Chapter 291 Your father's name is Dong Lanxun
Chang Gen's insistence led Sun Heng to change his plans.
Mei Liangyu had been taken to the ice sea test site and was waiting. He saw a large area of frozen sea, but he could not feel the slightest bit of cold. Beneath the thick ice, there was still a rushing current of seawater.
Even on the high, cross-shaped observation deck, the ground was covered with a thick layer of frost.
Chen Daozhi stood beside Mei Liangyu and enthusiastically explained, "The sea beneath the ice sea is covered with sea eyes. We gathered the chaotic sea air from the surrounding waters and then guided and adjusted it day and night before finally creating the perfect sea eye."
Mei Liangyu gazed at the frozen sea below and said expressionlessly, "A sea eye that can be sealed off can be considered perfect?"
"Oh, we call it perfect because it brought us unexpected surprises!" Chen Daozhi put aside past grievances and put his arm around Mei Liangyu's shoulder again, patting him hard. "We only knew that the sea eye could swallow everything, but we never thought it could spit things out."
His expectant look signaled to Mei Liangyu: "Quickly guess what you vomited?"
Mei Liangyu glanced at him sideways: "Can Haihuo reveal your conscience after you betrayed your master and ancestors?"
Chen Daozhi laughed heartily: "You guessed wrong, it vomited sea fire!"
He looked very happy and excited, his handsome young face beaming with an innocent smile. Mei Liangyu, however, simply watched him quietly, a hint of mockery in the depths of her dark, bright eyes.
When Chen Daozhi looked into those eyes, he was momentarily stunned, then sighed: "Your eyes do resemble Junior Brother Liang's quite a bit. No wonder your master doesn't like them. Who likes their disciple to look like someone else? If you ever call Junior Brother Liang 'Master,' I think Elder Chang will tear him to pieces."
Mei Liangyu scoffed lightly: "Don't tarnish my master's reputation here."
Chen Daozhi exaggeratedly said, "Does Elder Chang's reputation still need to be ruined? It's been that long ago."
He paused, then chuckled and said, "Don't try to get anything out of me, kid. You've already regained your memories, haven't you? Yet you're still so protective of Elder Chang. It's clear you two have a deep bond as master and disciple."
Chen Dao looked Mei Liangyu up and down: "Or are you saying you didn't remember at all?"
Mei Liangyu looked away at Xia Binghai and said, "Whether you remember or not, don't even think about getting any information out of me."
"What are you trying to trick me into saying? Just tell me what you know. It's only a matter of time." Chen Daozhi smiled and leaned closer to him, sticking out his tongue at Mei Liangyu, the copper coin on his tongue looking like it was inlaid. "You should have learned from me when you were young, but I'm not going to compete with Elder Chang for the title of Master. After all, you'll be just like me in the future, Young Master."
The last three words were quite meaningful.
Mei Liangyu ignored the malice in his words and did not give Chen Daozhi the reaction he wanted. Because his limbs were bound by thorns, he could only move his neck from side to side. He didn't even look at Chen Daozhi: "Do you know why I didn't like playing with you before?"
"Why?" Chen Daozhi asked.
Mei Liangyu's face was full of deep disgust: "Because you talk too much, it's really too noisy."
“It’s true that I talk a lot, but how can that be considered noisy?” Chen Daozhi sighed. “It’s just that you don’t like to hear it. If I say something you like to hear, you’ll think it’s like listening to heavenly music!”
Mei Liangyu ignored him, and Chen Daozhi continued to ramble on for a long time until Zhuge Ling came over and said to the two people standing at the end of the stands, "Old Master Sun told him to go to the secret room first."
"What's wrong now?" Chen Daozhi scratched his head and turned around. "We've already brought everyone here, why are we going to the dark room again?"
Zhuge Ling frowned and said, "I don't know. Saint Changgen is still waiting outside. I think if he runs out of patience, he will take the person away directly."
Chen Daozhi laughed and said, "When did he ever get allowed to wander around like that?"
Zhuge Ling: "At least he won't listen to us now."
The room was constructed entirely of black ice stones, large blocks of which were seamlessly joined to create a smooth wall. The room was simply furnished with a wooden table and a few chairs, a desk and a bookcase on one side, and several plates of snacks and fruit on the table.
Lu Lan and Xuan Jing stood guard at the door. Before Mei Liangyu was let in, the thorny cage on his body had been removed. He rubbed his wrists and walked into the dark room without changing his expression.
On the table were several glowing sea pearls, their light lustrous and warm yellow. In the quiet environment, such lighting would make people feel warm and relaxed.
Sun Heng extended his hand to Mei Liangyu and said, "Please sit down."
Mei Liangyu glanced at the things on the table and sat down opposite him.
Sun Heng added, "If you're hungry, you can eat something first, and we can chat while we eat."
Mei Liangyu lowered her eyes again to examine the things on the table. The plate containing the food had a faint jade-like color and a translucent luster, which appeared even more lustrous under the light.
It appears to be made of jade, but it is actually made of Yan stone, which is unique to the Yan Kingdom.
The items served on the plate were also specialties of the Yan Kingdom.
The large, green and red dates are incredibly crisp and sweet with every bite; the fragrant chestnuts have a smooth, sweet, and powdery texture that is very filling; the lychee liquor in the pot looks light and sweet, but one sip will leave you feeling intoxicated.
Mei Liangyu had seen all of these things since he was a child.
He subtly turned his gaze away, without touching the food on the table, and looked at Sun Heng, saying calmly, "What do you want to say? Just say it all at once, lest my master can't help but rush in and you won't be able to ask anything."
Sun Heng stood in the sunlight with his hands behind his back. Hearing this, he smiled and shook his head, appearing neither in a hurry nor hostile.
He sized up the composed and indifferent young man before him and slowly said, "When you were nine years old, your father brought you to the water boat."
Mei Liangyu was surprised that Sun Heng would directly bring up matters related to her father. Her gaze froze, and she even looked somewhat suspicious.
Master is still outside; he just won't come in, he's not dead.
Before Sun Heng could continue, Mei Liangyu interrupted, "Wait, are you planning to tell me about my background now?"
Sun Heng: "It's not impossible."
"My master is still waiting outside." Mei Liangyu narrowed her eyes. "You dare to do this, meaning that after I go out, my master will seal my memories again?"
Sun Heng couldn't help but laugh and say, "Perhaps you understand him better than Elder Chang thinks."
Mei Liangyu said bluntly, "If the price is that Master erases my memories again, I can choose not to listen to you."
He has no way to stop his master from sealing his memories yet, and given his master's temperament, he might just erase all his memories again without a second thought.
Then he will experience that blank feeling of knowing nothing again, standing alone on the beach of Taiyi, feeling lost and helpless.
Moreover... Mei Liangyu now has memories she never wants to forget, even in death.
The person he's been longing for just told him they liked him, how could he possibly forget them?
Mei Liangyu wants to know everything from the past, but is unwilling to exchange her current memories for it.
"Perhaps you can make a decision after you've listened to the whole thing."
Sun Heng gazed at him, remembering the little boy from the Yan Kingdom. He was quieter than the other two children, seemingly uninterested in anything in the world. While the crowd laughed and joked, he would quietly play with the mechanical ball in a corner, or slip away unnoticed.
People's attention was focused on his exceptionally outstanding older sister and brother, while the third child of the Princess of Yan was overlooked.
At that time, Sun Heng did not find anything special about Mei Liangyu, but his father often brought his youngest son with him to visit the Taiyi Mechanical Household.
“Let’s first talk about your father’s attitude towards the Strange Fire,” Sun Heng said, glancing at the surrounding ice stone walls. “A thousand years ago, the Mechanical Arts School was implicated in the Yan Kingdom’s attack on the other five kingdoms. Many mechanical arts masters were besieged and expelled by the five kingdoms. The world only knew that four schools retreated to Taiyi, but in reality, there were five.”
"This fifth family is a branch of the Gongshu clan, a powerful family of mechanical engineering, and also the Donglan family, which was ordered by the King of Yan to manufacture weapons a thousand years ago. The mechanical engineering family was besieged and killed, and the Donglan family also suffered heavy casualties."
"The Donglan clan has always remembered the destruction of the Yan Kingdom's mechanical family and wants to lead the mechanical family back to the Six Kingdoms. They want to prove the greatness and strength of the mechanical family, so after the strange fire descended on the Xuan Gu Continent, they finally got the opportunity."
When the sages of the six kingdoms proposed the water-boat project and approached them, the Donglan clan agreed to cooperate in building the water-boat.
Sun Heng walked to the table and sat down, recounting the past in a deep voice: "The Donglan clan had been recuperating and building up their strength. At that time, there were 367 masters of the thirteenth realm of mechanical arts and three saints of mechanical arts. All of these people joined in the construction of the water boat, hoping to stop the strange fire from burning the world."
"Until that world destroyer named Bai Cheng, under the guise of cooperation, entered the watership but indiscriminately used strange fire to kill people, the Donglan clan was wiped out. All three hundred and sixty-seven mechanical masters and three mechanical saints died in that strange fire, and even the watership was almost completely destroyed."
“In that disaster, only three members of the Donglan clan survived.” Sun Heng looked directly into Mei Liangyu’s eyes and slowly told him, “Your grandfather often told your father that the Strange Fire had a blood feud with them.”
At this moment, his gaze lost its gentle and loving quality, becoming solemn and dignified, forcing Mei Liangyu to accept this pressure.
Mei Liangyu remained silent.
Sun Heng said, "Your father's name is Dong Lanxun."
The few words Sun Heng uttered made Mei Liangyu's heart skip a beat, and the fingers resting on the rim of her wine glass curled slightly.
This was a name he had never been able to remember.
“Dong Lanxun was born and raised in Shuizhou. When he went to Jiguan Island at the age of ten, he was already considered a master of mechanical arts,” Sun Heng said. “The people of Shuizhou also took good care of him and never shied away from telling him about the strange fire. He was also very smart, the smartest mechanical arts master I have ever met.”
When talking about Donglan Xun, Sun Heng's eyes were filled with a smile, but his gaze was still fixed on Mei Liangyu: "Your father has been working hard since childhood to eliminate the strange fire. He not only wants to eliminate the strange fire, but also to bring glory to the Donglan clan and let the mechanical family return to the Six Kingdoms."
"But so much has happened in the outside world that he has forgotten his promise to his family."
Sun Heng gestured for Mei Liangyu to look around: "The fire-absorbing ice stone in this dark room was modified by your father. When he brought the fire-absorbing ice stone back, he only said that it could keep warm in winter and cool in summer, but there are too many stones like this. This ice stone doesn't have anything unique that he could give to Shui Zhou."
But he was unwilling to say more.
The man in my memory smiled and hid his hands in his sleeves. No matter how he asked or how others cursed him, he would just say in a good-natured manner that if he didn't want it, he could throw it away.
"Later we discovered that the sea fire found in the sea eye could not burn these fire-absorbing ice stones. Once you got close, the flames would be extinguished as if they were sucked into the stones." Sun Heng withdrew his gaze from the wall of the dark room and looked back at Mei Liangyu. He spoke even more slowly, "Your father may have known all along, but he was unwilling to say it at the time."
Mei Liangyu remained silent, but in his heart he thought, "My father won't tell you the function of the Fire-Absorbing Ice Stone, so there must be something wrong with you."
“In the past, there was the sage of the art of divination, Qin Qi, who found the destroyer of the world through divination. But over the years, only Qin Qi has been able to do it.” Sun Heng changed the subject, his gaze becoming sharp again. “But your father, without relying on divination, also found a way to identify the destroyer of the world.”
"Eighteen years ago, Dong Lanxun found a world destroyer and killed him with his own hands."
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