When Tong Liu, who had been declared dead, opens her eyes again, this is the scene she sees. An ethereal woman in white is holding a wild pheasant. In an instant, she snaps its neck and catches the dripping blood in a bowl.
Tong Liu: !!!
The woman turns around. Her face is just as lovely as an immortal's, and she says, "Master, you're awake."
Tong Liu looks at her own short arms and legs, completely unable to understand why the breathtakingly beautiful woman before her is calling her Master.
Tong Liu: Uh, miss, who are you? And who am I?
Xiao Longnu: So Master has lost her memory. I'm Long'er. Master calls herself the Old Lady of Tianshan. You were once the Palace Master of Lingjiu Palace, and Granny Sun of the Ancient Tomb Sect entrusted me to you. I'm your disciple now. All right, Master, come drink today's blood.
Long'er? The Ancient Tomb Sect, dressed in white... Xiao Longnu!? And Xiao Longnu says she's the Old Lady of Tianshan? Wait, don't bring that bowl of blood over here!
Tong Liu looks utterly resistant, but someone scoops her onto their lap. The foul-smelling blood is brought right up to her lips.
Tong Liu: Wait, I'm not drinking! I'm not your master, and I'm not drinking that!
Xiao Longnu: Master said that memory loss is one of the symptoms that may occur when one returns to childhood. Once you drink the blood and recover your inner power, you'll remember everything.
Tong Liu is forced to drink it. She feels heat spread through every inch of her body. This body really is desperate for blood.
Tong Liu: Long'er, why are you so sure I'm your master? I'm actually a wandering ghost. I just happened to enter your master's body.
Xiao Longnu: Because you're no different from before. Besides, talking nonsense is another symptom that can occur when one returns to childhood.
Tong Liu: Impossible! Then tell me, what was I like before?
Xiao Longnu: The day before yesterday, Master asked me for fifty wen.
Tong Liu: Mm. And then?
Xiao Longnu: Master said, "Give me fifty, and help me return to Lingjiu Palace. Then I'll make you vice palace master and teach you all my unique skills."
Tong Liu thinks that sounds strangely familiar.
Tong Liu: And then?
Xiao Longnu: Master ate two servings of roast goose by herself, spent all the remaining money on braised meat, and told Long'er that the martial world is full of dangers, so even Master's words can't be trusted completely.
Tong Liu: So I'm a smooth-talking glutton, a rotten master who even scams her disciple out of her money.
Oh no. That does sound a bit like her.
Tong Liu is now a little confused.
Theme: Starting over and finding oneself
