The sound was smooth and enchanting.
But the whisper was: "Reincarnation Stone, Dream Grass, Fragrant..."
The mysterious girl parted her red lips, softly chanted a single line before stopping abruptly, her expression turning suspicious.
"I remember something," she said suddenly.
She looked at Ming Qi.
"What did you remember?" Ming Qi was also very curious. How could his humble song awaken her memory? Or did the song hold a special meaning for her?
"My name is Meng Ling."
Although the mysterious girl Meng Ling's face remained bewildered as she uttered these two words, she was certain that the name she had remembered was correct.
"What else did you remember?"
Could it be that the song could awaken her memory? Ming Qi shuddered and asked hurriedly.
He also saw that this mysterious girl, who looked neither demon nor devil, possessed a pure mind, seemingly devoid of any distinction between good and evil. Such an existence was already a marvel in the world. If good thoughts continued to grow within her, then even if she were a demon, it would be a great merit for the world.
Meng Ling seemed to have fallen into deep thought again.
After a long moment, she finally shook her head helplessly, seemingly unable to recall anything else.
Ming Qi didn't ask further questions; it seemed she couldn't think of anything else.
Ming Qi had been singing for who knows how long and was now exhausted, her throat dry. She took out the water she had brought with her and gulped down several large gulps. Then she sat quietly, eyes closed, breathing, and resting.
The mysterious girl, Meng Ling, also floated quietly above the ground.
She seemed intensely interested in everything within her field of vision, glancing around from time to time, her eyes revealing a variety of expressions: surprise, joy, anger, thought, and sorrow.
Several times, she seemed to want to leave and explore further afield, but each time her gaze would finally settle on Ming Qi, not far away, and she would no longer consider going further.
For some unknown reason, she seemed to have become fascinated by Ming Qi.
She seemed to have a deep memory of humans, yet it was as if she had forgotten everything. Now, she had almost no concept of a human being.
Besides being able to judge them by their appearance, nothing else.
The night passed like this. When Ming Qi opened his eyes at dawn, he was surprised to see Meng Ling still floating nearby, her blood-red eyes staring back at him.
Suddenly seeing such a pair of eyes filled with fantasy, Ming Qi was startled.
But he could see that those seemingly terrifying eyes flickered with curiosity and confusion, nothing more.
The expected Golden Viper King hadn't appeared. Presumably, the innate demonic beast had already ventured deeper into the Valley of Despair. He didn't want to risk exploring further, so he planned to return.
"I'm leaving. What are you going to do?"
Ming Qi asked anyway, knowing Meng Ling wouldn't understand or make any judgments.
In his opinion, this young girl, Meng Ling, must have been the awakened spirit of some divine creature or demon. She must have never left the Valley of Despair.
"Leave? Where to?"
Meng Ling's blood-red eyes flickered with doubt, as she asked, seemingly unconsciously.
"Yes, I'm going back. Home."
Ming Qi didn't know how to explain. He figured she wouldn't understand the term "sect," so he simply said she was going home.
"Oh, all right, let's go."
Meng Ling shifted, floating behind Ming Qi, apparently intending to follow him home.
Seeing her actions, Ming Qi couldn't help but understand, and immediately shook his head. Not only was Meng Ling's identity unknown, but from what he could tell, she was definitely not a normal human, either a demon or a devil. If she were brought back to the Biyou Sect, wouldn't that immediately alert the sect's masters?
In Xilan Province, the Biyou Sect had always prided itself on being a righteous sect.
"No, no, you can't follow me, or someone will kill you."
Ming Qi waved his hands repeatedly, no matter what he said, it was impossible.
"Oh? Is it your immortal partner?"
Hearing this, Ming Qi was stunned.
Immortal partner? Immortal partner!
He began to wonder if he had said something wrong. Otherwise, how could he have come up with such a profound statement?
After a brief pause, he realized it must be some memory of Meng Ling playing tricks on him. Immortal companions, that's something typically considered only by those with innate strength, or even greater.
An immortal companion, in layman's terms, is a companion. The path of a cultivator is long, and loneliness is inevitable. As cultivation has continued through the ages, numerous dual cultivation techniques have been passed down. These techniques harness the harmony of yin and yang, tapping into the mysteries of heaven and earth to unleash a cultivator's potential and elevate their cultivation to new heights. For a long time, dual cultivation has been considered a shortcut to cultivation that remains authentic.
However, anyone familiar with the path of cultivation knows that dual cultivation is plagued by flaws, like walking a tightrope. A single mistake can lead to irreparable damage from the imbalance of yin and yang. Therefore, most cultivators choose to consider dual cultivation only after reaching the innate realm.
As a shortcut, dual cultivation has numerous drawbacks and is generally not practiced by righteous cultivators.
"No, no, I'm talking about your origins. What exactly are you?"
Seeing Meng Ling's rich memory, Ming Qi felt compelled to explain.
"Does it matter?"
Meng Ling naturally didn't understand.
Ming Qi began to feel frustrated. Why couldn't he explain this clearly?
"Tell me your origins first, and then I'll decide whether to take you with me."
"No, no, I'm not a demon!"
Suddenly, without warning, Meng Ling became terrified, as if terribly frightened. She even took several steps back, completely at odds with her response to Ming Qi's questions.
Ming Qi was stunned. This sudden change left him momentarily stunned. He wondered what she had thought of, but it seemed she couldn't explain her origins for a while.
But seeing Meng Ling's frightened expression at this moment truly brought pity to him.
"Okay, you can follow me, but you have to hide, otherwise others will be scared if they see you."
Ming Qi said this.
"Hide? Is that so?"
Ming Qi had barely finished speaking when he saw Meng Ling suddenly spin gracefully on the spot, then transform into an exquisite dark red guqin in a cloud of red smoke.
As if by some invisible divine power, the dark red guqin Meng Ling transformed into hovered in the air, reflecting a mesmerizing light.
"Is this your true form?"
Ming Qi now understood a little. At least Meng Ling's true form was a guqin, not a demonic form.
"Yes, but it seems not. I still can't figure it out."
This!
This is communication between souls!
Ming Qi immediately realized that the guqin before him didn't speak, but Meng Ling's voice was clearly in his mind.
Soul communication, also commonly known as spiritual communication, is an ability only possessed by those who have reached the innate realm. It was clear that Meng Ling's strength was at least at the innate level.
However, Ming Qi currently lacked the necessary skills, and could only speak with his mouth, unable to communicate directly with Meng Ling through his soul.
After some further communication, Ming Qi finally left the Valley of Despair with Guqin Lingmeng, embarking on the journey back to the Biyou Sect.
Since collecting the Black Viper's lining had gone surprisingly smoothly, Ming Qi didn't even bother to summon the leaves of the Divine Tree this time, instead continuing on foot, taking in the lush greenery of the mountains and wilderness along the way.
This journey lasted several days.
During the journey, Meng Ling was incredibly well-behaved, always keeping to Ming Qi's words. She would occasionally recall something and recount unheard-of tales of cultivators, even legends of gods and demons.
Ming Qi listened to these stories with gusto.
After a few days, Ming Qi was completely certain that Meng Ling was a demon who had been dormant for who knows how many years. Before her slumber, she was incredibly powerful, but during those long years, her boundless demonic power dwindled to a mere fraction, and her original memories faded, leaving her nearly completely lost.
When she awoken by chance, she became weak and ignorant, relying on instinct for everything, and had yet to develop an independent mind.
However, during the few days she spent with Ming Qi, Meng Ling had clearly recovered considerably. While her original memories were unlikely to return, she now had her own thoughts and a complete consciousness, no longer acting on instinct.
However, during this time, Ming Qi learned a fact that worried and baffled him: the source of Meng Ling's power—in simple terms, food.
She didn't consume grains like humans; her diet was blood!
Pure blood. If she doesn't get a blood supply within a certain period of time, she will weaken and eventually dissipate!
Just like a person who doesn't eat will eventually starve to death, if Meng Ling continues to be deprived of blood, she will eventually starve to death.
At first, Meng Ling was in the Valley of Despair, where low-level demonic beasts were everywhere. She could use special means to lure the demonic beasts closer and obtain food. Now that he had brought her out of the Valley of Despair, what would she do next?
"What's ahead? Why is there such a strong ghostly aura?"
The mountain road was deserted at this time, so Ming Qi simply had Meng Ling appear in her original form and walk with him.
Although Meng Ling's strength was nearly depleted, her spiritual sense was extremely sharp. She could sense the endless ghostly aura filling the sky and earth, and she couldn't help but be surprised.
Ming Qi was stunned and immediately looked around cautiously, temporarily putting aside the question of how Meng Ling would feed herself.
He looked up and around, just in time to spot several dark pillars of light piercing the sky from the ground like celestial swords.
And the location where these black pillars of light were rising was exactly the town he had passed by earlier, Qinglong Town!