Goodnight, Quanlai
Lai rescued all his people from the water prison. Ignoring the shocked looks on the faces of the merfolk, he coldly asked, "Where is Shu'er?"
The merfolk looked embarrassed, and their eyes darted away, avoiding his gaze.
He suddenly had a bad feeling, grabbed a merman's arm and stared at him intently: "I'm asking you, Shu'er, where did you go?"
The merman trembled violently, his hands shaking, and stammered, "In the year after you left, I was... I was eaten..."
Quan Lai released his hand, her face deathly pale, her nostrils flaring, and her breathing becoming rapid and unsteady: "Impossible! Are you lying to me?"
The old merman sighed and slowly said, "What he said is true. Quan Shu is dead."
"...Who killed her?" Quan Lai's clenched fist loosened, her whole body trembling.
The tribesmen sensed the murderous aura emanating from him and wished they could stay far away from him. Only one of them mustered up the courage to say, "We don't know either... it's a man."
"Fine. Fine. Then I'll kill all the men here." Quan Lai squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
The scene abruptly ended. But Qi Yuan could already guess what happened next.
It was simply that Quanlai returned to the seabed, told everyone everything, led the Merfolk back to the Demon Clan, and became the first Merfolk to use demonic power, inheriting the throne and becoming the Merfolk King.
Qi Yuan's memory had a strong aftereffect; she hadn't completely detached herself from reality yet.
"Is it pretty?" Quanlai looked at her quietly.
"I admire you. You actually managed to save all your people and use your demonic power in just three years by sticking to your ideas," Qi Yuan said calmly.
Quan Lai was taken aback by her words, a hint of surprise flashing across his face. He said in a deep voice, "This is my consciousness."
"Yes, I know." Qi Yuan flashed forward, drew her sword, and pressed it against his neck. "Say what you have to say quickly, or you're going to die."
"Why would you...?" Quan Lai's face turned extremely pale, and her lips trembled slightly.
“This is your consciousness, but your true form is inside. You cannot use demonic arts to attack now. I can easily kill you,” Qi Yuan said.
She added, "I know what you're going to ask. Of course I sympathize with you."
"Since you sympathize with me, why did you put a sword to my neck?" Quan Lai asked incredulously.
"You've been gambling all along. Gambling that anyone who sees your memories will feel pity and won't have the heart to kill you," Qi Yuan said coldly.
Quan Lai was stunned, and tacitly accepted this fact.
He used this method to defeat many people.
“Your fate is pitiful, and I feel sorry for you. But the innocent people you killed are equally pitiful.” Qi Yuan’s eyes darkened slightly.
She asked, with a complicated expression, "Do you have any last words?"
Upon hearing this, Quanlai suddenly laughed, a laugh that seemed more like self-mockery.
He wiped the tears from his eyes and said readily, "No, that's all. Come on, I miss my sister too, let's go down and keep her company."
This frankness startled Qi Yuan for a moment.
She closed her eyes and whispered, "Goodnight, Quanlai."
The sharp blade severed Quan Lai's fragile body from her consciousness in an instant.
Qi Yuan broke free from the illusion and felt herself in the water, with something below lifting her up.
"What about Yangmei? The water is so deep, and she's been in there for so long. Could she have died?" Gu Youtian paced back and forth anxiously.
Mu Qinghuai looked somewhat anxious and said, "Don't say anything unlucky."
Gu Youtian shut up and looked at Ouyang Lanyue: "Grand Preceptor, why didn't you agree to let Young Master Zhu Fu go to save Miss Yang Mei? She's a goddess, won't she be in trouble?"
“...She will be alright,” Ouyang Lanyue said.
The Taoist priest stood aside and sneered, "This is the person you called the chosen one? Unlike the one I selected, the chosen one of destiny, how come she died so quickly?"
Mu Qinghuai looked at the Taoist priest with a hint of suspicion.
"Look!! Yangmei is floating out of the water!" Gu Youtian shouted, pointing at the water.
Qi Yuan finally breathed air. She crawled to the shore, knelt on the ground, and gasped for breath.
"Miss Yangmei, are you alright?" Gu Youtian asked worriedly.
She used magic to dry the clothes before collapsing to the ground: "The Mermaid King is dead."
"How did you get up here?" Mu Qinghuai asked.
Qi Yuan was stunned, and said uncertainly, "A force lifted me to the surface of the water, and the last thing I saw was a fish tail. It must have been a mermaid who saved me."
She lowered her eyes and thought to herself: Thank you.
Ouyang Lanyue raised an eyebrow at the Taoist priest, who angrily turned around and got into the carriage.
Li Tie slowly walked over, looking at him with extreme reluctance, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't have said that to you. You actually defeated the Mermaid King and came out alive..."
Qi Yuan nodded and said, "Actually, I didn't fight the Mermaid King. He... died willingly."
Mu Qinghuai stared at her face for a few seconds with surprise and doubt.
"Don't you have anything else to say?" Li Tie said irritably.
"No. It was your fault to begin with, so isn't it only natural that you apologize to me?" Qi Yuan said calmly, her expression unchanged.
Gu Youtian pulled her aside and whispered, "Girl, why did you have to say it? Even if he really died willingly, wouldn't it be better to just say that you easily defeated the Mermaid King? That would scare Li Tie to death!"
Qi Yuan paused for a moment, but still answered, "My intuition tells me that's what I want to say."
She had no right to forgive Izumi on behalf of the person Izumi killed, so she killed him. But she just wanted to tell the truth, and Izumi didn't resist at all.
"Everyone, you must be exhausted today. It's so late, let's head back to the palace," Ouyang Lanyue said with a smile.
Li Tie became envious again, slammed his fist into the ground, and watched as the group boarded the carriage before turning away angrily.
No one spoke in the carriage. Even the usually talkative Gu Youtian fell silent.
Mu Qinghuai tapped his leg absently with his fingers, thinking about two people: the Taoist priest and Yang Mei.
It wasn't because of her voice or appearance, nor was it because of their similar cultivation levels. He vaguely felt that Yang Mei reminded him of Qi Yuan. Their styles of doing things and their tone of voice were remarkably alike.
But this is too absurd. He didn't know how to ask.
Just as the three were about to return to their room, he suddenly called out, "Miss Yang!"
"What's wrong?" Qi Yuan asked, turning around.
Mu Qinghuai loosened his fist and said, "Sorry. It's alright."
He went back to his room, feeling down and lost in thought.
Qi Yuan felt somewhat bewildered, but she went to bed to rest. Spending so much time inside someone else's consciousness had drained her energy; she definitely needed a good night's sleep.
On this night, even the carefree Gu Youtian couldn't sleep because he had something on his mind.
He felt very guilty.
Zhu Fu and Yang Mei were younger than him, but their cultivation levels were higher. Those two could handle anything calmly, unlike him, who was timid, cowardly, and incapable of doing anything well.
Gu Youtian comforted himself, thinking that he was actually somewhat useful and had managed to control the electric eel demon.
But it was precisely because he was stunned by the electric eel while hugging it that no one was able to control the sword when Yangmei fell.
After thinking it over and over, he still fell asleep drooling.
The next morning, Gu Youtian got up early for the first time ever, intending to go to the Imperial Preceptor's residence to have a heart-to-heart talk with the Imperial Preceptor.
He walked to the door and found it was ajar, with sounds coming from inside.
Gu Youtian curiously pressed his ear against the door to listen, and recognized the voices as those of Ouyang Lanyue and Yang Mei.
Ouyang Lanyue said in a deep voice, "Your disguise technique is only at the beginner level. I don't think the Ghost King will let this go and will definitely come again. He will definitely be able to see your identity. The most important thing is A-Huai. He is not an ordinary person. He is the Demon Lord. Di Ming will definitely recognize him. That will cause trouble."
Identity? What is Yang Mei's identity? And what is the Demon Lord...? Gu Youtian grabbed his hair, then suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. Ah Huai? The Demon Lord? Isn't that the legendary Mu Qinghuai?! Why are the Imperial Advisor and Yang Mei involved with the Demon Lord?
Qi Yuan frowned: "Does Di Ming really need to come in person? Yan Sha Kingdom is indeed a great power in the human world, but that doesn't mean it can conquer the cultivation world."
"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. Qi Yuan, I didn't ask you to hide your cultivation level, after all, we have to fight. But I think Ah Huai might be guessing soon," he said.
As if struck by lightning, Gu Youtian stood frozen in place. Had he heard correctly? The girl Yangmei was none other than Qi Yuan, the famous cultivator from the cultivation world?!
He even spoke ill of her to her face!
Gu Youtian swallowed nervously. He was worried that if he found out that Qi Yuan was disguised as Yang Mei, he would be killed to silence her! And why did they sound so familiar with each other?
"Qi Yuan, you..."
They were still talking inside when Gu Youtian suddenly saw Mu Qinghuai coming over. He pretended to cough loudly as if it were an accident, and the sound from inside the door disappeared.
He sighed inwardly. There was a reason why Qi Yuan was pretending to be someone else; she definitely didn't want others to know.
Gu Youtian knocked twice on the door, then pushed it open and entered. When he saw Qi Yuan, he exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Yang Mei is here too!"
He sat down and asked, "Grand Preceptor, do you have time tonight? I'd like to have a heart-to-heart talk with you."
“Yes,” Ouyang Lanyue said.
Mu Qinghuai saw that the door was open and walked straight in, only to find that the others were already there.
"Since you're all here, I'll get straight to the point. You should be prepared to fight the Ghost King," Ouyang Lanyue said seriously.
"Ghost King! What is his cultivation level? Do you think we can defeat him?" Gu Youtian asked fearfully.
Ouyang Lanyue: "A Ghost King at the Mahayana stage. You are a Golden Core cultivator, while Yang Mei and Zhu Fu are Nascent Soul cultivators. You indeed cannot defeat them. But..."
Gu Youtian's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, settled down again, and he focused on listening to the last sentence.
“However, fate cannot be defied, and heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. Whether you live or die is your destiny,” Ouyang Lanyue said.
"I refuse to accept this. Even if fate cannot be defied, I will defy destiny and forge my own path." Qi Yuan stood up and said calmly, "My fate is up to me."
A hint of admiration flashed in Ouyang Lanyue's eyes, making Mu Qinghuai even more suspicious of her identity.
Gu Youtian was surprised and envious that she could say such a thing with such confidence. She truly deserved to be called Qi Yuan, the genius disciple of the Silver Bamboo Sect.
wrong.
He dismissed his earlier thought. Even if this girl was speaking as "Yangmei," it was still impressive and worthy of his admiration.
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