“Yes, now isn’t the time to go into it—I’ll explain everything in detail once we’re safe. We need to go,” Meng Duo’er urged.
She had no idea whether Baili Weisheng still remembered the way, nor whether going out rashly herself might get them lost, but anything was better than staying here.
She simply told herself that him being awake had to be better than her having to drag him out and hide from place to place.
Yet Baili Weisheng seemed not to hear her urging at all, staring fixedly at that blood-soaked purple robe, his brow slowly furrowing.
He instinctively tried hard to remember something, hoping to recall anything at all, but the moment he tried, his head began to ache and spin.
He couldn’t recall anything, not even the smallest detail, and yet there was this peculiar sense of familiarity.
They say memories of events and things can fade away, but the memory of feelings remains forever etched deep.
Baili Weisheng couldn’t remember any event, couldn’t recall any person, yet he remembered a feeling.
Sorrow.
What was he grieving for? What exactly had happened that made him feel such sorrow over this person called Xuanyuan Lige?
From what Meng Duo’er had told him, this was supposed to be a bad man!
Though his head throbbed terribly, Baili Weisheng stared at that purple robe, unable to stop himself from struggling to remember.
No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t recall anything at all. And yet, a certain feeling slowly rose within him.
Something was unresolved!
There had to be something!
There was surely something he had to do, something extremely, extremely important, but… he’d forgotten what it was. And whatever it was, it had to be connected to Xuanyuan Lige!
What could it possibly be?
“Something important… something I must do…”
Baili Weisheng murmured to himself, then suddenly clutched his head, striking it hard once—he simply couldn’t remember!
Meng Duo’er was startled, hurrying over to grab his hands. “You stinking scholar, what are you doing! Don’t scare me like that!”
Baili Weisheng gently pushed Meng Duo’er’s hands away without leaving a mark, saying flatly, “It’s nothing.”
“Scholar, stop thinking about it for now—let’s get out of here first, all right? We need to get down the mountain as soon as possible!” Meng Duo’er kept urging. She had no time to worry about anything else—leaving was the priority!
Even once they left the cave, they still wouldn’t be safe.
The Jade Water Nectar mountain wasn’t a place just anyone could wander into!
“Let’s go!”
Baili Weisheng stood up, wasting no more time, and was about to leave when he glanced back once more at that purple robe before hurrying off with Meng Duo’er.
By now, it was nearly noon, the sunlight dazzling.
There was no path in front of the cave, only a steep slope thick with vegetation. This cave sat on the shaded side of the mountain, and looking ahead, one saw nothing but a stretch of rugged peaks, with a valley lying below the slope.
To leave, they’d have to find a path through the vegetation on the slope.
Meng Duo’er had already forgotten how they’d gotten here in the first place. Following Baili Weisheng, she’d never had any hope of remembering the route, and even if she had, she’d have forgotten it again.
Looking at the sea of green stretching before them, Meng Duo’er felt utterly lost—which way should they go?
But just as she was about to speak, Baili Weisheng urgently gestured for her to be quiet. “Shh!”
Meng Duo’er was startled, whispering, “Someone’s there?”
Baili Weisheng nodded without speaking, and soon, rustling sounds drew closer, coming from their right, followed shortly by the faint sound of voices.
“Such a heavy smell of blood, I hope nothing major has happened!”
“Should we report to His Highness first? Yuqiong Mountain is a sacred mountain, and a smell like this is inauspicious.”
“You fool, have you forgotten who we’re actually here to find? Get a clear look first, then report to Her Highness!”
…
From the sound of the footsteps, quite a few people were approaching. They could make out the words clearly enough, but couldn’t quite grasp their meaning.
Meng Duo’er had no time to worry about that either, whispering, “We need to go, now.”
She turned back to look at Baili Weisheng, only to find this fellow wearing a serious expression. “Forgive me for this!”
With that, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and, without a sound, leapt with her straight into the valley ahead!
Meng Duo’er hadn’t expected him to escape this way, and instinctively squeezed her eyes shut in fright.
Baili Weisheng, are you sure you know the way? Are you sure jumping this direction will actually get us down the mountain?
Not long after Baili Weisheng and Meng Duo’er had left, a group of guards traced the smell of blood right to the spot.
In truth, Meng Duo’er had been quite fortunate this time—the smell of blood had long since spread beyond the cave, and had this happened anywhere else, it surely would have drawn attention much sooner.
Fortunately, this was the shaded side of the mountain, the back side, rarely visited by anyone, with guards stationed far away.
This group of guards belonged to Qinji. Having searched everywhere without finding any trace of Xuanyuan Lige, someone had apparently suggested searching the mountain itself, so they had split off a group to quietly search the slopes.
“Boss, look over there! There’s a cave!” one of the guards soon spotted the cave entrance!
“Let’s go!”
At the order, everyone hurried toward the cave, and as they drew closer, it immediately became clear—the smell of blood was indeed coming from within the cave!
But upon reaching the cave entrance, everyone came to a halt.
The lead guard listened intently, trying to catch any sound of movement, but aside from the wind, there was nothing at all!
With such a heavy smell of blood, heaven only knew what horrifying event had taken place inside, and heaven only knew whether danger still lurked within!
“You, go in!” The lead guard, afraid himself, kicked one of the men inside!
Soon, a scream rang out, “Ahh…!”
This scream startled everyone even further, and many wanted to flee.
But then the man came stumbling back out, his face utterly pale, pointing inside. “Pur-purple… purple robe! It’s Young Master Xuanyuan’s purple robe!”
Purple was an extremely noble color, carrying an air of mysterious dignity even beyond bright yellow.
Not everyone suited wearing purple, especially not men.
Yet for Xuanyuan Lige, purple seemed to have been prepared by the heavens especially for him—anyone who had ever seen him remembered that purple robe of his.
“It’s Young Master Xuanyuan’s purple robe, no mistake! Inside, it’s all blood, so much blood!” the guard reported urgently.
The lead guard’s face went pale as well. Without further hesitation, he rushed in himself—but upon seeing everything inside the cave, he sucked in a sharp breath!
Anyone who understood what they were looking at would know at once—this meant not even bones remained. Every part of the body one was born with, entirely destroyed; everything one was born possessing, even down to the clothing left behind.
This kind of death was among the most terrifying forms of “a death with no proper end”—second only to being reduced entirely to ash and scattered dust!
In all of Nanzhao’s history, only those who had incurred heaven’s punishment, those who had been cursed, ever met such an end!
Young Master Xuanyuan… how could he…
What on earth had happened here?
“Boss, there’s more clothing here!” a guard soon discovered Meng Wanyue’s clothing as well.
The lead guard’s expression turned grave. After a long moment of thought, he said quietly, “Pass down the order—call off the search. No need to interrogate the Dream Clan’s people either. No one is to breathe a word of this to anyone!”
“Yes!” the guards responded in unison.
The lead guard didn’t dare delay further, hurrying to leave the cave and head toward the summit.
He had no idea whether Her Highness Qinji could bear this news, but it had to be reported immediately.
If this cave wasn’t dealt with, and it was discovered, there would be serious trouble.