Chapter 105: Mother-Daughter Bond

  The sky of the Phantom Realm still stretched out in deep and shallow purples, with crystal formations standing on the desolate land, and the remnants of the great war nineteen years ago could still be vaguely seen. Shen Bailian lightly jumped down from Chunshui Sword and landed beside Liu Mengli, who was bending over to gently stroke a broken crystal stone, and sighed: "This is the Phantom Realm... or what you call the Demon Realm."

  Liu Mengli suddenly stood up, her face still carrying a hint of melancholy. Her glass-like eyes seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist. She said softly: "I remember... At that time, many demons were killed, my mother hid me in a palace, but soon I was taken to the ground by a red-clothed big brother..." She glanced at Shen Bailian and suddenly curved her lips into a faint smile.

  Shen Bailian forced a smile and replied, "That's right. At that time, you were just a little girl, but your fearless expression was exactly the same as your mother's and those Qiong demons." Her words were tinged with a sigh.

  "...Later, I was injured in the war and Yun Shu took me to the mortal realm, but I was still discovered by those people. I vaguely remember him and a woman protecting me down the mountain, that woman had an extremely cold aura, and she held a blue long sword...” Liu Mengli's face showed a nostalgic expression, her eyes gazing at the crystal emitting soft purple light, reflecting a starry night sky.

  “Wang Shu Sword...” Shen Bailian murmured, his brow suddenly furrowed, and a question involuntarily arose in his heart: So it seems that Wang Shu Sword was taken down the mountain by Su Yu back then. No wonder the sword column suddenly dispersed, and the Huan Yin realm narrowly escaped disaster... But if so, why did someone from the Qionghua Sect form a sword column again 19 years later today? He saw those two rays of light clearly, one of which was blue light emitted by Wang Shu Sword. If that sword was taken away by Su Yu, how did it fall into the hands of the Qionghua Sect again?

  Liu Mengli was still reminiscing, completely unaware of his sudden change in expression: "Yun Shu and that woman were always on the run, but it seemed like she had fallen ill, often needing to stop and rest, so they couldn't move fast enough. Several times they almost got caught by those people. Later, when passing through Shouyang, he took me to my adoptive parents' place...my foster father and mother's place, taking that woman who-knows-where, from then on I never saw them again, nor did I ever thank them." His tone was tinged with regret.

  A hint of sadness flashed across Shen Bailian's face as she told her, "They... have long since left the world."

  "Yes. It wasn't until Cloud Gongzi came to our home that I learned the news from him, and my heart was filled with sorrow." Liu Mengli lowered her eyelashes, her face filled with a sense of longing as she said, "I can only blame myself for being weak and powerless at the time, unable to help them. They were pursued by others, but they never abandoned me, I've always been grateful... But fortunately, I met Cloud Gongzi, he's similar to Cloud Uncle yet different in some ways. The days we spent together with him and Ling Sha, roaming the Jianghu, were truly happy... I really hope we can continue to be together like that." She let out a soft sigh, a hint of longing flashed across her face, and a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes, but it eventually faded away. "But when I think about all this, I'm a demon, my mother, our tribe, and the Qinghua Sect have deep-seated hatred... I cannot... nor do I want to pretend that these don't exist."

  Liu Mengli gently stroked the strands of hair that floated to her cheeks, raised her eyes to scan this land and sky, and her expression gradually became solemn: "I am the young master of this demon realm... I cannot abandon my clan, this is my responsibility, I must take it on."

  Shen Bailian gazed at the girl's straight back, so slender yet exuding a tenacious spirit. All along, she had always stood silently among the crowd, gentle as a warm spring, like a soft breeze. Yet in this moment, the demonic bloodline etched into her bones finally burst forth with radiance, and beneath her tender exterior, her strong inner heart was finally revealed.

  "Let's go, brother." Liu Mengli gently picked up the guqin from the crystal stone and took a step towards the distant purple mist in the crystal stone, "We should head back."

  At this moment, Shen Bailian and she flew rapidly, but in less than half a time, the purple mist had arrived before their eyes. The illusory mist seemed to have also sensed the return of the young master who had been away from home for many years, and it gradually parted like flowing water, revealing the purple-red mottled boundary behind it. Shen Bailian's immortal sword under his feet did not stop, carrying him and Liu Mengli to charge towards the purple light swirling barrier, passing through without any obstruction.

  Inside the boundary was the Xunmeng City where the Qiong demon clan lived. At the city gate, there were two humanoid Qiong demons guarding it. Seeing that there were suddenly two more people in front of them, who didn't seem to be from their tribe, they immediately walked over with a cautious expression. The two Qiong demons looked similar, and appeared to be brothers. The younger-looking one seemed to have transformed not long ago, and still had a long tail behind him. He wrapped his tail around his waist and coldly said: "Who are you? How did you barge into Xunmeng City?" As he spoke, he slightly bent his body and revealed his sharp claws, ready to attack at any moment if the conversation didn't go smoothly.

  "Hold your hands! We are not evil people." He pointed to Liu Mengli, "This young lady is the daughter of your clan leader, who has been away from home for many years and has just returned to her hometown. Please give us a convenience, let us go to the Huanming Palace to meet the Yan You clan leader."

  Those two Qiong demons were taken aback by his words and looked at Liu Mengli together. Liu Mengli slightly bowed with a calm demeanor.

  The younger Kirin looked at her elegant and beautiful appearance, his face involuntarily flushed with redness, saying: "Big brother, they know the name of Yuxu, they also know about Huanmu Palace, I think...they don't seem like bad people."

  His elder brother's face suddenly sank, and he scolded: "Will a wicked person write the word 'wicked' on his face? These two faces are unfamiliar, obviously not our Xuanmeng City's demons, I don't know how they sneaked in, we must be careful to guard against them!"

  Shen Bailian had no choice but to concentrate and summon his lifelong demonic powers. In an instant, the wind picked up and the fog surged, causing his crimson shirt to flutter incessantly, and his two sleeves also puffed out. His scattered black hair revealed two bright red stripes on his forehead, which stood out starkly against his pale skin as white as jade. The two Qiong demons were shocked and exclaimed in unison. The older one called out in a low voice, "It's really the demon of my Qiong demon clan!"

  The one who acted as the younger brother looked at Liu Mengli again and replied in a low voice: "I said they didn't look like bad people."

  His elder brother, however, remained cautious and said to Shen Baiying, "You are indeed a member of our demonic clan, but this young lady doesn't have even a hint of demonic energy on her. How can she be the daughter of Lady Yuanyu?"

  Liu Mengli was also stunned upon hearing this and looked at Shen Bailian with suspicion along with the two Qiong demons.

  Shen Bailian smiled slightly and walked to Liu Mengli's side, reaching out to remove the jade pendant from her neck. Liu Mengli felt a little surprised and looked down to see Shen Bailian's pale hand about to take off the jade she had worn since childhood. She tried to back away, but Shen Bailian's movements seemed slow yet were incredibly swift, and before she could push him away, he had already pulled it off.

  "Brother, you——"

  Liu Mengli was taken aback and just about to ask him what he meant, when the two Meihua demons beside her looked at her with shocked expressions, shouting in unison: "There's a demonic aura! You're also a demon from our Meihua tribe!" The younger brother added in a low voice: "How strange, earlier there wasn't even a hint of aura."

  Shen Bailian smiled slightly and handed the jade back to Liu Mengli, explaining: "It's all because of this jade's strangeness. You don't know that this jade is called Emperor Girl's Jadeite, which has the extraordinary effect of concealing all auras between heaven and earth. With your young master wearing this jade, even if gods came before her, they wouldn't be able to detect the demonic aura on her body. Otherwise, she would have been killed by those human Daoists who don't distinguish between good and evil and want to slay demons years ago, and how could she still return safely to the Huanming Realm?"

  The voice had barely fallen when a low, muffled voice said: "As Lady Yuanyou said, someone has indeed passed through the two barriers unscathed. Wait, you are -"

  Shen Bailian quickly turned around, and the two young Qiong demons beside him also composed themselves and bowed respectfully, calling out in unison: "General Gui Xie!"

  A robust man with white hair and a demonic pattern on his face had no time to bother with them, his eyes shining with excitement as he stepped forward a few steps, grabbing Shen Bailong's shoulder and laughing: "It's actually you, you little scoundrel! Did you know that we're going to have another life-or-death battle with those damned humans, which is why I rushed back?"

  Shen Bailian was shaken vigorously by him for a few times, and she felt dizzy in front of her eyes. She struggled to say: "Gui Xie, I have an urgent matter to see the patriarch, take me to Huanmu Palace quickly, your young master... has been found!"

  Gui Xie was taken aback, and his hand naturally relaxed its grip: "Has the young master been found?" He glanced around, his eyes scanning the area in a circle, jumping over two young tribal demons to land on Liu Mengli not far away. His eyes lit up immediately, and he hastily asked Shen Baiying, "Is it her?"

  Shen Bailian nodded slightly, Gui Ye was overjoyed and let out a long whistle, then grabbed him and rushed towards the direction of Huanming Palace. Shen Bailian stumbled along the way, but eventually they arrived at the front of Huanming Palace. Without waiting for an announcement, Gui Ye pulled Shen Bailian in, who quickly turned his head to look back at the road they came from, seeing that Liu Mengli had also followed them, and his heart slightly calmed down. Before he could even greet anyone, a strong force on his wrist pulled him around a large purple silk curtain.

  Layer upon layer of silk curtains shrouded the grand hall, making it seem like a labyrinth. Inside, not a sound could be heard, only the footsteps of several people walking on the bluestone floor. As they pushed aside the last layer of curtains, the three of them had already reached the innermost part of the Fantian Palace's main hall. Gui Xie walked forward a few steps, bowed his head towards the figure sitting on the high jade stone stairs in the east: "Lady Yuanyu, I have brought those people here, let...let them speak for themselves." As he spoke, he turned back to smile at Shen Bailian.

  Shen Bailian walked forward, looking at the woman leaning on the throne, nineteen years without seeing her, Yuanyu was still as cold and frosty as ever, only with a few more fine lines at the corners of her eyes, looking a bit more worn out. She looked at Shen Bailian coldly, not showing any joy at seeing her own sister's son, but merely said: "So it's you."

  Shen Bailian didn't mind, knowing that Liu Mengli's disappearance back then was his own fault. It was normal for Yuanyu to not want to see him. He simply cupped his hands and said, "Lady Yuanyu, it's been a while." Then he turned around and nodded at the girl standing silently behind him with her head bowed, "Mengli, come greet your mother."

  As soon as the words came out, Yuanyu was shocked for a moment, and even Xie Zhong, who was standing beside her, cast his eyes over in surprise. Liu Mengli took a deep breath, lifted her head, and bowed to the silver-haired woman sitting above, whose face was still not very clear: "Liu'er greets... greets Mother."

  Yan Yu sat up straight, gazing steadily at Liu Mengli. Suddenly, she beckoned to her: "Come closer, let me...let Mother take a look at you." Her tone had become extremely gentle, completely different from when she spoke to Shen Baiying earlier.

  Liu Mengli stepped forward at the sound, walking up dozens of stone steps to the front of the throne. Yuanyu had been gazing at her all along, and as she approached, her expression became increasingly gentle. When Liu Mengli stood before her, she slowly reached out a hand and gently stroked Liu Mengli's face, saying softly: "Liu'er... you're called Mengli? What a good name... my daughter, the young master of Huanmu Realm, you've finally returned to me." Her voice was slightly choked with emotion.

  Liu Mengli finally couldn't help herself, knelt down beside Yuanyu, and buried her face in her lap, sobbing softly: "Mother... mother, Liu'er misses you so much..."

  She gently stroked her hair, and after a long time, she still didn't say a word.

  Gui Xie and Xi Zhong were overjoyed to see the young master and his mother reunited after a long absence, but they both tacitly avoided disturbing the pair. Xi Zhong looked at Shen Bailian and silently paid her a deep bow.

  Shen Bailian smiled faintly and returned a courtesy, shifting her gaze back to Liu Mengli and Yan You. In her heart, she let out a quiet sigh. When had it been that there was also such a woman with an icy exterior but warm interior who gently stroked her cheek and showed her rare warmth? Yet that time was also the last...