Chapter 44: Abandoning Sainthood and Discarding Wisdom

  Jing Xian leaned against the divine stage, barely standing upright. His lips were crimson and his eyes were dazed as he stared at the bloodstain on his clothes. With a mix of reluctance and self-mockery, he said: "I didn't expect it... I didn't expect that there would still be things in this world that I couldn't anticipate."

  Meng Mu grasped his large knife and stood tall, coldly laughing: "The matters of this world are ever-changing, with many things being beyond your expectations."

  "Yes, that's right." Jing Xian smiled and regained her calm demeanor. She turned to look at Meng Mu: "I can only see the things of the mortal world, it's normal not to know some things. But you seem to know more than I do, is there something you just found out?"

  “……”

  She suddenly patted her forehead, chuckled and sighed: "Oh dear, I forgot, you didn't have the chance to observe the ancient mirror's spirit, how would you know so much? Actually not knowing is better, spending a lifetime as a muddle-headed ghost, isn't that interesting?"

  Mu Mu's eyes opened wide in disgust: "You escape yourself"

  "Huh?" Jing Xian was greatly surprised, how could this person let him off so easily? Or did he have another plan? Thinking of the mysterious pearl mirror he had brought with him, Jing Xian understood a bit. It seemed that this person still remembered his good friend and wanted to restore his memory. However, although he couldn't see that person's memories, during that time, Mo Mu had done many things. If one were to say they were all related to that person, it wouldn't be entirely accurate. But in the end, everything was triggered by that person. What kind of mysterious connection was there that brought two people who were worlds apart together?

  He's playing with fire, this young whippersnapper will eventually taste the bitter fruit. Should I remind him? But then again, I've already warned him before, it's just that he never listens. In the end, it's not like I'm being overly kind either.

  "I'm talking to you, won't you do something for the Meng family?"

  Meng Mu looked at him with a cold smile and said, "The best thing I can do for our clan is to reluctantly spare your life and pass on the ancient inherited magic. If you continue to act against the norms, the Meng clan's gods will punish you themselves."

  "What's with the grandeur, 'Meng Clan Spirit'? Mirror Fairy sat up, supporting her knees, and secretly picked up the ancient mirror that had fallen to the ground from behind. She continued, "My Meng Clan lineage has been punished by heaven and cannot enter reincarnation. The elders of our clan have all turned to dust by now. Who can still control what happens after death? You're keeping me here just because you want me to help you restore the spiritual power of the Xuanzhu Heart Mirror." She paused, saying eerily, "You don't even understand the origins and connections between these two bronze mirrors, so how can you talk about controlling them?"

  The Xuanzhu Heart Mirror is the treasure of Xuan Yi Shangxian, which can help the immortal family find back their lost memories and see the past. Meng's specialty is reading people's souls, and Jing Xian controls all the bronze mirrors in the world through the ancient mirror, so it's true that there shouldn't be anything she doesn't know about this mortal world.

  So to speak, Xuanzhu Xinjing and Meng's magic are almost the same, only one is used in the heavenly realm and the other is used in the mortal world.

  The ancient mirror is the master of all mirrors, and its function may not be limited to this. It's possible that the Mirror Fairy's magical powers are weak and have not been fully utilized.

  Meng Mu thought for a moment and then said stubbornly: "What's it got to do with you?"

  Jing Xian looked at him in surprise, as if unsure whether to laugh at his foolishness or scold his madness. She gazed at Meng Mu with suspicion: "The Xuánzhū Heart Mirror is a useless piece of copper, why are you helping that young master? Are you planning to sacrifice me into the mirror?"

  "What about you?" Meng Mu sneered and curled his lip: "Forget it, others can't even cure it, let alone teach you to hook your soul away."

  "Hmph, you're right." Jing Xian wasn't bothered by it, she indeed had the ability and thought to do so. However, since they didn't want to, then forget it, but...

  "If not mine, then someone else's? You must have already known how to use it. Your friend doesn't like killing, so why can he destroy lives through your hands? He fears heavenly punishment, yet he can recklessly take advantage of you?"

  "No more nonsense, let's go."

  "Alas!" Jing Xian sighed and sat down, gently rubbing his knees. He said wistfully: "I should have died long ago. Now I'm just barely clinging to life. Being able to meet you before I die is a blessing from heaven. But Mu Mu, you weren't like this originally..."

  "What was I originally like? You and I were both small trees from birth, what's the difference? Now that you're a king and I'm a defeated general, why bother with words!"

  "Hmph, how ruthless." Jing Xian responded with a flattering tone, but in reality, he was observing Meng Mu's movements with his peripheral vision, and the hand behind him quietly gripped the ancient mirror tightly.

  She suddenly hugged her legs and shouted: "Oh no, my legs hurt so much."

  "What else can you do...?" Meng Mu turned his face away impatiently, only to see a flash of light in the mirror, and instantly he was sucked into an illusion.

  It was a morning market, a little boy holding a small cat in his arms, curiously squeezing through the crowd to look at various things displayed on stalls along both sides of the road.

  That little grey and black striped cat is a young civet cat, at this moment it's dozing off, seemingly unaware of how lively its surroundings are.

  "Junior brother, wake up! Master rarely comes to the East Sea shore. You'd better not sleep." This boy calls this little cat "junior brother"? It's really ridiculous. Mengmu followed them and walked behind.

  A little cat in his arms was sleeping soundly, and the young man had an idea, so he ran to a fish ball vendor's stall.

  "Uncle, give me a string of fish balls!"

  "Alright, one mao."

  "Here you go."

  The sweet aroma instantly awakened the kitten, who was seen struggling out of the boy's arms, his two paws tightly grasping the boy's hand, trying hard to get the fish ball into his own mouth.

  You're so silly, you're a cat, you should jump up and pounce! Mengmu couldn't help but laugh and shook his head.

  That little cat seemed to be deeply attached to the warmth of the young man's arms and was also eager for delicious food, so it became very anxious.

  The young man chuckled and squeezed out of the crowd, holding up his fish balls high and saying with a pleased expression: "If you want to eat something delicious, come back, otherwise I'll eat them all!"

  He said and made a gesture as if he was about to put it into his own mouth.

  That little cat was really anxious at this time, meowed twice, suddenly fell from the boy's arms, and before landing, it hastily transformed into a human figure.

  A child with a round face stood up and rushed into the young man's arms to grab the fish balls.

  "Give me some, I want to eat."

  The young man couldn't help but laugh, stretched out his hand and ruffled the child's fluffy hair, and handed him a fish ball.

  "Slow down while eating, it's not enough and I'll buy more for you, brother."

  The child's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly stuffed the fish balls into his mouth, mumbling: "More, more."

  The young man smiled even more deeply, patted his waist pocket and said with a generous wave of his hand: "No big deal, go ahead and buy."

  Watching the young man walk away with a skipping child, Meng Mu suddenly realized that he was smiling with his mouth upturned.

  Also innocent and playful, she's a playmate.

  The scenery in his eyes gradually faded away, he suddenly came back to himself, realizing that he had actually entered a fantasy realm!

  "What does this have to do with me, you're just a confused mirror spirit, I'm afraid it's already the end of the strong crossbow?" Meng Mu thought disdainfully in his heart. Without waiting for the second heavy illusion to appear, he took out the Golden Horned Long Yu, drew the golden bow and shot an arrow made of spiritual energy towards the top of his head with a fierce burst!

  The sky thundered with a loud rumble, like thin ice shattering in an instant. Yet, amidst the chaos, a beam of light transformed into countless sharp blades, hurtling towards the ground with a force that could destroy heaven and earth. Meng Mu knew he was in an illusion, thinking it was all just a false image, and didn't intentionally try to dodge. But unexpectedly, the sharp blades tore through the dark clouds, proving to be tangible objects. As the sky filled with knife-like lights falling like a torrential rain, Meng Mu realized it was too late to dodge, and he closed his eyes in despair.

  A thousand arrows piercing the heart! Meng Mu reopened his eyes, suddenly knelt down, and spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision went black for a moment, but he forcibly calmed himself and found that he had returned to the main hall.

  Jing Xian sat on the ground, sorrowfully stroking the ancient mirror in his hand, which was as big as a palm. The originally smooth surface of the mirror had already appeared with fine cracks.

  She focused on infusing spiritual energy into the ancient mirror, attempting to repair it, and asked without looking up: "But did you see clearly?"

  She didn't get an answer, so she raised her head, let out a bitter laugh and sighed: "Foolish, truly foolish. Remember this scene well, one day you will understand. The whole clan is left with just us two, I won't be able to leave here now, so you might as well stay with me too, after all it's all just empty joy."

  "What do you mean?"

  Completely disregarding the oppressive atmosphere, Jing Xian spoke indifferently: "What you desire in your heart is a wish that will never come true in this lifetime. A rotten log will always be a rotten log, no matter how much it's polished, how can it stand alongside gold and jade? Why bother tormenting yourself, I'll help you tell him everything..."

  Her words disappeared between her lips, and she looked at the person in front of her slowly raising his long knife. The faint, cold light reflected into Jing Xian's eyes, and for the first time, she felt fear.

  "You, you dare to kill me? Do you know that I am your elder? Are you not afraid of heavenly punishment?"

  His face was cold and gloomy, step by step approaching, with a sly smile: "Originally I didn't want to do this either, it's you who are asking for death, don't blame me!"

  "No, no, please don't..."

  The cold blade flashed by, and Jing Xian forgot even the pain of perception. Of course, she could no longer perceive anything. This person, along with her unspoken pleas for mercy, was like a personally set illusion that dissipated together under the icy throne, never to be seen again.

  A fierce glint still lingered in his eyes, but he saw the entire main hall suddenly shake, and he immediately realized that with the dissipation of the Mirror Immortal's spiritual power, this seal would also dissipate, and the people of Sanping Island would probably soon detect it.

  He hastily put away the long knife, and with a shake of his body, he transformed back into a stout and gaudy woman, kneeling down beside the censer under the throne, staring blankly ahead.

  As expected, a commotion broke out outside. It seemed that many people were rushing towards the main hall and gathering at the door, but for now, no one dared to push the door open, likely intimidated by the sealing power. However, this meant that the high priest, whom he had never met before, would soon appear.

  Meng Mu was quietly waiting, but the noise outside grew louder and louder, as if some kind of conflict had broken out!

  "What kind of person?"

  "Get out of here quickly!"

  Thinking of this and his own words just now, Meng Mu shrugged and found it amusing. In fact, he should have made a decision long ago, why bother talking so much with a gossiping woman?

  After a moment of confusion, he heard a clear voice piercing through the obstacles and entering his ears directly.

  "I've come to look for my mother, she's very tall and has big eyes, have you seen her?"

  "...Meng Mu suddenly fell to the ground, and in that instant, he could feel cold sweat dripping down his spine. This normally serious person was actually quite scary when he lost his mind..."

  Outside was another commotion, Meng Mu could no longer pretend, and he strode forward three steps at a time to push open the temple door.

  "Good child, mother is... Oh heavens, what's going on?"

  Outside the gate, a dozen or so of the Three Levels' disciples held swords in their hands, but they were tightly pressed against the temple door, trembling with fear, only one loud shout away from surrendering and laying down their arms.

  In front of them, Dao Jing stood alone with a clear and refreshing expression, his hands behind his back, smiling brightly as he gazed at himself.

  After Daojing's death...

  They are more than three times as many as the Taoist crowd, even tens of times more guards!

  These guards were dressed in neat armor, majestic and powerful. They didn't even draw their weapons, yet they forced others to lower their heads and not dare look them straight in the eye.

  There were four people standing beside Dao Jing, three of whom wore blue and white robes, while the other seemed to be dressed as a celestial officer. Although they looked calm, they all had an air of majesty about them.

  People from Mount Tiantai have arrived!