Chapter 343 "Yu Sui"

That year, the sixth prince of Yan was seriously wounded on the battlefield of the Six States and went missing. When he returned to Yan, he had transformed from a majestic young general into a mentally challenged and amnesiac fool.

The land of Chuyun, one of the six states of Yan, borders the states of Zhou and Qingyang.

The sixth prince, who had been stranded in the Sanjiao region, was discovered by people from Zhou and Qingyang, and was escorted to Yandu by Xing Ji of Zhou and Nangong Ming of Qingyang.

Standing atop the city wall, Dong Lanli turned back to look towards the royal palace, where lights shone brightly, while the world trembled in the wind and rain.

Dong Lanli knew that in the later stages, the army her mother commanded was only responsible for resisting foreign invasions, while everyone was involved in the internal strife within Yan, because her mother was also unable to let go of everything.

Even on her deathbed, her mother refused to hand over the kingdom of Yan to the Zhao family.

Zhao Yuxiang tried every means to cure the Sixth Prince, but the Prince of Yan did not want to be deprived of power by anyone, not even his own son, so he let it go.

The Crown Prince's faction was even more unwilling for their biggest rival to live.

The eldest princess's faction was also unwilling to rescue the Zhao family.

The Zhao clan spared no effort to protect the Sixth Prince, even going so far as to collaborate with the people of Nan Jing behind Zhao Yuxiang's back. Nan Jing had produced a world-destroying figure, a 13th-realm military strategist with a unique flame, and a great general who had rendered outstanding service to Nan Jing.

General Xin Wu of Nanjing died in Yan, at the hands of the husband of the Princess of Yan. Therefore, the purpose of Nanjing's alliance with the Zhao clan is obvious: they want the Zhao clan to kill the Princess and Donglan Xun.

Unfortunately, Donglan only found out at the very end.

He secretly brought Gao Tianhao back and, in cooperation with Zhao Yuxiang, secretly led people to heal the Sixth Prince.

At that time, the boy thought that as long as the sixth prince recovered and returned to normal, his older sister would no longer be sad, his mother would not be forced to take on the mess left by the sixth prince, and his father would not disappear without a trace.

Only now do I realize that some things, no matter how hard you try, you still can't change.

In a daze, the scene shifts, and the boy comes from the high wall to the pavilion. He is asleep at his desk, holding an unfinished mechanism in his hand. In his half-awake state, he hears his mother and older sister talking.

"Is he really beyond saving?" the older sister asked sadly. "Mother, he had no choice in many things, just like us, but why..."

The naive young girl, who doesn't yet understand love, is simply saddened and distressed by her friend's terrible situation.

Gongsun Xi bent down slightly and gently wiped the tears from his daughter's eyes.

“This is the world we face. I just hope you won’t be afraid.” The mother’s voice whispered in her daughter’s ear, “I’m sorry.”

The current situation in the Yan Kingdom is cruel, and seems to be an endless torment, both for them and for these children.

After her older sister left, her mother remained in the house. She reached out and gently turned the water well inserted on the table. The red paper windmill slowly turned, and the wind and water vapor moved with the heavens and earth.

After her mother stayed in the room for a long time, Dong Lanli could no longer resist falling asleep and woke up.

The young boy's eyes were clear, and he sat upright, showing no trace of the grogginess of someone who had just woken up. He lost again to his mother's patience contest.

Gongsun Xi stood opposite the table and simply smiled upon seeing this.

As they looked at each other, the boy's gaze gradually deepened, his features matured, and he shed his youthful elegance and aloofness, transforming into a flamboyant indifference that had mingled with the streets and countryside.

The boy seemed very confused and asked his mother, "Isn't everything we've done to save the State of Yan?"

Gongsun Xi knew that he had secretly sent someone to rescue the Sixth Prince, but he did not stop him.

When asked by her child, the mother shook her head.

"It's not salvation, it's the end."

"As long as there is one person from the old era alive, the catastrophe of the Yan Kingdom will never end, including me."

"Ah Li, winning or losing can sometimes be very simple."

Gongsun Xi pointed his hand into the air, and maps of the Yan Kingdom appeared on the table, reflected in the boy's eyes. Some areas were marked with black and white fish symbols. These maps of the Yan Kingdom resembled a huge fishpond, with tiny fish quietly hiding within it unnoticed.

"You and your enemy must share the same goal, otherwise there will never be an end."

After the black and white fish in the fishpond swam back and forth, they transformed into countless flames, burning the fishpond to ashes.

The flames that blazed in the boy's eyes were bright and dazzling, but deep in his memory, a scene of a raging fire bursting in the deep sea flashed, and the farmer saint was burned in terror by the fire. As the black flames engulfed him, the girl tightly protected him and they fell into the deep sea together.

You begged her to save you.

You insisted that she do everything in her power to save you.

You asked her to choose to protect rather than destroy.

The boy gripped what he was holding tightly, his breathing became rapid, he was on the verge of suffocation, and he fell off the table to the ground. When he struggled to his feet, supporting himself on the edge of the table, everything before him had changed:

Inside the main hall where the Sixth Prince resided, a veiled girl in white shouted that she had seen a suspicious figure run into the hall, so she wanted to go in to check, but was stopped by Princess Wangshu.

Princess Wangshu blocked the way, staring coldly at the masked girl: "This is the Yandu Royal Palace, how dare you trespass here!"

The masked girl showed no fear and raised her voice, "I am under orders from the King to guard His Highness the Sixth Prince. If I find anyone who threatens His Highness, I can deal with them directly. Your Highness, please step aside, otherwise I can consider your obstruction as an act of complicity in harming His Highness the Sixth Prince!"

Princess Wangshu refused to allow it, but the masked girl insisted on breaking in, and the two inevitably clashed.

The masked girl brought several thirteenth-realm sorcerers, while Princess Wangshu was alone. Even with the activation of the armor formation, she was still trapped in place by two thirteenth-realm masters working together.

The masked girl walked past Princess Wangshu and pushed open the door to enter the house. As soon as she opened the door a crack, she was stopped from the inside.

Dong Lanli gripped the door that had been pushed open inside the room, looking up into the girl's extremely dark eyes.

Whether they are mother and daughter or sisters, they all have similar eyebrows and eyes, and equally dark and clear pupils, yet they are distinctly different. That person is a unique existence in Dong Lanli's heart.

The masked girl stared in surprise into the boy's eyes. In an instant, the boy's seemingly subsequent action of opening the door caused an irresistible pull, drawing her staggering into the house. She heard the door slam shut behind her and abruptly turned around.

Behind the girl, countless palace doors closed, and the palaces were empty.

"who?!"

She stepped forward to question them, using her inner energy to slam the door open. Only one door opened, leading to an endless corridor.

The masked girl continued to use her inner energy to destroy the palace gates with the spirit of famous characters, but the sound of the gates closing could still be heard incessantly, as if she could never leave this palace.

Meanwhile, Dong Lanli led Gao Tianhao, who was treating the Sixth Prince, away through the tunnel. Gao Tianhao followed behind, exclaiming how close they had come to disaster. If that little girl had come in, things would have been terrible. The treatment of the soul could not be interrupted rashly, otherwise the Sixth Prince would really become an idiot and never recover.

"This move doesn't seem like the kind of low-level technique I've ever seen before. Is it something from your mechanical arts?" Gao Tianhao pressed.

Dong Lanli did not answer.

Gao Tianhao followed behind: "Even if you didn't say it, I could tell. The methods of the Mechanists are indeed very mysterious, but you are even more mysterious. I think you also managed to create this tunnel. So many thirteenth-realm masters and saints in the palace didn't even notice it."

"You're much better at hiding your secrets than your older brothers and sisters."

The boy walked ahead but asked, "Can the strange fire really destroy the entire Xuan Gu Continent?"

"What?" Gao Tianhao was stunned.

"I say, can a strange fire disregard the oath of non-war and burn down six kingdoms?" The boy turned to look at the old man.

After pondering for a moment, Gao Tianhao said, "I don't know, since no one has tried it before."

"Wasn't it prophesied that the strange fire would destroy the world?" the boy asked. "Why couldn't it?"

“Young Master, those are prophecies from six hundred years ago. Moreover, those prophecies are… described by the Fang family as an unrepeatable, divinely ordained dream.” Gao Tianhao replied with a wry smile, but his tone was serious. “When the prophecy first appeared, everyone on the Xuan Gu Continent witnessed the scene of strange fire falling from the sky and burning all things in the world that very night. That’s why this prophecy has been passed down to this day without being lost or interrupted.”

"Even if the six kingdoms intend to cover up and downplay the harm of the strange fire and reduce people's fear of it, they themselves are the ones who are most afraid of it."

Dong Lanli stood there in silence.

Gao Tianhao's heart was pounding in his chest. He asked him cautiously, "What are you thinking about?"

“Mother is right.” The boy walked forward on his own. “The future world will be burned by raging fire.”

Even a vow of non-aggression cannot withstand it.

Gao Tianhao chased after the boy to ask why, but he didn't get an answer from him.

After exiting the tunnel, the boy asked Gao Tianhao to leave, ensuring his safe departure from Yandu.

Dong Lanli returned to his mansion outside the city and came to the courtyard under the flowering trees. The dim light of the lamps on the pond reflected on the water, making out the tall figure of the man. His phoenix eyes under his dark eyebrows moved slightly as he looked at the young man on the shore with a cold and calm expression.

The boy trembled slightly as he stared blankly at his reflection in the water.

They all heard the cry from the celestial maiden:

"Senior brother!"

Dong Lanli's body convulsed uncontrollably, her breathing became heavy, and bloodshot veins gradually appeared in her eyes.

"I will go back to her."

"I want to see her too."

“I remember every word I said, but I just…” The boy almost knelt on the shore, struggling to breathe, each word uttered with great difficulty, “I wanted to see them one more time.”

Mei Liangyu looked up from the water toward the shore, seeing how vulnerable she was.

“Ah Li.”

A questioning voice came from behind. Prince Yuheng came up behind Dong Lanli, put a hand on the boy's shoulder and squatted down. "What's wrong?"

The elder brother's gentle voice reached Dong Lanli's ears. Dong Lanli lowered her eyes and saw the sacred wooden talisman tied to her brother's waist. The black talisman was shimmering with golden incantation patterns.

"It's nothing," Dong Lanli replied, her face covered in sweat and her words slurred.

Prince Yuheng supported his shoulder, making him look up at him, but Dong Lanli only exchanged a glance with his brother before turning his face away. Seeing that the boy was covered in sweat and his eyes were bloodshot, looking like he was on the verge of death, his brother's eyes were filled with pity. He sighed softly and showed an apologetic expression: "Ali, I'm sorry, I've left you all alone."

Dong Lanli turned her head stiffly, her expression frozen in disbelief.

"It's too hard for you to be alone, go back."

"elder brother……"

Prince Yuheng gently patted the boy's shoulder, his eyes filled with a comforting smile: "Your mother has your father to take care of her, and your older sister has me here. I'm just afraid that you will be very lonely in the future, but perhaps... your choice is also quite good."

“Ali, your parents were willing to give their lives for their vows, and I can give everything for the family I cherish. But we both followed what our hearts truly wanted. You can do what you want to do, and no one will stop you.”

The boy, only fifteen or sixteen years old, looked directly into Dong Lanli's eyes with a serious and calm gaze, and his gentle words suppressed Dong Lanli's emotions that were about to collapse.

Let's go.

Prince Yuheng stood up, spoke softly, and extended his hand to the boy.

Donglan raised her head and looked at her elder brother.

Memories flashed through his mind: the moment the divine wooden divination stick broke upon hitting the ground, his elder brother stepped into the divination array to sacrifice himself, and shouted sternly, "A-Li, go!"

It turns out that the elder brother had already foreseen the ending.

Dong Lanli trembled as he grabbed his brother's hand and stood up. His brother, who had been watching the boy with worry, finally smiled with relief at this moment.

Everything was burned and destroyed in the raging fire in an instant. The azure sea fell into the eyes of the boy. He came from the Yan Kingdom to the unfamiliar sea area, lived on the mechanical island, traveled to and from Taiyi Academy, and stood outside the gate of the Ghost Dao Holy Hall. It seemed that he had started a new life.

The sea winds were fierce, bringing thunder and torrential rain.

Mei Liangyu was sleeping on a recliner in the sanctuary when, at midnight, the torrential rain outside continued unabated. He saw a young girl standing in the downpour, bathed in the dim light of the night lamp, her body soaked but content and at ease.

Every rainy night, she would be soaking wet, alone in her own world, lifting her skirt and wading barefoot in the water, enjoying her own secret.

Mei Liangyu watched for a long time, and every time he opened his eyes, he would see the girl wading through the water in the rainy night.

He didn't know which day or which moment it was, but as he looked at the girl in the rainy night, a smile unconsciously appeared in his eyes.

Thus, Mei Liangyu's gaze could never leave Yu Sui.

The torrential rain continued unabated. Inside the sanctuary, the young man gazed at the girl splashing in the water outside for a long time, until his anger, murderous intent, and destructive desires were firmly suppressed.

Over time, the Five Elements Light Cores within his body were locked within the Heart of a Thousand Machines.

The young man didn't look back at the portrait behind him; he kept his eyes fixed on the girl in the rainy night.

Mei Liangyu closed her eyes again.

He shouldn't have woken up here.

The rain in the valley has stopped.

The stream swelled, nearly submerging the ground, and rocks tumbled down, leaving the valley in a mess.

Yu Sui would rest on the rocks by the stream during the day, listening to the rushing water. But for some reason, the sound grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared, undisturbed by her at all, allowing her to sleep soundly.

She woke up at dusk.

The strange fire deep within her soul flickered, and Yu Sui sensed someone so close to her. She opened her eyes and woke up to find a familiar figure before her.

The man stood with his back to Yu Sui, facing the setting sun. The blood-red sunset cast a desolate hue over the already chaotic valley. Mei Liangyu took off his outer garment and draped it over Yu Sui. The evening wind billowed his thin clothes, yet they accentuated his strong and steady figure, allowing him to stand firmly in place amidst the storm.

"Senior brother?" Yu Sui called softly, clutching her clothes.

Mei Liangyu turned around and looked at her, his dark phoenix eyes filled with calm.

Yu Sui, however, felt that it was the calm before the storm.

Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen were nowhere to be seen. They were probably hiding in the distance and watching with the Devouring Strike. The Devouring Strike was beyond the range of the Strange Fire's sensing range, and when she used the Devouring Strike to create distance, it could not be tracked by the Five Elements Light Cores she released.

Mei Liangyu walked towards Yu Sui, squatted down in front of her, and looked at Yu Sui who was lying by the stone.

Yu Sui asked, "When will you..."

Mei Liangyu said, "Half an hour ago."

Yu Sui then asked, "What about the two deans...?"

Mei Liangyu then said, "I told them not to come over from outside the valley. I want to talk to you first."

Upon hearing this, Yu Sui straightened her back and sat up. Mei Liangyu reached out and caught her slipping coat, then draped it back over her shoulders, her movements natural, as if nothing had happened.

"Will it be cold or hot?" Mei Liangyu asked.

Yu Sui offered his left hand to him, and Mei Liangyu reached out and grasped it. The scalding heat was in stark contrast to his icy palm and skin.

Mei Liangyu gently squeezed her hand, then held Yu Sui's left hand against her cheek and looked up at her.

Those dark eyes held an unspeakable storm that swept everything away.

Yu Sui gently cupped the man's cold face in one hand, gazing at her senior brother's unusual demeanor. Her fingertips lightly traced the corner of his eye as she asked another question: "Have you broken the bond?"

“My Five Elements Light Core was refined by the Heart of a Thousand Machines. The Heart of a Thousand Machines was not spied on by the Divine Soul Pact because it was severed,” Mei Liangyu explained calmly.

Yu Sui finally breathed a sigh of relief: "When the contract was broken, I thought you were dead."

Mei Liangyu said calmly, "I will have this day."

Yu Sui frowned: "Senior brother, everyone will die someday. According to you, I will die someday too."

She was clearly displeased by Mei Liangyu's answer.

Before Yu Sui could continue her sarcastic remarks, Mei Liangyu propped himself up and leaned in to kiss her, gently biting her soft lower lip with an ambiguous and lingering affection.

Yu Sui leaned back slightly from the kiss, turned to the side and leaned against the stream stone, asking intermittently amidst the forceful pursuit, "Are you kissing me now for the two deans to see?"

"no."

Do you remember?

"Um."

"Did you see the person you wanted to see?"

"I saw him."

"Senior brother, will you be upset that I woke you up?"

"..."

Mei Liangyu stopped what she was doing and distanced herself from Yu Sui. Her almond-shaped eyes stared at him without blinking.

"Yu Sui." Mei Liangyu leaned closer to her again, kissed her cheek, and whispered a vow in her ear, "I won't leave you alone."