"Forget it."
Zhao Shuning waved her fair hand.
The entire barrier instantly collapsed.
Everyone was puzzled.
Even Dongfang Yuxi looked at Zhao Shuning suspiciously.
"What tricks are you up to this time?"
Zhao Shuning said, "If I said I didn't mean to play tricks on you, would you believe me?"
"You?"
"If I said I came here just to see if the little fish from before has grown up, would you believe me?"
"You, what did you say? Just now, what did you call me?"
"Little Fish. After all these years, your temper is still the same as before. I told you a long time ago that although the vast world is turbid, all the states of the world hide infinite unknowns. The unknown is dangerous, but it's precisely because of the unknown that people have longings. You should try to integrate into this world. At least, when there are no relatives or friends around in the future, you won't feel so lonely."
"You—"
At this moment, Dongfang Yuxi's eyes were shining with a never - before - seen brilliance.
Zhao Shuning didn't stop.
Instead, she continued, "Little Fish, your Azure Cloud Demon Slash has really improved over the years. I'm quite satisfied with your performance. But you really should change your temper. You always put up all your defenses and don't allow others to get close. A person's life is long, yet also short. Do you really want to be lonely forever?"
Zhao Shuning's expression was serious.
Dongfang Yuxi remained silent, but his expression clearly showed that he was listening to Zhao Shuning attentively.
Could it be that Miss Zhao had gone too far with her words?
So far, no one had ever dared to lecture Dongfang like this.
"Miss Zhao, you've said what you wanted to say and done what you wanted to do. Look, Dongfang is no ordinary person, and his disposition is different from ours. Your spiritual power is stronger than his, so you've won. But he hasn't done anything wrong. He just didn't want to pick an auspicious day for you. You don't have to be so aggressive, do you?"
"Zhao Shuning, that's enough—" Jun Jiu's voice was very soft. She gently reached out and touched Zhao Shuning's arm.
She was hinting that Zhao Shuning should stop while she was ahead. Dongfang Yuxi, the "Ghost of Despair", was not someone to be trifled with. Although he was alone in the Qingyun Kingdom, in the Eastern Continent, the power of the Dongfang Clan was not to be underestimated.
"Dongfang Yuxi, do you understand?"
For this last sentence, Shuning didn't call Dongfang Yuxi by his nickname, but directly by his full name.
Dongfang Yuxi looked at Zhao Shuning.
At this very moment, he saw the shadow of that person in Zhao Shuning.
The look on her face when she was speaking and the movement when she blocked his Azure Cloud Demon Slash just now completely overlapped with the person in his memory.
He took a step forward.
Jun Xuanmo quickly motioned for everyone to hold Dongfang Yuxi back.
"Dongfang, don't be impulsive."
"Let go!"
These two extremely plain words were full of authority.
Jun Xuanmo was in a dilemma.
Zhao Shuning said, "You don't need to stop him. He won't do anything to me."
Dongfang Yuxi took three steps forward, about three meters away from Zhao Shuning.
He stared into Zhao Shuning's eyes without moving and said seriously, "Is it you?"
"Is it really you, right?"
Jun Xuanmo said, "Dongfang, what are you talking nonsense about?"
Jun Jiu tugged at Zhao Shuning's sleeve. At this moment, Jun Jiu's hand was also trembling slightly. She whispered, "Let's go quickly, eldest sister. If he gets angry, our entire Jun family will be in trouble."
"You're back, right?"
Zhao Shuning smiled.
Then she nodded.
She took out the jade flute in her hand and joked, "I just wonder if Little Fish can still sleep soundly tonight. How about I play another tune for you?"
Just this simple sentence made Dongfang Yuxi's eyes suddenly turn red.
He would never forget that period of time.
At that time, he was rescued by Ye Ling and raised by her side. The experience he had in his childhood and what happened that night were the shadows of his whole life.
He was different from the other children. More or less, their memories had been erased by the mysterious Emperor.
But he didn't want to. He wanted to remember those unforgettable pasts. He couldn't let the wounds on his body be suffered in vain.
So when his memories were being erased, he didn't comply. Everyone just thought that he had walked out of the memory - erasing formation and that he had also lost that painful memory.
Even Ye Ling at that time thought so.
But later, every time she checked on the children at night, she found that all the other children were sleeping soundly, while only that child, Dongfang, was sleeping alone in the corner, hugging the quilt and staring blankly out of the window.
It was the same situation again and again.
At that time, Ye Ling thought that it was because Dongfang Yuxi's body was special and had a reaction with the formation, which made him feel unwell.
Therefore, at night, when Dongfang Yuxi couldn't sleep, Ye Ling would take him for a walk around the Eastern Marshy Wilderness.
Looking at the fish swimming freely in the pond, he would always stop and watch.
Seeing this, Ye Ling would silently stay by the child's side and watch the fish in the pond with him.
Later, when Dongfang Yuxi still couldn't sleep, Ye Ling went to find Yan Ruyu.
Yan Ruyu thought for a while and taught Ye Ling a tune.
She said that the tune was good for sleeping. Dongfang Yuxi could listen to it before going to sleep. In this way, he would fall asleep easily and wouldn't be woken up by nightmares in the middle of the night.
After Ye Ling learned it for a while, in the following days, she would take Dongfang Yuxi with her. Although he still didn't like to talk very much, he still liked to go to the pond to watch the fish. Whenever this happened, Ye Ling would take out the jade flute and play a tune for Dongfang Yuxi.
When he felt sleepy, Dongfang Yuxi would look at the fish in the pond and slowly fall asleep against the pavilion.
Then Ye Ling would put away the jade flute and carry Dongfang Yuxi back to his bed.
This went on for more than half a month, and Dongfang Yuxi began to change significantly. He started to talk to Ji Qinglin and learn to get along with Song Zhiyi. Even when Gu Zhiruo sprained her foot, he would take the initiative to help.
However, that child, Dongfang, didn't like Xia Wanning. He didn't like her from the very beginning. Every time he saw her, he would avoid her from afar. Because of this, Ji Qinglin had many conflicts with Dongfang Yuxi.
But every time Ye Ling asked him why he didn't like Xia Wanning, Dongfang Yuxi would remain silent.
As time passed, Ye Ling couldn't resolve the rift between the two, so she had to give up.
Dongfang Yuxi still remembered that when his mental method reached great success and he was about to leave Ye Ling and return to the Qingyun Kingdom.
She gave him a little golden fish.
Dongfang Yuxi raised that little fish for a very long time, until that bad news came. They said that the female emperor of the Eastern Marshy Wilderness was tyrannical and had been besieged and killed. Now, not even her corpse was left.
On that day, after getting this news, Dongfang Yuxi took that little fish and went to the Eastern Marshy Wilderness.
He was not good at expressing himself, but Ye Ling had been very kind to him. He always kept her kindness in raising and teaching him deep in his heart.