Qiu Heyang vanished in the blink of an eye. The pillars of light crashed into the ground, then exploded into a roar of spiritual energy.
Shen Shushi was furious. He immediately released his divine sense, covering the entire main peak as he searched for Qiu Heyang’s whereabouts.
A moment later, he rose into the clouds and headed straight southeast.
The others were already accustomed to this. Most of them were lamenting that Qiu Heyang had slipped away again, but Mei Man kept her eyes fixed on the cloud-light speeding into the distance.
The healers were momentarily at a loss and all turned to Qiu Yingling. Someone asked, “Senior Brother Qiu, what should we do now? Should we go after him?”
“Let’s return for now.” Qiu Yingling smiled, looking as gentle and considerate as ever. “Heyang has shed a layer of skin and broken free of his restraints. We probably won’t be able to catch him anytime soon. Once we find him, we’ll send him straight to the Medical Valley.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother Qiu!” the healers replied before leaving one after another.
Mei Man also intended to blend in with them and leave, but Qiu Yingling called out to her. “Junior Sister Mei, there are still a few things I’d like to ask you.”
Earlier, Mei Man had been recuperating at the Medical Valley in the outer sect. Qiu Yingling had visited her there before. However, these healers had all come from the Medical Valley of the inner sect and did not know how close the two of them were.
That was why they had not thought much of it when he called her Manman just now.
Now that he had stopped her again, they merely assumed he wanted to ask about Qiu Heyang. After all, Qiu Heyang had even refused to recognize his own elder brother, yet he had found Mei Man familiar.
Not only did they think nothing of it, several of the healers were even kind enough to pat her back or shoulder as they said, “Go on. Senior Brother Qiu isn’t as stern as the Immortal Lord; he has the gentlest disposition. Just tell him honestly anything you know. He won’t blame you.”
Mei Man had no choice but to stop. She turned around and lowered her head without saying a word.
After the others had left, Qiu Yingling asked, “Manman, are you unhappy?”
“No.”
“You’re not unhappy, yet you saw me and immediately put on such a stiff face.” Qiu Yingling folded his hands into his sleeves, bent down to look at her, and smiled. “Manman, if you really haven’t taken what happened that day to heart, then why have you been avoiding me like this?”
Mei Man turned her face slightly away, avoiding his scrutiny. Again, she said, “I haven’t.”
“But when something is out of the ordinary, there must be a reason.” Qiu Yingling recalled the noise he had heard that day in Qiu Heyang’s study, and the smile on his face faded slightly. “Or perhaps you heard someth—”
“Senior Brother Qiu.” Mei Man could not bear it any longer and interrupted him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Do what?”
Perhaps the fact that she had made her way here step by step had given her some courage. Or perhaps she had been overwhelmed by frustration and repression. Whatever the reason, Mei Man no longer kept the emotions she had bottled up for so long trapped inside.
She lowered her head, her hands clenched tightly. After taking a deep breath, she poured it all out in one breath, as though she could endure no more.
“You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to clearly make up your mind about something and then keep asking me with that smile on your face whether I’m unhappy or angry, before going off on your own to guess at the reason. I can’t tell whether you’re merely pretending to be kind or genuinely asking. I can’t figure out what your purpose is if you’re only pretending to care. Do you find it entertaining to figure out someone else’s feelings? Are you just asking casually? Or is there some other reason?”
Qiu Yingling’s smile gradually disappeared. A trace of subtle astonishment crossed his eyes.
Mei Man suddenly regretted it. She hated herself for speaking too quickly, afraid that she might bring trouble upon herself.
But she could not deny that the stagnant frustration accumulated in her heart had begun to spill out bit by bit. It was like the leaves of autumn trees, withering before slowly drifting away.
“So you don’t have to do this. There’s nothing on me that can be schemed over. Casual concern like this won’t do you any good or gain you any advantage.” She turned her face slightly aside, her uneasy gaze fixed tightly on a crack between the bricks beneath her feet. “I don’t know. I don’t understand, and I don’t dare ask you. All I can do is feel anxious and restless, growing irritated and exhausted from trying to deal with it. Of course, if you just find this amusing, then I have nothing to say. I owe you a favor and have already accepted your benefits. I have no reason and no right to refuse. It’s just… it’s just… Forget it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of this.”
The moment the last word left her lips, she regretted it even more. She hardly dared imagine what sort of retaliation these words might bring.
But the words had already been spoken. An arrow loosed from a bow could not be called back, and she certainly could not knock him unconscious, wake him up, and tell him he had merely been dreaming.
Her regret awakened her belated instinct to flee. She turned around hurriedly, tossed out a quick, “I have something to do,” and started to leave.
Qiu Yingling’s eyes suddenly lifted. Only then did he return to his senses.
Before he could figure out what to say, his body reacted first. He took several steps forward and caught her by the arm.
The force made Mei Man stagger backward. Her eyes instinctively lifted toward him.
Qiu Yingling was about to speak, but he first saw her reddened eyes and froze again.
Mei Man abruptly lowered her head. Then she remembered that she had already said several unpleasant things. With nothing left to lose, she fiercely shook off his hand and said, “I still have things to buy. I’m leaving.”
She walked away at a rapid pace, afraid he would catch up with her.
Qiu Yingling remained standing in the same position, not a trace of a smile on his face.
The situation slipping beyond his control shook the thoughts he had always held. His mind seemed to split in two. One half analyzed the change almost desperately, beyond his control, trying to find the first sign of it in every tiny detail.
The other half urged him to call her back and explain.
But what should he say?
Even he himself could not explain why he was always questioning her and trying to read her emotions. He merely felt that they ought to remain together for a long time, without reserve, with no distinction between them. That, in turn, meant understanding—or even mastering—every emotion the other experienced.
But could she understand? Could she accept it?
His head began to ache faintly. His breathing grew tighter and tighter, the suffocation causing even his chest to throb with pain.
Just then, a crane came fluttering over and delivered two letters.
Qiu Yingling had no mind to read them. The crane urged him repeatedly before he finally opened them with a wave of his hand.
One letter had been written by the puppet immortal servant he had sent out. It said that they had already discovered where Xie Xu’s monthly wages were going, and were using the information to create a portrait.
The other letter came from the Sect Master, asking him to go to the summit of the main peak, where there was something important to discuss.
Qiu Yingling folded the letters away, but instead of heading to the main peak, he walked in the direction Mei Man had just left.
Only a short while had passed, yet the Sect Master had already sent another message. The situation was clearly urgent.
In the end, he stopped. After all, he casually formed a hand seal and vanished from the spot.
Mei Man ran all the way to the teleportation array and traveled to the Spirit Market.
Amid the bustling, crowded streets, she suddenly felt that voicing the emotions buried deep in her heart was not so difficult, nor so frightening.
She had endured the agony of eating those spirit-nourishing tonic pills. She had also withstood the pain of rebuilding all the spiritual meridians in her body, and even found a way to obtain a high-grade demon core. What else was there to fear?
The worst that could happen was death. Yet after what had happened on Jiyun Mountain a few days ago, she now knew that the Netherworld truly existed in this world, along with wandering spirits.
Death did not seem quite so frightening anymore. At worst, she could be reincarnated and start all over again.
With that thought, her mind cleared somewhat. No longer trapped in the emotions of a moment ago, she focused on searching for books.
This time, she failed to find anything useful. She only managed to buy some ingredients for refining fasting pills.
Before nightfall, Mei Man hurried back to her cave dwelling and went to the alchemy room to process the medicinal ingredients.
She was stuffing firewood beneath the furnace, intending to refine the essence of the five grains, when she suddenly heard the door being pounded with loud, thudding blows.
Mei Man straightened at once, her eyes wary as she tightened her grip on the fire poker.
The next moment, the door burst open, and Qiu Heyang appeared in the doorway.
He paused, raised his brows, then swaggered inside. “Oh, it’s you. So there really is someone here. I was wondering why smoke was coming from the roof.”
Mei Man could tell at a glance that he still hadn’t recovered his memories. She wondered why Shen Shushi hadn’t caught up with him yet.
She gripped the fire poker even more tightly and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“In this enormous territory, this is the only place without any sign of cultivators. Besides, I heard this was that old bastard’s cave dwelling, and that it has a protective restriction, so naturally I came.” Qiu Heyang plopped down in a chair, crossed one leg over the other, and looked smug. “You know what they say—sometimes the safest place is right under the lamp.”
Mei Man moved cautiously, inch by inch toward the door.
“What happened to the puppet guarding the entrance?” she asked.
Qiu Heyang didn’t so much as blink. “He fell asleep.”
“You knocked him unconscious?!”
“What do you mean, knocked him unconscious? Guarding the entrance is hard work. I merely let him sleep for a while.” Qiu Heyang suddenly flicked out a thread of spiritual power. With a bang, the alchemy room door slammed shut. “Don’t even think about leaving. You haven’t explained yourself yet. Do I know you? You’ve always looked familiar to me.”
Mei Man had no intention of telling him that they knew each other.
She was still worried he would curse her out—not because she was afraid of him, but because his words were so viciously blunt. What if she lost her temper and did something rash?
That concern lasted only a moment.
She was no longer the person she had once been. After “dying” once, she had developed a reckless courage that made her fear nothing. So she said, “Because you’re such a wonderfully loyal and righteous man that even losing your memory couldn’t make you forget your sense of honor.”
Qiu Heyang was taken aback. Then he touched the tip of his nose. Far from being offended, he accepted the compliment with complete ease. His eyes sparkled as he eagerly pressed on, “Why praise me like that? What does it have to do with my finding you familiar?”
Judging by his expression alone, Mei Man felt that if he had a huge tail like the White Wolf’s, it would probably be wagging nonstop.
She said expressionlessly, “Because you owe me money. Of course I look familiar.”
Qiu Heyang clearly hadn’t expected that answer. He stared at her. “What?!”
“You owe me money,” Mei Man declared shamelessly.
Qiu Heyang looked incredulous. “Then why were you avoiding me?”
“Have you seen how arrogant and overbearing you are? You’d hit not only a creditor but even your own brother. I’m not an idiot. Of course I’d avoid you.”
Qiu Heyang sprang to his feet. “But you just called me a wonderful person!”
I forgot.
Mei Man frowned in mild annoyance, then smoothed her expression and said with great seriousness, “That was merely me taking a gamble, wondering whether losing your memory might have given you a conscience and inspired you to repay your debt.”
Qiu Heyang frowned, sucked in a breath, and clicked his tongue repeatedly.
Yet even after she put it that way, he didn’t seem particularly offended. He figured there was a chance it might actually be true, so he said, “I would never refuse to repay a debt. I’m not that shameless. There may be some other reason for it. How much do I owe you?”
“Let me think…” Mei Man had only meant to tease him, but since he had asked, she actually began calculating.
Leaving aside her lower-grade and mid-grade spirit stones, she currently had more than two thousand high-grade spirit stones in savings, along with several treasures. Converted into money, that would be enough for an ordinary person to live out an entire lifetime.
But she still wanted to continue practicing the sword. Just casting and forging a sword would cost a fortune. That amount of money was nowhere near enough. She also needed to refine pills and find a way to rebuild her meridians…
In the end, she held up five fingers.
“Five hundred spirit stones?” Qiu Heyang asked, already reaching into his robes.
“No.”
“No?”
“Five thousand.” After thinking it over, she added, “High-grade spirit stones.”
“Are you messing with me?!” Qiu Heyang glared at her, his brows drawn tight.
“See? The moment money comes up, you lose your temper—and you still blame me for avoiding you?” Mei Man withdrew her hand and let out a sigh. “Never mind. I’ve learned my lesson from that fall.”
Qiu Heyang laughed in exasperation. “What do you mean, lose my temper? I—”
He broke off halfway through his sentence. He suddenly sensed spiritual power rapidly closing in on them. His expression darkened, and he said coldly, “He’s still chasing me? Does he really want to fight to the death?—Hey, I’ll repay the money next time. I have to shake off this trouble first.”
“Wait—” Mei Man took several steps forward and grabbed him. “That really is your master. Stop running. I’m worried that once you recover your memories, this will be difficult to explain. You do love putting on airs.”
She said it with a perfectly straight face, but it sounded almost like an insult, and Qiu Heyang was furious. “You!”
“I’m not lying. Otherwise, once you remember everything, you’ll end up cursing him out in front of me again.”
Sensing the approaching spiritual aura drawing closer and closer, Qiu Heyang’s expression grew even colder. “Why should I believe you?”
“Then go,” Mei Man said. “When you regret it later, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
“Fine, I’ll go. Let go!”
“…You could just pull your arm free.”
Qiu Heyang remained completely still and snapped, “You’re gripping me so tightly. How am I supposed to pull free?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m just a mortal.”
Qiu Heyang sneered. “A mortal with quite a bit of strength, apparently.”
“Are you insane?” Mei Man finally couldn’t take it anymore.
