In the end, Qin Xiandu handed Mu Daoying a small Glazed Lamp.
“I also tried my best to save Fellow Daoist Liu’s life.”
Mu Daoying asked, “What is this?” His pupils reflected the faint glow floating inside the tiny lamp, like a dim star.
Qin Xiandu said somberly, “This is a fragment of the Soul-Returning Lamp. I… only managed to grab this one.
“Before the plan, I had been searching for a way to let Fellow Daoist Liu live, something that would benefit everyone. Unfortunately, I still found nothing. This contains a bit of Fellow Daoist Liu’s divine soul that she left behind ahead of time.”
After the Demonic Sect’s defeat, Qin Xiandu had not forgotten to search the Demon Domain for that mysterious resurrection secret method.
But the secret method had always been in Luo Naji’s hands. He asked every demon, scoured every text in the Demon Domain, and could only obtain an incomplete portion.
“We have to try.” Qin Xiandu gestured toward the Glazed Lamp and said, “I’ve already tentatively restored the secret method based on the known information, but whether it will work is still unknown. Even more uncertain is whether this remaining lamp light from the Soul-Returning Lamp can nurture her divine soul.”
At this point, Mu Daoying had understood everything.
He silently stored the Soul-Returning Lamp fragment in his sleeve.
“Thank you, Alliance Leader, for everything you’ve done for her. Ying will protect this lamp and wait for her to wake.”
His tone was calm yet resolute.
Qin Xiandu couldn’t help glancing at him, fearing he had lost his mind from excessive grief. “Fellow Daoist Mu, whether she… can be resurrected is still uncertain. Perhaps you’ll guard this lamp for a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, and she still won’t wake…”
The shattered Soul-Returning Lamp, the incomplete resurrection secret method, the damaged divine soul—at best, this was just a shred of hope for the living.
“I know.” Mu Daoying said calmly, “Then I’ll keep guarding, keep waiting. A hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years—I’ll wait.”
Qin Xiandu sighed.
Mu Daoying bowed deeply. “Alliance Leader, please forgive Ying for taking his leave first.”
Qin Xiandu knew his mind was set and had no desire to keep him, so he did not stop him.
The light from the Glazed Lamp in his sleeve was faint, but whether it was psychological or not, Mu Daoying always felt a very subtle warmth. He couldn’t help reaching into his sleeve to gently stroke the lamp’s surface.
He had just descended from the Purple Pole Platform when he bumped into a round, fat Daoist hurrying toward him.
Though he had been prepared, Mu Daoying still trembled slightly upon seeing the man’s face and softly blurted out, “Shizun.”
Who else could this old acquaintance be but Ling Yuan?
“Ning Xia… you!” Ling Yuan’s spirits lifted at the sight of him, joy appearing on his face. “You came at the perfect time. I was just looking for—”
But when he glimpsed Mu Daoying’s subdued expression, the rest of his words caught in his throat.
“You… already know?”
Mu Daoying nodded with a dim expression.
After Ling Yuan’s death, he had dreamed countless times of their reunion. He had never imagined it would be under such circumstances.
“Fellow Daoist Liu… alas.” Ling Yuan sighed too, unable to find words of comfort. He patted Mu Daoying’s shoulder. “Restrain your grief.”
“This disciple understands.”
A master-disciple reunion should have meant endless words to exchange.
Yet because of Liu Qiao’e’s death, they could only look at each other in silence.
After a long silence, Ling Yuan finally added, “If there’s anything you want to confide in your master later, come back to the sect gate to find me. Your master will always be there.”
The words were few and rough, yet warm.
Mu Daoying felt a warmth in his heart, surging with endless gratitude. “Shizun… this disciple will definitely come to see you someday.”
He did not explain what “someday” meant, and Ling Yuan did not ask.
He knew this disciple had his own plans.
After bidding farewell to Ling Yuan and leaving the Jade Capital, Mu Daoying had nowhere to go. Unknowingly, with the Glazed Lamp tucked in his sleeve, he arrived before Nameless Weak Water.
Nameless Weak Water was bottomless once more, restored to its former icy, black silence.
The water lay still, unchanging for a thousand years, ten thousand years.
He stood alone on the shore and couldn’t help thinking how cold and dark the water’s depths must be, how lonely she must have been down there all alone.
It was too cold here, so cold he could hardly stand. He reached into his sleeve for the Glazed Lamp again.
It held her remnant divine soul.
From then on, carrying this lamp, Mu Daoying wandered many places, mostly aimlessly, just walking onward.
Her life had been too bitter, too short and hurried. She had once yearned to wander the world with her sword, right wrongs, traverse famous mountains and great rivers, admire misty clouds and sunsets.
Since that was so, he would take her to walk properly, to see, to inquire about the world’s injustices.
Sometimes, Mu Daoying was even surprised by his own calm.
He simply accepted the reality concerning Liu Qiao’e with tranquility—no despairing grief, no suicidal impulses.
Was it because of this lamp?
He couldn’t help taking the Glazed Lamp from his sleeve, wiping it carefully with a handkerchief, then holding it up to his eyes and gazing at it tirelessly.
Was this lamp light a bit brighter than yesterday?
Or— he pursed his lips, his heart trembling—had it dimmed a little more?
He did not know and did not dare look again.
But with this lamp, he had a reason to rally his spirits and keep living.
Every day, he wiped the Glazed Lamp hundreds of times, telling her everything in minute detail.
What he had eaten today, where he planned to go tomorrow, what he would eat.
Chattering on endlessly, nagging.
Call him naive if you must—he stubbornly believed he could wait for her return.
That day, weary from walking, he sat by the riverbank to rest and took her out from his sleeve to talk to her.
Just then, he heard shouts and curses.
He saw a middle-aged couple shoving a little girl forward with unkind faces.
The girl was in ragged clothes, skinny as a sick kitten, crying in fright.
Mu Daoying put away the lamp and approached the couple. “The child is still young. Even if she did something wrong, you should explain it to her properly. How can you hit her like this?”
The middle-aged couple’s expressions turned extremely vigilant and hostile upon seeing him. “We’re disciplining our own child? What’s it to you?”
They moved to drive him away.
Mu Daoying sensed something off.
The little girl saw him and burst into tears. “They’re not my parents! Mmmph—”
Before she could finish, the middle-aged woman panicked, covered her mouth, and twisted her ear. “You trying to get us killed? It’s just a couple hits! How dare you say they’re not your parents! We raised you for nothing, you ungrateful wretch!”
The couple looked shifty and tense, with long faces, flat noses, small mouths.
Mu Daoying examined the little girl’s round face, straight nose, and square mouth closely.
They indeed shared no resemblance.
Over these two years, carrying out her “last wishes” and making up for her regrets, he had traveled the world righting wrongs and seen countless injustices, tasted the depths of human malice.
If he could still be fooled by this couple, then these years had been wasted.
He despised human traffickers the most, so his expression turned cold. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and pressed the tip to the man’s neck.
“Let her go.”
The couple screamed in fright but refused to give up, mumbling curses.
Mu Daoying unhesitatingly pressed the sword tip forward an inch. “You have two choices: either get past this sword in my hand, or come with me to report to the officials.”
The sharp sword qi drew blood. The couple’s legs went soft, and they finally admitted the girl was not their own but one they had abducted.
“We already said you can have the child!!” Kneeling on the ground, they begged bitterly. “Can you let us go now?”
Mu Daoying did not release his grip but called the girl over.
She darted behind him.
Mu Daoying said gently, “Close your eyes.”
The girl obediently closed them.
“Open them only when I tell you to, okay?”
With that, snowy sword light flashed, and two heads fell with two swishes.
He sheathed his sword, took the girl’s hand, and walked slowly away.
The girl asked shakily, “Can I open them now?”
Mu Daoying looked back to ensure the headless corpses were out of sight. “Yes, you can. You did very well.”
–
The girl still remembered her name. Though young, she spoke very coherently.
She said her name was Wu Yueshu, born to a well-off family that had run a shop.
But two years ago, demonic qi had rampaged, and the family shop could no longer operate.
After that, she could not remember clearly—only that she had fled with her parents to many places.
Later, her parents died, and she wandered alone, suffering greatly until she encountered this pair of traffickers.
Mu Daoying sighed softly in his heart. He lamented the hardships of the common people. Indeed, in prosperity the people suffered; in ruin, they suffered.
Wu Yueshu asked timidly, “Daozhang, c-can I travel with you? I can wash clothes, cook. I’ll do anything!”
Mu Daoying said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I can’t take you with me.”
The eager light in the little girl’s eyes dimmed bit by bit.
Seeing this, Mu Daoying took pity and added, “I live a life of wind and dew on the road. You’re still too young to follow conveniently. But if you don’t mind, I’ll help you find a good family.”
“Really?” Wu Yueshu perked up again.
Mu Daoying asked curiously, “Aren’t you afraid I’m a trafficker too, that I’ll sell you?”
The little girl shook her head. “I… I saw it all.”
Mu Daoying was stunned.
Wu Yueshu whispered, “Daozhang is a good person. You made me close my eyes, but… I’m not afraid of that. I’ve seen lots of dead people.”
Mu Daoying was slightly moved and gently patted her head. “It won’t happen again.”
A few years earlier, he had once saved a wealthy merchant family by chance and become friends with them. The couple had kind natures but no children after many years.
Mu Daoying decided to take little Yueshu there to try his luck. If it did not work, he might have to ask if she was willing to go to Jade Clarity Temple.
But her spiritual qi was weak, with little immortal aptitude. At Little Cold Mountain, she would likely only be a menial laborer.
Though young, Wu Yueshu was extremely sensible.
At first shy, she grew bolder after getting familiar with him.
Seeing him always wiping a dim Glazed Lamp as if it were a treasure, she asked curiously, “What is this?”
Mu Daoying paused. “This is my wife.”
He thought for a moment, then shook his head with a slight smile. “No, that’s not quite right.”
“If she heard that, she’d definitely scold me—maybe even hit me.”
That somewhat aloof big brother smiled faintly, truly like ice melting, spring warmth and blooming flowers.