4 Rebirth

"N-Ning'er?" Yun Lei squeezed out the words even though he knew they would go unheard.

Before he even knew what was happening, he was already desperately trying to move his body.

Su Ning was slowly guided forward by Yun Meili. She reached out towards his face and gently touched him, as if touching a fragile and priceless jewel. She lovingly explored his countenance with an almost invisible, poignant smile.

Yun Lei's heart violently lurched. He wanted to stroke her hair and tell her everything would be alright. He wanted to take her into his arms, into a loving embrace and wipe the sadness from her smile. However, he could do nothing but watch as tears slowly fell from her eyes.

"Young Master..." Su Ning's words were barely a whisper.

"Young Lady Yun... how could this happen?"

Yun Meili knelt down next to Su Ning and gently placed her hand on her back, trying to console her. She knew what the woman was going through. She had been there too. She felt great sympathy towards Su Ning and a lot of guilt.

"I was too careless, Sister Su. I let this happen. Please blame me."

Su Ning put her head atop Yun Lei's lap, silently crying.

"Young Master... he will wake up again, won't he?"

Su Ning felt Yun Meili stiffen behind her. That was all the answer she needed.

"His body is still alive but his soul has been damaged beyond repair. He will not return to us again." Yun Meili had an obligation to inform her. Su Ning had every right to know what had happened to him.

After Yun Lei had lost consciousness, Yun Meili had immediately searched for reasons he had to try to take his own life.

It didn't take her long to find out that the Ren family patriarch hadn't even asked Yun Lei's opinion on the marriage. He had been forced into it, and even the life of the woman he loved had been threatened.

The more she found out about the situation, the more she understood his actions. However, just because she understood it, didn't mean she agreed with it.

She felt bitter and regretful, even a bit hurt that he hadn't trusted her enough to tell her all this.

It was too late for regrets, Yun Meili knew this all too well. She had lost him forever because of her negligence.

If only I had paid more attention to the situation, she had thought to herself many, many times.

Meanwhile, Yun Lei had been going crazy, trying to control his body. He didn't even know where to start.

"Damn that bastard Emperor! He could have at least given me a hint!"

I'm a soul, so I should be inside my body, right? He had the crazy thought to sit exactly in the same place as his body in the hopes that it would do something.

After his position perfectly matched his body's, his soul form was locked in place. His body was like a lock and his soul, a key. It felt like he had put the key in the keyhole. All he needed to do then would be to turn the key and he would retake control of his body.

How could it be that easy though?

The moment he tried to turn the key, he realised how deep of a ditch he had found himself in. Forget turning the key all the way, he couldn't even make it budge.

Is this thing stuck? He couldn't help but think. But he felt a bit stupid for thinking that, just mere moments letter. Of course, it was stuck. His body and soul had been separated. He didn't even know how he was still alive.

If I cannot turn the key, then how can I unlock this thing? He had read a book on locksmithing a long time ago. Although he didn't remember most of its contents, his conundrum had made him think of it. If he couldn't open the lock with a key, maybe he could lock-pick it.

A lock had pins that kept the barrel from rotating, the barrel would be connected to a locking mechanism that kept the shackle in place, that is, keep the lock locked.

A key would lift the pins and the act of rotating it would rotate the barrel, letting the shackle come off.

Of course, this was a very rough explanation of how locks actually worked but it was more than enough for his current scenario.

This made him realise that not having enough strength to turn the key was not the only thing that could stop him from opening it. It was a bit late to reach such an obvious realisation but it was better than never.

Either the key didn't fit the lock, he lacked enough strength to move the key, or the key was damaged.

The key not belonging to that lock, he simply ruled out. It was his body, how could his soul not fit it?

His lacking enough strength was feasible. After all, he would have to rely solely on his soul strength to move it. He was merely a mortal, his soul energy shouldn't have been very high from the start.

As for being damaged, he had heard not too long ago from Yun Meili's mouth that his soul had been damaged beyond repair. Which would also mean that his key had been damaged. Perhaps it could no longer lift the pins?

Rather than trying to brute force it, he would focus on lifting the pins. After the pins were lifted, maybe then he could focus on rotating the key and undoing the shackle.

Realistically speaking, he would focus solely on moving very small parts of his body before trying to take full control.

He visualised his key slowly changing shape, from a key to a slender lockpick and once again inserted it into the keyhole. He felt around for any pins. They would stand out as raised parts in an otherwise smooth barrel.

It didn't take it very long for him to locate one but as soon as he tried to push it up, the same thing happened again. He couldn't budge it. Not the slightest bit of movement could be felt from the pin.

I guess it's the combination of the two. Yun Lei had reached that conclusion. Not only had his key been damaged, but he also lacked the strength to move it.

He stopped all unnecessary thoughts and focused every bit of his soul energy to push up on the pin and finally, it showed a slight bit of movement. That small movement only brought him despair instead of happiness.

It was only the slightest bit but it had allowed him to gauge how much strength was needed to push it up all the way. To put it simply, it was like trying to lift up a mountain with his bare hands.

This isn't even in the realm of possibility, fucking hell! He let out a curse. After all, it wasn't just one pin he had to hold up. He had to hold up all of them and still have enough strength left over to rotate the barrel. Only God knew how much energy that alone took.

Yun Lei didn't know much about cultivation. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Matters regarding cultivation were strictly kept secret.

Even his father couldn't call himself an expert on those matters, let alone him, a cripple. And that was regarding profound cultivation. As for soul cultivation, only the extremely prestigious sects and cultivation families knew about it.

He didn't know any method to increase his soul energy. He didn't even know if it was even possible.

He felt a headache coming on and since he was inside his body, he couldn't even see anything other than the empty wall his physical eyes were looking towards. He wanted to look at Su Ning but he couldn't move his eyes.

Frustrated and angry, he once again pushed up at the pin with all his might and tried to move his eyes. To his own surprise, they started moving. It was like pushing a boulder but at least it moved!

With renewed determination, he pushed and he pushed until his eyes landed on a very shocked Yun Meili.

"Young Master Ren?"

"Young Lady?" Su Ning immediately realised something was amiss.

"He moved his eyes." Yun Meili's voice was still full of shock but she immediately turned around and summoned her guards. "Bring Granny Chu."

"He moved his eyes? What does that mean?" Su Ning didn't fail to notice the gravity in Yun Meili's voice.

"It means he might be able to recover."

Even the maids' eyes were widened in shock.

"Young Lady Yun, you speak the truth, right?" Su Ning asked with uncertainty yet, her voice couldn't hide her surprise.

"I do not know. He might never fully recover but maybe he's still here, still listening to us."

Yep, totally listening. Yun Lei let out a chuckle in his heart. While his condition was still unsure, he felt his heart at peace when he saw Su Ning smile.

"Ning'er, wait for me. I'll start moving around soon enough. You must wait for me."

After being reconnected with his body, he could once more feel his beating heart, his body breathing. He could even feel Su Ning's hands touching him, though it was like she was touching him over several layers of thick clothing.

But still, it was more than adequate motivation for him to immediately get back to lifting that mountain of a pin.

It's just a few mountains. If I couldn't even lift them to be with you, what would my love be worth? He said to himself mockingly as he diligently got back to work.

Granny Chu was immensely shocked at the news. Yun Lei had to move his eyes several times in different directions just to prove that he could listen to them. Granny Chu couldn't stop mentioning how big of a miracle it was.

"Someone survived the Soul Shredding poison and I saw it happen with my own eyes. Truly, there's always more to see, no matter how old you get." Granny Chu shook her head from side to side as she left Yun Meili's room.

He had been prescribed a lot of medicine. Granny Chu had made it abundantly clear that he might never be able to move around but that didn't stop Yun Meili and Su Ning from almost bursting with happiness.

Anything was better than losing him forever.

"What wonderful news, Young Lady Yun!"

"Oh, Sister Su, we might become real sisters someday soon. How can you be so stiff to me? Just call me Meili." Yun Meili said with a kind smile.

"How could I dare, Young Lady Yun? I'm just a commoner, a servant. I couldn't dare to call you by your name."

"Sister Ning, you are hurting my feelings. I think of you as a sister but you wish to let something that small get in between us? Young Master Ren is a gentle soul, I think he would like it if we got along well."

Mentioning Yun Lei was a very effective method when it came to Su Ning. She immediately greeted Yun Meili. "Sister Meili."

As the two women were getting along, a servant rushed to inform Yun Meili of some obligation she had to get to. She told all the servants to serve Su Ning just as they served her before taking her leave from the room.

Su Ning knelt next to Yun Lei's feet for a long while, gently resting her head against him.

After he had gotten married, she had thought she would never be able to feel his presence again. She had tried and failed to get rid of her feelings for him, over and over and over.

The only thing that gave her solace was the thought that he would live a happy life with the Princess. He would be the Young Master of all of Ether Cloud. No one would dare to mistreat him any longer.

But one day, Yun Meili had appeared before her and informed her of what had happened. She felt as though the sky had fallen upon her but had managed to avoid breaking down completely because Yun Meili hadn't just come to inform her. She wanted to take her to see him.

After being near him, feeling his warm body, she only felt bitterness. She had wanted to take her life and follow him to the next one but she knew now that he was still there, he was still listening.

But after knowing that, the thought that she would have to leave him once more filled her with anxiety. However, Yun Meili had made it abundantly clear that not only would she not be chasing Su Ning away from her husband, she would also support their relationship.

It was natural for women like Yun Meili to be filled with pride. How could someone like her tolerate being in a harem? How could someone like her tolerate sharing her husband with someone else? That was what Su Ning had always thought but reality proved otherwise.

Su Ning held only warm feelings towards Yun Meili. Her kindness and character had won Su Ning's heart.

"To have the chance to call you my sister is my good fortune." She softly whispered, enjoying the warmth of the man she loved.