Chapter 79 079 Zhiwei, now freed, smiled again...
This memory about the young ghost spirit initially follows the boy's perspective, but gradually shifts to the ghost princess, A-Meng.
Their memories intertwine, their perspectives shift back and forth, and finally, this long-buried ghost story slowly unfolds.
Yun Tianjiao felt his shoulder being grabbed, as if he had been lifted up from deep water, along with the memories belonging to Yan Meng being peeled away.
Although the memories have come to a head, the emotions lingering within them are difficult to calm down for a long time.
"Your Highness?"
The image of Zhiwei appeared before his eyes. Yun Tianjiao stared blankly, tears streaming down his face, and called out, "General Meng..."
Zhiwei was stunned for a moment, her expression showing a hint of panic as she looked at the black panther paperweight in Yun Tianjiao's hand.
"It's all because of this thing that Your Highness has been disturbed." Zhiwei quickly grabbed the paperweight and put it in her sleeve, trying to explain it all as an illusion.
But Yun Tianjiao wasn't so easily fooled. After calming her turbulent emotions, she grabbed Zhiwei's wrist and forced him to look into her eyes.
“Zhiwei, you are General Meng, aren’t you? This is where the Ghost King was once imprisoned. The memories in this black panther paperweight belong to the Ghost King. You… are the Ghost King.”
In the end, Yun Tianjiao's tone shifted from questioning to one of certainty.
Zhiwei lowered her eyelashes, trembling slightly, and dared not meet Yun Tianjiao's gaze again. The usually composed celestial being revealed a panic with nowhere to hide.
He could think of a hundred ways to cover it up, but he didn't want to deceive her.
There is a fundamental difference between not voluntarily confessing and deliberately lying.
Under Yun Tianjiao's quiet gaze, Zhiwei finally raised her eyes, as if she had made up her mind. She stared at her intently, gradually revealing her true appearance as the Ghost King. Her white divine robe faded into a black Ghost King's crown, and her face was covered with a silver mask. She wore silver finger cots on her outstretched hands, the same attire she wore when she met Su Yechi that day.
"Your Highness..."
He spoke slowly, each word spoken with extreme care, his voice tinged with trepidation as he probed the other person's intentions.
“I have never deceived Your Highness. I cultivate the divine path in the form of a ghost, and Zhiwei is also my true identity.”
After he finished speaking, he waited quietly, like a prisoner awaiting sentencing, while the power of life and death rested in Yun Tianjiao's hands.
Yun Tianjiao silently observed, which only intensified the unease in his eyes. The mighty Ghost King, at this moment, was as insignificant as dust before her.
Until she raised her hand and gently touched his mask.
"This mask... seems different from General Meng's mask."
Zhiwei immediately said, "Then I'll change it to that one."
"No need, you...you should just turn back into Zhiwei."
Yun Tianjiao felt a slight flush on his face under the gaze of those shimmering, peach-blossom eyes. He withdrew his hand and his gaze.
"Actually, I know that I was a princess of the Ghost Realm in one of my lives, but all the details are very blurry in my memory, otherwise I wouldn't not recognize you."
Realizing that Yun Tianjiao was explaining things to her, Zhiwei's eyes suddenly brightened.
She didn't blame herself for not being honest; instead, she expressed her apology for not recognizing him as General Meng!
This delighted Zhiwei, and she grew bolder. She grabbed Yun Tianjiao's hand and said, "Your Highness is a mortal and it's perfectly normal that you can't remember your past."
Yun Tianjiao's state of mind was complex at this moment. Her feelings for Zhiwei were originally subtle, but now, with the added bond between General Meng and Yan Meng, it seemed as if something was strongly pulling them together, suddenly shortening the distance between them.
So she let Zhiwei hold her hand and asked, "But what happened next? What happened after that?"
Zhiwei didn't immediately understand what Yun Tianjiao was asking. After all, only Yun Tianjiao had just emerged from the past, and he didn't know which scene her recent memory was stuck on.
Yun Tianjiao explained, "I do remember that in one of my lives I became the daughter of the head of a celestial sect. It should be the Xuanxiao Sect that you carried me to, right? What happened to you after that? I saw in the paperweight that you were severely injured by the restrictions on the Heavenly Ladder, and you even lost your ghost form. How did you survive in the end?"
When this matter was mentioned, Zhiwei blushed for some unknown reason, adding to her charming and beautiful appearance, which made Yun Tianjiao stare in a daze.
"This is a long story, and we should not linger here. We will tell Your Highness about it when we have the opportunity."
Yun Tianjiao listened to Zhiwei speaking, but didn't hear what he was saying at all. He only watched Zhiwei's lips slightly open and close, but what he was thinking was: No wonder he had to cover his face with a silver mask when he dreamed of the general in the Ghost Realm.
Such vibrant colors are alluring but lack power; they would be ineffective in intimidating the enemy on the battlefield. It is best to keep them hidden and not reveal them to others.
The mention of "hiding" made Yun Tianjiao's mind wander again, and he couldn't help but think of many phrases such as "keeping a beauty hidden in a golden house," "keeping spring hidden in an embroidered room," and "keeping a beauty hidden in a secluded boudoir." When he came to his senses, he realized that he had been taken away from the stone chamber by Zhiwei and had broken through the surface of the Four Seasons Water.
Shen Qiongzhi and the Water Ghost Brothers were still waiting on the wooden staircase platform at the ninth floor of the Tongbei Tower when they heard the sound of water splashing. Shen Qiongzhi immediately looked in the direction of the sound and, upon seeing Zhiwei and Yun Tianjiao, exclaimed with delight, "Sister Tianjiao! Sister Tianjiao!"
The two landed back on the platform, and there wasn't a trace of water on their bodies. It was unclear whether this was due to the special structure of the Four Seasons Water.
Shen Qiongzhi looked Yun Tianjiao over and over again, only letting out a sigh of relief after confirming she was alright. She then glared fiercely at Zhiwei: "Hey, how did you protect Her Highness the Princess! Luckily, Sister Tianjiao is alright, otherwise I would have wiped out all your temples in the mortal realm!"
Despite being treated so rudely, Zhiwei showed no anger. Instead, she smiled and said, "Miss Chen is right to teach me a lesson. I will remember this and never leave Your Highness's side again."
At this moment, of the four cages above the tower hall, only Yuji's cage was not empty. The fox demon was originally dozing off, swaying her nine big tails out of boredom. Even the sound of water breaking did not attract her attention until she heard Zhiwei speak, at which point she sat up abruptly.
"Oh my gosh, what a strange thing! When did our Ghost King become so subservient and obsequious? How strange, how truly strange! This old lady has finally seen something amazing, hahaha!"
The water ghost brother looked at Yuki with a complicated expression, "Can't you learn your lesson? If it weren't for that mouth of yours, you wouldn't still be locked in a cage."
The water ghost's younger brother also said, "That's right. Now that His Majesty has come in person, if you say a few kind words, perhaps you can get out of trouble."
Yugi snorted, turned her haughty head away, and continued to snore.
"Ghost King? Who is His Majesty the Ghost King? You?" Shen Qiongzhi was taken aback.
She had overheard these demons talking about the Ghost King and the master of the Vajra Pestle, but it was all a jumbled mess and she didn't understand it at first. Only now did she realize that the Ghost King these people were talking about was actually the pretty boy god next to Tianjiao!
They say the Ghost King is so powerful, but he's not that powerful at all!
"I'll explain this to you when I have time later." Yun Tianjiao turned to Zhiwei, "Can you find a way to get Qiongzhi out of here?"
Zhiwei shook her head: "No, she has the mark of the god who sent her here. The god is of a higher level than me. I can't take her out."
Shen Qiongzhi's judgment was further confirmed, and she said with disdain, "As expected, he's useless."
Yun Tianjiao frowned and said, "Even you can't do it?"
Zhiwei said, "In the realm of gods, I am only at the level of Immortal Lord, while the celestial being who sent Shen Qiongzhi to this place is at least at the level of Immortal Venerable. If I were to use the methods of the Ghost Path, I could only guarantee that I could break through the restrictions myself."
Seeing Yun Tianjiao's disappointed expression, Shen Qiongzhi couldn't bear to make things difficult for her. The little girl who had been crying and wanting to leave earlier suddenly became heroic and patted her chest, saying, "Sister Tianjiao, don't worry about me. You all leave here first and find out who the murderer is. Once Immortal Lord Zhujing is exonerated, he will naturally be promoted to Immortal Venerable soon with his abilities. Then he can easily take me out of here!"
Now this is the only way. Seeing that Shen Qiongzhi could not bear the mistreatment in the Tower of Sorrow, Yun Tianjiao was slightly relieved and instructed, "Then you will have to endure this for a while longer. After I have negotiated with the Heavenly Realm, I will definitely rescue you as soon as possible."
When the Water Ghost Brothers heard that Shen Qiongzhi wanted to stay in the tower, they all revealed smiles that were more like cries.
Yun Tianjiao glanced at the iron cages above again, his gaze falling on the nine-tailed fox, and asked Zhiwei, "Should we put her down?"
Zhiwei glanced coldly at the fox and said ruthlessly, "No need, she's fine staying inside."
This was met with another contemptuous, resentful snort.
Yun Tianjiao's gaze lingered on another empty cage. Recalling the black beast that had been imprisoned inside, he remembered something: "When I first arrived, I saw something that looked like a leopard inside. It was because of it that I fell into the water and reached that underwater stone chamber. What exactly was that?"
Zhiwei took out the black leopard paperweight from her sleeve. "This is it. I used this paperweight to impersonate myself to escape from this trap and deceive the restrictions inside the Tower of Sorrow. I just didn't expect that over time, this paperweight would develop a spirit."
Seeing that Zhiwei actually wanted to destroy the black leopard paperweight on the spot, Yun Tianjiao hurriedly stopped her.
"I see that this paperweight is carved so lifelike and exquisitely. Why don't you give it to me, Zhiwei?"
Zhiwei hesitated for a moment, "Your Highness wants this? I will make another one for you."
Yun Tianjiao said, "I regained my memories because of this paperweight. I have a connection with it, so please give it to me."
Zhiwei never refused any of Yun Tianjiao's requests, so upon hearing this, she had no choice but to hand over the paperweight to her.
Yun Tianjiao took the little black panther paperweight and became even more fond of it, stroking its smooth body a few times and raising the corners of his lips.
However, he did not notice that Zhiwei's cheeks flushed again, and she turned her head slightly away from him.
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Author's Note: A new volume has begun! The entire story consists of seven volumes, and this is the fifth volume. Many of the foreshadowing elements from the previous volumes will gradually be revealed. Thank you to all the little angels who have followed the story all the way. If you like it, please remember to add it to your favorites!
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