Chapter 103 is neither particularly important nor trivial; it's just average. ...
"There's someone else waiting for me to rescue him."
When Meng Chiwan said those words, she herself was somewhat doubtful, wondering about her own firm resolve to save people.
But for some reason, Yun Xianqing's scorching breath would inexplicably appear in her mind, so hot that it felt like it could burn her.
This is strange.
But it was indeed impossible for her to stay in the illusion.
She looked at Meng Ting'er, and a slight ripple finally appeared on her beautiful face. She said, "Mother, I have wanted to stay in the dream where you are forever countless times, but this time I can't."
Meng Ting'er looked at her, a gentle smile appearing on her lips: "Who is that person waiting outside? Is he important to you?"
Meng Chiwan lowered her eyes, her fingertips twitching slightly, but she did not answer directly.
She was also weighing what this ambiguous relationship since their reunion really meant.
For so long, she had refused to think about it, always believing that once she left the Desolate Abyss, she could go her separate ways with him again.
That might indeed be the case. She might still break up with him.
But that didn't stop her from wanting to give herself a clear answer. This answer couldn't deceive herself; it had to be clear and unambiguous.
"Now he's just a friend of mine...not too close, not too distant, but someone I can't stand by and watch him suffer."
With just a few words, she finally defined the relationship.
There's nothing to hate. And nothing to love either.
So it's neither too heavy nor too light, just ordinary. Upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem as complicated as I initially imagined.
It's like the word "dust has settled".
After she finished speaking, Mu Qi seemed to glance at her hand, as if he had also noticed the red thread.
He laughed smugly and said, "That's what you think, but what does he think? My dear daughter, you still don't understand him enough."
Meng Chiwan glanced at him, her brows furrowing slightly, not quite understanding what he meant.
But Mu Qi didn't seem to have any intention of explaining to her. Instead, he turned around and took a palm-leaf fan, gently fanning Meng Ting'er.
Knowing he couldn't keep her, he stopped trying to persuade her.
She turned to leave, but just as she stepped out the door, she heard Mu Qi's voice.
"Do you want Meng Ting'er to come back?"
Meng Chiwan's breath caught in her throat, and her entire body froze.
She turned around, but Meng Ting'er was gone. Only Mu Qi remained, sitting at the table, looking at her quietly with an unprecedentedly serious expression.
Meng Chiwan said, "My mother is already dead, how can I..."
There is no magic in the world that can bring the dead back to life.
But before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted: "She's not dead!"
She was so shocked by the sound that she couldn't utter a word for a long time before finally saying, "If she's not dead, then where is she?"
Mu Qi calmed down and said, "In the Immortal Alliance."
Meng Chiwan retorted without hesitation: "Impossible, I've been in the Immortal Alliance for so long."
A hint of gloom flashed in Mu Qi's eyes, and he scoffed, "The Immortal Alliance has hidden her away... hidden her away." But his voice became hoarse when he said the second half of the sentence.
"How could the Immortal Alliance..." Meng Chiwan still couldn't believe it and murmured.
After all, she was a disciple of the Immortal Alliance and had personally witnessed the Immortal Alliance's reputation, so she always felt that the Immortal Alliance should not be like this.
If what Mu Qi said is true, then perhaps there is another possibility.
It's because Mother herself doesn't want to see anyone.
It's only natural that he doesn't want to see Mu Qi, so why doesn't he want to see her?
Seeing that she still didn't believe him, Mu Qi asked, "Before the Yun family was destroyed, did you believe they would do those things?"
Meng Chiwan pursed her lips and remained silent. There was no point in saying anything more; she could only try to find out if what Mu Qi said was true.
“If what you’re saying is true, then how can I see her?” she asked.
Mu Qi said, "Of course..."
He slightly curled his lips, but his eyes were devoid of warmth: "Destroy the Immortal Alliance, destroy the Immortal Alliance."
Meng Chiwan's pupils contracted, thinking she had misheard. But then she thought about it again, and if the person who said this was Mu Qi, then it would make sense.
Meng Chiwan immediately said, "Do you want Mother to come back, or do you want to push her further away?"
As if recalling some unpleasant memory, the smile on his face vanished completely, replaced by a cold indifference in his eyes.
“She can only come back to me, and only look at me,” Mu Qi said. “Even if… I can forgive her.”
He swallowed a few words back, ultimately unable to utter them.
Meng Chiwan felt a chill run down her spine. Are there any normal people left in the cultivation world? Yun Xianqing and Mu Qi are truly unfortunate.
Meng Chiwan asked, "What did your mother do to you? Why does she need your forgiveness?"
Her face was full of disdain.
Mu Qi didn't answer her, abruptly changing the subject, saying, "You and I will destroy the Immortal Alliance together and bring back your mother."
Meng Chiwan refused without hesitation: "How could I trust you? I couldn't bring myself to destroy my own sect. Besides, do you even have the ability?"
Mu Qi resorted to moral blackmail: "If you don't come with me, you'll never see your mother again."
Meng Chiwan said, "Are you trying to use me to lure out my mother? Don't overthink it. If she were alive, she wouldn't want to see you."
As soon as she said those words, she suddenly remembered what she had just heard.
Actually, she might not necessarily not want to see him.
Meng Chiwan didn't say anything more to him and turned to leave.
The moment I stepped out the door.
A light drizzle was falling in front of her, but not a single drop landed on her.
The umbrella of sorrow was open, floating above her head without any support, like a cloud in the sky, like a leaf dancing in the air.
It slowly rotated in circles.
Meng Chiwan paused for a moment, then reached out and grasped the umbrella handle.
It was icy cold and damp.
At that moment, Meng Chiwan clearly felt that Wen Beisan had formed a bond with her.
A hint of surprise flashed across her face, but she quickly suppressed it and turned to walk towards Yun Xianqing.
Yun Xianqing leaned against the tree, her body half-wet, her face showing pain, looking extremely vulnerable.
If she had simply left him to his fate at that moment, it would have been acceptable. Clearly, refusing to help someone in dire need is not her style.
She reached out and grasped his cold wrist, tentatively trying to channel spiritual energy into him, but was quickly pushed back by a strong force.
She frowned slightly, manipulating the umbrella of sorrow to completely cover him.
The pale blue umbrella surface, pounded by raindrops, emitted a faint, ethereal glow.
Under that beam of light, his complexion visibly improved.
Meng Chiwan let out a soft breath, and her wrist was gently grasped.
She looked up.
Yun Xianqing's clear and handsome eyes looked at her, and then slowly moved down to look at the red thread that the two of them were intertwined.
The red thread, so vibrant it seemed to drip blood, made their hands appear even whiter than snow. Looking at their hands alone, they were undeniably a perfect match.
Meng Chiwan instinctively felt that something was wrong with the red thread, but given Yun Xianqing's current appearance, she didn't say anything more.
"Are you feeling better?" she asked politely.
"I'm fine, Chi Wan, don't worry," he replied politely, but a smile had crept into his eyes, indicating he was in a good mood.
Meng Chiwan didn't understand this logic.
Yun Xianqing said, "We've obtained both the Guiyuan Grass and the Wenbei Umbrella. What's Chi Wan's next step?"
Before he could even say anything, a gust of cold wind swept over him.
Meng Chiwan raised her hand and conjured a barrier, only then did she see that there were many more tombstones in the forest that she could see or could not see clearly.
Behind the tombstone, small mounds of earth were throbbing, as if something was trying to break free.
"Of course I'll go out." But she still slowly finished her sentence.
Suddenly, a few clear bell sounds rang out from somewhere, and after a while in the wind, they reached her ears.
Meng Chiwan, holding an umbrella, looked up in the direction from which the sound came.
The rain pattered against the umbrella, and the surroundings were shrouded in mist, like a ghostly realm or a fairyland.
Something crawled out of the grave and swarmed toward the sound of the bell.
It was a young boy, dressed in black, whose white skin, in the hazy light, resembled a piece of beautiful jade, making him seem unreal to those who looked at him.
Meng Chiwan's gaze lingered on him for a few seconds before finally finding the bell on his body.
On the jade hairpin that held his hair in place.
Meng Chiwan stared at it for a while until she felt a strange burning sensation on her fingertips. She looked down and saw that the red thread was burning hot.
She turned her head to look at Yun Xianqing and saw that his expression was normal.
She smiled with a hint of sarcasm: "You must untie this red thread for me, except in the Desolate Abyss."
Yun Xianqing smiled, seemingly feigning magnanimity, and said, "Of course."
Meng Chiwan stopped arguing with him and looked at the young man.
The boy's gaze also fell on her, her face hidden in the shadows, making it difficult to see clearly.
He seemed to be looking at her, but also... he seemed to be looking at Wen Beisan.
Meng Chiwan had a sudden inspiration and, under his gloomy gaze, took out the Tuyan Token.
Old Man Chen clearly said that this thing could protect her and help her get out of the Desolate Abyss, but it didn't play a significant role, only having some effect on the Yun'an Sea.
Since the young man is looking at the question about the Umbrella of Sorrow, perhaps he will become familiar with the Order of the Nightmare.
The Tu Yan appeared extremely dim in the mist, and even if you got close, you might not be able to see its exact shape.
Meng Chiwan thought for a moment and prepared to use her spiritual energy to start a fire so that the young man could see clearly.
But as soon as she made a move, those things that had been dormant instantly became restless again.
She frowned and stopped moving.
The young man spoke at that moment: "You are from the Meng family of Jingtai." His voice was hoarse, as if his vocal cords had been worn down.
He looks like a young man, but his voice sounds like that of a very old man.
Meng Chiwan nodded.
She is Meng Ting'er's daughter, and should be considered a member of the Meng family in Beijing and Taiwan.
The boy remained silent for a few moments, lowering his head as if lost in thought. When he looked up, the bell rang a few more times. The sound was clear and melodious; his rough voice was definitely more pleasant to hear.
The boy said, “You are alive. You and he are both alive. I can feel that you and he both have a long-lost vitality.”
Meng Chiwan didn't speak, she just looked at him and listened quietly.
From what I can see, he doesn't seem to have any malicious intent.
The next moment, the boy took off the jade hairpin, his black hair falling all over his body. He picked up the hairpin with his hand, and the bell hung in front of him.
His face finally became clear.
He had no face at all. Empty. Nothing at all.
The bell rang softly a few times as the wind blew on it.
Many eerie winds came toward her.
At that moment, the boy said, "But you can't take away the Umbrella of Sorrow."
The mound swelled up again, and many strange-looking things crawled out. They were covered in pus and rotting flesh, and emitted a foul odor.
I can't tell what it is. But it's definitely not something good.
"I'm asking the owner of the Sorrowful Umbrella why he can't take it with him," Meng Chiwan said calmly.
"Me too." The boy's voice was hoarse, thick with breathiness, sounding like a sigh or a regret.
The author's note: A line came to mind: "I hated love to death, and buried it in the sea." This comes from the book *Life is Like a Sea*.
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