Chapter 74 Loss of Love and Dementia
In the valley of Gufeng Mountain, there is an open-air cave. The cave is spacious and wide, and the moonlight shines obliquely in, casting a bright, round shadow on the ground.
In the interplay of light and shadow, a man lay quietly, bathed in the bright moonlight, his body shimmering with a faint silvery glow, which made his sharply defined face appear even paler.
"Biyao, come here quickly!" The mountain demon was casting a spell to protect Qin Wuyan's soul when it saw that Qinglong and Biyao had already entered the cave, and hurriedly shouted.
Biyao rushed over, reaching out to touch him, but then hesitated.
The mountain demon urged, "Quick!! Use your spiritual power and repeat after me, 'Eight Desolations Decree, Four Seas Spiritual Essence! Gather!'"
Biyao immediately focused her energy and chanted incantations. As beams of bluish-white light emanated from her palms, the countless stars above her head seemed to gather the power of the heavens, converging into a dazzling white light that continuously surged into Qin Wuyan's body.
No one knows how much time passed. When the white light completely merged and gradually disappeared, Biyao was exhausted and fell backward, collapsing into Qinglong's arms.
The mandrill breathed a long sigh of relief: "Luckily I was here, otherwise, even if the Heavenly King himself came, Qin Wuyan would be powerless to save the day."
Biyao's face was deathly pale. She managed to ask, "Is Wuyan... alright?"
The mountain demon said, "His soul is very weak right now, but it should all be gathered together. Let him rest for a while. His soul can't dissipate right now, but I don't know when he'll wake up."
Seeing this, Biyao finally felt a little relieved. She struggled to stand up, but inadvertently caught a glimpse of a figure in the corner of the cave. However, the others had been focused on Qin Wuyan and hadn't noticed it.
"Who!?" Biyao shouted sharply.
The figure moved slowly, gradually revealing its face from the darkness, a faint smile playing on its lips.
"It's me, Vice Sect Master!" Tang Yuan said with a smile.
Biyao's eyes were filled with disgust: "You actually dare to show your face? What? You still want to help the Qingyun Sect and try to take my heart?"
Tang Yuan laughed and said, "I'm not interested in you. Yao'er, I'm here to help you this time."
"Hmph!" Biyao sneered, "Who knows what kind of tricks you're up to now."
Tang Yuandao: "Do you really think you can gather Qin Wuyan's soul so easily?"
Biyao's expression changed, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Don't even think about hurting him again!"
“I didn’t mean to hurt him. I’ve already said I’m here to help you.”
"Who would believe you!"
"If you had believed me sooner and lifted the Soul-Collecting Technique, things wouldn't have come to this."
When he mentioned the Soul-Gathering Technique, Biyao became even angrier: "You were the one who revealed the Soul-Gathering Technique to Qin Wuyan, and you were the one who brought the people from the Qingyun Sect here. If it weren't for you, how could Qin Wuyan be like this? How dare you still have the nerve to talk back?"
Tang Yuandao said, "This is truly unfair to me. He clearly wanted to cultivate the Soul-Gathering Technique himself. However, Yao'er, won't you ask me why I've gone to such lengths to infiltrate your inner circle?"
The mountain demon interjected, "What else could it be for? The Wood elemental power, which has been lost to the world for millions of years, has finally reappeared. Who wouldn't covet it? But I'm curious, you're just a mere ghost general from the underworld. You have no use for this power, so what are you after?"
Tang Yuan said, "The Mountain God knows more, but I don't want to obtain this divine power for myself. I just want to ask Biyao for a favor."
Biyao glared at him: "Don't even think about it!"
Tang Yuan wasn't annoyed, and still smiled faintly: "Don't speak too soon. How can you be sure that Qin Wuyan is safe and sound?"
"Cough cough..."
Biyao was about to scold again when she heard a slight cough. She quickly looked over and saw Qin Wuyan's eyelashes flutter slightly as he slowly opened his eyes.
"No flame!"
"No flame!"
Biyao and Qinglong rushed forward, supporting his arms and shoulders to help Qin Wuyan sit up slowly.
Biyao's eyes were full of concern: "Wuyan, how are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"
Qin Wuyan's face was still pale, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment. He looked around for a long time before whispering, "Who...are you?"
Biyao was stunned. What was going on? Had he lost his memory?
Qinglong was also shocked for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Wuyan, don't you recognize us?"
Qin Wuyan shook his head in fear, then asked in a low voice, "Are you... my parents?"
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Qinglong, Biyao, and Shanxiao were all struck as if by lightning, and nearly fainted.
After a long while, Qinglong finally came to his senses and tried his best to calm himself down, saying, "Wuyan...we're not...you, you really don't recognize us?"
Qin Wuyan, his face full of innocence, shook his head blankly. Then, he suddenly burst into tears, crying like a child: "Daddy! Mommy! I want my daddy and mommy!! Waaah... Daddy!!"
"..."
Biyao was almost in tears; this situation was even worse than amnesia.
The mandrill looked equally puzzled: "Could it be that his soul exploded and made him stupid???"
"..."
Qinglong turned to Tang Yuan and angrily asked, "What were you doing?"
Tang Yuan shrugged: "I didn't. Turning him into an idiot wouldn't do me any good."
"I don't believe it!" Qinglong stood up, condensing a ball of golden light in his palm and throwing it at the enemy: "It must be you!! You just said that Qin Wuyan's soul couldn't have been gathered so easily. Tell me!! What exactly did you do?!"
Tang Yuan offered no resistance, allowing the golden light to trap him, and laughed, "I really didn't do anything. However, although the Mountain God knows the method of summoning souls and gathering spirits, he doesn't know that for those who cultivate the art of soul gathering, there is one spirit that can never be gathered back no matter what."
"Still trying to deny it! You must have destroyed his soul! Release Wu Yan's soul right now!!" Qinglong unleashed his power without hesitation, the golden light transforming into a sword that pierced deeply into Tang Yuan's body. He showed no fear, simply watching as the sword left a dark hole in his body, without any blood flowing out.
Tang Yuan laughed and said, "You forgot, I'm a ghost. You can't hurt me like this."
"You..." Qinglong trembled with rage, about to strike again, when the mountain demon stopped him:
"Wait!! I remember now, he's right. Those who cultivate the Soul-Gathering Technique have already sacrificed their emotional essence. However, while they are still alive, their minds are already mature, so losing their emotional essence has no impact. But if they try to summon their soul after it has been scattered, their emotional essence can never be gathered back no matter what."
Biyao asked in confusion, "Will losing one's soul turn one into a fool?"
The mandrill nodded solemnly: "Human emotions are the source of intelligence. Everyone is born with more or less the purest emotions, some strong and some weak. Those born with strong emotions are extremely intelligent, while those with weak emotions appear a bit dull. But no matter how much or how little, as long as there is even a little bit, one will possess the mind of a normal person. Conversely, if one has no emotions from the beginning, one will naturally be a complete fool."
Biyao was extremely anxious: "But why has he lost his memory? He doesn't even recognize us."
The mountain demon said, "After his soul is fully restored, although he still has memories, he has lost his mind. No matter how many memories he has, he cannot perceive who those people were or what those events were!"
Qinglong asked, "Is there any way to restore him?"
The mandrill shook its head: "This is the first time I've ever seen someone die using a soul-collecting technique. I really don't know any way to restore lost emotions."
Biyao and Qinglong couldn't help but sigh. At the same time, they glanced at Qin Wuyan, who looked innocent. He was no longer crying and begging for help, but he was shrinking back and looking at them with teary eyes, looking completely clueless.
Tang Yuan said, "I have a way to help him regain his passion."
Biyao's eyes lit up, but then became tinged with worry, her gaze deep and unfathomable: "We can't trust your words!"
Tang Yuandao said, "Yao'er, don't always be so quick to deny me. I told you, I'm here to help you. You heard what the mountain god said earlier, and he wasn't wrong. Actually, from beginning to end, I never intended to harm you. I just hope to use your divine power to help me save someone."
Biyao scoffed, "As expected, there's a conspiracy!"
Tang Yuandao said, "If you insist on thinking that way, then so be it. It's true that I've been hiding by Qin Wuyan's side for many years, not because of him, but all for you. Although I'm ostensibly working for the Underworld Emperor, I've always had my own selfish motives. Yao'er, you must save this person, because only she can help you find Qin Wuyan's soul again."
Qinglong said, "Speak your mind directly, don't beat around the bush."
Tang Yuandao said, "Alright, I'll be frank. To restore Qin Wuyan's emotional soul, we must use the Five-Colored Five-Emotions Flower to collect the five emotions from his memories. But the Five-Colored Five-Emotions Flower only exists in the Underworld, and even if it's brought to the mortal realm from the Underworld, it will wither immediately. But the person I want you to save has the ability to create the Five-Colored Five-Emotions Flower, but... she has always been sealed on Yama Island, and only your Wood Element Divine Power can break her seal."
Biyao paused, then asked, "Why are you so sure?"
Tang Yuandao: "Do you remember the story of the red spider lily that I told you when you were little?"
"The red spider lily?" Biyao looked confused. She seemed to recall that when she was nine years old, he had indeed told her a legend about the red spider lily.
Tang Yuan's eyes suddenly filled with immense sorrow: "The Lycoris radiata originally had both flowers and leaves, but due to internal strife within the divine race, it was cursed so that its flowers and leaves could never meet. Later, when the divine race suffered a calamity and many gods perished, the Lycoris radiata absorbed a large amount of the scattered primordial spirits of the gods, thus cultivating itself into a flower spirit and a leaf spirit with sentience. When the Flower Goddess created the Lycoris radiata, she cultivated it from a flower and a blade of grass, naming us Manjusaka. I am the flower spirit Manjusaka, and the leaf spirit is named Manju. Although we possess divine consciousness, we are still cursed by the gods, forever unable to meet or coexist."
"Later, in order to become human and escape this curse, Manzhu and I absorbed the souls of many people. However, we were discovered by the Heavenly Realm. Manzhu was sealed in the mortal world, while I was left in the Underworld, becoming the red spider lily on the banks of the River of Oblivion, never to grow leaves. In my entire life, Manzhu and I only met once, and because of that one meeting, we were separated forever. Fortunately, much of the Flower Goddess's wood elemental power remained in the divine tree. Therefore, only the true wood elemental power belonging to the Flower Goddess can break the Heavenly Realm's seal."
Biyao suddenly realized: "So, back then, Yunniang's sudden onset of amnesia was also your doing?"
Tang Yuandao said, "That's right. After you joined the Tianli Divine Sect, I discovered that you could summon a fire dragon without having cultivated the Xuanhuo Mirror Technique. That's when I started testing whether the spiritual power in your body was truly the divine power of the wood element. And that year, when you in the Mountain and Sea Garden, you nurtured a leaf of the other shore flower, I was certain that the power in your body was the purest divine power of the wood element that the Flower Goddess left in the divine tree."
Biyao said sadly, "If you want me to help you, just say so. Why did you collude with the Qingyun Sect and harm Qin Wuyan..." She glanced at Qin Wuyan, who was still in a daze, and tears streamed down her face.
Tang Yuandao said, "Some things are beyond my control. Besides, I have to serve the Underworld Emperor. So... I'm sorry. But I can assure you that as long as you help me break Manzhu's seal, I will definitely help you restore Qin Wuyan to normal."
Biyao sighed. In the end, people are all selfish. From the moment he painstakingly hid himself by her side, it was destined that he would never consider her feelings.
Right now, it seems that the wood element divine power within her is her biggest bargaining chip. After thinking for a moment, Biyao said, "There's no time to lose, just tell me, how do I break this seal?"
Tang Yuan's eyes revealed joy: "The seal is on Yama Island. You'll find out when you come with me."
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