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Chapter 244: The Final Encounter

And that song—was it sung by that apparition? The Deer King turned his gaze towards Ruyan, who stood beside Zhong Shan. Who was she? And who was the ghostly singer?

It wasn't just the Deer King who found the situation incredulous; nearly everyone else was stunned too.

Xiao Wang turned his head towards the direction where Zhong Shan stood, his eyes bypassing everyone else and fixing onto Ruyan.

Their eyes met, and as Ruyan's song came to a halt, the two of them stood there silently, as if the tens of thousands of troops around them had vanished, and the distance between them had dissolved into nothingness.

Xiao Wang gazed at her with a yearning expression and began to descend towards the square where Ruyan stood. His movement caused a stir among the troops, but it was quickly suppressed by the generals on both sides. No one tried to stop him. Xiao Wang's subordinates were on high alert, wary of any potential ambush from the Deer King and his men, while the Deer King himself frowned as he watched Xiao Wang slowly approach.

Accompanying Xiao Wang in his descent was another general, one of his adopted sons.

Xiao Wang landed not far from Ruyan and began walking towards her, with his adopted son following closely behind. The Sect Master of Cangyun Sect also approached, walking slowly until he stood behind Xiao Wang, alongside the adopted son.

Upon seeing the Sect Master approaching, Autumn Water stepped forward and said, "Grandpa!"

Grandpa? It turned out that Autumn Water was Xiao Wang's grandson, Xiao Qiushui.

However, Xiao Wang paid him no attention at this moment. The Sect Master of Cangyun Sect glanced at Xiao Qiushui and gave him a look that said, "Stay back."

Xiao Qiushui stepped back, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Step by step, Xiao Wang approached Ruyan until he was standing not far from her.

When Xiao Qiushui addressed Xiao Wang as 'Grandpa,' Zhong Shan and Princess Qianyou were slightly surprised, but Ruyan seemed to already know, paying no mind to it and simply watching Xiao Wang approach.

As Xiao Wang drew closer, the tears in his eyes dried up. He gazed at Ruyan with an intense longing.

"You remarried?" Ruyan asked calmly.

Xiao Wang nodded without hesitation. "Yes."

"Why didn't you come to find me?" Ruyan's tone remained indifferent.

"I thought you were gone," Xiao Wang replied, taking a deep breath.

Suddenly, Ruyan smiled for the first time. Her smile carried a sense of bitterness, yet also a feeling of liberation.

"Ruyan!" Xiao Wang called out softly, his hand reaching out towards her.

With a faint smile, Ruyan said, "I'm tired of waiting. This was the token of your love for me, the Love Knot. Today, I return it to you."

Ruyan gently took out the necklace that had once adorned her skeletal neck and placed it in Xiao Wang's palm.

"For a thousand years, I only wanted to see you once. I waited in the Xiao Manor for a thousand years, just to see you once. Now that I've seen you and returned this Love Knot to you, my wish is fulfilled," Ruyan said with a relieved smile.

Her smile carried a poignant feeling, a sense of desolation that anyone who witnessed it would feel.

"Ruyan!" Xiao Wang called out again, holding onto her hand tightly, unwilling to let go.

Ruyan gently freed her hand from Xiao Wang's grasp. "I must go. A thousand years ago, I should have left."

"Ruyan, don't go!" Xiao Wang called out desperately, trying to reach for her again.

But Ruyan's form drifted away from him.

"Tears trickle down, lost in the mundane world, sighing for the passage of time. Unable to see my beloved, I wait drunkenly for a thousand years. In my heart, I hold resentment for the one I love..."

As Ruyan sang the first song taught to her by Xiao Bingyi, her figure floated further and further away, gradually fading from view.

"Ruyan, don't go! Ruyan, don't go!" Xiao Wang suddenly seemed like an ordinary person, chasing after Ruyan with quick steps. But he could never catch up; Ruyan continued to drift away while singing, her figure growing fainter and fainter until she vanished completely before everyone's eyes.

She was gone. Ruyan had departed, leaving only a sense of emptiness behind. Xiao Wang chased after her relentlessly, tears streaming down his face as he reached out for her, but how could he bring her back from the netherworld? He could only run after her in despair.

"Ruyan, don't go! Ruyan, don't go!" When he reached the spot where Ruyan had disappeared, all he could find was an object she had left behind—a painting.

It was a painting of Xiao Bingyi and Ruyan embracing, the same one Zhong Shan had seen at the Xiao Manor. In the painting, Ruyan looked as beautiful and happy as ever, cradled in the arms of the elderly Xiao Bingyi, his hair white and his face wrinkled. Ruyan's expression radiated happiness.

Xiao Wang could only grasp onto this painting. There was nothing else left.

Looking at the painting, Xiao Wang fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he muttered incomprehensible words that no one else could understand.

Not far away, the Sect Master of Cangyun Sect and another general also knelt down, tears flowing freely from their eyes as well.

Watching the two of them, Zhong Shan took a deep breath. Xiao Bingyi's two adopted sons hadn't forgotten their foster father. But what about mine? What about my three adopted sons? Have they forgotten about me completely? What about Zhong Di and Zhong Shi Jiu? What happened to them?

Princess Qianyou's eyes were moist as she looked towards the spot where Ruyan had disappeared. Her voice trembled slightly as she said, "Why did Ruyan have to leave? After waiting for a thousand years and finally meeting, why did she have to leave?"

Glancing at Princess Qianyou, Zhong Shan held her hand and whispered softly, "This devotion has tormented Ruyan for a thousand years. Haven't we heard her say how tired she was these days?"

"Did Ruyan already know that Xiao Bingyi would remarry?" Princess Qianyou asked, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"Does it matter whether she knew or not? For a thousand years, every day she watched the Everbright Lamp still burning, her heart was crushed time and time again. After a thousand years, Ruyan was exhausted. She just said it herself, she waited for a thousand years just to see Xiao Bingyi one more time. She knew that a thousand years later, Xiao Bingyi wouldn't be the same as before. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to follow her to the underworld like they had promised each other a thousand years ago. At least now, Xiao Wang wouldn't. So Ruyan left, finding release. She's gone," Zhong Shan explained gently.

"I don't understand," Princess Qianyou shook her head, her eyes reddening as if she couldn't accept Zhong Shan's explanation.

Watching Xiao Wang weeping bitterly as he held onto the painting, Zhong Shan took a deep breath. He hadn't understood at first either. It was only when Ruyan gave him the Ten Courts of Hell back at the hall, saying she no longer needed it, that Zhong Shan understood. Ruyan had already figured everything out, understood everything. She knew what it would be like to see Xiao Bingyi again and decided to leave this world with a heart shattered into pieces.

As the two armies faced off, General Xiao Wang suddenly broke down into uncontrollable tears in the distance. It was the first time everyone had seen the General like this—never before, never. Even the Deer King, at this moment, felt a sense of temporal dislocation, a feeling of unreality that was very, very unreal.

"We're leaving!" With a hint of unwillingness, the Deer King issued a final command.

With this order, his two and a half months of persistence, two and a half months of effort, were all in vain. The Deer King would forever bear the mark of failure.

As the Deer King departed, Zhong Shan sighed inwardly. The pursuit of more than two months had come to an end. Yet what lay ahead was the confrontation with even more troops from the Great Radiance Empire.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wang, no longer shedding tears, held onto the painting as if cradling a precious treasure. His eyes were filled with a sense of infatuation as his right hand gently caressed the image of Ruyan.

At this moment, a man flew over from among the troops. He was the senior disciple of Xiao Qiu Shui. Although he had notified Xiao Wang, the two disciples sent by the Sect Master of Cangyun Sect had not found Xiao Wang's army.

Zhong Shan led Princess Qianyou towards a certain direction. However, at the next moment, numerous generals blocked their path.

When Zhong Shan tried to move east, they blocked the east. When he tried to move west, they blocked the west. They wouldn't let Zhong Shan and Princess Qianyou leave, as if waiting for the Grand Commander Xiao Wang to make a decision.

"Let them go! Let them go!" Xiao Wang, holding onto the painting, stared at the image of Ruyan without turning his head.

"Yes," the generals replied.

However, Zhong Shan didn't leave at this moment.

He took advantage of the situation and walked up to Xiao Qiu Shui's senior disciple.

Both Xiao Qiu Shui and his senior disciple looked at Zhong Shan strangely. Why hadn't he left?

Approaching Xiao Qiu Shui and his senior disciple, Zhong Shan gently spread open his hands, offering them to the two. He looked at them expectantly.

Xiao Qiu Shui's senior disciple glanced at Zhong Shan with a strange expression. This man was indeed taking advantage of the situation. Looking at the Sect Master and the other general kneeling nearby, and then at the grandfather Xiao Wang grieving alone, Xiao Qiu Shui's senior disciple gave his own disciple a meaningful look. Despite his reluctance, his disciple reluctantly took out the fog-shrouding array flag that Zhong Shan had given them.

As the flag was taken back, Zhong Shan wielded his sword and, with Princess Qianyou, ascended into the air. Amidst the perplexed gazes of the entire army, they slowly flew out of Cangyun Sect's territory, breaking through the encirclement.

The army watched as Zhong Shan and Princess Qianyou, whom they had been searching for, were casually released by the Grand Commander. Each soldier couldn't help but feel a sense of regret and incomprehension. It was only when Zhong Shan and Princess Qianyou's figures disappeared into the distance that the soldiers gradually turned their attention away.

Zhong Shan departed with ease because he had come with Ruyan. At this moment, Xiao Wang couldn't possibly "use" Ruyan to capture Zhong Shan anymore.