Chapter 67: It’s All in the Past
When Meng Xueli spoke, everyone except Xiao Tingyun looked at him in surprise.
Jing Di’s eyes suddenly brightened. “Right, it’s not a big deal! Ning Wei… that’s my little junior uncle. He doesn’t know your whereabouts yet. If you leave now via the teleportation array and exit the secret realm, return to Han Shan, you’ll be safe. Nothing will happen.” His emotions surged, straining his internal injuries, and blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
Seeing this, Song Qianyi bent down to help him regulate his True Energy, calming the turbulent flow of his blood. She scolded, “Shut up!” Anger flared again at Jing Di’s attempt to gloss over the danger.
Meng Xueli glanced at Jing Di, his eyes reflecting sympathy. A young boy raised in smooth sailing, suddenly realizing that the sect he trusted, loved, and fought for might not be what he imagined—this blow was far crueler than being beaten and hung up.
Ji Xiao spoke calmly, “Doesn’t know your whereabouts? There are four teleportation arrays in the secret realm, distributed to the east, west, south, and north. They only need to destroy three, hold the last one, and they can wait like a predator for us to deliver ourselves. If the mastermind has acted, they must have planned everything thoroughly, leaving no room for retreat.”
Meng Xueli nodded, his voice cold. “Destroy three arrays to leave me no way out, leave only the last one with ambushes set around it, even checking everyone leaving through the array—there’s absolutely no escape. Perfect. I had no intention of running anyway.”
He looked at the injured Jing Di and his teammates, like he was looking at fledglings just leaving the nest, naive to the harshness of the world, who had already banged their heads and spilled blood. His expression softened. “I said it’s not a big deal because there’s still time to send you all away. Go back, and train properly in the future.”
Song Qianyi furrowed her delicate brows. “Elder Meng, what about you?”
Meng Xueli replied calmly, “I still have business here. I cannot leave.”
Song Qianyi suddenly understood. The thought she had just had, Meng Xueli had already considered. Her nose tingled, and tears unexpectedly fell.
“Hah.” Song Qianyi smiled. “I started practicing the ‘Rejuvenation Art’ at six, even earlier than many sword cultivators began sword training. My master said I was smart and quick-witted, stronger than my senior brothers and sisters, and promised that after I returned from this secret realm, I would become the Young Valley Master. One hundred years later, Songfeng Valley would be handed to me…”
Her four teammates stared at her in shock, but without envy. They were already the elite disciples of their respective sects, and if nothing went wrong, they were candidates to become future Sect Masters or Clan Heads. They just didn’t understand why she suddenly spoke of this, half in tears, half in laughter.
Liu Jing tentatively said, “Congratulations?”
Song Qianyi ignored him and continued, “When we were ambushed by the Heishui River, it was thanks to Elder Meng fighting alongside us—I saw it. I also saw you four hanging from the treetops. Before coming to the secret realm, no one told me that this competition hid a conspiracy. We were fighting by the rules, yet someone disguised themselves to enter the realm and break the rules. Since I saw it, I cannot pretend I didn’t. Since I know, I cannot pretend I don’t. There’s no reasoning in that. If I go back now and pretend to be blind and deaf, even if one hundred years later I really become Valley Master… my Dao-heart will never be at peace. How could I attain enlightenment?!” She looked at Meng Xueli. “I will not leave. According to the rules, I can stay until the final day of the competition.”
Meng Xueli sighed helplessly. “You won’t leave… so what then?”
Song Qianyi said stubbornly, “I want to see what they are really planning! They can’t just blow up the secret realm, can they? I can still help you!”
For a moment, the forest was silent, only the water rushing through the stream.
“I won’t leave either.” Jing Di was the first to speak. He stood up, this time without coughing blood.
Liu Jing wiped the blood off the teleportation array. “How should we ask Master when we get back? Should we ask if he knew about this conspiracy all along, if he knew someone wanted Elder Meng dead in the secret realm?”
Zheng Mu, “That’s for later. Right now… I’m not leaving either.”
Xu Sanshan scratched his head. “Grandmaster Song, in just this short while, you’ve thought of so much—why didn’t I? Now that you said it, I’m not leaving either!”
He whistled, and after a while, a white tiger with fur curling like flames stepped out of the forest. The tiger had been gravely injured in the previous encounter with Ning Wei’s group. Unable to bear seeing his spirit beast die in battle, he had ordered it sent away instead.
Song Qianyi complained, “I’m not a veterinarian,” while tending to the tiger’s wounds.
As they spoke, the stars in the sky dimmed, and a pale light appeared in the east. Morning sunlight filtered into the forest; the long night had finally passed.
Ji Xiao watched silently, his heart heavy with mixed feelings—slightly relieved yet tinged with sorrow.
The sharpness, edge, and fiery spirit unique to young cultivators had been stirred. Knowing that they were like ants trying to shake a tree or mantises attempting to stop a chariot, they still insisted on seeking reasoning. They felt that if their Dao-heart was unsettled, they could not truly attain the Dao. In truth, if they returned now and spent years in the mortal world, witnessing all its schemes and demons, they would learn many ways to deceive themselves and the heavens. Whether they became Valley Master or Sect Leader, they could manage regardless…
Yet Meng Xueli laughed, “Fine. If you won’t leave, then you won’t leave.”
He stood in the morning breeze, spinning a flourish with his spear, completely oblivious to their dire situation, surrounded by lurking wolves, yet looking as if he were embarking on a grand journey, full of heroic spirit.
Ji Xiao smiled faintly.
Que Xianming stood to the side, listening like an indifferent outsider. As a great demon, he normally had no interest in human disputes—if not for Meng Xueli, he wouldn’t bother.
Though Que Xianming had a quick temper, he was not foolish. When he had first come to Han Shan to help a friend escape, he had clearly outlined three paths to persuade Meng Xueli to leave. Skilled in disguise and observation, he had hidden at the base of Han Shan, listening to Yu Qishu talk with junior disciples in the Hall of Legal Principles, and knew how to impersonate Yu Qishu; he hid in trees, overheard conversations between Jing Di and Ning Wei, and knew how to imitate Jing Di. If Meng Xueli weren’t so familiar with him, he would never have been detected.
Now, listening quietly to everyone, remembering the Mirage Beast ambush in the underground palace and aware of the situation inside and outside the secret realm, an idea struck him. He no longer rushed Meng Xueli to return to the demon realm. Instead, he punched his friend lightly and laughed, “Your business is my business. I’ll stay to help you all.”
Meng Xueli nodded. “Good, Que!”
A fellow beast tamer, also quick-tempered but a bit foolish, asked, “May I ask, Dao-friend, which sect are you from?”
Que Xianming replied, “My surname is Que. No sect, no affiliation. I go where I please.”
A formation master, not quick-tempered but equally a bit simple, said, “You’ve heard us speak, you know it’s dangerous, yet you still want to stay… such loyalty from an independent brother!”
Que Xianming replied, “Not at all, not at all!”
At dawn, the sky was half-dark, half-light. The injured group laughed and talked, facing the cool morning breeze as they walked through the rustling fallen leaves in the forest.
Ji Xiao and Meng Xueli walked at the rear.
Ji Xiao heard a sigh from his little Dao companion in the wind and water sounds.
He transmitted his voice: “Are you afraid?”
Meng Xueli smiled. “Afraid of what? My heart is big. Life or death, I’ll give it a try. If the sky falls, I’ll take it as a blanket.”
Ji Xiao, “If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”
“That’s my line, I’m the master here.” Meng Xueli looked at his disciple, recalling their deep connection. “I sigh because of Ji Xiao. While he was alive, people said, ‘Under heaven, there is only Ji Xiao.’ He was the highest man in the world, holding up the sky for millions… yet the world wronged him.”
Ji Xiao’s voice was low. “It’s all in the past.” He had never held resentment or anger.
“No.” Meng Xueli disliked that phrasing. He suddenly dropped his playful expression and pointed to his heart. “As for me, it’s not past.”
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
