Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Returning to Chengyuan Mountain was a decision Wen Yu made after careful consideration.

Senior Sister Lingyun delivered a letter to them, containing half a jade pendant sent by their master. "Seeing jade is considered a return of good fortune," is a rule among the disciples of Chengyuan Mountain, and it also signifies... that their master wants to see him.

Wen Yu specifically asked Shen Yu. Shen Yu was polishing jade at the time. He glanced at the half of the jade pendant hidden inside the envelope and simply said it was nothing.

Wen Yu knew that he had complicated thoughts. He pondered for a long time and finally chose to go to Chengyuan Mountain on a morning at the end of the month.

Shen Yu had not set foot in this place for many years. The nine thousand stone steps leading to Chengyuan Mountain seemed endless. The cold wind stung his face and blurred the appearance and character of someone in Shen Yu's memory.

For some reason, Gouqietousheng also came along. It had been in seclusion for a long time and rarely went out, but today it made a special trip to Chengyuan Mountain with Shen Yu.

They took a side path and didn't encounter any acquaintances along the way, but they did hear some news.

After the fall of Yue, Mu Yuyuan escaped capture and gathered her secret guards with the intention of restoring her kingdom. The shadow sent by Sheng to kill Mu Yuyuan was no match for her. Mu Yuyuan pierced the heart of the enemy general with a single sword and broke through Yanmen Pass.

Shen Yu stopped in his tracks upon hearing the sound. He looked at the servants talking beside him and for some reason began to have a vague guess in his mind.

"That Mu Yuyuan, she really is a genius! So many people went to capture her, yet she managed to fight her way out. She certainly did her duty..."

"How did he die in the end? Who killed him? Tsk tsk tsk... Cutting off his head, I bet His Majesty could grant him a title, right?"

"Who could kill him... He committed suicide! I don't know how he suddenly went mad. It's said that he stabbed himself in the heart more than a dozen times, tearing his flesh apart. He was really ruthless to himself."

"Really? How could this be..."

As the conversations faded into the distance, Shen Yu walked along the road, his thoughts drifting away.

Sent to eliminate Mu Yuyuan's shadow...

Mu Yuyuan pierced the heart of the newcomer with her sword...

Shen Yu lowered his eyes.

Even at the very end, Mu Yuyuan finally recognized Ying Shiqi. One remained silent, the other didn't recognize him; in the end, one died and the other went mad, both descending to the Yellow Springs.

It's really sad.

Feeling warmth in his palm, Shen Yu snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Wen Yu.

Wen Yu frowned as she looked at him: "What's wrong?"

Shen Yu chuckled: "It's nothing, let's go."

Wen Yu gripped Shen Yu's hand tightly. He had never had a good impression of Mu Yuyuan, and at this moment he was just listening casually, not caring at all about the reasons behind it.

Still clinging to life, it stayed by Shen Yu's side, covering its own body, sensing that the few fragments of soul that had been integrated into its body had been touched.

They no longer merge mechanically, but gradually generate certain emotions and feelings that only humans possess—slowly taking shape.

It turned its body to survive, looked at the thousands of stone steps on Chengyuan Mountain, and then accelerated to rush up.

Wen Yu chose a dense forest as the meeting place with the master of Chengyuan Mountain. Shen Yu stood outside the forest, looking in for a moment from a distance of several hundred meters, before putting on the pure black mask on his face with one hand.

The creature, clinging to Shen Yu's head, seemed lost in thought, standing motionless on the stone steps alongside him, like two already frozen stone sculptures.

Wen Yu still had some connection with Chengyuan Mountain, but Shen Yu could no longer enter it. He had been cut off from everything within it in his previous life, and in this life, Shen Yu was unwilling to expend any more effort to delve deeper.

Wen Yu stayed in the woods for only a short time, less than ten minutes, before coming out and saying, "Let's go, it's going to rain soon."

Shen Yu held an oil-paper umbrella in his hand. Upon hearing this, he glanced behind him and saw the old Taoist priest dressed in white, his whisk fluttering lightly, his figure half-hidden in the dense forest.

He withdrew his gaze, turned, and left.

"Lan Yu—"

Another voice rang out from behind them, deep and resonant with the scent of damp earth, as familiar as it had been years ago, yet strangely unfamiliar due to the passage of time.

Shen Yu didn't move. A light rain started to fall, and he opened his oil-paper umbrella with one hand.

The bright red paper umbrella shielded the water droplets falling from above. Mo Qianyu stood on the mountain path and looked down. He saw that one of the two people stood upright, holding the umbrella, while the other wore a half-black jade mask and turned to look at him when he heard the voice.

Mo Qianyu's throat was dry. His pupils reflected the images of the two of them. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice, "...Be careful on the road."

The man withdrew his gaze. Raindrops fell heavily, scattering dust and blurring their receding figures.

He eventually left.