Chapter 35 The Lamp What about her own brother?

...

Inside the prison, Mu Meng froze for a moment. She hadn't expected Mu Luo to say that so suddenly, and instinctively shook her head in denial: "No, I don't know."

She couldn't say that her sister loved her so much. If she said that Mu Qingheng was the murderer behind it all, even if she couldn't believe it, she would definitely believe it.

Given her personality, once she obtains spiritual power, she will definitely be unable to resist seeking revenge on Mu Qingheng.

But now is not the right time.

Mu Luo's expression turned serious. She turned Mu Meng's shoulders around with both hands. "I was just thinking that your expression was a bit off when you were analyzing, so I thought I'd try to trick you. Now it seems there really is a problem. Mengmeng, who is he?"

Mu Meng pursed her lips, surprised that her sister was so perceptive. After repeated questioning, she finally shook her head: "Sister, I can't tell you now, but don't worry, I've made my decision. When the time is right, I will definitely tell you."

“This is my revenge, so naturally I will take it myself. Why can’t I say it?” Mu Luo asked slowly, her gaze searching and filled with sorrow. “Because his spiritual power is higher than mine, I would be at a disadvantage if I were to fight him?”

"……yes."

Mu Luo hesitated: "Did you tell Mu Qingheng? Could it be that this person's spiritual power is also stronger than Mu Qingheng's?"

Mu Meng nodded haphazardly: "Yes, he is very strong."

“Then you should tell us, or even report this to the Heavenly Emperor,” Mu Luo said in a deep voice. “How can you bear such a powerful enemy alone?”

Mu Meng didn't know how to advise her.

If it were just Mu Qingheng alone, she could naturally combine the strength of the Celestial Clan and, with careful planning, probably capture him. However, there are countless demons in the Desolate Tomb. If she were to act rashly, the demons would come out in full force, inevitably triggering another bloody war.

“Sister, trust me, I know what I’m doing,” Mu Meng said, shaking Mu Luo’s hand playfully. “I know you have many questions and are worried about my safety. I can’t answer you right now, but I promise you I won’t put myself in danger.”

Mu Luo opened her mouth, looking at Mu Meng's expression, "I thought I was imprisoned, yet I knew everything that was happening outside..."

She was initially quite confident; even from just a few snippets of information, she could deduce the gist of things with remarkable accuracy. But how could her beloved Mengmeng, her precious little sister whom she cherished so dearly, have so many worries?

She hid it so well that, at least every time she came to see her, and at her recent coming-of-age ceremony, she didn't notice anything unusual about Mengmeng being preoccupied.

Her Mengmeng was pampered by everyone since childhood and should have been carefree and happy. How could this have happened? How much did she silently endure?

Mu Meng knew what her sister wanted to say as soon as she heard her sister begin, her gaze softened, and her tone became gentle: "Sister, don't blame yourself. Just believe me, these things will be over soon. You've always protected me since we were little, this time it's my turn to protect you, okay?"

Mu Luo's nose tingled with tears. She knew that no matter how much she asked, Mengmeng wouldn't tell her. "Since that's the case, you don't need to return my spiritual power. I don't know what kind of danger you're in, so what do you need spiritual power for?"

“I know the extent of my spiritual power, enough for you to refine the Crimson Heart Pill. That way, I can feel a little more at ease.”

Without a second thought, Mu Meng immediately shook his head and refused, "No, if I use your spiritual power to refine the Crimson Heart Pill, then that spiritual power will... then it won't be usable anymore, will it?"

This situation is different from that of the East Sea King. The East Sea King and his sister came from different clans, and no matter how he used it, his sister's spiritual power would never completely merge with his.

However, she and her sister were both members of the Celestial Clan and were blood relatives. If she used her spiritual power to refine the Crimson Heart Pill and circulate it throughout her body, it would be absorbed into her bones and blood and could never be removed.

Mu Meng was naturally unwilling for her sister to go to such lengths for her, and looked at her solemnly, "Sister, I know you treat me well, but I also know how important this spiritual power is to you. If I take it for myself, how can I face you in the future? If I take what's yours, how can I talk about protecting you?"

She leaned on Mu Luo's shoulder with a smile and put her arm around her slender waist. "I will refine the Crimson Heart Pill myself. I have already thought it through. Besides, I am not going to risk it alone. After returning the spiritual power to you, I have another matter to ask for your help with."

"What's up?"

Mu Meng smiled and whispered her plan in her sister's ear.

Mu Luo listened in silence, thought quietly for a long time, and then asked softly, "Are you sure?"

Mu Meng nodded. "Sister, even if this bad guy let Brother Zhong go and returned the spiritual power to you, it's an end for him, but a beginning for me. I will expose the evil he has done and make him pay the price he deserves."

Mu Luo cleared her throat: "I'm asking, are you sure you're absolutely safe from any danger?"

"Yes, yes." Mu Meng smiled at her with her eyes crinkling.

Mu Luo pondered for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

...

The news of the princess's spiritual power returning to her body spread throughout the entire Celestial Clan in less than a day. Now that she possessed spiritual power, the small Heavenly Prison was naturally no match for her. With the vastness of the heavens and the expanse of the earth, she could go wherever she wanted and do whatever she pleased.

These past two days, Mu Meng has been frequently visiting the Heavenly Emperor. She originally thought that after her sister gained her freedom, she would at least come to see their father, but who knew that she had no intention of doing so at all. And their father, too, had no intention of bowing his head.

These two people inevitably require her to worry about them a lot.

As soon as Mu Meng entered the room that day, she saw the Heavenly Emperor holding a strangely shaped lamp and looking at it. When he saw her come in, he hurriedly put the lamp aside.

"Father, what are you looking at? What is this?" Mu Meng had never seen her father so flustered before, so of course she was curious.

The Heavenly Emperor coughed, putting his fist to his lips, and said, "It's nothing."

Mu Meng's curiosity grew even stronger. She walked around with a smile and examined the lamp carefully. "Why do I feel a few wisps of my sister's aura in here? Father, tell me quickly what this treasure is? If you don't tell me, I'll ask my sister myself when she comes back."

"Sigh—you little ingrate! Your father loves you so much, but I think you're closer to your sister after all." The Heavenly Emperor rolled his eyes at her, then pointed disapprovingly to the door. "Your sister is quite the schemer, even more heartless than you. She went to the East Sea as soon as she regained her spiritual power. Even if she's eager for revenge, she should at least come and see me first, shouldn't she?"

Mu Meng smiled with narrowed eyes—her sister's departure was part of their plan, so she couldn't be blamed. However, the father and daughter were just as proud and arrogant as each other, so it seemed that reconciliation was just around the corner.

Mu Meng skipped over the topic of Mu Luo's trip to the East Sea, and instead held the lamp with a thoughtful smile. "Then I understand. This lamp looks extraordinary. Since it has my sister's aura, and you're holding it so carefully, could it be that you're trying to sense my sister's safety through it?"

The Heavenly Emperor, who had been silent for a while, couldn't help but smile and said, "You really are a clever little devil."

He took the lamp, stared at its soft glow, and gently explained to Mu Meng, "This lamp is called the Forty-Nine Peaceful Thoughts Lamp. Through it, one can sense the safety of those connected to its energy. This lamp has the power of foresight; it can detect whether there will be danger within the next forty-nine days. If so, the light will go out as a warning."

Mu Meng listened intently, then reached out and touched the edge of the lamp: "Like a soul flower?"

"It's somewhat similar, but not as exquisite and powerful as the Soul Flower. The Soul Flower lights up because it clearly senses that the person it's protecting is in danger, and it can teleport through the twin blossoms to protect the person it wants to protect. But this lamp's perception is vague and its range is too wide, so it can't accurately know when the other person will be in danger."

Mu Meng understood. "If my sister were always at home with the lights off, I really wouldn't know how to protect myself. But this is exactly what we need now. My sister went to the East Sea, and you're worried. If you see the lights off, you'll know that my sister will encounter danger in the future, and you can make preparations in advance."

The Heavenly Emperor sighed deeply, his eyes darting around slightly as he coldly snorted twice in displeasure: "If the lamp really goes out, the wolfish ambitions of the East Sea will be exposed. Then I will not care about anything else and will definitely send troops to the East Sea to destroy them in one fell swoop."

Mu Meng blinked: "But..."

"You, at such a young age, worry about so much. Although Luo Luo didn't come to see me before she left, I sent someone to deliver the bone fragments of her clan that she requested to be deposed from the Heavenly Clan back then. I received a reply yesterday that she accepted them, and now she is the eldest princess of the Heavenly Clan again."

Mu Meng then understood that her sister's status was completely different in this life. If the East Sea really dared to bully her, the Heavenly Clan would naturally have ample reason to fight back.

Of course, her father didn't know, but she believed that Zhong Liwei would never allow her sister to suffer any harm again.

Having figured out the purpose of the lamp, Mu Meng felt relieved. She had been worried for a long time that her father and sister would not forgive each other. "That's good. Why didn't you tell me about such a good thing sooner, Father? I was afraid that you would be angry with my sister, so I ran here every day to tell you all the good things about her. I'm afraid you would have gotten tired of me by now."

"It must have been tough for you, recounting all the good things about your sister without repeating yourself." The Heavenly Emperor smiled and patted Mu Meng's head.

With one worry gone, Mu Meng breathed a sigh of relief. However, she suddenly remembered something else and looked up to ask, "Father, this is my sister's 49 An Si Zhan. Do I have one too?"

The Heavenly Emperor looked her up and down. "What kind of talk is this? How could you not have it?" As he spoke, he made a hand gesture, and soon a lamp with a soft white light appeared in his palm.

As Mu Meng gazed at the lamp, his expression gradually grew solemn.

According to her father's words and the timeline, after she went to the desolate border alone to find Mu Qingheng in her previous life, her Forty-Nine Ansi Lamp would definitely go out.

In her imagination, her father was too busy to discover her whereabouts so quickly. But if he had such a treasure, he would soon realize that he was no longer in the Celestial Clan and that something bad would happen to him in the future.

Even if Lingwei doesn't say anything, he will definitely be able to guess where he can sneak off to at that time.

In his eyes, things became complicated: Mu Qingheng had been banished to the desolate borderlands, a place known as the lair of the demons; and when he went to find him, the Four-Nine Ansi Lamp had gone out.

Based on her understanding of her father, the cause and effect of this series of events were already very clear, and it was impossible for him not to do something.

Perhaps, in the previous life, the war between the Heavenly Demons was initiated by my father; who knows?

Mu Meng felt a headache coming on. Staring blankly at her Forty-Nine An Si Lamp, her clear, clean eyes were momentarily lost in thought before slowly regaining their resolve.

No matter what, Mu Qingheng is not innocent. Even if her father really started the war between the Heavenly Demons in her previous life, this war is exactly what Mu Qingheng wanted.

That's all. The cause of the war in her past life is no longer important. The facts are what they are. No matter how you look at it, she and Mu Qingheng are mortal enemies.

Instead of thinking about those things now, we should focus on this life. We need to move forward and do our own thing well.

"Mengmeng? Mengmeng? Why are you spacing out again?" The Heavenly Emperor waved his hand in front of Mu Meng's eyes. "What is our little Mengbao thinking about?"

Mu Meng blinked, realizing she had been lost in thought again. She smiled and casually changed the subject, "It's nothing. Father, when did you make these two 49 Ansi lamps? I've never seen or heard of them before."

"Of course you wouldn't know. This treasure is unique to our Celestial Clan, but only after a Celestial Clan member becomes a parent will their elders teach them how to make the Four-Nine Ansi Lamp. When you were all little, when you couldn't even walk properly, your father and mother had already made it for you." The Celestial Emperor smiled, a few faint smile lines appearing at the corners of his eyes.

When he spoke of this, his gaze became distant, and he stared blankly at a certain point in the air, as if recalling some warm and distant memories.

Mu Meng glanced at his father's expression and realized that he was missing his mother again. It turned out that the two of them had done this together.

She had never seen her mother before, and it turned out that her mother had made such a precious item for her by hand.

Wait... something's not right.

This treasure was made by the parents themselves. Although it is unknown what materials were used, since the lamps of her and her sister each contained their own aura, it must have been made by taking something from their bodies.

What about her older brother?

If her parents also made a Four-Nine An Si Lamp for her own brother, and he was cruelly killed by the demons after the child was switched, how could they not know that his lamp was extinguished? Even if her brother had already been replaced by Mu Qingheng when they made the An Si Lamp, as the son of the demons, his blood and aura were different from those of the celestial race. Didn't her parents notice anything?

Mu Meng couldn't understand it, but didn't dare to ask too directly. She pretended to be nonchalant and asked, "Father, since my sister and I both have them, then my brother must have them too?"

"Hmm?" The Heavenly Emperor raised an eyebrow and chuckled twice. "Your brother..."

His expression was a little strange, but he quickly regained his smiling look. "You silly child, you keep asking silly questions today. Your sister has it, so how could you not? Since you both have it, how can Heng'er be left out?"

He smiled and then sighed under Mu Meng's thoughtful gaze: "However, it doesn't really matter whether Heng'er has the Ansi Zhan or not."

Why is that? Mu Meng hurriedly asked, "Father, what do you mean?"

"Because..."

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince is waiting for your decree outside the gate."

The Heavenly Emperor, interrupted, slapped his forehead and said, "Yes, I called Heng'er over." He called out to the outside, "Please come in quickly."

He shook his head, and said to Mu Meng with a mischievous grin, "This demon race, huh, what a misfortune for the family. It's all because the old demon emperor had too many sons, causing constant internal strife. If it were me, I would be annoyed to death. Just the other day, Heng'er went to help the demon race's Crown Prince Yue quell the rebellion. I thought he would be gone for a while, but he came back quickly."

Mu Meng didn't expect her father to bring up a different topic. She knew about this matter. After she transferred her spiritual power to her sister, she came out and heard that the third young master of the demon race had committed rebellious acts. The demon race could not suppress him for a while and had to ask the celestial race for help.

This matter was of great importance, and Mu Qingheng set off that very night, so she hadn't seen him in the past few days.

But internal strife among the demon race was commonplace, and Mu Meng wasn't interested at all. Continuing from where she left off, she asked, "Father, you haven't finished. Why is it that it makes no difference whether my brother has the Four-Nine Ansi Lamp or not?"

To everyone's surprise, the Heavenly Emperor reneged on his promise in such a short time, saying, "Um... about this matter... I'll tell you later."

"But..." Mu Meng was about to ask further when Mu Qingheng walked in.

She had no choice but to shut up and sit there sullenly.