Going Home
Another month later.
The group that had gone to the East Approach Secret Realm was about to return. On this day, the sect leader personally appeared and summoned all the disciples of the sect to wait at the entrance. His expression was solemn and dignified, making the atmosphere here much heavier.
Holding Su Sui in her arms, Shen Ge transmitted her voice to Mu Wan, who was not far away, and asked, "What's going on? Why are you making such a big fuss? Did something happen?"
Mu Wan did not reply, but stared sadly at the entrance.
Noticing Mu Wan's unusual behavior, Shen Ge quickly made a connection and his expression turned serious. It seemed that the expedition to the East Approach Secret Realm had resulted in heavy casualties.
Without saying another word, Shen Ge waited quietly, and even Su Sui in his arms remained quiet and well-behaved.
About half an incense stick later, a huge spaceship sailed into the cave entrance. Shen Ge immediately saw the number of people standing on the spaceship. Apart from the two elders, there were only twelve people standing by the ship. One of them was an old man with white hair, his eyes closed and his hands hanging limply at his sides. He could only stand by being supported by Wang Yan and Jin Ling.
Upon seeing the old man's face, Shen Ge's eyes narrowed sharply, and a bad feeling and an unconcealable sadness welled up in his heart.
On the spaceship, Wang Yan looked at the old man supporting her with a complicated expression and murmured, "Senior Brother, we're home. You can rest assured now."
Perhaps it was because of those words, or perhaps it was just a feeling, but Jin Ling felt that the corners of her senior brother's mouth, who had already died, seemed to be slightly upturned.
Jin Ling forced herself to send out her divine sense to check if Qin Yu was still alive, tears welling in her eyes as she whispered, "Senior Brother, I'm sorry, we've dragged you down, I'm so sorry..."
Sect Leader Ziyang stared at the people on the ship with a complicated expression, lingering particularly long on Qin Yu's corpse. He twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, and finally sighed, "Everyone... welcome home."
All the disciples present understood what had happened, and they all solemnly said, "Senior brothers and sisters, welcome home!"
"Sect Leader, Senior Brother Qin Yu single-handedly fought a fourth-tier Thunder Eagle to protect us, forcibly raising his cultivation level with the Life-Burning Technique and tearing off the Thunder Eagle's wings..." Wang Yan's throat bobbed, and she said in a trembling voice, "He asked me to ask the Sect Leader and the elders whether he is qualified to be the Senior Brother?"
Hearing the trembling question, Shen Ge felt a lump in his throat. He stared silently at Qin Yu standing beside Jin Ling, and after a long while, he silently murmured in his heart, "Senior Brother, may you rest in peace."
Although he had spent less than a year with Qin Yu, Shen Ge truly respected him as his senior brother, not because of the help he received, but because of his character.
Shen Ge dared to say that every inner disciple in this sect had received help from Qin Yu, to varying degrees, and that Qin Yu absolutely remembered the names of every single inner disciple.
Jin Ling, standing to the side, was already sobbing softly with tears streaming down her face. Although she had already Foundation Establishment, she was still essentially a girl in her early twenties with little experience, and she found it difficult to control her emotions.
The other disciples around him, some with tears in their eyes, others silent and solemn, all gazed at the old, frail figure on the spaceship.
Ziyang stared blankly for a long time, looking at Qin Yu's corpse and sighing repeatedly. After a while, he said in a strong and steady voice, "Qin Yu was the most outstanding senior brother since the founding of the Spirit Moon Sect, unmatched by anyone."
"Senior Brother, may you have a safe journey!" Shen Ge called out first, and all the disciples followed suit, saying, "Senior Brother, may you have a safe journey!"
The sound was loud, as if everyone was hoping to awaken the old body on the spaceship with a loud voice.
A thousand miles east of the East Approach Secret Realm, Meng Yan looked helplessly at the figures relentlessly pursuing him and sighed, "Junior brothers, why bother? You should know I don't want to hurt you."
One of the men shouted, "Senior Brother, the three sects demand an explanation from you, and our sect also demands one. Most of the fellow disciples who followed you into the East Approach Secret Realm have known you for almost a hundred years. Why did you betray and kill them!"
Even if it was unintentional, you still chose to run away. Don't you feel any remorse at all?
"Guilt?" Meng Yan smiled lightly, then shook his head and said, "You should go back. Go back and tell the sect leader that Meng Yan has already left Yellow Maple Valley, so he doesn't need to worry about the other three sects' questions."
"Don't follow me anymore, or don't blame me for disregarding our fellow disciples."
After saying that, Meng Yan disappeared in a flash of lightning. This time, he used some stealth methods, making it difficult for the group to track him down.
The pursuers looked at each other, then finally turned their gaze to the white-haired, youthful-looking man in the blue robe who had spoken earlier. "Second Senior Brother, shall we continue the chase?"
This person is Wang Hua, the second senior brother of Yellow Maple Valley, who is considered one of the most outstanding disciples in the sect.
Wang Hua glanced at the compass in his hand, sighed, and said, "Forget it, the Heaven and Earth Compass is already messed up. Even if we wanted to chase after it, we couldn't."
"Besides, the sect didn't expect us to succeed in capturing our senior brother. After all, with his strength, while killing us all might be difficult, escaping unscathed would be no problem at all."
"Let's go back and report Senior Brother's words to the Sect Leader. They can handle the aftermath. However, the losses to the three major sects this time are too great, especially the Spirit Moon Sect. They took the blame for Senior Brother from the very beginning, resulting in their Senior Brother Qin Yu's death in the East Approach Secret Realm. If this is not handled properly, it might lead to a war with the Spirit Moon Sect."
The others also looked regretful. One of them sighed, "Qin Yu was quite a figure. If he hadn't died in the East Approach Secret Realm, he might have advanced to the Golden Core Stage in the next few years. What a pity."
"Perhaps this is fate. From the moment we all embarked on the path to immortality, struggle and death have been constant companions. This is the perilous nature of the path to immortality."
Ten miles away in a valley, Meng Yan revealed himself. He casually glanced at the girl sitting on a boulder, surrounded by beautiful butterflies, and asked nonchalantly, "Were you waiting for me?"
"Yes, I've been waiting for you. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
The girl jumped off the boulder, her delicate little feet hovering a few centimeters above the ground as she walked through the air to Meng Yan. Her breath was fragrant and sweet, and a warm breath wafted towards Meng Yan's face.
A flash of electricity crackled across Meng Yan's body, and both the heat and the butterflies swirling around him vanished. A slight hint of disdain appeared in his eyes as he said, "Bai Lili, you should know very well that you'll die if you provoke me, right?"
"You're so boring." Bai Lili glanced at the butterfly that had turned into black powder on the ground, pouted, and said in a pitiful and delicate manner, "You start fighting over the slightest disagreement, and you even speak ill of such a beautiful woman like me. Has your heart turned into lava?"