Twelve years later, when all the tides of fate had receded, how could he possibly meet her again on this desolate beach in such a state! "Get out!" he gritted his teeth, uttering only one word.
However, a pair of soft hands landed on his eyelids, trembling violently. Xue Ziye's voice began to shake: "Mingjie... your eyes, how did they become like this? It's that cult leader—"
He couldn't see her expression, but he could clearly hear the pain and pity in her voice. In that instant, he felt an unbearable ache in his heart, and almost frantically pushed her away, blurting out, "It's none of your business! You—"
Before he could utter the third "get out," a soft rustling sound rang out as a tear fell onto his face, hot and wet. In that instant, all the masks of pride and inferiority were pierced by the heat.
"You—" Tong felt the intense emotions in his heart could no longer be controlled. He managed to utter a single word before his throat could no longer produce a sound. He slumped down and slammed his shackled hands hard onto the ground.
"Mingjie, have you finally remembered everything?" Xue Ziye whispered. "Do you know who I am now?"
Although he couldn't see, he could feel Xue Ziye gazing at him from the darkness, calling out the name that had been buried for twelve years.
What...what is this?! Unable to tolerate such kindness any longer, he abruptly raised his hand, grabbed the hand filled with pity, and slammed it against the iron cage wall! www.L
Caught off guard, Xue Ziye gasped in surprise and looked up to see a pair of ferocious eyes in the darkness.
Tong gripped Xue Ziye's hands tightly, pressing her against the cold iron cage. She closed her eyes, breathing rapidly, as if countless voices were howling within her chest, her whole body trembling. In that brief instant, a torrent of pain surged through her, the intense agony feeling as if it could bring her back to life.
"You...do you really want to push me to this point?" Finally, he spoke, "Why did you even come?"
However, before she could finish speaking, tears finally slid down from her tightly closed eyes.
"Why did you come here again!" he shouted uncontrollably, pressing her hand down tightly. "Your Mingjie is long dead!"
Xue Ziye was stunned: such a proud person had finally collapsed before her eyes.
"Why did you come?" Tong loosened his grip, leaving a bruise on her arm. As if the walls in his heart had finally crumbled, he let out a beast-like howl, trembling so much he could barely stand. He released his grip, slumped against the iron cage, and turned his face away: "Why did you come... to see me like this?"
Xue Ziye silently reached out and hugged him tightly.
She embraced Tong in the darkness, as if embracing the boy she had lost years ago, feeling his shoulders and back tremble uncontrollably. This master assassin, whose nerves seemed as stiff as wires, completely collapsed in an instant.
In the darkness, she touched his gaunt cheek and whispered, "Mingjie... Mingjie, it's alright. The King promised me that he would let you go as long as he cured his illness."
Yes, his life of killing began because of her, so it should also end because of her.
“It’s no use…” After a long, long time, Tong gradually controlled her emotions, gently pushed away her hands, and whispered a sentence, “It’s no use—I was poisoned by the Seven Star Begonia.”
"Seven-Star Begonia!" Xue Ziye's pale face looked extremely tragic in the darkness.
As the master of the Medicine Master Valley, she knew better than anyone what this poison meant. The Medicine Master's Secret Collection said: Among the ten most deadly poisons in the world, the nine poisons of arsenic, peacock gall, black spider juice, rotten flesh paste, rainbow fungus, blue silkworm eggs, viper saliva, strychnine, and sweet potato sprouts are not the most potent poisons. The most terrifying one is the Seven Star Begonia.
That's a poison that first destroys a person's mind and brain, then destroys their body—and there's still no antidote!
She couldn't speak; her mind went blank. Her hands gripped tightly unconsciously, as if the person in front of her would disappear if she let go.
"You're too naive... The King never intended to let me go in the first place." Tong tried her best to control herself and said in a low voice, "Trying to negotiate with him is like asking a tiger for its skin. Don't worry about me anymore, find a chance to leave here quickly—Miaoshui promised me that she would take you away safely."
Miao Shui? Xue Ziye was taken aback, looked up at Tong, and a complicated smile appeared on her lips—that woman was scheming, yet Tong was just as naive as herself to believe the promises of such a person.
“Little… Little Night Sister, don’t worry about me,” he said with some difficulty, calling out the name he had forgotten for twelve years. “You should hurry and find a way down the mountain… It’s too dangerous here. I deserve what I got, and it’s not worth your trouble.”
"Nonsense! No matter what you've done, as long as I have a breath left, I won't stand idly by." Xue Ziye gently closed her eyes in the darkness, as if making a decision: "Mingjie, don't worry—I have a way."
She lit a tinderbox, took out her medicine pouch, and gently pressed his shoulder: "Sit down and let me see your eyes."
He sat down silently, letting her examine his eyes and the wounds on his body—he paid no attention to what she was doing, nor did he realize that eight major acupoints on his body were being gradually sealed, rendering him completely immobile. He simply strained to open his eyes wide, trying to see her face clearly. Twelve years had passed… After tonight, it might be the last time they saw each other.
How he longed to see her face clearly now, but his eyes could no longer see.
Xue Ziye silently examined the document for a while, then stood up and said, "I'll go out for a bit, please wait a moment."
Tong smiled bitterly in the darkness—what other way was there? Even her grandmaster couldn't cure this poison.
Outside the dark prison, the snow-capped peaks of the Kunlun Mountains remain unmelted for millennia.
As soon as Xue Ziye opened the iron gate, the sunlight shone in, and she saw a woman in blue walking a mastiff not far away.
"What? You came out so quickly?" Miao Shui turned around in surprise and laughed. "I thought you two old friends would talk for a while longer."
Xue Ziye stood at the prison gate, staring at Miaoshui for a moment, then suddenly opened her hand: "Give me the key."
"What key?" Miao Shui exclaimed in surprise, and stopped the howling mastiff.
"The key to the golden chain." Xue Ziye held out her hand, expressionless. "Give it to me."
Miao Shui looked at her in surprise, then suddenly laughed: "Valley Master Xue, don't you think your request is a bit excessive—why should I give it to you? If I did that, I would be betraying the King!"
"Stop beating around the bush," Xue Ziye interrupted her coldly, saying directly, "I know you want to kill the King of the Sect."
As if a sharp arrow had pierced her body, Miao Shui's laughter abruptly ceased, and she stared silently at the woman in purple, her eyes filled with murderous intent.
“I can’t cure the Seven Star Begonia poison, but I absolutely do not want Mingjie to be locked up like a dog until he dies—give me the key, and I will kill that old bastard for you.” Xue Ziye said without changing her expression, “Tomorrow.”
Miao Shui stared at her, her eyes gradually brightening again: "You're quite bold. Are you confident?"
“I’m much more confident in taking action than you are,” Xue Ziye said coldly, stretching out her hand. “I will definitely avenge Mingjie and the Moga clan! Give me the key—I will cooperate with you.”
Miao Shui hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand, and a bunch of golden keys fell into Xue Ziye's palm. "Take it."
Anyway, that Tong has already been poisoned by the Seven Star Begonia and won't live for more than a month. What's a little concession to her for now? At most, we'll deal with the two of them after we kill the Pope.
"Okay." Xue Ziye grasped the key and nodded. "Wait a moment, I'll discuss it with you in detail later."
It's Sister Xiaoye back! The moment the prison gates opened again, the people inside the cages showed expressions of wild joy.
She was gone for only a brief moment, yet to him in the darkness, it felt like a century had passed. That despairing darkness almost robbed him of the will to live.