Chapter 57: Tower in the Clouds

Meng Ruji had observed that since arriving in the Land of No Return, her wishes had always been difficult to fulfill.

For instance, she wanted money, but every time she obtained it, it flowed away like water.

She wanted to marry Mu Sui—she did, was happy for a few days, then regretted it entirely.

She wanted to come to Zhuliu City—she indeed came, but not exactly completely.

After awakening from darkness, seeing her surroundings, she reflected on such thoughts with grim humor.

The room was in an extremely high place, like a tower, with windows all around but no door. She opened one and looked outside: only vast seas of clouds.

Meng Ruji counted the recent days. In the Land of No Return, for money and matters, she had crawled and struggled on the ground the whole time. When unlucky, she'd crawled in the river. Having not stood at such heights for so long, she felt unaccustomed.

Looking at the sea of clouds, she felt dazed, momentarily imagining she'd returned to Hengxu Mountain. When mist rose there, the view from her room window was exactly like this scene.

With a "whoosh" of wind, she caught a glimpse of formation light flashing in the center of the room. An unpleasant scent reached her nose.

Meng Ruji turned her head. Amidst swirling malevolent qi, a person dressed in gray stepped out from the formation.

She leaned against the window, watching him coldly. On that scarred face, his gaze appeared gloomy and obsessive.

"Scars healed, pain forgotten?" she said coldly. "So eager to kidnap me—are you rushing to die again?"

Hearing her words, Zhan Ye didn't get angry but smiled instead. With no outsiders present, in this private space, his demeanor was natural. He familiarly pulled over a chair and sat down, looking up at her by the window.

"I missed you very much, Meng Ruji."

So naturally, as if they had been discussing new formations and deciphering spells just yesterday.

Meng Ruji didn't respond. She leaned against the window, looking down at the sea of clouds below, already contemplating the possibility of surviving a jump from here.

She had searched her entire body—not a single coin remained. The bracelet Mu Sui gave her had somehow stopped working. The stone that was Mo Li was still there, though. Zhan Ye probably didn't know what it was for, so he hadn't taken it.

Meng Ruji felt grateful that when she encountered "fake Zhan Ye" last time, she hadn't revealed Mo Li.

But jumping from here, if Mo Li still wouldn't wake up...

"There's a restriction on the window," Zhan Ye said, as if seeing through her thoughts. He poured himself tea while speaking. "You can't jump out."

"…"

How wonderful indeed.

Meng Ruji secretly rolled her eyes and looked toward Zhan Ye again.

Regarding her predicament, she understood clearly: in a confrontation, she definitely couldn't match him. No money, no Inner Core, no knowledge of the outside situation or his weaknesses.

So Meng Ruji suppressed her emotions and stared at Zhan Ye indifferently. "When did you come here?"

Hearing her speak to him, Zhan Ye's lips curved upward, stretching the scars on his face, making them seem less terrifying. "After you killed me, I came to the Land of No Return. The fierce malevolent aura on my body was hard to dispel, so I was sealed under a tree."

"The Yinyuan Tree?"

"That's what they call it."

This was roughly what she'd guessed. After she killed Zhan Ye, he came to the Land of No Return, was sealed under the Yinyuan Tree by an expert, and slept until recently when something awakened him.

"Who sealed you?" she asked directly.

Zhan Ye understood her intentions clearly, but didn't plan to hide anything. With her current situation, he didn't need to.

"The Lord of No Return," he answered.

These three words made her pause.

Except for when she first arrived and heard soldiers mention this person, at other times, the master of the Land of No Return seemed to have turned invisible. He neither managed affairs nor appeared, regardless of how Zhuliu City and Linlan Mountain acted. Yet secretly, he'd established systems of rewards and punishments. The Land of No Return's operation seemed never to leave this person's influence.

"Why did he—"

"Perhaps to maintain balance. But recently, for some unknown reason, his aura weakened. The sealing power fluctuated, and coincidentally, malevolent qi was generated outside, which awakened me."

Malevolent qi generated outside...

She thought of Ye Chuan.

He'd said he waited under the Yinyuan Tree until he saw her and Mu Sui's names float by. Then he transformed into malevolent qi, controlled Tuzi, and found them.

The external malevolent qi Zhan Ye mentioned—couldn't it be Ye Dahe?

Calculating the time, it seemed to match up.

She remained silent for a long while.

Zhan Ye watched her slightly changing expression, seeming amused. "Did I awaken because of you?"

Meng Ruji didn't want to admit it, so she didn't speak.

Seeing her silence, Zhan Ye poured another cup of tea. "After I awakened, I saw your name on that tree and knew you had come here. Meng Ruji, I was both sad and happy. Sad that the mortal realm is so rotten it made you come here too. Happy that fate hasn't been too cruel to me."

He paused meaningfully. "Oh, there's another thing that made me sad."

Zhan Ye looked at her, his expression becoming sinister. "You married someone."

Well. Why couldn't she? She had schemed in every way to force it.

Meng Ruji glanced at the branch on her wrist that had somehow stopped working. She wondered what her cheap husband was doing now. Having watched her be taken away right in front of him, he must be very angry. Having lost face, he must also be jealous.

"It doesn't matter," Zhan Ye said. "I know he took your Inner Core and became your life-sustaining object. I've prepared the little green pills for you. After three days, when we've gathered two thousand gold, when I take you away, I'll help you retrieve your Inner Core. At that time, I'll destroy that person and the entire Land of No Return for you."

His voice and expression carried a coldness even boiling water couldn't warm.

Hearing this, her brows darkened. "You haven't changed—still so extreme and mad. What wrong has the Land of No Return done? Why destroy this place?"

Seeing she wouldn't come closer to him, Zhan Ye took the hot tea himself and walked to her side.

"Meng Ruji, when it's clear here, you can see the entire Zhuliu City below."

He gazed toward the sea of clouds. When cloud layers occasionally churned, through certain gaps, one could indeed see neatly arranged houses and streets below.

"They're so small, like ants. But each is filthier than people in the mortal realm. Because everyone who comes here has too much unwillingness and obsession in their hearts."

"Right," she responded straightforwardly. "Just like you and me."

Zhan Ye glanced at her. "Here, you can see the darkness in their hearts more clearly."

"I don't need to be here to see darkness in human hearts," she said directly. "But so what?"

Zhan Ye continued: "A few days ago, after taking control of Zhuliu City, I said I would close it for ten days and let them take stored grain themselves. If distributed equally, in ten days no one would go hungry. But human greed would make eighty percent starve to death."

She looked at him coldly. "So? Weren't you forcing them?"

"I didn't force them. I told them equal distribution would be enough. Meng Ruji, look—no matter where, people are like this, never changing."

She closed her eyes, suppressing all emotion. "So you want to use this theory to convince me to join your ridiculous dream of destroying the world?"

"Ridiculous?" These two words seemed to sting him. He stared at her. "Yes, if it were only me, this would be ridiculous! But Meng Ruji, you're different! That Inner Core with Creation Power—you can use it! You have Creation Power! You can become a new god, create new people! Perfect people! To achieve this goal, I'll become a blade, your blade—"

She couldn't bear it anymore. "You're truly absurd."

Zhan Ye looked at her uncomprehendingly. "You're the absurd one. You've seen it, clearly suffered—"

She took a deep breath and finally mustered full patience.

"I'll say this to you for the last time, Zhan Ye. Years ago, when I brought you back to the mountain, I wronged you. My mistake was teaching you only techniques, not the Way. From a thousand years ago to now, we've completely diverged. I don't understand you, and you shouldn't try to convince me."

She looked at him with firm resolve, not retreating at all.

"I've killed people, but most lives on my hands are myself. Cowardice, fear, retreat, obsession—in countless days of unstable dao heart and difficult progress, I killed one me and saved one me, up until now. I have my thoughts and insights, feelings and ideas. You don't need to change me. I won't change, just like you. So, Zhan Ye."

She spoke word by word.

"You and I are destined to fight to the death."

Wind from outside still blew in, carrying chill from above the sea of clouds.

"Right," Zhan Ye lowered his head. "Your soul, forged through thousands of hammerings, should be like this. This is also what I consider your best quality."

His expression was dark, silent for a long time, seemingly contemplating something.

She didn't want to stand so close to him anymore. But a teacup was handed to her. "Having said so much, have some tea. Didn't you use to praise my tea-making skills?"

"Forty-five lives—dying once only repays one life. I won't drink your tea anymore."

She answered coldly and sat back down by the bed.

"What you want to do, I won't help with, and I'll stop it. As long as I can find a way."

"I know." Zhan Ye glanced at her. Though his expression seemed calm, in those pitch-black pupils, a vortex seemed to form. "I slept for over a thousand years. Before seeing you, I was very afraid—afraid you had changed. But now it seems you haven't changed at all. This is very good."

Zhan Ye murmured, malevolent qi floating from his body. But in the next instant, the formation under his feet expanded, and his figure disappeared. Only a voice remained in the air—indiscernible joy or anger.

"…Couldn't be better."

Meng Ruji sensed trouble. She frowned, looked down at the branch on her wrist, patted it, and seeing no response, could only sigh deeply. "This time I've truly reached a dead end…"

"Not necessarily."

Suddenly, a familiar voice reached her ears.

Meng Ruji suddenly jumped up, excitedly searching everywhere. "Mo Li!? You old… old sir! You finally appeared!?"

"Shh…"

She felt the stone inside her clothes jump twice. "It's not convenient to talk here. Sleep for a while first. We'll meet… in dreams…"

Hearing this tone, she seemed to already see that overly pale man's sly smile—and with it, the first glimmer of hope in this impossible tower.

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