Chapter 46 The Passes Are Hard to Cross, Who Laments the Lost Traveler?

Xi Ling has been coming to the dungeon too often lately, and even Ning Hanshuang has sensed something unusual about him.

However, Xi Ling looked unusually different today, unusually... normal.

Ning Hanshuang was well aware of Xi Ling's mental state and had long been accustomed to his calm madness. However, it wasn't until Xi Ling stood in front of her, so close—so close that she could grab him by the throat with a single reach—that she realized Xi Ling's mental state seemed quite stable today.

"What happened?" Ning Hanshuang asked warily, her gaze lingering on Xi Ling's throat, but she ultimately lowered her eyes.

Xi Ling silently gazed at Ning Hanshuang, then at the dead Huo Yunfeng in her arms, her eyes filled with a mixture of melancholy and sorrow.

Xi Ling ignored Ning Hanshuang's question and disregarded her defensiveness and murderous intent, saying to herself, "This is the last time I'm here to see you."

"I will send you away, back to your homes, tonight."

Ning Hanshuang never expected that Xi Ling would one day let go!

Although he said some time ago that he had a better choice and no longer needed Huo Yunfeng, and promised to let them leave, who knew it would happen so quickly? So urgently?

Ning Hanshuang had a feeling that something must have happened that forced Xi Ling to send them away quickly.

But leaving is always a good thing. Ning Hanshuang lowered her head, concealing her complicated expression, "Why don't we do it now?"

Xi Ling looked up at the sky—of course, he couldn't see anything in the dungeon. This action made Ning Hanshuang suspect that he had gone mad again, but fortunately, Xi Ling still calmly agreed.

Meanwhile, the sun was setting, and even though Xi Bingyi and her group rushed as fast as they could, they still couldn't enter Zhuoxian before it closed.

Fortunately, Zhuoxian City was prosperous and developed, and the post stations and shops outside the city were also thriving. After thinking for a moment, Xi Bingyi decided to rest for a while before entering the city.

She first booked three rooms at the inn, then asked the waiter to take Huo Qin, who was in terrible condition, and Zhou Ziheng, who was drowsy, to their rooms. Afterwards, she ordered some light food and instructed that it be delivered to their respective rooms as soon as possible.

After finishing all this, Xi Bingyi hurriedly left the post station and rushed to get the medicine before the only pharmacy outside the city closed.

As luck would have it, Xi Bingyi arrived at just the right time; the doctor had just finished seeing his last patient and was about to close the door.

Seeing Xi Bingyi rushing over, he had no choice but to stop closing the door and welcome her in.

"Young lady, are you getting medicine for your family?"

Xi Bingyi casually lied: "My brother was injured by bandits while protecting me. It was an arrow wound. Could you please get some medicine to save my brother?"

Upon hearing that it was an arrow wound, the doctor sat up straight: "Where is the wound?"

Xi Bingyi: "Chest."

Upon hearing this, the doctor's expression turned serious. As he paced to fetch the medicine, he muttered, "Chest... this is serious... things have been quite turbulent lately; someone else suffered a similarly severe injury a few days ago..."

Xi Bingyi didn't miss the doctor's mutterings. She instinctively felt that something was amiss, so she pressed for details: "Someone else is injured? Seriously? What kind of injury did he/she suffer?"

The doctor sighed, "That man was wounded by a sword. He knocked on my door in the middle of the night. I saw that his injury was really serious. Before I could even prepare any medicine for him, he fainted. So I had no choice but to take him in at my clinic."

Where is he now?

The doctor shook his head: "He left a long time ago. He was very lucky to be alive. He probably took some life-saving medicine and rushed into the city as soon as he woke up."

"They only left a fan." The doctor handed the prepared medicine to Xi Bingyi, glancing at the corner: "Here, that one."

Xi Bingyi took the packets of medicine one after another, and her eyes followed the direction the doctor pointed, where she saw a bloodstained folding fan lying there.

Xi Bingyi's pupils contracted sharply, and she gasped. After paying for the medicine, her voice trembled slightly: "May I take that fan with me?"

The doctor waved his hand dismissively: "That person hasn't come for so many days, I guess he doesn't want this fan anymore. You can take it if you want."

And so, with a pile of medicine in her arms and a cold fan tightly clutched in her hand, Xi Bingyi returned to the post station in a daze.

As a disciple of the Holy Mountain, she naturally recognized that fan.

The bubbling sound of medicine simmering on the small stove in the kitchen pulled her back to the sacred mountain of that year…

When Xi Bingyi was very young, Mei Zhiying sent her to the Holy Mountain to cultivate. It can be said that she spent her entire childhood on the Holy Mountain.

As far as she could remember, there had only been four people on the sacred mountain—her gentle master, her sickly master's wife, and her arrogant and conceited senior brother.

Until one day, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared on the sacred mountain. He was holding a fan, smiling, and said that he was Lin Youbie's junior brother.

"You should call me Junior Uncle."

The naive Xi Bingyi asked, "But why have I never seen you before?"

Jie Fenglian replied shrewdly, "Because I've been traveling all the time."

Xi Bingyi quickly believed this explanation.

In her simple understanding, more people meant more fun, and more fun meant more happiness. So she excitedly wanted to take Jie Fenglian to see her senior brother: "Junior Uncle, come with me to see my senior brother! He bothers me every day, it's so annoying! You have to teach him a lesson!"

How could she have imagined that Xie Fenglian had already met Zhou Ziheng and been turned away before coming to find her?

So Xie Fenglian easily used another excuse to get away with it and asked Xi Bingyi to take him to see Xie Yun first.

Xi Bingyi asked in confusion, "Aren't you Master's junior brother? Why do you need to see Master's wife first?"

Jie Fenglian: "..."

Xie Fenglian gritted her teeth: "I was too hasty. I've been traveling around all these years. I heard that my senior sister is worried about... Xie Yun's health. I was originally thinking of going to visit her first."

Xi Bingyi insisted, "Then let's go see Master first, and then we'll go visit Master's wife together."

Jie Fenglian unfolded her fan to cover half her face, her eyes icy: "Fine."

Xi Bingyi saw the blood-red plum blossom on the fan.

Children are always particularly sensitive to danger. Perhaps it was because Jie Fenglian's eyes were too cold, or perhaps it was because the blood plum blossoms on the fan were too ominous, but Xi Bingyi shivered and immediately gave up her decision: "Junior Uncle... Master seems to have gone into seclusion. How about we meet again in a while?"

Xie Fenglian snorted coldly, and seeing this, she stopped pretending.

He formed his hands into claws and aimed straight for Xi Bingyi's throat.

Xi Bingyi had never seen someone turn on her so quickly. Before she could even draw the Ghostly Sword from her waist, Xie Fenglian's killing move was already right in front of her!

The expected pain did not come; instead, Xie Yun, dressed in white, stopped Xie Fenglian.

Xie Yun shielded Xi Bingyi, his eyes icy cold. He stared at Xie Fenglian and mocked, "A stray dog ​​like you dares to set foot on the sacred mountain?!"

These words completely enraged Xie Fenglian. He no longer concealed the fury and cruelty in his eyes. With each opening and closing of his fan, the sinister blood plum blossoms flickered on and off.

"A stray dog? If it weren't for that damned slut Lin Youbie, the Sword Tomb would have been mine long ago! How dare you, an outsider, stand here and point fingers at me?!"

Xie Yun ignored him and whispered to Xi Bingyi to quickly find Lin Youbie and escort her away.

Unexpectedly, this action broke the tense atmosphere of confrontation. Xie Fenglian did not play by the rules and immediately launched a killing move, her spinning fan as sharp as a knife.

"A sickly weakling and a little brat, where do you think you're going?" Xie Fenglian said fiercely, "Both of you better die here!"

Seeing the fan spinning and flying towards her, the young Xi Bingyi only had time to whip it, but in her haste, she lost her aim.

She was still young, her whipping skills were not yet proficient, and she had never seen a scene where someone would kill someone at the slightest disagreement.

Fear, despair, shock, hatred... Xi Bingyi experienced these for the first time. She trembled all over and could only watch helplessly as Xie Yun shielded her from all the attacks.

The blood-red plum blossoms bloomed before her eyes, making it almost impossible for her to distinguish between plum blossoms and fresh blood.

Her hand, gripping the ghostly object, trembled uncontrollably. The heat and stench of fresh blood assaulted her senses, making her want to vomit.

Xi Bingyi drew her Ghost Whip, but due to her lack of skill in cultivation, she couldn't even make the whip look like a weapon. She could only lie limply on the ground like a weak worm.

"Hurry! Bingyi! Go find your master!!"

Xie Yun spat out a mouthful of blood and once again blocked Xie Fenglian's folding fan.

She couldn't... she couldn't run away alone, she couldn't abandon her master's wife!

"Bingyi, I can't hold on much longer. You're no match for him... Go find Lin Youbie quickly..."

Tears welled up in her eyes. Before her stood Xie Yun's frail body, so small, yet it held up the world that protected her.

Xie Fenglian toyed with them like she was playing with mice, and said with a sinister smile, "Leave? Are you really going to leave? Abandon your frail and sickly master's wife and run away like a coward?"

Xi Bingyi suddenly clenched her fist.

Like a snake awakening, she blocked the fatal blow aimed at Xie Yun's heart. Just as Xie Fenglian's eyes lit up, thinking that Xi Bingyi was about to act recklessly, she slipped away like a cunning fish.

Xie Yun, panting heavily, finally showed a relieved smile upon seeing this.

Xi Bingyi ran incredibly fast, as if she wanted to be faster than the wind and even faster than time itself.

Her tears were blown away by the wind. She was tireless, dared not relax, and dared not think about what Xie Yun would do. All she could do was run, run, run!

...

With a gurgling sound, the boiling medicine pushed open the lid of the medicine pot, bringing Xi Bingyi back to her senses.

She put down her fan, filled a bowl with medicine, and walked towards Huo Qin's room.

Only after watching Huo Qin finish the whole bowl with a distorted expression did Xi Bingyi's tense nerves relax.

She didn't want to cause the other party any more trouble, especially since this was a matter concerning the Holy Mountain, and Huo Qin might not even know about it.

So she simply told him to get some rest and then left.

Back in her room, where she was alone, Xi Bingyi picked up her fan again, wondering:

Why would Jie Fenglian appear in Zhuoxian? Why was he in such a hurry to enter the city, even forgetting his own weapons?

After Zhou Ziheng's reminder, Xi Bingyi had a vague answer to this question.

Before this moment, Xi Bingyi might have had some doubts about her father's role in the conspiracy, wondering if he had some hidden reasons. However, the appearance of Jie Fenglian shattered these illusions.

Xie Fenglian left in such a hurry that she even forgot to take her weapon with her, which clearly meant she had something more important to do.

Are you in a hurry to go to Xibao and tell Xi Ling about Zhou Ziheng's recent situation?

Or is there an even more terrifying conspiracy being plotted?

Why would his own father collude with such a despicable person?

Yes... going along with the crowd...

Xi Bingyi couldn't find any other words to exonerate Xi Ling. She looked dazed and felt her heart sink.

A carriage departed from Zhuoxian City and was stopped by the guards.

"Zhuoxian has closed its gates; leaving the city is now prohibited."

A woman's voice could be faintly heard from beneath the heavy carriage curtain: "Close the city? I don't think there was such a regulation a few days ago."

The guard didn't want to explain, but when he saw the insignia of Xibao on the carriage, he immediately realized that this was a noble person he couldn't afford to offend, so he honestly said, "Something serious has happened to Zhuang Lan. The higher-ups have ordered a thorough investigation. Special regulations for special times."

"event?"

Ning Hanshuang pondered, what kind of thing is a big deal?

The guard continued, "Madam, if you wish to leave the city, please cooperate with our inspection."

The heavy carriage curtain was lifted, and Ning Hanshuang didn't make things difficult for them. "Okay."

The guard compared the two portraits and saw that there was only a stiff-looking man and a tired-looking woman in the carriage.

Even though he couldn't find the person he was looking for, he was willing to give Xibao face, so he waved his hand, made an exception and opened the city gate to let Ning Hanshuang leave.

In a brief glance, Ning Hanshuang noticed that there were two men in the portrait, one of whom was missing an ear.

The city gates were open. Ning Hanshuang lowered the carriage curtain, showing no reluctance, and the carriage slowly drove away.

Xi Bingyi, who was in a daze at the post station outside the city, was soon drawn to the commotion.

The carriage from Shiborg? Leaving the city?

She was a little confused, so she leaned out and just then, before the carriage curtain fell completely, she saw Ning Hanshuang's tired eyes.

It's hard to describe what kind of eyes they were...

Like despair crushed by heavy snow, yet a spark of hope ignites after the snow, pulsating ceaselessly in the eyes, determined to warm all.

However, this small flame was nothing more than a wisp of smoke about to dissipate in the snow.

The two looked at each other for a moment, one moving forward, the other standing still; one below, the other above; like two completely different generations, with completely different fates.

This woman... looks so familiar... Xi Bingyi wanted to get a closer look, but the carriage curtain quickly fell, thick and blocking all her view.

Xi Bingyi could only watch Ning Hanshuang leave, still somewhat dazed.

Xi Bingyi didn't recognize the person in the carriage, but Ning Hanshuang recognized her at a glance as Xi Ling's daughter.

She is Mei Zhiying's daughter.

"parking."