Chapter 120: The Reverend Beishan
"Second brother, what did you say? Dongfang Tianyu...died outside the circle?"
Li Muchen looked at the blood-stained Lanqie that Li Quzhuo handed to her. Her eyes gradually turned from disbelief to emptiness, as if the whole world had lost its color at this moment. The bloodstains left on the Lanqie were like a glaring mark, reminding her of a cruel fact - Dongfang Tianyu had left this world forever.
Li Muchen's hands trembled slightly, and she held Lan Qie tightly, as if she wanted to draw a trace of warmth from Dongfang Tianyu from the cold. But no matter how hard she tried, the sword in her hand only told her more firmly that the guy who always had a warm smile in front of him would never come back.
“Why…why is it like this?”
She murmured to herself, her voice full of helplessness and sadness. She had thought that although there was an unbridgeable gap between her and Dongfang Tianyu, at least they could continue on their respective paths, occasionally meet each other, and share their discoveries and insights. However, fate was so cruel that it no longer gave them such an opportunity.
“What on earth… just happened?!”
Li Muchen's inner resentment erupted like a volcano. She let out a deafening roar, clenched her hands into fists, and shook Li Quzhuo in the wheelchair almost madly, trying to awaken his closed heart.
However, no matter how urgent her call was, Li Quzhuo, who had lost his legs, seemed to be in another world. His eyes, which were once full of light, were now empty, and his lowered head seemed to carry endless sorrow and despair, without any reaction to anything around him.
The journey outside the circle became a catastrophe. The once glorious mask organization fell apart in an instant. Only Wang Quan Baiye and Li Quzhuo, dragging their bruised and battered bodies, struggled back to this familiar world.
The only two survivors are also very secretive about their memories of that journey outside the circle, and any attempt to uncover the secret will lead to their strong resistance and avoidance.
This experience, like an invisible shackle, bound them tightly in the shadow of the past.
Seeing that Li Quzhuo was still unwilling to reveal what happened outside the circle, Li Muchen could only leave here in a daze. In a trance, her thoughts returned to the scene of her last meeting with Dongfang Tianyu.
That day, Dongfang Tianyu came specially and took back his mask from Li Muchen. The atmosphere between them was subtle and complicated.
"You, are you really planning to step into the land outside the circle described by the third young master of Aolai Country?"
Li Muchen's voice broke the silence, with a hint of imperceptible urgency.
Dongfang Tianyu was about to turn around and leave, but she stopped him in his tracks. He turned around slowly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "You know everything?"
"The Mask Organization has become very famous recently. Your whereabouts are no longer limited to the Dao League. Even the storytellers in the streets and alleys are talking about it with relish."
Li Muchen's tone was calm, but it revealed his precise grasp of the information.
"Over the past year, you have frequently traveled back and forth across the border area, simply to explore the mysterious boundary defined by the Third Young Master." She continued to state her inference without any emotion in her tone.
Dongfang Tianyu was surprised by Li Muchen's insight, but he accepted it calmly. He smiled and said jokingly, "Sister Chen is really smart. She can see through our plan just by these clues."
However, Li Muchen did not smile. Instead, he looked at Dongfang Tianyu with a more determined look: "Then, can I join you? Go outside the circle together?"
As soon as these words came out, the smile on Dongfang Tianyu's face froze instantly. He was silent for a moment, as if he was weighing the pros and cons, and finally spoke slowly: "The journey outside the circle is dangerous and unpredictable. For your safety..." "Why? You all like to use this kind of rhetoric to evade me? You too, and so do your two brothers. Why don't you agree that I will follow you to the outside circle?"
"Could it be that in your hearts, I will always be a weak person?"
There was a hint of stubbornness and unwillingness in Li Muchen's voice, her eyes were slightly red, but her eyes were extremely firm, as if she was declaring her determination to the world.
Dongfang Tianyu couldn't help but feel a complex emotion when he saw this. After so many years of getting along with each other, he knew Li Muchen's talent and wisdom, and he also understood her unwillingness to be ordinary and her desire to explore the unknown.
"Sister Chen, you misunderstood." Dongfang Tianyu sighed and his tone became much softer. "I don't think you are mediocre. On the contrary, I have always admired your ability and wisdom. But the land outside the circle is not only a test of strength, but also a challenge to the limits of will and survival ability. We don't want to let you take risks because we cherish you and don't want to lose you."
"Besides, this trip outside the circle is just the beginning. After we have explored the unknown, we will invite you to go with us. Wouldn't that be more effective?"
Dongfang Tianyu's words were like a warm spring breeze, trying to blow away the haze in Li Muchen's heart, but deep in his eyes there was an imperceptible worry.
Just as he himself said, the journey outside the circle was extremely dangerous and even he was not sure if he could face everything there.
"I understand, Brother Tianyu. I will wait for you here. When you return safely, tell me the stories outside the circle."
This was Li Muchen's final answer, but it became the sentence she regretted most in her life.
"If you had taken me with you, things would not have turned out like this!"
"You who can see things from stones are just like that. Next, I will use my method to prove to you that I can do what you can't do..."
At this moment, all of Li Muchen's emotions were restrained, and his eyes returned to indifference again.
She turned her wrist and a stream of golden liquid appeared in her hand.
Once when she went to Beishan to find the Lanyun Stone for Dongfang Tianyu, she also met an extraordinary person - the Reverend Beishan.
This person was the one who used the Demon Control Talisman to threaten the demons to overthrow the Demon Control Kingdom. When the Demon Control Talisman was unlocked by Shi Kuan, he was immediately besieged by the demons. But he did not die, but abandoned half of his demon body and hid in the mountains.
"Help me to take revenge and kill Shi Kuan..."
These are the words Li Muchen spoke when he met the dying Reverend Beishan.
"Shi Kuan? But you and I are strangers to each other, and you are the famous Demon King of Beishan. Why should I take such a big risk to avenge you?"
Li Muchen squatted down and looked at the Reverend Beishan, who had only half of his demon body left, with a smile.
(End of this chapter)