Chapter 344 Death
Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen followed their instructions and retreated to the outside of the valley, without disturbing the two inside.
As dusk fell, Mei Liangyu listened to Yu Sui recount what had happened at the Lake of the Dead. When she learned that the yang energy had been sealed within Gu Gan's body, she frowned.
Yu Sui said, "Shen Liu and the others took Third Brother and Mu Mengbai to the Lake of the Dead to fish for the Yin-Yang Fish. It's as if Pu Heng promised someone that he would lure out the Yin-Yang Fish for the person behind the scenes."
“The person behind this is most likely Elder Zhu,” Mei Liangyu said calmly. “Elder Zhu is a renowned sage in Qingyang, and he has private dealings with many people in Qingyang.”
"But why Third Brother?" Yu Sui found it a bit strange. "If it were a deal between Elder Zhu and Qingyang, it would be unlikely that Third Brother would be risked."
Mei Liangyu understood what she meant: that Zhu Lao would not risk his own son for Nangong Ming's sake.
"Why are you so afraid of your father?" Mei Liangyu asked.
Yu Sui blinked, wondering why her senior brother would suddenly ask her that. She thought for a moment and then answered seriously, "A sense of oppression comes from when I was a child. I felt that he was very powerful, intimidating, and I dared not contradict him or make him angry."
Mei Liangyu laughed when she heard this: "Are you the kind of obedient child who, if you don't get your parents' approval, will be anxious and vow to work even harder to please them?"
“Of course not,” Yu Sui denied.
She never regarded Nangong Ming as her "father." In Yu Sui's subconscious, Nangong Ming was a dangerous figure in a strange world, nothing more.
“Senior brother, you may not believe it, and it’s hard for me to explain, but ever since I can remember, I’ve never felt that he was my father, and I can’t accept it,” Yu Sui said. “My father was a very ordinary person, and in the limited time he lived, he was very good to me.”
Those memories that were fading were gradually recalled by Yu Sui.
Her gaze became aimless, her hazy eyes slowly sweeping over the scenery of the setting sun and the stream.
“Living in this world, it’s perfectly normal to crave affection and love from family, but I also know that not all parents can give you the kind of love you want.”
"Because I still remember the past, I can't regard them as my father and mother. If I hadn't been born with knowledge, I might have become a good child who would do anything to gain my parents' approval."
Yu Sui said jokingly, "It's a pity I'm not one of them, so no one has a choice."
She didn't really want to tell Mei Liangyu that she had been able to remember things since birth.
Because it would be terrible.
If a person remembers everything that happens every day from birth, Yu Sui would find it hard to understand and even frightening if that person wasn't herself. She couldn't imagine what that person would think about on a daily basis or how she would view the existence of others.
To put it simply, this kind of person is a monster.
Whether you treat monsters well or badly, it doesn't change this fact.
Yu Sui does not expect people in the world to understand each other; that is absolutely impossible.
Just as someone who is loved by their parents cannot understand parents who would kill their own child, someone who is not loved by their parents cannot understand parents who would give their lives for their child.
It's a very simple principle, but it's just not understood.
Regardless of what others think, Yu Sui just wants Mei Liangyu to understand her, or at least Mei Liangyu to understand her.
So after speaking, Yu Sui stared straight at Mei Liangyu.
Mei Liangyu asked Yu Sui to give him his left hand. He held that hand and said, "It's very warm."
Yu Sui was both amused and exasperated, yet in an instant, an overwhelming feeling of bittersweetness welled up in her nose.
“You’re right. You can’t choose your parents, so there’s no point in thinking about what would happen if it weren’t for them.” Mei Liangyu intertwined her fingers with hers, her tone calm yet reassuring. “You’re so special, it’s not surprising that you were chosen by the Strange Fire.”
"It may sound pretentious, but I don't want to be any special person," Yu Sui muttered to herself.
Mei Liangyu said, "He is neither a father to you, nor does he exert any pressure on you as a child, nor does he have the obsession that children have with their parents' approval. So why are you afraid of him?"
Yu Sui remained silent for a moment.
She knew, but never told anyone.
After a long while, Yu Sui finally managed a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth and confessed for the first time, "Because I'm afraid of dying."
“It’s only human nature,” Mei Liangyu said.
Yu Sui shook her head and continued, "This world is very unfamiliar and scary to me. Many things contradict what I was born knowing, so it takes me a lot of time to convince myself to accept it."
“I never worried about life and death before, but after coming here, I realized that it is both a terrifying and an easy thing.”
"Even without the strange fire, I would still be afraid as a person of ordinary skills. Even without the ninth-rate skills, I would still be afraid of him as a prince of a kingdom."
Yu Sui never regarded Nangong Ming as an enemy to be fought to the death, but rather as a threat.
Nangong Ming represents a certain danger, a constant threat to her life.
“Sometimes I feel that I am indeed an ordinary person, and everything now is just a dream of an ordinary person suddenly becoming extraordinary.” Yu Sui unconsciously opened and closed his five fingers, staring at his palm, and said, “Before, I was not used to this world, but now… I feel that I can.”
“Junior sister, Nangong Ming is not as powerful or terrifying as you imagine.” Mei Liangyu leaned closer and looked into her downcast eyes. “The Nangong family’s hundreds of years of planning, generations of inheritance, and accumulation of a powerful clan have created the Nangong Ming we know today.”
"However, Nangong Ming is just so-so."
Yu Sui looked at Mei Liangyu in surprise.
She thought her senior brother was joking to comfort her, but looking at Mei Liangyu's calm and peaceful expression, she realized he was speaking the truth.
“The power struggle between the six states has always been very simple. In the past, it was about the number of sages; now it’s about which state has the most intense internal strife,” Mei Liangyu said. “The Yan state has been fighting internally for over a hundred years, accumulating irreconcilable hatred. The two sides are locked in a life-or-death struggle and cannot reconcile, so it needs to be thoroughly purged.”
"Qingyang is not so harmonious either."
"Senior brother," Yu Sui called softly.
Mei Liangyu said, "Nangong Ming's achievements were almost entirely focused on dividing the Yan state; he simply caught a lucky break."
“I don’t deny Nangong Ming’s abilities, but that’s about it. If you’re going to treat him as an enemy, you can’t be afraid of him.”
Just like Yan Manfeng was afraid of Nangong Ming.
For Yu Sui, Nangong Ming was not an insurmountable obstacle.
When her fear of the world disappeared, there was nothing left in the world that could threaten her.
Yu Sui slowly revealed a smile, relaxed and happy. She grasped Mei Liangyu's hand and said, "I have never said these things to anyone."
Mei Liangyu took her hand and stood up: "I don't have any either."
"So being able to talk about these things with others is actually a very happy thing for me." Yu Sui couldn't help but laugh, "Because after talking about it, I realized... I'm not so scared anymore."
Mei Liangyu asked, "Nangong Ming?"
Yu Sui shook his head and said, "Death."
She looked up at the man, her dark, moist eyes clear and calm, her heart at peace. Even the influence of the Unseen Serpent could not shake her in the slightest. It seemed that years of resentment and her heart, which had been tormented, ravaged, and twisted, were all suppressed by some more powerful force at this moment.
Mei Liangyu could sense a change in Yu Sui at this moment. She was no longer cautious and fearful, but instead had become the composed demeanor she had once longed for.
As dusk settled and the sky turned pitch black, the wind howled relentlessly after the thunderstorm and heavy rain.
Looking at Yu Sui at this moment, Mei Liangyu smiled from the bottom of her heart for the first time since emerging from the butterfly dream.
"Senior brother, where are you going next?" Yu Sui asked, raising his head.
She knew that Mei Liangyu would definitely leave Taiyi after regaining her memory.
Even if it means breaking ties with one's master.
It's highly likely he'll return to the Yan state.
“A water boat,” Mei Liangyu said.
"What are you going to Shuizhou for?" Yu Sui asked, somewhat surprised.
“With a heart harboring a thousand schemes, we cannot renew our pact.” Mei Liangyu replied instead of answering, “If others were to peer into our souls, they would discover the strange fire hidden deep within.”
Yu Sui asked, "Is it possible to form a contract unilaterally?"
Mei Liangyu glanced in the direction of the water boat: "Perhaps such evil magic will appear in the future."
Yu Sui lowered her head and said "Oh".
She stood up, straightened her coat, fiddled with it for a while, and finally took it off and handed it back to Mei Liangyu.
Mei Liangyu said, "When you're sulking, you like to return my things."
Yu Sui: "I didn't."
Mei Liangyu took the clothes and casually draped them over her shoulder, then looked at Yu Sui with amusement for a moment: "I'm not going to Shuizhou right now. I'm waiting for the people from Shuizhou to come to me."
Yu Sui pretended not to see him and looked out of the valley.
Mei Liangyu added, "I will take Yan Xiaochuan with me when I leave."
"Are you two really that close?" Yu Sui asked in surprise. "I didn't realize it."
Mei Liangyu said, "When it comes to affection, who can compare to you?"
Yu Sui: "I have no idea."
Mei Liangyu then said, "No one can compare to you."
Yu Sui pressed down on the corners of her lips, and then heard her senior brother continue, "He is the son of the current Prince of Yan."
Yan Xiaochuan is the only surviving prince of the Yan Kingdom.
Yu Sui: "Then what about him...?"
“During the palace coup that year, almost all of the Yan King’s children were killed. He escaped by chance and was hidden in Taiyi,” Mei Liangyu said. “But there are still people looking for him outside. As long as he returns to Yan, he will be the first heir.”
"Do you want him to return to Yan and become the heir?" Yu Sui recalled Yan Xiaochuan. "He probably wouldn't cooperate with you."
Mei Liangyu replied, "There are others who need to persuade him; I am only responsible for bringing him back alive."
Yu Sui nodded and asked in return, "And what about you?"
“Junior sister, you once said, ‘The winner takes all, the loser is nothing.’” Mei Liangyu raised her eyebrows slightly. “I find that very interesting.”
At this moment, what Yu Sui saw in the man's eyes was not the anger of revenge, nor the obsession and desire for power, but a contempt that wanted to trample on everything.
Before Yu Sui could react, she felt her breath catch in her throat, her body went limp and she collapsed, only to be caught by Mei Liangyu.
The strange flames flickered, and the fire spirit orb lit up accordingly.
Yu Sui felt as if she were being burned by flames, and her skin felt like it had been struck by lightning. She gripped Mei Liangyu's clothes tightly with her five fingers, unable to speak for a moment. While struggling, she caught a glimpse of the man's seemingly frightened eyes, but she still forced herself to say softly, "It's empathy."
After saying that, he buried his head in Mei Liangyu's arms, not wanting the other to see his ugly appearance as he struggled on the verge of death.
Mei Liangyu recalled that back in the Dragon Fish incident, his junior sister lay on his back, crying in pain, her breathing becoming weak. At first, he thought she was crying because of the Golden Thunder, but later he learned that in addition to the Golden Thunder, there was also the Lingchi empathy.
He knew nothing back then, but now that he knows, seeing his junior sister suffering, Mei Liangyu still overestimated his tolerance.
Mei Liangyu pulled down the outer garment draped over her shoulders and covered the person she was holding tightly in her arms again. At the same time, she created another barrier and used the Heart of a Thousand Machines to cut through the terrain, ensuring that Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen, who were closest to her, would not notice anything unusual.
"You promised it would be at the end of the month, but it's already the beginning of the month and you're starting to die. Little girl, you're the one who broke your promise." The man's furious voice echoed in Yu Sui's mind.
The agreed-upon synesthetic experience at the end of the month at Hai hour did not take place, because she had already given up hope on the Heavenly Script.
The person who evoked empathy now was not her, but Yu Sui had been hurt by Jin Lei before, so she was very familiar with the pain at this moment and guessed who the person who evoked empathy was.
It was Xue Mushi, who was still undergoing Taoist training.
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