A vast, boundless ice plain stretched as far as the eye could see.
Snowflakes swirled in the air. Mu Zhe trudged through the snow, his path unknown, his Mahayana cultivation shielding him from the chill.
The sea of snow stretched endlessly. Mu Zhe had searched for an unknown amount of time, his eyes now filled with a despairing, lifeless gray.
After Li Genglan abducted Shen Gurong, everyone on Liren Peak had been searching for him. Xi Guxing and his group had practically turned every inch of the Three Realms upside down, yet they still hadn't found him.
The ice plain was impervious to any spiritual energy detection. Even if someone knew Shen Gurong was here, they couldn't possibly find him inch by inch.
Before coming to the ice plain, Qingyu had tried countless times to dissuade him, but he wouldn't listen.
No one could persuade him. The only person who could persuade him was now in the ice plain, his fate unknown.
Mu Zhe searched for an unknown amount of time, slaying countless savage beasts. Dazed and disoriented, as if adrift in a quagmire, he finally spotted a glimmer of light in the vast, icy plain when his mind and body were utterly plunged into darkness.
His eyes widened, and he stumbled towards it.
The light was seemingly so close, yet incredibly far to reach.
So near, yet so far.
When Mu Zhe finally reached the light, he saw Shen Gurong sitting upright, eyes lowered.
He was dressed in white, a fire spirit stone resting in his palm, shielding him from the surrounding chill.
The fire spirit stone's power was nearly depleted; the wind and snow were gradually engulfing Shen Gurong, and within half a day, it would devour his frail body. Then, even if Mu Zhe searched the entire icy plain, he would not find him.
Mu Zhe arrived just in time.
He knelt before Shen Gurong, his hand trembling as he reached out to touch his master's face.
Shen Gurong's face was serene, appearing as if he were asleep. It was as if, if his hand touched Shen Gurong, he would open his long eyelashes, wake up, and smile at him, asking how his sword practice had gone that day.
But even as Mu Zhe placed his hand on Shen Gurong's neck, Shen Gurong remained motionless.
The spiritual meridians in his neck had long since dried up; not even a pulse could be detected.
Mu Zhe's pupils constricted sharply. He stared blankly at his master before him, a sudden ringing in his ears, like an ancient bell tolling heavily, shaking his entire internal organs violently.
He couldn't hold back and coughed up blood.
The warm blood fell onto the cold snow, instantly turning into frost.
Mu Zhe trembled, gently touching Shen Gurong's face. He watched as Shen Gurong's robes and white hair were frozen solid on the ground, untouched by the frost for countless years. Choking back tears, he used his spiritual power to melt the frost and gently embraced Shen Gurong.
Mu Zhe wanted to burst into tears, but he knew that no matter how pitiful or heartbreaking his cries, no one would gently wipe away his tears or softly comfort him.
His master was so afraid of the cold, always wearing a cloak even on Changying Mountain. How had he survived being trapped in this vast icy plain for so many years?
As Shen Gurong gazed upon the ever-burning lamp on Liren Peak, he saw...
What was he thinking each day as he looked at that lamp?
Had he even once considered wanting someone to rescue him?
Mu Zhe dared not think further. He only wanted to take his master away from this icy hell.
Mu Zhe rode the wind, carrying Shen Gurong back to the Great Swamp of Taozhou.
Qingyu rushed to greet him, relieved to see he was unharmed. He sighed, "I thought you died on the Ice Plains. How are things? Did you find the Holy Lord?"
Mu Zhe's eyes were like dry water, devoid of any emotion. He said expressionlessly, "I found him."
Qingyu was overjoyed, "Isn't that wonderful? The Holy Lord has been missing for so many years, and you too..."
His words trailed off when he met Mu Zhe's gaze.
"Where...where is the Holy Lord?"
Mu Zhe didn't answer, only saying, "I'll be back soon. Don't let anyone near my residence."
Qingyu: "Alright, where are you going? Mu...Mu Zhe!"
Mu Zhe didn't turn back, quickly leaving Taozhou. In an instant, he arrived at the Everlasting Lamp on the highest peak of Liren Peak. Expressionless, he took out the Lin Xia Chun Sword and cleaved the half-person-high lamp in two.
Xi Guxing sensed the commotion and rushed over. He had been wielding his short sword, intending to kill the traitor who had offended Liren Peak, but upon seeing Mu Zhe, he paused, then sheathed his sword.
Mu Zhe stored the ever-burning lamp in his mustard seed and nodded slightly: "Martial Uncle."
Xi Guxing's eyes were red-rimmed. He said in a daze, "Mu Zhe? You're back."
Since Shen Gurong's disappearance, Mu Zhe had betrayed Liren Peak, searching for him throughout the Three Realms. This was the first time Xi Guxing had seen him.
Mu Zhe nodded, too lazy for pleasantries, and turned to leave.
"Mu Zhe!"
Xi Guxing called out to him.
Mu Zhe stopped, waiting quietly for him to speak.
Xi Guxing stared at Mu Zhe's now incredibly tall figure for a long time before softly murmuring, "Your master's natal jade pendant is broken."
Mu Zhe remained expressionless, as if he didn't understand the meaning of these words, and indifferently replied, "I know."
Xi Guxing was startled, slightly raising his eyes, two lines of tears slowly streaming down his face. He murmured, "You found Eleven?"
Mu Zhe replied, "Yes."
Xi Guxing immediately stepped forward, grabbing Mu Zhe's arm, and demanded sharply, "Where is he?!"
Mu Zhe remained eerily calm: "Master has fallen. I will bury his body."
Xi Guxing's grip tightened, almost crushing Mu Zhe's arm. He said, his voice trembling with fear, "Let me see him! Where is he?!"
Mu Zhe: "Taozhou..."
"If Master Uncle wishes to come, please go the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow?" Xi Guxing said, "Why the day after tomorrow? I want to see him now."
Mu Zhe seemed somewhat confused, looking at Xi Guxing strangely: "Martial Uncle, Master's natal jade tablet is broken, he..."
"That kind of thing—" Xi Guxing interrupted him, his voice hoarse, "That kind of jade tablet, I can easily repair it! As long as I find his body, I can..."
As Xi Guxing spoke, he seemed to remember something, he slapped Mu Zhe's arm, and stammered, "Right, Shuhe is the Divine Physician of the Three Realms, I'm going to find him. Don't bury your Master, he can still be saved. I'm going to find Shuhe!"
His words were incoherent, not giving Mu Zhe a chance to answer, he turned and hurriedly left.
Mu Zhe watched his retreating figure indifferently, without the slightest fluctuation, and got up to return to Taozhou.
Soon, Xi Guxing arrived in Taozhou with Lou Bugui and Lin Shuhe. The others were either in seclusion or elsewhere and couldn't arrive immediately.
Lin Shuhe wasn't feeling well. Xi Guxing had hurriedly carried him over on the wind, and he coughed incessantly after landing. Qingyu, who had come to meet them, frowned at him and said, "Would you like to rest for a while?"
Lin Shuhe looked worse than a dying man. He coughed a few times, covered his mouth, waved his hand to indicate it wasn't necessary, and hurriedly followed Qingyu to Mu Zhe's residence.
Mu Zhe lived deep within a vast, uninhabited swamp, a hundred miles away. Qingyu had given him almost all the best spiritual veins in Taozhou. Shen Gurong resided deep within these spiritual veins, where the abundant spiritual energy nourished his lifeless body, barely preventing decay.
Shen Gurong, dressed in brand-new white robes, lay quietly on a jade bed formed from spiritual veins and jade marrow. His dull white hair was spread across the bed, and the ice silk quilt was neatly folded and placed to the side.
Xi Guxing glanced at him, his eyes stinging, but he barely managed to hold back, pulling Lin Shuhe along.
Mu Zhe sat quietly, holding a jade pendant about the length of his arm, gently carving something with a small knife. He didn't even bother to glance at Xi Guxing and the others as they approached.
Lin Shuhe's gaze fell on the jade-like body. He knew what had happened without even examining it, but Xi Guxing looked at him with a mixture of expectation and fear, his face full of hope that he could bring him back to health.
Lin Shuhe's face was pale. After hesitating for a moment, he gently covered Shen Gurong's body with a layer of spiritual energy, closing his eyes to examine him.
The longer Lin Shuhe kept his eyes closed, the more terrified Xi Guxing became. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer, grabbing Lin Shuhe's shoulders and shaking him, stammering, "Shuhe? Shuhe!"
Lin Shuhe reluctantly opened his eyes, withdrew his hand, lowered his gaze, and remained silent, giving Xi Guxing his answer through his silence.
Xi Guxing's pupils contracted, and he immediately said, "No way! Didn't you also get saved from near death before? That was so many years ago. After so long, your medical skills should have improved, right? Shuhe, Sixth Brother… Lin Shuhe!"
Lin Shuhe lowered his eyes and said softly, "Senior Brother, even with my extraordinary cultivation, I cannot bring the dead back to life."
Xi Guxing was stunned, his lips turning pale.
Lin Shuhe said, "His soul is scattered; he can't be saved."
Xi Guxing stood there stunned for a long time, then shoved him aside and turned to Lou Bugui: "Bugui, look at Eleven! Is there any medicine that can save him? Any medicine, just tell me and I'll find it, Bugui!"
Lou Bugui, however, couldn't give him an answer.
Ever since he saw Shen Gurong, he had been almost possessed. Now, he was trembling all over, wishing he could curl up into a ball.
He squatted down, covering his ears, tears streaming down his face until he was completely soaked.
Xi Guxing: "Lou Bugui!"
Lou Bugui murmured, "It's my fault, all my fault. If I hadn't researched the plague for him… I killed Eleven, I killed him." Lou Bugui's brain had been damaged by poison in his childhood, and even Lin Shuhe couldn't restore him to his former state. Now, he was trapped in a demon of self-blame, unsure if he could ever escape it.
Xi Guxing stood there stunned for a long time, his expression dazed, before he staggered to the jade bedside and looked down at Shen Gurong.
Xi Guxing still clutched the jade pendant he had forcibly pieced back together, but the person was dead, and the pendant was shattered. Even after piecing it back together, the pendant struggled to break, but Xi Guxing forcibly restrained it with his spiritual power.
He stared blankly at Shen Gurong for a long time, then suddenly tears streamed down his face. He withdrew his spiritual power, and the jade pendant shattered into powder, falling softly from his trembling fingers.
Even with countless reasons to convince himself, Xi Guxing finally admitted it: Shen Eleven, who had always been his sworn enemy, was dead.
Disappeared for ten years, without leaving a single word, he died in a place he knew nothing of.
Their reunion was now across the divide of life and death.
Xi Guxing couldn't describe the feeling in his heart. He cried for a long time before realizing he was shedding tears.
After realizing this, he laughed again.
Xi Guxing laughed and cried at the same time. If Shen Gurong saw him like this, he would definitely mock him mercilessly.
Shen Gurong, however, remained lying there quietly.
Mu Zhe, who was beside him, finally finished carving the last stroke. He slowly stood up and carefully wiped away the debris from the memorial tablet, revealing a line of characters:
"The Memorial Tablet of My Master, Shen Feng Xue."
Mu Zhe in the Records of the Capital didn't know that he had even carved the name on his master's memorial tablet incorrectly.
Mu Zhe buried Shen Gurong deep within the spiritual vein, and the eternal lamp was placed before the tomb, burning for a thousand years.
Seven days later, Mu Zhe personally killed Li Genglan, banishing him, with his last breath, to the deepest part of the icy plains to be devoured by countless savage beasts.
Afterwards, Mu Zhe released Lin Xia Chun back to the Sword Pavilion and returned alone to the depths of the Great Swamp spiritual vein.
He would forever guard this place.
***
A sudden, deafening drumbeat shattered his eardrums.
Mu Zhe abruptly opened his eyes, clutching his mouth and vomiting blood.
He coughed for a long time, finally releasing the pent-up emotions in his chest. He then opened his eyes blankly, only to find himself in complete darkness, with only the faint glow of the surrounding spiritual veins.
For a fleeting moment, Mu Zhe almost thought he was still guarding the Great Swamp's spiritual veins, with his master's body buried deep within them.
After a long pause, Mu Zhe realized he had been in seclusion, and what he had just seen and thought were all manifestations of his inner demons.
Having come to this realization, Mu Zhe was drenched in cold sweat, and it took him a long time to suppress the feeling of despair and fear.
Jiu Xi had devoured his inner demons and was now resting nearby. Mu Zhe took a deep breath, not wanting to disturb them, and got up to leave.
Mu Zhe had been in seclusion for over three months. When he emerged from the depths of the spiritual vein, Shen Gurong had just returned from Liren Peak, bringing back many ancient books, which he was currently copying.
The spirit butterfly formed from the Daoist Companion Pact suddenly fluttered. Shen Gurong seemed to sense this, picked up his brush, and looked up, just in time to see Mu Zhe approaching from a short distance.
Shen Gurong smiled instinctively, resting his chin on his hand, and said softly, "Out of seclusion?"
Mu Zhe's face was somewhat pale. He quickly walked to Shen Gurong's side and hugged him tightly.
Shen Gurong quickly raised his brush and smiled, "What's wrong? Missed me?"
Mu Zhe nodded listlessly.
Shen Gurong belatedly smelled a bloody scent, and a wave of bitterness washed over him from within the Daoist Companion Pact, a feeling of extreme grievance.
Shen Gurong forcefully pushed Mu Zhe away, only then noticing the bloodstains on Mu Zhe's blue robe and his deathly pale face.
Mu Zhe glanced at him with a wronged expression, tugging at his sleeve and refusing to let go.
Shen Gurong asked worriedly, "What exactly happened? Why did you vomit blood during your seclusion? Do you have an inner demon?"
Mu Zhe hesitated for a long time before telling Shen Gurong about the mental demons he had encountered during his seclusion.
Shen Gurong choked, feeling inexplicably guilty.
What he had done in the Records of the Capital was, in Shen Gurong's current view, an utterly shameful dark history.
Shen Gurong coughed heavily, patted Mu Zhe's head, and said, "Don't be scared, don't be scared, it's all fake."
Mu Zhe pressed his hand to his heart, murmuring, "But it hurts."
Shen Gurong could only kiss the corner of his lips, saying helplessly, "Then I'll reward you."
Mu Zhe's eyes lit up, and the previous listless and sickly state vanished completely; anyone who didn't know better would think it was Shen Gurong's imagination.
Shen Gurong realized he'd been tricked and glared at him irritably.
Mu Zhe, unconcerned about losing face, happily carried Shen Gurong to the bed.
He did as he pleased.
Knowing Shen Gurong cared for him, Mu Zhe took advantage of the situation and used the demonic cultivation power Shen Gurong had always forbidden him from using.
He looked at Shen Gurong expectantly: "Master, Master, Master."
Shen Gurong instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing Mu Zhe's pale face, he turned his head away awkwardly and said, "You can use it."
Mu Zhe immediately crushed the glass bottle, channeling the power into his meridians. When he opened his eyes again, his pupils had turned into golden snake eyes.
Meeting those eyes, Shen Gurong was instinctively startled and roared, "Who told you to use this?!"
Mu Zhe clung to Shen Gurong, murmuring, "Master, don't be afraid, leave it to me."
Shen Gurong was furious, but it was too late to kick him off the bed, so he could only relax and let him do as he pleased.
"Just twice, you hear me? One more and I'll get angry with you."
Mu Zhe bit his lip and chuckled softly, "Yes."
But Shen Gurong underestimated the demon cultivator's spiritual power. Just one time left him half-dead, his body stretched more open than ever before, his voice hoarse from crying.
The second time had just begun when a sound came from the jade marrow beneath the bed where Mu Zhe had been thrown, as if someone was looking for him.
Bound by the long-unused ice silk, Shen Gurong wanted to vent but couldn't. He kicked and cried, then overheard a voice and sobbed, "Hurry, it's Fourth Senior Brother! He...he must have something urgent, boohoo."
Mu Zhe's golden vertical pupils stared at Shen Gurong, somewhat displeased: "Never mind him, let's continue."
Shen Gurong kicked back desperately at his stomach, choking out, "Next time, next time we'll continue, hurry up and go!"
Mu Zhe still didn't want to go.
Shen Gurong could only feign authority: "Aren't you listening to me?!"
Mu Zhe reluctantly pulled away and picked up the jade marrow.
Jing Zhuchen's voice came from within: "Mu Zhe, come quickly and help my disciple enter the Dao."
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe's face turned green.
Teach your own disciple yourself!
Shen Gurong had curled up into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably under the covers. Mu Zhe had no choice but to get dressed, gently stroke Shen Gurong's hair, and whisper, "Master, I'm going to Suihan City."
Shen Gurong responded with a muffled voice.
He said, "Go quickly!"
"You'd better stay for half a year before coming back!"
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe comforted Shen Gurong for a while, coaxing him to sleep, before putting on his veil and leaving for Suihan City with a gloomy expression.
As soon as he left, Shen Gurong, who had been pretending to be asleep, immediately got out of bed and destroyed all the demonic spiritual energy Mu Zhe had placed by his bedside.
"I'll never use it again!" Shen Gurong thought bitterly.
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