The sound of a broken heart
Boom—
The thunder roared deafeningly, and the heavy dark clouds made it hard for everyone to breathe. As the last rays of the setting sun were swallowed by the horizon, the earth was plunged into darkness.
One drop after another
The late autumn rain came suddenly and was cold, pattering down on the already yellowing leaves, which then fell to the ground with a clatter.
In the clearing in the middle of the bamboo forest, Ren Xiangxiang knelt there for an unknown amount of time, so long that she had almost lost all feeling in her limbs.
She stared blankly at the torrential rain pouring down from the sky, gradually wetting her face and mingling with the tears in her eyes, indistinguishable from one another.
Did I cry?
Ren Xiangxiang raised her hand and touched her face. Why? Why?
Time seemed to stand still, and countless "whys" flooded her mind. She kept asking them, but no one could answer her.
Suddenly, darkness fell overhead. Ren Xiangxiang looked up blankly and saw Mo You holding an umbrella, having found her.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning ripped through the night, seemingly splitting the sky in two, the white light dazzling and the black suffocating.
The two stared at each other in silence for a long time amidst a flash of lightning and thunder.
Until Mo You knelt down beside her and gently patted her head, "Let's go back!"
He spoke in a hoarse voice, took a deep breath after saying those three words, his well-defined knuckles gripped the umbrella handle tightly, then he could no longer let go, and finally threw the umbrella aside. "If you don't want to go back, I'll go with you."
"Snow Fire... What is Snow Fire?" Ren Xiangxiang's voice was erratic, completely drowned out by the noisy rain, yet somehow it was even more deafening than thunder.
“You already know,” Mo You replied softly, her empty heart also filled with confusion. “Yes… you should know…”
“So… Lei Gong is dead, right?” Ren Xiangxiang looked at Mo You.
Boom!
Another flash of lightning, sharp and despairing.
"Hmm." Mo You lowered her head, a vision flashing through her mind of flames burning fiercely on Xiao Yankai's body, yet she was smiling, as if bidding a final farewell, "My elder sister is dead too."
As soon as those words were spoken, the rain seemed to intensify.
Smiling face died from the bone fire, leaving no body, only a fox fang gun.
Xueyue cried until he was hoarse, and finally fainted. Looking at the ashes left on the ground, he felt for a moment that everything in front of him was fake, that he had not yet woken up, and that he was dreaming.
How could Xiaoyankai die? She was the number one person in Fox Mountain, she was so strong, how could she possibly...?
He felt dizzy and the world seemed to collapse. Only one voice clearly reminded him that Xiaoyankai was dead. She was really dead.
When he woke up again, it was raining heavily outside. He didn't remember how he left or where he was going. He just wandered around aimlessly and unknowingly came to this bamboo forest.
This bamboo grove was where his father once taught him the Five Secrets of Ink.
Here, he saw Ren Xiangxiang with vacant eyes.
Rumble, rumble—
The rain did not lessen; instead, it intensified in the latter half of the night. The foot of Fox Mountain was washed clean by the rain, leaving only deep pits and a devastated, crooked forest.
However, soon, the tattered forest will grow back, and Fox Mountain will be the same Fox Mountain it always was.
Even the deepest marks will be smoothed over by time.
"Smiling face is dead."
These words fell at the same time as a bolt of lightning, producing a deafening roar that shook the entire Fox Mountain.
Ren Xiangxiang trembled and looked at Mo You in disbelief.
He still looked as calm and composed as before, but his pale face, his bloodless lips, and his eyes that seemed to be hurting him to the point of madness still deeply pierced Ren Xiangxiang's heart.
"Smiling face...she's dead, my sister...she's dead..."
His voice trembled, yet he kept repeating the same phrase, like a knife stabbing himself into his heart again and again until he bled uncontrollably and could no longer breathe.
"My sister—"
Ren Xiangxiang suddenly hugged Mo You tightly. The torrential rain lashed down on the two of them without mercy, its coldness penetrating their souls. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. Mo You felt a burning sensation on his neck. He opened his mouth, and time seemed to begin to flow slowly at that moment.
"Xiangxiang..."
Ren Xiangxiang shook her head, sobbing. She didn't know how to comfort Mo You, nor did she know if she could hold on any longer. She didn't want to think, and just wished that time could pass more slowly. She regretted it.
The rain poured down all night. The next day, when Mo Rong couldn't find Mo You, he mobilized Hu Ling and the others to search the whole mountain. Finally, Cui Xi found them in the bamboo forest, and they were together.
When they were found, Ren Xiangxiang was leaning against Mo You's chest, both of them unconscious.
By noon, they all had fevers.
"They were rained on all night?" Fox Spirit frowned slightly.
Master Mo fell ill because of Xiao Yankai's death, so he was unable to come.
Fox Lord is still unconscious and it's uncertain whether he will wake up. Xiaoyankai was his only daughter, but she is now dead, leaving only Mo Shi, Mo You, and Mo Rong.
Feng Hua was busy taking care of Xue Yue, so she didn't show up. Cui Xi and Mo Rong took care of the two of them, one on each side.
Mo You woke up after only half a day of unconsciousness, and walked out without saying a word.
"elder brother."
Mo Rong called out to him from behind.
"Brother...you're my only family left..."
As she spoke, her throat tightened, and she suddenly burst into tears, "I know... I know you're closer to Sister Xiaoyankai, but I also have half the blood of the Mohu clan flowing through my veins, and I'm very sad too. If I could become stronger, if I—"
Mo Rong felt a darkness above her head. Mo You gently rubbed her head, her smile forced, but a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes.
"Don't be afraid, I'll go check on Xiangxiang, everything will be alright."
"Wait!" Seeing him about to leave again, Mo Rong quickly chased after him. "Brother, are you... are you going again? Are you going to Qiling Mountain?"
Mo You paused, a moment of struggle flashing in her eyes, but she still nodded.
Mo Rong stood in front of Mo You, tears still streaming down his face, and shook his head desperately. "Why? It's so dangerous there, why do we have to go back? Isn't it better to stay in Fox Mountain with Sister Xiangxiang?"
"What if there's a next time?" Mo You asked quietly, "Next time, who will stop the demonic Gu?"
Mo Rong was stunned and speechless for a long time.
“I can’t let this trouble spread to Fox Mountain, so we must leave as soon as possible.” After saying this, Mo You walked past Mo Rong.
Mo Rong immediately burst into tears, "But...I..."
"I won't abandon you." Mo You patted her head as he left, as a final word of comfort.
Ren Xiangxiang was still unconscious. Cui Xi had come to see her. His medicine was gentler than Feng Hua's. Logically, Ren Xiangxiang's high fever had subsided, and even if she was still a little weak, she should have woken up by now. However, it was already night, and she showed no signs of waking up.
Cui Xi shook her head. "That shouldn't be the case... Should I ask my senior brother to come and take a look?"
“The fever has subsided, you should be fine,” Mo You refused.
After Cui Xi left, Mo You stayed by Ren Xiangxiang's bedside.
Recalling the heavy rain last night, Ren Xiangxiang's state was very strange. Besides belatedly learning about Lei Gong's death, it seemed that she was hiding something else in her heart.
The Gu woman is dead, and the crisis is temporarily over, but the Gu King will never give up. Right now, they can only find those two things as soon as possible to make the Gu-Slaying Needle and have a chance to get rid of the Gu King.
"Xiangxiang..." Mo You held her warm hand and whispered, "Do you not want to wake up? Are you going to back down?"
Retreat...
Ren Xiangxiang's closed-off heart seemed to have been hit hard. The demonic Gu was causing chaos, Qiling Mountain was in imminent danger, her father was already dead, her mother was in despair, and her master might not be able to stay out of it either. At this time, could she back down?
What she didn't know was that the Gu King sensed the Gu Woman's death immediately.
Inside the deep cave, a glimmer of light shone, and a woman in white stood guard at the entrance, her brows slightly furrowed.
Immediately afterward, Gu Master and Gu Granny, who were guarding in the forest, sensed it at the same time.
"The Gu Woman is dead?" Gu Master was extremely shocked, so shocked that he didn't even notice his cane falling to the ground. "Who could have killed her? She was a demonic Gu second only to the Gu Queen!"
The sorcerer seemed preoccupied as well. "She went to hunt down the nemesis of the sorcerer, could it be..."
She suddenly felt a chill down her spine, exchanged a glance with Gu Ye, and was filled with lingering fear.
After the Gu woman died, all the rat-head flowers that covered the rocky ridge and spread across half of Qiling Mountain withered and died. Other plants that had been squeezed out of their living space were finally able to breathe. However, the fact that Qiling Mountain was now almost half-bald was still quite unexpected.
The news spread from the fallen Yang Palace to the perilous peaks in an instant. Who would have thought that the rat-head flowers, which they had been unable to burn clean with fire-chasing stones, would suddenly wither overnight.
"Oh dear! How strange! That annoying rat-head flower is really gone!" Kou Huai went outside for a stroll and found that the rat-head flower was indeed gone. He excitedly returned to report to his master.
Ever since their failed ambush on the Gu King, which resulted in the white-clad woman storming in and causing the deaths of Xu Jinnian and Shu Zhuo, the atmosphere at Xianfeng Mountain has been somewhat off.
After resting for a while, Lan Fengguang and Xiao Litian have basically recovered. Fu Yi's injuries are slightly more serious and she has not yet woken up. Ye Honglanzhi is in charge of patrolling the vicinity. Le Qing almost went crazy because of Shu Zhuo's death and almost killed Yan Shiling. Fortunately, Ye Honglanzhi stopped her in the end.
And what about He Wenwen...?
After personally burying Xu Jin, no one had seen him for some time, and even his junior brother Xu Caiyou didn't dare to go to the backyard to look for him.
He buried Xu Jinnian in the backyard, in the place he could see.
The osmanthus flowers in the yard are all in bloom, their fragrance is delightful. Because of last night's heavy rain, the ground is covered with fallen osmanthus blossoms, making the fragrance even stronger.
It was as if he had just woken from a dream. He could hardly remember when he buried his master, or even what happened that day. He only knew clearly that his master was truly gone.
He looked at his hands, which were covered in blood and mud. His index, thumb, and middle fingers had lost their nails and were covered with a thick layer of scabs. Even the slightest touch was excruciatingly painful.
But he knew that it wasn't just his hands that were aching, but his heart, which had become numb.
When he learned that he had ruined his master's reputation and caused his master to live a lonely life, he immediately changed his name to sever ties. But now, he realizes how ridiculous he was. To him, his master was already his biological father and the most important person in his life.
Yet, he still couldn't protect such an important person, and it seemed as if he lost the will to live in an instant.
"Senior brother..."
With swollen eyes, Xu Caiyou stood at the gate of the courtyard, holding her breakfast, but dared not go forward.
He Wenwen was terrifying when he was angry, but he was even more frightened by his current state. When he saw He Wenwen looking at him, he instinctively avoided his gaze, suppressed the urge to cry, and said in a choked voice, "I made you some food, please eat something, I'm afraid I'll get scared if this continues..."
“Okay.” He Wenwen nodded. Xu Caiyou was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly ran forward with the food. But as soon as she met He Wenwen’s eyes, she couldn’t hold back and burst into tears.
"Waaaaah... Senior brother, please don't go on like this. Master... If Master saw you like this, how heartbroken he would be..."
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