At that moment, both the three demons and Elder Chao understood something.
Yue Xiao is very old. Its lifespan has long come to an end, but it still manages to prevent others from seeing its weakness and aging.
It is like a drooping old tree, leafy on the outside but empty on the inside.
Now, the leaves have fallen.
Autumn can be known by one leaf. After all, the tree cannot survive the desolation and is about to undergo its own death.
It's not that hard to accept, it's unexpected and reasonable, but no one knows what to say or what to do.
Finally, Elder Chao bowed his hand to Tian Zhong, and then said to the three demons: "Let's send it back."
Xue Fei Hongfei and Ye Yuan worked together to lift Yue Xiao's huge body and flew towards Yueya under the leadership of Elder Chao.
Jing Yingrong followed silently.
Yue Xiao slept deeply and showed no sign of waking up until he was placed on the top of Lone Peak.
Jing Yingrong guards it, and Hai Xie accompanies her.
Time passed day after day, and Elder Chao would come over to take a look when he had time, while Xue Fei and the other three took turns to wait with Jing Yingrong.
No one knows whether it will wake up. As far as the eye can see, only its fur is getting darker and wither day by day.
Months passed in a flash.
One evening when the sky was filled with colorful clouds, Yue Xiao's eyelids moved.
It slowly opened its eyes.
The pair of beast eyes that were once cold and cold were now filled with only deep tiredness.
The figure reflected in the mirror is reflected on the dark background of the pupils, as if the moonlight is reflected in a deep pool.
Jing Yingrong: "You're awake."
Yue Xiao's voice was low and slow: "...Yeah."
"Lao Yue, wake up! I'll call them!"
Xue Fei shouted happily.
Yue Xiao moved his eyes and looked at Xue Fei.
"Don't notify them."
"Lao Yue?"
"Tell Chao Chen not to let anyone come over."
"But……"
"You go too."
"What?!"
Xue Fei said in disbelief, "Lao Yue, do you know... what is your situation now?"
"I know," Yue Xiao's tone was unusually calm, "so no one should come."
Xue Fei pointed at Jing Yingrong with her wings: "What about her?"
Yue Xiao: "She stays, I have something to explain to her."
"...Okay then." Xue Fei said reluctantly. It stared at Yue Xiao and hesitated to speak.
"Lao Yue..."
As if something was stuck in her throat, Xue Fei couldn't say the next words.
It closed its eyes, lowered its head, and rubbed Yue Xiao's neck hard with its head.
There was a fleeting softness in Yue Xiao's eyes.
"I am leaving."
Xue Fei said, spreading her snow-white wings and flying away under the sunset.
Yue Xiao watched Xue Fei gradually shrink into a dot, and finally disappeared completely.
The evening wind rustled, and the world was lonely.
Jing Yingrong said: "Aren't you going to say goodbye to them?"
"No need," Yue Xiao said in a low voice, "I don't want them to see my last appearance."
Jing Yingrong nodded gently.
"The mirror reflects the face."
This is the first time Yue Xiao calls Jing Yingrong by her name since they met.
"Thank you." It lowered its voice and said.
"You're welcome," Jing Yingrong tilted her head, "It's my duty to look after you."
"Wrong, that's not why I'm thanking you."
Perhaps out of weakness, Yue Xiao shook his head slightly, "Thank you for making me feel equal."
Doubts appeared in Jing Yingrong's eyes: "Equality?"
"Yeah, equal."
Yue Xiao sighed, "The day you came, I discovered that the way you looked at me was the same as the way you looked at Chao Chen."
"Not like the others."
"The way they look at me, Xue Fei and others is always different from when they look at other disciples."
"But you are different."
"I can feel that in your eyes, we are equal existences."
Hearing this, Jing Yingrong opened her lips slightly and said, "So you said they are disgusting."
Yue Xiao said in a slightly serious tone: "Yes."
After a pause, it continued: "No matter how long I have lived in the sect, how loyal I am to the sect, or how many things I have done for the sect, they will never treat me as a similar person or treat me like an ordinary member of the sect. .”
"Even if they respect me, fear me, and never treat me badly, it will always be based on 'a useful monster'."
Jing Yingrong was silent for a long time and said: "The relationship between human cultivators and monster beasts is generally hostile."
"I understand, I understand...I think they are disgusting, but I don't hate them. I don't hate anyone. I'm just...sad."
Yue Xiao's voice lowered, showing a bit of hoarseness.
It stared at the lingering ray of glow on the edge of the sea of clouds.
"Back then, my cultivation level reached the peak of the tenth level, and I was only one step away from entering the realm of the Beast King. But I have spent countless years failing to take this step."
"I thought I was looking in the wrong direction, or maybe I didn't do enough. I never gave up. I want to be the first monster in my sect to be promoted to Beast King. In that case, everyone will be very happy and regard me as my leader. proud."
"But slowly, I witnessed one after another of the tenth-level monsters in the door grow old and die. Among them, there are many beings who are better and more powerful than me."
"I don't know when I started to have doubts in my heart."
"Maybe I lived so long that I accidentally learned things I shouldn't have known."
Yue Xiao paused for a moment, and his eyes became gloomy.
"Taichu Guan will not allow the Beast King to appear under our sect."
"Every monster with great potential will have its orifices sealed when it was a child with vague memories."
"They have long blocked the path from the demonic beasts under our sect to the Beast King."
Jing Yingrong stared at it: "Even so, you don't hate it, why?"
Yue Xiao was silent for a few breaths and said: "At that time, I was angry and unwilling to give up. But after I calmed down, I understood."
"The hatred between human cultivators and monster beasts is very deep, and our sect has stepped on the corpses of countless monster beasts to become the first sect. Under this background, if the beast emperor is raised under the sect, and the beast king turns to the If the monster becomes an undercover agent lurking in our sect, it will cause immeasurable damage to our sect. Therefore, from the perspective of the entire sect, it is a very reasonable choice to avoid the emergence of the Beast King."
"After thinking about this clearly, I admit it..."
Speaking of this, there was a hint of hesitation in Yue Xiao's tone.
"...I thought I really admitted it, but when I realized that I was running out of time, that unwillingness came out again."
"Especially, I realize more and more deeply that to this sect, I will always be a foreigner and an alien. I will not be able to change this until my death."
"So I couldn't help but lose my temper and tease them. I wish I could retaliate cruelly once, so maybe I wouldn't be so sad. But I can't, because after all, I don't blame them..."
"So I'm still sad, very...sad."
Yue Xiao closed his eyes, and the clear liquid wetted his hair.
"I consider this place my home, but it has never really accepted me."
