Chapter 1700: Ancient Mystery, Happiness in a Dream

But now, after everything had calmed down, he couldn't force himself to forget.

"It's this day of the year again…" Wang Lin lowered his head bitterly and sat cross-legged to the side.

At this moment on the mountain peak, Xuan Luo Great Heavenly Venerate stood there calmly, silently watching Wang Lin.

After sitting cross-legged, Wang Lin took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and grabbed into the Void Realm. Immediately, the Ghost Face Sail appeared, completely enveloping his body.

It seemed he did not wish for anyone to see his appearance on this day; he only wanted to spend this day silently, by himself.

The sky of the Immortal Realm was clear and azure. Sunlight, arriving from an unknown source, scattered from the sky, illuminating the earth. The light was not hot, but it was warm.

The mountain peak where Wang Lin was located was very quiet. Inside the Ghost Face Sail, he raised his head and looked at the sky for a long… long time.

"Wan'er… soon, I will go to the Immortal Astral Continent… There, I will definitely find a way to wake you up… Believe me, believe me… Just as I promised you back then, even if Heaven wants you dead, I will snatch you back!" Wang Lin sat there, the surrounding silence causing his peaceful mood to be stirred with melancholy and longing.

Wang Lin vaguely felt that his time in the Immortal Cave Realm was running out. Very, very soon, he would likely leave this place and head toward the unfamiliar Immortal Astral Continent.

Throughout his life, Wang Lin had been to many unfamiliar places, and loneliness had accompanied him his entire life. But although he was solitary, Li Muwan's presence in the spiritual world made his loneliness fade slightly, making it bearable.

"Today is a special day… Wan'er, do you remember…" Wang Lin couldn't remember his age or his birthday, but he remembered this very day from thousands of years ago!

He would never forget this day. Every year on this day, he spent it silently alone, either forgetting himself amidst slaughter, burying it deep in his heart while fleeing, or counting the passing years alone during secluded cultivation.

But more often, he would drink alcohol alone. The spicy liquor burned as it went down his throat, yet he couldn't feel it, because longing, loneliness, and desolation had replaced everything in his body and mind. Not even the strongest liquor in the world could dispel an ounce of it!

"Wan'er, I accepted Li Muwan, I'm sorry…" Wang Lin fell silent. Inside the Ghost Face Sail, he took out a flask of wine with his right hand and drank it while looking up at the sky.

"I have no way to repay that kind of favor… Wan'er… In this lifetime, I don't want to become involved in any relationship, because your departure made me realize the price of love… I can't bear it."

On this day, over two thousand years ago, outside the Cultivation Devil Sea, a cry for help entered Wang Lin's mind, which was consumed by vengeance. That voice was soft, helpless, and heartbreaking… That voice caused Wang Lin's advancing steps to pause, making him turn his head and see a figure he didn't know at the time, but who he would remember for a lifetime.

That figure was his woman… Wang Lin felt pain in his heart. He finished all the strong liquor in the flask in his hand in one gulp, threw it aside, and picked up another flask.

Not far away, Xuan Luo Great Heavenly Venerate sat silently, watching Wang Lin's back. The loneliness and solitude emanating from that back moved even him.

"Wan'er, wait a little longer, just wait for me… It won't be long, I will definitely succeed!!" Wang Lin drank a large mouthful of wine, letting the liquid spill from the corner of his mouth and drip onto his clothes. He flicked his large sleeve, and immediately the Heaven-Avoiding Coffin abruptly appeared in a flash of faint light, landing before him.

Looking at Li Muwan, who seemed to be sleeping inside the coffin, tenderness appeared in Wang Lin's eyes, but his heart felt a piercing pain, as if a needle had been driven through it.

Staring at Li Muwan, after a long time, Wang Lin gently opened the lid of the Heaven-Avoiding Coffin. His left hand trembled as he slowly reached into the coffin, gradually touching Li Muwan's face.

Gently caressing Li Muwan's face, the pain in Wang Lin's heart transformed into a tidal wave of sorrow, mercilessly drowning him.

"Wan'er…" Tears streamed from Wang Lin's eyes. The tears dropped onto Li Muwan's body, breaking apart and wetting her clothes.

"A wisp of your soul is gone… It wasn't in the Heavenly Tribulation either. But no matter where that wisp of soul is in this world, or in whose hands it rests, I, Wang Lin, will retrieve it, no matter who they are!!!" Wang Lin muttered. He picked up the wine flask with his right hand and took another fierce gulp. The wine mixed with the tears that flowed from his eyes into his mouth, and he swallowed the bitter mixture.

Throwing aside the wine flask, Wang Lin suddenly raised his right hand and pointed a finger at his glabella. At the same time, his left hand pressed onto Li Muwan's glabella, and his eyes instantly closed.

"Ghost Face Enters Illusion, Dream for a Thousand Years!" As Wang Lin muttered, the Ghost Face Sail outside his body suddenly twisted. The ghost face on it seemed to roar silently, materializing directly from the canvas and heading straight for Wang Lin's glabella. As it vanished, Wang Lin's body was immediately obscured by a dense fog, making everything inside invisible.

Xuan Luo fell silent, his expression complicated. He vaguely understood some things. With a light sigh, he raised his right hand and pointed at the fog enveloping Wang Lin. A wisp of his Divine Sense immediately separated and merged into the fog.

"Wang Lin, it is not that this old man wishes to disturb you, but rather that I must understand everything about you, because the person I have chosen is my only Disciple, and the most important person to guard my Reincarnation and protect my Dao Ancient Lineage!!" Xuan Luo muttered as he closed his eyes.

The moment his eyes closed, his mind immediately merged into the dream world where Wang Lin currently resided, and he felt the sorrow emanating from that world!

The sky was dim, and in the distance, towering flames could be seen illuminating a portion of the sky. Faint roars of battle and the clash of Cultivator Spells were also audible.

Wang Lin stood in the sky, the confusion in his eyes gradually dissipating. He turned his head, looked in the direction of the Cultivation Devil Sea in the distance, and waited slowly.

After a long time, two long rainbows whizzed past in the world visible to Wang Lin. The two long rainbows consisted of one male and one female. The woman in front looked panicked, her face pale, and her body was swaying precariously. This woman had eyebrows like mist (Liu Mei), was radiant like spring blossoms, and was graceful and ethereal, like a Lotus Fairy. She was precisely Li Muwan.

The man behind her had a glossy face and wore an expression of lewdness, pursuing the woman ahead neither quickly nor slowly.

"Little lady, all thirteen members of your team have been killed by me one by one. Where else can you run?" As he spoke, the man raised his right hand and waved it forward. With a tearing sound, Li Muwan's clothes were ripped open halfway, exposing her skin.

Amidst Li Muwan's cry of alarm, the man brought his right hand to his face and sniffed it, the lustful gleam in his eyes intensifying.

Just then, Li Muwan spotted Wang Lin. Her heart was currently worn out and she was facing humiliation and danger. Upon seeing Wang Lin, she immediately recognized that he looked somewhat familiar.

"It's you! Senior Brother, save me!!" As she spoke, she immediately changed direction and arrived next to Wang Lin in an instant, her face showing anxiety and pleading. She gritted her silver teeth, pursed her red lips, and quickly said, "This person is an Elder of the Dual Cultivation Sect of Xuanwu Country. He somehow found out I possess a Heaven Departure Pill, which is why he risked his life…" She was an intelligent person, and by revealing the Heaven Departure Pill in her words, she intended for Wang Lin to intervene and rescue her.

However, before she could finish speaking, she suddenly froze, because Wang Lin was currently looking at her with a gentle smile and tenderness. That gaze was like looking at a lover from thousands of years ago, and for some reason, that gaze made Li Muwan's heart tremble.

"You…" Just as Li Muwan was about to speak, the youth in the distance sneered. He naturally saw Wang Lin but didn't pay him any mind. He raised his right hand and pointed forward. Immediately, eight Flying Swords materialized outside his body, spinning like a whirlwind straight toward Wang Lin.

Wang Lin looked at Li Muwan, raised his right hand, and very naturally embraced her. The moment Li Muwan's eyes widened and she showed an expression of shame and indignation, Wang Lin raised his head and glanced at the eight incoming Flying Swords and the lewd youth behind them.

With that one glance, the eight Flying Swords immediately twisted and collapsed with a boom. As for the youth, the moment his eyes met Wang Lin's, his mind instantly roared, and he spat out fresh blood. Just as fear began to rise in his eyes, his body was suddenly enveloped by an invisible force and was torn apart with a crash right in front of Wang Lin.

Everything quieted down in an instant. Li Muwan stared blankly at all this, even forgetting to struggle. She was held in Wang Lin's arms, gazed upon by Wang Lin's longing eyes.

"Se… Senior Brother… you…" After a long time, Li Muwan finally reacted, her face instantly turning pale. The look she gave Wang Lin was filled with fear and timidity.

Seeing such a look from Li Muwan, Wang Lin's heart ached slightly, and he gently released her.

"My name is Wang Lin." As Wang Lin muttered this, Li Muwan immediately retreated. She paused slightly only after flying several hundred zhang away. She turned back, gave Wang Lin a deep look with her timid eyes, bowed to thank him, and then quickly departed.

Looking at Li Muwan's clearly frightened figure, a happy smile slowly appeared on Wang Lin's face. However, the bitterness and longing beneath that smile were invisible to others.

In the distance, Xuan Luo Great Heavenly Venerate silently watched all this. His heart also seemed to ache at this moment. He looked at Wang Lin, looked at the smile on Wang Lin's face, and fell silent there.

"What kind of longing and sorrow is this, that makes a person seek happiness in a dream?" Xuan Luo sighed softly.

Wang Lin stood there, smiling, until Li Muwan's figure disappeared. He slowly closed his eyes. Everything around him collapsed silently. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the Immortal Realm, on the mountain peak, looking at Li Muwan sleeping inside the coffin.

The sky was no longer blue but had turned into night. In the night sky hung a dreamlike full moon, and within it, two figures seemed to be slowly walking toward each other.

The figures were one male and one female.

With this chapter, I wish everyone a happy Qixi Festival. My health has recovered a lot, but it seems I need to exercise more…