53

There is no cure for the love poison; it can only be suppressed with spiritual power.

However, constantly channeling spiritual power to suppress it would inevitably lead to a decline in cultivation.

After being poisoned, Meng Shuying faced several ambushes by the Danyang Alliance. During the final escape, she reversed her spiritual power to force the poison into her spiritual sea.

Unfortunately, something went wrong, and the poison invaded her eyes, causing temporary blindness.

Su Luowei clenched her fists and asked, "And then?"

"Fortunately, the Phoenix awakened and saved my life," Meng Shuying replied lightly, but Su Luowei knew that the situation must have been extremely dangerous.

"After escaping, I disguised myself as Hongdou's father and traveled north, eventually arriving in Dawn City."

Dawn City was far from the Danyang Alliance's headquarters, and their influence had not yet reached this place.

"Why didn't you return to the Qingxu Sect to find me?" Su Luowei asked again. "Wandering disciples who are injured can return to the sect early."

Meng Shuying pursed her lips, remaining silent.

How could she dare return to find her senior sister?

The closer she was to the one she loved, the stronger the poison's hold.

Just holding her senior sister earlier had caused unbearable pain, yet she couldn't bring herself to let go.

Suddenly, dark clouds obscured the full moon, and a light drizzle began to fall.

The small fox Su Luowei had seen earlier ran up to them, staring at them for a moment before twitching its ears and running a few steps ahead, then turning back to look at them as if it wanted to lead the way.

Su Luowei helped Meng Shuying up, following the little fox slowly. With Meng Shuying still injured, Su Luowei had to support her by the waist.

The lamp cast flickering shadows in the darkness, stretching their figures into long silhouettes. Raindrops pattered on the grass, creating soft sounds as they followed the fox, searching for shelter.

"Two years ago, during my travels, I encountered my father and sister in Salt City," Meng Shuying began, leaning weakly against Su Luowei. Despite the pain from the love poison, she forced herself to speak, not wanting her senior sister to notice her discomfort.

As they walked slowly, Meng Shuying recounted her experience as if speaking to Su Luowei and herself.

The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, and in the misty rain, her voice was faint and weak.

"They weren't doing well when I found them. My sister was gravely ill, and my father was begging on the street."

"Even though he was no longer the person I remembered, I recognized him immediately. I walked up to him and asked if he remembered Meng Shuying, the daughter he abandoned during the flood."

"He looked at me, tears and snot streaming down his face, and begged me to save my sister. Perhaps fearing that I bore a grudge, he quickly told me that..."

"I'm not his daughter."

"I'm not his daughter, so he never cared for me, never let me eat, never let me study, and abandoned me without hesitation during the flood."

Su Luowei held her in silence, memories flooding back.

When Meng Shuying first arrived at Yanmo Peak, Su Luowei had occasionally asked about her past. Meng Shuying always claimed she couldn't remember much from before she joined the sect.

She had known that Meng Shuying had been abandoned by her family but still left her after only three short years of caring for her.

On the night of the Ascension Platform, Meng Shuying had come to her, pale as a ghost, and asked, "What did I do wrong, Senior Sister? Why don't you want me?"

And she had replied, "You just weren't as good as Wen Miaomiao."

The overwhelming guilt nearly drowned Su Luowei, but she was not one to show her emotions easily. She could only ask in a choked voice, "And then..."

"I cured my sister and gave them some silver, repaying them for raising me."

What Meng Shuying didn't mention was that after discovering she was a cultivator, her sister had verbally abused her, blaming her for not coming sooner and allowing them to suffer for so long.

Meng Shuying ignored their cries and left immediately on her sword.

The bond between them had been severed long ago in that flood. Her willingness to help was only out of respect for her deceased mother.

"This is for the best; it ends one chapter of your life," Su Luowei squeezed her hand tightly, "From now on, you have me. Don't be afraid; I won't abandon you again."

Meng Shuying smiled weakly.

"I'm not afraid."

Even if Senior Sister left her, she would chase her to the ends of the earth, to the heavens above or the depths below.

With the little fox leading the way, they finally found shelter before getting completely drenched.

Su Luowei found an empty room and settled Meng Shuying inside. She had planned to go out and explore once Meng Shuying was asleep, but even in her sleep, Meng Shuying clung tightly to her hand, refusing to let go.

Whether it was due to her injuries or some other reason, Meng Shuying slept soundly.

Su Luowei, seeing how peacefully she slept, didn't have the heart to wake her and instead sat by her side, observing her in the lamplight.

She would continue with her tasks, but Su Luowei realized she needed to take a different approach.

At the very least, it shouldn't come at the expense of Meng Shuying.

Gradually, the light outside began to brighten—it was morning. This place was peculiar; even though they were underground, they could see the sun, moon, and stars.

Su Luowei could also hear the chirping of insects and birds, along with the sounds of laughter.

Carefully, she tried to withdraw her hand, but as soon as she moved, Meng Shuying woke up.

"It's still early; you should sleep a little longer. I'm just going to take a look outside."

Meng Shuying struggled to sit up, "I'll go with you."

When Meng Shuying opened her eyes, Su Luowei noticed something different about her. Upon closer inspection, she realized that Meng Shuying's eyes were filled with light.

"Can you see?" Su Luowei asked in surprise.

Meng Shuying was momentarily taken aback but then nodded, "It seems I can."

They walked out of the room together. Worried that the light outside might hurt Meng Shuying's eyes, Su Luowei raised her hand to shield her.

"I'm fine, Senior Sister," Meng Shuying reassured her, though she still looked pale, her spirits were high.

With the daylight, it became clear that they were in a Taoist temple. The temple was situated halfway up a mountain, with dense, endless forests stretching below.

They circled the temple a few times but saw no one, only a few dens filled with foxes of various colors.

The foxes seemed to be the original inhabitants of this place and paid little attention to the two of them. Some even boldly tossed wild fruits at them.

Everything here was too strange. Now that Meng Shuying was well, Su Luowei decided it was best to leave quickly.

They followed the mountain path upwards. After walking for some time, Su Luowei realized that the temple on the mountainside resembled the collapsed one above ground.

Even the mountain itself looked somewhat like Fox Mountain.

Su Luowei was about to mention this to Meng Shuying when she noticed her deep, tender gaze fixed on her. Her eyes were filled with an undeniable affection.

Being stared at like this made Su Luowei's heart race.

To conceal her sudden rush of warmth, she quickly turned away and changed the subject, "I haven't asked you yet, how did you end up here?"

Meng Shuying thought for a moment, seemingly deciding where to begin. In the end, she chose to omit the part where she had attacked Sheng Ruiming in a fit of rage after hearing about his impending marriage to Su Luowei, secretly commissioning a wedding dress, and instead started from when Xie Hanzhu had suddenly barged into the temple.

"After hearing Xie Hanzhu's voice, I had a bad feeling and kept an eye on the white fox. Sure enough, he fled immediately."

She chased him to a well and, seeing him jump in, followed suit. To ensure that Su Luowei would find her, she had left the veil by the well.

"After jumping into the well, I fell into a tunnel. The tunnel was long, and I could sense the white fox just ahead, so I kept chasing him. After a while, a voice suddenly told me that you were in danger."

Then the owner of that voice had sent her to Su Luowei's side.

Su Luowei, recalling how Meng Shuying had held her tightly, resulting in her own injuries, felt a surge of annoyance.

"Didn't you consider that this might be a trap? You believed her just because she said I was in danger."

When they had fallen into the winds, Meng Shuying hadn't hesitated to shield her.

"Don't do that again. I'm a Golden Core cultivator; if I encounter danger, I can protect myself. You made me worry more by doing that." Su Luowei noticed that Meng Shuying still looked pale, so she took out a bottle of pills and made her take them all.

The pills dissolved into surging spiritual energy as soon as they entered Meng Shuying's mouth. She remained silent, quietly absorbing the energy. Once it was fully absorbed, her complexion finally improved.

Su Luowei held her hand as they walked up the mountain path, ascending the steep steps. Worried that Meng Shuying might struggle, she asked, "Do you want me to carry you?"

Meng Shuying's cheeks turned a suspicious shade of pink, and she quickly refused, "No, Senior Sister, I can manage, really."

The grass beside the steps was already up to their calves, swaying gently. The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers.

After climbing for another quarter of an hour, they finally reached the summit. At the top stood a lush ancient tree, and beneath it were several stone tablets.

The stone tablets stood out starkly in the wild grass, rough and simple. Strange ancient characters were engraved on them, and after studying them for a long time, Su Luowei finally said uncertainly, "I think I've seen these characters in the Ten Directions Blessed Land."

While traveling from the Abandoned Sword Grave to the Exotic Beast Hall, they had passed through a wasteland. In that wasteland, there were several stone tablets with characters similar to these.

At that time, Wen Miaomiao had mentioned that the characters were ancient, representing names.

She had found it odd then; weren't names on tablets essentially gravestones? Why would there be gravestones in the Ten Directions Blessed Land?

And now, here they were again.

Although Su Luowei didn't believe in ghosts or gods, she still bowed respectfully to the tablets. After passing the tablets, they continued onward, noticing that the wild grass was becoming thinner, and along the path, they began to see small statues of foxes.

The statues were only the size of a hand and were exquisitely carved. Su Luowei picked one up and studied it, noting how even the fur on the fox was intricately detailed.

Unlike the rigid statues commonly seen, these were so finely crafted that they seemed almost lifelike.

"These statues are indeed delicate; I wonder who made them," Su Luowei remarked, placing the statue back and joking with Meng Shuying, "Otherwise, I'd really like to ask them to carve one for me."

"If you like, Senior Sister, I'll carve one for you," Meng Shuying's eyes were filled with fervor, as if she were ready to chop down a tree right then to carve a dozen for Su Luowei.

Su Luowei turned her gaze away, avoiding eye contact, and muttered, "Let's wait until we're out."

It was strange; when Meng Shuying had been distant, her thoughts had been scattered. But now that she was warm and attentive, Su Luowei found herself instinctively wanting to pull away.

Su Luowei couldn't quite understand herself, so she hurried ahead, not noticing Meng Shuying's face pale once more.