Deep in the night, Meng Duo’er followed Baili Weisheng silently through the mountain forest. At first she’d been full of confidence, but the further they went, the more something began to feel off.
“Can you sense anything?” Baili Weisheng kept asking as they walked, and Meng Duo’er could tell that even he had grown anxious.
Down at the base of the mountain, she’d sensed nothing. Now, having nearly reached the mountainside, she still couldn’t detect even the faintest trace of a barrier-caster’s presence. Could it be that the person wasn’t even on the mountainside at all?
As Baili Weisheng had said, although Meng Wanyue had perfected the instant sealing technique, the barrier itself didn’t last very long—which, from that alone, suggested her sealing arts shouldn’t be above Meng Duo’er’s own!
And even setting that aside, even if their levels were exactly equal, she should still be able to detect at least some trace of her presence.
“Say something.” Baili Weisheng stopped, turning back to look at her with furrowed brows—usually so carefree and easygoing, he too had grown tense!
This place, after all, was where every clan of Nanzhao had gathered. Should anything happen here, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Someone like Meng Wanyue, who’d rather destroy something than let it go if she couldn’t have it, was practically a walking disaster!
If they still hadn’t found her by daybreak, heaven only knew what Meng Wanyue might do once the sun rose!
Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had come here to find the final secret of the Lishang, not to go looking for trouble!
“Still nothing,” Meng Duo’er admitted honestly.
“Could she be higher up the mountain?” Baili Weisheng wondered, not doubting Meng Duo’er’s ability in the slightest, and continued upward.
At this point, Meng Duo’er stopped him as well, her small face full of seriousness, saying timidly, “Scholar…”
“What is it?” Baili Weisheng was busy scouting the path and answered without thinking.
“If… if Meng Wanyue’s abilities are higher than mine, then I… I wouldn’t be able to sense her at all.”
At those words, Baili Weisheng stopped dead in his tracks. Meng Duo’er froze as well, not daring to say anything more!
She could feel it—things had gotten… rather serious.
She watched as Baili Weisheng slowly turned to look at her, his face full of shock.
If Meng Wanyue’s barrier technique truly did surpass Meng Duo’er’s, then it wasn’t just a matter of being unable to find her—even if they did find her, they wouldn’t be able to defeat her at all!
Though Baili Weisheng didn’t understand barrier techniques himself, he knew that when it came to such arts, even the slightest edge could grant an absolutely overwhelming advantage.
If they couldn’t beat Meng Wanyue, what was the point of looking for her—looking for their own deaths?
Baili Weisheng stared at Meng Duo’er, saying nothing for a long moment, while Meng Duo’er pressed her lips together, unsure what to say either.
At last, Baili Weisheng spoke. “Are you sure?”
“I… I’m not sure, but it’s a possibility!” Meng Duo’er said very seriously, hardly daring to look at Baili Weisheng—this fellow, when he turned serious like this, seemed like an entirely different person, just like Jun Beiyue, commanding without even trying.
“We’re searching!” Baili Weisheng said coldly, resolute.
Meng Wanyue had gone to such lengths to have Mi’er lure him and Meng Duo’er away—clearly she had to be wary of Meng Duo’er in some way!
Even if that weren’t the case, he still had to search.
The Jade Water Nectar gathering would last at most four or five days, and during those four or five days, they had to ensure Jun Beiyue and Ziqing could focus without distraction, had to make sure Meng Wanyue couldn’t affect them in any way!
They had weathered every storm to get this far—there was no way they could afford to fail here, now, in Nanzhao!
He’d made up his mind, whatever it took!
“Keep searching!”
Baili Weisheng said this and strode further up the mountain. Meng Duo’er gritted her teeth and hurried to follow, silently telling herself that no matter what, even if Meng Wanyue’s barrier technique truly did surpass her own, she would never let Meng Wanyue lay so much as a finger on the scholar.
By now, the sky at the horizon had already begun to show the faintest hint of pale light. In the guest hall, Jun Beiyue had held Ziqing in his arms the whole night through.
To let Ziqing sleep more comfortably, his right arm had gone numb the entire night, and he hadn’t dared move it even once. Rarely did he ever have this much quiet time to simply, carefully look at Ziqing’s sleeping face.
Jun Beiyue’s fingertips gently traced along Ziqing’s cheek, slowly moving up until they brushed against the small patch of poison scarring hidden beneath the human-skin mask.
A doting smile touched his lips, and he guarded her carefully, the way one might guard a child.
It was said that a daughter is her father’s lover from a past life, which is why fathers dote on their daughters so.
If that was true, then perhaps this life’s lover had been his daughter in a past life—which was why he always found himself wanting to treat her like a child, to spoil her, to shield her from everything, to take care of everything on her behalf.
He didn’t want her standing behind him, becoming the woman who stayed in the shadows, nor did he want her standing in front, exposed to danger. He only wanted to hold her within his arms, to protect her. Yet she always insisted on standing beside him, shoulder to shoulder.
He had never imagined that in this life he would meet a woman like this—unexpected, unplanned, and yet somehow he had grown so naturally used to her.
Only now, watching her so quietly like this, did he feel a sudden sense of realization—so this was the kind of person he had always hoped to meet.
“Home… Lishang can take us home…”
Suddenly, in the stillness, Ziqing murmured something in her sleep, hazy and unclear, dreaming of who knew what.
“Lishang can take us home… there, there won’t be any sorrow.”
…
Jun Beiyue paused slightly, then gently patted her, soothing her back to stillness, to sleep.
“Lishang will carry you home, to a place without sorrow.” The fourteen coded characters they had scoured the entire Longyuan Continent to gather, the fourteen characters hidden within the Lishang itself, turned out to be exactly this single sentence!
Taken purely at face value, it was a very straightforward statement—that by playing the complete Lishang, the truth would be revealed; everything, in the end, was hidden within the Lishang itself.
But if these fourteen characters held more than their literal meaning, then things would grow far more complicated.
All through the night, Jun Beiyue had held her close while turning the matter over and over in his mind.
He couldn’t come up with any deeper meaning hidden within these fourteen characters. He was almost certain the key lay in the Lishang itself—the complete Lishang—and yet he found himself with a faint, uneasy feeling he didn’t want to dwell on.
The Lishang was such a deeply sorrowful piece, a piece capable of killing with its very sound. Once played to completion, using both the Nameless Zither and the Blood Zither together, what consequences might follow?
In the end, how many people would have the fortitude to listen to the entire piece from beginning to end?
Everything remained beyond imagining.
“Lishang will carry us home… Beiyue… Lishang will carry us home.”
Under Jun Beiyue’s soothing touch, Ziqing murmured again in her sleep—even in her dreams, this was all she could think about.
A flash of tender heartache passed through Jun Beiyue’s eyes, and he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
He knew that, at this moment, the “home” Ziqing spoke of in her sleep was no longer the lost island itself, nor any specific place at all, but rather a longing—the longing of an orphan who had wandered for so many years, yearning for a place called home.
“Be good. Once the wrong done to the lost island has been righted, I will take you home.” Jun Beiyue said this softly. By now, outside, the sky had fully brightened…