Gu Xiao listened, and as if on cue, stopped his tearless crying. He turned his head to look at the swaying lanterns, especially at the flickering candlelight within them. He was afraid.
But, because of Mu Anxiao's instructions, he told himself he could not be a coward.
He then withdrew his gaze and looked up at the lantern above Feng Qishi's body. "Don't you move him," he shouted. As he was about to step forward, a beam of red light suddenly split from above, blocking him in place.
Seeing this, he struck the red light twice with force, his head went numb, and he passed out.
Beyond the red light, Feng Qishi sank into a painful memory that he would never forget.
The pain of becoming a mortal overnight, after being a deity, was something no one could truly understand.
Half a year of getting along, only to be met with betrayal.
Fifty years of human suffering, the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, all experienced.
Reincarnated into the mortal world, becoming the least favored son of the Feng family, and in the end, even death could not earn him his mother's love. Everything, absolutely everything, seemed so sorrowful.
And the source of all this painful memory was Mu Anxiao.
Of course, all that had been cast was a cup of blood. That painful memory of him and her ended just like that.
In the ghost cave, after Feng Qishi's memories had concluded, the light from the lanterns gradually softened.
"Mu Anxiao," Feng Qishi murmured, and as he slowly opened his eyes, tears rolled down the corners of his eyes.
He knew that these memories were his, or rather, Mu Anxiao's.
Because he had already forgiven Mu Anxiao.
Though everything in the mortal world had been heartbreaking and etched into his bones, ever since he met her, those things had ceased to matter.
To him, Mu Anxiao had saved him.
And after seeing Mu Anxiao's memories, he had also become clearer about his own choice.
But, it was already too late.
Lantern: "You are Feng Qishi."
Feng Qishi looked at the lantern before him at close range. For some reason, he saw Mu Anxiao's silhouette. He blinked slightly, sat up, and asked, "Who are you?"
"I am me. I truly never expected that her memories with you would indeed be so painful." The lantern slowly floated away.
Painful?
Feng Qishi didn't understand the lantern's meaning. He only remembered that he had just lost consciousness, and then a woman suddenly appeared before his eyes. He couldn't see her face clearly.
Then... he entered a memory of a battle.
After an unknown amount of time, Mu Anxiao appeared and brought him into another memory.
Then, after the memories of him and her, that woman disappeared.
In his memory, only Mu Anxiao remained.
Thus, he woke up.
"Memories? Painful?" he mumbled, looking around.
On the other side, Gu Xiao opened his eyes, hurriedly sat up, and looked at Feng Qishi, saying excitedly, "You're awake."
"What happened?" Feng Qishi asked, quickly standing up and moving to Gu Xiao's side.
Subsequently, Gu Xiao stood up, "..."
Feng Qishi asked, "Where is Mu Anxiao?"
Gu Xiao had expected that Feng Qishi would surely not remember what had just happened.
But these words were difficult to say.
Because he was not at all sure if Mu Anxiao was dead. He only knew that she had disappeared.
Feng Qishi said anxiously, "I'm asking you, come on!"
Hearing Feng Qishi's question, Gu Xiao thought, if he said she was dead and she came back, Feng Qishi would definitely beat him up.
But if she wasn't dead, that wasn't realistic either.
At this moment, he was caught in a dilemma.
"..."
"Speak," Feng Qishi said sternly.
Gu Xiao was truly startled by Feng Qishi's voice. "You stabbed her with a sword, and then... she sacrificed herself to the healing cage to save you."
"Lantern? No, is the weakness the lantern?"
Gu Xiao: "When we were just looking for the lantern, you suddenly went mad. Mu Anxiao, to save you, sacrificed herself to the healing cage. After that, she disappeared. Whether she's alive or dead, I don't know."
"How could that be?"
Gu Xiao: "That's how it is."
Immediately, Feng Qishi suddenly remembered the lantern that had spoken to him. "I know, she must be there." Saying this, he turned and quickly began searching for that lantern.
An hour later.
Because the lanterns were too similar, Feng Qishi couldn't discern anything.
Standing still, he raised his fist and slammed it hard against the wall. "I killed her."
Gu Xiao: "..."
As it turned out, Feng Qishi had indeed killed Mu Anxiao, so Gu Xiao made no further comments.
In the Boundary, Zhang Yan stood above the layered clouds, parting the mist and looking down. He calculated with his fingers, "How strange."
Shi Yi asked, "What is it?"
Due to his low spiritual energy, Shi Yi had been assigned to Zhang Yan by the old master.
Of course, Shi Yi was initially unwilling to follow Zhang Yan. He felt Zhang Yan was too young, and he wouldn't learn anything, nor would there be anything good to serve.
It wasn't until he heard that Zhang Yan was Mu Anxiao's master that his attitude changed drastically. Every day he would come to pay his respects to Zhang Yan, and this was his appointed time to do so.
However, the moment Zhang Yan uttered the word "strange," his heart also began to feel anxious.
Zhang Yan said, "How strange." As he spoke, he didn't even glance at Shi Yi and flew away.
Shi Yi frowned, turned, and followed Zhang Yan.
Not long after, Zhang Yan arrived at the old master's hall.
"What is it?" the old master asked mysteriously.
Shi Yi followed behind Zhang Yan, not daring to utter a word.
Zhang Yan said, "I can't sense my disciple."
"..." The old master sighed, waved his sleeve into the air, and with a flash of red light, the ghost cave appeared before them.
Then, Zhang Yan looked up at the rows of lanterns in the image and exclaimed, "These are blood lanterns."
Shi Yi didn't understand their words, but he could tell that something must have happened to them.
So, he anxiously asked, "What are blood lanterns?"
The second Shi Yi asked this question, the old master's gaze fell upon him. "You should go out first."
"I..."
Zhang Yan interrupted, "There's no use for you to stay here, leave."
Hearing their repeated dismissals, Shi Yi turned and left with a wronged expression.
Immediately, the old master closed the door with a wave of his sleeve. "They are blood lanterns."
Zhang Yan said, "They went to the demon realm."
"Mm."
"What did they go to the demon realm for?"
The old master replied, "To save a monster."
All along, the old master had been keeping an eye on Feng Qishi's movements, including everything he and Mu Anxiao had experienced. He knew it all, but he hadn't expected his errant, runaway eldest disciple to appear, and moreover, to become a demon.
This matter had also dealt him a significant blow.
Zhang Yan asked, "Where is my disciple?"
"She is within these blood lanterns," the old master said in a low voice.
"Mu Anxiao, how could she be in the blood lanterns? She... she didn't die, what's going on..." Zhang Yan spoke halfway, then calculated with his fingers again, "Did she die?"