Butterfly.

A beautiful purple-blue butterfly fluttered past Ning Xinyuan, who chased its illusion, stepping dazedly into a swift river.

Snap.

Ning Xinyuan tried to catch the butterfly, but it agilely escaped her gentle hands. Like a big child, she fell into the river, yet the water didn't wet her clothes or skin, nor did she see her reflection in the river.

In the river, she saw a train... Inside the train sat two people... She recognized one of them, a classmate of Ming Shuiyun, reserved and silent, with a beautiful appearance, called Qian something... Sitting next to Qian classmate on the train was an older male, who looked quite similar to Qian classmate, just as reserved and silent, and just as beautiful...

Swoosh.

Ning Xinyuan caught a glimpse of the butterfly flying past her eyes, instantly leaping like a cat, but the butterfly evaded her again, and she fell into the river once more. Though it didn't hurt and she wasn't wet, failing to catch it twice in a row made Ning Xinyuan feel wronged, her lips pouting in a way that could hang a water bottle, eyes brimming as if tears would fall any second.

But she was drawn to the vision in the river.

From the river, she saw a white-haired man... She knew the white-haired men are Hidden Sword Assassins... This white-haired man wielding a strangely shaped long sword was killing many people, his appearance aged from young to old... The aged white-haired assassin...

Ning Xinyuan felt something was off, but her ability to think was almost null at the moment, and her attention was once again drawn to the dancing butterfly ahead, crawling like a baby, then suddenly lunging, both hands encircling the butterfly.

She knelt in the river motionless, and when she finally couldn't resist opening a gap to see inside, the butterfly seized the chance to flee, leaving Ning Xinyuan unable to catch it, feeling agitated.

The reflection of light on the river startled her as she looked down.

From the river, she saw two youths fighting each other... They looked alike, seemingly two brothers... Behind them was a coffin, the place appeared to be a shrine, with a memorial tablet that read "11th Generation Patriarch Jing Gong Qingfu"... After fierce battling, the younger brother was shot dead by the elder brother using a shotgun, but the elder was also severely wounded and scarred, struggling out of the shrine, only to be shot dead outside by the gun-wielding martial artists...

The sight and sound of the volley of gunfire frightened Ning Xinyuan, prompting her to stand up, stomp out the illusory river, and chase the butterfly without looking back.

Not knowing how long she'd been running, Ning Xinyuan stopped her steps.

A large lake appeared before her, the trickling river at her feet flowing into the lake. The butterfly danced elegantly at the center of the lake, causing Ning Xinyuan to feel afraid, not daring to step into the lake.

She looked down and saw many reflections in the lake. Most of them frightened her—some showed myriad soldiers clashing bloodily, some displayed civilians being slaughtered like grass, and some depicted Barbarian Race monsters invading the borders and looting...

Until she saw a familiar red-haired figure, she mustered the courage to step in, treading into the lake following the illusion of the red-haired figure.

The red-haired man left the burning county city... The red-haired man came to Yanjing... The red-haired man became alone... The red-haired man enthroned a new emperor, entered the court as an official... The red-haired man campaigned far and wide, was granted titles and appointed chancellor... The red-haired man, second to none, above thousands... Just as the red-haired man was valiantly leading troops to pacify the realm, he met unprecedented defeat in the south, dying amidst chaotic armies...

A purple-blue enchanting shadow appeared before her, and Ning Xinyuan, without hesitation, directly reached out to catch the butterfly, jumping for joy: "I caught you!"

"Yes, you caught me."

The butterfly actually spoke?

...

...

Ning Xinyuan opened her eyes bewilderedly, finding herself holding Ming Chaoyan's hand. Ming Chaoyan looked at her with teary eyes, tightly gripping her hand, choking as she said, "Yes, cousin, you caught me!"

Qin Leyin, Sword Sheath, National Relief Association, Savage... All these memories instantly shattered her dream into fragments. She struggled to sit up, but the intense pain in her chest made her gasp—broken ribs pierced through internal organs, internal bleeding was unavoidable, although not fatal, she couldn't move recklessly.

Ming Chaoyan also hurriedly pressed Ning Xinyuan down: "Cousin, don't worry, I know a bit of Scenic Battle Technique, just lie still..."

Ning Xinyuan clearly felt that the Holy Sword mark on the back of Ming Chaoyan's hand seemed to send a faint resonance. This resonance couldn't speed up Ning Xinyuan's injury recovery, nor enhance her ability, but seemed to sustain Ning Xinyuan's thread of sanity, keeping her from falling asleep in exhaustion, maintaining the most basic level of alertness despite tiredness and pain.

"Help me sit up!" Ning Xinyuan uttered a sentence, coughing up blood. She was too weary to ask Ming Chaoyan for details, not to mention this cousin inherently being a bit dull, more importantly, her body couldn't support her inquiring thoroughly.

Ming Chaoyan dared not defy her cousin, gently helped her sit up. Ning Xinyuan surveyed around and found the stone coffin moved to the street, not far was Niruo's stone coffin.

Ming Shuangli silently applied Scenic Battle Technique to treat her family's sword sheath, completely ignoring the commotion Ning Xinyuan and others caused.

Ning Xinyuan glanced at the large hole in the rear wall, knowing somewhat about the current situation, asked: "Just the two of you? You moved me here?"

"Others went inside to find their sword sheaths." Ming Chaoyan said: "When we first arrived, we found you and Niruo lying in coffins by the roadside, so Shuangli and I stayed to take care of you two."

Who moved us out? Has the president summoned the Holy Sword radiance? How did the seven Palace Masters escape from the Imperial Academy? And Qin Leyin...

The intertwining of dreams and reality, body injuries, mental weakness, made Ning Xinyuan's mind feel muddied, operating very slowly, plus severe lack of information, she breathed out a couple of times, only squeezing out, "Call them back... Dangerous..."

"No problem, the battlefield is elsewhere, it's quiet inside, nothing will happen—"

Just as Ming Chaoyan patted her chest reassuringly, a burst of sand-flying noise erupted from the yard, followed by an audibly clear angry roar.

Ning Xinyuan and Ming Chaoyan looked at each other, Ning Xinyuan sighed heavily, struggled to draw out her belt, transforming it into the Overlord Butterfly long gun, handing it to Ming Chaoyan. Ming Chaoyan firmly shook her head: "Cousin, you're in dangerous condition too, I must stay here with you."

Ming Chaoyan refused to take the Overlord Butterfly, leaving Ning Xinyuan helpless; reclaiming it, she suddenly noticed the Overlord Butterfly was covered in blood.

As the most accuracy-focused long-range weapon, Ning Xinyuan would rather skip bathing than forget to maintain the Overlord Butterfly, plus her attack range being mostly beyond a hundred meters, so it indeed was the first time the Overlord Butterfly got dirty in her hands.

Whose blood is this?

That savage's? But the savage's claws also pierced through Qin Leyin... So Qin Leyin's?

Or both?