Chapter 104: Doubts Arise Again

  The storm raged on, and the sky was a vast expanse of gray. Shen Bailian stared at the horizon where the thick clouds were gathering, feeling something in her chest "thumping, thumping" faster and faster, as if it was about to jump out of her throat.

  That dark cloud rolled and billowed, heavily pressing down on the layered eaves of the densely packed houses, making one feel suffocated. The strong gusts swept across the ground, rushing towards the sky, stirring up countless fallen flowers and leaves. Shen Bailian turned her head to scan Sword Dance Platform, the powerful spiritual energy around her silently spreading out like a tide, instantly causing the true energy in each of the disciples' quarters to surge and fluctuate, and when she listened carefully, she could even faintly hear the melodious sound of blades being unsheathed.

  He thought to himself: Those Qionghua disciples hiding behind the doors and windows must have also sensed the unusual movement on Juan Yun stage, why didn't even one of them come out to check? Could it be that Su Yao had known this would happen today and had specifically instructed them beforehand?

  Suddenly a loud explosion sounded, clearly coming from the sky, yet seeming to resound in her ears. Then came another sound, and another, forming a continuous rumble of thunder. Shen Baiying suddenly shifted her gaze back to the sky, and her eyes widened in shock. She saw two sword lights, one blue and one red, already returning from the clouds, shooting straight towards the ground with a momentum like thunder.

  "Boom——"

  Another deafening crash, as if a bolt of lightning had struck, shook the entire mountain. The aftershocks stirred up strong winds, and a fierce gust swept through the sky, centered on the Cloud Platform, howling in all directions. Shen Bailian stood motionless on Sword Dance Platform, her ears ringing with the rustling of nearby flowers, her mind in turmoil.

  Those two sword lights! That is clearly Xihe and Wangshu, but Su Yu has already died, Xuan Xiao's whereabouts are unknown, where did they find these male and female Shu bodies?! With the same sword repair, Su Yu was poisoned by cold toxins, Xuan Xiao's yang fire was difficult to disperse, the Qionghua sect actually wanted to repeat the same mistake again, sacrificing two young geniuses once more?

  The sword is drawn, a great war can no longer be avoided! Shen Bailian's heart suddenly trembled, and she couldn't bear to think about it anymore. She rushed into the room where Liu Mengli had entered earlier, and exclaimed: "Mengli, something has changed, come with me and leave this place quickly!"

  But just as he raised his eyes, he was stunned to see two figures tightly embracing each other inside the house. It wasn't until he heard his voice that they hastily separated and moved to either side.

  Liu Mengli's face was flushed, and her eyes still held tears. She looked at Shen Bailian with some shyness, then turned her head and cast a tender glance at Yun Tianhe, wanting to speak but hesitating, unable to continue the conversation that had been interrupted halfway.

  "You are..." Yun Tianhe was completely bewildered, staring blankly and also glanced at Shen Baiying for a moment before turning to the girl in front of him. "Meng Li, why...why are you crying?" He paused and rubbed the back of his head, asking, "Are you not feeling well? Ling Sha has been saying she's dizzy lately..."

  Liu Mengli shook her head, took a few steps back and stood beside Shen Baiying, turned away and no longer looked at him, only softly saying to Shen Baiying: "Brother, let's...let's go."

  "Older brother?!"

  Two loud shouts rang out in the house, one from Yun Tianhe's mouth and the other from behind. Shen Baiying and Liu Mengli turned around at the same time, only to see a red-clothed girl standing at the door with a stunned expression, still holding the door handle, it was Han Qingshan whom they had met once before.

  "Wait, Meng Li, what did you just say? He...he...!" Han Xiangyan stretched out a finger pointing at Shen Baiyun's nose tip, her apricot eyes wide with surprise. "He is your brother? Where did this brother of yours come from? Aren't you the only daughter of County Magistrate Liu?"

  "...the silken threads of fate are hard to put into words." Liu Mengli's eyes were filled with sorrow as she lowered her head and said, "I have to go now, you all...take care."

  The sound had barely fallen when another loud noise came from outside the house, and then the ground began to shake violently. All of a sudden, there were crashes and bangs coming from all corners of the room, and many delicate decorations rolled around the floor. Yun Tianhe rushed over to catch a censer, turned his head with a look of astonishment: "The house, why is it moving?"

  "Ah, right! I came to find you to talk about this matter, just now I heard other sisters say... uh..." Before she could finish her sentence, a sudden dizziness overcame her, and she felt as if all the energy in her body had left her. Her legs went soft and she slid down against the door frame.

  "Lin Ya!" Yun Tianhe and Liu Mengli exclaimed in unison, as Yun Tianhe rushed over to support her with a swift arrow step.

  At this time, the vibration under her feet was gradually subsiding. Shen Bailian heard that there were already people's voices outside the house, and she knew that those young disciples could no longer hold back, and they all came out to investigate. If they didn't leave now, it would be even harder to leave when more people arrived later. She quickly reached out and grabbed Liu Mengli's wrist, saying in a low voice, "Let's go!" and pulled her out of the door.

  "Yun Tianhe hastily shouted: "Meng Li!"

  Shen Bailian only felt the delicate wrist in his palm move slightly, and he quickly tightened his fingers. Without stopping, he dragged the girl behind him and ran out like a wisp of smoke.

  In an emergency, Shen Bailian couldn't care less about concealing her identity. She familiarly bypassed several Qionghua disciples who were out together and rushed up to the Juanyun Platform along a convenient path. The platform was empty, and the secret platform didn't seem to be floating in the corner of the sky like it used to. It seemed that it had been hidden away using a secret method. All that could be seen was the dense purple mist mixed with demonic energy surging and rolling at the edge of the cliff. Purple light flowed through it as if it were alive, forming a web of light. At first glance, it looked like an extremely eerie and strange face, making one's heart and soul shatter upon seeing it.

  Shen Bailian, however, sensed the familiar aura of the Illusory Boundary within that purple mist and guessed that this was probably another boundary set up by Yuanyu to prevent the Qionghua Sect disciples from entering the Illusory Boundary again. Without stopping in her tracks, she pulled Liu Mengli straight towards the giant mouth of the Ghost Face.

  Just then, a loud shout came from behind: "Shen Baiying!"

  Shen Bailian's footsteps stopped abruptly at the edge of the cliff, and he suddenly turned his head to look back. In the scattered purple mist, a figure in a wide-sleeved long gown held a long sword in his right hand and a sparkling purple electric ball in his left hand, staring coldly at him.

  "Ziying..." A soft voice whispered in his ear, and Liu Mengli's wrist struggled free from his grasp. The girl then walked forward, standing in front of him.

  "Meng Li?" Murong Ziyin saw her actions, and the true energy on his sword involuntarily surged. "What do you mean by this? This person has ulterior motives, and yet you still want to protect him? Do you know that the sect leader has given an order, the demon realm is about to appear, and no disciple is allowed to approach Yunyuntai? The demonic energy here is overwhelming, a low-level cultivator like you can't withstand it——"

  He hadn't finished speaking when another voice interrupted him: "Meng Li!" Then a figure also rushed onto the Rolling Clouds Platform, and that person's head of symbolic messy hair was indeed Yun Tianhe.

  "Tianhe, how dare you come to Juan Yun Tai?" Before Tianhe could speak again, Murong Ziying angrily said, "And what's with your attire? Has your Taoist robe been soiled by you once more?"

  Yun Tianhe touched the back of his head, looked at him with some difficulty, and said in a low voice: "Ziying, I...I've already given Kunlin to Big Brother, he's about to break through the ice, my wish is also fulfilled. We're going to leave Qionghua now, but Mengli...". He raised his head and looked at Liu Mengli with confusion, "Mengli, I don't understand, why did you ask me to take care of myself, and why did you say those words? But we clearly agreed that even if we left Qionghua, the three of us would always be together and never separate. You...don't go!" He was about to step forward.

  Liu Mengli took a step back, shaking her head and saying: "No! Yun Gongzi, don't come any closer, please don't come any closer!"

  "...Meng Li?" Yun Tianhe was stunned on the spot.

  "I... I'm glad we left so many good memories, fortunately met you, met Ling and Qing. But no matter how beautiful the time is, it will pass, now I... I have to leave." Liu Mengli said faintly, she turned her face to glance at Shen Baiying, "I wasn't taken by this Shen... not being held by him with malicious intent, he... he's my brother."

  "What?" Murong Ziyin's face changed greatly.

  Yuntian River suddenly shouted loudly...

  "Dreaming Lili, you retreat first, and we'll talk slowly when we get back. There are many things that Linsha wants to say to you too! It's too dangerous here, so close to the demon realm!"

  "I... am not the daughter of Father and Mother, although I've known these things for a long time, it wasn't until recently that I remembered...". Lingyu Mengli was oblivious to their voices, continuing to speak her own words, "This demon realm... is where I'm from."

  "What?! What?!" Yun Tianhe was suddenly stunned upon hearing such a shocking secret.

  "Absolutely impossible!" Murong Ziyin swung her sleeve to interrupt her, "In the days I've spent with you, there's not a hint of demonic aura on you, and you're also knowledgeable about etiquette and propriety. How could you be a demon? Don't let that demon beside you deceive you!"

  Shen Bailian smiled wryly and didn't argue back, but instead calmly said to Liu Mengli: "If you speak the truth, I'm afraid these friends will no longer be friends."

  Liu Mengli's eyes dimmed, and she sighed, "Even so, I don't want to hide it from them." She said loudly again, "Yun Gongzi, please take Liang Sha quickly down the mountain. If you don't leave, I'm afraid that one day we'll be facing each other with swords...I don't want to see that."

  "Why are we like this? I would never point a knife at you, nor would Ling Xia!" Yun Tianhe shouted anxiously. "There must be some misunderstanding in between. Come over first, don't stand there!"

  "That's enough." Shen Bailian, seeing that Liu Mengli and these people were becoming more and more reluctant to part with each other, simply said, "Yun Tianhe, don't you understand? I am a demon, Mengli is also a demon. Humans and demons will not have a result, she must return to her own place, and there... the human tribe is not welcome." As he spoke, he reached out and pressed Liu Mengli's shoulder, pushing her towards the boundary.

  Liu Mengli did not resist, only lightly leaving a sentence: "Mengli can't bear to part with you, but... Yun Gongzi, take care." Then she jumped into the mouth of that ghost face and disappeared in an instant.

  "Meng Li!" Yun Tianhe shouted loudly, unwilling to give up, and actually chased after her. Just as Shen Baiying was about to stop him, a strong and fierce demonic aura suddenly swept past his shoulder, like a beautiful purple dragon flying towards Yun Tianhe.

  "Tianhe, be careful!" Murong Ziyin turned her hand and held up her sword to block Tianhe's path. The electric ball in her other hand suddenly exploded, and the crackling purple lightning spread out, covering the sky and earth.

  Shen Bailian knew that the counterattack of the boundary would only bring disaster to himself, but the lightning was too strong, so he had no choice but to wave his sleeve and stretch out his palm to draw in the four directions. The clear wind that was surging everywhere suddenly gathered in front of him, enveloping the lightning.

  The electric light that burst forth in all directions collided with the gentle yet firm wind wall, making a loud noise. Amidst the blur, Shen Baiyun only saw Murong Ziyu facing her direction, and heard his astonished voice say: "This is 'Blade Wind Wall'... how do you know my Qionghua Sect's immortal technique? Where did you learn it from?" By the time he asked the last sentence, his tone had turned severe.

  Shen Bailian heard the implicit question in these words, and a hint of bitterness rose up again in her heart. She said calmly: "When I learned this Blade Wind Wall, you were probably not yet born. As for why I know your Qionghua Sect's immortal techniques... Hmph! You'd better go ask your sect leader, go ask Qingyang and Chongguang!"

  Murong Ziyin was even more surprised when he heard this, and the electric light in his hand stopped involuntarily. Shen Baiying saw that his attack was slowing down, let out a sigh of relief, but did not disperse the wind wall in front of him, instead using the momentum to retreat quickly for several steps, turned around and jumped towards the purple seal.

  Two young men rushed forward at the foot of the cliff, but the figure in front of them merged into the purple mist like a flickering flame, and no matter what, they couldn't catch up. Murong Ziyin saw this scene and felt anxious and angry in his heart, shouting loudly: "Shen Bailian, how did you know the names of the two elders I sent, and mention the leader? Who are you?"

  Shen Bailian's upper body had already entered the boundary, hearing his loud shout, she suddenly turned around and revealed a hint of a smile: "Ziying... if you and I have fate to meet again next time, I'll tell you then."