Chapter 858: Entangled

Her voice dropped a half tone, no longer as bright as before.

Her fingers twisted on the hem, let go, then twisted again.

"One or two of them don't believe me. Ying Xing brandished a knife at me, and you stayed silent."

Dan Heng remained silent.

The rippling light on the water flickered on his face, cutting his expression into fragments and stitching them back together.

After a while, he spoke.

His voice was half a pitch lighter than before.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I am Dan Heng. I think you've still mistaken me for someone else. Dan Feng… the one you know. He's no longer here. The person standing before you now is Dan Heng. I only have fragments, vague fragments. What you just said, I don't remember. Or rather, it doesn't belong to me."

He lowered his hand from his brow and let it hang at his side.

His fingers trembled slightly, though he probably didn't notice.

"So you say you're alive; I'm glad. Glad for those who remember you. But if the person you're looking for is Dan Feng—"

He paused, as if biting back something about to slip out, "Then you've come to the wrong place."

After speaking, he turned, spun the Cloud Strike in his palm half a turn, pointed the spear tip downward, and walked the opposite way along the stone bridge.

Sai Fei Er stood behind him, watching the slender silhouette walk slowly away along the stone bridge.

Sunlight poured down from the cliff opening at the top of the cavern, gilding a fine golden edge on the spear shaft on his shoulder, while the shadows on the stone slabs were split into many sections by the light reflected off the water.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

A fox tail swayed gently behind him, its movement lighter than at any previous moment.

"I'm conflicted."

She moved her lips silently, without a sound.

Dan Heng said "I am Dan Heng," "You've mistaken me," "Sorry," but his steps were hesitant.

A truly unbelieving person would not stay silent that long before turning around.

A truly unwavering person would not sheath his weapon so neatly while speaking.

The other's inner turmoil must have reached its limit.

Sai Fei Er silently gave herself a round of applause.

Alright, steady!

Although the wall he built with words still stands, the soil beneath it is already being loosened.

Now just need to push harder, add that extra effort, cat cat!

"Wait a moment!" he said, his tone urgent.

Then he stepped forward, jogging to chase after.

White long hair swayed behind her, and the fox tail left a fluffy white trail behind.

When she caught up to Dan Heng, she deliberately didn't brake, running an extra half step before stopping; her heel brushed the stone slab lightly, producing a "shh" sound.

"Um—sorry."

Bai Hang stood a half step behind Dan Heng, her tone tinged with a hint of apologetic embarrassment.

"Did I say something wrong? If you find me annoying, I can follow behind without speaking. I won't bother you."

Bai Hang paused, then added, "I promise I won't be noisy."

Dan Heng didn't look back, and his stride didn't halt.

But he didn't quicken either.

He kept his original pace forward, neither welcoming nor rejecting, like a silent island drifting in motion.

Sai Fei Er took this as tacit consent.

She quickened two steps, moving to stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Dan Heng, and glanced sideways at him.

Dan Heng didn't look at her, but she didn't mind; she cleared her throat and shifted her tone to a casual chat mode.

"If you don't speak, I'll take it as your agreement."

Walking behind Dan Heng's side, keeping a neither‑close‑nor‑far distance.

She tilted her head slightly, gazing at the still‑vivid murals on the cliff wall, while the fox ears turned gently in a circle.

"Um—may I say something?"

Bai Hang lowered her voice even further.

"I'm not asking you to admit anything, nor to recall anything. It's just… some words I've been holding in for a long time."

Bai Hang placed her hands behind her, her steps light, but her tone gradually sank.

"After I left—what became of you all?"

The meaning was clear.

Five Heroes of the Clouds.

Five people.

One died (me), and she, as the 'just‑returned one,' shouldn't know the fates of the remaining four.

So she can't ask directly; that would be too obvious.

She can only first pose a vague question, letting the other choose how much and in what way to answer.

Dan Heng gave no reply.

Sai Fei Er wasn't in a hurry.

She released her hand from behind, letting it hang at her side, swaying gently.

"Fine, it's okay if you don't want to speak. I'll just say something casually, you can just listen."

Bai Hang glanced at Dan Heng's profile, then turned back to stare at the water ahead.

Jing Liu, her—

When mentioning that name, she paused deliberately, as if weighing what tone to use.

"Is she still practicing sword? I remember that whenever we drank, she would set a stern face and say she had to practice sword tomorrow, yet she always ended up drinking the most. I also don't know whether her Ice Sword has rusted. Among the Five Valiants of the Clouds, she was the most fretful; after I left, she must be even more fretful."

Sai Fei Er continued speaking.

Her voice gently echoed in the vast Ancient Sea, its sharp edge filtered by the cold glint on the water's surface, leaving only a soft aftertone.

"That kid Jing Yuan must have grown into an adult by now, right? He used to be the youngest; at every gathering he'd sit in the corner, pretending to listen to us while secretly dozing off. I said a couple of words to him and he'd blush. Wow, such a cute little kid—what kind of mature person is he probably now? No, Jing Yuan should be able to age quite handsomely, right?"

She laughed, a smile that unintentionally spilled out as she recalled past events.

Deceitful Divine Authority was adjusting her micro‑expressions and voice‑print curve, but the laugh itself was hers; when Sai Fei Er portrayed Bai Hang, she borrowed the emotion from fragments of Bai Hang's Memory.

She didn't truly care for the Five Valiants of the Clouds, but as a Deceitful demigod, she genuinely enjoyed the process of bringing a role to life.

"Ying Xing—" she paused again, this time for longer.

"Fine, you already know Ying Xing's matter. He brandished a knife at me. When I saw him I shouted 'Ying Xing', and he first slashed himself once."

She sighed, "Would you say he's foolish? After all these years, he's still like that."

Dan Heng's steps did not halt.

But as he held Ji Yun's hand, his fingers tightened on the spear shaft for an instant before releasing.

The force in that instant was enough to whiten his knuckles.

Sai Fei Er could not see his front face, but she could see the slight rise and fall of his shoulders; that moment had disrupted the previous rhythm.

Deceitful Divine Authority was at work.

It wasn't forcibly implanting thoughts; it merely coated every word Sai Fei Er uttered with a layer of "credible" luster, like giving a wildly implausible book a cover so exquisite that readers are reluctant to doubt it.

As for whether the book's contents withstand scrutiny, that's the reader's concern, not the cover's.

And at this moment, Dan Heng, the "reader", is using his own Memory and Cognition to actively supplement the missing page numbers of this "book".