Chapter 97

The cause of her sleep disappeared.

Zhong Minglan's fingertip landed on the letter's seal.

"See."

"Yes, Your Majesty the Empress."

The three-legged Jin Wu leapt into flight and disappeared.

Zhong Minglan closed her eyes again.

Yet a voice constantly echoed in her ears.

"Mother..."

She is a little girl.

It also made her feel an inexplicable closeness.

It seemed to be calling her, not someone else?

At her level, it's impossible to have hallucinations for no reason, nor to feel inexplicable affection.

The truth is only one—she has an imperial princess, and the missing memories must be related to her.

"Child."

Zhong Minglan spread her senses across heaven and earth; she must find her child.

Biyu Sect.

News of Shen Qingli's return spread like wildfire.

As for Bai Ren Shan, there's no need to mention—he personally led the Various Peaks masters and elders, coming to the rear mountain pass to welcome.

Within the sect, among the disciples, discussions were even more heated.

"Qin Xiao Su, you've come too."

"Cheng Zhen, senior brother."

"Wang Zhenxin, come quickly."

The disciples already gathered outside the main hall of the Sect Leader Peak are all core disciples of Biyu Sect, and all have received favors from Shen Qingli.

Gu Cihe arrived late, but he came.

Bai Chongtong, on the other hand, didn't come; he had already left Biyu Sect and returned to the Bai clan.

"Senior Brother!"

"Senior Brother!"

"..."

Pei Jianshu and Bai Chongtong are absent, and Shen Qingli had long since left Biyu Sect.

Without a king in the mountain, this monkey Gu Cihe has become the senior brother of Biyu Sect's current disciples.

"Senior Brother, do you think Senior Sister can come back?" Qin Xiao Su asked eagerly.

Cheng Zhen also asked, "I heard she is from the Shui Shen clan, one of the nine great families of Sheng Long Tian, is that true?"

"Senior Brother, should we go beg Senior Sister later?" Wang Zhenxin still spoke his mind, "Let's admit our mistake."

"Senior Brother, when Senior Sister was in the sect, she doted on you the most; if you plead more, she will surely soften. Then, a leak from her fingers will be enough for us."

"Right, Senior Brother,..." All Biyu Sect disciples were discussing how to keep Shen Qingli, even if they had to kneel for three days and three nights, they would be willing.

Gu Cihe gave a bitter smile, "You all know I was deceived by Su Chacha and did many things that harmed Senior Sister; can she still forgive me?"

"Will!"

"Definitely will!"

"Senior Sister has been nothing but good to you!"

Qin Xiao Su also gave an example, "Back then, the eldest son of the Gu clan's concubine came to the sect to bully you, and it was Senior Sister who kicked him out, even saying that if you dared to bully you again, she'd hit you each time she saw you."

"Moreover, she urged you to endure punishment on the Extreme Cold Cliff, yet she went to the Ice Snow Sect to beg for ice‑dew, just so that after your punishment you wouldn't injure your foundation but instead strengthen your tendons and bones and boost your talent."

"Furthermore! When you went to the magma cave, she also went in, even diving to the bottom of the magma pool to gather fire lotus for you, protecting your meridians and expanding your channels."

Everyone was recounting Shen Qingli's devotion to Gu Cihe.

Those years, she raised and cared for him as if he were her own younger brother.

Gu Cihe's face turned green...

"Enough."

Gu Cihe didn't want to listen any further, showing how much of an ungrateful wolf he is.

She did so much for him, yet after she lost her phoenix bone, he punched and kicked her.

"..."

Everyone also fell silent.

No matter how unwilling one is to mention it, what has been done has already happened.

Covering one's ears while stealing a bell is useless.

"It's that we have gained benefits without realizing it."

"And still think Senior Sister ought to have done that."

"What about the facts?"

There is no longer Senior Sister Shen Qingli.

Pei Jianshu, that senior brother, and now Gu Cihe the senior brother, the other senior sisters, even the masters, sect leader, and uncles—who cares about them?

No one will ever wholeheartedly impart all their knowledge to them again;

No one will ever step forward to shield them when they are injured;

No one will ever sacrifice their lives for them without hesitation.

……

Shen Qingli left less than a year ago.

They realized that in the sect, anyone could be missing, but only the eldest senior sister could not be absent!

"We really were wrong."

Someone cried; the last time he went for training he broke his leg, and no one cared for him. If he hadn't been clever and found a place to hide himself, he would probably have died in the training grounds.

Now his legs still limp a little; if the eldest senior sister were here, she would have long found him the best medicine, so how could it still not be healed?

"I myself went to the Profound Yin Cave, hoping the eldest senior sister could get me a snake shed, so I could also get one for my junior brothers and sisters, but I couldn't even enter the Profound Yin Cave and almost died outside."

Cheng Zhen frankly admitted, his words full of regret; he originally thought going to the Profound Yin Cave was nothing big, until he couldn't even enter the cave, then he realized how much the eldest senior sister had done for him.

At that time he still felt it was natural.

But who is born to naturally treat someone well?

Even his own father wasn't as good to him as the eldest senior sister...

"When she scolded us as ungrateful wolves, I still wasn't convinced."

"I still thought she was repaying kindness with ulterior motives."

"I still insulted her."

The more we spoke, the more we felt we weren't human.

People are like that; only after losing something do they know to cherish it.

But some also felt it wasn't entirely their fault.

"Since she gave it to us, we shouldn't have expected repayment, and she never told us how hard it was for her to obtain it."

"You didn't even see her get injured!" someone retorted.

"But that was also her own willingness; I didn't ask her."

"Yeah, so now she's unwilling; you should accept it gracefully, why are you still begging her?"

Wang Zhenxin, who had been repeatedly rebutted, was unconvinced: "She raised me like this; she should take responsibility to the end, shouldn't she?"

Xiao Su Qin conceded! For someone who never repents, he is inherently blameless.

"If she won't take responsibility, what can you do, bite her?" Cheng Zhen suddenly said.

Wang Zhenxin stayed silent; he really couldn't do anything.

Gu Cihe sank his face: "In a moment we will ask her; we can only ask for her forgiveness."

"Yes, eldest senior brother!"

All the Azure Jade Sect disciples knew they could only do this; it was also their only hope.

If she refuses to forgive them, they'll remain like this for the rest of their lives, never able to make any better progress.

However, when Shen Qingli truly appeared——

They discovered they didn't even have the right to speak!

Shen Qingli, who descended from the void, appeared amidst the ninety-degree bows of Bai Ren Shan and others.

By her side followed a retinue of Profound Sect elites! Eighteen in total, each exuding an aura stronger than the Supreme Elder of the Azure Jade Sect.

The Profound Sect of the Changshui Shen clan could absolutely slay an ordinary Profound Emperor of the Azure Jade Sect across ranks, let alone the junior disciples below the Profound King. Before these attendants, they didn't even have the courage to stand, all kneeling.

When they dared to look up, they saw Shen Kuo and Shen Qing Huang, two banished immortals, flanking her left and right, noble and unattainable, as if Shen Qingli, a goddess descending to the mortal realm.

She had become a supreme existence they could never hope to reach!

"Older sister!"