed open revealed a night of bright stars and a clear moon. On Bright Moon Peak, a young couple was nestled among the rocks, whispering sweet nothings under the moonlight.

Xu Shulou rounded the rocks and saw that the couple was none other than Lu Beichen and Bai Roushuang. At her approach, the former immediately dropped his hand from the latter’s cheek and cleared his throat. "Junior Sister Bai, has the sand in your eye gotten better?"

"..." What a clumsy excuse.

Xu Shulou stepped forward. Lu Beichen tensed, shielding Bai Roushuang—clearly, their relationship hadn’t yet been openly acknowledged in front of her and was still in its secretive phase.

Irritated, Xu Shulou shoved Lu Beichen aside and lifted Bai Roushuang by the collar, giving her a shake.

Tears instantly welled up in the latter’s eyes. "Senior Sister, what are you doing?"

"Let her go!"

Bai Roushuang looked pitifully at Lu Beichen. "Senior Brother Lu, Senior Sister must have misunderstood something. Please don’t fight with her on my account..."

Tsk. Not her junior sister.

Xu Shulou tossed her aside. "My apologies. Carry on."

She tapped her wrist, activating the chain ring, and soon returned to the corridor. Gazing at the seemingly endless rows of wooden doors, she sighed. How long would this take?

Behind the second door she opened was a dueling platform. Xu Shulou fell from a beam of light, landing squarely on the elevated stage.

Lu Beichen was already there, staring at her in shock.

The crowd below, mid-cheer, froze in confusion.

A nearby elder chuckled. "It seems we have another challenger for our champion, Lu Beichen!"

"..." What was going on?

Xu Shulou glanced up. On a nearby banner, the words "Qingyun Prodigy" were written in bold, sweeping calligraphy.

The Qingyun Prodigy Ranking?

In reality, such a ranking existed—a competition for cultivators under three hundred years old to determine their standing. At the time, Xu Shulou had been in seclusion and missed it. Later, at Xuan Cang Academy, she’d heard Lu Beichen had claimed the top spot, earning the title of "Champion."

Who would’ve thought she’d encounter the very competition she’d missed, here of all places?

The elder addressed her. "Challenger, state your name."

Xu Shulou shook her head. "I’m not—"

"Once on the stage, you must participate."

The crowd buzzed with speculation—who was this foolhardy challenger daring to face the undisputed champion Lu Beichen, only to hesitate upon arrival?

Xu Shulou wasn’t particularly interested in the match. She was in a hurry to find her junior sister. But dealing with Lu Beichen wouldn’t take long. Nodding, she didn’t even bother drawing a weapon. Instead, she formed a sword seal with her fingers, sending a surge of sharp spiritual energy cascading forth. In one fluid motion, she swept Lu Beichen off the platform.

Sheathing her energy, she clasped her hands toward the elder and announced, "Xu Shulou of Dustless Island."

She’d grown used to the title and didn’t bother checking whether, in this timeline, she’d already been expelled from her sect.

The crowd fell silent. The match had ended in the blink of an eye. What had just happened?

This was hardly a spectacle worth watching—what a disappointment for the audience.

They’d been expecting Lu Beichen to gracefully declare, "Junior Sister Xu, please—I’ll yield three moves." That was his usual demeanor toward young female cultivators. Some found it pretentious, but others ate it up. Just yesterday, a girl had climbed onto the stage solely to hear him murmur, "Fair maiden, are you well?"

But now, Lu Beichen lay half-dead offstage.

No one dared question whether he’d been unprepared. The fact that Xu Shulou had effortlessly swatted him down spoke volumes.

The elder coughed awkwardly. "It seems the Qingyun Prodigy Ranking’s new champion is Xu Shulou of Dustless Island."

Xu Shulou stood tall on the platform, hands behind her back, a triumphant smile playing on her lips—the very image of a peerless expert. The bewildered crowd slowly began to applaud.

She spread her arms, basking in the applause, and the clapping grew more enthusiastic.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bai Roushuang kneeling beside Lu Beichen, tearfully begging for help.

Not her junior sister.

Xu Shulou activated the chain ring and left that moment behind.

And so it went—through the dim corridor, she pushed open over a dozen doors, testing each Bai Roushuang she found. None were the junior sister she knew. Anxiety gnawed at her—what if Bai Roushuang was being mistreated?

Leaning on her sword, she frowned, searching for a faster method. Just then, a door creaked open nearby, emitting a soft white glow—no longer harsh, but warm, like the beguiling light in mortal folktales meant to lure travelers into a demon’s lair. Xu Shulou eyed it warily, unsure of its intent.

"Stop staring and get in already." It was the ghost’s voice.

"So it’s you?" Xu Shulou laughed. "Thank you for helping."

"Look at you, so desperate." The mocking voice faded into the air.

"..." Xu Shulou rubbed her nose. She’d just been mocked by another version of herself.

If not for her junior sister waiting beyond the door, she’d have chased after that ghost to argue—was "desperate" really the right word for her?

———

Xu Shulou stepped through the carved wooden door. When she opened her eyes again, she stood in a courtyard blooming with pear blossoms, petals glistening with morning dew—the purest sight in the mortal realm.

Wasn’t this the backyard from the dream? The one Lu Beichen used to house his harem?

Looking around, she confirmed it was identical to the dream. A passing servant boy shot her a disdainful glance before hurrying off.

Her heart sank. Had she… changed nothing?

Dismissing the servant, she heard footsteps approaching. Hiding behind a tree, she caught a sycophantic voice urging, "Madam, do take care."

Then a familiar voice rang out: "Would you all stop following me? I'm a cultivator—I have hands, feet, and a sword. Do you really think I’d trip and die in my own backyard?!"

"Madam..."

"And these pearls you’ve stuffed into my hair—they’re so impractical. Please help me take them out."

"But the Sect Master loves this look! He personally praised how elegantly the pearls complement your grace..."

The familiar voice grew even more irate: "Since when do I care what he likes? If he fancied cow dung, would I have to take a bite too?!"

"..."

Xu Shulou chuckled and stepped out from behind the pear tree, gazing at the woman surrounded by attendants. "Junior Sister?"

The group of maids and attendants looked her up and down, noses tilted haughtily.

Bai Roushuang remained silent, her eyes full of wariness.

Xu Shulou smiled at her.

Something flickered in Bai Roushuang’s mind, and she immediately recognized the familiar expression on the woman’s face.

"Waaah—!" Once she realized who it was, Bai Roushuang burst into tears and threw herself into her arms. "Senior Sister, is it really you? This place is terrifying! I want to go home!"

Behind her, the jaws of the maids and attendants hit the floor.

"It’s me. Are you alright?" Xu Shulou caught her junior sister and quickly pressed for answers.

"Don’t even ask. This seems like another world," Bai Roushuang sobbed. "The messed-up relationships here have turned my already tiny brain into a raging storm!"

Xu Shulou patted her junior sister’s glossy head sympathetically. Whether from overuse or stress, her once-lush hair did seem a bit thinner now.

"Waaah, a few days ago, there was another 'Senior Sister' here, and she refused to acknowledge me," Bai Roushuang wailed, looking utterly wronged. "Every time I went to see her, she’d give me this creepy half-smile like she wanted to slaughter me."

"..." Don’t panic—she absolutely does want to slaughter you.

"And Senior Brother Lu Beichen is acting so weird too. He’s married a bunch of women," Bai Roushuang sniffled. "I called him a shameless womanizer, and he actually tried to justify it by saying he had deep emotional bonds with all of them!"

"..."

"I tried talking to him, and wow—turns out he’s got a 'white moonlight' in every corner of the sky and a 'cinnabar mole' stabbing through his heart!" Bai Roushuang shook her head. "Even the Lu Beichen from our world wasn’t this shameless."

"Utterly shameless."

"And he yelled at me," Bai Roushuang whimpered. "He wanted me to attend Fan Yang’s funeral, and I said, 'No way! That old scoundrel Fan Yang deserved to die—why should I see him off?' Then Senior Brother Lu lost his temper at me."

So this was that timeline. "...He dared to yell at you? I’ll deal with him later."

"Good!" Bai Roushuang pouted. "And Yue’er, Xiao Ya, and the others are all acting strange too. They seem to dislike me. I cooked a meal and invited them, but they all made excuses not to come."

"...I’ll eat with you."

"Oh!" After pouring out all her grievances, Bai Roushuang finally remembered to ask, "What even is this place? Is this where you came before with the chain ring?"

"Yes, I’ve been here," Xu Shulou held her close. "This must be another world. How long have you been here?"

Bai Roushuang shook her head. "Hard to say. I think about two weeks? At first, I didn’t dare move, so I waited in this really dark corridor. But after half an hour with no change, I just pushed open a random door."

"...I chased after you the moment you disappeared, but I didn’t see you," Xu Shulou mused. "Seems time flows strangely here."

Bai Roushuang nuzzled against her. "I knew you’d come looking for me."

"Did you end up here right after pushing the door?"

"Not exactly. The place behind the first door was different—less complicated than this."

Xu Shulou caught onto something. "You didn’t have a chain ring. How did you leave the first door and end up here?"

"I don’t know. Behind the first door, it was raining—really heavily," Bai Roushuang scratched her head. "I saw you... or maybe not you. More like this world’s version of you? Anyway, she just stood there, dazed, like she didn’t recognize me. Didn’t even glance my way."

"Rain?"

"Yeah," ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‍Bai Roushuang gazed at the dew on the branches, recalling the downpour. "She—I mean, that person—wasn’t holding an umbrella. I thought she might be crying, but her face was so wet with rain I couldn’t tell. In the end, I just held up an umbrella and walked with her for a while... Huh? Senior Sister? You look strange—did I say something wrong?"

"..." Under the pear blossoms, Xu Shulou watched her junior sister, emotions swirling unfathomably in her eyes. A drop of dew fell onto her cheek, tracing a path like a tear.

The twists and turns of fate in this world truly were inscrutable.

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