Chapter 92

Chapter 92: The Past Is Gone, Like a Dream

Mist churned, seeping into the deep cavern, bringing a touch of coolness. Ahead lay utter darkness, where a hand stretched out would vanish; water dripped rhythmically onto the ground, the echoes unceasing.

The two walked into the deepest part, reaching the other side of the mountain peak.

A precipice faced a sea of clouds, wreathed in swirling mist and vapor. Chaotic sword marks cut across the cliff face. In one corner stood an ancient-looking stone bed.

On the stone bed, a disheveled figure, impossible to tell if male or female, sat in the lotus position, seemingly engaged in cultivation.

However, Nangong Zhandao and Lan Youruo knew this person wasn’t cultivating but sleeping.

"Is she Mo Nansu?" Lan Youruo asked.

Nangong Zhandao did not respond.

By sight alone, he couldn’t discern the figure’s identity.

In his memory, Mo Nansu was lively, gentle, and empathetic; he retained impressions of her every smile, frown, and movement.

If the person before him was truly Mo Nansu, she bore no resemblance to the young girl he remembered; it was like heaven and earth.

Nangong Zhandao walked towards Mo Nansu.

As he drew nearer, his steps grew somewhat heavy.

In his heart, he knew he had wronged Mo Nansu.

That guilt had always lingered.

After all, what he cultivated was the Supreme Forgotten Love, not Supreme Indifference.

Swoosh!

Just as the two neared, the filthy figure abruptly opened her eyes. Her entire body was disheveled and grimy, but those eyes alone were obsidian-black and strikingly bright.

"Who are you?"

She stared at them, letting out a scream, seemingly startled.

"I am Nangong Ling."

Nangong Zhandao said solemnly.

He gazed at Mo Nansu; even deranged, those eyes remained captivating.

Despite her disheveled state, Nangong Zhandao could still recognize her.

Lan Youruo glanced at him. After all these years of acquaintance, it was the first time she heard Nangong Zhandao call himself Nangong Ling.

Lan Youruo’s expression grew complicated.

Before Mo Nansu, he truly was Nangong Ling.

"Nan… gong… Ling…"

Mo Nansu’s eyes were confused. She softly repeated the name "Nangong Ling," murmuring it more and more. The more she spoke it, the more pain filled her eyes, as if old memories surged back.

She clutched her head, let out a shrill scream, and frantically scrambled into a corner of the Penitence Cliff, staring at Nangong Zhandao in terror.

"He’s dead… he didn’t want me anymore…"

Mo Nansu shrieked miserably, tears flowing from the corners of her eyes. She pressed her head tightly and curled up in the corner.

Lan Youruo showed a compassionate expression.

Mo Nansu was indeed crazy.

She stared at Nangong Zhandao.

Mo Nansu’s plight could be said to be entirely created by Nangong Zhandao.

Even though she was his companion, upon seeing this scene, she secretly blamed him in her heart.

Nangong Zhandao walked towards Mo Nansu.

A trace of sorrow appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, he faced his Dao heart directly.

It was said that over a hundred years ago, he used Mo Nansu to cultivate blade intent and practice the Xuan Du Forgetting Emotions Heaven Book.

Perhaps, at that time, he did exactly that.

However, back then, he did indeed have feelings of love.

For this reason, Nangong Zhandao chose Mo Nansu.

Compared to love, he cared more for cultivation.

Back then, it was he who, for the sake of cultivation, abandoned love and went down the wrong path.

That caused him to be expelled from the Da Qian royal family.

It also caused Mo Nansu to fall to her current state.

He must bear full responsibility for all this.

Lan Youruo mobilized magic power.

The Taiyin divine light enveloped Mo Nansu.

Gentle wisps of energy flowed into her body.

Mo Nansu’s emotions gradually became stable.

"Although she is crazy, she still remembers you," Lan Youruo stared at Nangong Zhandao.

"What will you do?

Abandon her once more?

Or, take her with you?"

Nangong Zhandao calmly stated his thoughts.

"Past affairs have ended.

My feelings for her had been completely worn away over the years.

Now, I only feel guilt towards her.

Today, coming here, I also came to sever the karmic entanglement between her and me."

Lan Youruo also couldn’t tell whether she was happy or worried at that moment.

"Now, in my heart, there is only you," Nangong Zhandao held Lan Youruo’s small hand.

"Then how will you make it up to her?" Lan Youruo looked at the deeply sleeping Mo Nansu with great sympathy.

"Cure her illness." Nangong Zhandao was silent for a second, then continued, "Remove her memories."

"Are you going to remove her over a hundred years of memories?" Lan Youruo asked in shock.

Removing a portion of memories was not difficult.

Nangong Zhandao was skilled in the Xuan Du Forgetting Emotions Heaven Book and could easily accomplish it.

But doing this, Mo Nansu would lose her memories of over a hundred years.

For her, it seemed far too cruel.

"Because of my existence, she suffered great misfortune.

Without me, she would be like she was over a hundred years ago, free from the pain of love," Nangong Zhandao solemnly said. "Removing her memories is the best choice."

"Let me do it," Lan Youro stepped forward.

"I will do it."

Nangong Zhandao’s eyes were bright and gleaming. "This bond began with me. It must also end by my own hand."

"After today, we are through."

Whoosh!

Nangong Zhandao activated the Xuan Du Forgetting Emotions Heaven Book. His aura instantly became ethereal and elusive, suffusing him with an otherworldly grace.

Lan Youruo watched him quietly, her gaze distant and unfocused—it was unclear what she was thinking.

Clang!

A blade’s edge surged from Nangong Zhandao’s fingertip. Closing his eyes, he released a soft sigh and swung the blade toward the sleeping Mo Nansu.

This divine technique, the Rebirth Divine Dagger Technique, was derived from the Xuan Du Forgetting Emotions Heaven Book.

As the sword energy pierced Mo Nansu’s skull, she let out a muffled grunt.

Images flickered through Nangong Zhandao’s mind:

The first time they met in Da Qian’s Thousand Star City.

The first lantern festival stroll where their fingers intertwined.

The first time they rowed together across the moonlit lake…

Memories flowed like clear spring water into his sea of consciousness, awakening long-sealed recollections and emotions within him.

The past century’s memories washed over him in an instant.

Yet Nangong Zhandao hesitated not at all.

As he had declared, those matters had concluded. The past no longer held meaning for him.

With a thought, the blade’s edge sliced through Mo Nansu’s memories.

Mo Nansu curled her body tightly, shuddering slightly.

After several breaths, Nangong Zhandao withdrew his spiritual power. Mo Nansu remained deep in slumber.

Severing the memories was only the first step.

The next stage would cure Mo Nansu’s affliction of dementia.

Hum!

Nangong Zhandao opened his palm. A crystalline holy pill, the size of a longan fruit, floated upward. Divine patterns coiled around its surface, pulsing with marvel.

This holy pill had been unearthed from a quasi-emperor’s tomb. It could refine one’s body, curing all ailments—and even forge a Stellar Godly Physique.

Once Mo Nansu consumed it, her illness would be cured. Fully refined, it would grant her mastery over stellar energies, transforming her into a Stellar Godly Physique.

This was his recompense.

Nangong Zhandao lifted Mo Nansu, placing the pill into her mouth.

Boom!

Channeling his spiritual energy, vast power flooded Mo Nansu’s body. He guided her to dissolve the pill’s potency, accelerating its refinement.

After a stick of incense had burned, the pill was fully refined, its medicine absorbed into her form.

"Mmm…"

Mo Nansu’s eyes fluttered open—clear and lucid now, free of madness and confusion. She gazed blankly at Nangong Zhandao and Lan Youruo. Her voice was crisp:

"Who are you?"

"Are you also disciples of the Hunyuan Sect?"

"How come I have never seen you before?"

"Where is this place?"

Mo Nansu instantly sat up and fired off a barrage of questions.

"I am your friend."

Nangong Zhandao smiled. "I specifically came to visit you."

"Then how come I don’t recognize you?" Mo Nansu said warily.

"This place… why does it resemble Holy Sect’s Penitence Cliff?"

Mo Nansu looked around, and when she confirmed it was Penitence Cliff, her astonishment deepened. "Why am I on Penitence Cliff?"

"Did you kidnap me?"

"You committed a mistake and were confined to Penitence Cliff. We are here to take you out."

Lan Youruo explained.

"Impossible."

Mo Nansu gave a light snort, her eyes turning mischievous as she said, "I am, after all, the Hunyuan Sect’s saintess. My master cares for me most deeply; how could she possibly confine me to Penitence Cliff?"

"The Hall Master’s Elder is just outside. She sent us to fetch you."

Lan Youruo chuckled. "If you don’t believe it, come down from Penitence Cliff with us and see for yourself."

"Hmph!"

Mo Nansu let out another light snort. "Daring to think you would not dare deceive me."

She wasn’t the slightest bit afraid. Within the Hunyuan Sect, could anything possibly happen to her?

Moreover, deep inside her heart, she felt an indescribable something towards Nangong Zhandao—an intuition that he wouldn’t deceive her. Even Mo Nansu herself found it utterly baffling.

She clearly had never met him before, so why did she harbor such a strange feeling?

The three emerged from Penitence Cliff.

"See for yourself, the Hall Master’s Elder is right over there," Lan Youruo said, pointing towards the old woman.

"Granny Lu!"

Mo Nansu cheered and transformed into a ray of light, flying straight to the opposite side of Penitence Cliff. "Granny, you truly grow more beautiful by the day."

"Let us depart."

Lan Youruo nodded.

The two vanished from Penitence Cliff.

"Where did they go?" Mo Nansu glanced back, discovering that both Nangong Zhandao and Lan Youruo had disappeared without a trace, leaving not even a wisp of their presence detectable.

The old woman wore an expression of profound complexity.

Mo Nansu’s personality, unchanged from over a hundred years ago, couldn’t even recognize Nangong Zhandao. This could only prove that her memories had been severed.

Nangong Zhandao was utterly erased from her world.

"Perhaps it’s for the best," the old woman thought to herself.

"Granny, they claimed to be my friends, but I’ve never seen them before. Who on earth were they?" Mo Nansu racked her brain, yet couldn’t recall their identities.

"Granny only knows one name."

The old woman gently stroked Mo Nansu’s hair, a faint smile touching her lips. "That young man, his name was Nangong Zhandao."

She did not reveal Nangong Zhandao’s original name to Mo Nansu, fearful that the name might stir continuous ill-fated connections.

"Nangong Zhandao…" Mo Nansu tugged at a strand of her own hair, slowly shaking her head.

"Most likely from the Da Qian Emperor family…" she muttered to herself.

"And yet… why, when I saw him, did I feel such… familiarity?"

"Child, don’t dwell on it."

The old woman embraced Mo Nansu, tenderness and pain hidden deep within her eyes.

It was all over.

After today, they belonged to separate worlds.

"Granny… I feel… hollow inside."

Mo Nansu lifted her gaze to meet the old woman’s. Her clear, dark eyes, usually vivid, now held a profound sadness even she herself could not perceive.

She felt like someone waking from a dream.

Awakening meant losing everything that belonged to the dream.

Those things… seemed so terribly important.