In Ming Qi's view, no matter how powerful Meng Ling was before her slumber, she was now a pure young girl, as pure as a blank slate. While classifying her as human was a stretch, Ming Qi didn't harbor much racism.
After all, she had received a high-tech education, so her mind was naturally open, open-minded, and open-minded.
He didn't care about the idea of a piece of yellow earth or a red-faced skeleton. Aside from the eerie, eye-catching blood-stained skeleton she first appeared in, Meng Ling was always a delicate, heartbreaking beauty from every angle. Even though Ming Qi had a shadow of regret about the blood-stained skeleton, he had to admit that.
Meng Ling was the perfect combination of charm and purity, a person whose growth and development exceeded the scientific basis of normal human beings. To use Ming Qi's words to describe the inexplicable, it was that Meng Ling, this enchanting girl, had no scientific basis at all.
But things have changed now. Science, science, science is no longer reliable.
Meng Ling hadn't spoken since she asked that question. Soon after, she had unknowingly transformed into the form of a guqin, lying there quietly.
Time passed quickly, and around noon, Ming Qi arrived at the entrance of the Valley of Despair again.
The Valley of Despair remained much the same as when he had left: gray and hazy, with a lingering, deadly air.
This time, he placed the dire wolf at the valley's entrance, leaving it to wait for his return. Meng Ling still floated behind Ming Qi, still in the form of a guqin. Ming Qi paid no mind and entered the Valley of Despair.
Stepping on the dead branches and fallen leaves, Ming Qi gained a much better understanding of the monster distribution within the Valley of Despair. He knew the distances he needed to avoid encountering innate monsters, and the positioning he needed to avoid unnecessary poisonous insects and weeds.
After walking for a while, Ming Qi spotted a number of black-striped vipers roaming around.
Last time, he hadn't seen any black-striped vipers because they had all been drawn in by Meng Ling's piano music and drained of their blood. This time, however, was different.
Seeing the black-striped vipers, Ming Qi didn't hesitate and swung his Nifeng Sword, slicing them down with unerring dexterity.
Meng Ling, floating behind him, silently absorbed the blood of the slain vipers while Ming Qi collected their gallbladders.
Since they had been killed, he had to make full use of them. Even if that person didn't need them, there was always the chance that someone else might need them, and they could be exchanged for Yuan Jing.
Of course, Ming Qi's hunt this time wasn't limited to black-striped vipers. After all, after Meng Ling's near-mad slaughter a few days ago, there weren't many black-striped vipers left in the Valley of Despair.
So, Ming Qi spared no Acquired Realm demonic beasts as he journeyed.
After a long battle, half a day had passed before they knew it. The sky darkened again, and at this moment, Meng Ling finally transformed from her guqin form back into her human form.
This long battle had left Ming Qi starving. Seeing that it was already getting late, he simply found a good spot nearby, built a bonfire, and ate his rations with the liquor he had brought.
Meng Ling floated across from Ming Qi and sat down there with a serious demeanor.
"You're drinking?"
Meng Ling stared at him for a moment, then suddenly said.
"Yeah," Ming Qi replied vaguely.
"You're under fifteen. Drinking isn't good for your health," Meng Ling continued.
Puff!
Ming Qi immediately spat out a mouthful of liquor mixed with his half-chewed rations.
He wondered how this girl's thoughts could jump so erratically that she could even tell he was under fifteen.
Although Ming Qi's soul was older, his physical age was about to turn fourteen, making him less than fifteen. However, according to Meng Ling's thinking, fifteen seemed to be a significant dividing line, a fact Ming Qi had no doubt about. For example, the children of Yanzhuang would hold a coming-of-age ceremony on their fifteenth birthday.
However, the key question was how Meng Ling knew all this. How could a powerful being with millions of years of memory and potentially extraordinary strength pay attention to such trivial matters?
Ming Qi calmed down and rationally didn't ask further questions, continuing to eat.
"I hate..."
"Huh? What do you hate?"
Ming Qi suddenly noticed something was wrong with Meng Ling. Two cold glints flashed in her red eyes.
"I hate human coming-of-age ceremonies."
...
Ming Qi was speechless. This time, there was truly nothing he could say. Meng Ling's hatred was truly bizarre.
But one thing did cause Ming Qi to harbor a pang of worry.
Meng Ling's memories gradually began to return, a mixture of love and hatred.
Ming Qi had caught the glimpse of love in her eyes when she asked that question on the sacred tree leaf. Now, she spoke of the hatred within, a feeling that filled Ming Qi with worry.
After Meng Ling awakened, before she could remember anything else, she was able to use her mysterious power to instantly drain the blood of thousands of black vipers. So, who could guarantee that she hadn't drawn human blood before she fell into a deep sleep?
The answer was extremely dangerous, but Ming Qi didn't want to dwell on it at the moment.
Thinking of this, Ming Qi suddenly felt a heavy responsibility.
He immediately put down the wine jug and said, "The coming-of-age ceremony is just a ritual, it has nothing to do with the person. However, there are two kinds of people in this world. One is the good person, who will sincerely treat you well, so you must listen to them. The other is the bad person, someone who doesn't want you to live in peace and security, someone who causes pain to others for no reason. When we meet such people, we should stay away from them."
"So, was that woman from the day before a bad person?"
Ming Qi was stunned. There was no doubt that Meng Ling was referring to Zi Yue.
But everything Zi Yue did was entirely for Zi Yuan's better life. As a member of Teng Hua's Purple Mansion, being cowardly, weak, and compassionate was truly unacceptable. After learning that Zi Yuan was from the Purple Mansion, Ming Qi understood even more clearly the good intentions behind Zi Yue's death.
However, this issue was clearly complex, and given the current situation, it was impossible to explain it clearly to Meng Ling.
So, Ming Qi could only grit his teeth and say, "Yes."
"So, if we are to hate, it's only the bad people we hate." "
Ming Qi's explanation was indeed easy to understand. After all, anyone who wasn't a fool or idiot would grit their teeth at the mere mention of a "bad guy."
Dare that person say they don't hate bad guys? Obviously not.
So, Ming Qi believed his explanation could bring Meng Ling's pure heart back to the realm of reason.
"It seems he's the one I should hate." "
Meng Ling suddenly gritted her teeth.
"He..."
Ming Qi naturally wondered who he was, but he was becoming wiser and simply stopped asking, grabbing his wine flask and rations again.
Night.
After finishing their rations, Ming Qi and Meng Ling returned to the same boulder.
Meng Ling stood on the boulder, a black guqin floating before her. Her fingers gently stroked the strings, sending waves of sound spreading and reaching every corner of the Valley of Despair.
Meng Ling, clad in a flowing red robe, stood there like a cloud of floating blood.
The strange combination of blood and beauty filled Ming Qi with amazement. How could such a magnificent sight exist in the world?
At the end of the song, countless demonic beasts, large and small, gathered beneath the giant rock. Meng Ling gently stroked the strings of her zither with both hands. The moment the piece concluded, her entire figure suddenly soared into the air, unscrupulously collecting the flying blood.
Dazzling streams of blood danced, detaching from their bodies and effortlessly condensed by Meng Ling.
After a short while, the area around the giant rock grew calmer. At least a thousand demonic beasts of all shapes and sizes had been drained of their blood, leaving the area surrounding the giant rock seemingly densely packed with their corpses.
After absorbing the blood of these demonic beasts, Meng Ling looked even more ethereal and alive. Even her blood-red dress began to emit an eerie, bloody glow.
Ming Qi nodded silently. What Meng Ling said was absolutely true. The only thing that could maintain her perfect human form was blood.
Meanwhile, Meng Ling was busy collecting blood, while Ming Qi, content to sit by himself, took out his wine flask and gulped down wine with little to do.
Wave after wave of monsters, drawn by Meng Ling's zither music, gathered around the boulder, their spirits drained from them until they died.
The attentive Ming Qi noticed that after collecting the blood of the third wave of monsters, Meng Ling stopped incorporating it into her body and instead condensed it into a thumb-sized red pill.
After a moment's hesitation, Ming Qi immediately understood that Meng Ling was storing the collected blood, so that in the future, in a critical moment, she could instantly replenish her energy. This was practically a miraculous elixir.
After realizing this, Ming Qi couldn't help but sigh. What kind of method was this? Refining an elixir without using a furnace? It was unbelievable.
However, Meng Ling seemed accustomed to such events. She expertly manipulated the blood to coagulate, and once completed, she continued to attract monsters. This continued throughout the entire night!
Ming Qi did nothing else that night except drain the entire flask of wine. He was truly bored to death.
Watching Meng Ling begin another round of attracting monsters, Ming Qi decided to wait until this one was over before letting her stop. It was time to return.
The sound of the zither rang out, and in the Valley of Despair at dawn, all the monsters that heard the music gathered around.
At first, Ming Qi didn't notice, but after listening carefully for a while, he noticed that the sound this time was different: higher-pitched, deeper, and covering an unusually large area.