Dusk Returns to the Ruined Building

The sacred mountain of Pash and the Tianchi Lake are still as clear and blue as ever, and still quiet and peaceful.

Mu Niansheng, the leader of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, stood on a flat stone, still wearing a brown-black long gown and a silk scarf on his head. Although he had the appearance of a scholar, he was intimidating without even getting angry.

The flat stone where he was standing at the moment was exactly where Mu Qingxue had sat and played in the water since she was a child.

Mu Niansheng gazed at the edge of Tianchi Lake, his eyes deep but hazy. He was looking at his past, he was looking at the future of Wanmo Sect, he was missing his daughter Mu Qingxue, and he was forgetting the only woman in his life whom he had loved deeply.

The result is!

The past is like smoke, long gone, the future is like clouds, ever changing, thoughts are like wine, the more you think about it, the more confused you become, and what about forgetting? It doesn't exist at all, he can't forget that woman!

His face has aged and his hair has turned white, but his heart has never changed.

When the afterglow of the setting sun filled the Tianchi Lake on Shenshan Mountain, Mu Niansheng sighed softly:

"Time is merciless. Can we meet again in this life?"

"She's already dead, don't fool yourself!"

A man came behind Mu Niansheng, staggering, holding a wine jug in his hand and wearing a mask on his face. It was the Ghost-Faced Man.

Mu Niansheng smiled when he heard this! The smile reflected in the lake was so bitter!

"You really remembered what I warned you about back then, and you still hate me in your heart?"

"You and I are brothers, there is no hatred between brothers!"

After the ghost-faced man finished speaking, he took a sip of wine and added:

"You and I are brothers who share a hard life and risk our lives together!"

Mu Niansheng looked at the setting sun and distant mountains and added:

"We are also a pair of poor brothers!"

The ghost-faced man continued to drink and asked softly:

"Do you miss Xue'er?"

"I know you have resentment in your heart. You blame me for being too overbearing to Xue'er in Jiuchonglou and want me to interfere with her choice. Even though you didn't say it, I know that you haven't come to see me since you came back for so long!"

The ghost-faced man held the wine jug in his hand and looked at the familiar face in the lake. He suddenly discovered that Mu Niansheng seemed to have more white hair.

The ghost-faced man shook his head and took another sip of wine.

Mu Niansheng sighed deeply and said:

"I didn't bring Xue'er back after all. Maybe this is her fate!"

The ghost-faced man was stunned when he heard this, and muttered to himself:

"Fate? Didn't you and I get to where we are today because we didn't believe in fate? But now you all believe in fate. What a joke!"

After the ghost-faced man finished speaking, he walked to Mu Niansheng and handed the wine in his hand to Mu Niansheng, but Mu Niansheng did not take it.

The ghost-faced man could only take another sip and said:

"My heart is still not as cruel as yours!"

Mu Niansheng turned his head slightly, glanced at the drunken ghost-faced man beside him, and sighed:

"That's because the hatred in your heart is not that deep!"

After Mu Niansheng finished speaking, anger suddenly emerged in his eyes, and his hands clenched into fists.

"What do you want from me?"

The Ghost-Faced Man seems to want to escape from the hatred in his heart, because he has been running away for decades!

"Go to Yingzhou and bring Xue'er back!"

Mu Niansheng said it easily, but with such certainty!

The ghost-faced man stopped when the wine jug touched his mouth, and his hand holding the jug became tighter and tighter. Finally, the jug broke into pieces and the wine flew everywhere, splashing all over his body and face!

"Why? Why is your heart always so cold and stubborn? Our lives have been ruined in this damned battle between good and evil. Why do you still want to force this on Xue'er? Let her go. She is your biological daughter!"

After the ghost-faced man finished speaking, his voice was choked with sobs, and his eyes were filled with tears. He continued:

"Originally, I thought that since Xue'er was sick, she could live a happy life beside the Tianchi Lake on this sacred mountain. Even if it was short, I was happy for her in my heart, because she was away from the struggle between good and evil. I didn't expect that her illness would be cured, but I am still happy for her. She can turn into a flying bird and find the life she wants. That is the love we have been seeking for all our lives. Why do you have to stop her? Even if that person is a member of the Ji family, so what? I support Xue'er and I also wish Xue'er well!"

After the ghost-faced man finished speaking, he could no longer control his emotions. He collapsed and sat down beside the Tianchi Lake on the sacred mountain, shedding tears of regret.

The ghost-faced man has hatred in his heart, and it is no less than Mu Niansheng's, but he hates himself. He has neither the courage nor the opportunity to pursue the love or the life that belongs to him. His whole life belongs to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect. This is his fate and he cannot change it!

But Mu Qingxue is different. She is a white lotus in the Tianchi Lake of the sacred mountain. She is also the flower of freedom in his heart. He has nurtured her all his life and just wants Mu Qingxue to be able to live as she pleases, because that is the unfinished dream in his heart!

Mu Niansheng's heart didn't seem to change because of the ghost-faced man's roar, crying, and sadness, but the veins on his clenched fists were already showing!

Mu Niansheng said calmly:

"We are not the ones fighting, someone else is. And I'm afraid it's not a fight between good and evil, it's a fight for the whole world!"

For some reason, Mu Niansheng felt a sense of sadness in his heart, as if he had lost all his fighting spirit!

The ghost-faced man who was sitting on the ground was stunned when he heard this and asked:

"What do you mean?"

"The news from the cultivation world is that the son of Ji Qingyun, the former head of the Ji family, is in Yingzhou!"

The ghost-faced man slowly stood up. Strangely, he never took off his mask from beginning to end. He asked doubtfully:

"What does this have to do with Xue'er? Isn't this the Ji family's own business? Are you worried that the Ji family will harm Xue'er?"

Mu Niansheng did not respond, but looked at the setting sun. After a long while, he slowly said:

"Thirteen years ago, people from the Bone Tomb went to the Ji Clan's Imperial City in Zhongzhou, but you and I didn't know about it. Now, people from the Bone Tomb have gone to Yingzhou again, and they still haven't told you or me!"

Upon hearing this, the ghost-faced man said angrily:

"These old guys, I will take care of them sooner or later!"

But he asked again:

"Are you worried that Xue'er will be implicated if the people from the Bone Mound deal with the young master of the Ji family? No way, Xue'er is the Saint of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect!"

Mu Niansheng turned his head and looked at the ghost-faced man for a long, long time! Then he said:

"Forget about her, otherwise it will be difficult for you to improve your cultivation in this lifetime!"

The ghost-faced man laughed!

"You are the same, and you are still talking about me?"

After the ghost-faced man finished speaking, he felt something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, he turned around and said in surprise:

"The people who stopped you in Jiuchonglou are from Xuantian Pavilion? Could it be that Guzhong sent people to Yingzhou for Xue'er?"

Mu Niansheng sighed deeply and said:

"If this news about Yingzhou came from Ji Qingfeng, perhaps the relationship between good and evil would remain intact. But if not, the world would probably be plunged into a bloody storm!"

The ghost-faced man took another pot of wine and took a sip. He also returned to normal and said:

"Are you saying that someone is using the former young master of the Ji family to test Xuantian Pavilion?"

Mu Niansheng looked at the Shenshan Tianchi with deep eyes and said solemnly:

"Perhaps this is not the first time the Ji family has tried to test us. Back then, Ji Qingyang and I might have also tried to test Xuantian Pavilion, but I was beyond their control. As for Ji Qingyang, I always thought he was passive like me, but after returning from Jiuchonglou, I can't guess. Is he a chess piece? Or is he willing to be a chess piece? Or does he have a deeper purpose!"

Mu Niansheng stood by the Tianchi Lake on the sacred mountain and thought for an entire afternoon, but he really couldn't guess it!

The ghost-faced man turned to look at Mu Niansheng and said in shock:

"You mean, someone from the Bone Mound is cooperating with the Ji family to deal with Xuantian Pavilion together?"

Mu Niansheng's expression did not change at all, but continued to speak:

"The disappearance of Ji Qingyun's family thirteen years ago might have been a test for Xuantian Pavilion. No! It was also a test for the Ji family itself. After returning from Jiuchonglou, I have a feeling that the Ji family might really want to fight for the world. This time, it might not just be a battle between good and evil. Youzhou, Yanquan, Yingzhou, and the outside world might all..."

The ghost-faced man pondered for a while and asked doubtfully:

"Where's the Ancient Miao Territory? Where's the Xuantian Pavilion?"

Mu Niansheng shook his head and continued:

"A thousand years have passed. How could the Ji family be the only ones whose hearts have changed? The Ji family must have a master! I'm afraid he has seen through the hearts of the people in the world. He can even connect the Ten Thousand Demons Sect's tombs without anyone noticing. I really can't think of any pure land in this world. Maybe one day, the Ten Thousand Demons Sect will also become the Fourteenth Ling of the Ji family!"

The ghost-faced man said coldly:

"Then you shouldn't let Xue'er come back. Maybe she can find the life she wants out there!"

Mu Niansheng sighed deeply and said:

"Hey, why are you so foolish! I just don't want Xue'er to die. The appointment at the Nine-Layered Tower is another test by the Ji family against Xuantian Pavilion, and Xue'er is the dead chess piece in it!"

After Mu Niansheng finished speaking, he actually shed tears, because during this afternoon at Shenshan Tianchi, he had deduced countless times that Mu Qingxue was a chess piece that was doomed to die, and he was powerless to do anything!

The ghost-faced man shouted nervously:

"Brother Sheng!"

"Go, bring Xue'er back alive!"

Beside the Tianchi Lake on the sacred mountain, the ghost-faced man left. He promised Mu Niansheng that he would bring Xue'er back!

Mu Niansheng looked at the receding figure, tears streaming down his face, and whispered to himself:

"Please die! I'm sorry, Xue'er. This is not only your unfinished dream, but also mine!"

After saying this, Mu Niansheng said coldly:

"Someone, report back to the Bone Mound, tell the Ten Thousand Demon Sect to agree to the Ji family's conditions, kill!"

The name of the man with the ghost face is Mu Qiu Si. This time, he is probably really going to seek death!