Disappointment
Xie Linyang's gaze finally settled on Meng Yao's eyes, which were filled with incomprehension, pain, and a hint of despair. A colder, yet almost obsessive, thought of "responsibility" clearly emerged.
Since he is my disciple, Xie Lin Yang, and since I have foreseen this dangerous future, then it is my duty to personally oversee him! Rather than let him wreak havoc on the world and ultimately meet a miserable end, dismembered in a coffin, it would be better to... lock him up now!
Keep him within my sight, within my control. Break his wings that might lead him to the abyss. Even if he hates me, it's better than him committing endless atrocities in the future, and... better than killing him with my own hands now.
This decision carries with it a desperate sense of possession and a distorted sense of responsibility.
She stopped explaining, and there was no way to explain. Should she tell him that she could see the future? That would only bring more unpredictable changes.
"Misunderstanding?" Xie Linyang repeated slowly, her voice low and oppressive. She leaned down, close to Meng Yao, her gaze sharp as a knife, as if she wanted to carve a mark on his soul. "Meng Yao, you know in your heart that you are not as innocent and harmless as you seem. Do you really think you can hide your ambition and your scheming from me forever?"
Meng Yao's breath caught in her throat, a chill running down her spine from the certainty in her words and the insightful look in her eyes. Yes, he was ambitious, he had schemed, but he was absolutely not... absolutely not as heinous as his master had described!
"As for the future..." Xie Linyang's voice was even colder, carrying an undeniable sense of judgment, "I will not give you the opportunity to verify whether what I said today is true or false."
Before she finished speaking, the memory grass hanging around her neck glowed slightly, and a peculiar silver leaf, about the size of a fingernail, with a unique shape and emitting a faint aura of spacetime fluctuations, slowly appeared.
Without the slightest hesitation, her fingertips, imbued with resolute spiritual power, guided the illusory silver leaf, and in Meng Yao's horrified gaze, she abruptly pressed it against his brow!
"Master! No!" Meng Yao tried to struggle, but she was unable to move due to her injuries and Xie Linyang's suppression.
He felt a chill between his brows, and a strange power, like the finest yet most resilient thread, instantly burrowed into his sea of consciousness and entangled his very soul! It was not painful, but it brought a clear and inescapable sense of restraint, as if his soul had been marked with an eternal mark.
The silver light flashed and disappeared, disappearing into Meng Yao's brow, leaving only a very faint, almost invisible silver leaf mark.
Xie Linyang released her grip, her face even paler from the separation of her origins, but she straightened up and looked down at Meng Yao, who was slumped on the ground with empty, desperate eyes.
“This is a ‘Soul-Binding Pact’.” Her voice was calm, yet carried an unyielding will. “With this as proof, no matter where you are in the world, I can find you. If you make any move, I can destroy your soul in an instant.”
She watched as the last glimmer of light in Meng Yao's eyes seemed to have been extinguished, leaving only a deathly silence and incomprehensible pain. A sharp pang swept through her heart, but it was quickly suppressed by a stronger sense of reason and the responsibility she had chosen.
“From now on, you will stay by my side.” She turned away, no longer looking at his deeply hurt expression, her voice cold and hard, “You must report your whereabouts every day.”
In the secret room, only Meng Yao's heavy and suppressed breathing remained, along with the silent, chilling despair that was spreading and the resentment about to burst forth from the ground against this injustice and control.
Suddenly, Meng Yao began to laugh softly, initially suppressed and intermittent, but then the sound grew louder and more manic, echoing in the enclosed space with a chillingly distorted quality. He laughed until his whole body trembled, aggravating his wounds, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth again, yet he seemed oblivious to the pain.
Xie Linyang frowned at him: "What are you laughing at?"
Meng Yao stopped laughing, raised his head, and his once gentle and refined eyes were now bloodshot, churning with broken pain, resentment at being seen through, the burning flames of ambition, and a kind of... undisguised, almost morbid obsession. The blood and tear stains on his face made him look disheveled and eerie.
“I laugh…I laugh at myself…” His voice was hoarse, with a kind of desperate madness, “I laugh at myself for scheming and plotting, but I never expected that you, Master… would see through me so clearly, so… pathetically.”
He struggled, using his uninjured right hand to brace himself against the ground, trying to get closer to Xie Linyang, his eyes fixed on her like a dying beast staring at its only prey.
"Yes! I have ambition! I want to climb up! I don't want to be trampled underfoot forever, I don't want to be inferior forever just because I'm the 'son of a prostitute'! I want to make everyone who looks down on me pay the price!"
He roared, venting years of pent-up humiliation and resentment, then his tone suddenly turned eerie and gentle, carrying a chilling tenderness: "But Master... do you know? No matter who I schemed against, no matter what I wanted to get... from beginning to end, what I wanted most... was only you!"
Xie Linyang's pupils contracted sharply. Shocked by his sudden and blatant confession, she took a half step back, a strong sense of absurdity and chill rising in her heart.
"What nonsense are you spouting!" she retorted, her voice trembling slightly. She felt that Meng Yao in front of her was terrifyingly unfamiliar, and the undisguised possessiveness and madness in her eyes sent chills down her spine.
Thankfully… thankfully, I managed to control him with the Soul-Binding Pact! This thought surfaced with absolute clarity. If such a deep-seated, emotionally twisted disciple were left unchecked, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Seeing her retreat, Meng Yao felt a pang of pain in her eyes, which was then overshadowed by an even deeper obsession.
He gazed at her intently, his voice tinged with a desperate sweetness and obsession: "Master, are you afraid of me? But the more afraid you are of me, the more you try to keep me locked up, the happier I am."
He licked his dry, bloodied lips, his smile twisted: "Because of this, you'll only have eyes for me, and you won't see anyone else... Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, they can no longer get close to you... Keeping me by your side is just what I wanted... This way, you'll always be my master, and only mine..."
Xie Linyang felt a chill run down her spine, only one thought in her mind: He's gone mad! He's really gone mad! To control this crazed, dangerous disciple, she had to…
Just as she was frantically trying to figure out how to deal with this out-of-control situation, Meng Yao seemed to see through her thoughts and asked in an almost seductive, tearful tone, "Master...you've locked me up, is it because you care about me even a little bit? Are you also afraid of losing me? Answer me...please..."
Looking into his eyes, which were filled with a mixture of madness, pleading, and desperate obsession, Xie Linyang knew that any stimulation at this moment could cause him to completely lose control.
To keep him in check and to ensure the effective control of the Soul-Binding Contract, she had to give him "hope," a false rein.
She suppressed the disgust and chill in her heart, forcing herself to meet his crazed gaze. Her voice was deliberately low, carrying an ambiguous and cold reassurance: "Yes, since you are my disciple, I naturally... care about you." She said this with great difficulty, as if each word was sharp and jagged, scraping against her throat.
However, to Meng Yao, it was like heavenly music! His eyes instantly flashed with a terrifying light, as if all the pain and despair had been washed away by this one sentence, leaving only ecstasy and a deeper obsession.
And at that very moment—
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the stone wall on one side of the secret chamber, and the restriction was forcibly broken by a powerful external force! Amidst the flying debris, a purple figure rushed in like lightning!
It's Jiang Cheng!
He held the Three Poisons in his hand, his face still showing a slight daze from just leaving the beautiful illusion, as well as anxiety and determination after breaking through the obstacles.
In that warm and unreal illusion, he finally realized his true feelings and made up his mind that as soon as he left the illusion, he would follow the faint senses left by Xie Linyang and break through the barrier to find her immediately, tell her his feelings, and never hide them again!
However, what he saw was this scene—
The woman he longed for stood in the center of the secret chamber. Her treacherous disciple, Meng Yao, covered in blood and in a wretched state, sat slumped at her feet, staring at her with a gaze he had never seen before, filled with a mad love and possessiveness.
What struck him even more like a thunderbolt was that he clearly heard Xie Linyang's last words, spoken to Meng Yao—
"...I care about you."
Those three words were like knives, instantly piercing Jiang Cheng's burning heart! All his eagerness, all his courage, all the tenderness and expectation he had accumulated in the illusion were frozen and shattered at this moment!
He stood frozen in place, his knuckles white from gripping Sandu so tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. His eyes shifted from initial anxiety to shock, then to disbelief, finally settling into a dark, wounded rage and icy despair.
He stared intently at Xie Linyang, as if trying to see right through her.
Xie Lin Yang hadn't expected Jiang Cheng to appear at this moment. It seemed he had already broken through the illusion of the first level. Just as he was about to ask about Wei Wuxian and the others, he heard Jiang Cheng roar angrily.
"Enough!"
Jiang Cheng abruptly interrupted her, his voice hoarse and low, as if suppressing a huge storm. His gaze was like a knife, scraping fiercely over Meng Yao on the ground, finally settling on Xie Linyang's face, his eyes filled with the pain of betrayal and mockery.
"It seems... I've come at an inopportune time, disturbing your... deep bond as master and disciple!"
He practically gritted his teeth as he finished speaking, then abruptly turned around. His purple figure, radiating a resolute chill, rushed out of the still-lingering smoke and dust without looking back, instantly disappearing into the darkness of the passage.
"Jiang Cheng!" Xie Linyang called out urgently, wanting to chase after him, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the spot.
As Meng Yao lay on the ground, watching Jiang Cheng's angry departure and hearing Xie Lin Yang's anxious call, a pale, twisted smile slowly appeared on her face, a smile tinged with victory and dark pleasure.
He looked up at Xie Linyang, whose face was pale, and spoke softly, like a viper flicking its tongue:
“Master…look, he’s gone. Now, it really is just us left.”
The sound carried a twisted pleasure and a chilling sense of satisfaction.
Xie Linyang turned around abruptly, his eyes meeting Meng Yao's, which were still brimming with mad love and scheming. The blood on his face was still wet, his smile pale and fragile, yet it clung to her like vines, suffocating her.
"Shut up!" Xie Linyang shouted sharply, his voice trembling slightly with anger and a hint of barely perceptible panic.
She couldn't bear to look at him like that anymore and suppressed the urge to chase after him.
Now is not the time to dwell on personal feelings! The ruins remain unexplored, the crisis is not over, and although Su She is dead, the threat from the Wen family still looms large. And this person beside us... is the most unstable and dangerous factor that needs to be controlled right now.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Her gaze swept across the enclosed room, finally settling on Meng Yao, her tone regaining its previous coldness and command: "Can you stand up?"
Meng Yao watched as her emotions instantly subsided, a hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a kind of obsession.
He tried to move, which aggravated his injuries, causing him to groan in pain. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. He weakly shook his head, but his eyes remained fixed on Xie Linyang, with an almost greedy dependence.
Xie Linyang closed his eyes, suppressing the surging agitation in his heart.
She walked over, without a trace of gentleness, almost roughly hoisting his uninjured right arm onto her shoulder and forcefully lifting him up. "If you don't want to die here, then hold on." Her voice was devoid of warmth, as if she were moving an object.
Meng Yao leaned almost all his weight on her, the faint herbal fragrance and a hint of blood lingering around his nose. This intimate yet cold contact made the Soul Binding Contract deep in his soul slightly hot, a kind of restraint, yet strangely bringing a twisted sense of security.
He responded softly, "Yes, Master." His tone carried an eerie gentleness.
Xie Linyang stopped looking at him and helped him out of the secret room.
Just then, a violent surge of spiritual energy emanated from the "weakness thread" connecting Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji on her wrist. It seemed to be moving rapidly, and the direction it was heading was... directly towards the main hall where she and Jiang Cheng had entered earlier!
We can't delay any longer! We must reunite with them as soon as possible, and also... find Jiang Cheng!
She concentrated her mind, channeling her spiritual power into the Radiant Golden Hairpin. The tip of the hairpin lit up, trembling slightly like a pointer, eventually pointing to a seemingly seamless wall on one side of the secret chamber. There, the trajectory of the stars faintly formed an imperceptible vortex pattern.
"This is it." Xie Linyang did not hesitate and poured the last of his spiritual power into Zhuoyao. A beam of blazing golden light shot towards the center of the vortex!
"Buzz—"
The star trails on the wall suddenly lit up, the light swirling, and a narrow portal, just wide enough for one person to pass through, quietly appeared. A faint breeze carrying the scent of dust drifted in from outside.
Xie Linyang helped Meng Yao and stepped into the portal without hesitation.
Deep within the ruins, a corridor of star trails.
Passing through the portal of light, instead of the expected exit, one finds a deeper, more eerie corridor. The walls on either side are no longer stone, but seem to be constructed of flowing starlight, with countless tiny points of light moving along fixed paths in the darkness, like miniature galaxies. Beneath one's feet lies transparent void, yet it feels solid; looking down, one sees endless, profound darkness, as if immersed in the cosmos.
This is the "Star Trail Corridor," one of the true core areas of the Lingyang Ruins.
Almost the instant they stepped into the corridor, they heard the sounds of fierce fighting and the familiar roar of colliding spiritual energy coming from ahead!
Jiang Cheng, as if possessed, wildly swung his sword, smashing several guardian puppets made of starlight that tried to approach him to pieces! His face was so gloomy it could drip water, and his eyes were fierce, as if he were venting all his unvented anger on these lifeless puppets.
His fighting style was completely chaotic, purely destructive, as if he wanted to crush the scene he had just witnessed, as well as the jealousy, anger, and sharp pain churning in his heart.
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were also nearby, working in perfect harmony to efficiently clear away the puppets that kept condensing from the star trails. Lan Xichen, Jin Zixuan, and the others protected Nie Huaisang and Mianmian, their Shuoyue swords drawing elegant yet deadly arcs.
"Jiang Cheng!" Wei Wuxian shouted at Jiang Cheng, who was acting like a mad tiger, while parrying attacks. "What's wrong with you! Save your energy!"
Jiang Cheng seemed not to hear, and with another sword strike, he cut another puppet in half at the waist, the fragments turning into starlight and dissipating.
His chest heaved violently as his gaze swept over Xie Linyang and Meng Yao, who had just appeared at the entrance of the corridor. His eyes were icy cold, filled with undisguised disgust and alienation. Then he turned back sharply and attacked the next wave of puppets even more fiercely.
Xie Linyang felt a sharp pain in her heart from his gaze. She opened her mouth, but found that any explanation would be pale and powerless in this chaotic battlefield.
"Lin Yang! Meng Yao!" Lan Xichen saw them, especially Meng Yao's seriously injured state, and a trace of worry flashed in his gentle eyes. "It's so good that you're alright! Come here quickly!"
Xie Lin Yang composed herself and helped Meng Yao quickly rejoin the others. She settled Meng Yao in a relatively safe corner and quickly said to Lan Xichen, "Zewu-jun, he is badly injured. Please take care of him." Her tone was urgent, carrying an unquestionable plea.
Lan Xichen nodded: "Don't worry." He immediately bent down to check Meng Yao's injuries.
Xie Linyang turned around without hesitation, her radiant golden hairpin shining brightly once more, and joined the battle.
Instead of trying to approach Jiang Cheng, she chose to eliminate the puppets on the other side, demonstrating her stance through action and relieving pressure on the team. Her attacks were precise and efficient, a stark contrast to the frenzy on Jiang Cheng's side.
Wei Wuxian moved closer to Xie Linyang, brandishing his sword as he asked urgently in a low voice, "What happened? Did Jiang Cheng take the wrong medicine? Also, how did Meng Yao get so badly injured? Where is Su She?"
Xie Linyang continued working, her tone concise and cold: "Su She is dead, Meng Yao was injured while saving me, as for Jiang Cheng..." She paused, glancing at the purple-clad figure with a complex expression, "...there's some misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?" Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow, looking at Jiang Cheng, who seemed to have gone mad, then at Meng Yao, who was seriously injured and weak in the corner but whose eyes were always following Xie Linyang, and at Xie Linyang's unusually cold profile. As clever as he was, he instantly guessed seven or eight parts of the truth and clicked his tongue, "This misunderstanding... seems to be quite big."
Just then, the starlight in the depths of the corridor suddenly intensified, all the star trails began to flow faster, and an energy fluctuation far more powerful than the puppet came from the end!
"Be careful!" Lan Wangji's cool voice rang out, "A stronger guard has been alerted!"
Everyone's expression tightened, and they all became wary.
Jiang Cheng finally stopped his almost self-destructive attack, leaning on Sandu, slightly panting, sweat sliding down his taut jawline. He still didn't look at Xie Linyang, but his rationality seemed to return slightly, though the air pressure around him was still frighteningly low.
Meanwhile, Meng Yao, leaning against the cold star trail wall in the corner, watched Xie Lin Yang's fighting figure, saw the invisible barrier between her and Jiang Cheng, and felt the mark that belonged to her in her soul. A pale and deep smile slowly curved her lips.
A misunderstanding...that's great.
He coughed softly, lowered his eyes to conceal the turbulent undercurrent in them, a mixture of pain, pleasure, and an even stronger determination.
Master, look, a rift has already formed. The more you try to explain, the more you try to get closer to him, the deeper this rift will become.
And you, in the end, can only belong to me.
Whether it's hatred, disgust, or this cold imprisonment... I accept it all willingly.
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