In the end, Qiu Yunru wasn't sure what to do besides what was standard when receiving a memory shard: to watch it. So, he sat back on the cave floor and activated the shard in his menu.
Of course, when playing Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits on a computer, what it looked like to enter a memory shard was like getting into a rocket and taking off, while the world around one blurred into a thousand colors. Some players had complained about the dizzying nature of this transition, but it had never been a big game issue. Too many incels were on the forums complaining about the "No Romance" filter with posts longer than ten thousands words and more emotional than a proposal for anything else to be significant!
However, even while this experience wasn't too bad on a computer, Qiu Yunru was no longer only on a computer. He had become one with the game! So, his vision was flung forward through time and space until he couldn't see and couldn't tell whether he was expelling his guts or just standing stock-still.
When his vision cleared, he keeled over for the second time today and vomited all over the ground. He wept tears of despair--even if no one saw him ejecting his innards, it was still yet another blow to his own self-image as a graceful young cultivator!
Thankfully, however, the vomit disappeared in a puff of mist. Seeing as he was now standing in a memory, he no longer had such a solid form. His body was smoke-like, while all of his surroundings were solid, but just slightly blurry and warped, like he had woken up early and was unable to blink the sleep out of his eyes.
It was as he'd thought. This memory was surely Fu Qiuyue's memory of her death and of seeing her shimei, Guo Mei, be murdered.
He was standing under a weeping willow, hidden away in the shadows with a perfect view of the shining Sword Lake of the Jade Clouds Sect. It was vast and surrounded by blue, crystal-like rocks that largely resembled the walls of the Lan Bing Caves. The water was perfectly still and glittered with a mist of spiritual energy.
It was said that ten thousand years ago at the end of a great war, three thousand swords of the highest spiritual quality had been dumped into the lake, along with the body of an infamous blacksmith. Each time a disciple of the Jade Clouds Sect stepped into the water to receive their sword, that blacksmith's spirit would choose the sword that most aligned with their spiritual energy and send it up to greet them.
Qiu Yunru found this idea rather terrifying. After having seen a real, rotting corpse ghost, he couldn't help but imagine that blacksmith as a bloated, stinking corpse floating around with milky eyes. What if he stepped into the lake and it grabbed his feet? Eugh!
Just outside of the weeping willow's drooping leaves stood one figure. It was a tall man with broad shoulders and a handsome face. His eyebrows were thick, and he had an undeniable air of authority around him. He was wearing long purple and black robes with silver embroidery. This must be Li Guiren of the Eight Purple Winds Sect, Qiu Yunru noted. He had the bearing and robes of a sect leader.
Li Guiren stood looking over the lake, considering something with a thoughtful expression. Even when he was thinking without an angry expression, Qiu Yunru couldn't help but recoil a little from seeing this man's face. It wasn't that he was ugly--no, far from it! He was impeccably handsome, and one might call him the epitome of the masculine aesthetic--but something about his expression really was way too harsh! The arch of his thick eyebrows, the tightness of his lips, the flashing of his eyes--Qiu Yunru got the sense that he was about to strangle somebody!
Suddenly, out of the darkness, a silver light flashed towards Li Guiren's back.
Qiu Yunru recognized this immediately as a sword glare!
Without even turning around, Li Guiren raised a hand dispersed the glare. His expression didn't change--and that was even more terrifying! Slowly, this man turned around with his arms clasped behind his back thoughtfully. When he spoke, his voice was melodic and graceful, but also mocking, somehow.
"Such terrible technique, and such cowardly actions. Who is it?"
A nearby tree rustled. A girl dropped from another weeping willow's branches, landing soundly on her feet. She was clearly a disciple of the Jade Clouds Sect by her robes and hairpin. She was young--maybe sixteen--but she stood tall, pointing her sword at Li Guiren. Qiu Yunru could see her grip trembling.
"Li Guiren," She snarled. It was then that Qiu Yunru noticed her eyes were brimming with tears. "I know what you did."
Li Guiren tilted his head, a slight smile on his face. In another context, his expression might have been comforting. In this one, it sent chills down one's back. "Guo Mei, was it? Your mother spoke of you often."
So this was that shimei Fu Qiuyue had sobbed about. Guo Mei's eyes flashed, and she sent another sword glare flying, which Li Guiren easily blocked. Gritting her teeth, she sent another, and another, but they were also dispersed or deflected with barely any movement from Li Guiren, who smiled all along.
Qiu Yunru was conflicted: he almost couldn't bear to watch. It was like watching an angry mouse bite at the toes of a wolf. But at the same time, he could tell something very important was about to happen. He felt a little dirty; watching dramas in his past life hadn't been a big deal, and he could suck in the melodrama while inhaling instant noodles. But now, it was supposed to be different. This was a (real?) person--NPC--who was about to be killed! Still, he found himself leaning forward eagerly to take it all in.
The whole time, Guo Mei had been slashing this way and that, failing to land a single strike. Sweat dripped down her brow, and she gripped her sword until her knuckles turned white. "Li Guiren, you bastard! You used my mother, and you threw her to the side and took her core! You dog!"
Li Guiren's eyes flashed at that insult--dog. His smile sharpened. "Silly girl. Your mother offered me her golden core willingly."
"She didn't!" Guo Mei screamed, sending another few sword glares. Her shoulders were hunched in clear exhaustion. "She came to me and showed me the truth! You killed her!"
Li Guiren's eyes flashed red. He tilted his head and smiled kindly. Something about that smile sent a bolt of ice down Qiu Yunru's spine. "It must have been an illusion, ah-Mei. Your mother loved me very much--so much so that she was even willing to give up her core to me. Who was I to refuse her wish? She begged and begged day and night until I agreed to take her core...So whose fault is it in the end?"
There was something strange about the words Li Guiren was speaking. As each one came out, Qiu Yunru had the sense that the air was shifting and warping. Across from Li Guiren, Guo Mei gripped her sword white-knuckled with one hand, then pulled at her hair with the other. Her dark eyes had gone wide, and her knees suddenly trembled.
"It's not true!" She screamed, shaking her head wildly. "It's not! You can't make me believe it! She--told me...!"
Another flash of red swirled through Li Guiren's eyes. "This sect leader is sorry to disappoint you. Sometimes, the truth is less tasteful than what we hope for." The air rippled again with his words. Even through the memory, Qiu Yunru's head began to feel woozy. Guo Mei dropped her sword, tearing out her hair and weeping. Repeated cries of It's not true and You can't make me! flowed from her lips even as tears streamed down her face.
Qiu Yunru had come to a terrifying realization.
At first, he had thought that this maybe was truly a case of a child wanting to pin the blame of her parent's death and deterioration on a villain, when in truth her parent had willingly given up her livelihood to him. But based on the effects of Li Guiren's words, Guo Mei's reaction, and the way his own head was beginning to spin, it seemed...
Li Guiren really had the power to control someone's mind!