By this time, peace had descended upon the jianghu.
The eight great kingdoms on the Nine Provinces Continent coexisted harmoniously, engaging in extensive trade.
Few knew that in the solitary island in the middle of the sea, there lay an ancient and desolate land.
The people in this desolate land lived side - by - side with fierce beasts.
Tattoos of different animals adorned their bodies.
This mysterious organization was known as the Divine Sect.
The master of the Divine Sect was a man surnamed Mo.
The people on the island endured a brutal existence. They were living in abject misery and had to undertake an inordinate amount of training every day.
Luo Qiu was the most enigmatic figure on the island. Apart from the earliest group of secret guards who had once seen her, those who came later were completely unaware of her existence.
Of course, Moyan was an exception.
However, he had changed his name.
Now he was called Mo Yan.
Mo Yan had always been himself, but one night, while he was painting in his room, he fell into a daze.
It was as if he had been drugged by the island's infamous hallucinogenic powder.
When he woke up the next morning, a woman was lying beside him.
This woman was Mo Yan's adopted daughter from Loulan. He had raised her since childhood, and her features bore a faint resemblance to Zhao Shuning.
As a result, Mo Yan had always been indulgent towards her.
Even when there were fewer than ten pills for longevity and beauty, he had given one to her.
He had also bestowed upon her a beautiful name: Wanwan.
Wanwan had always been by Mo Yan's side. He treated her well, and as time went on, her feelings for him gradually changed.
But Mo Yan would only stare blankly at her and never did anything inappropriate.
Even after four hundred years, his attitude remained the same.
Wanwan had seen the paintings in Mo Yan's room. She always thought that her adoptive father was in love with Luo Qiu, the former saintess of Loulan.
Later on, unable to bear the wait any longer, Wanwan secretly obtained the scales of the mermaid tribe. She ground them into a hallucinogenic powder and put it in the incense burner.
That night, when Wanwan appeared beside her adoptive father, dressed in the same clothes as the woman in the painting, his eyes immediately changed.
It was the first time.
The first time her adoptive father had touched her.
His hands were thick and warm.
For the first time, Wanwan felt so close to him. That night, she didn't sleep a wink.
She thought that after waking up, Mo Yan would dote on her, for there was no way he could send her away now.
But...
Wanwan had overestimated her position in Mo Yan's heart.
When Mo Yan woke up and saw the woman beside him, he got out of bed expressionlessly, dressed himself, and left.
He didn't say a single word throughout.
Wanwan didn't see Mo Yan for the next three months.
However, she discovered some good news: she was pregnant.
Every time she placed her hands on her abdomen, Wanwan felt extremely happy.
She believed that when the Divine Master returned and saw her like this, he would surely accept her.
Wanwan took good care of herself.
Despite the harsh climate of the Ghost Domain, where vultures that devoured human flesh and bones soared across the sky instead of eagles, she would sit in front of the palace every day, pointing at the vultures in the sky and talking to the baby in her womb.
On the day of delivery, Mo Yan returned.
When the four guardians carried the baby out, his cold face finally showed a glimmer of emotion.
The baby was really tiny.
It couldn't even open its eyes yet, but its skin was incredibly fair and tender.
Hearing that the Divine Master had returned, Wanwan was overjoyed. She thought that at least he would come in and take a look at her.
But he didn't.
Then Qing Feng came in.
He told Wanwan that the Divine Master had left.
Wanwan forced a smile and said that she didn't care, but her eyes were filled with tears.
She turned her head.
Saying that she wanted to rest, she closed her eyes, and the tears streamed down.
Everyone withdrew.
A month later, Mo Yan finally came to see her. This was only after she had pleaded with him many times.
She didn't dare to call him by his name.
She could only address him as adoptive father, just as before.
She asked, "Adoptive father, does the child have a name yet?"
Mo Yan didn't answer.
Wanwan forced a smile and said, "If he doesn't have a name yet, can I give him one? Although my status is not legitimate, I am still his birth mother after all."
Mo Yan still remained silent.
Wanwan continued, "How about naming him Mo Bai? It's a good name. Right and wrong are so hard to tell."
This meeting was so dull.
As Mo Yan was about to leave, Wanwan turned around.
With tears in her eyes, she asked the last question, "Adoptive father, in these four hundred years, have you ever once truly cared about me?"
Mo Yan didn't say a word.
At this moment, Wanwan got her answer.
Her adoptive father had never loved her.
Every time he looked at her, his gaze was always so profound.
It was as if he was looking through her at another woman.
She thought that she had his favor, and she would be willing to stay by his side for hundreds of years.
But Wanwan never expected...
He didn't love her.
He didn't love her before, didn't love her now, and would never love her in the future.
After that night, she was afraid that even the warmth in his eyes when he looked at her was gone.
Yes, that woman in her adoptive father's heart probably would never have resorted to such a despicable means as using hallucinogenic powder to seduce someone.
Her heart was broken.
After leaving Mo Yan's room, she went to see Mo Bai.
The baby was in the cradle, smiling at Wanwan through a protective shield.
He was her child.
It was really ridiculous.
Since his birth, she didn't even have the right to hold him.
Wanwan stood outside the protective shield and watched him all night. She watched him smile, watched him play, watched him sleep, and then watched him slowly fall asleep.
She couldn't bear to leave her son.
But even if she stayed, her adoptive father would never allow her to get close to him.
Wanwan covered her mouth and cried desperately. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't dare to make a sound.
Later, she got up unsteadily and returned to the palace.
In her own quarters, she chose a white silk ribbon and hung it from the beam.
As the stool beneath her feet fell to the ground, her feet were left hanging in the air.
Without even struggling, she left this world.
When Mo Yan heard about this, he just glanced indifferently at the body hanging from the beam. After saying it was a pity, he ordered someone to throw Wanwan's body into the pit filled with corpses for the vultures to devour.
This man had never felt the slightest bit of affection for Wanwan.
In his eyes, her death was just like losing a puppet that slightly resembled the woman he loved.
The reason Luo Qiu had brought Moyan to the Ghost Domain was because of the copper plate in Moyan's hand.
A wisp of her elder sister's spiritual energy remained on the copper plate.
The copper plate could gather spiritual energy and suppress a person's aura. Moyan had once tried it, and he found that anyone who came into contact with the copper plate would leave their aura on it. As long as the person was alive, the aura would never disappear.
Luo Feiyan was already dead, but the aura she had left on the copper plate remained.
Therefore, they had regained hope.