She had brought Yinli’s primordial spirit out of the underground imperial tomb not for any particular reason, but simply because she didn’t want that beautiful Merfolk to spend his entire life unable to have his name remembered by the one he loved. Cultivators valued their cultivation very highly—for the sake of a breakthrough, some would even resort to any means necessary. Yet Zanxing had risked potential damage to her cultivation by allowing Yinli’s primordial spirit to attach to her body.
For her, it was just something done in passing, but for Yinli, it was probably his only opportunity.
When he had transformed into points of light and disappeared, Zanxing had heard a “thank you” whispered in her ear. Later, she discovered this pale fish scale within her body.
She didn’t know what it was.
“Merfolk scales are sturdy and can resist attacks,” Gu Baiying said, looking at the scale in front of her. “Yinli’s physical body died many years ago. This is a Merfolk scale condensed from his primordial spirit—it can’t block attacks, but it contains water-element magic.” He said, “Keep it. It’s the thank-you gift he gave you.”
Zanxing put away the scale, feeling somewhat silent for a moment.
Thinking of Yinli always made it difficult to feel happy.
After a while, Mu Cengxiao said, “I heard that after Princess Lizhu woke up, she didn’t remember what happened before.”
That night on the Star Constellation Platform, Yinli had kissed the woman, then his primordial spirit transformed into points of light and disappeared. But when Princess Lizhu woke up, her memories no longer contained someone like Yinli, along with everything that had happened.
“It should have been Yinli’s doing.” Meng Ying’s expression was somber.
Mendong grabbed a grilled fish and took a bite. Since it probably wasn’t cooked yet, he put it back over the fire to continue roasting, while asking curiously: “Why would he erase Princess Lizhu’s memories? After paying such a great price, in the end, nothing was left behind—was it worth it?”
“Probably because not everyone can bear the truth,” Zanxing thought of that youth with pure eyes and said quietly: “He didn’t want the one he loved to suffer, even if it meant becoming the one who was forgotten.”
Everyone fell silent for a while. Tian Fangfang sighed: “That’s too noble—I couldn’t do it.”
“What an idiot,” Gu Baiying said coldly.
Zanxing looked at him: “Master Uncle, don’t you think so?”
“Of course not,” Gu Baiying spoke without thinking: “If I liked someone, I would want her to remember me. Even if I died, she’d have to remember me.”
Zanxing: “If you’re already dead and she still has to remember you, that’s quite a grudge.”
“Yang Zanxing!” Gu Baiying glared at her furiously.
“I was just joking.”
Mu Cengxiao flipped his grilled fish over and said quietly: “But there’s still something very strange about this. What Yinying said at the time was that someone had given him demon power while also telling him to enter the Secret Realm to find a painting. But in the end, he was silenced, and we don’t know who was behind it all. Someone who could make Yinying’s demon power increase so dramatically is not simple.”
Yinying, with his greatly increased demon power, had already troubled the cultivators greatly. The person behind him likely had even higher cultivation and more ruthless methods.
“But how could there be a painting in the Secret Realm?” Tian Fangfang asked Mendong. “Did Senior Sister Zi Luo mention this to you?”
Mendong shook his head: “Senior Sister Zi Luo only said that there were many rare spiritual herbs and fruits on Wudong Mountain, and if we could find spiritual beasts, our luck would be pretty good… She never mentioned any painting.”
“Since their plan fell through, they’ll scheme again,” Gu Baiying reminded them. “Everyone, be more alert in the Secret Realm—don’t fall into someone’s trap.”
Zanxing rotated the tree branch with a fish skewered on it, but her mind was thinking of another matter. That day, when she had asked Yinying why he had snuck into her room, Yinying had disappeared before finishing his words. But the strange look he had given her continued to trouble Zanxing.
What could it have been about?
On the other side, people from several other major sects were also enthusiastically roasting meat.
Yinfeng Sect had mines in their territory and was wealthy. The Qiankun Bags their disciples wore could hold much more than those of other sects. Since they could carry more, they didn’t worry about quantity and had brought along everything they thought might be useful—various seasonings and ingredients, pots, bowls, ladles, and basins that were much more refined than Mendong’s medicine cauldron.
Their sect members were also very generous. When people from other sects came to borrow chopsticks, bowls, seasonings, and such, they generously provided them. Through these exchanges, they became quite popular.
At this moment, Nie Xinghong sat on a piece of azure stone, his deep blue long robe spotless, his hair arranged in an extremely elegant style. His entire being radiated refinement and sophistication, as if this weren’t a Secret Realm but some magnificent restaurant in the mortal world.
His junior brothers were roasting rabbit meat in their hands, while a senior sister from Xiangling Sect cut up the watermelons that Tian Fangfang had sent over earlier and distributed them to the various cultivators.
He Ri from Chihua Gate couldn’t stand seeing Yinfeng Sect people showing off, so he deliberately mocked Nie Xinghong: “Fellow Cultivator Nie, I heard that yesterday you took a box of Resurrection Pills to Taiyan Sect to curry favor, but ended up being chased away by Taiyan Sect people?”
“Resurrection Pills?” Other cultivators, upon hearing this, immediately looked at Nie Xinghong differently. Resurrection Pills weren’t cheap—one pill cost dozens of spirit stones. Yinfeng Sect had taken an entire box to curry favor. They were wealthy.
Nie Xinghong wasn’t angered by this. He waved his fan and maintained his elegant gentleman appearance, smiling: “I had good intentions, but Fellow Cultivator Gu probably thought I had ulterior motives regarding Fairy Yang… Since they’re Dao companions, it’s understandable that he’d be sensitive about such matters.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t mentioned “Dao companions,” but once he did, everyone immediately remembered that scandalous affair that Yinying had revealed that day in the imperial tomb.
The cultivators, holding their melons, moved closer to him with mischievous expressions: “Fellow Cultivator Nie, are Gu Baiying and Yang Zanxing Dao companions? I thought that Merfolk was talking nonsense.”
“It couldn’t be more real,” Nie Xinghong smiled slightly and spoke seriously: “From my many years of experience in matters of the heart, those two are currently in the honey-sweet, inseparable stage.”
Putao from Xiangling Sect glanced at Gu Baiying in the distance and said unconvinced: “That’s impossible, right? That Yang Zanxing still has such a big black scar on her face. If you said Meng Ying was his Dao companion, that would be somewhat believable… Yang Zanxing…” She didn’t continue, clearly looking down on Zanxing greatly.
Seeing her complex expression, Nie Xinghong smiled knowingly: “You can’t say that. Although Fairy Yang’s appearance is flawed, her character is kind and righteous. Not everyone would be willing to let a Merfolk’s primordial spirit possess their body. Moreover, from what I observe between those two, it’s Fellow Cultivator Gu who cares more about Fairy Yang.”
“Really?” Another cultivator said: “Not even glancing at a great beauty like Fairy Meng, but treating his unremarkable junior martial niece with special regard. This Fellow Cultivator Gu seems to be a gentleman who doesn’t love beauty.”
“What gentleman?” Another person laughed loudly: “Clearly his judgment is problematic!”
Putao stopped talking, her fingertips gripping the bamboo skewer, tightening slightly as she silently roasted the roe deer meat in front of her.
In the distance, there seemed to be the clear cry of flying birds, disappearing at the end of Wudong Mountain.