“He didn’t agree.”

Outside the window, it seemed a bird called out once. The bird’s cry scattered in the wind, crisp and pleasant, carrying a few traces of refreshing coolness.

The child’s voice became indignant: “He’s a fool… It was originally just a matter of one sentence. With just one sentence, he could have saved his own life. At that time, all of us thought you were already dead. Dead people don’t come back to life, but living people still have to continue. A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years – surviving first and planning for later would also be a way out, right? But not him. He didn’t care that we were worried sick, stubbornly rigid like a fool. To the people of the Chihua Sect, he kept saying he believed in you, that you weren’t a murderer. If that isn’t adding fuel to the fire, what is?”

“In any case, he refused to push the blame onto you.”

Zanxing laughed softly.

This was indeed Gu Baiying’s temperament. Though the young man was sharp-tongued, his heart wasn’t bad. Everyone felt that dead people couldn’t speak, dead people wouldn’t get angry, and using a dead person’s reputation to exchange for a living person’s life was very worthwhile. But in his eyes, a dead person’s reputation was more important than a living person’s life, and Yang Zanxing was more important than Gu Baiying. So even though everyone knew this was a losing deal, he still had to do it.

Just like when Gu Baiying had given her the hairpin containing his primordial soul, yet lied to her that he had bought it from Huajin Tower.

He was always making these kinds of losing deals.

Mendong continued: “Because he refused to say a single bad word about you, and during the Ten Thousand Killing Formation, everyone saw how he risked his life to protect you completely. Later, rumors spread that between Martial Uncle and you… It was that kind of relationship.” Speaking of this, Mendong became angry again: “So what if you two had that kind of relationship? What business was it of theirs? Gossiping behind people’s backs!”

Seeing that Zanxing didn’t speak, Mendong hesitantly glanced at her and finally couldn’t help asking the question that had always puzzled him: “So… did you two have that kind of relationship?”

Zanxing: “No.”

Mendong breathed a long sigh of relief: “I knew it! If you two had that kind of relationship, how could it have escaped my eyes? Getting off track – anyway, the rumors spread more and more fiercely, and the thunder punishment became more vicious day by day. If it continued like that, he would lose his life, and even if he didn’t die, all his cultivation would be gone.”

“So… so Master used the Emotion-Severing Needle to cut off Martial Uncle’s memories and feelings, making him forget you.”

Zanxing’s heart stirred: “Emotion-Severing Needle?”

“It’s a secret technique that Master’s predecessor obtained from a friend long ago. No one on Gufeng Mountain had ever used this needle before. However, it was fortunate that Master’s predecessor used this needle, because after leaving the Five Thunder Platform, the Chihua Sect made Martial Uncle pass through the Emotion Formation to prove that there truly was no relationship between Martial Uncle and you.”

“What is the Emotion Formation?”

“A very frightening formation. People trapped in this formation will be reduced to ashes if they have emotional thoughts, but if they have no emotional thoughts, they can pass through safely. This kind of formation has been lost in the cultivation world for a long time. Who would have thought it was in the hands of that undying old thing Lingxin? Anyway, because Master’s predecessor used the Emotion-Severing Needle on Martial Uncle, Martial Uncle was able to pass through the Emotion Formation.” Mendong still felt lingering fear when recalling this matter: “After Martial Uncle passed through the Emotion Formation, the sect had a way to save face and officially believed the explanation that Martial Uncle was bewitched by you and that’s why he protected you, allowing him to leave the Five Thunder Platform.”

“After leaving the Five Thunder Platform, Martial Uncle returned to Gufeng Mountain. Because his injuries were too severe, he remained in seclusion on the mountain to recuperate, only emerging from seclusion early this year.” Mendong looked up at Zanxing: “Actually, Martial Uncle didn’t just forget about you – he also forgot about our trip together to Wufan City in Li’er Kingdom. He doesn’t remember Martial Brother Tian and the others, and we don’t dare tell him the truth. Even if we told him, he might not believe it. Besides, at that time, we all thought you were dead. If we helped him recover his memories, with his stubborn nature, he might have stormed the Chihua Sect to seek justice for you. But…” Speaking of this, confusion also appeared in Mendong’s eyes: “Your life tablet shattered, so why are you still alive? You made me cry uselessly for half a year.”

Life tablets represented disciples’ lives. As long as a disciple’s life remained, the life tablet would never shatter, no matter what. It was precisely because of this that when Zanxing’s life tablet shattered, Daoist Lingxin was willing to spare Gu Baiying.

Hearing this, Zanxing pondered silently. That day, when she was captured by Gui Yansheng’s Ashura Umbrella and had the Xiaoyuan Pearl taken away, she originally thought she was doomed to die, yet she awakened in the Extreme Ice Abyss. At that time, the red marks that had been constantly growing on her palm completely disappeared. Perhaps in the “Heavenly Dao’s” view, with the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s disappearance, this “accident” that was herself had ended, and that “Miss Yang” who was a chess piece on the fate board had completely ceased to exist, so the life tablet shattered.

And the one who survived was her, Yang Zanxing.

“I don’t know either.” She glossed over it lightly: “Perhaps it’s because I’m originally from the Demon Clan.”

Upon mentioning the words “Demon Clan,” Mendong’s expression froze for a moment, as if only then realizing the difference in identity between Zanxing and himself now. He fell silent, then suddenly asked in a low voice: “Are you really from the Demon Clan?”

Zanxing smiled: “You’ve seen the Demon Lord’s Seal, yet you still won’t believe it?”

“Then why did you come to Gufeng Mountain?”

“If I said I came to Gufeng Mountain to heal the wounds left by ‘Yu’ on my face, would you believe it?”

Mendong honestly shook his head: “I wouldn’t believe it.”

Zanxing sighed: “I knew it.”

“But it doesn’t matter.” The next moment, the child’s firm voice came through. In just a brief instant, he seemed to have convinced himself: “Since Little Martial Uncle believes you’re not a bad person, I don’t believe it either. Since you’re not dead, that’s the best thing possible. Anyway, now that golden-eyed demon wants to destroy the three realms, we might all die here regardless, so whether you’re human or demon isn’t that important.”

His words carried a tragic yet somewhat amusing tone. Zanxing asked: “Speaking of which, your Demon-Suppressing Army is quite strange. Looking at it, aside from people from our sect, most disciples have very ordinary cultivation levels. Could it be that Gui Yansheng has already killed everyone in the cultivation world?”

Hearing this, Mendong spoke indignantly: “Don’t even mention it! For this trip to Mount Yue’e, everyone in the cultivation world knows that the fifth floor of the Wulun Pagoda is an evil place of no return, and that the demon has cruel methods. Going to Mount Yue’e means nine dangers and one chance of survival, a journey of no return. This advanced force is ostensibly gathering intelligence, but in reality, they’re just sacrificial stepping stones!”

“Stepping stones?”

Mendong became even more agitated, unable to help clenching his fists: “That old fox Lingxin, though he spared Martial Uncle for Master’s predecessor’s sake, still harbors resentment in his heart, which is why he’s taking this opportunity for personal revenge. Knowing full well that this force is mostly going to their deaths, he still personally appointed Martial Uncle to lead the Demon-Suppressing Army. What a malicious heart!”