Li Fei did not give chase. She merely stared blankly at the lush forest before her. Was every tree a memory of Ge Lin? If so, there must be some about her among them. Were they good or bad?
She approached a small tree and gently stroked it as if touching the Bai Li Ge Lin from four hundred years ago.
She would never see her again, nor Su Wan, Deng Xiguang, Ye Ye, or Bai Li Chang Yue… Her memories were still frozen in that most beautiful period, when Ji Tongzhou was still a naive and hot-tempered young prince, and Ge Lin had not yet fallen into despair. They were childhood friends who had promised to become immortals together.
The vicissitudes of life were unpredictable. What had been a dream’s length of time for her had been an entire lifetime for them—from birth to death, from brilliance to withering.
Li Fei recalled many things, from the academy to the Eastern Sea. But her thoughts settled on the night they had passed the academy’s second selection. The five of them had crowded into an inn room, brightly lit and full of clamor. Each child’s eyes shone brighter than the lamps. The ten-year-old Bai Li Ge Lin, though still childish in appearance, had spoken like an adult: “In the future, we’ll all become the most powerful immortals.”
Now they were all gone. Had she abandoned them, or had they abandoned her? Upon opening her eyes, the entire world had become utterly unfamiliar. She no longer recognized it.
No one spoke. Even Ri Yan, usually caustic and talkative, was uncharacteristically silent. He was always one for alarmist talk, always predicting the worst outcomes, though rarely proven right. Who would have thought that his prediction about Bai Li Ge Lin would come true? Normally, he would have gloated loudly, but she was already dead. Nothing more could be said. Regardless, watching a child one knew to die was certainly not a pleasant experience.
“In some ways, you’re not as insightful as her, but in others, you’re more open-minded than her,” Ri Yan suddenly sighed. “Fortunately, you’re not like her. I suppose fools do have fool’s luck.”
He was roundaboutly calling her a fool again, but Li Fei wasn’t in the mood to quibble with him. After remaining silent for half a day, gradually calming her emotions, she finally spoke: “Let’s go. If we stay too long, more people might come.” If it turned into a scene like the Sea Collapse years ago, it would be troublesome.
She raised her hand as if intending to absorb this forest created by the Broken Water Forbidden Technique. But her hand stopped midair, and she didn’t move. This was the last trace Ge Lin had left in the world. For A Jiao, Master Shen, and Lu Xiwei, it should be a place worth remembering.
Li Fei slowly lowered her hand and looked back at Lei Xiuyuan: “Xiuyuan, can you get out of here?”
Lei Xiuyuan put his arm around her shoulders. Li Fei felt her body lighten, and the scenery before her eyes changed rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they had already left the forest. This was the first time Ri Yan had witnessed the prowess of a Yaksha breaking through an immortal barrier, and he couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration: “That move wasn’t bad! How did you do it?”
While raising his hand to cast a concealment spell, Lei Xiuyuan replied, “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
Ri Yan immediately flew into a rage: “What did you say?!”
“Someone’s coming,” Lei Xiuyuan pinched the fuming Ri Yan with two fingers and tucked him into his sleeve. “Don’t speak for now. Let’s hide.”
Ri Yan was furious, but he indeed heard someone approaching. Unable to speak out, he could only vent his anger by biting Lei Xiuyuan’s fingers a few times.
The three hid in the shadows. Soon after, they saw Master Shen, the head of the Ten Thousand Immortals Association, hurrying over. A Jiao and another familiar-looking handsome man followed closely behind. Li Fei stared at that man for a while before realizing he was Mo Yanfan, one of the former teachers at the academy. Unexpectedly, he was now dressed in Eastern Sea attire. Had he left Xingzheng Hall?
A Jiao hurriedly explained what had just happened to Master Shen: “I’ve trapped them both in that forest. I’m sure they won’t be able to get out anytime soon.”
However, Master Shen’s expression was grave. He said in a deep voice: “You’re too reckless! How old are you to still act so impulsively? Back then, even the most powerful immortals couldn’t stop those two. Who do you think you are to act alone so rashly? Fortunately, those two had no intention to kill. Otherwise, you’d already be dead!”
A Jiao was still unconvinced: “But I did trap them inside! Father, if you don’t believe me, just go and see!”
Master Shen angrily retorted: “See? It would be a miracle if you could trap them! Their auras have long since vanished from that forest! You’ve alerted them to our presence, achieving nothing but failure!”
A Jiao was scolded until her eyes turned red. Although she was no longer the willful young girl of the past, she had been pampered since childhood. Even as an adult, Mo Yanfan had always indulged her every whim. She rarely saw Master Shen so severely reprimand her, and was on the verge of tears.
Mo Yanfan, standing beside her, put his arm around her shoulders and said gently: “Sect Leader, there’s no need to be angry. It’s only been a moment; they couldn’t have gone far. Their return this time is suspicious, and they likely have other matters to attend to. Why don’t we inform the immortals of both the Mountain and Sea sects and investigate together?”
Perhaps because he no longer cultivated the emotionless and detached Heavenly Sound Spirit Language technique, his tone and inflection were no longer as icy as before. The layer of indifference that had once covered his face had also faded considerably.
Master Shen’s stern expression softened slightly. He glared at A Jiao once more and said: “People say one takes on the qualities of one’s company. You’ve been with Yanfan for so many years, yet you haven’t learned even a fraction of his composure. You truly can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”
A Jiao snorted and turned her head away, no longer paying attention to him. Li Fei quietly watched as the three of them walked away, still talking. Then she said in a low voice: “They’re going to notify the immortals of both the Mountain and Sea sects. It’s bound to cause trouble. We shouldn’t linger here. Let’s gather the spiritual energy and leave immediately.”
Ri Yan angrily said: “Leave so soon? I still want to catch several fierce beasts! At the very least, I must catch one of those so-called mirages! They don’t have those overseas!”
“There will be plenty of opportunities in the future,” Li Fei reassured him. “We’ll go back this time, and next time you want to come, we’ll sneak back without alerting anyone.”
Ri Yan reluctantly accepted this consolation. He jumped out of Lei Xiuyuan’s sleeve, but still feeling unsatisfied, he added: “Let me beat that little brat half to death first! That stinking kid named Lei! Do you dare to come out?”
Lei Xiuyuan calmly replied: “Senior Ri Yan is invincible and mighty. I willingly admit defeat and surrender.”
“You…” Ri Yan wished he could tear him to pieces.
“Stop arguing!” Li Fei finally lost her patience. She turned back and glared at Lei Xiuyuan, then at Ri Yan. “Xiuyuan, stop provoking him all the time. And Ri Yan, can’t you stop being so easily riled up? You’re not three-year-olds. Why are you always bickering?”
She strode forward, and the two who had been constantly at odds finally fell silent. After a winding journey, they re-entered the city. In this short time, countless Sea sect immortals had appeared in the city, coming and going, intentionally or unintentionally scrutinizing unfamiliar passersby, not missing a single detail.
“It seems they don’t want to make a big fuss either,” Li Fei said in a low voice, avoiding the probing gazes. “Only immortals from the Ten Thousand Immortals Association are here.”
Ri Yan was quite impatient: “Why don’t you just absorb the spiritual energy here? Suck away all the spiritual energy from these damned immortals! Let’s get it over with and go back!”
Li Fei smiled: “I already have the best choice for absorbing spiritual energy. Follow me.”
She quickened her pace and soon arrived near the Spirit Stele. This place was always crowded. Although the Spirit Stele was tightly covered by a spiritual energy net and black cloth, people still tried to discern something from this impenetrable barrier.
Lei Xiuyuan was somewhat surprised: “You want to absorb this stele?”
Li Fei said in a low voice: “Leaving it here only means it’s being sealed away. Since they dare not claim it, I might as well take it back. It’s better than letting Master’s life’s work be buried like this.”
She narrowed her eyes, staring at the Spirit Stele. Before coming here, she had imagined many possibilities, but she never thought it would be something they dared not acknowledge or make public. She shook her head and tossed out the Horn of Si. This small, constantly rotating horn immediately began to greedily absorb spiritual energy, emptying the spiritual energy net in an instant.
Before the onlookers could understand what was happening, they saw the dense spiritual energy net suddenly disappear before their eyes. Following that, the several-zhang-high giant stele covered in black cloth began to shrink rapidly, like a snowman in a fire. Finally, only a light black cloth was left, fluttering to the ground in the wind.
“Let’s go.”
Before the crowd could exclaim in shock, Li Fei turned and left. When they reached the coast, they found countless immortals flying and hovering over the sea. It would be extremely difficult to return inconspicuously.
Just as she was hesitating whether to reveal her identity and charge through directly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. A long-unheard frivolous voice sounded behind her: “Oh, I knew it was you guys.”
This time, not only Li Fei was startled, but even Ri Yan and Lei Xiuyuan were so shocked they nearly jumped. It was understandable that Li Fei, with her spiritual energy concealed, couldn’t sense others’ spiritual energy fluctuations. But for Lei Xiuyuan, a Yaksha, to be unable to detect it was unprecedented. His eyes immediately flashed with golden light, and he moved with lightning speed, grabbing the newcomer’s throat. The person spread his hands and smiled bitterly at them: “Isn’t this too harsh? We haven’t seen each other for four hundred years, and the moment we meet, you grab my throat?”
Li Fei saw that he was dressed extravagantly and had handsome features. Although four hundred years had passed, his appearance and physique hadn’t changed a bit. It was none other than the long-disappeared Hu Jiaping.