Watching Meng Wanyue approach step by step, Baili Weisheng lowered his voice even further. “Jun Beiyue, your mother is clearly lying. She knows exactly how the Dagger of Flowing Light came to be!”

“Let’s leave here as quickly as possible. Let’s go.”

Jun Beiyue offered no explanation, personally picking up Xiong Xiaobao. A complicated flicker crossed Ziqing’s eyes, but she didn’t press for more.

Clearly, if Meng Wanyue was lying, then she knew this Boundless Deep Sea extremely well. Staying here any longer would surely bring them nothing good — heaven only knew what other traps might be waiting for them!

She had no time to spare pondering with Jun Beiyue whether his mother was good or evil, what her scheme might be, and even less time to spend being angry at a mother like this.

Everyone needed to leave immediately!

“I’m right here — what are you all afraid of?”

Baili Weisheng, however, showed no intention of leaving. In the sea, he was king!

“These two palaces, barrier techniques like this — can you withstand them?” Jun Beiyue said coldly. The moment he said this, Baili Weisheng froze, unable to stop himself from turning back to look at the deep sea palace behind them!

The entrance stood empty, the two towering stone pillars looking so magnificent and grand — and yet they were, in fact, the barrier itself!

Baili Weisheng sucked in a sharp breath, immediately scooping up Baili Xiaosheng and slipping to the very front of the group.

Helplessly, his gaze never once landed on the stone pillar.

And within that pillar, Madam Jinjiao had already wept herself hoarse long ago, staring at him with a dazed, stricken expression, nothing left but tears that seemed as though they would never stop flowing.

Her son — her son had finally taken revenge for the Golden Jiao!

And yet her son still knew nothing at all, and he was about to leave.

In five more days, Madam Jinjiao would be able to come out.

But why did those five days of waiting feel further away than an entire lifetime?

Why did these few steps of distance feel further away than the ends of the earth?

Son, don’t go…

Son, your mother is right here!

Son, in thirty years, has there ever been a single day you thought of your father and mother, thought of your own home?

Madam Jinjiao slowly sank down onto the ground, while the figure before her walked further and further away, leaving her nothing but a retreating back.

Meng Wanyue, still shaken by Baili Xiaosheng, hurried over the moment she saw them preparing to leave.

“Beiyue, Ziqing — didn’t you say just now that you heard the sound of the Song of Parting Sorrow? Could the flaw in the sound we’re looking for be right here?”

As Meng Wanyue spoke, she clasped her hands behind her back, her fingers already forming seals. The Innocent Ravine still held remnants left behind by the founding ancestor — several barrier-prisons the ancestor had set up. She could easily use these prisons to trap this entire group!

She couldn’t kill Han Ziqing or Baili Weisheng — so she would simply trap them instead.

Once these two, especially Han Ziqing, were under her control, wouldn’t her precious son and precious grandson have no choice but to obey her?

Once they left this place, her barrier techniques wouldn’t be capable of trapping people to such a formidable degree — this was the perfect opportunity, right here!

Meng Wanyue spoke as she walked, step by step, toward Ziqing.

“I’ve more or less heard everything clearly. Let’s hurry and leave — saving lives is the priority. Xiaosheng still hasn’t woken up. We need to find a doctor quickly,” Ziqing answered.

“Let’s go.” Jun Beiyue said, taking her hand and leading the way out of the barrier first.

Meng Wanyue smiled and immediately followed!

She was, after all, an extraordinarily clever woman!

These children were probably suspicious of her now, and wanted to flee!

Having lured them all the way here, she had never intended to let them go back!

Trying to flee?

Impossible!

To leave, they would have to pass through the Silver Jiao Palace. She swore that once they set foot inside it, she would never let them leave again!

Smiling to herself, Meng Wanyue was about to head upward — but who could have known, Baili Weisheng beat her to it, suddenly grabbing Ziqing’s other hand and yanking her downward with tremendous force, dragging Jun Beiyue along with them!

“Go! We’ll get out to the open sea from below!”

To go upward, they would have to pass through the Shallow Water Palace — never mind how to deal with that poisoned water, heaven only knew what tricks Meng Wanyue could pull with the Shallow Water Palace’s barrier!

Baili Weisheng had only one thought in mind: shake Meng Wanyue off!

He couldn’t care less what scheme this old woman had in mind, how many lies or truths she was hiding!

Out of respect for Jun Beiyue, out of that blood tie — he couldn’t kill her!

Which left only one option: shake her off!

If you can’t afford to offend someone, you can at least run away, right?

In an instant, a beam of golden light burst forth from Baili Weisheng’s body, surging from his hand into Ziqing, Jun Beiyue, Baili Xiaosheng, and Xiong Xiaobao all at once.

The group was linked together, as though joined by a single flowing stream of golden light!

Baili Weisheng offered no explanation for what he was doing, but nearly everyone understood immediately — he meant to shake Meng Wanyue off!

Jun Beiyue, surprisingly, said not a word, simply holding Xiong Bao tight and pulling Ziqing close!

In an instant, Baili Weisheng surged rapidly downward!

But!

In that very split-second flash, Meng Wanyue suddenly let out a piercing cry, “Son, wait for your mother!”

With that, moving with astonishing speed, she chased after them like a bolt of lightning, and seized hold of the hem of Jun Beiyue’s robe!

The force of her grip was so great that not only Jun Beiyue, but even Ziqing and Baili Weisheng ahead of him felt themselves being yanked backward!

Ziqing couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath. Heavens — this mother-in-law’s martial arts were surely no weaker than her own!

If they shook Meng Wanyue off now, it would be tantamount to an open declaration of hostility!

Without solid proof to expose her scheme, questioning her about anything would be entirely useless!

Ziqing and Baili Weisheng might be able to simply ignore her — but Jun Beiyue could not.

Just thinking about this consummate actress of a mother-in-law, weeping and sniveling, putting on a pitiful act for Jun Beiyue, was more than Ziqing could stand.

Truly, of all the difficult things in the world, this had to be one of the hardest.

Faced with a mother like this, relying on the weight of filial duty — no matter how wrong she was, she was still his mother, still an elder. When she played the pitiful, apologetic act, begging for forgiveness, that blood tie meant you truly couldn’t do anything to her — let alone kill or torture her, you couldn’t even lay a hand on her, couldn’t even curse at her.

The only option left was: if you can’t afford to provoke her, hide from her instead!

Of course, hiding wasn’t the same as burying your head in the sand like a coward — because exactly how you hid was a matter that required great care and strategy!

As Ziqing followed Baili Weisheng down into the deep sea, she began turning this problem over in her mind.

The moment they got back on land, the very first thing to do would be to trap Meng Wanyue!

Not only keep her from staying by their side, but find some pretext to confine her, restrict her freedom!

Otherwise, heaven only knew when a knife might come stabbing into someone’s back — and it might well be hers.

It wasn’t that Ziqing was overthinking things — Meng Wanyue’s true identity really was troublesome.

At that moment, Meng Wanyue had drawn extremely close to Jun Beiyue, practically pressed against his ear, murmuring in a choked, quiet voice, “Beiyue, that scared your mother half to death just now — I thought you were all going to abandon me.”

Jun Beiyue said nothing at all. If it had been Ziqing or Baili Weisheng being grabbed, perhaps he wouldn’t have stopped them from kicking Meng Wanyue away without mercy.

But it was he himself being held onto. He truly… couldn’t do it.

Whatever else could be said, she was still his mother. He couldn’t bring himself to be that cruel — he would rather go back to land and have a furious argument with her, then walk away without a backward glance, than kick his own birth mother away in a moment like this.