Chapter 407: Farewell, Gu Yuyao

One green mountain after another were tightly linked, and white clouds drifted around the peaks.

It had been thirty days since leaving Ji Village.

Zhang Xingyu and Tang Yunxi once again clasped hands and ascended a towering, cloud‑piercing peak.

This peak was the last summit they had not yet climbed within their sight.

Before this, they had already scaled two hundred and five peaks.

Two hundred and five peaks, two hundred and five temples, two hundred and five mountain gods.

After vanquishing two hundred and five mountain gods, Zhang Xingyu's storage ring also gained two hundred and five gleaming golden bones and hundreds of shining divine weapons.

The summit remained flat, and at its center still stood a mountain‑god temple of green bricks and azure tiles. Inside the temple, a headless, armless statue of a mountain god stood upright.

The two instinctively drew their flying swords and launched an attack in unison.

In a flash, the deity emerging from the statue was erased, and the statue's fragments scattered across the ground.

Skillfully, he dug a golden human bone and two golden divine weapons from the pile of broken stones at his feet, and deftly tossed them into a corner of his storage ring.

After the strike, they were done.

Zhang Xingyu, holding Tang Yunxi's small hand, stepped out of the temple gate.

Outside the gate, the rolling thick fog vanished. Beams of light descended from the sky, bathing each mountain peak in dazzling brightness.

The two gazed far into the distance.

In the distance, mountains stretched endlessly, their fiery‑red peaks shrouded in black mist.

Nearby, the verdant plain cradled a clear brook that laughed as it rushed toward the horizon.

After standing on the summit for a while, the two clasped hands and flew down the mountain.

At the foot of the great mountain lay a village, its cooking smoke curling, and the sounds of chickens and dogs mingling.

Seeing the village again, the two were overjoyed.

For a month they had been eating on the wind and sleeping in the dew, longing for a place to rest properly.

Stepping into the village, the early‑rising villagers were returning one after another.

Upon seeing the two arrive, they showed little surprise.

This made the two feel very astonished.

Shouldn't they be extremely astonished at the arrival of strangers?

Shouldn't they crowd around to ask all sorts of questions upon strangers' arrival?

Zhang Xingyu grabbed a villager and said, "Brother, we are from elsewhere; may we ask where this place is?"

"Jiang Village. We have a few outsiders in our village; if you wish to find them, go to the village chief's house at the western end," the villager replied.

There are also outsiders in the village.

Zhang Xingyu felt a secret joy. Could they be the celestial prodigies of the various great sects attending the Hundred‑Flower Feast? If so, perhaps Harry, Gu Yuyao, Yue Linglong, and Meng Ruyan might also be there.

"Let's go have a look!"

Zhang Xingyu's heart raced. He thanked the villager, then took Tang Yunxi's hand and walked forward.

Jiang Village wasn't large; the two reached the village chief's house in less than a quarter of an hour.

Through the wooden fence, Zhang Xingyu saw the courtyard's scene.

In the courtyard's center, beneath a yellow‑horned tree, five young men and women wore sorrowful brows, staring at each other in silence. One of them seemed injured; his arm hung across his chest, wrapped in thick gauze.

Among them, Zhang Xingyu saw a familiar figure. The woman was serene and calm, like a willow branch swaying gently in a spring breeze.

She was Feng Qingyu, Gu Yuyao's senior sister.

If Feng Qingyu is here, could Gu Yuyao also be here?

Harboring a flood of questions, Zhang Xingyu pushed open the wooden courtyard gate.

Hearing the gate's creak, several people seated in Sun‑Sitting Sorrow City turned to look toward the entrance.

"Zhang Xingyu?" Feng Qingyu gasped upon seeing the figure at the doorway.

"Hello, Senior Sister Feng! Greetings, everyone!" Zhang Xingyu greeted them while leading Tang Yunxi into the courtyard.

"Zhang Xingyu, how did you two come here?" Feng Qingyu asked.

"We climbed up, from the other side of the mountain," Zhang Xingyu said, pointing at the continuous range opposite.

"You came from the other side of the mountain?" Feng Qingyu and the others wore expressions of surprise and disbelief.

"Yes, from the other side of the mountain," Zhang Xingyu affirmed.

Feng Qingyu and the other men fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Feng Qingyu spoke again, "Zhang Xingyu, who is this fairy?"

Seeing Zhang Xingyu still holding Tang Yunxi's hand, she subtly furrowed her brow.

"She is my senior sister, Tang Yunxi," Zhang Xingyu replied. After a pause, he added, "She is my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" the others were puzzled. Even Tang Yunxi tilted her head, looking at him.

"Um, girlfriend means a prospective wife, a future partner on the Dao," Zhang Xingyu explained.

Hearing his explanation, Tang Yunxi's pretty face flushed bright red. She turned to Zhang Xingyu, her brows radiating endless tenderness.

Seeing Tang Yunxi's expression, the other men in the courtyard all displayed envious, jealous looks.

What a pity! Such a beautiful fairy already has a lover! the men thought.

What a pity! Zhang Xingyu already has a Dao partner; our poor junior sister would be heart‑broken if she found out! Feng Qingyu thought.

Putting aside speculation about their thoughts, Zhang Xingyu softly asked Feng Qingyu, "Senior Sister Feng, what about Gu Yuyao? Is she here as well?"

Feng Qingyu nodded, a faint sorrow in her eyes.

Seeing her expression, Zhang Xingyu thought, "This doesn't look good. Could something have happened to Gu Yuyao?"

He pushed open the heavy wooden door of the stone house, and a dilapidated wooden bed came into view, with a familiar figure lying upon it.

Gu Yuyao lay motionless on the wooden bed. Her complexion was pallid, her eyes tightly shut, as if she were already asleep.

"Yuyao! Yuyao!" Zhang Xingyu came to the bedside and whispered her name at her ear. Unfortunately, Gu Yuyao gave no response.

"Yuyao, what's wrong?" Zhang Xingyu turned his head and asked Feng Qingyu.

"The junior sister's spirit is injured. I'm sorry we didn't take good care of her…" At this, Feng Qingyu began to sob softly, crystal tears falling from her eyes like a downpour.

"Her spirit is injured. How could this happen?" Putting aside any sentimentality, Zhang Xingyu anxiously shook Feng Qingyu's fragrant shoulder and asked.

"Xingyu, stay calm. Don't hurt Fairy Feng." Tang Yunxi comforted from beside her.

Zhang Xingyu released Feng Qingyu's fragrant shoulder: "I'm sorry, Senior Sister Feng, I just …"

"I don't blame you. I know the bond between you and the junior sister." Feng Qingyu, unbothered by Tang Yunxi beside her, said so.

Zhang Xingyu turned his head toward Tang Yunxi and saw that she showed no displeased expression.

The crisp yet sorrowful voice of Feng Qingyu reached his ears: "Thirty‑some days ago, the great ship we were on was attacked by a powerful sea beast. To evade the beast, the ship veered off course and eventually entered a strange sea region. Ancient ships drifted on the surface, arranged neatly, all moving at a uniform speed toward the same direction. We went to investigate those ancient ships but found them empty. My fellow disciples and I were just about to leave one of the ancient ships when an odd purple light suddenly appeared in the sky. Then we arrived at this place. Later, we heard the villagers say this is Jiang Village; in front of the village lies a chain of volcanic peaks, and behind the village stretches the endless Black Mountain."

"Later, we heard that a mountain deity resides on the mountain, and to leave the mountain one must obtain the deity's permission. The few of us climbed the volcano together. Unexpectedly, the volcano's mountain deity was extremely powerful, and we were all injured. The junior sister, to help us escape, forcibly invoked the protective jade pendant bestowed by our master. That pendant contains three supreme divine abilities sealed by the master; activating them not only consumes massive spiritual energy but also heavily drains the spirit. The junior sister first unleashed one ability, forming a restraint on the mountain deity. However, the deity's divine weapon was truly formidable, and seeing us about to perish at its hands, the junior sister desperately released the three abilities. With her blocking, we escaped the deity's attack, but the junior sister was struck by one of the deity's abilities and has not awakened since."

Feng Qingyu, upon saying this, began to sob again, wailing.