The familiar scene wasn't from my own experience, but an inherited memory—one that had never actually happened in this lifetime.

Even as I remained fully aware of being Meng Yingying now, those ancient memories flooded into my mind like a digital transfer, conjuring up events buried deep in history—those legendary happenings passed down through generations.

The legend revolved around the Saltwater Goddess who once harbored resentment towards Lord Lin Jun Ba Wuxiang out of unrequited love. Using sorcery, she summoned countless flying insects to obscure the sky, attempting to detain him as he sought to leave. Though I knew with certainty that I was not the historical Lin Jun Ba Wuxiang, my intuition told me exactly what would unfold next.

I ran without hesitation through this strange memory. This wasn't aimless fleeing—it carried deliberate purpose. Every blurred landscape felt intimately familiar to me, guiding me toward Yanyang—the very location where Lord Lin had once slain the Saltwater Goddess.

Yanyang was no grand city but a small tribal settlement centered around a spring that gurgled with perpetual heat. At its end lay a crystal-clear pool called "Salt Pool" by the goddess. I remembered vividly how she'd bathe there, her ivory skin gleaming like white fish dancing through water. The sunlight would catch the droplets cascading from her body after each bath, creating dazzling halos that spun in my mind's eye even now.

The last time she entered the pool, its waters turned crimson—not with natural minerals but with blood. The goddess floated lifelessly in the scarlet depths, no longer a graceful aquatic creature but transformed into something eerily fish-like.

This vision burned so clearly into my consciousness it felt like yesterday.

I surged forward through the deafening hum above, leaping and sprinting until I reached the forest's edge—my destination. There stood two massive stones where Lord Lin had once drawn his bow to strike down the goddess hidden among flying insects. My feet carried me instinctively toward those rocks before rational thought could intervene. The Salt Pool lay ahead still shimmering with its blue waters and rising steam.

Through the mist, I spotted a white-cloaked figure flanked by Tan Bing, both encircled by swirling black clouds. Without hesitation, I tore apart a small dogwood tree nearby to fashion an impromptu arrow. With primal strength I never knew I possessed, I strung my makeshift bow and loosed the projectile toward them like lightning.

But memory failed me this time. The arrow struck true through the figure's back yet merely bounced off into the ground. Without turning his head or shifting weight, the figure wove past the pool like a phantom. Tan Bing didn't even register the attack, continuing to follow him silently as if bound by invisible threads.

This divergence shattered my perception. My thoughts fractured, snapping me back from illusion to reality. Sensations returned—the heat of the pool's steam mingling with cold sweat on my skin. Discarding the useless bow, I stumbled after them through uneven terrain and eerie blue flames flickering like demonic eyes around us. The roaring water sounds threatened to swallow me whole as I focused solely on keeping those two figures within sight.

When desperation drove me to call out "Tan Bing!" she paused briefly but didn't turn back. My voice strained until it felt torn raw, yet the buzzing overhead drowned my pleas. Then a sudden jingle of bronze bells heralded an abrupt shift—vibrant red light exploded before us. In seconds all darkness vanished. The forest emerged in crystalline clarity beneath piercing morning sunlight. The black clouds above dissolved instantly, and the infernal humming ceased as if it had never existed.

Before me stood Elder Ji and Tan Bing with Hua the dog. My senses reeled at this impossible transformation. I gaped stupidly until her melodic voice broke through my stupor:

"Uncle An, why am I here?" she asked Elder Ji.

"You always belonged to this place," he replied cryptically.

"But where exactly is this place?" she countered helplessly before spotting me and rushing over. "E Ying! Why aren't you moving? Come quickly, we've found Uncle An!"

I couldn't process what was happening—both the surreal chase I'd just survived and Elder Ji's riddles about destiny. Tan Bing tugged my arm as she questioned why we were here when we'd been in a tree hollow last night. My mind refused to acknowledge either answer while relief for her safety consumed me entirely.

"Uncle An is speaking nonsense," she whispered, glancing anxiously at the elder still wiping his ritual knife. "He's always so... enigmatic."

I chuckled again as we approached Elder Ji who muttered while polishing his blade:

"What isn't yours will never be yours across lifetimes... It should all end here..." His voice now seemed alien compared to the rough-hewn man I'd always known.

"Uncle Ji," I began hesitantly, but he interrupted by slashing his knife toward a buried stone tablet. The ancient characters revealed on its surface sent my breath hitching:

Nanliu City!

"This is Nanliu City?" I gasped. "But this doesn't look like any settlement!"

"It was never 'Difficult to Leave' city," he growled, his expression grave. "This is the very birthplace of our ancestors Yong Ni and Bu Su."

"What?!" we echoed in unison.

Elder Ji continued with his cryptic tone: "The city is the mountain, the mountain is the tree! This is the sacred Soule Tree we've searched for through centuries!"

Tan Bing and I exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing—had Elder Ji finally lost his mind? When I asked directly where the sacred tree was, he replied simply:

"You're already standing in it."

I jumped back. The terrain looked no more like a tree than this forest resembled a cathedral! But then Elder Ji stared at me intently and declared:

"Zhuque, don't you understand yet?"

A chill ran through me. No one else was present except us. Who on earth was Zhuque? I turned to question him when Tan Bing suddenly shrieked in terror, pointing directly at me...