Chapter 342 Senior Brother, you should be the one talking to me more.

Yu Sui looked up at the two people in front of her again. Liang Zhen seemed to think that his senior brother was too noisy, so he made a hand seal to block out the sound of the rainstorm around him. He then explained Zhang Guanyi's explanation to Yu Sui.

Yu Sui then accepted the fact that the ice butterfly in front of him was his senior brother.

She bent down and held the ice butterfly in her hands. Although it looked icy cold, she could not feel any weight or warmth when she held it in her palm. It was so fragile that it would break at the slightest touch.

But Yu Sui could sense Mei Liangyu's aura from the ice butterfly, which came from the severed soul bond. How could a battle cause someone to sever their soul bond while they were still alive?

There were no signs of a fight here; the rocks were all washed down by the torrential rain.

Since it was Zhang Guanyi who made the move, he must also know that he and his senior brother had formed a pact.

"Is this really my senior brother? But I clearly sensed the bond I formed with him..." Yu Sui pretended to accidentally reveal the bond to test the two of them.

"Your Ghost Daoist practice of soul-binding, huh!" Zhang Guanyi laughed heartily. "I knew your relationship wasn't simple. If you can really awaken him, then you're in his heart..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Sui said, "The contract is broken."

Zhang Guanyi was stunned.

Yu Sui said softly, "My soul bond with my senior brother has broken. Dean Zhang, tell me, is my senior brother still alive?"

Zhang Guanyi clearly hadn't expected this, and rolled his eyes without answering. Meanwhile, Liang Zhen, standing beside him, reached out to Yu Sui and said calmly, "Give me the Ice Butterfly."

If Mei Liangyu were to sever the soul bond on his own initiative, it would be a dangerous sign. If Nangong Sui were to take Bingdie with him, the very thing he feared might actually happen.

In the past, Yu Sui would have obediently handed over the Ice Butterfly when faced with the pressure from the Saint.

Because of the strange fire, she always had a certain degree of fear of saints, and when Liang Zhen said this, there was also a sense of oppressive command.

At this moment, Yu Sui lowered her eyes to look at the ice butterfly held in her palm, shook her head, and took a step back: "If Senior Brother became like this because of the two Deans, I will not return him to you."

Liang Zhen said, "If he broke the bond voluntarily."

Zhang Guanyi glanced at his junior brother, thinking, "He's trying to sow discord."

Yu Sui, however, remained completely unaffected: "My senior brother will tell me himself."

Seeing that Yu Sui had no intention of handing over the Ice Butterfly, Liang Zhen withdrew his outstretched hand, made a hand seal, and spread out the black and white Bagua under his feet, operating the Qimen Liujia.

He did not use the golden thunder commonly used in Taoism, but instead used the simplest Bagua Sheng technique, which a hundredfold increased in power.

The Li trigram generates the Zhou Tian fire. (Yuexia)

The raging flames transformed into countless fiery hands that hurtled towards Yu Sui, their target being the ice butterfly in Yu Sui's hand. Liang Zhen's Zhou Tian Fire illuminated almost the entire valley with its light.

The splashing rain was visible in the firelight, and the clear stream reflected its brilliance.

The girl stood fearless amidst the flames, her protective aura ignited, and the Heartfire Talisman manifested before her, unleashing a blazing sun array that instantly turned the flowers and grass on the ground into sparks and ashes.

Flames continuously rose from the ground, transforming into burning eagle claws to intercept.

The two sides were evenly matched, and neither side was able to advance even an inch.

Yu Sui looked directly at her enemy, without flinching or showing any fear.

Putting aside her past promise to Mei Liangyu, if she loved him, she would be willing to do anything, and at this moment, she no longer wanted to continue living in fear.

If I hadn't actively used the strange fire, how could you have discovered it?

When she uses her strange fire, no one can escape.

If that's the case, why am I the one who's afraid?

You are the ones who should be afraid.

The flame hidden deep within Yu Sui's soul flickered gently, and a strange sound echoed from the depths of his mind, as eerie and alluring as the sound that had emanated when the first strange fire prophesied the end of the world:

"Don't be afraid."

"You are the one who holds their lives in your hands."

Yu Sui's fingers trembled slightly as he made hand seals, suppressing the excitement and bloodlust surging within him, the thrill of witnessing the destruction of all things.

Liang Zhen was only surprised for a moment by Yu Sui's Blazing Sun Formation before flicking a purple talisman forward between his slender fingers.

The talisman's purple light scattered, transforming into seventeen beams of light that sealed Yu Sui in place. Liang Zhen turned around and immediately appeared in front of Yu Sui.

He had just reached the center of the Blazing Sun Formation and reached out his hand to the girl when the figures in the formation vanished.

The illusory image of the Ghost Daoist's fixation of the soul.

That's a really fast reaction time.

Liang Zhen looked up and accurately spotted the girl's figure where the darkness met the firelight.

Zhang Guanyi remained rooted to the spot, observing every moment of their fight. The boy crossed his arms, a pure white wildflower swept in by the wind dangling from his mouth, his dark eyes calmly fixed on the two in front of him.

Yu Sui wanted to leave the valley with Bing Die. She used the Wind Riding Technique to run for a while before realizing that something was wrong with the surroundings. She hadn't traveled this part of the valley when she came, but there was only one road in the valley.

The doubts in her mind had just begun when she was back in front of Liang Zhen in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Yu Sui was only a step away from Liang Zhen. Liang Zhen waved his hand to snatch the Ice Butterfly. Just as Yu Sui was about to retreat and dodge, she heard a loud bang of thunder.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two golden lightning bolts coming from behind, blocking Yu Sui's retreat and forcing her to confront Liang Zhen in close combat.

Yu Sui reacted extremely quickly, bending his elbow to block Liang Zhen's attack. At the same time, he used the Ghostly Soul Control Technique to create wind and sound, causing waves of wind to rise from below, violently injuring Liang Zhen's eyes, forcing him to turn his head to dodge.

Golden mist swirled in the girl's eyes, the flowing, delicate golden mist almost completely covering her body, transforming her protective aura into the form of a Ghost Daoist with all seven senses fully awakened.

With the Soul Control Triple and the Heavenly Secret Spirit Absorption Technique activated simultaneously, a clear bell sound rang in Liang Zhen's ears. His eyes flickered, and he looked at Yu Sui in surprise.

Nangong Sui's use of the Ghost Path to control souls was simply masterful, with no gaps in the transitions, all happening at the same time, thus giving his opponent little chance to react.

The spirit briefly controlled Liang Zhen, giving Yu Sui enough time to create distance.

She used her wind manipulation technique to move away from the ground. She had been suddenly brought back to Liang Zhen's side earlier, and Yu Sui suspected it was because of the ground. But even though she was floating in the air using her wind manipulation technique, she was still brought back to Zhang Guanyi's side in an instant.

Standing on the rocks by the stream, Zhang Guanyi tilted his head and smiled at Yu Sui in the air. The Gen trigram's generating technique shook the mountain, and the pressure of gravity caused Yu Sui to fall to the ground in a sorry state.

Seeing the surprise in the girl's eyes, Zhang Guanyi took the initiative to explain: "This move is called 'swallowing distance,' which can infinitely shorten or lengthen the distance between us. At the beginning, we were here, and you were in the middle of the valley."

The boy snapped his fingers and said smugly, "With a snap, you were brought to me by the Swallowing Ruler. Even if you run to the entrance of the valley now, I can use the Swallowing Strike to pull you back here."

"Dean Zhang..." Yu Sui had just opened her mouth when she noticed Liang Zhen coming up behind her.

Zhang Guanyi used his swallowing technique to control Yu Sui, leaving her with nowhere to run. No matter which direction she ran, she would return to the same spot.

“If your soul bond has been broken by him, then it is indeed somewhat dangerous for you.” Zhang Guanyi sighed and reached out his hand to Bingdie. “Come back.”

The ice butterfly flew away from Yu Sui's palm and, under the girl's stunned gaze, slowly landed on her fair collarbone.

Zhang Guanyi was stunned.

This was the first time he had encountered an ice butterfly in a butterfly dream that refused to obey his commands.

"Come back," Zhang Guanyi called out earnestly.

The ice butterfly's wings trembled, but it did not leave Yu Sui.

Yu Sui reached out and covered the ice butterfly that was resting on her collarbone, and said seriously, "I don't think it's dangerous. Since Dean Zhang wants me to try to wake up my senior brother, please give me some time."

Zhang Guanyi stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought, and appeared not to notice what Yu Sui was saying.

After a moment, Zhang Guanyi said, "Then you can have the Ice Butterfly."

Liang Zhen looked at him disapprovingly: "Senior brother."

“That’s his choice.” Zhang Guanyi said, pointing to the ice butterfly that refused to fly back from Yu Sui. “Besides, if I remember correctly, this girl is also Chang Gen’s apprentice. What if she summons Chang Gen if I don’t give her the ice butterfly?”

Liang Zhen said helplessly, "Didn't you have a solution?"

Zhang Guanyi said meaningfully, "Didn't she never say she was going to find Chang Gen, but instead planned to wake him up herself?"

Liang Zhen realized the meaning behind those words, and his gaze towards Yu Sui became meaningful.

Could it be that... she knows about Mei Liangyu's missing memories?

The two of them were bound by a spiritual bond, and Mei Liangyu may have told her all his secrets.

Liang Zhen looked at Yu Sui, speechless for a moment.

Yu Sui held the ice butterfly in her palm again and examined it closely, her fingers gently stroking its delicate wings.

What kind of dreams are you immersed in?

Are they those beautiful memories from the past?

She could vaguely guess Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen's intentions. Some wanted their senior brother to remain in a state of amnesia, while others were forcing him to remember.

"If you truly want to awaken him, you can only stay in this valley and cannot step out of it."

Zhang Guanyi told Yu Sui, "You can spend more time talking to him."

Yu Sui agreed.

She stayed by the Ice Butterfly from day to night, listening to the storms in the valley with the Ice Butterfly. At first, Yu Sui would talk to the Ice Butterfly, but if the storm became fierce, she would hide behind the rocks and quietly watch the storm destroy the flowers and plants in the valley.

One day, two days, three days... Bingdie simply stayed quietly by Yu Sui's side.

Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen watched from a distance without disturbing them.

The storm brought about by the unusual yin-yang phenomenon lasted for a whole month.

As daylight broke, Yu Sui watched the rain gradually subside and inexplicably concluded that this would be the last rain.

She looked at the ice butterfly in her hand, her almond-shaped eyes dark and wet, reflecting the motionless ice butterfly, like a painting frozen in time after the rain.

"Senior brother, it's alright. You can rest well in the dream world." Yu Sui said softly to Bing Die. "If you can see the dead come back to life, you can stay in the dream world forever if you want."

"It's okay if you leave me to face this world alone, as long as you're willing to be so cruel to me... I don't even need to wake up."

Yu Sui slowly lowered his head and affectionately touched the ice butterfly, his voice barely audible: "Senior brother, you should be the one talking to me more."

The soft, intimate sounds reached the boy's ears as night fell. The storm in the world outside his dream subsided, but a thunderous roar shook the world within his dream.

Dong Lanli stood atop the city wall of Yandu, his eyes reflecting the torches burning atop the wall, while the shouts of the imperial guards below relaying intelligence reached his ears:

"His Highness the Sixth Prince was seriously injured and went missing seven days ago on the Six Provinces Plateau!"

"The rebel army from six prefectures has crossed the Three Crane River, but the Sixth Prince is still missing!"

"The Changya Iron Cavalry was completely annihilated in the six provinces!"

"His Highness the Sixth Prince has been spotted in Izumo City of the Six Provinces!"

"Report! Xing Ji, the head of the Zhou Kingdom's Department of Justice and Waterways, and Nangong Ming, the Prince of Qingyang, request an audience with Your Majesty!"

"Open the city gates!"

The fierce wind blew the flames off. Amidst the howling thunder, Dong Lanli listened to the reports from the past month. He looked down at the city wall and saw the two rows of people standing at the front, including the head of the Xingshui Division and the Prince of Qingyang Nangong, whom the Imperial Guards had just reported.

The head of the Punishment Department wore a long black robe and had a cold expression.

King Qingyang Nangong was dressed in a long white robe with a blue and red brocade belt. His handsome face carried a gentle smile of compassion for all living beings.

Beside him stood a girl in a white dress, her face veiled, revealing only a pair of extremely dark eyes that haughtily surveyed everything before her.

As the heavy city gates opened to them, the two groups led the mentally unstable Sixth Prince into the palace to meet the Prince of Yan.

This was the first time Dong Lanli had met Nangong Ming.