“Beiyue, it’s so good to have you here. You wouldn’t abandon your mother, would you? Would you?”

“Son, from now on, Mother never wants to be apart from you again. You’re the only family your mother has left in this world.”

“Beiyue, do you know how much your mother suffered while carrying you? Even when an empress is pregnant in the palace, she has to be so careful — let alone your mother, who was just a palace maid back then!”

“Beiyue, through those ten months of pregnancy, no matter how hard it was, your mother endured it, gritting her teeth. There was one time, in the freezing cold with snow and wind, your mother braved the storm to go…”

Meng Wanyue stayed pressed close against his ear, her voice choked, her tone full of sorrow, talking on and on without pause.

Jun Beiyue never once responded, simply holding Xiong Bao tight, cradling him close, his head bowed against the boy’s small shoulder.

Xiong Xiaobao kept his eyes squeezed shut, faintly able to hear his grandmother’s voice, though not very clearly.

He didn’t dare move at all. For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the way his father was holding him this time felt different somehow.

He didn’t know if it was some sort of intuition, or if his father was simply holding him too tightly.

Xiong Xiaobao suddenly felt that his father seemed deeply sorrowful, deeply despairing!

A grievance so deep it couldn’t be voiced was the truest kind of grievance; a silent sorrow that couldn’t be expressed was the truest kind of sorrow.

Xiong Xiaobao had never seen his father like this before. He tried hard to make out what his grandmother was saying, but the sound of the rushing water around them was too loud, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make it out!

Seeing that his grandmother kept talking and talking, he grew anxious, then angry.

He couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted, “Stop talking! Stop talking!”

But his small voice was quickly drowned out by the sound of the water, and no one heard him at all.

Xiong Xiaobao suddenly snapped his eyes open, glaring furiously at Meng Wanyue — but helplessly, Meng Wanyue at that moment was like some kind of demon, leaning in behind Jun Beiyue, pressed against his ear, murmuring on and on without pause, never once even glancing at Xiong Bao.

Xiong Xiaobao was being completely ignored!

He clenched his small fists, that same fury he’d once felt toward Old Meng welling up inside him uncontrollably, and without warning he opened his mouth wide and let out a roar, “AOOOO—”

At this, the people up ahead abruptly stopped short — had Jun Beiyue not steadied himself, everyone surely would have gone rushing forward.

Baili Weisheng and Ziqing turned back anxiously, only to find that nothing at all had happened — Xiong Xiaobao was in Jun Beiyue’s arms, facing away from them, seemingly fine.

“What happened?” Ziqing asked, brow furrowed, looking at Jun Beiyue.

Jun Beiyue smiled faintly, and in the glow of the golden light, he looked strikingly handsome.

In truth, this man, who rarely smiled and almost never laughed, was the most breathtaking person in the world when he did smile.

Like sunlight spilling across ice — warm and radiant.

Helplessly, he truly smiled so very rarely, and almost only ever for Ziqing and Xiong Bao.

“I was holding him a little too tight. Must have hurt him.” Jun Beiyue said with a smile, handing Xiong Xiaobao over to Ziqing. Seeing his father’s smile, Xiong Xiaobao was left utterly confused.

Could it be that what he’d felt just now had only been his imagination?

Feeling foolish, Xiong Xiaobao threw himself into Ziqing’s arms, staring at his father — but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t spot anything unusual.

“This child nearly deafened me with that roar…” Meng Wanyue said with a smile as well, finally releasing her grip on Jun Beiyue’s shoulder, and taking the opportunity to hold his hand instead.

A flicker of coldness passed through Jun Beiyue’s eyes, unnoticed by anyone, though his expression remained unchanged. “Let’s not delay any longer. Let’s go.”

Seeing that Meng Wanyue couldn’t be shaken off for the time being, Baili Weisheng pursed his lips in displeasure and turned to continue downward.

The whole way down, as though falling into the whirlpool all over again, Baili Weisheng moved with such haste that he never once looked back at the Golden Jiao Palace.

Soon, the golden light vanished into the seawater, and no one knew which stretch of open sea they would emerge into from here.

Atop the stone pillar of the Golden Jiao Palace, the last trace of golden light in Madam Jinjiao’s eyes faded away as well, replaced instead by endless, boundless darkness.

Five days!

Son, you must stay safe and sound!

In five days, your mother will absolutely, absolutely come find you!

Madam Jinjiao drew several deep breaths, finding hope again even amid despair, gathering her courage once more to keep on living.

She had held onto this belief for thirty years — what difference would five more days make?

Madam Jinjiao braced herself against the barrier and slowly rose to her feet. But just as she steadied herself, a beam of purple light suddenly shot upward from the deep sea like an arrow!

“Whoosh—”

Purple light?

Madam Jinjiao’s heart clenched in alarm; she had no idea what this was, only that the purple light was rushing straight toward her with fierce intent!

Whoever was coming meant her no good!

Madam Jinjiao, terrified, tried to dodge — but who could have known, the purple light didn’t pierce through the barrier at all; the instant it touched the barrier, it dissolved into a sheet of purple radiance and fused directly into the barrier itself!

In an instant, the entire great stone pillar shimmered with dazzling, flowing light, breathtakingly beautiful.

Madam Jinjiao stared blankly, but very quickly — very quickly, she understood exactly what was happening!

It was that vicious woman!

She was from the Meng Clan!

She…

Suddenly, Madam Jinjiao let out a hoarse, anguished cry, “No… let me go! What exactly are you trying to do! Let me go!”

…

Cry after wretched cry, and no one heard.

Wail after sorrowful wail, and no one knew.

Madam Jinjiao pounded her fists against the barrier again and again, beating herself until her flesh was torn and bloodied, yet the barrier remained perfectly intact.

After a long while, the entire barrier was coated in a layer of blood.

Madam Jinjiao slowly raised her head from the pool of blood, gazing out into the boundless depths of the sea — her eyes held no despair, no sorrow, only a fierce, gleaming light, unshakably resolute.

Vicious woman!

You cannot kill me, so all you can do is trap me!

Vicious woman — you and I are both mothers, and yet you will never understand: a mother will wait for her son even unto death, and keep on waiting still.

Nor will you ever understand that a son, in this lifetime, will surely, surely come looking for his mother in the end!

Madam Jinjiao clenched her jaw tight, speaking silently in her heart. “Son, your mother will not give up. Your mother is still waiting for you. You must come back!”

…

With Baili Weisheng leading the way, the depths of the sea, deep as they were, proved no obstacle at all.

Only, even Baili Weisheng hadn’t expected that passing through the whirlpool would bring them to the water’s surface so quickly!

Watching the sunlight from the world above pouring down, Baili Weisheng knew they were nearly there!

The Innocent Ravine lay between Western Chu and Eastern Qin, separated from the open sea by the entire landmass of Eastern Qin!

Even traveling by water, at the very fastest it would take at least ten days or more to reach the Eastern Sea — and yet here they were, taking less than a single hour, emerging from the whirlpool and already nearly breaking the surface!

Baili Weisheng instinctively sensed there was something mysterious about this whirlpool, but with Meng Wanyue present, he said nothing about it at all.

Gradually, the sunlight grew brighter and brighter, and Baili Weisheng let his golden light fade away. One by one, everyone broke the surface of the water.

And one by one, they all froze in place — the scene before them left them all utterly stunned!

How could this be!

Heavens, how had they ended up here?!

This place was tens of thousands of miles away from the Innocent Ravine!

Ziqing looked utterly bewildered, turning to look at Jun Beiyue.

This place was simply too much of a coincidence, wasn’t it? Did Meng Wanyue know what this place was?