Chapter 76
Seeing Yu Sui bow her head several times, wiping with difficulty, Mei Liangyu directly took action, gently grasping her sleeve and tenderly wiping away the tear stains on her face.
At the same time, he said, "A few months ago, when you nearly died in the Outer City, you didn't cry like this."
He spoke casually, his tone revealing nothing particular.
But Yu Sui's heart trembled.
Mei Liangyu truly had no other intention in saying this; he was still thinking about how to cheer her up and help her shift attention away from the burning pain of the thunder.
Yu Sui kept her head lowered, speaking with a nasal tone, "Because when I was in the Outer City, no one came to save me."
Her voice trembled as she spoke. Mei Liangyu's warm fingertip brushed past the tears at the corner of her eyes, gently pressing the moisture against her skin.
Earlier, Yu Sui had been dodging and hiding in the stone cave, falling and bumping around, leaving quite a few red marks on her fair, delicate skin, stained with some dirt.
Mei Liangyu used the tears on his fingertip to wipe away the dust on her face.
"Someone will come to save you in the future too," he said.
Yu Sui thought of the last time in the Outer City, when Gu Qian had also used Death by a Thousand Cuts on Mei Liangyu. Although he hadn't succeeded in killing him and Senior Brother had resisted, his hands were still sliced into bloody pulp. His palms were still wrapped in white medicinal cloth, revealing only a section of healed fingertips.
Even though she had no wounds on her body this time, she felt a certain empathy. Yu Sui's gaze followed Mei Liangyu's hands, which had once appeared in her eyes as distinctly jointed, fair and slender fingers. Now she could only see bits and pieces; perhaps beneath the medicinal cloth, flesh and bone were still separated.
Senior Brother had been suffering from Five Elements Energy Chaos at that time, yet he could remain composed. He was really too good at pretending.
Yu Sui was trying to loosen her already stiff five fingers when she softly thanked Mei Liangyu for his comfort, "Thank you, Senior Brother."
Mei Liangyu's slightly curved fingers gently scraped her cheek. His cold, clear eyes reflected the tassels gently swaying above her head. After a moment, the man added in an unhurried tone, "It's only natural for Senior Brother to save Junior Sister. You should accept it with peace of mind."
Yu Sui seemed amused by his words, a smile appearing in her still teary eyes.
"Thank you very much, Senior Brother," she said.
Mei Liangyu chuckled, telling her not to thank him, yet she insisted on being contrary. It seemed she had regained some spirit.
Yu Sui gently moved her fingers. Her five fingers were still stiff and aching. She released the clothes she had been gripping and slowly withdrew her hands into her sleeves.
Mei Liangyu noticed her small hand movements from the corner of his eye but didn't intervene. After wiping the water stains from Yu Sui's face, he also withdrew his hand, saying, "The Guardian General of the Military Formation: Dragon Fish is on a ship at the water's surface. Although it's a high-level Thirteenth Realm Military Formation, fortunately there's no master controlling it. It's a dead formation, so its power is greatly reduced."
He planned to fight quickly and decisively, hurrying out so Shi Yuezhen could help Yu Sui remove the thunder mark.
But he was uneasy about leaving Yu Sui alone in the cave.
Soon black ships would come again, followed by continuous attacks from Military Formation puppets.
Just as Mei Liangyu finished thinking, he saw another black ship land at the scale-mouth cave entrance. Paper figures scrambled down, transforming into puppets wielding swords and blades.
Yu Sui began to act weak. She was unwilling to perform in front of Mei Liangyu at this moment. After all, she felt that "the thunder mark hurt too much." If she could still cast techniques and fight without changing expression, Senior Brother would view her quite differently.
Mei Liangyu glanced at the Military Formation puppets chasing into the cave, seeing that Yu Sui seemed to lack the strength to stand up. He turned sideways, pulled Yu Sui's hand to rest on his shoulder, had her hold tight, then carried her on his back.
Yu Sui lay against Mei Liangyu's shoulder and back, arms curled up, five fingers gently gripping his shoulder.
The man's shoulders and back were broad, full of security, like solid driftwood in raging waves. Yu Sui saw the golden Five Elements Energy protection burning around Mei Liangyu, enveloping her as well.
Blue light illuminated beside Mei Liangyu as he activated a constellation array. Xu Constellation Star General, Frost White Python came rushing out from the void, fiercely attacking forward.
Yu Sui glanced back with peripheral vision. Senior Brother's Celestial Fire climbed along the walls, illuminating the darkness, but the stone cave was too long. Beyond the Celestial Fire, everything was pitch black and nothing could be seen.
Xue Mushi should be far behind. If he were smart, upon sensing Mei Liangyu outside, he wouldn't come out easily.
Yu Sui planned to give Xue Mushi a little more time. After Mei Liangyu finished dealing with this ship of Military Formation puppets, she would reveal his existence.
Mei Liangyu was about to charge outward, using the massive body of the Frost White Python as cover. Carrying Yu Sui on his back, he used Wind-Riding Techniques to flash forward instantly. His figure at the original spot disappeared in the blink of an eye, appearing in the distance, then continuously changing positions according to the battle situation.
Yu Sui initially gripped Mei Liangyu's shoulders lightly with both hands. As he advanced with Wind-Riding Techniques, dodging and leaping several times to avoid sword-wielding Military Formation puppets that came to kill them, when Mei Liangyu told her to lower her head, Yu Sui would bow down, resting her pillow in the hollow of his shoulder, hands clasped around his neck.
The Frost White Python's gaping maw sprayed icy white breath, freezing the flowing Five Elements Energy in the surroundings.
The scale-mouth space was too large; a single scale was the size of a city gate. The frost coverage was so extensive that Yu Sui felt the temperature in the cave plummet, colder than winter in Qingyang Imperial Capital.
The Military Formation puppets in the cave were all frozen. Some clever ones leaped from the ground onto the Frost White Python to block Mei Liangyu's path, but they were also frozen by the white frost.
Standing on the Frost White Python's back, Mei Liangyu paused. His dark eyes gleamed with an enchanting ice blue, blue light flashing through the cave. In an instant, he saw through the Death Symbols that immobilized all the puppets, then destroyed them.
The puppets trying to break free from the ice were bitten to pieces by the assisting Frost White Python. In just a moment, the stone cave that had been occupied by dense Military Formation puppets was cleared clean.
Mei Liangyu carried Yu Sui as they flashed from the Frost White Python's body to the ground, quietly regulating the rioting Five Elements Energy within his body.
He estimated that after using Nine Schools Arts a few more times, he would experience Five Elements Chaos. He needed to kill the Guardian General and get out before that happened.
The black paper ship was crushed under Mei Liangyu's foot. Just as he was about to rush outside, Yu Sui's soft voice stopped him, "Senior Brother, wait. Xue Mushi is still inside."
"Who?" Mei Liangyu's expression became inscrutable.
"A Taoist School disciple who entered the academy with me this year, Xue Mushi," Yu Sui explained to him. "Sister Su and I were able to reach Dragon Belly so quickly thanks to Xue Mushi's divination. When the Military Formation puppets attacked earlier, he drew some of them away. He was also injured, and I don't know how he is now."
Her words clearly conveyed worry, implying that she wanted Mei Liangyu to go back and check whether that person was dead or alive.
Mei Liangyu made a sound of acknowledgment, turned around again, and walked toward the stone cave, asking as he walked, "What did he divine?"
"Fortune and direction, possibly with the blessing of Sister Su's Divine Wood Signs, so we had very good luck along the way. We didn't encounter other people and found quite a few transmission arrays." Yu Sui began to lie with a straight face.
Mei Liangyu found this somewhat interesting, "This year's new Taoist School disciple is so capable?"
Yu Sui preemptively warned him, "He's very capable, but his temperament is quite strange too."
Mei Liangyu was unconcerned, "Is that so? I've never met anyone stranger than myself."
Yu Sui moved her eyes, thinking to herself that he was quite self-aware.
Mei Liangyu didn't use Wind-Riding Techniques to travel. Although Yu Sui didn't know why, she didn't pay much attention to it. She freed one hand to take out the Wind-Listening Ruler to send a message back to Zhongli Que, or else she would be worried to death.
To prevent Senior Brother from becoming suspicious, Yu Sui spoke up to divert his attention, "Senior Brother, how did you also fall into this Military Formation?"
Mei Liangyu answered, "Yan Xiaochuan found the Sound Crossing Water and made an announcement that everyone in Dragon Slaying Cave could hear. I happened to be not far away."
After speaking, he remembered Sheng Hao and said, "Sheng Hao also came."
"Third Brother?" Yu Sui was somewhat surprised while finishing sending her message and putting away the Wind-Listening Ruler, planning to comfort Zhongli Que when there was another opportunity.
Mei Liangyu made a sound of agreement, "We happened to meet, but he got into a fight with a School of Names disciple halfway through, so he arrived late."
……
Xue Mushi experienced death resonance between World Destroyers for the first time. The agony of Death by a Thousand Cuts made him fall to the ground. His body, already wounded by a blade, was covered in blood stains from rolling on the ground.
Yu Sui had lied.
No Military Formation puppets had chased after him. When she fell behind, the Military Formation puppets' attack target was only her alone.
The young man Yu Xian's breakdown and screaming in his mind made Xue Mushi's face turn even paler. The man's cursing voice made his head buzz. The intense discomfort, panic, and anger made Xue Mushi break out in sweat. The collapsing emotions wreaked havoc in his mind, making him gasp for breath uncontrollably. Like someone lacking oxygen, he leaned against the wall and raised his head, wishing he could end his own life to stop this suffering.
Under his clothes, at his heart, a faint red light flickered. Red curse marks spread from his heart across his entire chest, as if alleviating this deadly pain for him. Circles of red curse patterns wrapped around his sweating skin.
Far away in Taiyuan Kingdom, the Yin-Yang School Saint Maiden sat above a sea of stars, looking down at the red curse mark appearing at her wrist pulse, her brow slightly furrowed.
That rapid, trembling heartbeat connected the pulses of two people separated by thousands of miles.
Xue Mushi in the cave knelt on the ground. What flowed on his body could have been sweat or blood. Sweat and tears mixed on his face, and he didn't even have the strength to lift his hand to wipe them away.
Earlier, when he wanted to turn back to find Yu Sui, he saw Mei Liangyu arriving and didn't dare approach rashly. Later, when the resonance descended, Xue Mushi had no mind to think about Yu Sui's situation.
Yu Xian was dead.
But he had to live and feel this pain of death.
The moment the resonance ended, the pain was drawn away, and Xue Mushi's strength was also drained. He lay limply on the ground like a fish out of water, his soul still trembling from it.
In his dazed consciousness, he slowly reached out to press the area over his heart. The burning curse mark instantly brought him to clarity.
A girl's gentle voice once echoed in his mind, "Mushi, until I find a solution, you can't tell anyone."
"Hide yourself well, don't let them discover you."
"I won't let you die."
Xue Mushi gritted his teeth and got up from the ground, supporting himself against the stone wall with one hand, stiffly wiping the moisture from his face.
His emotions were restrained and suppressed in an instant. When he raised his head to look forward again, he had already recovered his usual calm.
Xue Mushi stepped forward, walking outward. He appeared dazed, but his mind was racing.
Nangong Sui also had Strange Fire.
This wasn't bad news for him.
It was also his only gain since coming to Taiyi Academy.
During the resonance, the man said "two silent mutes," referring to him and Nangong Sui.
One eighteen years ago, one five years ago.
I got Strange Fire five years ago, so Nangong Sui must be from eighteen years ago.
Eighteen years... wouldn't that mean she had it right after birth?
Xue Mushi was shocked, unable to believe that Yu Sui had been living alongside something as sinister as Strange Fire for eighteen years.
Covering his shoulder, he staggered forward, not using Wind-Riding Techniques, thinking about the upcoming meeting along the way. The person coming was Mei Liangyu, Nangong Sui's Senior Brother. He should have blocked the Military Formation puppets' attack and prevented her from being eliminated.
He just didn't know how Nangong Sui would explain things to Mei Liangyu.
He'd heard that her Senior Brother had a strange temperament and cruel methods; he wasn't easy to fool.
As Xue Mushi walked, he saw the stone walls illuminated by Celestial Fire and also saw Mei Liangyu carrying Yu Sui on his back as they approached. He couldn't help but freeze.
He looked at Yu Sui on Mei Liangyu's back. Yu Sui squinted slightly, chin raised lightly, completely different from her usual gentle and obedient manner, even carrying a sense of pressure.
Then looking at Mei Liangyu, who carried Yu Sui without the slightest suspicion, even asking if she was in pain, Yu Sui answered obediently that it still hurt, but her gaze toward him was cold and clear.
Xue Mushi looked uncertain.
How is Nangong Sui's Senior Brother different from what I heard?