Mother and son reunited — how deeply moving.

Ziqing watched Baili Weisheng in disbelief, clearly catching the faint glimmer of tears hidden in his usually clear, bright eyes.

This heartless fellow — so he did know the taste of tears after all.

This journey, even if they hadn’t uncovered the secret of the Song of Parting Sorrow, even if they hadn’t exposed Meng Wanyue’s scheme, would still have been worthwhile for this alone!

Suddenly, Madam Jinjiao released Baili Weisheng and turned to look at Meng Duo’er, asking anxiously, “What’s wrong with this girl? Is she alright?”

“Probably just overexerted herself — fainted from exhaustion,” Ziqing said with a helpless smile.

“Son, let’s hurry and get out of here — we need to find a physician!” Madam Jinjiao urged anxiously.

“Mother, she’s just fainted from exhaustion. She’ll be fine once she wakes up,” Baili Weisheng muttered. “We still have important things to deal with!”

With that, he pulled Meng Wanyue over, wrapped her in golden light, and tossed her into the Golden Jiao Palace!

The golden light might be useless on land, but here in the water, no one could break free of it!

Meng Wanyue’s hands and feet were already restrained by silver needles — there was no way she could escape on her own now.

Let her just stay here and wait for the Meng Clan to come for her!

Meng Wanyue offered no reaction at all as Baili Weisheng pulled and pushed her about, showing genuinely pitiful signs of having given up on herself entirely, all because of a single lie.

A person like that was destined never to succeed!

Ziqing glanced at her once and looked away, sparing her no further thought.

They had come to the Innocent Ravine not only to save Madam Jinjiao, but also to listen once more to that echo!

Baili Weisheng shot out of the barrier, hovering above the calmest stretch of that sea, closing his eyes to recall the earlier scene, gathering his emotions and letting out a roar, “AHHH—”

But this time, there was no echo at all.

Madam Jinjiao frowned, immediately understanding what he needed to do, and hurriedly said, “Son, summon the whirlpool. That echo came from the whirlpool!”

Baili Weisheng did as she said, and sure enough, after another roar, echo after echo emerged as the whirlpool rose in rings, one after another!

Gradually, it began to take on a distinct rhythm!

Ziqing handed Meng Duo’er over to Madam Jinjiao and listened intently, her hand tapping gently in the air, silently keeping time, searching for the location of that missing note.

All around, complete silence, save for the layered echoes. Listening for a long while, it truly sounded like weeping rising up from the depths of the sea — sorrowful and desolate, stirring an involuntary awe at the wondrous power of nature.

After quite a while, the echo finally faded away completely, and Ziqing’s tightly furrowed brow slowly relaxed as she let out a soft breath.

Baili Weisheng returned immediately, asking urgently, “Did you find it?”

“Yes, the missing note is in the second-to-last measure of the climax — I never expected it to be located there,” Ziqing said with a sigh of relief. Though one final missing note still remained, she felt an enormous weight lift off her shoulders! Much lighter now!

“Just one measure?” Baili Weisheng asked seriously.

“Mm.” Ziqing nodded, then turned to Madam Jinjiao. “Auntie, have you heard this echo before?”

Madam Jinjiao shook her head. “How could I ever hear it? Only a true king of the Golden Jiao can produce that roar. Three hundred years ago, our clan produced someone of the royal bloodline, and it’s said he discovered, quite by accident, that this whirlpool could echo back his roar — only his roar could trigger the echo, no one else’s had any effect at all. It’s entirely a force of nature, purely coincidental! I heard about it from my father, who said the sound could carry all the way out from the seafloor and be heard anywhere within the Innocent Ravine.”

At this, both Ziqing and Baili Weisheng understood at once!

That musician from the Lonely Isle in Nanzhao, who had once been commanded to compose sacred music and traveled all across Longyuan gathering material for it — surely, he must have heard this very sound somewhere within the Innocent Ravine!

Everything had happened purely by chance — and yet, somehow, it also felt as though fate had guided it all along.

Of course, Ziqing had no way of knowing that, at this very moment, Xuanyuan Lige, standing atop a cliff overlooking the Innocent Ravine, was slowly opening his eyes, only just recovering from that sorrowful sound he’d heard moments earlier!

The instant his eyes opened, his brow furrowed sharply, his gaze filled with alarm, and he immediately rose to his feet, peering down into the ravine below!

Seeing this, Mi’er, who could hear nothing at all beside him, also rose to her feet, her face full of confusion — what on earth was wrong with the young master?

She had been with him for some time now, and had never once seen him this alarmed before.

No matter what happened, the young master always remained composed, unshakably calm.

Even a few days ago, when the guards had reported that the tunnel had been fully broken through, the young master had merely nodded coldly, without the slightest change in expression!

Could it be that something had happened down in the Innocent Ravine?

Down below, only the Silver Jiao clan remained — no matter what they were up to, there was no way they could possibly reach all the way up to this towering cliff.

So what could possibly be happening down there?

Just as Mi’er stood there puzzled, Xuanyuan Lige gently patted her shoulder and said flatly, “Go back on your own. Don’t tell anyone I’ve gone down there!”

With that, he leapt straight downward without hesitation!

Over these past days, Mi’er had already learned to read lips, and understood every word Xuanyuan Lige had just said!

She cried out in alarm, “Young Master, no! It’s dangerous down there — there are reverse-scaled Silver Jiao down there!”

This was, perhaps, the first time she had spoken aloud since being deafened — but no matter how loudly she called out, Xuanyuan Lige couldn’t hear her at all.

In just a moment, Xuanyuan Lige’s figure had already vanished into the wind-torn ravine below.

Meanwhile, back at the Golden Jiao Palace, Ziqing and the others had already departed.

Even as they were leaving, Meng Wanyue still hadn’t so much as glanced at them once — this person, it seemed, was truly finished.

Meng Duo’er remained unconscious. Madam Jinjiao walked in the middle, Ziqing brought up the rear, and Baili Weisheng led the way at the front, golden light enveloping the entire group.

Just as Baili Weisheng was about to step forward, Madam Jinjiao suddenly pushed Meng Duo’er toward him.

“Son, why don’t you carry her — Mother’s tired, I can’t manage it.”

Who could have known, Baili Weisheng acted as though he hadn’t heard a thing, not even noticing the added weight behind him, and leaned back slightly, nearly causing Meng Duo’er to fall — fortunately, Madam Jinjiao caught her again in time!

Baili Weisheng let out a helpless sigh toward the sky and, without further delay, set off immediately!

He suddenly had a rather bad feeling about this — for the next few days, he was going to avoid this whenever possible!

As for women — aside from his own Xiao Qingqing, he had no interest in any of them whatsoever!

Ziqing, walking at the back, took in the whole scene, unable to stop herself from snickering. She thought to herself — you foul-mouthed scholar, wasn’t it you who kept going on and on every single day about taking me home to meet your parents?

Well, now your mother is standing right in front of you — let’s see you keep going on about it now!

With Baili Weisheng leading the way, they soon made it back to Liuxian Island. The moment they broke the surface, Ziqing grabbed hold of Madam Jinjiao and carried her upward through the air, leaving Meng Duo’er, without question, to Baili Weisheng.

“Xiao Qingqing!” Baili Weisheng shouted, thoroughly displeased, but forced nonetheless to wrap his arms around Meng Duo’er’s waist and carry her up out of the water.

Hearing the furious shout behind her, Ziqing nearly burst out laughing — but the moment she landed and saw that father and son standing like statues not far off, her smile instantly froze.

Her precious son’s young face was as stern as could possibly be, and as for the boy’s father… he was clearly, unmistakably, furious.