Beside the Wangchuan Tributary, Qing Chi weakly knelt down on one knee.
She lowered her head, letting out infinite mournful cries, revealing an unprecedented fragility.
The once youthful days, that naive and tender feeling, like the secret joy and dependence of a budding flower, seemed to dissipate little by little like a sand painting blown away by the wind.
The once unforgettable life-and-death companionship, vows surpassing life and death, emotions of living and dying together etched into the soul like branding iron, now felt like extinguished flames, leaving only cold emptiness.
These were the past she shared with her beloved, her understanding and experience of love, all of which Qing Chi abandoned.
She had no choice, only by doing this could she rescue her beloved.
"I want to save you, even if it means... I forget you, even if I no longer love you!"
A yellow dust gradually appeared on Luo Si’s body.
"Can’t suppress it anymore?" His face changed slightly.
He had been entangled with the Earth Evil God for so long, paying a heavy price. The wounds he’d been desperately suppressing finally erupted.
This time, he was powerless, could only let the injuries develop, turning him into an earthen pottery statue.
But his mind was not on himself, but on Ning Zhuo.
"How is it possible!"
"General Qing has sacrificed so much, willingly offering so many memories as bait."
"Why, why can’t the young master be reeled in?!"
Luo Si felt extremely puzzled.
This is a huge misunderstanding!
Ning Zhuo disguised as Jiao Ma, not his real appearance, causing Luo Si’s misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Qing Chi had always mistaken him.
How could she possibly lure Ning Zhuo with the memories and feelings she had for Jiao Ma?
"Damn it, time has dragged on for so long. If it continues like this, even if we save the young master, he would lose all memories, becoming a blank slate child."
Thinking of this, Luo Si shouted, "Young master! Why not willingly discard the memories, lighten your burden, and then let General Qing pull you ashore!"
When a cultivator’s divine sense falls into the tributary, it gets washed away, drowned, but the voice will not.
Ning Zhuo soaked in the river, ears subtly moved, faintly hearing Luo Si’s shouts.
"Let me actively forget?"
"No, no..."
"Nothing can be forgotten, if I forget these, am I still myself?"
The River of Oblivion’s waters aimed to wash away his memories and feelings, while the Buddha Heart Demon Seal suppressed his soul, resisting the mighty power of Wangchuan.
Memories and emotions were stimulated, emerging one by one, more vivid than ever.
Ning Zhuo was unwilling.
"In Fire Persimmon Mountain, the plot regarding the Lava Fairy Palace has only just begun."
Ning Zhuo was resentful.
"The enemy who caused my parents’ death has not been found; I still have unavenged hatred!"
Ning Zhuo was fearful.
"If I forget the memories of spending time with mother, how would mother be resurrected? In this world, she only has me."
Ning Zhuo was reluctant to part.
He thought of Sun Lingtong, countless times of fighting side by side with the leader.
He thought of Linghu Jiu, the bloom of friendship in the Ten Thousand Medicine Valley.
He thought of Mu Lan, who was his nominal wife. In Liangzhu Country, there’s still merit rewards he hasn’t claimed.
He thought of the crusade in the Thousand Peak Forest, that Iron Flowing and Leveling, how magnificent it was.
He thought of wearing the Iron Han Armor, flying swiftly in the sky with Sun Lingtong, competing against the Golden Eagle, how thrilling and exhilarating it was.
He thought of Zhu Xuanji, thought of Ning Jiufan, thought of Lin Shanshan, thought of the Five Elements God Master, thought of Liu Guanzhang, thought of the Qing Jiao Army.
When he thought of Qing Chi, finally, the deepest and most obscure emotions in his heart surged, unrestrained, exposed.
Ning Zhuo... ashamed!
"I am not the real Jiao Ma, it’s just a coincidence, or perhaps the lifespan driven by the Mortal World Heaven."
"Qing Chi... I shouldn’t have deceived her. But I never found the right time to confess!"
"And, mother..."
Meng Yaoyin ah.
When Ning Zhuo saw the Paperman Giant Statue at the South City Gate of White Paper Immortal City, which bore his mother’s likeness, when he heard the praises from the White Paper Immortal City Lord, Wen Ruanyu, and others about Meng Yaoyin, her benevolent deeds, Ning Zhuo felt—ashamed.
"I am my mother’s child, yet I am not like her, doing good deeds, being virtuous; even after leaving White Paper Immortal City for years, people still praise her, even erect statues for her."
"But..."
"But I am just a thief, a small thief."
Mother, what kind of existence does she hold for him?
A myriad of gentle touches, tender encouragement, heartfelt anticipation, end-of-life wishes, even reduced to a mechanism, doing her utmost to protect, until spiritual nature fades.
"I want to save my mother, even if her soul doesn’t exist in the world."
"I want to pursue the traces she left in the world."
"I have a strong desire to understand her, to learn more about her."
"What kind of person is mother, really?"
When Ning Zhuo arrived at White Paper Immortal City, he got the first answer to this question.
Meng Yaoyin is the towering Paperman Giant Statue, a monument of White Paper Immortal City. Without her assistance, perhaps White Paper Immortal City would have collapsed long ago, the unity of the Ghost People Clan and the Human Clan was also her teaching legacy.
To completely eliminate the crisis at White Paper Immortal City, she cooperated with the Grey Bone Elder, excavating the power of the Profound Simple Scholar, planning for decades, to face the Mortal World’s changes, the true savior.
"Undoubtedly, my mother is a hero!"
"The hero’s child, is but a thief? A small thief?"
The expectant gazes of Li Leifeng and Zhu Xuanji reappeared before him.