Belle froze. Who, O_o? Me? I don't think I did anything. What does Master want with me?
Feeling slightly apprehensive, Belle went to Yixuan's door and knocked.
"Master?" The door swung open just as she called out. Yixuan looked calmly at her disciple.
"Come in."
Belle was rather baffled. She really couldn't think of what Yixuan wanted.
"Although I haven't spent much time with you two, I feel quite reassured leaving things to Wise and Belle. That lets me get a little rest, too." Yixuan seemed to be making small talk with Belle.
"My brother really does handle things methodically, without getting flustered at all. As for me, hehe." Belle agreed.
Then Yixuan fell silent, staring blankly at the floor for a while.
Belle thought for a moment, then said, "Master, are you all right? Senior Sister said you've been acting strange since you came back from the Hollow. Were you eroded by Corruption in the Hollow earlier? Are you feeling unwell? O_o?"
Yixuan looked up at Belle and felt an inexplicable urge to laugh, but immediately held it back.
"Go and call Xu An over, too," Yixuan said.
"Oh, okay! I'll be right back." Belle hurried out and dragged Xu An over.
"What's wrong, Master?" Xu An looked at Yixuan, the very picture of obedience.
Yixuan gestured for Xu An to stay quiet and just listen.
"Belle, when you were being eroded by Corruption, did anything unusual happen... for example, did you see scenes from the past?"
Belle thought about it. "Now that you mention it, I did see some things from the past."
Belle began describing what she had seen in the Corruption.
"I think... in the Corruption, I saw my life with our teacher back when Helios Academy was still around.
"She called my name softly, as though she was waiting for me to go to her..." Memories surfaced in Belle's mind. Seemingly recalling what had happened today, she grew a little dazed. After a moment, she continued, "Everything was so warm and peaceful... like a dream I'd forgotten long ago."
Yixuan said, "So... they were warm memories?"
Belle didn't answer directly, but continued, "I also heard a strange voice... as though it wanted to drag me deep into the Hollow.
"It wasn't our teacher calling. Someone was watching me from inside the Hollow.
"But I was immersed in those warm illusions at the time and hadn't figured out what was happening.
"When you woke me up, Master, I even felt a little annoyed and disappointed. It was like..." At this point, Belle glanced at Xu An.
"Like having a sweet dream in the morning and suddenly being disturbed..."
O_o? What the heck? That's unreasonable. All I did was wake you up because I'd woken up in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Did you really have to take a jab at me here? Evil Belle. I'm definitely waking you up next time, too. Hmph.
Of course, Belle had no idea what Xu An was thinking. She merely continued, "Our teacher and those warm memories were right within reach. Everything felt so real that I almost didn't want to wake up."
"What else did you see?"
Was this the important part? Xu An pricked up his ears and listened closely.
"The instant you touched me, Master, I think I saw some strange scenes... I think you were talking to someone who was badly injured... and that person looked a lot like you."
Yixuan sighed upon hearing this. "So you did see it. Those were fragments of my memories."
"Memory fragments? Master, what was that?!" Belle was rather surprised.
Yixuan's eyes lost focus as she sank into her memories. "Actually, I encountered Corruption a long time ago, as well as people who had been eroded by it.
"Their descriptions were similar to yours. They saw warm memories, beautiful moments from the past they couldn't forget... some were even unwilling to leave the Corruption.
"But as time passed, those beautiful memories would become exaggerated dreams, drawing them in step by step until they couldn't escape. In the end, they would be completely eroded without even realizing it."
"I see... no wonder you immediately realized Worry-Free Water contained something related to Corruption when you heard it made people hallucinate.
"So when you noticed something was wrong with me, you immediately cleared away the Corruption and brought me to my senses."
"So? You two got hurt today?" Xu An asked in confusion. Both of them looked perfectly normal, neither appearing to have had anything happen to them.
"Don't worry. It was only a minor matter," Yixuan reassured him.
"But, Belle, I was also affected by the Corruption, though my situation was a little different from yours," Yixuan continued. "Corruption can't make me see warm illusions. It can only bring back my coldest, cruelest memories."
"Do you mean those memories I saw, Master?" Belle asked.
Yixuan fell silent, seemingly avoiding the subject on purpose.
"Belle, Xiao An, do you remember what I told you before? Many of the workers on Waifei Peninsula were rescued by Mount Yunkui during the fall of the Old Capital.
"But afterward, Mount Yunkui abandoned Yunkui Summit on Waifei Peninsula and never looked after those people again... instead, TOPS took complete control of Waifei Peninsula.
"All of this was because of a mistake we at Mount Yunkui made back then."
"A mistake? What happened?" Xu An and Belle asked in confusion.
Xu An's take was, Dunno. I didn't read the story closely. I only paid attention to combat power. With a Void Hunter in hand, the world is mine. Whatever you've got, eat my instant ult first.
Yixuan lightly rested a hand against her forehead and continued, "When the Old Capital fell, Mount Yunkui received an emergency summons. All of us left the mountain to support the military operation."
Xu An rose and walked behind Yixuan, a hint of heartache in his eyes.
He gently placed both hands against Yixuan's temples and began massaging them.
Feeling her disciple's concern, Yixuan's sorrowful expression softened, and she continued, "The mission ended in failure. Almost all of Mount Yunkui's twelfth-generation disciples died in Hollow Zero. Only one survived... me."
At this point, Yixuan closed her eyes.
"After that incident, Mount Yunkui's lineage was nearly severed. The mission's failure also caused TOPS financial losses.
"Although Yijiang, the twelfth-generation sect master, had already died, she was still held responsible for the operation's failure. In the end, TOPS reached an agreement with us.
"Mount Yunkui would withdraw from Waifei Peninsula, and TOPS would move in to develop Bright Porcelain and resettle the refugees."
"So the person in that memory was..." Belle ventured, having formed a guess.
"Yes. The previous sect master, Yijiang." Yixuan placed one hand on her hip, seemingly hoping that an outward show of nonchalance would ease the grief in her heart.
TOPS, huh? Xu An silently took note.
Just as Yixuan was about to continue, a sudden scream came from outside, followed by a commotion.
"What's going on?" Xu An frowned, thoroughly displeased at being interrupted.
"Come on. Let's check it out first." Yixuan took Xu An's hands away from her head, giving them a squeeze as she did.
Xu An frowned at his master, not understanding what she meant.
"Why are you looking at me? The rest can wait until we're back." As though nothing had happened, Yixuan headed straight out.
Holy crap, what's going on? Why can I sense Ether leaking out? This looks really bad. Xu An sensed something unusual in the air.
Yixuan had naturally sensed it as well, and her brows knitted tightly.
The group hurried out into the street to investigate.
"Help!"
"Someone save me!"
Cries for help rang out from nearby.
"Their Ether Corruption is flaring up!" Xu An shouted.
Yixuan first approached one person, who was still crying out, "I've been drinking Worry-Free Water on time! Why is it still flaring up?!"
"Don't panic. I'll help you." As she spoke, Yixuan carefully sensed the flow of Ether inside the patient's body... and gradually guided it out.
The person's Ether Corruption symptoms soon eased.
They kept treating the people on the street, but their efforts were a drop in the bucket.
"What do we do, Master? There are too many people," Xu An asked with a frown.
"If we don't hurry, the Ether they're giving off will cover the whole neighborhood!" Ju Fufu said anxiously.
"How can we possibly treat them all?!" Belle said anxiously.
"That damned Lor. Pah! Even dead, he left such a huge mess behind."
Yixuan frowned, then relaxed her brow, seemingly having thought of a solution.
"Everyone, come here! I have a way to deal with this Ether."
Yixuan had everyone hold out their hands and left a talisman mark on each person's palm.
"Take these marks and set up Ether Resonance Marks in different directions.
"Once everything is ready, I'll use Ether Resonance to deal with the leaking Ether. That will also ease these people's Ether Corruption."
"Let me know when you've finished setting them up. Understood?"
"Understood!" everyone answered in unison, their voices brimming with vigor.