Chapter 112: Waking Up from a Big Dream

  Shen Bailian only dreamed that he was slowly sinking in the water, and the pain in his chest wound was getting more and more intense. Suddenly, a strange fragrance rushed into his nostrils, startling him so much that he let out a loud sneeze, and woke up.

  He slowly came to his senses, only to feel a dull ache in his head. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a purple mist floating back and forth in front of him. After a while, as his vision gradually cleared up, he realized that the purple mist was just the mosquito net hanging from the bed, blown by the wind. He slightly moved his body, intending to sit up, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, and let out a cry before falling back down again.

  Outside the mosquito net, a gentle female voice immediately rang out: "Brother, you're awake?"

  The bed curtain moved slightly, and a slender jade hand stretched out from the gap to lift the curtain. Afterwards, a delicate figure appeared beside the bed, with a beautiful face and elegant demeanor - it was Liu Mengli. In her hand, she held a small incense burner, from which a faint red smoke rose gently.

  "Brother, you're heavily injured, please lie down and don't move around. Mother has already treated you and changed the dressing on your wound, so be careful not to rupture it." After speaking, she gently used a small copper spoon to stir the incense ash and placed the censer on the bedside table. "This is a secret incense I've prepared for you, brother, which has pain-relieving and calming effects. It's getting late, why don't you rest for a while?"

  Shen Bailian shook his head, smiling: "After lying down for so long, how can I still sleep?" He looked around the room outside the canopy and asked again, "Here... am I in Li Huanggong Palace?"

  Liu Mengli nodded and said, "Yes, the spiritual energy in the Lingyin Palace is very dense, which will be very beneficial for your injuries. General Xi Zhong and I have brought you here specifically to rest and recover. Alas, at that time, I was afraid that you wouldn't make it, fortunately, Ziying and Yun Gongzi gave you a lot of true energy, barely allowing you to hold on until you saw my mother's face, otherwise...". She let out a soft sigh, her expression revealing a hint of lingering fear.

  "So that's how it is." Shen Bailian muttered to himself, his hand lightly touching the bandages on his chest. Just a slight touch made him wince in pain, showing just how severe his injuries had been. He was lucky to have escaped with his life, thanks to Muyong Ziyin and Yuntian River. He remembered the anxious shout he heard from Muyong Ziyin before he passed out, full of worry for himself. He imagined how urgent Muyong must have been when sending him back to Huanming Palace, and couldn't help but feel grateful. After a while, Shen Bailian asked again, "How many days was I unconscious?"

  "It's been four or five days already." Liu Mengli lowered her head and calculated for a moment, then suddenly said, "Brother, you've been hiding it from us for so long. You're the senior brother of Xuan Xiao, and you also learned martial arts in the Qionghua Sect. What's the big deal? Why must you hurt yourself like this? I often see you walking alone with a sorrowful expression, and I've long suspected that you have some past grievance. I didn't expect it to be like this. When Mother told me, I really couldn't believe it."

  Shen Bailian lay on the pillow, bitterly smiling: "Past events are already over, what's the point of bringing them up again? I'm suffering now and it's all my own fault. I owe a great debt to my junior brother Xuan Xiao. If I hadn't deliberately tempted him back then, he wouldn't have entered Qionghua and ended up in this state. Later, when I found out that he was sealed away for many years, I felt even more guilty... He hates me deeply, you also saw it that day on Juan Yun Tai."

  Liu Mengli looked at him deeply, but said: "Brother, I don't know how much hatred is in his heart, but that day you were unconscious and didn't see it, but I saw it clearly... Xuan Xiao was looking at you falling to the ground, his expression seemed not to be pleased at all, but instead... but somewhat lost."

  Shen Bailian was stunned, her eyes cast downward in silence for a long time. A bitter smile spread across her lips: "What can be done? It's impossible for us to go back to the way things were before..."

  "Brother... you and Xuān Xiāo still have a knot in your heart, if it's not untied, I'm afraid neither of you can put it down. You'd better not... don't leave any regrets behind, or else the days to come will be filled with regret..." Lǐu Mèng Lí said softly.

  Shen Bailian heard it in her ear, sensed that her voice was different, raised her eyes to look over, and was shocked in her heart. She only saw that Liu Mengli's face had been filled with sadness at some point, and a pair of beautiful eyes had already condensed two teardrops. He asked in surprise: "Mengli, why is this?"

  Liu Mengli immediately turned her back, wiped away tears, and only spoke after a moment: "Brother, I...I just remembered some trivial matters, couldn't help myself..." Although she said so, her voice trembled, and anyone would know that the thing that moved her to sadness wouldn't be just some "trivial matters".

  Shen Bailian's eyebrows furrowed, and she felt a surge of suspicion. Suddenly, she said, "Is it that little scoundrel Yun Tianhe bullying you? Once I recover from my injuries, I'll go teach him a lesson and help you vent your anger."

  Liu Mengli turned her back on him and shook her head: "No, it's not Yun Gongzi's fault. We... we are destined to be impossible."

  Shen Bailian, however, paid no attention to what she said and only asked, "Where is he? I'd like to ask him, what's wrong with my sister that he dares to jilt you? I'm not feeling well, go call them over."

  As soon as these words came out, Liu Mengli's body trembled slightly and suddenly calmed down. After a long time, she said softly: "Brother, they... have already left the Huan Yin realm."

  "What?" Shen Bailian was shocked, and immediately wanted to sit up, but the pain in his chest worsened. He stared at Liu Mengli, "They left, why? Didn't Yun Tianhe say he would guard the Fantian Realm with you and not let the Qionghua Sect invade? How could he go back on his word?" Normally, Shen Bailian wouldn't be so rude, but because he was convinced that Yun Tianhe had bullied his own sister, he lost all affection for him, and his words were devoid of courtesy.

  Liu Mengli turned back, the tears on her face had been wiped away, but a light sorrow still lingered: "Brother, you don't know that after you fainted that day, Xuan Xiao suddenly released his restraint on the Huan Yun Realm for some reason, and also promised Cloud Gongzi not to trouble my clan again. After that, the crisis in the Huan Yun Realm was resolved, and it would be inconvenient for the three of them to stay any longer. I...I couldn't help but consider the well-being of the demons in Xuan Meng City, so I could only send them back to the human realm."

  Shen Bailian's wound suddenly burst open a little, and the white cloth wrapped around his chest was stained with a splash of blood. He covered his chest with his hand and took a few deep breaths before speaking in a stuttering tone: "You... why didn't you leave with them?"

  Liu Mengli looked at him with a complex expression: "I can't leave. My mother has been single-handedly supporting the Phantom Boundary, consuming a huge amount of demonic energy. In recent years, she's already overexerted herself, and just the other day, in order to heal my brother's wounds, she suffered an enormous loss. At that time, I had already promised Mother that after she retreated into the inner Phantom Boundary Palace for secluded cultivation, I would... take over as the master of the Phantom Boundary."

  Shen Bailian's eyes widened, and her gaze immediately shot to her forehead. Liu Mengli understood, closed her eyes, and activated her magic, only to see that on her smooth forehead, several crimson lines suddenly appeared, with the mole at the center of her eyebrows as the center, spreading across her entire forehead in the blink of an eye. The complexity of the pattern far surpassed any demon of the Musk Deer tribe, even surpassing the former tribal leader Yu You.

  Liu Mengli opened her beautiful eyes, and then retracted her demonic powers. The red markings on her forehead also gradually disappeared into her skin. She said softly: "The master of the Illusory Dusk Realm must be tied to the Aurochs demon clan, and live or die with this realm. Since I've accepted my mother's will and taken on this role, I can no longer easily leave this place. Yun Gongzi and the others... they still have so many things to do, how can they stay with me in a desolate place without human habitation, without the hustle and bustle of the mortal world?"

  Shen Bailian let out a sigh and didn't know what else to say. The room fell silent once again.

  After a long time, the incense in the censer had burned out, and the last wisp of smoke slowly dispersed into the air. Liu Mengli turned her head to gaze at the gradually disappearing red smoke, her eyes welling up with tears as she murmured to herself: "Who says that after parting there will be no regrets? The cold moon's clear night, the beautiful dream returns... I deeply know that though my body is here, my emotions remain, and the past cannot be shared with the colorful clouds flying by..." Her fleeting gaze lightly fell upon Shen Baiyun, her eyes shining with a soft, gentle light. "After Cloud Master left, I often regretted why during our adventures together in Jianghu, many words were buried in my heart. If only they had been spoken earlier, even if we parted ways, it wouldn't have been so heartbreaking... Brother, you mustn't be like Mengli..."

  Shen Bailian looked at her lonely face and felt a pang of sympathy, calling out softly: "Meng Li..."

  Liu Mengli gently shook her head, interrupting his unspoken comfort: "Brother, you rest well. Mengli is leaving." After finishing speaking, she bowed and floated away.

  Shen Bailian looked at her back and shook his head with a long sigh.

  After several days, Shen Bailian was alone in the palace, recovering from his injuries. Fortunately, his strong demonic powers were circulating within him, and under this stimulation, his wounds healed quickly, leaving only a scar about an inch long. After becoming the master of the Huanming realm, Liu Mengli was busy with various matters, and as Shen Bailian's injuries gradually improved, she stopped visiting him, but would often send Qi Zhong to bring food and other necessities.

  Shen Bailian learned from Xi Zhong that Gui Xie died at the hands of Xuanyao and Su Yao, and his heart felt extremely difficult. Now that five of the six great generals of the Huanming Boundary have left, the Qiong demon clan has also become exhausted after this battle, and the city of Xuanmeng is in a state of disrepair. Xi Zhong had always highly valued Shen Bailian, so he strongly advised him to stay in the Huanming Boundary and assist the new master together with himself. However, Shen Bailian only smiled slightly and did not give a definite answer.

  He had already made up his mind to go to the mortal realm once he recovered from his injuries, but he didn't want to tell Shen Qi the truth because of his sincerity. Not to mention that he grew up in the mortal realm since childhood, and although he later learned about his origins, he hadn't spent much time in the Huan Yin Realm after all. According to Liu Mengli, Xuan Xiao and Su Yu had taken away a lot of spiritual energy from the Huan Yin Realm, and the Fei Xian sect was already fully prepared. Yun Tianhe and others left early to rush and stop them, in order to save Han Qing's life. On that day at Juan Yun Tai, Xuan Xiao's behavior was outrageous, with a hint of going crazy, Shen Bai Lian had a feeling in his heart, this time the Fei Xian sect might not be as easy as Xuan Xiao and Su Yu thought. With all these things weighing on his mind, how could he put them down?

  In any case, I have to go to Qionghua and take a look. Shen Baiying secretly made up her mind in her heart.