Xue Meng lay on the ground. When he was drunk, he was confused and completely unaware that he had just met the greatest devil in the world. He was still lying on his back in the snow. The snow on the peak of Mount Kunlun was still drifting down, like the willow leaves on a spring day.
The autumn reeds covered him.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, someone approached from within the snow, holding a bright red paper umbrella. Xue Meng squinted his eyes, and then he saw a clear and cold face.
"Mei…"
Xue Meng mumbled the two words "Hanxue". He was too tired.
"Mm, it's me." Mei Hanxue didn't say much and helped him up from the ground.
Xue Meng lay on Mei Hanxue's shoulder, but he did not leave. Instead, he asked, "Do you have any wine?"
Mei Hanxue said, "No."
Xue Meng acted as if he didn't hear anything. "Okay, okay, okay. Then why don't you have a drink with me?"
"… Nope."
Xue Meng was silent for a moment, then laughed. "Look at you, you dog. I didn't drink it before, but now that I've drunk it, you tell me that I haven't. Are you messing with me?"
"I don't like alcohol."
Xue Meng muttered a few more sentences. It sounded as if he was cursing someone. Then he pushed away Mei Hanxue and walked into the snow. Mei Hanxue was holding onto an umbrella as he looked at his slightly hunched back.
Instead of chasing after him, he asked, "Where are you going?"
He did not know where he was going. He only hated the fact that he had not drunk enough wine to kill himself.
Mei Hanxue replied: "There is no way back."
Xue Meng suddenly stopped moving and stood there blankly. After a while, he suddenly burst into tears, "I just fucking want a drink! You won't even let me drink it! If you don't drink, then don't drink, and you lied and said you don't drink! Are you even human?!"
"… I didn't lie to you."
Xue Meng did not take it in at all as he wailed, "Are you guys human?"
"…"
"I'm not feeling good, can't you see that?!"
Mei Hanxue said, "Yes."
Xue Meng stared blankly for a moment, and then felt even more wronged. Even the tip of his nose had turned red. "Fine, fine, fine. Even if you can tell, you won't drink with me. Are you afraid that I will drink you for nothing and won't give you money? I'm not that poor…"
He went to his pocket and actually mumbled something. He took out a pile of broken coins and counted them back and forth a few times.
Mei Hanxue stroked his forehead, his head obviously hurting. "Xue Meng, you're drunk. You should rest first."
Before Xue Meng could reply, the sound of rustling footsteps came from behind him.
Another gentle voice sounded out, "Big brother, why are you arguing with a drunk person?"
With that, a hand with a silk sheath reached out, carrying a sheepskin bag, and a silver bell on his wrist. Mei Hanxue glanced back.
Behind him stood a man who looked exactly the same as him. However, the smile on his face was deep, and his expression was extremely gentle.
"Actually, there are only two ways to deal with drunkards." The man grinned. "Concuss him or knock him out."
Mei Hanxue: "…"
As the man spoke, he winked at Mei Hanxue and said, "I know you don't drink. You can go back, and I'll drink with him."
Light green smoke curled up into the air. It was graceful, graceful, and full of love. However, the smoke was everywhere else.
Taxue Palace's Eldest Senior Brother's room was filled with the rich, expensive fragrance of ambergris. This place was covered with a white, fluffy carpet, and every step of the way, one of the steps went straight up to one's ankles.
Mei Hanxue was sitting on the white carpet with his bare feet and his head in his hands. His toes casually rubbed against each other as his jade-like eyes stared at Xue Meng, who was sitting cross-legged in front of him and gulping down the wine.
After thirty minutes of drinking, Mei Hanxue smiled and asked, "Hey, Ziming, aren't you surprised?"
"Surprised about what?"
"There are two of us."
Xue Meng, "… Oh."
Mei Hanxue shook his head. "I forgot that your alcohol tolerance is very low. After you get drunk, your brain is probably different from an ordinary person's, so there's nothing surprising about you."
Xue Meng, "Hmph."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but that day at the Sisheng Peak, the person who helped you block the sword was my big brother."
"I can't remember."
Mei Hanxue said, "You've seen his weapon, Shuofeng. A sword made of silver black iron."
Xue Meng frowned and thought hard. But on that day in the Great Hall, the person who held me back was very ugly. The weapon wasn't silver, either. "It's…"
"It's blue. Because he was angry that day, and he was very anxious, so he put the elixir into it. He doesn't usually pay attention to his spirit, but my brother doesn't really like to be cruel."
"…"
"We actually know how to use that sword differently. I'm a Wood, Water, Spirit Core, and he's a Water, Fire, and Spirit Core." When the time comes, you will see three types of spirit currents, green, red and blue, but…"
He did not continue, because Xue Meng did not seem too interested in this matter. After hearing half of it, Xue Meng began to drink his wine, his expression indifferent.
Mei Hanxue narrowed his eyes.
He suddenly felt that Xue Meng's appearance was not like his usual domineering attitude, but instead carried a trace of coldness. This coldness made Xue Meng not like himself, but rather like another person.
But who?
Mei Hanxue did not think about it for a while, and he was too lazy to think about it. His work had always been done in the same way that the Brainless Golden Beast breathed out, lazily drifting about wherever it went, seemingly without any bones.
Xue Meng drank another bag of sheepskin and then asked Mei Hanxue, "Do you have any more of this wine?"
"Yes, but you've already drunk too much. You can't ask for more."
Xue Meng said, "I'm not drunk from a thousand cups."
"Are you sick?" However, he still handed the wine to him, and said warmly before he left, "This is the last pot. If I give it to you again, and if my brother finds about it, he'll cut me alive."
Xue Meng slowly drank his wine, his expression very cold.
He was not like Xue Meng.
While drinking, Xue Meng suddenly whispered, "You have a brother."
"Ah!" Mei Hanxue laughed. "I've been talking about him for a long time now and you only now acknowledged it."
Xue Meng's eyes were a little unfocused. His eyelashes were long like a butterfly resting on the ground. He then muttered, "I also have a brother."
"Yeah, I know."
Leaning against the beam column, Xue Meng crossed his legs. After sitting for a long time, he felt a little numb. He stretched out one of his legs and stared at Mei Hanxue for a while.
Suddenly, the ice-cold expression on his face disappeared and was replaced by a dazzling brilliance. However, under this radiance, Xue Meng still did not seem like Xue Meng.
He smiled and asked, "Hey, how does your brother treat you?"
Mei Hanxue was surprised by his sudden change in attitude. Was this man drunk like this? But he still said, "… It's pretty good."
"Ha ha-ha, you sure are gentle with your words. What kind of good method do you have? Would he forge a weapon for you, or would he cook you a bowl of noodles when you were sick?"
Mei Hanxue smiled. "Neither, but he will help me block the women."
Xue Meng, "…"
"I don't really like watching old lovers cry. The things he can't handle are things he do for me. He did a lot more than I did. He had no feelings, and he didn't drag his feet. But he just doesn't have much fun, so he's too old to even hold a girl's hand."
Xue Meng wrinkled his nose. "What's your brother's name?"
"Méi Hánxuě."24
"Like you?"
"The words are different." He smiled. "He is a cold man. He deserves his reputation."
Xue Meng mumbled, "Why did you do this…"
Mei Hanxue replied, "It's convenient to do things. For some things, it's not strange for two people to do it. However, if others think that it was done by one person, then they would feel that it's very mysterious. The Palace Master intentionally allowed us to do so, so she has been bringing me and Big Brother since we were young."
As he spoke, he opened the lid of the smoker, picked up the silver spoon and began to fiddle with the remaining embers inside. He then poured in some spices which were able to calm the mind and dispel the cold. His voice was very soft.
"He and I have been carrying human skin masks with us. When he puts them on, I will show them my true appearance. When I put them on, he will act as his real self, and in a flash, more than twenty years has gone just like this."
"Aren't you all tired?"
"I'm not tired. It's pretty fun." Mei Hanxue smiled. "But my brother must be tired. He always says that I owe too much debt outside that he even walks around those female cultivators."
Xue Meng had never experienced the feeling of being surrounded by female cultivators. In fact, he felt that he was about the same age as Méi Hánxuě. He had not even touched a woman's hand before.
However, there was nothing to show off about this sort of thing. He drank dryly, silently, without a word.
Mei Hanxue had thought that he was drunk and that his brain was abnormal. But unexpectedly at this time, Xue Meng suddenly asked him, "Why did you save me?"
The tone changed again, this time very gently.
This kind of gentleness appeared on Xue Meng's face in a way that was far too out of place. It was even more piercing than his previous brilliance.
Mei Hanxue finally could not stand it any longer. He sat up and raised his hand that was tied to the silver bell. He turned Xue Meng's chin left and right as he looked, saying, "Strange, it's you. But what's different? What's going on?"
Xue Meng did not struggle at all and allowed him to pull and analyze. His pair of black eyes quietly looked at Mei Hanxue, and after a while, he asked, "Why are you helping the Sisheng Peak? Do I know you well?"
"Not really. I played with you when I was little, but one day it was me and one day it was my brother who played with you. In fact, I've only been with you for about ten days."
"Then why are you willing to take me in?"
Mei Hanxue sighed. He extended a slender finger and poked Xue Meng's forehead, "Your mother and father saved my mother's life before. She's from Shattered Leaf City, and Shattered Leaf has a lot of evil spirits. "After she gave birth to us brothers, she sent us to the Taxue Palace on Mount Kunlun. Afterwards, there was chaos in the city and heavy casualties. She managed to escape but was heavily injured."
The new spice has a sharp scent of cedar.
Mei Hanxue smiled. "After a long and arduous journey, she didn't have any money left. By the time she reached the foot of Mount Kunlun, she was already dying."
His expression was still very gentle, and between his forehead, there were red droplets of water that were shining.
"At that time, it was Uncle Xue and Aunt Wang's first visit to the Taxue Palace on Mount Kunlun. They saw my dying mother, but they did not ask about her background, did not accept her money, and took the best medicines to treat her. After finding out that she was here to search for her son, they even carried her on their backs to Mount Kunlun."
Xue Meng was speechless for a moment as he blankly listened.
After a long while, he asked, "Then what happened to your mother?"
"She was too sick." Mei Hanxue shook his head, "There's no way to get back from that injury, so she died. But thanks to Uncle and Aunt, we've seen her for the last time."
Outside, a little wind blew in. The smoke in the room dispersed, and the wind chimed in from the corner of the eaves.
It was like the sound of water.
"All these years, my aunt and uncle have always said that there is no need to say anything. It was just a simple gesture. In the end, they even forgot about it themselves, but my brother and I still remember it." Mei Hanxue raised his jade eyes and looked at him peacefully.
Too much time had passed, and when he talked about it, the pain was invisible, only gentleness.
"That day, it was Uncle Xue who carried my mother on his back, while Aunt Wang held an umbrella by his side. They were afraid that my mother would suffer from another cold. The first thing my aunt and uncle said after entering the hall was not to do business at the Sisheng Peak or to form an alliance or make friends with the Taxue Palace. They asked if there was a pair of twins from Shattered Leaf City."
Her light golden eyelashes drooped down, covering the clear pool of water.
"To be honest, that is the most outstanding Sect Leader and Lady Sect Leader that I have ever seen in my entire life."
Xue Meng choked with sobs. "My parents…"
Mei Hanxue answered, "Yes, your parents."
Xue Meng buried his face into his palm. His shoulders trembled slightly. He was crying again. It seemed that the tears in his life were about to run out in these few months of collapse.
He cried. He finally turned back into Xue Meng's appearance.
At this moment, Mei Hanxue suddenly remembered.
Just now, he had coldly said, "I'm not drunk." That was Chu Wanning.
He brightly asked, "Do you have a brother too?" It was Mo Weiyu.
He said softly, "Why did you save me?" It was Shi Mingjing.
He was trying, clumsily, to remember their faces, their bits and pieces, their glances, their smiles, their sitting or standing, their anger or annoyance.
In the past, he was used to having Chu Wanning's cold stubbornness, Mo Weiyu's scorching heat, and Shi Mingjing's gentleness. In the past, he had a Shizun, a cousin, and even a close friend.
Suddenly, a night of rain and duckweed. Mountains and rivers shattered and the wind blew.
The rain had stopped and he was alone.
They all disappeared.
Xue Meng alone drank a jug of turbid wine. After that, he became three people by himself.
He cried, laughed, cold, hot, and gentle, and he liked them, respectfully, definitely, awkwardly.
He thought that perhaps he didn't express it well. His love for his Shizun always seemed to be very dull. His fondness for his cousin was always sharp. His love for Shi Mei was always very indifferent.
After he finished drinking, Xue Meng slowly curled himself up. He had shrunk to such a small size, and his eyes were red.
He said, "It's my fault. What I did was wrong…"
Come back.
I am no longer arrogant, no longer arrogant, no longer hesitant, no longer indifferent.
Xue Meng sobbed, his forehead pressed against his knees as his entire body trembled. As he sobbed, he said, "Come back… Don't leave me alone."
If he could return to his old friend, if he could start all over again. He did not want the reputation of a proud son of heaven, nor did he want the dignity of a Young Master of Sisheng Peak.
He just wanted to tell them directly and passionately…
I really, really love you, can't do without you, all your life have to do with you.
He was willing to use his spirit core, and he was willing to pay a thousand gold coins.
He is willing to give it all. To see the deceased gather again and look at them greedily, even if it's for a while.
Mei Hanxue sighed as he saw him grieve. He raised his hand and touched his ears. He was about to say something when he heard a muffled sound. It was like thunder had crashed through heavy clouds and the earth was shaking.
The tremors continued for a while, as if there was a giant beast awakening in the depths of the snowy plains. It was as if it could release its breath at any time and swallow the sun and the moon.
Mei Hanxue knew that something was wrong. He settled down Xue Meng and was about to go out when he saw his brother holding his sword, pushing aside the veil and striding in.
The eldest brother's expression was solemn and extremely gloomy as he said, "Immediately go to the main hall."
Mei Hanxue was stunned: "What's wrong? What was that movement just now?"
His elder brother, who was usually cold, pursed his lips and said, "A huge mysterious formation has appeared in the northeast. I'm afraid Mo-zongshi is right. The Gate of Life and Death is about to open."