Chapter 876: Hello and Goodbye

Alas.

The mission had failed!

Yi didn't want to dwell on what would happen after tonight. He completely cleared his mind, beginning to ponder how to explain things to Rao Yaoyao upon his return. But as he let go and his thoughts truly settled, Yi, having fully regained his composure, still had a faint, lingering feeling...

That things weren't truly over?

For a Grandmaster, after experiencing such a bizarre yet tangible night, to still have a lingering concern, yet struggle to recall what it was—that often pointed to the most crucial information hidden in a dark corner!

Yi stopped in his tracks.

He had extensive interrogation experience. Many times, after a failed interrogation, on the way back to calm down, he'd catch crucial details he'd previously overlooked, leading him to return and successfully complete the interrogation.

Looking back at tonight, after the interrogation, aside from that deeply impactful 'Good heavens' remark, was there truly nothing else?

Yi's breath hitched, and his mind raced.

"Life-Devouring Wooden Body, Saint Slave Wuxiu...""Life-Devouring Wooden Body, Sang Qiye...""How is it that I seem to have seen these two somewhere before, and they seem connected?"

Yi's brows furrowed. He was certain he hadn't known that Mu Xiaogong had met Sang Qiye before. But once 'Life-Devouring Wooden Body' and 'Sang Qiye' appeared together in his mind, Yi was absolutely certain he had seen them somewhere before, and there was definitely a subtle connection between the two!

"Sang Qiye..."

From Mu Xiaogong's end, he couldn't make any connections. Yi started with Saint Slave Wuxiu. The information he had on Saint Slave Wuxiu was sent to the Six Divisions after the person was arrested and imprisoned. This was a huge victory for the Holy Temple. The high-ranking officials of the Six Divisions had almost all received Sang Qiye's data, and Yi was no exception.

Within the data...

"That's right, it was in the data!"

Yi's eyes suddenly lit up. In the records, he had seen a fleeting mention: "Sang Qiye had two disciples at the Heavenly Mulberry Spirit Palace. One is Xu Xiaoshou, who has already joined the Saint Slaves, with detailed information following. The other is the unremarkable Mu Zixi, a 'Life-Devouring Wooden Body'."

Apart from this sentence, there was no other information about Sang Qiye's second disciple. Yi didn't even know what Mu Zixi looked like, what her cultivation level was, or whether she was male or female. However, a Grandmaster's eidetic memory and strong intuition allowed him, after encountering Mu Xiaogong, to retrieve this inconspicuous piece of information from the depths of his long-sealed memory, triggered by 'Life-Devouring Wooden Body' and 'Sang Qiye'.

It was too inconspicuous! So inconspicuous that even Rao Yaoyao, Ye Xiao, and others hadn't managed to connect it. Because everyone knew that the requirements for successors of the Jinxuan lineage were extremely stringent; generally, if one disciple rose, the others either died or were crippled.

But this information was too crucial! So crucial that if these seemingly insignificant details could truly be linked to the current situation, they would be the real key to solving the present enigma!

Yi remained outwardly calm, though his mind was in turmoil. Yet, what he projected was absolute composure.

He turned around. His appearance naturally reverted to Sang Qiye's. This time, there was no intimidation, no threat. Yi simply used Sang Qiye's voice, standing not far from Mu Xiaogong in the hazy night, and asked, as if to a long-acquainted friend, quite casually: "By the way, my disciple, there's one more thing your master doesn't quite understand..."

The joyful expression on Mu Zixi's face hadn't yet faded. Hearing this, she subconsciously blurted out, "What is it?"

Just three words. The young girl's eyes stiffened. She realized something was amiss, and a chill ran through her entire body, but before she could fully react...

"Boom!"

At that moment, from Yi's position on the other side, a sonic boom erupted. His figure suddenly tore through space. The speed at that instant clearly indicated a full-force strike, bringing him directly in front of Mu Zixi's face. He seized her.

"Ugh!"

The young girl watched helplessly as the afterimage nearby dissipated, and a "Venerable Sang" appeared before her. As the new "Venerable Sang" appeared, he directly clamped her neck with one hand and forcefully lifted her upwards. And the world turned upside down...

"You-were-indeed-lying!" Yi roared hysterically, enunciating each word. The anger surging in his heart at that moment was like a torrential river, ceaseless. There was the shame and indignation of being deceived and insulted by a junior, as well as the dread of almost missing a crucial figure.

Consider this: would a stranger, confronted by her former enemy Sang Qiye with such a question, care about the words "one more thing doesn't quite understand"? What she truly should have paid attention to were "my disciple" and "your master"!

"You are insulting me!" Yi was enraged.

He lifted Mu Zixi, held high in his hand, tilting her back to the full extent of his arm, then sharply bent down and slammed her fiercely onto the ground.

"Thud!"

A shockwave accompanied by shattered stones erupted, and a deep crater, dozens of feet wide, was instantly blasted into the ground.

"Pfft..."

Mu Zixi coughed up blood, her vision submerged in mud and crimson. At that moment, she felt as if the world itself had lost its color. A Grandmaster's furious slam, even without using spiritual energy, purely with physical strength, was something no junior Zongshi could withstand. Mu Zixi felt her entire body cracking. She could clearly feel that the flesh and bones of her back were utterly pulverized. Her limbs were powerless, losing all sensation... Her internal organs, completely shattered... With such severe injuries, she should have died instantly. But the pain nerves in her brain seemed to only just begin reacting at this moment, constantly sending out piercing signals, forcing her to hover repeatedly on the boundary between unconsciousness and death.

"Am I... going to die...?"

The scene before her seemed to slow down, to stretch. The enraged "Venerable Sang," the splashing mud and sand, the pitch-dark night sky...

"Buzz—"

At one moment, a buzzing sound resonated in her mind, and the rustling fragments at her ears disappeared. Her breathing sounds also vanished, and the burning pain that accompanied each breath after her severe injuries disappeared as well. Her six senses departed... Mu Zixi realized what was happening, but she was powerless. Her vision began to blur, and her soul felt as if it were escaping into darkness, falling endlessly downwards. Between her pupils, the world receded further and further, and her field of vision shrank ever smaller. Until the last speck of darkness encroached upon everything...

"You should sleep now." Inside her mind, the alluring female voice appeared.

"No—" Mu Zixi cried out loudly.

She panicked. She realized that if she slept now, this world might bid her a permanent farewell. "I can't sleep, I still have too many things left undone!" "I haven't become the head of the Xu Gang yet, I haven't saved Master yet, I haven't figured out who you are!" "He... he hasn't come yet..." Mu Zixi's screams now had a weeping tone; her soul roared, "I can't sleep!!!"

"You should sleep now." The alluring female voice spoke again.

"Help me!" Mu Zixi had never thought of asking that voice for help, but at this moment, she finally pleaded for aid. She couldn't care less anymore.

"I cannot help you," the alluring female voice replied.

"You can, you're so powerful, please help me!" Mu Zixi felt the world darken. She desperately opened her eyes wide, staring at the night sky, hoping to see that figure appear. If he came, he would surely find a way to save her.

"He cannot come, and you needn't wait." The alluring female voice clearly knew Mu Zixi's true thoughts.

"You're lying! He's here!" Mu Zixi clearly saw a figure appear before her; it was absolutely not the appearance of "Venerable Sang." Seizing the last shred of fading strength, Mu Zixi's body stiffened. As if experiencing a final burst of vitality, her soul, which had already fallen into darkness, astonishingly reattached itself to her physical body, then let out a sky-shattering cry.

"Xu! Xiao! Shou!"

Beneath the azure night sky, this sudden resounding cry checked Yi, who was about to act again. It also stunned the person who had already arrived before Mu Zixi.

"Xiao... Qing?" Mu Zixi endured to the very end, only to see that the person before her was not who she had expected, but Liu Changqing.

"I am sorry." Liu Changqing's voice seemed to have changed, and the respect in his eyes towards Mu Zixi was gone. After only that sentence, he calmly turned his gaze to Yi, saying, "But this person, I, your Ancestor, must kill!"

"You're not Xiao Qing..." Mu Zixi tried to speak, but found that her voice had vanished again after shouting the last "Xu Xiaoshou." She had lost the ability to speak.

"What's going on?" Yi, on the other side, was clearly startled by the scene before him. Wasn't this sudden appearance the very person he had previously restrained, the one secretly protecting Mu Xiaogong? But...

"How did you break free?" Yi looked at Liu Changqing.

As for Mu Xiaogong, or rather, Mu Zixi, Yi no longer cared at all at this point. After enduring his enraged slam, this young girl was clearly not long for this world. Her ability to gasp for an extra breath now was merely a final burst of vitality, a 'flash in the pan,' due to the accumulated life force she had absorbed over time now being fed back to her. Once he dealt with the person before him, with Yi's abilities, preserving Mu Zixi's last breath for interrogation would be sufficient.

Right now, the most crucial thing was this inexplicably appearing fellow who called himself "Ancestor." Liu Changqing... He shouldn't be called Liu Changqing now. Ancestor Wuji had begun preparing all this from the moment he encountered Yi on the hilltop. New and old grudges caused him to completely disregard Liu Changqing's will and directly seize control of the physical body once more. From feigning control and setting up a celestial trap to a sudden outburst, everything was within his grasp!

The only regret Ancestor Wuji had was that the seal he had broken free from, and the power he had recovered, had ultimately been a step too slow, failing to save the young girl's life in time. But it didn't matter. In Ancestor Wuji's eyes, among the juniors on the continent, the only one he still paid any attention to was Xu Xiaoshou of the Saint Slaves. This young girl was indeed following Xu Xiaoshou. However... she wasn't the main target; she was irrelevant!

"I must say, the seal restrictions of this Cloud Realm are truly formidable." "And it must be mentioned that this Liu Changqing, in order to prevent me, your Ancestor, from emerging, truly imposed a strong seal." "A pity, but as the saying goes..." Ancestor Wuji's focus had now returned to Yi. Even though the person before him had changed appearance, he could still guess who stood there, simply by their ability. He said with a smile, "Tonight, I, your Ancestor, will surely kill you!"

"Stowaway?" Yi had gleaned a hint from the person's aura. This was not the demeanor a Zongshi guard should possess. This guy dared to speak to him like this, clearly having known him before. But...

"Have we met?" Yi raised an eyebrow curiously.

Ancestor Wuji burst into laughter, then his expression suddenly turned chilling. "In the past, Dao Qiongcang personally apprehended me, your Ancestor. In terms of Heavenly Secrets techniques, I was inferior, and I accepted that. But if even he couldn't interrogate anything out of me, why throw me, your Ancestor, into your garbage Six Divisions? Damn it, you weren't capable enough, couldn't get anything out of me... so you resorted to torture, didn't you?" Ancestor Wuji pressed closer, asking with a sharp tone, "The Martial Restriction Order, quite effective, wasn't it?! It enabled a mere Grandmaster like you to directly break down my, your Ancestor's, physical body, didn't it?!"

Upon hearing this, Yi's pupils suddenly contracted. He remembered! This person...

"Xuan Wuji?" Yi's face was filled with disbelief.

"Hahahahaha..." Ancestor Wuji threw his head back and laughed. "You recognized me, your Ancestor? Excellent. Now that the physical body has collapsed and the Martial Restriction Order is nullified, I, your Ancestor, would like to see what courage a mere Grandmaster like you has left to jump around in front of me!"

Yi was terrified internally. How could such a figure suddenly appear? Xuan Wuji... Wasn't this guy already imprisoned on Void Island? No, wait! Yi's mind raced, and he suddenly recalled that several months ago, a ghost beast had escaped from Void Island, allegedly possessing Heavenly Secrets techniques... Was it him? Ancestor Wuji, had he escaped?!

Yi panicked. He hadn't expected that this minor guard beside Mu Zixi was actually the truly hidden formidable figure. Ghost beast possessing a body? Young Master Xu was accompanied by Mu Zixi, and also a ghost beast that had escaped from Void Island. So the question was... Who was he?

Past events and various clues furiously intertwined in his mind at this moment. The mystery seemed about to unravel. But it was still missing something... Just a little more!

At this critical moment, Mu Zixi's dying roar from earlier exploded in Yi's ears once again...

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

This, was the truth? Yi's eyes widened in disbelief, almost popping out of their sockets. So, that 'First Heavenly Tower,' that organization that had brazenly existed in the Eastern Heavenly Royal City for so long, was it truly... real? And the conjectures of Rao Yaoyao, Ye Xiao, and others, as well as the theories previously dismissed by the Night Watch and other Red Robes, were all true?

"Figured it all out?" Ancestor Wuji saw the stunned expression on the man's face, knowing that the other party must have unraveled the puzzle by now.

"You..." Yi swallowed, his heart beginning to pound.

"Calling out his revered name, the Temple Master Dao must have already sensed this area!" Yi's bluster barely concealed his inner fear.

"I, your Ancestor, dare to call out that bastard Dao Qiongcang by name. Do you think news from here can still get out?" Ancestor Wuji chuckled, "I have waited this long to set up this Heavenly Mechanism. Even if a Half-Saint were to personally arrive, it would be impossible for them to discern what is happening here right now! In other words..." Ancestor Wuji pointed at Yi, his expression cold, and murmured, "Tonight, not even a god can save you!"

"Thump."

A sound from behind broke the stalemate. Both men simultaneously glanced sideways and saw Mu Zixi, unable to sustain herself any longer, finally collapse onto the ground. Wisps of black mist emanated from her body, yet despite this, her eyes remained wide open, staring fixedly at the void of the night sky.

"Xu Xiaoshou..."

No sound emerged. But both knew, from the shape of Mu Zixi's wriggling lips, that she was still calling out that name until her very last moment.

Similarly, just as everyone believed that Mu Zixi's struggle until the end was meaningless, no one knew that in the eyes of the young girl collapsed on the ground, the night sky above was not a void. The Divine Demon Eyes could pierce through illusions. Its divine power seemed to have been stimulated to its peak just as Mu Zixi reached her limit. In her eyes, high above the nine heavens, in that desolate expanse, a clear figure had now appeared. It was the figure of a young man in a state of disappearance, his entire body radiating the precious light of a Saint Body, his demeanor transcendent. Even his face seemed to have undergone cosmetic surgery, becoming exceptionally outstanding.

He held his sword, stunned. He, too, seemed to display disbelief at this irreversible scene. And after his disbelief, his eyes instantly turned crimson, and he roared something hysterically.

"Fool..."

Mu Zixi smiled. She smiled, thinking Xu Xiaoshou was indeed the real fool. Didn't he know that in a disappeared state, not even a sound could be transmitted? "He wouldn't even let me know what his last words were..."

Mu Zixi closed her eyes with a smile, letting her soul fall once more into the cold, boundless darkness. Her memory images, however, flickered and replayed, finally settling on the scene of their first meeting. It was still the Heavenly Mulberry Spirit Palace, still the Wind and Cloud Competition... Back then, she had used ancient wood to send someone—whose name she'd forgotten—flying, and Xu Xiaoshou had started arguing with him. Offstage, the two even came to blows, and finally, Xu Xiaoshou made that guy sniff pills... How ridiculous! He was so heavily injured, yet he wasn't given pills to eat, only to sniff... Indeed, he was quite foolish! Because the competition schedule was tight, she had to go down and call someone. She said a lot to Xu Xiaoshou, but that fellow was so stupid he couldn't hear a single word...

The memory images were intermittent, making it hard to recall anything else. Darkness enveloped everything. Everything in the mortal world seemed about to become completely unrelated. Mu Zixi was exhausted. She truly couldn't recall anything more. In the final moment before her soul escaped into the ultimate darkness, the life review before death seemed to be forcibly frozen. Mu Zixi paused slightly, seeing the last memory image. She suddenly felt that the encounters in this mortal world were so ironic... Because at the very end of her recollections, the image frozen in her mind was simply Xu Xiaoshou squatting down and turning his head, delivering his first official words to her in this world.

The wheel of fate seemed to be perpetually manipulated by someone. Those first words, now, sounded like the first, and even more like the last...

"Hello! Goodbye!"