Chapter 282 The Soul Returns to "...Mother".

The sword spirit is neither human nor demon, nor is it a living creature.

They are spiritual beings that have been nurtured and transformed into human form. They have form but no appearance, and most of them lack facial features. Most importantly, none of the sword spirits have eyes.

Only true living beings in this world are born with eyes to observe.

Most sword spirits cover their faces with curtains because there is nothing underneath. Sword spirits like Kunwu and Tai'a, which have lips and noses but lack eyes, are extremely rare. Lin Feiran always thought that the Jinlan sword spirit was the same, so he never investigated it.

As Lin Feiran looked around, her vision gradually cleared, and her eyes slowly widened. Her closed lips unconsciously parted slightly, and her drooping fingertips twitched slightly.

The raised veil felt like a gentle brush against her heart, causing a slight tingling sensation. Her usually calm heartbeat quickened, and the lips peeking out from behind it were so familiar. When she was little, she often lay in that person's arms and saw those curved lips.

The sword spirit was unaware of the gaze. She simply held Lin Feiran in her arms, took out the pill with some haste, crushed off the wax seal with her fingertips, turned her head, and gently put the pill into her mouth.

"I'll get you some water. You're not seriously injured, but Bi Sheng suddenly went berserk. His curse was powerful, and you weren't on guard. You were stunned by the burst of spiritual energy, but you'll be able to see again soon."

She spoke as usual, explaining the reason step by step, then took out a water pouch from Lin Feiran's mustard seed bag, gently pressed it to the corner of her lips, and couldn't help but smile.

"Why are you staring blankly? Can't you see clearly? Drink some medicine to take it down."

This was clearly the voice of the sword spirit, which Lin Feiran should have been familiar with, but at this moment, it sounded completely unfamiliar.

She watched the sword spirit quietly, and without resistance, opened her mouth to drink the clear spring water. As she swallowed the pill, her drooping fingers twitched unconsciously, as if in a spasm. The next moment, she raised her hand, and her fingertips tentatively touched the corner of her lips.

These lips were a shape she could only trace in her memories.

For a moment, the cave was completely silent, and the sword spirit stopped moving as well, seemingly not expecting her to do this, her body suddenly stiffening.

Lin Feiran's gaze remained focused on that spot, her trembling fingertips sinking slightly, and the corners of her lips, which had been slightly upturned, were pressed in halfway, revealing their true nature.

Her body moved faster than her thoughts; her eyes were already red, and her trembling hand pressed down twice more.

She didn't lift her veil, nor did she look up at the corner of her lips; she simply lingered there, her gaze filled with longing and complexity.

"Do you remember? On the way to Luoyang, I had a question I wanted to ask you, but in the end I didn't say anything."

Lin Feiran's hand trembled again and again, but she finally withdrew it. She didn't know how much effort she had to put down her emotions. She just looked up at the sword spirit, but her eyes gradually filled with tears.

"It's just the two of us now, so I have to ask..."

Why is the sword-sealing technique that Zhang Chun and his group used useless against you?

Lin Feiran had cultivated at Daohe Palace for decades, and although he had never used the sword-sealing technique, he had heard of it.

On the day of the battle in the canyon, Zhang Chun and the others suddenly brought up the matter of sealing the sword, and they seemed so confident. They must have made all the preparations in advance. In fact, in their opinion, the sealing of the sword was already perfected, and she shouldn't have drawn the Golden Wave Sword on the day of the battle.

However, this method, which should have been foolproof, went awry halfway through. Not only did she pull it out, but the sword spirit was also unharmed. Even Zhang Chunhe, who was usually calm and collected, showed surprise at that moment.

Lin Feiran knew the power of the sword-sealing technique, but she also knew that nothing was absolute. She had thought before that perhaps the Golden Wave Sword Spirit had some unknown methods, but her intuition told her that something was definitely wrong.

Lin Feiran is not an emotional person; she trusts facts more than intuition.

Once such doubts arise, previously overlooked clues rush to surface.

For example, how could a mother who had not yet reached the True Realm and had only switched from weapon crafting to sword cultivation halfway through nurture such a powerful sword spirit?

For example, how did the Golden Wave Sword fall onto the Sword Mountain in the Pilgrimage Valley after the mother was injured in the Northern Plains and died in Luoyang?

For example, on the day she took the sword, the Golden Wave Sword remained silent, watching her choose one sword after another and try one sword after another until she faced the maddened serpent alone and had no sword to fight back. Only then did the sword suddenly emerge from its sheath, like a streak of light falling into her hand and standing beside her.

For example, even if she were the son of her former master, the sword spirit would not have needed to risk his life to save her so many times. No matter how you look at it, they were strangers who had only recently met.

As the past events resurfaced, Lin Feiran began to have doubts.

Of course, there are other explanations for all of this; she could come up with ten or even a hundred. She wanted to make a calm judgment, and she could even ask directly.

But before that, she couldn't help but repeatedly recall her past interactions with the sword spirit, and a sense of unease and helplessness arose in her heart that she dared not delve into.

For the first time, intuition overcame reason, and even when he was about to ask the sword spirit a question, he swallowed his words because of this uneasy feeling.

Now, her voice echoes in the cave, sinking into a deathly silence.

Lin Feiran stopped waiting. She sat up, gripped the sword spirit's arm tightly, her wrist trembling uncontrollably, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Take it off, I want to see it."

These words are short, yet very childlike, carrying a natural, assertive, and unreasonable force that a child displays towards their parents.

Lin Feiran hadn't used such a tone in a very long time, but when she spoke again, her voice trembled.

The breeze was tense and astringent, and the air inside the cave was swirling. She couldn't hear the howling wind outside the cave; she could only hear the thumping sound in her own eardrums.

One after another.

The sword spirit neither refused nor spoke. She simply looked up at Lin Feiran, her veil fluttering slightly. After a long silence, she raised her hand, performed a hand seal, and removed the veil that had stood there for so long, like a ravine.

Beneath the veil was an incredibly familiar face, but her eyes were lightly closed. After a moment, her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she opened her eyes.

Her pupils were as black as ink, reflecting Lin Feiran's expression and the few clear tears that finally dripped from her eyes.

"Slowly."

Her voice had changed; it was no longer as steady and deep as before, but carried her familiar lightness and a slight hoarseness. Such a contradictory timbre could only be possessed by one person in the world.

“...Mother.” Lin Feiran stared at her intently, but the word “Mother” was so faint and soft that it was almost inaudible.

Jin Lan's eyelashes trembled slightly. After that soft call, her figure began to change. Her original height, which was the same as Lin Feiran's, shrank by a few inches, and her finger bones, back, and waist also changed.

At this moment, she was exactly as Lin Feiran remembered her.

Lin Feiran's eyes were still filled with tears. For a moment, she seemed to have a lot to say, a lot to ask, and even a lot of buried emotions to release.

She should have shouted at that moment, "Why have you been by my side all this time, yet never intended to see me?" She should have complained, she should have been angry, but all of that came out of her mouth and finally just uttered a few hoarse words.

"Mother, I miss you so much."

She hadn't seen her mother for a long time. In the years when her memories were sealed away and the past gradually faded, she rarely even dreamed of her.

At this moment, Lin Feiran felt as if she were witnessing a dream. She didn't approach, but simply watched. After a long while, she reached out and gently embraced the figure in front of her. Only when the figure reached out and hugged her back as she had in childhood did she finally bury her face in her shoulder and sob.

Jin Lan's eyes were also glistening with tears. She stroked Lin Feiran's head without saying a word.

It was unclear how much time had passed, but Lin Feiran's sobbing continued unabated, while a figure had already arrived outside the cave.

Ru Xian heard the faint voice from afar, and after sending out his thoughts, he received no reply. He was anxious, not knowing what had happened, until he quickly walked into the formation and saw this scene, at which point he gradually calmed down.

His gaze first fell on Lin Feiran, and after seeing that she was alright, he looked at the sword spirit. Then his gaze paused, his eyebrows lifted slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He had seen the portrait of Lin Feiran's mother before, so what was there for him not to understand when he saw this scene?

He lowered his eyelashes slightly, looked at Lin Feiran who was draped over Jin Lan's shoulder, with only the back of her head showing, and stopped to the side, not intending to get closer. But Jin Lan looked up at him at this moment, her lips parted, and she silently uttered a sentence.

Ru Xian's gaze narrowed slightly. After silently staring at her for a few moments, her eyes shifted, and the sobbing suddenly stopped. Lin Feiran closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Ru Xian stopped where she was, walked up to Lin Feiran's side, bent down and pulled her into her arms, then looked up at Jin Lan.

What do you want to talk to me about?

Jin Lan held Lin Feiran's wrist, her gaze resolute yet tinged with a hint of reluctance: "Could you... seal away her memories of tonight?"

Ru Hai lowered her eyes and brushed aside the damp strands of hair on Lin Feiran's face: "Why? She'll be happy to know you're still alive."

"But I am already dead."

Jin Lan let out a long sigh, suppressing all her emotions, but slowly clenched her hands: "You've been searching for three months, you should know better than anyone that the dead cannot be brought back to life."

Ru Xian paused for a moment, then took out a piece of brocade cloth and wiped the dampness from her face without saying a word.

"The reason I was able to remain in this realm is because the saints of Pilgrimage Valley worked together to leave me a wisp of their divine soul, allowing me to reside in the sword. But this is only a spiritual body; I died thirteen years ago."

"...Since we can't keep her here long, why subject her to the pain of losing her mother again?"

Ru Xian looked at Lin Feiran, and even though she fell asleep under the incantation, she would still sob from time to time.

He remained silent for a long time, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He simply picked up Lin Feiran, released the heavy beast, and waited for it to pick up the heavy beast before turning around and walking outside.

Let's leave this place first.

...

Lin Feiran woke up in a blinding light.

It should be eternal night now, so where is this light coming from?

She opened her eyes with some confusion and looked around. She found herself lying on a bed with curtains hanging around her, embroidered with feathers. In the center hung an extremely bright pearl, which emitted a faint warmth, like sunlight.

The light comes from here.

A soft breath passed by, and Lin Feiran turned his eyes to see Ru Xian's sleeping face.

His snow-white hair fell loosely, red marks were reflected obliquely on his eyes, and his lips were half-red. In this warm light, his face showed two kinds of tranquility and peace.

Lin Feiran stared blankly for a moment, but quickly looked away and gazed at the bead, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

Ru Xian opened his mouth, moved slightly, yawned, propped his head up and watched her, and slowly stroked her neck with his other hand.

Lin Feiran stared intently at the bead: "Why didn't you do as she said yesterday?"

Yesterday, Ru Xian did not let Lin Feiran fall asleep as instructed, but instead told her through telepathy to pretend to be asleep. In that pretense, Lin Feiran heard everything her mother said.

His answer was also very direct: "I don't think doing this will make you happy. Those are her true feelings, and they are definitely about you. Whatever she says, you have the right to hear it, don't you?"

Lin Feiran continued to look upwards, her gaze unusually conflicted, something she rarely did.

A moment later, she suddenly rolled over and buried herself in the pillow, pulling the blanket over herself with her other hand, leaving only half of her head exposed. She looked like she was suffocating herself, and the sounds coming out of her mouth were muffled.

"What happened to Luoyang after we left?"

She rarely avoids questions, but this is the one she asked now. Ru Xian found it amusing, but her gaze softened. He sat up, leaned against the bed rail, looked down at her, and maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too distant.

When I tried to contact you, I didn't receive a reply for a long time. I worried that something might have happened, so I left and came looking for you. I don't know what happened after that.

In fact, it didn't take long. After calling "Lin Feiran" three times without any response, he immediately left Luoyang City and rushed to the cave.

He could not afford to wait a second time.

Lin Feiran hadn't originally intended to ask that, and responded somewhat absentmindedly.

Ru Xian sighed softly and placed her hand on her back: "Let's not talk about anything else. Let me see if the incantation needs to be replenished."

Lin Feiran didn't look up, and said in a muffled voice, "Can your body handle being nourished like this all the time?"

Every incantation is uttered at the cost of one's body.

Ru Xian spoke frankly: "I have already started my cultivation, so my body is not weak. Besides, it's just a few protective incantations that I wrote down. It won't hurt me. More important than that is that it makes me feel at ease after I write them down."

"real?"

"Really, I wouldn't lie to you about this."

Lin Feiran then moved her body, but did not look up. She was too embarrassed to let him see her like this, so she turned around in the blanket and quickly buried her head in his lap.

The leg ring was right next to her face, and its cool temperature made her feel a little better.

Ru Xian naturally wouldn't refuse, and he let her have her way. Then he moved his leg to signal her, and Lin Feiran reached out and pulled up the back of his clothes, revealing the complicated incantations on them.

"For now, there's no damage, so there's no need to replace it."

Upon hearing this, Lin Feiran withdrew his hand, his clothes slowly sliding down to cover the incantations he had personally written.

He sat up straight, his left leg, which was being held down, remained still, while his right leg was bent. His arm rested on his right knee, and his chin was pressed against the crook of his arm. He tilted his head and looked down at her, his slender hand stroking the back of her neck. Her long, snow-white hair cascaded down, gathering her round head within it.

"What should we do? Some people are racking their brains to the point of exhaustion."

Lin Feiran paused, sensing the teasing in his words. She didn't reply, but instead, deflated, she raised her hand and tapped the gold ring on his leg.

He continued to joke, "I never realized you had this kind of temper before. You dare to hit my leg today, who knows, you might dare to hit me tomorrow."

"..."

Lin Feiran's breathing changed several times before he finally spoke in a muffled voice.

"Why would I hit you!"

Ru Xian chuckled a few times before saying, "What your mother thinks is her business. You just need to care about what you think. Besides, she cares about your thoughts too, doesn't she?"

Lin Feiran calmed down and remained still.

"good!"

As if making a decision, Lin Feiran suddenly stood up, only to bump hard into Ru Hai's jaw.

"..." He rarely let out such disordered breathing.

Lin Feiran turned to look at him, her eyes widening, and immediately leaned closer: "Ru Xian, I didn't mean to bump into you!"

As always, Ru Xian was very sensitive. After such a collision, a small red patch appeared on her fair chin, like a smear of rouge. He touched it and looked at her with annoyance, but when he met her slightly swollen eyes, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

He scolded playfully, "What are you thinking about?"

Seeing that he was alright, Lin Feiran got up and lifted the bed curtains to look out the window: "I'll go and talk to her right now. I don't want to forget anymore. Even if we're destined to perish, at least until then, we can still be together!"

Lin Feiran stopped waiting, rushed out of the room barefoot, not caring where she was, and went straight up to the scarlet figure.

Jin Lan was somewhat surprised. She originally wanted to pretend not to know her, but when she saw Lin Feiran's reddened eyes, she understood what was going on. So she raised her hand and lifted her veil, looking at her with her clear eyes.

Lin Feiran wanted to say those bold words, but just looking at that face made her choke up and sob uncontrollably.

This usually quiet and reserved young swordsman was now standing barefoot in the courtyard, dressed in a disheveled white robe, his black hair loose, his face covered in tears, and he was crying loudly.

At this moment, she is no longer Lin Feiran carrying all the burdens, but the child who woke up from the dream only to find that her mother was not by her side.

"Mother... I've grown up nicely, I'm twenty years old now..."

Author's note: My eyes are drooping...