Chapter 116
As dawn broke, Mei Liangyu walked around the staircase corner to the first floor under the eaves and glimpsed Yan Xiaochuan still lying on the long chair beneath the courtyard.
He couldn't say he was very familiar with Yan Xiaochuan, but he wasn't unfamiliar either.
Mu Yong'an had come to Taiyi six years ago, arriving as a School of Names instructor. He taught for two years, then recuperated for three years, and still hadn't resumed classes.
Mei Liangyu had met Mu Yong'an when attending School of Names external courses, but thinking carefully, he seemed to have encountered Yan Xiaochuan first.
At that time, Yan Xiaochuan wasn't even as tall as his chest, a thin, small person who was somewhat shy. Eleven-year-old Yan Xiaochuan got lost after coming to Taiyi, wandering around until he ended up at the Ghost Way School, looking at the unfamiliar environment and scratching his head anxiously.
When Yan Xiaochuan got anxious, he couldn't care about being thin-skinned and grabbed anyone passing by: "I, I, I..."
The tall young man being grabbed was looking down at his Wind-Listening Ruler. Suddenly caught and blocked from leaving, he looked over with a raised eyebrow.
Yan Xiaochuan stammered through his words. It took Mei Liangyu a while to understand that this little guy was lost, wanting to find the School of Names but had wandered to the Ghost Way School instead. He even got the name of his destination wrong.
Looking at Yan Xiaochuan then, Mei Liangyu seemed to see himself when he first arrived at Taiyi.
Resistant to unfamiliar environments yet anxious and uneasy.
Yan Xiaochuan had grown quickly over these six years.
Mei Liangyu remembered it was from two years ago that the tall young man became lively and cheerful, very talkative, able to chat with anyone. He ran around everywhere all day, joining in any excitement, and could be seen anywhere.
His personality was completely different from when he first came to Taiyi, when he was like a quail who couldn't get out a complete sentence in half a day.
But hearing Mu Yong'an's words today, Mei Liangyu couldn't help but carefully observe the grown-up Yan Xiaochuan. Could it be that I knew this kid before? Or perhaps this kid actually knows me?
Mei Liangyu's footsteps were silent as he approached beneath the courtyard and lightly kicked the long chair with his leg, startling Yan Xiaochuan into turning and sitting up. His eyes widened as he stared at him, then relaxed when he saw who it was, complaining: "Senior Brother Liangyu, in the middle of the night..."
"Dawn has broken." Mei Liangyu interrupted him.
Only then did Yan Xiaochuan look up at the sky. He sat cross-legged on the long chair, covering his face with one hand as he yawned: "You chatted with Master for so long. Where is Master?"
"Asleep." Mei Liangyu said: "Come back tonight."
"Okay." Yan Xiaochuan rubbed his eyes.
Seeing his sleepy expression, Mei Liangyu added: "Go back to the dormitories to sleep."
"I won't sleep. I have many things to do." Yan Xiaochuan stretched and perked up, counting on his fingers: "Bring breakfast buns to Lin Ye and the others, help Xuan Xue collect osmanthus morning dew, and Yan Mu needs several calligraphy pieces copied..."
Mei Liangyu looked him up and down: "Why are you doing these things?"
"I have many friends!" Yan Xiaochuan said carelessly: "Some can't spare the time to do them, and I have time so I can help."
Mei Liangyu said lazily: "Is that what you call making friends?"
Yan Xiaochuan looked up at the standing Mei Liangyu and blinked.
Mei Liangyu hadn't failed to notice Yan Xiaochuan's situation, but he'd never interfered. Today, hearing Mu Yong'an's words, he felt he should pay more attention to this kid.
Yan Xiaochuan's friend-making wasn't going smoothly. Though he forced himself to be proactive, becoming talkative and lively, he had to maintain this initiative constantly to preserve relationships with others.
Mei Liangyu thought his approach was less like making friends and more like pleasing others.
But saying this would be hurtful, so Mei Liangyu changed the subject and asked Yan Xiaochuan: "Let me ask you something. Tell the truth."
Yan Xiaochuan was asked so seriously that he put away his playful expression and became solemn: "Mm!"
"Do you know me?" Mei Liangyu stared at him as he asked.
The question was somewhat vague, but Yan Xiaochuan understood what he meant.
He rolled his eyes and nodded.
Before Mei Liangyu could say more, Yan Xiaochuan had already raised his hand in a swearing gesture: "But I didn't recognize you at first either. Master told me, and that's when I knew. Master said you lost your memory, and if you didn't want to remember, then we shouldn't disturb you."
Yan Xiaochuan thought that if Mei Liangyu could forget the past, forget his identity, forget those grudges, then he too could abandon his former identity and memories to live a completely new life.
As long as everyone forgot and abandoned the past to start anew.
Then their lives would be far from strife, killing, and undying hatred.
Yan Xiaochuan thought living a carefree life was the best choice.
Mu Yong'an was waiting for Mei Liangyu to make his own choice, also giving Yan Xiaochuan a chance to choose for himself.
What was certain was that regardless of what choice these two made, he would do everything in his power to help.
Seeing Mei Liangyu's expression remain unchanged with a bland look, Yan Xiaochuan couldn't guess what he was thinking.
"Senior Brother Liangyu..." Yan Xiaochuan tentatively began. Mei Liangyu only glanced at him, then took out his buzzing Wind-Listening Ruler and looked down at it.
Yan Xiaochuan patted his crossed knees and said: "I can't say much more. You know that saying certain things at Taiyi will get you killed. Speaking spirit words, viewing celestial scenes, hearing full winds, sun and moon illuminating characters: any way of revealing related information to you will be detected."
After speaking, he looked up again at the standing Mei Liangyu and asked quietly: "Senior Brother Liangyu, do you choose to leave Taiyi?"
Mei Liangyu tapped the fill-character grid to reply to messages, humming without lifting his head.
"Actually, I don't know much about your situation either." Yan Xiaochuan scratched his head in difficulty: "I just know there's such a person."
Mei Liangyu made a sound of acknowledgment: "So our relationship isn't that good either?"
Yan Xiaochuan shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, actually you and I are like brothers!"
Mei Liangyu looked at him once, full of doubt.
"It's about time. I need to hurry to the dining hall to buy buns." Yan Xiaochuan stood up.
Mei Liangyu turned and walked out with his Wind-Listening Ruler: "Buy me a portion while you're at it."
Yan Xiaochuan: "Why don't we just go eat at the dining hall together!"
Mei Liangyu said casually: "Willing to buy for your friends but not willing to buy for me, your brother?"
Yan Xiaochuan sighed helplessly: "Buy, buy, buy. I'll go buy them right now."
Though he said this, Mei Liangyu ended up accompanying Yan Xiaochuan to the dining hall anyway, watching him buy a huge pile of buns and steamed bread, carrying four or five food boxes, barely short of hanging the fifth food box around his neck.
Mei Liangyu looked at him speechlessly: "Do they pay you?"
Yan Xiaochuan grandly tossed his head: "Talking about money between friends brings bad luck!"
Mei Liangyu snorted coldly: "You better be rich."
He carried the fifth food box back to the dormitories with Yan Xiaochuan, only to have one person decide the bun filling wasn't his favorite and refuse it.
Yan Xiaochuan asked what filling he liked.
Mei Liangyu left without even listening, taking the food box to Xing Chun.
Xing Chun was very moved to receive breakfast from him, rubbing his hands and sighing repeatedly: "Either the sun rose in the west today or the Big Dipper became the Southern Dipper. Mei Mei actually took the initiative to bring me food."
Mei Liangyu stood at the door: "I'm leaving. Eat by yourself."
Xing Chun's eyes widened: "By myself? You want me to eat alone? Take it back!"
Mei Liangyu went to watch Yan Xiaochuan collect osmanthus morning dew, climbing up huge osmanthus trees in the Agricultural School's osmanthus grove, carefully using bottles to catch dewdrops from the most tender leaves at the treetops.
After collecting the osmanthus morning dew, he returned to the School of Names study hall to help copy calligraphy, then went to help the uncles and aunties at the miscellaneous hall with physical work. Yan Xiaochuan was quite liked by these people.
When Yan Xiaochuan swept fallen leaves from the paths, Mei Liangyu sat on a long chair playing with his Wind-Listening Ruler, casually listening to Yan Xiaochuan's chatter.
"Senior Brother Liangyu, you didn't see before, Gu Qian and Senior Brother Sheng fought so fiercely at the dormitories. Previously Senior Brother Sheng was troubled about Little Princess liking Gu Qian. Senior Brother Mu and I discussed and analyzed all night before getting Senior Brother Sheng to go find Little Princess."
Mei Liangyu looked up and glanced at him: "Find her for what?"
"To tell Little Princess about the pros and cons of liking Gu Qian!" Yan Xiaochuan held his broom, sweeping past Mei Liangyu's front with swish sounds, piling the fallen leaves neatly. His movements showed he was very practiced: "But I think Senior Brother Sheng was overthinking it. Little Princess is much smarter and more capable than he imagines."
Mei Liangyu thought, of course. Sheng Hao is stupid, but my Junior Sister isn't.
Yan Xiaochuan finished sweeping this area and shouldered his broom to walk into the mountains. Mei Liangyu asked: "Still sweeping?"
"The mountain path by Jueyun Peak isn't finished yet." Yan Xiaochuan turned back to answer honestly.
Mei Liangyu put away his Wind-Listening Ruler and stood up, looking at him with an inscrutable expression: "Don't you cultivate?"
"I do, but I've hit a bottleneck recently, so I'm finding things to do." Yan Xiaochuan said: "Though I got Heavenly Mechanism Arts in Dragon Slaying Cave before, my light core realm hasn't improved!"
Mei Liangyu walked forward: "Tell me about it."
Yan Xiaochuan's eyes lit up: "You'll help me?"
Mei Liangyu said: "I might not be able to help."
"You can, you can! Senior Brother Liangyu, you're so amazing!" Yan Xiaochuan placed the broom horizontally behind his neck, hanging his hands on the handle. Walking backward facing Mei Liangyu, the young man smiled brilliantly: "Senior Brother, do you know about the School of Names' Jueyun Peak Twelve Heavenly Steps? I can only walk to the eighth step, can't get up the remaining four."
The two talked as they walked into Jueyun Peak.
The School of Names' Twelve Heavenly Steps was also a third-level restricted area.
Some restricted areas had no harmful effects and were just used for disciples' trials and self-improvement.
Only first-level restricted areas like the Legalist School's Inverted Moon Cave didn't allow disciples to enter freely.
The peak was towering, with sunlight falling on flowing water and refracting into scattered shadows. The flowing water passed down layer by layer, each step's surface was dozens of feet high and wide, with shallow water flowing over the step surfaces, falling all the way to the first heavenly step at the bottom.
Under sunlight and moonlight, observing from different angles, one could discover words flashing by on the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the heavenly steps.
The twelve heavenly steps ran from Jueyun Peak's base to summit. Climbing the heavenly steps meant reaching Jueyun Peak's top.
Mei Liangyu stood on the eighth step. From the eighth step's height, the mountain base was no longer visible. The higher the wind, the stronger it was. The flowing water was blown into mist and scattered by the wind, but all avoided Mei Liangyu.
Yan Xiaochuan climbed up to the eighth step panting and lay down on the side, not caring that the shallow flowing water beneath him soaked his clothes and hair.
"Senior Brother Liangyu, what's the highest step you can reach?" Yan Xiaochuan asked.
Mei Liangyu looked back up: "Nine before, ten now probably. Jueyun Peak's heavenly steps judge your limits based on your own realm."
"I want to go up to the ninth step, but it's somewhat difficult, yet I'm unwilling to give up." Yan Xiaochuan stood up from the ground and shook water droplets from his face: "If I get thrown down from the heavenly steps later, Senior Brother, you must catch me. Don't let me fall all the way to the bottom, or I'll have to climb back up again."
Mei Liangyu said: "I can only guarantee you won't fall to your death."
"That's far from what I expected. Senior Brother, you came today to help me, right!" Though Yan Xiaochuan complained loudly, he focused and held his breath, golden light flickering in his eyes.
His control over Five Elements energy was extremely precise. Whether thread-like or vast as rivers, Yan Xiaochuan could control them precisely, materializing them into whatever he wanted.
Yan Xiaochuan took a deep breath and launched an assault on the ninth step. Just as he rushed to the stone wall, he saw the trickling stream transform into a giant waterfall, with water waves rushing fast and urgent.
He could see thousands of strange golden lines on the waterfall. Yan Xiaochuan climbed the waterfall by stepping on positions with golden lines.
Each time he stepped on a golden line, it transformed into a complete character.
"Mountain."
"Stone."
"Forest."
Yan Xiaochuan, who had climbed halfway, froze when he looked at the golden line ahead. Which one was water?
His sensing of word commands couldn't keep up with the heavenly steps' changing speed. Unable to continue climbing the waterfall, he was swept back by the rushing current.
Mei Liangyu formed a seal with one hand and waved. Spiritual wood grew when meeting water, green vines grew rapidly, catching Yan Xiaochuan who was about to fall off the heavenly step and pulling him back.
The rescued Yan Xiaochuan lay on the ground again, panting.
"Gah!" He kicked at the air with both legs: "Just a little bit!"
Mei Liangyu stood beside him watching the waterfall become a stream again, saying calmly: "Mountain, stone, forest, water, heaven, earth, six characters. You're missing more than a little bit."
"Today I don't have to worry about falling to the bottom and climbing again, let's go again!" Yan Xiaochuan quickly regained his spirits, full of energy, taking this chance to properly challenge the path to the ninth step.
Mei Liangyu spent another day here with him, from initially watching Yan Xiaochuan climb to challenging the tenth step himself. When challenging the eleventh step, he was knocked down to the very bottom.
Yan Xiaochuan clung to the eighth step's edge, looking eagerly at Mei Liangyu climbing up from the first step, shouting encouragement for Senior Brother Liangyu.
Mei Liangyu's eye twitched hearing this, as if he were the one who couldn't climb up.
Challenging the twelve heavenly steps consumed tremendous amounts of Five Elements energy. Each attempt required gathering and mobilizing all the body's strength to sprint.
In the end, one wanting to reach the ninth step and one wanting to reach the eleventh step, the two spent nearly two days and nights at Jueyun Peak. On the third night, they parted ways exhausted and returned to the dormitories to collapse into bed.
Yan Xiaochuan rarely released his power like this. Finally, he wasn't alone going to Jueyun Peak to climb the heavenly steps. Someone was there to talk with him and prevent him from falling to the bottom.
Thinking about it, he couldn't help but chuckle happily, smiling as he slept soundly.
Mei Liangyu had just lain back in bed when he remembered something undone. Frowning, he sat up and took out his Wind-Listening Ruler to ask Yu Sui where she was.
"At the dormitories." Yu Sui asked: "Does Senior Brother have something?"
"Wait, I'll show you a little something." Mei Liangyu grabbed the outer robe from the wooden rack and went out to find her.
Yu Sui replied: "Senior Brother, I changed dormitories. I'm on the 86th floor now, room 1078."
Mei Liangyu raised an eyebrow and headed to the location she mentioned.
During the days when Mei Liangyu and Yan Xiaochuan challenged Jueyun Peak's heavenly steps, Yu Sui had already completed two things: talking with Gu Qian and changing dormitories.
Yu Sui leaned against the door waiting. Inside, Blackbeard had personally brought people to redecorate for her, and now even the main room was furnished luxuriously.
The door was open. Mei Liangyu immediately saw the person waiting by the door. Walking closer, he could even smell a fresh bathing fragrance. He glanced at Yu Sui's loose, smooth black hair, seeming to have just finished bathing not long ago, so her usual golden hairpins, hair ornaments, and ribbons were nowhere to be seen.
"Senior Brother, you look like you haven't slept well." Yu Sui looked curiously at the man standing in the room with a cold, heavy aura as she closed the door behind her, asking softly: "Is there something urgent?"
She hadn't forgotten that an unawakened Mei Liangyu was somewhat fierce and not easy to deal with. Even if a girl he liked stood before him, she probably wouldn't get any good treatment.
Mei Liangyu wasn't unawakened now, just hadn't rested at all. Challenging the twelve heavenly steps had consumed too much energy, so exhaustion was real.
He glanced at the room's luxury. With Yu Sui, this sort of thing no longer surprised him.
"You're living alone?" Mei Liangyu sensed no one else.
"Yes." Yu Sui said: "I was lucky and got a dormitory number no one was using."
The academy's dormitory reassignment relied on random number drawing by the Communication Courtyard, which was no different from letting Yu Sui choose herself.
Learning she lived alone, Mei Liangyu pulled out a chair at the main room table and sat down. His fingertip drew a character on the clean, tidy table surface, presenting the text and images he'd gotten from Mu Yong'an on the table.
He said: "These are records related to World Destroyers. They contain information that Gao Tianhao wanted to find but couldn't, information he didn't know, and the Water Vessel's location. Look first, ask me if anything's unclear."
Yu Sui looked at the Xuangu Continent map presented on the table surface. Rings of flames and water waves flowed, with countless small figures standing at different positions. Some had names, others didn't. The text records floating before her eyes were very clear and quickly drew her in.
The room was very quiet. Yu Sui sat across from Mei Liangyu, seriously observing all the records in the text and images. When she had questions and instinctively looked up across the table, she saw the man sitting opposite leaning back in his chair with closed eyes and furrowed brows, already asleep.
Yu Sui propped her head up with one hand, her dark eyes moving as she examined Senior Brother's sleeping face. Because he was frowning, even his sleeping expression looked somewhat fierce.
He was quite fierce when awake sometimes too.
Yu Sui couldn't help remembering when she pretended to be dead to fool Mei Liangyu, hearing him say "Nangong Sui" in a sinister tone. Thinking about it now, she rather regretted not seeing Senior Brother's expression then.
Her heart stirred restlessly, wanting to see this face show a fierce side that changed because of her.