Chapter Seventy-Eight: Joy and Sorrow

At the bottom of the cold abyss, a shadow curled up in the darkness of the prison. From afar, he saw me and looked up, startled.

I cast a spell to light the candles hanging on the walls.

"Mo Zhuo..." I waved my sleeve to unlock his shackles. Facing him, my steps felt heavy as if glued to the floor.

I felt unworthy to face him.

He risked betraying the Moon Shadow Sect with me to return to the Qiongyun Sect, but now, standing before him like this, I felt as if I was mocking all his efforts.

I tore off the various hairpins and decorations from my head and scrubbed my face hard with my sleeve. Feeling a sense of relief, I ran towards him in the corner.

"Qingyue?" I heard a hint of uncertain hope in his voice.

"I'm here. I'm here." I grasped his hand, only to feel something cold and hard. Looking down, I saw—Mo Zhuo's tendons had been severed, and to prevent them from healing, a petrification spell had been applied. The exposed tendons, mixed with blood, had turned into black stone.

I thought I had endured all the pain and shed all my tears.

Because there was no one left in this world whom I loved or who loved me.

I thought my heart had been beaten into ice, incapable of any warmth.

Because this world was filled only with what I hated, what I despised.

But why?

Seeing all this, my eyes burned, and tears flowed like a breached dam.

"Plop," "plop," they fell onto the black stone of Mo Zhuo's hand.

I awaited his scolding, his anger, or his cold words severing ties with me. But instead, his gentle voice bloomed in my ear: "Did you hurt your face while wiping it?"

I intended to retort, but when I opened my mouth, only sobs came out.

And once I started, I couldn't stop.

I couldn't help but cry loudly.

Ignoring my expression or the noise I made, I just pressed tightly into his arms and cried like a wronged child, making it seem as if he had bullied me...

When I finally finished crying and regained my senses, I wanted to wipe my face, only to find that my tears and snot had somehow ended up all over Mo Zhuo.

"Did you come just to do this to me?" Mo Zhuo looked at me, exasperated.

Seeing him finally act a bit more normal, I felt relieved.

"I-I'll wash it for you, buy you new clothes," I said, hiccuping, and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe him.

One handkerchief... wasn't enough...

Mo Zhuo's face darkened, as if ready to strike me with thunder at any moment.

Just as I was about to tear off my dress to use as a rag, a slender, deft hand stopped me. Seeing the yellow copper bell bracelet on the wrist, I knew it was Hua Ying.

"I'll lend—no, I'll give you this handkerchief. Don't ruin such fine Yuxuan satin. This dress is made from the silk of a thousand-year-old purple demon spider from Xuanji Cave. To make a single piece, you need at least a hundred of them. Where else could you find something so rare?" Hua Ying, as always, cherished treasures dearly.

I replied coldly, "I didn't choose to wear this."

Hua Ying didn't press further. She glanced at Mo Zhuo's arm, her face changing color, and after a few tutting sounds, she sighed, "It's really bad. This hand might be useless."

"A pair of hands is nothing," Mo Zhuo answered indifferently.

"Since I've been bringing you food and seeing you so often, I'll tell you this: The sect leader's petrification spell will spread through your blood, turning your whole body into stone. By then, it'll be too late to save you."

"What must be done to save him?"

Hua Ying's eyes scanned me, then she smiled mischievously, "I've admired that Yuxuan satin dress for a long time. If you give it to me, I'll tell you how."

"Fine, I'll take it off and give it to you when I leave."

"Deal. The method is written in here. Find it yourself." With that, Hua Ying tossed a booklet to me, happily jingling her bells as she left.

I opened the booklet and searched through it, finally finding a section that detailed the Petrification Spell. To my surprise, the method to break the spell involved first freezing the affected area, then painstakingly removing every bit of the bloodstone, and finally performing a simple hemostasis.

Mo Zhuo suddenly spoke, "You don't have to go to such lengths for me." His face bore a trace of guilt.

I was slightly surprised and put the booklet down, then looked at him earnestly and said, "I want to do this. Mo Zhuo, you are important to me. You are worth it."

"Important to you..." His eyes momentarily lost focus, but soon they regained their light, and he smiled, saying, "I understand."

"Now, you have to bear with it. This method might hurt a bit." With his consent, I proceeded to remove the Petrification Spell. Except for the difficult part of excising the bloodstone, everything went smoothly without any major issues.

"Phew, finally done."

Mo Zhuo looked up at me, smiling, "What, tired? How about leaning on me for a bit?" He then pointed to his waist.

"You just recovered and you're already joking with me." I quickly shook my head.

Mo Zhuo had changed. He had become so strange. His demeanor was vastly different from before.

Could it be that he misunderstood what I said earlier? I meant that he and I are the most important family to each other in this world. Did I express it wrong? No, maybe this is how he treats his family?

But the most important and most celebratory thing was that I could finally stop crying.

"Where is the Mirage Pearl? Do you still have it?" Mo Zhuo's question reminded me that I had completely forgotten about the Mirage Pearl.

"It's definitely not on me right now. I'll go back and look for it, maybe..."

"It's useless." Mo Zhuo's eyes darkened again, "If Quan You confiscated it, it's probably destroyed. There's no point in searching."

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault. I should have thought it through earlier. Such an important item should have been hidden away. Seeing the added worry on my face, Mo Zhuo couldn't help but reach out to lift the corners of my mouth, speaking gently, "Don't be sad."

"I will find a way to get you out."

"Stay calm and wait for Qiongyun and the other sects to arrive. Until then, don't make any rash moves and be cautious." Mo Zhuo patted my head.

"Alright. I'll come to see you whenever I get a chance. Until then, take care of yourself." I handed him the booklet Hua Ying had given me, "Keep this, it might be useful."

He flipped through a few pages and stopped me, "You should take this. It contains all the spells that Quan You knows."

I knew Hua Ying was an omniscient presence, but to record even her master's spells and their counters?

"In that case, you should keep it even more. What if Quan You goes mad again and casts a spell on you?"

Mo Zhuo tossed the book back to me, "Do you think I'd let him do that? If it weren't for thinking you were dead that day... forget it! You keep it." His face darkened, and he seemed to anger himself with his words.

I roughly understood the fragments of what he said. Seeing him like this, I felt both touched and amused. With a lump in my throat and fearing another outburst of emotions, I fled.