Chapter 108: An Overwhelmed Hero

The aunties outside the door, of varying shapes and sizes, saw Meng Yingxing dressed and reopening the door, and without exception, their eyes held deep disappointment.

“Oh, we’ve come to see Young Hero Meng Yingxing, you know.”

The leading plump auntie, heavily made up, twisted her body and gestured.

“Looking for me… is there something I can help with?”

Meng Yingxing, still unaware of how he was being praised around Zhongyang Town, showed a hint of confusion in his eyes, pointing to himself hesitantly.

“It’s nothing much.”

The plump auntie waved her hand again, leaning forward and gesturing widely.

“We heard that someone solved the case of the disappearing women that has been bothering all the women in this area, and we just had to come and pay our respects to you, our benefactor!”

Meng Yingxing didn’t know how many times he had been called ‘benefactor, benefactor, benefactor,’ yet even so, hearing the term applied to himself now still made him feel somewhat uneasy.

“It’s nothing. These are things we cultivators should do. Ladies, there’s no need for such trouble…”

Meng Yingxing said humbly.

Hearing Meng Yingxing being so humble, the aunties exchanged glances and nodded, their satisfaction with Meng Yingxing growing even deeper.

“Oh, Young Hero Meng, don’t be so modest! You’ve helped us so much; we all have a little something to give you! Sisters, isn’t that right?”

“Yes!”

The aunties’ voices echoed, making the entire hallway noisy.

“No need! No need!”

This was Meng Yingxing’s first time receiving such treatment, and he was momentarily overwhelmed.

But the enthusiastic aunties couldn’t care less. The leading plump auntie waved her hand, and they excitedly pulled Meng Yingxing into the room.

“Young Hero Meng, this is a basket of eggs laid by my family’s hens. Eat more, to nourish yourself!”

One auntie said, placing a basket of eggs on the table.

“Young Hero Meng, our family doesn’t have many good things, so this ancestral jade pendant, I’ll give to you, to thank you for your contributions to all the girls in Zhongyang Town!”

Another auntie said.

One auntie said with a face full of maternal affection, placing a jade pendant that looked incredibly precious into Meng Yingxing’s waistband.

“My family weaves flower wreaths. I’ve woven two wreaths of immortal spirit flowers; consider it my heartfelt gesture, Young Hero Meng!”

Another auntie very excitedly placed a beautifully woven flower wreath on Meng Yingxing’s head, and another, very fittingly, on the Ting Tian Sword.

“You shouldn’t, you really shouldn’t!”

Meng Yingxing cried out, slightly panicked, but he couldn’t stop the aunties’ various actions at all.

“More, more, give us all your valuable things! Hehehehehehe!”

‘Those Xiu Qingcheng are still so unrestrained.’

The next aunties who came were even more impactful. Some grabbed Meng Yingxing’s hand and directly launched into matchmaking mode.

“Young Hero Meng, may I ask how old you are? Are you married? Or… do you have a dual cultivation partner?”

“…Uh, sixteen this year… not yet…”

Meng Yingxing answered honestly.

“That’s perfect! My daughter is also sixteen. You two are simply a match made in heaven!”

The matchmaking auntie clapped her hands, overjoyed.

“Another day, oh no, today, why not today, you two meet.”

Hearing that someone had already started clinging to Meng Yingxing, some aunties were displeased.

“Hey! Old Woman Yu! Sneaking a head start, are we! Young Hero Meng, don’t listen to her. If you’re to be matched, it should be with my daughter! My daughter is proficient in all four arts: zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, all of them.”

Many more aunties joined this battle to secure Meng Yingxing’s match. All the trainers sent out their proud, cultivated daughters!

“The daughters of you people are all too old! Not as good as my third daughter, who is only ten this year—”

“My daughter, she can even be a concubine—”

“Young Hero Meng, don’t be so strict about gender. My youngest son isn’t bad-looking either—”

‘Are there even more experts?’

Xiu Qingcheng listened with great interest from the side, even preparing to start flipping cards for Meng Yingxing. With so many girls, surely she could pick out one better than her, right?

As for the men, forget about them.

These aunties chirped away, turning the originally quiet guest room into a chaotic mess.

Meng Yingxing, standing to the side, had become a lamb to the slaughter. Listening to the aunties’ words, he couldn’t help but feel a slight tightening in his chest, and cold sweat streamed down his back.

He knew this was no place to linger.

Meng Yingxing grabbed the Ting Tian Sword, found an opening, and quickly squeezed out from among the aunties, making a run for it.

Outside the inn, withered leaves fell from the roadside trees, revealing new buds at the tips of the branches.

At the same time, a cold breeze blew by. This wind, hitting Meng Yingxing, made him feel incredibly light and relieved.

“Master, these aunties… they’re truly terrifying.”

Meng Yingxing sighed, while taking off the flower wreath still on the Ting Tian Sword and the one on his own head. He put them and other gifts from the aunties, like jade pendants, into his Qiankun Bag, planning to return them when he had the chance.

‘These are what you deserve; no need to return them.’

Xiu Qingcheng knew Meng Yingxing’s thoughts and suggested this to him.

‘These don’t belong to me. These things should clearly be given to you, Master.’

Meng Yingxing still felt that the one who ultimately defeated the final culprit was Xiu Qingcheng, not him.

‘I just made a final appearance… so, consider it my credit then.’

Xiu Qingcheng was understanding.

‘I want to return them.’

Meng Yingxing still decided so.

“Then what are you talking about! Stupid disciple!”

Xiu Qingcheng bristled.

Meng Yingxing sighed, “Anyway, let’s hide outside for now.”

Meng Yingxing walked aimlessly on the road with the Ting Tian Sword on his back. Xiu Qingcheng suddenly realized something.

“Wait, Disciple, where’s that golden dog?”

Xiu Qingcheng asked Meng Yingxing.

Earlier, when settling scores with the Xu family, Xiu Qingcheng and Meng Yingxing had placed the talking golden dog and its owner somewhere safe. But after fighting the ambush, then the Xu family, and then Hua Bukai, both Xiu Qingcheng and Meng Yingxing had forgotten all about it.

She wondered if the golden dog Miaomiao was still there after all this time.

Meng Yingxing only then remembered the golden dog. Although his face…

The next second, Xiu Qingcheng immediately flew with Meng Yingxing on her sword towards the place where the golden dog had been settled.

“Master… you said that now, with the Tree God and the Soul-Siphoning Array destroyed, and the souls sacrificed, Li Suping…”

Meng Yingxing’s heart felt heavy at this thought.

After Xu Jie and Xiu Qingcheng fought, those women who had been soul-siphoned, both their bodies and souls, had not been preserved for even a moment.

Like snowflakes melting in spring, they vanished without a trace. Nothing remained to prove they had ever been there.

Xiu Qingcheng also fell silent for a while. “Let’s go and see.”

It only took Xiu Qingcheng a little over ten minutes to carry Meng Yingxing to where the golden dog and Li Suping were located.

Meng Yingxing quickly landed from mid-air. The Ting Tian Sword, with a flash of light, flew back into his scabbard.

Meng Yingxing looked at the dilapidated wooden hut before him, which seemed incapable of sheltering them from wind and rain. That was where he and Xiu Qingcheng had previously settled the golden dog.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The moment the door opened, the gigantic yellow beast suddenly pounced, pinning Meng Yingxing beneath its paws, baring its sharp teeth at him.

“It’s me!”

Meng Yingxing revealed his identity.

“It’s you, red-eyed dog…”

Seeing that the person entering was Meng Yingxing, the gigantic golden dog Miaomiao immediately retracted all its claws, released him, and sat on the ground docilely, staring at Meng Yingxing with its ‘Woof-Woof’ demonic eyes.

‘Dogs are dogs indeed. Even a demonic beast golden retriever, after gaining sentience, is just a big golden retriever.’

Xiu Qingcheng mumbled.

Meng Yingxing wiped off the saliva Miaomiao had sprayed on his face, temporarily overlooking its address for him.

He sat on the ground with one leg bent and asked, “Is your owner… alright?”

When the golden dog heard Meng Yingxing mention Li Suping, its excited state completely vanished. Its dog head, ears, and tail all drooped.

It shook its head vigorously from side to side. “My owner isn’t well. She… she can’t even open her eyes now. I think…”

Miaomiao didn’t continue, only scooting its bottom across the ground to move aside, allowing Meng Yingxing to see Li Suping, whom it had been carefully protecting.

Li Suping was different. At this moment, Li Suping’s eyes were closed. There was no longer any rise and fall in her chest.

Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng’s hearts both tightened.

Meng Yingxing got up and walked over, checking Li Suping’s breathing.

Indeed, Li Suping no longer had any chance of waking up.

Once a person loses their soul, they become an empty shell that cannot last long.

“Hey, Master… how is she? Did you defeat the Xu family’s enemies? Can you save her?”

Miaomiao nudged closer, cautiously looking at the half-kneeling Meng Yingxing.

Perhaps it had already understood something, but in its heart, it still held a glimmer of hope for Meng Yingxing.

Meng Yingxing met Miaomiao’s clear, innocent demonic eyes, and with an even heavier heart, shook his head.

“I’m sorry, your owner… she won’t wake up again.”

Sunlight pierced through the hazy, thick clouds, falling in scattered rays upon the earth.

A corner of the Ting Tian Sword bathed in the sunlight, surprisingly making Xiu Qingcheng feel a long-lost warmth.

On the barren field with scattered snow, stood a small grave mound.

Miaomiao had personally dug it for its owner, and then erected it.

“I heard that when humans die, they are buried in the earth,” Miaomiao said, its head drooping, to Meng Yingxing, who stood shoulder to shoulder with it.

“When I met my owner, she was only ten years old. At that time, my demonic power was weak, and I was injured by a human’s animal trap. She saved me.”

“She told me this not long after she met me. At that time, my owner’s mother was also buried in the earth.”

“I recognized her as my owner and swore to stay with her forever.”

“I didn’t expect…”

Meng Yingxing, hearing this, didn’t know what to say. He could only reach out and stroke Miaomiao’s fur.

For humans, life is unpredictable.

For the demon beast race, it is also true.

Even with infinite time, what good is it?

It only means witnessing more joys and sorrows.

Meng Yingxing looked up at the bare branches above him.

The sunlight was warm, and new buds sprouted from the branches.

It was late spring.

On the first day of spring, Fenggui Ferry welcomed a long-unseen traveler, a scholar.

He disembarked, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, tears seemingly welling in his nose.

He had been away from home for sixteen years. Things had changed, and the ferry had long taken on a different appearance.

The ferry was bustling with people, but they were all terrifyingly unfamiliar.

The scholar took a deep breath and, guided by instinct, stepped forward.

However, as soon as he took the first step, he was called by a familiar voice.

“Zhang-lang!”

Though the address sounded comical, it struck the scholar’s heart like a heavy hammer.

The voice was so familiar.

The scholar couldn’t help but tremble all over. He slowly turned his head.

she was a beautiful woman.

She wore clothes familiar to the scholar, had a hairstyle familiar to the scholar, and called out to the scholar by a familiar name.

She was still standing under the withered willow tree, her face filled with tender affection.

Just like the farewell at the ferry so long ago.

Zhang Ning looked at He Xueluo and slowly said:

“Xueluo, I’m back!”

Everything seemed to have changed, but it also seemed… everything the scholar cared about was frozen in that farewell, never changing.

Zhang Ning walked to He Xueluo with trembling legs and embraced her arm.

“Xueluo, these past years… you’ve suffered.”

A single “suffered” could not encapsulate sixteen years of waiting, sixteen years of obsession.

But… He Xueluo didn’t care.

‘Life can be bitter; it’s enough for my beloved to return.’

“I knew you would come back.”

She smiled for the first time in a long while, her bright eyes and white teeth all for her beloved.

He Xueluo’s figure was reflected on the river surface, shimmering, appearing real and fake, like a fragile butterfly.

At the spring ferry, the river witnessed all the joy and sorrow.