Light and shadow
Seven days later, Xie Linyang finally completely refined the "Yang Sha Marrow". She could feel the abundance of her own spiritual power and the changes brought about by breaking through the peak of the "Sheng Yang Jue" to the twelfth level.
Even if she were to face Wen Ruohan right now, she would be 70-80% confident.
After exiting the pass, Xie Linyang first used the "Soul Binding Contract" to track Meng Yao. Sure enough, the Alliance had lost his presence, and he had left.
Xie Linyang took out a clean handkerchief embroidered with orchids from his bosom. It was sewn by Meng Yao herself that day. Such thoughts were hidden beneath his gentle brows and eyes. He also recalled naming his sword "Qingyang".
Yang, or Yang.
Xie Linyang felt a chill.
Just then, a figure in white entered. Lan Xichen's gentle eyes were tinged with dark circles. He spoke first: "Lin Yang, your body..."
Xie Linyang glanced down at his blood-stained blue robes and waved his hand. "It's nothing. I have successfully refined the Yang Sha Marrow. Since you, Zewu-jun, are able to appear before me, it seems that you and Young Master Lan have successfully combined the power of the Yang Sha Marrow with musical techniques."
Lan Xichen nodded, noticing the worry still on his face, and asked anxiously, "Has something happened?"
“Three days ago, Wen Xu launched a surprise attack on Yunmeng. Madam Yu and Jiang Cheng defended Lotus Pier to the death, but Madam Yu and her disciples are missing.” Lan Xichen saw Xie Lin Yang’s tense brows and continued, “Sect Leader Jiang and Young Master Wei rushed back overnight after receiving the news, with Wangji going with them. They should have returned by now.”
"Where is Jiang Cheng?" Xie Linyang asked anxiously.
"In order to protect the core disciples of Yunmeng from being trapped, Jiang Cheng lured away the pursuers by himself, but was captured alive by the Wen clan and imprisoned in the dungeon. His fate is unknown."
Every word was so oppressive that she could hardly breathe.
"Where is Meng Yao?" she suddenly asked.
Lan Xichen was taken aback: "He left the camp three days ago and hasn't returned yet. We suspect..." He looked at Xie Linyang's suddenly cold face, "...that he has defected to the Wen clan."
"It's not about defecting." Xie Linyang smirked, the curve devoid of any warmth. "It's about going undercover."
She knew Meng Yao too well. Or rather, she knew too well the soul that would one day become "Lianfang Zun". How could he be willing to be subordinate to someone else? The Wen family was merely a stepping stone for him to climb up the social ladder, and also a tool he used to disrupt the game and achieve his selfish goals.
"Give me a map of the Nightless City Prison." Xie Linyang turned around, his voice resolute. "Now."
"You're going alone?" Lan Xichen disagreed. "The place is heavily guarded, and it's shrouded in the resentment of Yin Iron..."
“It is precisely because of this resentment that I must go.” Xie Linyang interrupted him, a golden glint appearing in his eyes. “The power of Yang Sha is the only power that can penetrate silently without fear of erosion. I will find Jiang Cheng first and ascertain his condition. Zewu-jun, the alliance needs you to oversee things. I entrust the follow-up support plan to you.”
She bowed deeply, and before Lan Xichen could respond, she transformed into a blazing streak of light and vanished into the sky.
Darkness. Dampness. The cold, heavy touch of the chains seeped into my bones.
Jiang Cheng sat in the corner of the cell with his back against the stone wall. Black iron shackles fastened to his wrists and ankles. The chains, engraved with runes, not only restricted his movements but also continuously drained his already dwindling spiritual power.
The wounds on his body had not been properly treated and were throbbing with pain under the influence of the cold and resentful aura, but what was clearer than the pain was the burning anxiety in his chest.
His mother's whereabouts are unknown, her fate uncertain. He doesn't know if Lotus Pier can be defended. Have his fellow disciples, whom he risked his life to send away, escaped safely?
And... Xie Linyang.
She should be coming out of seclusion soon, if she knew he had been captured… Jiang Cheng closed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing. He didn't want her to be in danger, but a corner of his heart was screaming wildly for her. This contradiction tore at him, more tormenting than the torture instruments of the Wen clan.
The footsteps approached from afar, unhurried and unhurried, their calmness incongruous with the filth of the place.
Jiang Cheng looked up.
In the dim candlelight, Meng Yao, dressed in a spotless, fiery red robe of the Wen clan, slowly walked in. He wore his usual gentle smile, followed by two expressionless Wen clan prison guards who treated him with utmost respect.
"Young Master Jiang?" Meng Yao stopped in front of the prison gate, bowed slightly, her manners so impeccable they were nauseating. "How have you been?"
Jiang Cheng didn't speak, he just stared at him coldly.
Meng Yao wasn't annoyed. He waved for the jailers to leave and entered the cell alone. He knelt down in front of Jiang Cheng, his gaze level with Jiang Cheng's, and smiled gently: "It's been a few days, and Young Master Jiang looks much more haggard. This dungeon is damp and filled with resentment, which is not good for recuperating."
Jiang Cheng finally spoke, his voice hoarse but laced with sneer, "Your new master, who's been begging for your life, is treating you well? You're wearing a pretty gleaming dog skin."
Meng Yao's smile remained unchanged, but her eyes turned cold: "Young Master Jiang, why must you speak so hurtfully? I am merely being pragmatic. The Wen family is powerful, and the might of the Yin Iron is beyond human resistance. To act in accordance with the situation is the mark of a wise person."
"A wise man?" Jiang Cheng seemed to have heard a joke. "Meng Yao, you used to pretend to be gentle, kind, respectful, and frugal, but I underestimated your shamelessness. Now it seems that you're not just spineless, you simply don't know how to write the word 'shame'."
"Shame?" Meng Yao repeated softly, then suddenly laughed. The laughter was low and gentle, yet it sent chills down one's spine. "When you said that, did you ever think about yourself? The dignified young master of Yunmeng, now locked up here like a dog, unable to even protect your mother's life or death. What is your backbone worth?"
Jiang Cheng's pupils contracted sharply, and he leaned forward abruptly, the chains snapping taut: "What did you say?!"
"I said, Madam Yu fled with serious injuries and there's been no news of her since." Meng Yao slowly straightened her cuffs, her tone unhurried. "How much longer do you think she can hold on?"
A surge of rage welled up inside Jiang Cheng, veins bulging on his forehead. He almost lunged forward to tear that hypocritical face apart. But he clenched his teeth, blood seeping from the corner of his lips, forcefully suppressing his fury.
He mustn't panic; Meng Yao is provoking him.
Jiang Cheng leaned back, even letting out a mocking smile, "Meng Yao, is this all you've got? Using my mother's safety to stab me in the heart, what, are you afraid I won't die fast enough, or are you afraid your master will think you're incompetent, unable to even stir up the emotions of a prisoner?"
Meng Yao's eyes darkened slightly.
Jiang Cheng stared at him, each word clear as a knife: "Meng Yao, when she accepted you as her disciple, did you still speak clearly? Do you know how pathetic and laughable you are?"
"Pitiful?" Meng Yao's smile finally vanished completely.
He slowly straightened up, looking down at Jiang Cheng. His eyes, which were always gentle and smiling, were now as deep and cold as a pool. "Do you think you are any more noble than me? You were born in Yunmeng, the young master from birth, and you can get whatever you want with ease, including your master's attention, right?"
He leaned down, his voice low and venomous: "Are you very proud of yourself? Do you think that because your master cares about you, you can belittle and pity me from a high position? Too bad, Jiang Cheng, your pride will soon come to an end."
Jiang Cheng's heart pounded, but his face remained impassive: "What do you mean?"
“It means…” Meng Yao reached out, her fingertips gently brushing against the cold chains, her movements as delicate as if she were touching a precious object, “Your master will come to save you soon. Knowing her nature, even if this place is a den of dragons and tigers, she will definitely come if she knows you are here.”
He looked up and met Jiang Cheng's suddenly sharp gaze, then smiled: "Guess what, when she arrives, should I help her rescue you... or should I accidentally let Wen Xu know her whereabouts, so you can see with your own eyes how she got into a desperate situation, injured, and even... died here for you?"
"Meng Yao!" Jiang Cheng could no longer contain himself and suddenly sprang to his feet, the chains taut at their limit, rattling loudly. His eyes were bloodshot, like a trapped beast. "If you dare touch her, I swear I will tear you to pieces!"
"Tear him to pieces?" Meng Yao chuckled, taking a step back to avoid the residual spiritual energy surging from Jiang Cheng's rage. "Jiang Cheng, you can't even protect yourself right now. What makes you think you can swear an oath? With your injuries and shackles? Or with your pitiful, barely surviving Yunmeng Jiang Clan?"
His tone suddenly softened, carrying a strange persuasiveness: "Why bother? You clearly know why your master took me as her disciple, taught me cultivation techniques, and even went so far as to use the Soul Binding Contract to keep an eye on me. It's because she saw my future. A future filled with bloodshed and unforgivable evil."
Jiang Cheng paused.
"You see, you knew it too." Meng Yao caught the subtle change in his expression, and her smile deepened. "Shizun told you, didn't she? Didn't she also say that she would watch me, guard against me, and might even... eliminate me herself if necessary?"
He crouched down, looking Jiang Cheng in the eye, his gaze terrifyingly sincere: "Jiang Cheng, we are both people that Master cares about, but you are the light she wants to protect, while I am the shadow she must be wary of. Tell me, if I, this shadow, insist on clinging to that light, or even trying to drag the light into the darkness—who would Master choose?"
Jiang Cheng, panting heavily, stared intently at him, but his mind was unusually clear. Meng Yao was attacking his mind, using the most vicious methods to provoke him. He wanted to enrage him, to make him lose control, to prove that Jiang Cheng was nothing more than an impulsive and easily angered fool, unworthy of Xie Lin Yang's affection.
Don't be fooled.
“She won’t choose anyone.” Jiang Cheng suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse from trying to suppress his emotions, but surprisingly calm. “Xie Lin Yang is not a delicate flower that needs to be protected. She is a sword that can fight alongside me, a chess player who dares to defy fate for the sake of the common people. Meng Yao, you underestimate her too much.”
Meng Yao's smile froze slightly.
“As for you—” Jiang Cheng tugged at the corners of his mouth, his smile carrying the weakness of an injured person, yet also possessing a sharp, insightful edge. “You’re right, I know your future. I know what kind of person you will become, I know how much blood will be on your hands. I hate you, I’ve hated you since the first time I saw you, not because of your background, but because of the scheming and ambition that you can’t hide in your eyes.”
He paused, then spoke each word with force, "But I know even more that since Xie Linyang took you as her disciple and wanted to turn you back, she must have her reasons. I can hate you, I can be wary of you, and I can even kill you with my own hands when you do evil. But before that, I will respect her choice, because it is her decision, her disciple, and her responsibility."
The color drained from Meng Yao's face. He stared at Jiang Cheng, his usually gentle and smiling eyes now churning with complex emotions—shock, anger, resentment, and a hint of...disarray that even he himself didn't realize.
"Respect her choice?" He murmured repeatedly, then suddenly chuckled, a laugh tinged with self-mockery and madness. "What a fine respect! Jiang Cheng, you truly are... upright and righteous. But do you know that in your master's eyes, this respect might just be weakness, indecisiveness? Do you really think a woman like her would genuinely like a man who doesn't even dare to completely crush his rival?"
"A love rival?" Jiang Cheng seemed to have heard something absurd. "Meng Yao, are you worthy of her?"
Three words, light and airy, yet more piercing than any vicious curse.
Meng Yao's breath hitched.
"I've never considered you a rival in love." Jiang Cheng leaned back against the stone wall, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, only a cold clarity remained in them. "I know Xie Lin Yang's feelings, and she knows them too. It's none of our business to interfere between us. As for you, Meng Yao, you keep saying you like her, but everything you've done has been pushing her to the brink. You measure feelings with calculation, and you desecrate sincerity with ambition. You don't understand what love is at all; you just pathologically want to possess her, to prove that you deserve her."
He opened his eyes and looked at Meng Yao's pale face, his tone as calm as if stating a fact: "So that's why you hate me so much, right? Not because you hate me for taking her away, but because you hate me for so easily possessing what you desperately wanted to prove you 'deserved'. Meng Yao, you're so pathetic."
"Shut up!" Meng Yao finally lost control, grabbing Jiang Cheng's collar, her eyes blazing with terrifying ferocity. "What do you know?! Someone like you, born with everything, what gives you the right to judge me from a superior position?! What gives you the right—"
The words came to an abrupt halt.
Because he saw Jiang Cheng smile. The smile was faint, tinged with sadness, yet possessed a penetrating power bordering on compassion.
"Look, this is the real you," Jiang Cheng said softly. "Hypocritical, insidious, and utterly vulnerable. Meng Yao, you can't even keep up the act in front of me, yet you dare to dream of standing beside her?"
Meng Yao trembled violently, his fingers loosening one by one. He took two steps back, leaning against the cold stone wall, breathing heavily. The gentle mask on his face shattered completely, leaving only twisted hatred and a kind of frenzied madness on the verge of collapse.
After a long silence, he suddenly laughed, a broken and eerie laugh: "Jiang Cheng, you're right, I am indeed worthless. But so what?"
He straightened his disheveled clothes, stood up straight again, and his face regained its gentle and peaceful expression, as if his earlier lapse in composure had never occurred.
"The game has only just begun." He turned around, walked to the prison door, glanced back at Jiang Cheng, his eyes unfathomable. "Shizun should be arriving soon. You take good care of your injuries. We... will wait and see."
The footsteps faded into the distance.
Jiang Cheng leaned against the stone wall, slowly exhaling a breath of stale air. The chains were cold, his wounds ached, but his heart was unusually calm.
Meng Yao's words were like venomous snakes, each one biting at the most painful spot. But he held on, and not only held on, he tore away the disguise and saw the even more unbearable core beneath.
Xie Linyang... This disciple you've taken on is a real problem.
But the bigger problem is that Meng Yao was right—she will definitely come.
Jiang Cheng clenched his fists, looking into the impenetrable darkness outside the prison door. He had to find a way, he had to find a chance to escape before she arrived, or... at least pave a slightly safer path for her.
Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, the night was as thick as ink.
A slender figure in green robes evaded the heavy patrols and traps of resentment, quietly landing in the shadow of the tallest tower on the outer perimeter.
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