The moonlight was clear and bright, illuminating the child’s hair arrangement like a blooming lotus, tender and pink.

His face still bore traces of undried tears, as if he wanted to pour out all the grievances he had suppressed in his heart for so long, chattering on endlessly: “This Demon-Suppressing Army is going to the Wulun Pagoda to probe its depths. Their cultivation levels aren’t high to begin with, and stuffing Martial Uncle in there is just making him the scapegoat. If they win, it’s the credit of the Demon-Suppressing Army. If they lose, Martial Uncle will have to bear the scolding from all the major sects. Martial Brother Mu, Martial Brother Tian, Senior Sister Meng, and I really couldn’t stand watching it, so we volunteered to join as well. Fortunately, we’re here – look at how they are, they’re not even as pleasant to look at as your Demon Clan.” Mendong was probably too angry to care about positions and sides anymore.

But Zanxing now understood why this force had such uneven cultivation levels.

“Later, Senior Sister Putao from the Xiangling Sect also learned of this matter and joined with several senior sisters. That Nie Xinghong from the Yinfeng Sect was punished some days ago for molesting an elder, so he voluntarily requested to join the Demon-Suppressing Army to make up for his mistakes. These are the more capable ones. As for those people from the Chihua Sect,” Mendong snorted, “On the surface, they’re allies, but they’re here to monitor. Sometimes you have to guard against them stabbing you in the back – completely untrustworthy. So we’ve had terrible luck to come do this kind of thing.”

Zanxing finally understood the whole story and sighed sincerely: “It isn’t easy.”

Mendong glanced at Zanxing: “Aren’t you angry?”

“What should I be angry about?”

“Martial Uncle doesn’t remember you and even fought with you.” Mendong asked tentatively: “Aren’t you angry?”

“To be honest, I was a bit angry at first.” Zanxing thought for a moment: “But hearing you explain it this way, this matter can’t be blamed on him. Besides, we haven’t entered the Wulun Pagoda yet, so dwelling on these things doesn’t have much meaning. As you said, we might all die here anyway, so whether he remembers or not isn’t that important.”

Mendong was speechless for a moment, probably not expecting Zanxing to be so magnanimous. He stood up from the ground, patted the dust off his body, and walked two steps toward Zanxing. As if making some decision, he raised his head to look at Zanxing: “Between you and Martial Uncle, you truly have fate but no destiny. Now that he’s lost his memory, who knows when he’ll remember the past? You must feel very disappointed inside.”

Zanxing looked at him, not understanding what he wanted to say.

“How about you consider me instead?” Mendong said with a red face: “Though I’m not as handsome as Martial Uncle or as highly cultivated, I’m still somewhat promising for the future. Martial Uncle’s memory loss is partly my fault, too, so how about I compensate you with myself? Could you make do?”

Zanxing: “…..”

She withdrew her smile and flicked Mendong’s forehead hard with her finger: “Thank you for such thoughtful consideration, but I have no intention of committing a crime.”

……

The wind stopped at the highest point.

The flower tree illusion in the distance had completely disappeared, and the remaining red entirely scattered. The mountain forest at night was quiet and lonely, with moonlight flowing down from the treetops, brushing past the swimming fish by the water pond.

The black rooftops and white rooftops were separated by two paths, like night and day, sunny day and night moon, never intersecting.

In the house, someone’s footsteps sounded.

The woman lying fully clothed on the couch heard the movement, opened her eyes, and sat up to look at the person entering the room.

The light in the room came on.

“Seventh Martial Uncle.” Meng Ying said softly.

Gu Baiying withdrew his hand from lighting the lamp. Under the lamplight, the young man’s appearance was extraordinarily beautiful, but his eyes were as deep as dark currents surging.

“Mendong went to Yang Zanxing’s room.” After a long while, he spoke, his voice calm: “They’re very familiar with each other.”

Meng Ying didn’t speak.

“Tian Fangfang and Mu Cengxiao, even you, seem very familiar with her too.” The young man curled his fingers and tapped on the table, looking at the dancing flames, seemingly pondering: “When I first awakened, I had lost more than a year of memories. The sect spread rumors that the Demon Clan’s Yang Zanxing had infiltrated Gufeng Mountain, and I was bewitched by her, lost my mind, and even helped her escape the killing formation. Later, Master purified my heart, and I recovered, but I also lost my memories from then on.”

“There are some things that don’t make sense.” He spoke unhurriedly: “I sensed the aura of my primordial soul on Yang Zanxing.”

“My primordial soul is damaged. Master told me it was injured by the Demon Clan.”

“Mendong speaks exaggeratedly. Tian Fangfang and Mu Cengxiao are from Miaokong Hall. And you grew up by Yueqin’s side and don’t know how to lie, so I’m asking you.” The young man looked at Meng Ying, his tone carrying some pressing pressure: “Was my primordial soul injured by the Demon Clan?”

The lamplight flickered in the dark room, illuminating both their silent faces.

Meng Ying lowered her eyes without speaking.

The young man wasn’t anxious, patiently and quietly waiting for her to speak.

Meng Ying was the disciple Yueqin valued most in the entire sect. She had been raised from childhood as a future sect leader, didn’t even understand what lying meant, was calm and rational, fair, and upright. Any answer that came from her mouth would not contain half a trace of falsehood.

After a long while, Meng Ying spoke: “Seventh Martial Uncle, I don’t know much about the affairs between you two.”

“Two years ago, one day, I went to Miaokong Hall to find Junior Brother Mu and discovered there were many books in his book chest.”

Gu Baiying frowned almost imperceptibly, not understanding why Meng Ying suddenly brought this up.

“Those books were very special – miscellaneous books like ‘One Hundred Dating Spots in the Cultivation World,’ ‘Complete Collection of Sweet Words,’ ‘How to Pursue a Dao Companion Step by Step,’ ‘After Cultivating I Became the Fairy’s White Moonlight,’ and such.”

Gu Baiying felt somewhat baffled. That Mu Cengxiao could read such books only proved he indeed hadn’t put his mind on cultivation. And being able to find these books in the sect’s library would not have been easy.

“I asked Junior Brother Mu why he was collecting these books. Junior Brother Mu said you had asked him to find them.”

The young man’s heart jumped violently, and he instinctively said: “Impossible.”

Meng Ying glanced at him, her gaze very complex: “And not long after that, Junior Sister Zanxing fell into the Ten Thousand Killing Formation.”

“You also know that when Demon Clan members fall into the Ten Thousand Killing Formation, there’s no possibility of survival. But Junior Sister Zanxing not only survived, she escaped under everyone’s watchful eyes.”

“Because you used the Soul-Lodging Technique to separate a sliver of primordial soul and lodge it in her body, helping her block the ten thousand killing strikes in the Ten Thousand Killing Formation.”

The young man’s face changed slightly, shock unmistakable in his eyes.

This didn’t seem like something he would do, but Meng Ying would never lie.

“Martial Uncle, I don’t understand much about matters of emotion, but according to the books, you should have liked Junior Sister Zanxing and wanted her to be your dao companion. You were even willing to sacrifice a sliver of your primordial soul to help her block the pursuit of all the major sects.”

The girl’s expression remained as cold as always, but the words she spoke were like boulders falling into a deep pool, stirring up towering waves.

“Your feelings for her have deep roots, like the sea’s depths and cotton’s length.”