"Actually, the few lives in between were quite simple for me. In my second life, after being reborn as a human, I realized that humans are actually very fragile. When I was about six or seven years old, I fell ill, most likely with pneumonia, and didn’t survive."
"In my third life, I didn’t have much of the previous memories, and I was born as the only daughter of a town family. I smoothly completed primary school, middle school, and high school, and got into Beijing Medical University to study neurosurgery. During my university years, the pressure was too much, and the lingering memories constantly affected me. The stress became so overwhelming that I started self-harming and was discovered by the school and teachers, which led me to take a break and return home."
"The parents of that lifetime were very good to me, but the lingering memories had a huge impact on me, and I became somewhat erratic and ended up taking my own life."
Qin Huai was shocked.
He finally understood why Luo Jun said that the spirits in those intermediate lives retained lingering memories but weren’t trapped by their previous obsessions. It was clearly the best time to resolve those obsessions, yet the success rate was very low, because spirits in this state were usually in a half-awake, half-crazed condition, not in great mental shape.
Turns out, Gong Liang’s situation was really considered to have a good mental status.
Being able to eat, drink, sleep, and not seek death, seemed almost like a normal person!
"I’m in my fourth life now," Qu Jing said.
"Is the fourth life the last one? Sister Hong’s fifth life is the last one," Qin Huai was surprised again.
"The number of reincarnations a spirit goes through after failing a tribulation before reaching the last lifetime isn’t fixed," Qu Jing explained. "For some, it’s as short as my four lives; for others like Sister Hong, it’s five, which is normal. Some may stretch until the sixth life to reach the final one."
"Is there any basis to this?" Qin Huai asked, "For example, is it fewer reincarnations for those with strong obsessions, or is it related to the inherent power of the spirit, allowing those with strong capabilities more chances to reincarnate?"
Qu Jing shook her head: "I don’t know about that; all I know is it’s related to the speed of forgetting."
"In the first life, we are still spirits at our essence, with all memories retained, and our divine power doesn’t disappear until we fail a tribulation."
"By the second life, we are truly human. We possess a human body, human lifespan, and undergo birth, aging, illness, and death, experiencing joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. We’ll remember the reasons for failing the tribulation, recall most of the memories from the first life, and know what we need to do to make up for our regrets."
"By the third life, the remaining memories are very few. Most spirits even forget they are spirits and the previous memories repeatedly appear in dreams, with obsessions lingering in their heart, acting mostly on feelings."
"This is why spirits during this period have very unstable mental states. To draw an analogy, spirits during this time believe themselves to be human, but without having completely drunk the Mengpo Soup—they occasionally remember crucial past fragments in daily life but have no idea what they signify."
"Intuition informs them that these fragments are vital, but no relevant information can be found in memory."
"This kind of situation persists, and over time, leads people to either become obsessive or be deemed insane by others, and in more severe cases like mine, end up taking extreme measures."
"Of course, there are very few spirits who still remember in their third life that they are spirits. These spirits are extremely difficult to succeed in their tribulation attempts, so the heavens usually give them more opportunities to resolve their obsessions."
"By the fourth life, the remaining memories become very scarce; they basically do not affect daily life, but the influences driven by obsessions are ingrained and compel spirits to involuntarily do certain tasks."
"The fifth life is the final life for most spirits. The last state’s condition, Qin Huai, you should be very familiar with—it’s like me and Sister Hong’s. With no prior memories, the influence of obsessions still alters our personalities or living habits, but we’re just slightly strange ordinary people."
"Has Sister Hong told you that in the last life, spirits will definitely get one chance to succeed in passing their tribulation? We call this the final straw given by heaven," Qu Jing asked.
Qin Huai nodded: "Sister Hong mentioned it."
Qu Jing looked at Qin Huai: "You are my straw."
Qin Huai was somewhat embarrassed by Qu Jing’s serious tone and waved his hand repeatedly, indicating that he was not, just a simple cheat with a system.
Qu Jing probably had another straw, perhaps not yet appeared or had appeared but wasn’t grasped.
After listening to Qu Jing’s lesson, Qin Huai deeply felt that although Qu Jing was a little bird without much strength, her common sense about tribulation was not bad at all, much better than Chen Huihong, the Plant Spirit.
"I realized you know a lot more than Sister Hong," Qin Huai sighed.
Qu Jing smiled: "These are basic common knowledge taught by elders in the clan prior to attempting a tribulation."
"The Plant Spirits like Sister Hong... " Qu Jing hesitated for a moment, then directly said, "Their tribulation methods are quite peculiar, many Plant Spirits muddle through tribulations, getting discovered and burned leads to a successful tribulation."
"So it’s normal for them not to teach anything; lacking common knowledge is typical."
The Plant Spirits’ reputation takes another hit.
"Since you know all this, why did you choose to take the form of a child initially?" Qin Huai curiously asked.
Qu Jing paused, somewhat bashfully saying: "Because a child has less meat."
"Yujiao’s greatest effect isn’t curing amnesia but rather unyielding hunger. Many predecessors who successfully passed the tribulation tragically encountered turbulent times or famine and were caught and eaten by hungry people. Simply getting cooked is one thing, but some unlucky ones were found to have miraculous properties, were kept and treated as mobile granaries, cutting their flesh without end."