Chapter 100 "A grand banquet was set up, surrounded by spiritual energy..."
The boatman was being carried like a chick, his eyes darting around as if searching for a way to escape.
Because Meng Chiwan was inside a room in a blind spot, neither the boatman nor the person carrying her saw her for the time being.
The situation has deteriorated drastically from the start! Before she can even grasp the situation, one of her top generals, who understands the situation best, is about to be killed.
Before the group approached, she whispered to the little girl, "If they're captured, can they be rescued?"
The little girl nodded: "Of course you can. You can choose to break him out of prison, but I don't recommend doing so."
Meng Chiwan asked why.
The little girl said, "Because you might not be able to beat them. Why didn't you check where this place is before you came?"
She seemed puzzled and glanced at Meng Chiwan a couple more times.
Meng Chiwan humbly asked, "So what exactly is Chun Shen Tai?"
The process of seeking knowledge was so smooth that she didn't remember that the boatman was still in someone else's hands until she finished speaking.
The little girl chuckled softly and said, "Not only am I here, but there are also many calligraphy and artifacts hidden here by the Meng family of Jingtai, which is why there are so many thieves coming here."
Meng Chiwan nodded hastily, but still felt that they should consider rescuing the boatman first, so she asked, "Do you have any way to save the boatman?"
She still possesses cultivation, so it's not that she can't directly save him, but such a forceful approach would inevitably risk alerting the enemy. Currently, she doesn't yet know the exact situation, so it's best not to act directly.
The little girl glanced at her, as if analyzing whether she was good or bad.
Meng Chiwan tried her best to look like a good person, blinking her eyes as if she wanted to write "I am a good person" on her face.
Finally, she heard the little girl sigh, and then say helplessly, "I'll help you."
Meng Chiwan immediately offered to help her with something, anything she could do.
The little girl nodded in agreement, but didn't take it to heart. After all, no one would think that a thief who was barely able to protect himself could do anything.
The little girl stepped out, said something, and soon brought the boatman back in.
This young girl doesn't seem like a simple person. She's clearly from the Meng family of Jingtai, but it's unclear why she lives in the place where magical artifacts and scriptures are stored.
When the boatman was brought in by the little girl, he was initially uneasy following behind her, but he was relieved when he saw Meng Chiwan.
He cleared his hoarse voice from explaining and then said, "Miss, I'm relieved to see you here too."
Meng Chiwan said, "Enough with the nonsense, hurry up and explain what's going on."
She did hear the boatman say, "There's no turning back."
The boatman gave an awkward laugh, then turned his eyes to the little girl beside him, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
The little girl immediately walked away; she was being far too kind, even though she had just saved him.
Meng Chiwan smiled apologetically at the little girl, unaware of what the boatman actually knew.
Not long after, the boatman said, "We are now in an illusion. If we want to get out of here and get the Returning Origin Grass, there is only one way: find the master of the illusion and kill him."
Meng Chiwan asked, "How do we determine who the master of the illusion is?"
The boatman said, "Use the miasma-breaking plate."
After a while, Meng Chiwan stared blankly in the direction the broken miasma disc was pointing.
The boatman said, "What are we waiting for? Kill her. If we kill her, we can get out of here and obtain the Returning Origin Grass."
Meng Chiwan lowered her eyes, ignoring the boatman's words, and gazed intently at the little girl standing by the window admiring the moon not far away.
She was dressed in her nightgown, which looked particularly thin under the lonely moon.
The pointer was pointing straight at the window, and it even trembled as the little girl moved, eventually pointing precisely at her.
She is the master of the illusion.
She was the one they wanted to kill.
Meng Chiwan put away the Broken Miasma Plate and said with pursed lips, "I can't bear it, especially since she just saved you and me."
The boatman clicked his tongue softly and said, "In this illusion, everything except you and me is fake. She's long gone! If you kill her, her death is fake. But if you can't bring yourself to do it, we'll truly be trapped in this illusion forever, never to escape!"
Meng Chiwan's eyelashes fluttered. She stopped looking at the boatman and focused only on the little girl's figure. Her eyes seemed to be filled with many thoughts, as if she was thinking about a lot of things, or as if she was just trying to convince herself.
Finally, a gentle spell flew from her fingertips, heading towards the little girl by the window, striking her slender figure.
A breeze blew in through the window, and the little girl pulled her clothes tighter around herself.
The boatman breathed a sigh of relief.
Meng Chiwan clenched her fist tightly, her gaze fixed on the incantation.
Finally, the little girl turned around, and the incantation arrived as expected.
The boatman couldn't bear to close his eyes in the end.
Meng Chiwan flashed a bright smile: "Have you thought about what kind of help you need?"
The little girl's hair was blown behind her by the gentle breeze brought by the magic spell, colliding with the vast night sky.
But the spell she cast was never a killing move; it was an illusion that transformed into an outer robe, which floated lightly onto the little girl, shielding her from the cool breeze.
A hint of surprise flashed in the little girl's eyes, as if she were somewhat flattered. She belatedly said, "Thank you."
Ignoring the boatman's surprised look, Meng Chiwan said, "Is there anything I can help you with? As long as it's within my power, I will do my best."
She ultimately couldn't bring herself to easily harm an innocent person, even in a dream world.
At least let her fulfill her promise first.
I wonder where Yun Xianqing went. Could she have been arrested too?
The little girl thought for a moment, and finally said, "I don't think I need your help. If you haven't stolen anything, you can leave now."
This should be considered an invitation to leave.
Unfortunately, Meng Chiwan pretended not to understand: "If I can't fulfill the promise I made, I won't be able to eat or sleep, I'll be restless and unable to eat or sleep..."
The little girl seemed to find it a bit troublesome, and actually lowered her head to start thinking seriously.
"Today is my sister's birthday. Could you go and see how things are outside?" the girl said at the end, her tone indifferent and revealing no particular emotion.
Meng Chiwan: "Is that all? Why don't you go yourself?"
The young girl said, "There's no need."
Seeing that she had no intention of revealing anything, Meng Chiwan sighed softly and quickly went out.
Seeing her skill, the young girl knew that she was highly skilled, but she said nothing.
Meng Chiwan returned quickly.
Upon returning, he only uttered two sentences: "A grand banquet was prepared, and the air was filled with spiritual charm."
No wonder it's a big family.
After Meng Chiwan finished speaking, she watched the little girl's reaction.
The little girl kept her head down, not even lifting her eyelids when she heard the words. Her reaction was indifferent, as if she wasn't the one being asked to go and see.
Unable to discern whether she was happy or unhappy from her reaction, Meng Chiwan said, "Since it's your sister's birthday, why don't you go out and offer your blessings?"
Is it a bad relationship with family members, or is there another hidden reason?
She shouldn't have pried into other people's privacy, but for some reason, seeing the little girl's appearance and living in such a desolate place, she ended up asking anyway.
The girl's expression remained unchanged; she simply said, "I don't want to, and she doesn't need to."
After she finished speaking, she didn't say anything more, but Meng Chiwan inexplicably felt that she actually wanted someone to confide in.
She then asked, "What's your name?"
"Meng Ting'er." The little girl's voice was soft and gentle, like a mountain stream flowing slowly down.
Upon hearing that name, Meng Chiwan's pupils contracted sharply, and she felt as if she had been struck by lightning. The gentle smile that had been on her face froze instantly, and when she spoke, her voice sounded as if it wasn't her own: "What did you say? Your name is... Meng... Ting'er?"
The boatman and the little girl were both taken aback, staring at her in bewilderment.
The little girl asked, "What's wrong? Meng Ting'er, doesn't it sound nice?"
Meng Chiwan was unable to speak for a long time. All the sounds around her were suddenly pulled away, leaving only the pounding of her own heart, one beat after another, dull and heavy against her chest.
Meng Ting'er.
It's her mother's name.
Could it be a coincidence?
She looked at the little girl again, and seeing the little girl's eyebrows and eyes that resembled her own when she was young, she closed her eyes.
Is it possible for such a coincidence to happen in the world? Probably not.
The little girl waited patiently for her to calm down.
Meng Chiwan asked her, "Do you know Mu Qi?"
As soon as she said it, she felt that the question was too stupid. She was only a girl in her early teens, and it was hard to say whether Mu Qi was even named Mu Qi back then.
"Never mind, don't..." She waved her hand, trying to tell her not to answer.
But before she could finish speaking, she heard the little girl's clear voice: "I guess I recognize her."
Meng Chiwan was stunned.
No, you really know him?
Her gaze towards the little girl suddenly changed.
Well, even if she's only ten years old, there's a high chance she's her mother. She can no longer see her like an ordinary child.
A flood of emotions welled up inside her, tangled together, and she couldn't distinguish them. But her eyes were a little red, and her nose was stinging. Finally, she understood that among them were emotions that might be called longing, and also resentment.
Yes. It's a feeling of being wronged.
"Who is he to you?" Meng Chiwan asked, concealing her myriad thoughts.
"Could he be considered my fiancé?" Meng Ting'er seemed to rack her brains for a moment before answering.
Meng Chiwan received some shocking news.
Her parents' love? She felt she needed to process that.
First of all, her mother is from the Meng family in Beijing and Taiwan, and she also has a younger sister who is celebrating her birthday on this day.
Then, Mu Qi was her mother's fiancé.
But why would the daughter of the Meng family in Jingtai be engaged to a demon?
"Do you like him?" After a long while, Meng Chiwan finally asked.
This time it was Meng Ting'er's turn to be puzzled: "What is 'like'?"
Meng Chiwan: "..."
What does this feel like?
A biological daughter inexplicably wants to teach her immature mother what love is.
Meng Chiwan thought for a while and said: "It's probably like this: when you see him, you feel happy and joyful, but when you don't see him, you feel lost and start to miss him."
Although she didn't have much experience, she still had some, after all, she had been in a love-hate relationship with Yun Xianqing for so long.
"Never seen it before."
Meng Chiwan: "Huh?"
“I have never met Mu Qi,” Meng Ting’er said, enunciating each word clearly.
Meng Chiwan was at a loss for words; many words were stuck in her throat because of the phrase "never seen before".
Could this be a marriage of convenience that blossoms into love?
After thinking for a moment, she still spoke up: "...To marry someone you've never even met?"
Meng Ting'er: "It doesn't matter. The family has arranged it this way, so be it. Anyway... it doesn't matter what we do."
Meng Chiwan is now starting to doubt whether she is her mother.
I don't remember my mother being like this. She was always full of hope and never felt that the world was meaningless.
What exactly caused a mother with such a personality during her childhood to become the person she is today? And what shaped her into such a mother?
Meng Chiwan suddenly asked, "What's the date now?"
Meng Ting'er said, "The fifteenth of the first month."
The Lantern Festival.
Meng Chiwan finally understood why she had asked her to go and see her sister's birthday celebration.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is not only the birthday of Meng Ting'er's younger sister, but also the birthday of Meng Ting'er.
This day was the birthday of Meng Chiwan's mother, Meng Ting'er. Yet, it was quiet and deserted, with only the stars and moon for company.
“A grand banquet was set up, surrounded by spiritual charm.”
It has nothing to do with Meng Ting'er.
Meng Chiwan wanted to take back those two words, wanted to shatter her mother's calm face, and wanted to ask her mother why she didn't leave Chun Shen Tai.
Spring Terrace is truly a desolate place; it confines the unloved here, making her as lonely and desolate as it is.
The lavish feast paled in comparison to Meng Chiwan's gaze. She simply looked down at the seemingly frail young girl and asked, "Would you like to celebrate your birthday?"
She thought of something she could do for her mother.
Staying in this illusion doesn't seem so bad.
Unfortunately, she wasn't alone in the illusion. There were others waiting for the Rejuvenating Grass to save their lives.
The author says: My life is as fragile as paper.
Meng Chiwan: It's not so bad to never leave the illusion realm in your entire life.
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