Chapter 155
Xing Chun returned to check on Mei Liangyu and Zhongli Shan's condition. While breathing a sigh of relief, he turned his head to look at the flames above the mountain wall and began to worry.
How exactly could this cursed thing be extinguished?
If it weren't for these flames that couldn't be put out and devoured Five Elements Energy, he would have taken them out long ago.
After Xing Chun's Five Elements Energy had mostly recovered, he stepped on the frozen underground river toward the flames on the opposite shore, failing to notice Mei Liangyu's lightly trembling fingertips.
……
Mei Liangyu's consciousness was half chaotic, half awake. He gradually became able to sense the surrounding cold and warmth and sounds, but still couldn't wake up.
Occasionally he could still hear Xing Chun sighing and talking to himself.
Xing Chun was quite lonely by himself. Though both his good brothers were lying unconscious, he still habitually talked to them, sharing his speculations.
The words Mei Liangyu heard most often were:
"When are you two going to wake up?"
"When can we get out of this cursed place?"
"Let's eat steamed buns when we get out."
Xing Chun's mindset was still alright. He spent most of his time studying the terrain and flames, only returning when his Five Elements Energy was exhausted, sitting in a row against the passage wall with the other two.
In his chaotic state, Mei Liangyu could also hear many people's voices. Vague, distant, difficult to distinguish. Some seemed like mad ravings, others seemed to have appeared in his memories before.
He also heard Yu Sui's voice.
It was that familiar call of "Senior Brother" that he often heard.
When Mei Liangyu wanted to listen carefully to Yu Sui's voice, even more chaotic voices came flooding in.
His consciousness felt wrapped by boundless seawater, pushed and rolled by wind and waves. Sometimes he was carried high by the waves, floating to the surface to breathe, sometimes he was heavily beaten back into the sea by giant waves. The feeling of falling and the pressure of seawater was panic-inducing.
When he was swept out of the water by the waves again, Mei Liangyu saw a small boat floating on the clear water surface. On both sides were mountain rocks and forests. On the broad river were seven or eight boats, and what he saw was the one trailing at the back of the group.
Sitting at the stern was a boy of about 12 or 13 years old. He was half-crouching, with the golden hem of his robe embroidered with auspicious clouds hanging on the ground. Sunlight illuminated the fierce tiger jade pendant at his waist, making it reflect warm, lustrous light. The rippling water surface reflected the boy's bold and handsome features. Though his face still had some childishness, his dark eyes were filled with laziness and pride.
The boy gripped the fishing rod and gave it a light upward tug, pulling a massive object from the water. With a splash, a gray-clothed old man with bound hands emerged from the water, breathing heavily in embarrassment.
The gray-clothed old man's upper body was exposed to his chest, his lower body still soaking in water. His Five Elements Energy was sealed and he was injured. After breathing, he shook his head, and the boy crouching at the stern raised his hand to block the water droplets he shook off.
Gao Tianhao faced the boat, looking up with water all over his face, yet smiled at the boy on the boat and said in a hoarse voice: "How come it's a little kid watching over me now?"
The boy said boredly: "Because you can't even beat a little kid now."
Gao Tianhao laughed heartily: "If you unlock the Five Elements mechanism in my body, even your mother wouldn't be my match."
He deliberately provoked, but the boy didn't take the bait. He simply supported his chin with one hand, his dark bright eyes half-narrowed as he sized up the old man in the water, saying slowly: "I heard from my mother that you're from the Ghost Way School, a Thirteenth Realm master. You should know quite a few Heavenly Mechanism Arts, right?"
Gao Tianhao said: "Do you want to learn Ghost Way School Nine Schools Arts from me?"
Seeing his proud and pleased expression, the boy stared at Gao Tianhao without blinking: "Does your Ghost Way School have a Heavenly Mechanism Art that can recover memories lost due to soul injury?"
"The Heavenly Mechanism Art you're talking about is called 'Soul Bestowal'. The Ghost Way School abandons the physical body to cultivate the soul. Whether it's harming others' souls or healing souls, you can't go wrong looking for us Ghost Way School practitioners." Gao Tianhao coughed twice, struggling with the rope binding his hands while looking at him, "What are you asking this for?"
The boy's brow furrowed slightly, as if thinking about other matters, looking somewhat impatient and fierce: "As a person from Taiyuan Kingdom, you secretly entered Yan Kingdom's forbidden military territory, were caught by the Garrison Commander, and are being escorted to Sui Prefecture under the charge of being a foreign spy to be interrogated by the Crown Prince."
After hearing this, Gao Tianhao still looked cheerful: "You little guy are quite concerned about me."
"If you were really a Taiyuan spy, my mother would have killed you long ago instead of letting you live to reach Sui Prefecture." The boy turned the fishing reel, letting Gao Tianhao fall back into the water. After a while, he fished him back out and said slowly, "My mother not killing you doesn't mean the Garrison Commander won't kill you either. When you get to His Highness the Crown Prince, he'll have to kill you to frame the Sixth Prince."
Gao Tianhao coughed lowly: "Then I should thank Her Highness the Eldest Princess for her current mercy in not killing me?"
"I think you should thank me." The boy leaned forward, staring at Gao Tianhao with slightly raised eyebrows. His crisp young voice, though lacking adult maturity and seeming childish, had a unique confidence and calmness: "You help me with one thing, and I'll let you leave safely. Neither the Garrison Commander nor His Highness the Crown Prince will catch you."
"Even my mother won't catch you."
Gao Tianhao wouldn't underestimate this 12 or 13-year-old child before him, both because of his parents and because he had previously seen this child's own abilities. After hearing these words, he thought briefly and asked: "What do you want me to do?"
The boy said: "The Sixth Prince lost his memory due to soul injury. You come with me to help him recover his memories."
Gao Tianhao didn't agree immediately, but asked with a smile: "From what I know, your mother neither supports the Crown Prince nor the Sixth Prince. Why are you getting involved in the Sixth Prince's memory loss?"
The boy said: "I don't support the Sixth Prince either. He looks so foolish, how could he be a match for His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Gao Tianhao: "You're praising the Crown Prince for being clever, so you're on his side?"
The boy snorted coldly without answering, saying impatiently instead: "Are you going or not? If not, I'll let the Garrison Commander take you to Sui Prefecture. The Five Elements mechanism seal can't be unlocked, so you can only wait to die."
Gao Tianhao looked up at the fishing line binding his hands. This wasn't ordinary fishing line either. The more he struggled, the tighter it wrapped, already leaving many bloody marks on his wrists.
"I don't do things I'm not confident about, and I persist until the last moment without giving up. For this matter, you need to tell me first why you want to help the Sixth Prince recover his memory?" Gao Tianhao asked.
When the boy was asked this question, his expression became somewhat gloomy. He angrily slapped the fishing rod, and Gao Tianhao, who had just emerged, fell back into the water, causing splashes and bubbling underwater before being pulled out again.
Gao Tianhao widened his eyes and was about to curse when he heard the child say: "My elder sister has always gotten whatever she wanted since childhood and has always been happy. There's never been anything that could trouble her for more than a day. Now that the Sixth Prince has lost his memory, it's rare to see her so sad."
"I've also heard about the Sixth Prince's memory loss. At only 18 years old, he's already a prodigy of the Yin-Yang School with Eleventh Realm cultivation. Given more time, he would be the youngest Saint in the entire Xuangu Continent." Gao Tianhao swallowed back his curses and sighed, "Your Yan Kingdom's Sixth Prince is also a military talent who led troops to battle at 16, not only repelling the rebel forces left by Nanjing Kingdom in Shenbei Prefecture, but also finding the severely injured Agricultural School Saint who was wandering outside, rescuing Yan Manfeng from the siege of several Rakshasa practitioners and bringing him safely back to the royal city. The Sixth Prince can be said to be your Yan Kingdom's greatest hope."
"Let me kindly remind you that in your Yan Kingdom now, the Empress Dowager governs but lacks strength; the Yan King is incompetent and obsessed with beauties; aristocratic families monopolize power and suppress commoners everywhere; ministers fight each other, and half of Yan Kingdom has been infiltrated by the other five kingdoms."
The boy frowned: "Why are you saying all this?"
Gao Tianhao smiled: "I'm telling you not to meddle in affairs you shouldn't manage. Even if you're the Eldest Princess's child, you can't handle this. Others might be waiting for you to make mistakes so they can use it as an excuse to make trouble for your parents."
"Yan Kingdom isn't without Thirteenth Realm Ghost Way School masters, yet no one dares to restore the Sixth Prince's memory. Don't you know why?" Gao Tianhao showed a regretful expression and sighed, "Even your parents don't dare to act. How can you still dare to have such ideas?"
"Besides, you say the Sixth Prince is foolish, but he's not foolish at all."
The boy scoffed: "The Sixth Prince has 'reviving Yan Kingdom's royal authority' written clearly all over his face, making himself a thorn in so many people's sides. If he's not foolish, who is?"
Gao Tianhao was stunned by his words, his eyes showing slight changes.
The boy stood up, looking down at the person hanging in the water: "Since you're unwilling, then forget it."
"Wait..." Before Gao Tianhao could finish, the boy stepped on the fishing rod and plopped him back into the water.
The boy counted the time, and when it was about right, he fished Gao Tianhao back out.
Gao Tianhao gasped for air but hurriedly said: "I agree! When do we leave?"
The boy raised an eyebrow, his tone leisurely: "Are you anxious now?"
Gao Tianhao shook the river water off his face and looked up at the person on the boat with a somewhat probing gaze: "But you, do you really dare cooperate with a foreign spy?"
The boy didn't answer.
But Mei Liangyu knew.
He dared.
Because his father had said that Gao Tianhao was from Taiyuan Kingdom but wasn't Taiyuan's spy. He entered Yan Kingdom's forbidden territory to find something else.
Something that would affect the fate and survival of the Six Kingdoms.
……
Gao Tianhao had spent half a year with this child.
The Yan Kingdom Sixth Prince's condition wasn't as simple as memory loss.
The Sixth Prince had soul injuries, lost mobility, and lost his memory, becoming mentally impaired. The former young hero, the spirited young man, had now become an idiot with vacant eyes, drool at the corners of his mouth, who would only smile foolishly at you.
With the boy's help, Gao Tianhao escaped from the Garrison Commander and came to Yan Capital. After disguising himself and following the secret passage guidance given by the boy, he visited the Sixth Prince daily to help heal his soul.
Yan Capital at that time was heavily guarded due to the Sixth Prince's situation. Under the struggles of various factions, everyone ignored that 12 or 13-year-old child.
Whether it was Yan Kingdom's royal family, aristocratic families, or ministers infiltrated by other kingdoms, they all thought the Eldest Princess's youngest son had a bad temper, was arrogant, hard to deal with, didn't focus on cultivation, dabbled in everything, practiced everything, and was said to have talents that didn't match any of the Nine Schools.
Unlike his elder brother and sister, who were exceptionally talented and had impressive achievements in the Yin-Yang School and Military School.
At that time, adults had too many enemies to guard against who were too numerous and too powerful, so they overlooked the child who hadn't yet grown up. The boy used exactly this point to secretly bring people to heal the Sixth Prince.
Gao Tianhao initially thought he had agreed to something unprofitable.
If captured and taken to Sui Prefecture, he still had ways to escape. Coming to Yan Capital made it truly difficult to leave.
After staying with this child for a long time, Gao Tianhao changed his mind.
He felt this child was much more interesting than what the outside world said.
Though he liked to learn a bit of every Nine Schools Art, it wasn't that he couldn't learn them. When he had nothing to do, he would tinker with his own mechanism dice. Gao Tianhao once opened the door to see the floor covered with mechanism rabbits, cats, dogs, colorful phoenixes, and magpies, leaving him nowhere to step. He could only stand at the door helplessly calling to the person sleeping with his head on the table: "Young Master, wake up, it's time for you to lead the way to the palace to save people."
Only then would the boy frown and sit up, his face full of irritation from not sleeping well. He would wave his sleeves, adjust his outer clothes, and after looking down briefly, widen his eyes and search everywhere on the floor covered with mechanisms for his shoes.
Gao Tianhao agreed to this child's request not entirely because he feared death, but because he wanted to meet his father.
The boy said his father had gone to a distant place and wouldn't return for a short time.
Gao Tianhao said: "With Yan Kingdom's situation like this, your mother and siblings are struggling in Yan Capital, how could he run away?"
"What do you mean run away?" The boy looked up dissatisfied.
Gao Tianhao said: "If he were in Yan Kingdom, no one would dare injure the Sixth Prince like this."
"Those people wanted to deal with the Sixth Prince, so naturally they had to first find a way to get my father away." The boy snorted, "When my father returns, they'll all have to die."
Gao Tianhao believed these words and stayed in Yan Capital for half a year.
But before he left, the boy's father never returned.
After four or five months of private treatment, the Sixth Prince's injuries had improved. During this time, Gao Tianhao traveled back and forth to Yan Capital's royal palace several times with close calls, but he was certain the boy's mother had discovered him yet turned a blind eye, occasionally even helping to cover for them.
Until the fifth month, when the Sixth Prince recovered his memory, news came from Yan Capital that Prince Qingyang, the Nangong family head, had come to Yan Capital.
The day after receiving the news, Agricultural School Saint Yan Manfeng entered the palace and stayed by the Sixth Prince's side constantly.
It seemed everyone believed Nangong family head had come for the Sixth Prince.
Gao Tianhao said to the boy: "Though Yan Manfeng's injuries haven't healed, he's taking the lead and setting an example. Other Nine Schools practitioners in Yan Kingdom will follow suit. There's no need to worry for now."
The boy frowned: "He didn't come early or late, but chose to come just when the Sixth Prince's injuries were almost healed. Isn't that too coincidental?"
Gao Tianhao said: "Nangong Ming is unfathomably cunning and scheming. The Nangong family has contributed significantly to Yan Kingdom becoming like this. He must have some purpose for coming this time."
He had originally been a wanderer who didn't care about the Six Kingdoms' disputes and only focused on Strange Fire secrets, but during his time with the boy, he changed from a wanderer to a strategist.
Gao Tianhao comforted: "With Yan Manfeng there, as long as the other side doesn't bring a Saint, there won't be major problems."
The boy sitting across from him, supporting his head with one hand while looking down at the chess board, looked up at Gao Tianhao after hearing this and said in a low voice: "Yan Manfeng is afraid of him."
Yan Manfeng had lived smoothly in the first half of his life. After encountering Nangong Ming, his life had only one word: "defeat."
Not once or twice, but every single time.
Yan Manfeng was cautious and powerful, but the more such a person experienced repeated failures and knew the opponent's strength, the more cautious and hesitant they became, always recalling the opponent's power, unable to find flaws or solutions.
Nangong Ming would always strike again just when the opponent was building confidence, telling you that you guessed wrong again, you failed again, you can accomplish nothing against me.
Yan Manfeng acted so quickly because he was afraid.
Looking back, Gao Tianhao felt the boy was right about this too.
Like Nangong Ming, there were few people in the world who didn't fear him.
"If Breath Soil were still with him, he wouldn't need to fear Nangong Ming so much." Gao Tianhao sighed, "I heard Nangong Ming's daughter is an ordinary practitioner. So many people from Yan Kingdom went to reclaim Breath Soil, how did they all fail?"
"The more people who go, the happier Nangong Ming becomes." The boy frowned and put all the chess pieces back in the box.
Gao Tianhao looked at him again: "At your age, being able to think of these things, you must never let others know, or you'll be the next Sixth Prince."
The boy didn't answer. He seemed to be pondering other matters at the time.
For many people in Yan Kingdom, Qingyang Nangong family head was indeed a nightmare-like existence.
When he came to Yan Capital and entered the palace, just by seeing the Sixth Prince from afar once, he discovered that someone had been secretly treating the Sixth Prince.
With Nangong Ming in Yan Capital, he was equivalent to half the king of Yan Kingdom.
The night before Nangong Ming ordered a search of the royal capital, the boy sent Gao Tianhao out of Yan Capital.
Having to leave suddenly, Gao Tianhao was stunned. The person he was waiting for still hadn't returned, but he knew he couldn't wait any longer, or he would be inevitably entangled in the troubles of the Six Kingdoms' disputes and face certain death.
That night the stars were brilliant, and the suburban wilderness was green and quiet. The boy pointed out the secret passage route and said: "Go ahead, I'll handle the rest myself."
Gao Tianhao said: "Your father still hasn't returned."
The boy said nonchalantly: "He will return."
"When he returns, I'll tell him and arrange for him to meet you."
Gao Tianhao asked in surprise: "You knew?"
"You always ask about my father. It's hard not to know." The boy waved his hand and turned to leave first, "This formation entrance will disappear in a quarter hour. Hurry up. Hope we meet again if fate allows."
Gao Tianhao shouted: "Won't you leave me some travel money?!"
The boy replied without turning back: "My mother cut my allowance, I'm short of money too. Find a way to earn it yourself!"
Gao Tianhao was so angry he wanted to knock down all the stars in the sky that were watching the show. He stood at the formation entrance for a long time, and when the formation was about to disappear, he finally turned and left.
Gao Tianhao regretted only one thing in his life.
He regretted leaving Yan Capital that night.
Years later, when he saw the boy again at Taiyi Academy, Gao Tianhao couldn't help but pause in a daze for a moment.
He thought, if he hadn't left that night but stayed in Yan Capital instead, many things would have been different.