"Mother...".
Yingyue's eyes went wider than her sister's as she turned to look at the small orb of blue light.
"Auntie Mo? That's Auntie Mo?".
Xinyue could only manage a distracted nod.
"What? How?".
Yingyue could not be blamed for asking questions no one had the answers to, because even Yuchen was extremely shocked.
There was not a single person in the cultivation world who did not know Xinyue's late parents: Mo Xiang and her husband, Mo Zihan. Once two of the best students to ever study at the Mist Oasis, travelling exorcists after their marriage, and very exceptional ones at that.
But the people of the cultivation world had woken up one day to discover that the two were dead,at the same time. The cause of death was a complete mystery, and the circumstances surrounding it was unknown.
Some people had said that they had died of illness, others had said they had died in battle. But there had been no facts to support all these speculations, and eventually the topic of the Mo couple had become shrouded in silence, so much so that most people had actually forgotten that Meng Xinyue had not been born into the Meng clan.
"Jiejie...".
That was when the soul began to dissipate.
"No!"Xinyue cried, running forward.
She tried to gather the vanishing sparkles in her hands, but her efforts were futile, and soon there was nothing left.
Xinyue fell on her knees,a haunted look in her glassy eyes.
"No..."she whispered"no... please, no...".
Then, pressing her face into her hands, she cried in front of Yingyue for the very first time.
*
*
*
Surprisingly, the lantern festival continued from where it had stopped, hours later. As if nothing had interrupted it in the first place.
Vendors resumed business, sightseers resumed strolling, and all was just as it should be.
Sunset came, and with it, the time to release the lanterns into the sky, sending them off with the people's petitions.
Yingyue stood beside Yuchen as they lit up their lanterns,all of her exhilaration from that morning nowhere to be found. She held two lanterns now, since Xinyue had returned right back to the Mist Oasis the second Yingyue had been able to convince her to rise from the ground where she had knelt, weeping for close to an hour.
She took no part in the excited chatters and elated cheers that accompanied the voyage of the glowing lanterns with their varying colors- red, blue, orange, white and so on. Instead, she quietly clasped her hands together and lifted her face to the heavens, her lips moving slightly in silent prayer.
Yuchen watched her.
He was not even praying, neither was he watching the lanterns like everyone else. Rather he stood with his hands behind him and his eyes on the young girl at his side. He could tell that she was praying for her sister, but it was impossible to tell what exactly she was imploring for, and for a short moment he let his mind wander, trying to guess.
For some inexplicable reason, in that moment, he felt closer to her than he ever had, whether to her or to anyone else. Maybe it was because of her sorrow, which seemed to resonate with something deep inside of him.
Maybe it was the look of pain that had not left her eyes ever since she saw her elder sister crying. Whatever it was, it tugged relentlessly at his heart until it ached.
Yuchen had been taught to want nothing, to desire nothing, to wish for nothing, and to pray for nothing. This was the major reason why he never bothered with the lantern festival.
But he had already released a lantern, so it followed that he had to pray.
Turning to look at the yellow lantern drifting out of sight, Yuchen closed his eyes and prayed for her.
*
*
*
Yingyue stood at the very edge of the cliff, her gaze glued to the abyss. And she found that she could not look away.
"You left...".
She jolted at the voices rising from the chasm. Voices thick with pain and terrifying desperation.
"Don't leave us..."
"Help us..."
"Join us..."
"Save us..."
Each word was like a red-hot piece of shrapnel, piercing her skull and setting the inside of her head on fire. She pressed both hands over her ears, tears springing into her eyes.
"Stop... stop, please...".
But the voices were relentless.
"It hurts..."
"I can't..."
"The pain..."
"Who are you?"she mumbled, her own voice hoarse with agony"who in the world are you?".
The answers came as whispers, tickling her ears.
"You know".
Then all the voices became one, one rumbling, unbearable roar.
"YOU KNOW".
Yingyue's eyes flew open, and she swung into a seating position, her chest heaving.
She looked around in alarm,then relief pooled into her. It had only been a dream.
Oddly, though, her head was still aching just as badly as it had in the dream.
"What is it? What do I know?".
A knock on the door prevented her from wondering any further.
"Who is it?"she called out.
"It's me".
"Jiejie!".
Yingyue got out of her bed and hurried to the door,as if she feared that Xinyue would walk away if she did not let her in quick enough.
Xinyue was leaning on a wall when she opened the door, head down.
"Jiejie... are you..."Yingyue's face was etched with worry.
But Xinyue was smiling when she looked up.
"Were you asleep, A-Yue?".
"Yeah..."Yingyue mumbled, rubbing her left eye,a little speechless.
"Oh. Sorry for waking you up"she actually looked guilty.
"No no, it's no big deal"Yingyue assured her "do you need my help with something, Jiejie?".
"Not at all. Pan Yuchen said you were worried, so I came to check on you".
"Huh? Shixiong said that?".
"Only because I asked him how you were. I'm sorry for making you worry about me".
"Don't worry about it. Are you okay now, Jiejie?".
"I'm perfectly fine".
"Oh. Okay".
Yingyue felt really awkward for some reason she could not put her finger on.
"Do you want to come in, Jiejie?".
"No need. I just wanted to make sure you're alright. I'll see you later".
"Let me walk you to your room".
"Oh, you don't need to...".
"Please".
Xinyue sighed, but she did not object any further. She was gracious on the way to her room, chatting lightheartedly with her younger sister. This left Yingyue wondering why she kept getting the nagging feeling that something was off.
"Jiejie,"she said"about Auntie Mo...".
"I plan to look into it. No need to worry"Xinyue replied promptly.
By then, they were standing before her door.
"See you, Jiejie".
"You too, A-Yue".
Xinyue waited until Yingyue was out of sight before stepping into her room. As soon as the door slid shut behind her, the sunny smile dropped from her face.
She stumbled backwards till her back hit the closed door, before sliding down bonelessly until her knees met the floor. Lifting shaky hands to wide, unseeing eyes, she bit her lower lip until blood flowed, preventing the scalding scream in her chest from escaping.
It had taken her all those hours to work up the nerve to seek Yingyue out, and yet... she just couldn't do it.
She could not tell Yingyue what she suspected. Sure, they were just suspicions, but she knew that telling them to someone else, and especially to that girl, would automatically lend life and substance to them.
Her parents had been murdered at the Peony Halls, and no one had been able to find the culprit or the cause of their deaths.
But then, during Xunwen, her mother had mentioned the call of a whistle. The Meng clan was known for their musical cultivation, and each person usually had an affinity for a specific musical instrument. And just like how Xinyue used a flute, and Yingyue used a harp, the only person in the whole Meng clan who used a whistle was Madame Meng.
But how exactly was Xinyue supposed to tell that girl that she suspected her mother for that mysterious murder? Worse still, could she tell her adoptive father something like that about his wife? She had already done enough, was she going to ruin the family that had kindly adopted her any further?
Xinyue's whole body quacked with the sobs she refused to let escape as tears raced down her face, and she wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to curb the trembling.
Of course, she could always dismiss her suspicions as mere paranoia, and all would be well. But it was there at the back of her mind- the tormenting certainty that she was close to the truth.
*
*
*
It was always silent on Mount Tianshi. Quiet and cold, just like death.
But this place was very much alive, hosting a wide range of fauna- rabbits and deers and snakes and all sorts of birds... to mention but a few. Not to be outdone, plants of every kind grew on this most fertile land, flourishing under the caring hands of nature itself.
If one was to set eyes on this place,they would naturally assume that there could not possibly be any man-made structure existing on it. However, there was: the mammoth cabin of the Celestial Monk,a most impressive residence that could put even the best architects to shame, despite being almost completely hidden beneath the ivy that had been climbing all over the exterior for years.
And, sitting in a room in this cabin, looking out a wide open window, was the Celestial Monk, the letter that had just arrived from Pan Junjie on the table before him.
The contents of the letter raced repeatedly around in his mind.
"Lord Zeng,
I know better than most how much you hate to be dragged into the affairs of mortals, and so I apologize sincerely. However, things have gotten to the point where I have no choice but to reach out to you. I do not plan to take much of your time, so please do try to read this to the very end.
There have been strange occurrences for sometime now. The awakening of Huang Yichen's pets,a series of diabolic attacks targeted at the Mist Oasis, and the appearance of the most powerful diabolic cultivator in fifty years. But I must not keep you. Most concerning is the fact that this diabolic cultivator has abilities that only demons are supposed to be capable of, which includes the Domain of Execution, where Yuchen and another student were trapped for a while.
I fear that Huang Yichen's return is imminent, although I have no proof other than my fears. I would have said that a rift might have appeared on the seal keeping the demons contained, but no one even knows where this seal is located. The cultivation world is in great danger, and I do not think it will be able to survive another Rain of Blood. This time, I fear that our survival will require the descent of the gods themselves.
Lest I forget, the dongtian shard has been discovered to be missing from the Mist Oasis. I implore you to keep the chuntian shard safe, for the sake of the cultivation world.
I fear what I know is coming. I pray that the flames do not reach Mount Tianshi this time.
Your most distant family,
Pan Junjie."
Zeng Wen reached out for the letter, tapping it absentmindedly with a rather long finger.
Exactly how had things gotten so out of control, he wondered forlornly. How was he supposed to inform the young Sect leader that even the chuntian shard which he had vowed to keep safe had been stolen from Mount Tianshi as well, and by his own one-time pupil no less.
The cultivation world was indeed in grave danger, and it was a lot worse than Pan Junjie thought.
The Celestial Monk took a deep breath.
"Could all of this be what you wanted the whole time, Lan'er?".