SPLASH...

The sea churned, and fresh blood stained the cliffs red...

"You can't play the emotion card with me, Brother Mu..." Mu Hongyuan narrowed her eyes, turning slightly. "Back then... sister truly wept her heart out. That was the only time sister ever cried for a man."

"What I want to talk about," Wang Mu said slowly, "is what happened afterwards."

"What happened afterwards?" Mu Hongyuan was taken aback.

Wang Mu said, "Sister, don't you want to know how I survived after Piao Miaoxu struck me with her palm? You must not have seen anything in the Illusion Realm, right?"

That's right! This was it, the plotline just before entering the Dark Border: the Dark Border scenario where his martial arts were temporarily crippled by Piao Miaoxu's palm strike. In truth, in the game, only Piao Miaoxu could achieve such a feat. Otherwise, who else could make the protagonist suffer so miserably? Indeed, this very plot stumped countless players. If one wished to win over Mu Hongyuan, this plot was unavoidable. And the follow-up, entering the Dark Border, involved a series of events with no visual cues or prompts. The final heroine. One could only imagine how difficult it was to even find Ying's location. Not only did one need to trigger the Immortal Sorrow subplot beforehand, but one also had to be struck down by Piao Miaoxu's palm here, left drifting in the sea. Moreover, one absolutely had to learn the Divine Breath Skill to drift to the easternmost border... otherwise, they might have died at sea. The prerequisites for entry were appallingly numerous... And this year of the storyline also covered the protagonist's year-long disappearance, about which the outside world knew nothing.

"When you returned," Mu Hongyuan looked at Wang Mu, "you said you'd drifted to a small island, recuperated for a year, and gradually recovered. But after you disappeared, I discovered... there were no small islands in that area."

"After the cataclysm, the world changed. Landmasses shifted, and their new locations were unknown to anyone..."

Wang Mu nodded. "Exactly... In fact, at that time, I was drifting towards the Dark Border..."

"..."

"My survival under those circumstances... I owe it to a savior in the Dark Border."

"A woman, right?"

"..." Wang Mu.

"That's not important," Wang Mu sighed. "What's important is that without her, I would have died long ago. I wouldn't have been able to come back alive to see you."

Mu Hongyuan fell silent.

Then, Wang Mu recounted his experiences in the Dark Border, sharing details selectively.

"So... you later named her Ying?"

"A mysterious tribe stationed in the Dark Border, dedicated to a lifetime of guardianship... their strength unfathomable..."

"And the Shadow Hong Saber... she gave it to you."

This time, Wang Mu indeed concealed nothing. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"So much actually happened during that year..."

These experiences were unrelated to Mu Hongyuan. In the previous illusion within the Refining Emotion Cave, Mu Hongyuan hadn't seen any of this...

"Brother Mu, you're being honest now," Mu Hongyuan said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "But you're clever, starting with that matter... What, were you afraid I'd drag you into trouble?"

"You just dared to go into the Eight Desolate Netherworld all by yourself..."

"That must be your greatest source of confidence, right?"

"No," Wang Mu shook his head. "I'm not sure... because afterwards, I hardly saw her again... I'm not really sure if she's still alive..."

"Then she must have been eagerly waiting for you to return, right?" Mu Hongyuan laughed. "Besides..."

Mu Hongyuan flew in front of Wang Mu and gestured lightly with her hand.

The bell then flew out.

"The name Dongfang Ying... is it that unpleasant?"

"Brother Mu, what do you say?"

"..." Wang Mu.

As expected! This demoness! That bell definitely had a problem!

Wang Mu remained expressionless.

But he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; luckily, he had reacted quickly enough not to say it directly... Instead, he had played the emotion card first...

"Isn't the name Wuxin quite nice?" Mu Hongyuan said leisurely. "Tell me, why did you have to change her name? Dongfang Ying... Brother Mu, it seems you still hold a place for her in your heart, don't you?"

"Eh, it seems sister only occupies a tiny spot in your heart now, doesn't she?"

"Just how many people do you have room for in your heart?"

Wang Mu said, "You can only hold people in your heart while you're alive. The dead can't hold anyone."

"Sister Mu, what do you think?"

"..." Mu Hongyuan.

Mu Hongyuan snorted coldly and turned away. "Following your logic, should I go and thank her then?"

"I can do it on your behalf," Wang Mu said. "Sister Mu, you are proud by nature. Such condescension towards a strange woman would surely be against your wishes. As for the seal on the Eight Desolate Netherworld, you can find a time to undo it, and I'll go thank her for you."

"..."

Mu Hongyuan burst into hearty laughter, eventually clutching her sides.

"Brother Mu, your calculations are truly excellent."

"Yan Sword Immortal sealed the Eight Desolate Netherworld. If word of this reaches her, she definitely won't let you go there again. So, you're trying to get sister to do it for you, is that it?"

"So, after all that talk, this is what you were waiting to ask sister for in the end?"

"You want sister to break the seal so you can have your secret rendezvous with her?"

"If it were Mo Xilan, that foolish girl, she might actually agree."

"As for Bi You, if you pestered her relentlessly, her soft heart might lead her to agree as well."

Mu Hongyuan's smile held a hidden barb: "Do I look like such a fool to you?"

"Dream on!"

"Don't even think about such things! Sister doesn't want to argue with you about this anymore. You just stay outside and honestly focus on your cultivation from now on!"

Wang Mu looked disappointed.

He, however, inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He had never actually intended for Mu Hongyuan to open the seal...