Ch80 - Dispelling doubts

The weakest point of the boundary field finally revealed a gap, but the golden light was still swallowing everything up relentlessly. Tantai Meng wiped at the sweat on her forehead as her brows relaxed. She took out the sword at her side and tapped off the ground to fly towards the opening.

There were a few bamboo growing in the courtyard and faint shadows of people in the half-hidden windows. Once again, she called out, “Is that you, Benefactor?”

No one responded in the silent surroundings.

Tantai Meng thought for a moment before saying in a tone that was neither haughty nor humble, “Is that the Shizi Mu He inside? I heard that my Benefactor was brought here by Your Highness. This commoner was in eager to save him, so I apologize for being rash and rude to Your Highness.”

Again, no one answered her.

The person inside the house seemed to be sitting by a bed like a statue, deaf to her words. Tantai Meng was puzzled, but when she saw the gap from the golden light was wide enough to fit an adult, she didn’t hesitate. “Apologies,” she said and prepared to fly in.

Abruptly, a cold wind met her head-on. Sudden breezes were uncommon in the autumn months; this seemed to be brought on by some movement instead. Right after that, she heard a cat’s meow from the bamboo grove.

Tantai Meng subconsciously evaded as a white shadow grazed past her cheek. Although it didn’t break her skin, it did knock off the wooden hairpin in her hair as it rushed past. It also caused Tantai Meng to lose balance and hurry to straighten herself out before landing in front of the shielded compound.

“A vulgar, uncultured woman who only knows how to dress up, nothing more than that.” With an indifferent sneer, a man in white floated out from the gap. In an instant, his body was wreathed in the red, black, and white aura of three lotuses. Combined with his sorrow-less, joyless expression, he might have been an immortal descending to the world.

Tantai Meng didn’t get a chance to change or wash her clothes during her two days of captivity in the Demonic Sect, so they were already a little dirty. She couldn’t help looking down and felt dwarfed in comparison. Her only thoughts were of her Benefactor’s safety, so she could care less about being embarrassed and said, “Shizi, you finally appeared.”

Unexpected, the King of Nine Province’s Shizi who had always been cold-faced and indifferent towards the mortal realm actually looked at her with obvious disgust in his eyes. Tantai Meng found it strange, but didn’t care and continued, “I believe Shizi already knows that Chi Yan is dead. The one you captured was my Benefactor in disguise, may Shizi release him.”

The white shadow that darted past her face now suddenly leaped up from the ground and into Mu He’s arms: an ordinary-looking white cat. She had heard there was only one snow civet beast in the world raised by the King of Nine Provinces, so this must’ve been it. Currently, it was very tame and no different from a domestic housecat as it began to purr.

Mu He’s hands stroked its head before he said leisurely, “Aunt Yun told you?”

Tantai Meng gave a start before she admitted, “That’s right, Shizi is a smart man. Looks like the saintess has her reasons for acting this way.”

As it turned out, Tantai Meng had heard rumors of the Demonic Sect changing leaders during her captivity. Chi Yan was captured by Qiu Chongyun and Mu He and was going to be used as a blood sacrifice to Bixu zhenren Xie Zhiwei. She wanted to ask Qiu Chongyun for details but was stuck in her cell, with no one paying attention to a prisoner. In the end she could only worry and hope that nothing bad happened to the Benefactor.

After waiting on pins and needles for two days, Qiu Chongyun suddenly appeared in her cell and told her mysteriously that Benefactor was still alive, but that she should find Mu He to ask for him back. Then she shared the location of Mu He’s compound in detail.

In actuality, Qiu Chongyun had stumbled on the truth by accident. She saw that her secret was about to be revealed, so she found an excuse to slip away. She had no idea of Xie Zhiwei’s true identity, nor did she dare ask whether Mu He had already killed the man. Her goal was only to delay Mu He for a while.

Although Tantai Meng knew she was just being used, she still wanted to save the Benefactor. The rest was irrelevant. She took a step forward and said, “May Shizi let go of Benefactor. Please don’t imprison a good man by mistake.”

Mu He’s eyes narrowed before he released his arms to let the snow civet jump on the ground. “He truly is a good man, a very, very good man…” Mu He said slowly. Before Tantai Meng could get her hopes up, he finished, “But capturing him is the best choice I’ve made in my life.”

Tantai Meng looked at his sudden grin in astonishment. “So you…”

“So how could I ever release him?” Mu He fluttered to the ground, sending a refreshing breeze around them to scatter dust and bamboo leaves. His robes were so clean they were spotless, his eyes hooded as they disdained to look at Tantai Meng. “Not only that, I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way—for example, you.”

Tantai Meng couldn’t read any expression from his face, but killing intent soon burst out of his body. At the same time, Black and White Lotuses’ aura surrounded them on all sides to weave towards her like snakes. She knitted her brows and dodged while biting her lip, a little unhappy. “You clearly know that Benefactor isn’t Chi Yan, but still want to keep him locked up?”

“So what if I do?” Mu He’s attacks didn’t stop.

Layers of White Lotus wrapped around Tantai Meng to restrict her movements, while Black Lotus kept eating at Golden Lotus’s defenses. Soon a huge wave of qi was surging through the bamboo grove. In a flash, Mu He’s icy face appeared in front of her.

“I suffered for a lifetime before earning a chance to meet him. You tell me, how I can possibly let him go again?”

As his words fell, White Lotus light broke through Golden Lotus to ruthlessly wrap around Tantai Meng’s neck. It almost snapped from strangulation as her face turned red and stars swam in her vision. But even on the cusp of death, she didn’t forget to give a reminder to this seemingly otherworldly Shizi who looked like he was about to go insane. “Although I don’t understand what you’re saying…please…I beg you, Benefactor…still..hasn’t found…that person yet…”

Mu He’s face fell as his voice dropped to freezing depths. “What person?”

Shizun still wants to meet someone else? Just how many secrets is he hiding?

…he would rather tell this woman than share it with me?

Tantai Meng was on the verge of death, so she could only open her mouth but not form sounds. Mu He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then he waved a hand and dispersed Black and White Lotus, causing the girl to fall heavily on the ground.

“Speak.”

“These are Benefactor’s private affairs. I shouldn’t have shared…” Tantai Meng gasped for breath as she endured the pain to look up. Seeing Mu He’s eyes fume red like a shura’s, she could only imagine how he might treat her lifesaver. Throwing all thoughts of privacy out the window, she got straight to the point. “All right, I’ll talk. But first, you have to promise me not to hurt Benefactor, much less kill him.”

Mu He’s face showed ridicule, but he still nodded. “Mm.”

Tantai Meng shut her eyes and said softly, “Benefactor, don’t blame me. I’m doing all this to save you.” Then she opened her eyes and declared, “Benefactor said that person can count as his relative. He treats me well because I always remind him of that person.”

Mu He’s expression was ghastly as the joints in his hands cracked audibly. “That person…who is it?”

Tantai Meng felt disdain at the sight. She wasn’t easily prejudiced against others, but this seemingly perfect immortal before her was a far cry from the real thing. She couldn’t help musing, At least Benefactor is the same inside and out, he doesn’t pretend to be pretentious.

She quickly took her eyes off Mu He and said, “Benefactor wouldn’t tell, but he looked very melancholy, so this person must be important to him. But Benefactor said that person probably wouldn’t be happy to see him.”

Mu He was all but gnashing his teeth. “What kind of person is this, who can’t discern good from bad?”

Watching his reactions, Tantai Meng suddenly recalled the past few days and couldn’t help feeling injustice for Xie Zhiwei. “I don’t know, but—don’t blame me for being blunt, Shizi. I think you’re someone who really can’t discern good from bad, either.”

Mu He’s gaze grew terrifying as he fiercely waved a sleeve. “Presumptuous!”

Tantai Meng was struck violently by spiritual power and immediately flew backwards, but a copse of slender bamboo caught her before she hit anything. Still, this brought out her stubborn side. She used the bamboo to crawl to her feet and exclaimed, “Do you know what Benefactor thinks of you behind your back?”

Xie Zhiwei had given Mu He the cold shoulder for a while so now his thoughts were in a mess. He was actually flattered by the sudden shower of unexpected attention. “He…he’s mentioned me?”

“That’s right.”

Mu He took a step forward, staring fixedly at Tantai Meng. “What did he say?”

This Shizi actually looks very…nervous? Tantai Meng felt it was out of the blue, but still went into detail. “Although you treat Benefactor this way, he’s full of praise for you. He said you gained the true teachings of Xie zhenren and has an incalculable future. Though I don’t want to admit it, Benefactor said you were a first-class talent…and he told me to set down my prejudices against you. But that’s all in the past now. I’ve already listened to him and put them down, so please don’t mind.”

“Stop saying nonsense and go on,” Mu He pressed.

“The world thinks you were ungrateful and forgot old ties because you haven’t been back to Summit City once in the past four years, but Benefactor says that’s not the case. Do you still remember when Commandery Princess Yin tried to steal his candy lobster? He said you’ve always liked them because your mother and Xie zhenren used to buy them for you. And he says you always dress in white robes because that’s what you were wearing on the day Xie zhenren died.”

Tantai Meng said a lot before slowing down to wonder, “Could it be he thought you looked good in white robes, so he bought me white ones too?”

“Candy lobster…white robes…” Mu He couldn’t helping backing away as he seem to grow petrified.

“But don’t overthink it,” Tantai Meng continued, “Benefactor is probably just being polite since he doesn’t seem to want to meet you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t jump in a muddy pond just to avoid you. For the sake of hiding his identity, he even cursed. He’s a person with so much bearing, so he must have been feeling desperate at the time. He was so remorseful about his foul language that he shut himself up in his rooms afterwards and refused to eat, drink, or speak for an entire day.”

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