Perfected Chaoyun's study of the Bright Lantern Cup had been extraordinarily obsessive, but his theory had been put to the test and refuted by facts.
"Beyond recording the properties of the Bright Lantern Cup, the notes contain many abstruse deductions and arguments. I can't recall them in detail, so I won't repeat them. Let me go straight to his conclusion—"
Consort Mei drew her cloak tighter around herself. "Perfected Chaoyun clung stubbornly to his original view, claiming he had already found a successful precedent."
"His original view?" Doubts immediately sprang up in He Lingchuan's mind. *Could it be...?*
"Yes. He firmly believed the Bright Lantern Cup could safeguard one's true heart and likewise pierce the mystery of the womb, yet Dragon Head Mountain was the only place where he ever found an exception." A single case was enough; a single case was all Perfected Chaoyun needed to remain resolute in his course. "Perhaps because that was where the Black Dragon plummeted to his death, the Bright Lantern Cups there were stained with Black Dragon's blood and underwent a wondrous transformation."
He Lingchuan instantly recalled that the Bright Lantern Grass he had seen in the Panlong World was a dark, dusky red, somewhat different from what the spider demon sisters had described.
Was it truly because the Bright Lantern Cups on Baimao Mountain had been steeped in Black Dragon's blood that they had mutated?
"Is dragon blood really that potent?" Dragons were hardly rare in ancient times, were they? Why had no one discovered it back then?
Consort Mei shook her head. "In his notes, Perfected Chaoyun merely marveled that the Black Dragon Heavenly Venerable truly lived up to his name—his cultivation could move heaven and earth, and even after his passing, his blessings could enrich all living things. Then he wrote that he intended to conduct an experiment on himself, using the Bright Lantern Cup to pierce the mystery of the womb for himself."
Dong Rui was listening so intently that he blurted out, "And then?"
"There is no 'and then.' The notes ended right there." Consort Mei looked at He Lingchuan. "You've asked about this more than once. I hope these notes are of use to you."
He Lingchuan had spared her, and she was returning the favor.
"They are." He Lingchuan took a deep breath, a heavy stone temporarily lifting from his chest. "Incredibly useful!"
Both General Red and Mou Kingdom sought the Bright Lantern Cup from Baimao Mountain. Could it be precisely for this hidden purpose?
To pierce the mystery of the womb!
How many cultivators across the realm refused to rot away like common weeds and longed to find a way for their divine souls to endure? Perhaps this was the true secret behind the Bright Lantern Cup's immeasurable worth.
It was hardly surprising that Mou Kingdom demanded the Bright Lantern Cup as tribute. How many mighty figures in Mou Kingdom and Lingshan were unwilling to let both body and soul fade into oblivion?
Yet what did General Red need the Bright Lantern Cup for?
What mystery of the womb did she need to pierce?
Moreover, reading between the lines of Zhong Shengguang's words, this Bright Lantern Cup could help General Red contend with Mitian.
General Red was to serve as the vessel for Mitian's descent, meaning that what she had to confront personally had to be Mitian in a soul state.
This made complete sense. When He Lingchuan had plotted against Nailuotian, he too had been forced to face an avatar of Nailuotian's divine soul directly.
Could the Bright Lantern Cup protect General Red's soul, keeping her from being utterly crushed by Mitian?
He had crossed vast oceans in search of answers, only to find the truth growing ever more elusive.
Yet of one thing he was certain:
In the end, General Red had succeeded.
That was historical fact.
In any case, he was one step closer to the heart of the enigma.
As He Lingchuan stood in contemplative silence, Consort Mei studied him with open curiosity. Rare was the man who drifted into a daze before her without his gaze being glued to her figure.
"Are you from the Yangshan Archipelago?"
"Yes."
She tilted her head. "Where is that?"
"To the west, not far from Mou Kingdom."
Consort Mei murmured an "oh." Walking over to her horse, she swung into the saddle. "I owe you both a great debt of gratitude. If you ever need me, or if you need my help to deal with someone, go to the ghost market in Julu Port. Post a red-and-white sheet of letter paper on the noticeboard with the time and place. I will come."
He Lingchuan smiled and asked, "Who are you?"
Consort Mei looked back over her shoulder, her smile captivating beyond words. "My name is Mai Miao."
She, too, had a name of her own.
He Lingchuan shook his head and gazed steadily at her. "Have you ever thought about who you truly are? Who do you want to become?"
His gaze was profound and tranquil, tinged with a faint, almost imperceptible compassion.
It was as if none of her innermost thoughts could hide from him.
Consort Mei froze, the smile on her face gradually fading.
Who was she?
Who was she supposed to be?
Who would she be in the days to come?
She had grown accustomed to smiling at people. Without that smile, it was as if she had stripped off a mask; her features remained unchanged, but the core within was different.
She had become an exquisite, pale, cold, and hollow porcelain doll.
Dong Rui, Lingguang, and the ghost ape looked from He Lingchuan to her and back again, having no idea what riddle the two were playing at.
Still, at a time like this, it seemed best not to interrupt.
After a long silence, Consort Mei finally said to He Lingchuan, "Thank you."
Just two words, but delivered with unprecedented sincerity. Even Dong Rui could hear the tangled knot of emotions within them.
Clarity returned to her eyes, and she suddenly asked He Lingchuan, "You never intended to arrest me in the first place, did you?"
Had these two men simply wanted to watch her exhaust every trick in her arsenal just to survive?
He Lingchuan smiled faintly. "Not all deceit and disguises are meant to harm."
He had seen through her early on—she was an actress through and through, refusing to speak a word of truth until the play had reached its end.
If that was the case, he had simply played along.
He Lingchuan hadn't really lied to her either; he had merely held the power of life and death over her without stating his intent, applying just enough pressure.
Having been subtly called out, Consort Mei pressed her shapely lips together in mild frustration. "Fine. I stand corrected."
She turned to glance at Dong Rui with a faint smile.
"Until we meet again, then."
With that, she veiled her face with her hood, cracked her whip, and spurred her horse forward.
Only in that moment did she show a flash of gallant spirit, her earlier delicate vulnerability vanishing without a trace.
Even if she was a doll, she was a porcelain doll of a thousand faces.
The black wolf bounded right behind her, soon shrinking into a tiny speck in the distance.
Long after the fair lady's silhouette had melted into the wind, Dong Rui was still staring blankly in the direction she had vanished.
"Earth to Dong Rui." He Lingchuan waved a hand in front of his face. "If you're so reluctant to part, why not chase after her and play the gallant protector?"
"Su—" Dong Rui snapped back to his senses, abruptly biting his tongue. "Er, no! I meant, that was close! That kind of intoxicating romance is laced with poison. I couldn't stomach it."
"Really?" He Lingchuan flicked his riding crop. "You're chickening out without even trying?"
"She eats people," Dong Rui muttered under his breath. "Then again, eating people isn't that big of a flaw. My monkey eats people, and First Aunt and Second Aunt eat people too. Who knows, maybe they could even share a meal." It would be quite harmonious.
Seeing that this fellow had genuinely harbored lustful thoughts, He Lingchuan said with a beaming smile, "The people she devours are the ones in her bed."
A black widow or a praying mantis could hardly do worse.
Dong Rui shuddered, instantly snapping to full sobriety. He slapped his own forehead. "Good grief, have I lost my mind?"
He was hardly a virtuous man himself, but the real Consort Mei still sent a chill down his spine.
Every ounce of her beauty was a weapon.
Every bit of her gentleness was a calculation.
Indeed, Consort Mei herself was a venomous flower assiduously nurtured by hatred, agony, and blood on this grim and vicious soil over many long years.
The more beautiful, the more alluring, the more lethal!
Keeping company with a woman like that, one wouldn't have even bone splinters left in the end—
Just like the old King of Bo!
"That woman..." Dong Rui turned it over in his mind, still feeling an overwhelming sense of pity. "*Sigh*, if only she weren't like that!"
"If she weren't like that, how could she have survived until now?" He Lingchuan patted his horse's flank, and the mount began clopping forward. "Even when she fell into our hands, she was still scheming, striving desperately to live."
Dong Rui and the soul-snatching mirror both went, "Huh?"
"The moment she realized we weren't Mou people, she began working on an angle," He Lingchuan explained to them. "If we had been Shadow Tooth Guards, she would have been dead without question. But since we aren't Mou subjects, only foreign envoys undertaking a commission, there was a glimmer of hope.
"So she brought up how she had bailed us out in Xun City and gotten herself placed on the wanted list for offending Nangong Yan, all to make us feel indebted and guilty."
Dong Rui rubbed his chin. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I really did feel a tiny pang of guilt back there."
In the presence of a beauty, his long-dead conscience had managed to feebly stir.
"Then she recounted the tragedy of her background and the kindness of her foster parents, wanting us to believe that everything she did was forced upon her by circumstance, leaving her no choice; that her revenge against the King of Bo was heaven's justice, and that she was merely fighting for fairness."
Lingguang, perched on He Lingchuan's shoulder, thought it over and said, "Wh-what she said doesn't sound wrong, though."
"It sounds reasonable enough. But all of that came straight from her own mouth. How do we know what's true and what's false? Aside from anything else, is she truly Mai Liansheng's daughter? Where's the proof?" He Lingchuan said calmly. "All we know is that the Mai household was raided and only the youngest daughter escaped. How do you know she is definitely that daughter?"
The monkey and Dong Rui exchanged glances. "Uh..."
Lingguang clutched its head. "B-but she knew so many details!"
Could anyone other than a member of the Mai clan have known such specifics?
*Ah, its head felt like it was going to burst!*
Even this little monkey couldn't help but sympathize with her? He Lingchuan patted its head.
"Without details, how could she move anyone? But nearly all the members of the Mai family are dead. Who could possibly scrutinize her details? It comes back to the same point: where is the hard evidence?" He had investigated plenty of cases and knew that no matter how rich the emotion, it still required evidence to stand on. "Without it, one can only take it with a grain of salt. But the deaths of those Shadow Tooth Guards at her hands are an ironclad fact. How do we account for that?"
"Uh..." Lingguang was stumped again.
Those dozen or so Shadow Tooth Guards had never wronged her, yet Consort Mei had turned around and framed them, ultimately igniting a war between two nations.
He Lingchuan explained further, "Someone like her, who doesn't even value her own life for the sake of revenge—how could she care about the lives of others?
"Finally, she claimed that having achieved her vengeance, she could die without regrets. That was simply to make us..." He Lingchuan looked at Dong Rui. "...to make *you* feel pity and let her go. Confronted with such a beauty struggling desperately to survive, you most likely wouldn't have the heart to drag her back to Mou Kingdom to face justice."
The moment he had laid eyes on Consort Mei, he knew she wanted to live.
Even if this world was rotten as a mire, she wanted to live.
Even if there wasn't a shred of justice between heaven and earth, she still wanted to live.
She had finally avenged her blood feud; she could finally breathe for herself.
And only by surviving was there hope, was there anything at all... was there a future. That was why there was still light in her eyes—a light born of staring death in the face.
Her will to live was far stronger than that of the walking corpses He Lingchuan had grown accustomed to seeing on the Shanjin Plain.
Dong Rui scoffed. "Was I the only one who took pity on her? You're the one who let her go!"
Chapter 1138