Chapter 563: Zither Music

Scenes of memory flashed through Wang Lin's mind. This process was rather long. Wang Lin sat in the courtyard, slowly exploring, slowing down the experience of each successful refinement of slaughter qi in his mind infinitely, searching for a common opportunity.

After a long time, Wang Lin sighed inwardly. Upon careful reflection, his experiences of refining slaughter qi several times had almost nothing in common; it seemed as if they were all obtained by chance, without any inevitability.

"If there were any… the day I killed Sima Yan, there was something peculiar about it… At that time, I attacked in anger and actually refined a strand of slaughter qi…" Wang Lin's eyes flashed, but they immediately dimmed again.

"But this doesn't make sense either. After all, there were times before when I refined slaughter qi without any fluctuations in my mood. Furthermore, several strands of slaughter qi were refined from demon soldiers, though I cannot know exactly which demon soldier it was."

Wang Lin pondered for a long time, but still couldn't grasp the key, and his brows gradually knitted together.

"This Slaughter Immortal Technique is one of the key points of my trip to the Demon Spirit Land. The purpose of learning this Divine Ability back then was to resist Tuo Sen. Tuo Sen's strength can only be resisted if I possess a large number of life force imprints… Now that I have the Blood Soul Pill, with these two working in tandem, I have more than enough to protect my life, but the Blood Soul Pill is limited after all. My focus must still be this Slaughter Immortal Technique!"

Wang Lin was silent. He had been Cultivating this Slaughter Immortal Technique for several years. Refining the first strand of slaughter qi meant the technique had reached Minor Achievement, but to bring it to Major Achievement was truly too difficult.

"I always feel there is another mystery within this slaughter qi, but unfortunately, I control too little of it to experiment." Wang Lin raised his right hand, and five strands of gray qi spun rapidly between his fingers.

"Only five strands… even counting the one on Yao Xixue, it's only six strands!"

Wang Lin sighed softly. He still couldn't fully grasp this Slaughter Immortal Technique, and how this slaughter qi was produced remained quite puzzling.

He thought of many reasons, but each reason was unique and had no commonality.

"It seems I need a great deal of trial and deduction before I have a chance to comprehend the mystery of this Slaughter Immortal Technique!" A cold glint flashed in Wang Lin's eyes, and a murderous aura surged within them.

He pondered for a moment, then his Divine Sense immediately spread out, sweeping in a circle. Outside the courtyard behind the rockery, he found the two soldiers responsible for his daily needs.

The two of them were, from the bottom of their hearts, terrified of Wang Lin's Divine Ability and dared not approach, but they had to obey the orders of their commanding officer. Thus, they stood guard outside the courtyard, not allowing anyone to enter and disturb him.

Wang Lin's Divine Sense swept past the two soldiers, and he sent out a Divine Thought.

A short while later, the two soldiers walked in from outside the courtyard, stopped three zhang in front of Wang Lin, and said respectfully in unison, "Greetings, General Wang!"

"I need to go out for a while. You two, lead the way!" Wang Lin said calmly.

The two were startled and quickly agreed.

Wang Lin pushed his body forward, stepping out several zhang, and walked outward. The two soldiers immediately followed close behind. One of them hesitated for a moment before asking respectfully, "General Wang, shall we prepare warhorses?"

"No need!" With a flicker, Wang Lin bypassed the rockery and left the courtyard.

The three of them left the Mo Mansion, with Wang Lin walking in front. The Mo Mansion was located in the east corner of Hong City. This area was relatively quiet, and he walked forward leisurely, pacing along.

Wang Lin's walking speed was not fast. As he walked, he looked around. Gradually, after passing through the east corner, he arrived at the central street of Hong City. This place was near the river, with many pedestrians and shops lining the sides, making it quite lively.

Bursts of clamor slowly drifted into his ears. The pedestrians passing by were both men and women. Clothing in the Demon Spirit Land was relatively revealing, especially that of the women, who wore brightly colored clothes while exposing most of their skin, which was quite pleasing to the eye.

Everything before him caused the mood Wang Lin had held for many days to relax. He walked slowly, as if he were a Mortal, his internal Immortal energy unknowingly hidden away, like a flowing river slowly drying up.

Along the way, Wang Lin would occasionally stop outside some shops to take a look, sometimes entering, sometimes leaving, but the time he stayed each time was very short.

He was like a passerby, slowly walking in this foreign land.

Wang Lin's appearance was not handsome, but with his cultivation, he had an ethereal and refined temperament. Because of this, among the surrounding pedestrians, some more open-minded women would occasionally cast their gaze upon Wang Lin as they crossed paths.

Dressed in white, Wang Lin looked from afar as if he lacked the strength to truss a chicken, just like a scholar. As for the two soldiers who always followed behind him, in the eyes of the crowd, they were typical guards.

However, there was always an aura about Wang Lin that was completely different from this place, making it impossible for him to truly integrate here. As a result, his figure carried a faint trace of desolation that drifted out.

Among the surrounding pedestrians, pairs of men and women would occasionally pass by talking and laughing, their demeanor quite intimate. Compared to them, Wang Lin's figure was lonely and solitary…

He walked in the crowd, the surrounding noise seemingly another world, the pairs of men and women seemingly from another time and space. Everything before his eyes had no familiarity or connection to him whatsoever.

An indescribable mood arose in Wang Lin's heart. He sighed softly; this street was still very long, but he did not want to continue walking.

As the sky grew dark and he was about to turn and leave, a sound of zither music drifted into his ears. The zither music was very faint, as light as the trace of sadness contained within it… This faint sadness, this faint zither music, at this moment, strangely matched Wang Lin's mood, and his departing footsteps stopped.

Following the zither music, Wang Lin walked slowly. Beside the street not far away was a clear, long river. This river encircled Hong City and was one of the inner rivers of Tianyao City.

There were several pleasure boats on the river, and this zither music came from one of them.

Wang Lin stood quietly by the riverbank, listening to the zither music. With his eyesight, he saw at a glance that on that pleasure boat, a woman was playing the zither…

This woman only showed her back…

This back view, like her zither music, revealed a faint sadness and loneliness. Not far in front of her sat several young people, laughing and drinking with each other. Those bursts of laughter, within this zither music, were so discordant, so out of place…

Wang Lin watched the pleasure boat quietly. The zither music fell into his ears, and he savored it slowly, gradually finding a familiar feeling. At this moment, it was as if he had returned to that peaceful valley on the Vermilion Bird Star… that home he shared with Li Muwan…

In those plain days, Wan'er's zither music had always accompanied Wang Lin.

In Wan'er's zither music, there was also a faint sadness. Wang Lin at that time could hear it, but he didn't understand it very well; the sadness in this zither music was too illusory, too ethereal.

After Wan'er left, Wang Lin had never heard this same zither music again. Today, here, hearing this zither music, the sadness in his heart slowly emerged.

Before Li Muwan left, Wang Lin's feelings for her had always remained at the level of being moved by her centuries of waiting and a sense of responsibility. This was not love…

But, after Wan'er left, Wang Lin's remaining life was always, time and time again, unknowingly, surfacing scenes with Li Muwan. Whenever this happened, his heart would ache, as if he had walked into that forest of sadness.

Within the forest, those dormant emotions slowly awakened.

Bitter sorrow, blue wounds, like a cup of bitter water, stirred up ripples in Wang Lin's heart that were hard to erase. He would always remember her panicked eyes when he first met Wan'er…

The zither music entered his ears. Even though he clearly knew it was fake, Wang Lin still felt as if he could sense it—Wan'er, within this zither music, walking toward him step by step from the void, leaning into his arms…

Just like in the valley back then, in the sunset, he and Li Muwan sat together, quietly watching the sunset… waiting for the sunrise…

Only after losing something do you want to possess it again; only during parting do you want to look back.

In the years after Wan'er left, time and time again looking back, time and time again reminiscing, in Wang Lin's heart, Li Muwan's figure became thicker and heavier, carved into the bottom of his heart, becoming an endless permanence…

The sky grew late. Before nightfall, a patch of starlight appeared in the sky. In this Demon Spirit Land, there were too many unimaginable things, such as this starlight, such as this moonlight. Where they came from was no longer important; what was important was that in this starlight, along with the zither music, Wang Lin touched his sealed memories.

The starlight in the sky reflected in Wang Lin's eyes. Accompanied by the zither music gradually fading away in his ears, it turned into strands of emotion, condensing in his heart. This emotion was called loneliness, and it lingered in the depths of his heart for a long time.

The zither music in his ears grew fainter and fainter. Wang Lin raised his right hand and touched his brow, as if touching Li Muwan inside the Heaven Defying Bead. He murmured softly, "Wan'er, we will meet again… This is a promise I make to you…"

The pleasure boat moved away, and the woman's back view slowly disappeared.

At the moment it was about to vanish completely, the woman seemed to sense something. She turned around gently and glanced at the riverbank in the distance. In her eyes, it was pitch black, without a shred of light. However, in this darkness, she seemed to see a figure, lonely, slowly walking away.

The pleasure boat was brightly lit, but in her eyes, it was always pitch black, regardless of whether it was day or night.

In this darkness, her jade hands plucked the zither strings. The bursts of laughter inside the pleasure boat, as soon as they reached her ears, seemed to be pushed away by her zither music, becoming fragmented.

She sat at the bow of the boat, her eyes without a shred of light, but at this moment, she herself was like a lotus flower—in the mud, yet unstained, blooming alone… But this blooming was understood by no one, cared for by no one.

The zither music continued to echo, but there was no one listening carefully… Even if there were, could she… see them?