When Zanxing returned to her resting place, before she could even get close, she heard suppressed crying from inside, along with what seemed to be someone making vague threats.

Since both the Demon Clan and the Demon-Suppressing Army had entered the mountain, there was no need to continue traveling together. The two groups separated for the night. The Demon-Suppressing Army stayed in the white-roofed houses of the Sinü Clan, while the Demon Clan stayed in the black-roofed houses of the Sishi Clan. The two sides were divided and didn’t disturb each other. To avoid trouble, each had set up restrictions preventing outsiders from entering.

But this sound… had someone gotten in?

Zanxing thought to herself as she stepped through the door, only to see a crowd of people inside with a child whose face was streaked with tears like a flower cat, his eyes full of terror. The White Bone Woman’s hands, painted with bright red nails, occasionally stroked Mendong’s cheeks while she pondered seriously: “With such tender skin and delicate flesh, he must taste very good. After all these years, I’ve never eaten a cultivated child. Should I boil him or steam him…”

Zanxing: “……”

She said: “Stop it, White Bone Woman.”

Mendong, surrounded in the middle, heard her voice, and his body suddenly shuddered. He jerked his head up to look at Zanxing as if seeing a long-lost relative. His mouth trembled, and tears finally couldn’t help rolling down as he wailed: “Yang Zanxing, you finally came—”

Zanxing glanced at her subordinates watching the excitement around them: “What are you doing, bullying a child?”

The White Bone Woman quickly stood up: “Little Princess, we weren’t bullying him—”

“Right, right,” the Mountain Spider hurriedly clarified, “This is like blaming the outhouse when you can’t take a shit—wrongly accusing people!”

Lady Zhaoling stepped forward, her expression still hostile as she stared at Mendong: “Little Princess, this kid wasn’t sleeping in the middle of the night and came sneaking around our side, not knowing what he wanted to do. We just brought him back, only wanting to scare him a bit. We never intended to hurt him. Since you forbade us from touching the Demon-Suppressing Army people, we wouldn’t easily cause trouble.”

“Nonsense!” Mendong angrily spoke through his tears: “Just now, you were discussing killing me first and reporting later!”

“How would you know to be afraid if we didn’t say that?” The White Bone Woman snorted.

“Stop arguing,” Zanxing said, looking outside. “White Bone Woman, you all go to Xiao Shuang’s room. I have something to ask him.”

“Little Princess, you have a good nature, but he’s from the sect. Sect people always wear bamboo hats on wolf heads, pretending to be good people. Don’t let him deceive you!” The Mountain Spider was reluctant to leave Zanxing alone in the room with Mendong and wanted to sow discord: “Why not let this subordinate, no, let Lord Xiao Shuang come over…”

Sangmenxing nodded repeatedly with a mournful face.

“Go to Xiao Shuang’s room,” Zanxing repeated.

The room fell silent for a moment. Soon, Lady Zhaoling pulled the White Bone Woman, and several people reluctantly left.

Moonlight outside the window drifted across the table, casting a layer of thin frost and snow on the ground. In the quiet night, someone’s sobbing was particularly obvious.

After a moment, a handkerchief carrying a fresh fragrance was extended to the child, and a woman’s somewhat helpless voice rang out: “Junior Brother, after two years apart, how did you become more prone to crying than before?”

The word “Junior Brother” made Mendong freeze, his sobbing stopping abruptly. He slowly raised his head to look at the person before him.

The woman was gentle and beautiful, with some fatigue between her brows, yet the smile at her lips was still as warm as always, the same as before. His eyes immediately reddened, and he grabbed Zanxing’s sleeve, choking out: “Yang Zanxing…”

Heaven knew how much joy and fear he felt upon seeing Zanxing again. The scars on Zanxing’s face had completely healed. The woman who had become the master of Heishi City stood among the crowd with an expression neither pleased nor angry, so distant it was heart-palpitating. Mimi had become a fierce lion whose roar could shake the entire mountainside. Everything appeared strange, as if all the past events and people would never return.

He was always very afraid of such moments.

“Coming to find me so late at night, surely not just to let me watch you cry?” Zanxing smiled: “What do you want to say?”

Before Mendong could speak, he heard Zanxing continue: “You came just in time. I also have something to ask you. How is Hong Su?” Her tone became serious: “After I left the Ten Thousand Killing Formation, was Hong Su troubled by the sect people? How is she now?”

Hong Su was human. No matter how awful the sect people were, they shouldn’t trouble a little girl. During her two years in Heishi City, she had asked Bujiang to inquire about Hong Su’s whereabouts, but unfortunately, there had been no news.

Mendong was stunned, seemingly not expecting Zanxing’s first question to be about this. But soon he answered: “She’s fine. She was originally an ordinary person and knew nothing about your affairs. Sixth Martial Uncle protected her. She’s now living with Liu Yunxin, though she’s not in great spirits and often scolds people in the sect. But usually Martial Brother Mu and Martial Brother Tian protect her, so no one dares bully her.”

Zanxing then felt relieved.

Seeing her sigh of relief, Mendong thought for a moment and asked: “Aren’t you going to ask about Martial Uncle?”

Zanxing’s gaze fell on Mendong again. She smiled: “You ran here in the middle of the night, wasn’t it just to tell me about this?”

Mendong choked up. After a while, he sat down on the ground with a thud, looking dejected: “Fine, I did come to find you to explain. Martial Uncle has lost his memory now and definitely won’t come find you on his own. But if I don’t let you know the truth, I’m afraid you’ll misunderstand Martial Uncle. When I was at Gufeng Mountain, I was the ‘Messenger of True Love.’ Now that Martial Uncle has lost his tongue, I’ll speak for him.”

“Yang Zanxing,” he looked at Zanxing: “Back then in the Ten Thousand Killing Formation, Martial Uncle helped you escape from the mountain in front of everyone. After you left, Martial Uncle was surrounded by the sect. He lost a sliver of primordial soul and ultimately couldn’t resist. He was imprisoned on the Five Thunder Platform and suffered thunder punishment for forty-nine days.”

“Five Thunder Platform?”

“No one can endure the forty-nine days of thunder punishment on the Five Thunder Platform. His condition was very bad then. But the leaders of the major sects were relentless. After all, colluding with the Demon Clan was a grave crime, and the entire cultivation world couldn’t possibly tolerate him.”

“Martial Uncle… he endured for a long time.”

Zanxing fell silent. Gu Baiying, having lost a sliver of primordial soul, had to face the thunder punishment of the Five Thunder Platform alone. She could imagine the pain at that time.

Just thinking about some things made them seem unbearable.

“Originally, he was going to be tortured to death by the thunder punishment, but more than ten days after you left, your life tablet shattered.”

“Things took a slight turn.”

Zanxing slightly turned her head.

“Your life tablet shattered, meaning you had perished. For the Chihua Sect, the blood debt of their disciple’s life had been repaid. As long as Martial Uncle yielded and said that everything he did was due to your bewitchment, there would be a way out, and he could leave the Five Thunder Platform early to save his life.”

“But,” Mendong’s voice lowered, “He didn’t agree.”