75: A Yin's confusion

The Star Dou Great Forest was forever shrouded in a mysterious and ancient veil.

The branches and leaves of towering ancient trees obscured most of the natural light, with only occasional stubborn rays of sunlight penetrating the dense layers of green, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

A bottomless chasm, like a hideous scar on the earth, lay across the depths of the forest.

The cliff face was as steep as if it had been cut, covered in slippery moss and tough vines.

The bottom of the cliff was shrouded in swirling mist, unfathomably deep, with only the faint, muffled roars of unknown Spirit Beasts echoing, signaling the danger below.

At the edge of the chasm, on a relatively flat, large rock guarded by several gnarled ancient trees, a figure stood silently.

A month of waiting, sunrises and sunsets, wind, frost, rain, and dew.

Then, on a night of a full moon, the clear moonlight poured down like mercury, illuminating the chasm with a pristine glow.

Suddenly, a familiar and intimate aura, like a spring breeze sweeping across an ice field, quietly appeared at the other end of the chasm.

Mo Yuhan abruptly opened his eyes.

Under the moonlight, a slender and graceful figure stood silently.

It was a woman, dressed in a simple light blue long dress, yet it could not conceal her exquisite beauty, which seemed to gather the essence of heaven and earth. Her skirt swayed gently in the mountain breeze.

Her cascading blue hair reached her waist, the tips gently fluttering in the wind, shimmering with the luster of life.

Her face was exquisitely beautiful, possessing an ethereal and gentle quality not of this World, as if she had gathered the purest spiritual essence of the forest.

Particularly striking were her clear eyes, like the finest blue sapphires, so pure that they contained not a single impurity, yet at this moment, they were filled with complex emotions—anticipation, and a hint of imperceptible worry.

She was currently gazing at Mo Yuhan.

A rich and gentle life aura emanated from her, as if resonating with the very breath of the entire forest.

It was Ah Yin.

“Ah Yin!”

A warm current surged in Mo Yuhan’s heart, and a genuine smile appeared on his face as he rose and walked over quickly.

“Xiao Han.”

Ah Yin’s voice was still gentle and melodious, like a clear spring flowing through a mountain stream.

She looked at the young man who had grown taller and whose aura had become more steady and restrained, her eyes filled with satisfaction and the joy of reunion.

The scene from half a year ago was etched clearly in her memory like a brand.

At that time, she had not yet ventured deep into the human World, traveling and meditating in the outer regions of the Star Dou Great Forest.

A sudden Spirit Beast tide had impacted an inconspicuous human village on the edge of the forest.

The raging hundred-year and thousand-year Spirit Beasts had lost their minds, trampling farmland, destroying houses, and the panicked villagers fled and cried in despair.

She could have stood by, as the hatred between humans and Spirit Beasts was already deeply rooted.

However, out of compassion, she still intervened.

She and a child named Mo Yuhan built a human home.

Thus, their destinies became intertwined.

“You’ve come. You’ve grown taller.”

“Yes, I thought you, Ah Yin, had forgotten our promise.”

Mo Yuhan walked to Ah Yin’s side, looking at those gentle blue eyes that seemed to encompass everything. The months of rushing and stress seemed to ease for a moment.

“Ah Yin, how have you… been these past six months?”

The smile on Ah Yin’s lips faded slightly, and a hint of imperceptible fatigue and complexity flickered in her pure blue eyes.

She walked to the edge of the cliff, standing shoulder to shoulder with Mo Yuhan, gazing at the churning sea of clouds below and the forest, which undulated like a dark tide under the moonlight in the distance. She was silent for a moment before speaking softly:

“These past six months… I’ve traveled to many places and seen a lot.”

Her voice carried a settled tranquility, yet also a lingering sense of confusion.

“I went to many large cities; they were very lively and prosperous. There was exquisite food, splendid clothes, and… many interesting things.”

She paused, as if recalling, “I also saw many people, kind farmers, diligent artisans, benevolent elders, innocent children… They worked from sunrise to sunset, their lives simple, yet peaceful.”

Mo Yuhan listened quietly; he could feel the change in Ah Yin’s tone.

“But… I also saw many bad sides.”

Ah Yin’s voice deepened, carrying a hint of pain, “Greedy merchants resorted to unscrupulous means for profit, bullying others and dominating the market. Hypocritical noble scions arbitrarily bullied the weak, relying on their power.”

She sighed softly, then continued:

“When I passed by a small city near the forest, I met two men.”

Ah Yin’s tone carried a hint of coldness and disgust, “One was named Tang Hao, and the other was Tang Xiao. They were brothers, very strong, and seemed to be successors of some Clear Sky Sect. They… somehow set their sights on me.”

Ah Yin’s brows furrowed tightly, as if recalling a very unpleasant experience.

Mo Yuhan was a bit nervous, but listening to Ah Yin’s tone, it seemed her relationship with the Tang Hao brothers was quite bad instead.

“That Tang Hao, his gaze was always… terrifying, seemingly carrying a possessive obsession. He and his brother kept following me, saying something about falling in love at first sight, wanting me to be his wife, to protect me for the rest of my life… No matter where I went, they could always find me.”

“I concealed my aura and hid in the deep mountains, but they could always track me down by following clues, impossible to shake off.”

Ah Yin’s voice carried deep disgust and profound weariness, “They were very forceful and very self-righteous. That Tang Hao, the way he looked at me… as if I were a prey he was determined to get, made me feel very uncomfortable.”

After listening to Ah Yin’s account, Mo Yuhan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Later, Ah Yin used the power of the Blue Silver Emperor’s origin to manipulate the Blue Silver Grass, which allowed her to escape the relentless pursuit of the Tang Hao brothers.

Under the moonlight, Ah Yin’s beautiful profile carried a hint of paleness and fragility.

She turned to look at Mo Yuhan, her pure sapphire eyes filled with confusion, hurt, and a hint of deep sorrow:

“Xiao Han, I don’t understand. Why? Why is the World so complex? Why do people like Tang Hao, who clearly possess great power, use it to satisfy their base possessiveness, treating others as playthings?”

Her voice trembled slightly, carrying a confusion and pain that originated from her soul.

“I once thought that not all humans were bad, and not all Spirit Beasts were good. But… why do I see more division, harm, and incomprehension?”

“Why… can’t Spirit Beasts and humans coexist peacefully, like the trees and vines in the forest, like the birds in the sky and the gentle breeze? Can this vast World truly not accommodate the coexistence of two intelligent life forms?”

The night wind swept across the chasm, disheveling a few strands of blue hair from Ah Yin’s forehead, gently brushing her slightly furrowed brows and tightly pursed lips.

That strand of hair carried a faint, fresh scent of plants, gently brushing Mo Yuhan’s cheek, bringing a slight tickle and her pure yet sorrowful aura.

Mo Yuhan looked at the confusion and pain that almost overflowed from Ah Yin’s eyes, seeing her fragility revealed by the entanglement with the Tang Hao brothers. A strong feeling of pity and an indescribable desire to protect her surged within him.

He reached out, not touching her, but gently brushing away the strand of hair that the wind had blown to her lips, his movements natural and soft.

“Sister Ah Yin.”

Mo Yuhan’s voice was low and clear, carrying a steadiness rare for a young man, flowing slowly in the night wind, “Your confusion is also the confusion of countless Spirit Beasts and countless people who seek peace. This problem is too big, too heavy, and I cannot give a perfect answer for now.”

He paused, organizing his words, his gaze directed towards the distant outline of the forest under the moonlight, like a sleeping giant beast.

“The human World is indeed very complex.”

“It has light, and it has darkness.”

“There are ordinary people like the farmers and artisans you met, who are diligent and kind, only wishing to live a stable life; there are also worldly merchants who scheme against each other for petty gains. And there are even so-called ‘strong ones,’ like the Tang Hao brothers, who act arbitrarily with their power, treating others as mere grass.”