Chapter 135: Longing for Home

Chapter 135

Mei spent quite a long time navigating the spatial rift with her companions before finally locating the others. This time, however, she did not find them scattered; Xiriel, Ye Jingxuan, and Qu Wenyuan were all in one place, sparing her the need to search further.

The three were in a grim state: Xiriel sat on the ground clutching his bone staff, Ye Jingxuan stood with a group of ghosts battling phantom demons, and Qu Wenyuan lay unconscious on the ground.

Seeing this, Mei hurried her group forward to join them. She unleashed a series of dark-element spells, which immediately relieved the pressure on the others. She then tore open a scroll to cast a barrier, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath.

"Are you tired of living? How dare you use dark magic so recklessly?" Before Mei could even ask about their situation, Xiriel began to lecture her with a frosty expression.

"Uh, I only used a little bit. It won't be a problem!" Mei defended herself with a guilty conscience.

"Hmph!" Xiriel snorted but did not continue his reprimand. Instead, he took a bottle of medicine from his spatial storage and shoved it at her.

"Drink it."

"Oh!" Mei didn't even ask what it was; she tilted her head back and downed the medicine.

Shortly after consuming it, she felt the dark-element energy, which had been in a state of agitation due to overuse and a lack of light-element suppression, begin to calm down significantly.

"Is everyone alright? What happened to Sister Wenyuan?" Mei asked after finishing the medicine.

"I'm fine. Xiriel found us and brought us here. As for Wenyuan, she fell into an illusion earlier and kept muttering about going home. Fearing she might drift into another dimension, I knocked her out," Ye Jingxuan explained, then added, "Are you all alright?"

"I'm fine. As for the others, they were scattered throughout the rift and encountered some trouble, but thankfully, everyone was found in time with no casualties," Mei said simply, then turned her attention back to Xiriel. "Is this the core of the spatial rift?"

"Otherwise, do you think we're sitting here enjoying the scenery?" Xiriel retorted sharply.

Hearing his tone, Mei knew he was still angry about her recklessness. She rubbed her nose and offered a conciliatory smile, changing the subject. "Did Xiriel discover the cause of this rift?"

"I sent the ghosts to scout. Deep within the gathering place of the phantom demons, there is an object about a meter high that emits strong spatial energy fluctuations." Although Xiriel was very dissatisfied with her reaction, there was nothing he could do about her. He had to focus on the business at hand.

"It's easier once the source is found! Let's all rest for now. Once we've recovered, we'll go take a look," Mei said, exhaling in relief, and sat on the ground to rest.

"Mei'er, drink your milk!" Seeing that there would be no immediate action and that Mei had sat down to rest, Mo Chen immediately produced a steaming bottle of milk from his storage and handed it to her.

The milk collected in the early days of the apocalypse had long been finished; what she drank now was milk from the beasts in her own space. It tasted similar to cow's milk, so she didn't mind it. The reason she didn't keep it in her own space was simply because Mo Chen noticed she always forgot to drink it without a reminder, so he kept it for her and supervised her.

Mei drank the warm milk in small sips and said, "Don't just watch me. After such a long ordeal, everyone must be hungry. Everyone should eat and drink; don't wait."

Having stayed here for so long, everyone felt a sense of oppression, so no one had the heart to prepare elaborate food. Each person chewed on a few compressed biscuits and drank some water, which served as their meal.

Just as they were eating, Qu Wenyuan, who had been lying unconscious on the ground, finally woke up.

She opened her eyes, looking at her companions with a dazed expression, unable to react for a long time.

"Yuanyuan, are you alright?" Seeing her state, Lin Shaojie stepped forward to help her up, asking with concern.

Qu Wenyuan looked at Lin Shaojie and finally spoke after a long pause. "I'm fine! I think I just had a dream. In the dream, I saw my parents and my friends. I wanted to go to them, but for some reason, I couldn't get close. Ah Jie, I want to go home. I miss my parents!"

By the end, her voice was choked with sobs, and tears rolled down her cheeks to the ground.

If there had been no hope, Qu Wenyuan might have resigned herself to spending the rest of her life in this world. But once she knew that some people could traverse dimensions, she began to long for home. Today, seeing her aged parents, she could no longer suppress the intense desire to return.

She wanted to go back so badly!

Lin Shaojie didn't know how to comfort her, so he simply patted her back gently, offering silent solace.

"Sister Wenyuan, do you really want to go back that much?" Mei asked hesitantly, watching Qu Wenyuan weep.

"What? Do you have a way? Didn't you say only your friend could do it?" Mo Chen asked, noticing Mei's hesitation.

"I didn't have one before, but I never expected we would encounter a spatial rift, so..." Before Mei could finish, Qu Wenyuan lunged at her.

Qu Wenyuan grabbed Mei's hands and asked urgently, "Mei'er, do you really have a way? Please, help me. I want to go home, I want to see my parents. They are very old; I don't know how much longer they can wait for me. Please, help me!"

"Sister Wenyuan, don't rush. Let me finish!" Mei's hands were being squeezed painfully, but she patiently pacified her. "Sister Wenyuan, this place is a spatial rift, the fault line of all dimensions. Theoretically, you can go to any world from here, including your original world."

"Really? Can this place really lead to my world?" Qu Wenyuan asked, trembling with excitement.

"But there are countless spatial faults here. How can we determine her original world?" Although he didn't want to dampen her spirits, An Ziyou asked the question.

Hearing this, Qu Wenyuan's body stiffened, and her excitement faded significantly.

"Sister Wenyuan once said that her soul arrived in this world, so her body is her greatest connection to her original world. As long as she holds a firm belief in returning home to her own body, it is possible for her to return. However..." Mei paused, looking directly into Qu Wenyuan's eyes, and said very seriously:

"Sister Wenyuan, the success rate of this method is extremely low! Whether you can return depends entirely on your faith. If your belief is not strong or firm enough to guide you in the right direction, you will be lost in the turbulence of time and space. At best, you will fall into another world; at worst, you will be reduced to dust. So, are you sure you want to try?"

Qu Wenyuan lowered her head and asked after a long while, "Mei'er, even if we found your friend, he couldn't guarantee my return 100 percent, right?"

"Yes, even Xiao Sa cannot guarantee he can send you back!" Mei didn't want to lie. Even though she knew what choice Qu Wenyuan would make, she didn't want to deceive her. She just wanted the other party to consider it carefully.

As expected, as soon as Mei finished speaking, Qu Wenyuan looked up and smiled faintly, her expression firm. "Since I have to take a risk regardless, what is there to consider? I don't want to wait anymore. I believe my faith in returning home is strong enough. Even if the chance is slim, I have to try!"

"Yuanyuan, are you sure you don't want to reconsider? If you fail, you'll never have another chance!" Lin Shaojie couldn't help but urge her.

"Ah Jie, I can't wait any longer. Even if I could wait, how long would it be? Not to mention that we don't even know where Mei'er's friend is, and even if we found him, what then? I would still have to take a risk! And my parents—I don't know how much longer they can wait. So I don't want to wait; this might be my only chance to go home!"

Seeing that she was determined to succeed or die trying, Mei didn't hesitate anymore. She stood up and said, "Since you've made up your mind, let's begin. Otherwise, once we destroy the source of the spatial rift, this place will disappear."

"Okay!" Qu Wenyuan nodded and stood up. "What do I need to do?"

"You don't need to do anything; just relax. Because your soul came to this world, only your soul can return, understand? Once you leave this body, the only thing you can take with you is the spiritual power you've cultivated; you cannot take your supernatural abilities."

"Yes, I understand! Let's start!" Qu Wenyuan nodded without the slightest hesitation.

Mei looked at Qu Wenyuan, raised her hand, and then lowered it.

"Xiriel, please help her, will you?"

Although she knew the magic to separate a soul from a body, she wasn't proficient in it. Necromancy, however, often involved the study of souls, making Xiriel much more adept at this. Not only that, he could reinforce a person's soul if he chose to.

Seeing Mei's pleading eyes, even though Xiriel thought she was being overly meddlesome, he ultimately said nothing. He stood before Qu Wenyuan with a dark expression.

"I'm counting on you, Xiriel!" Although she didn't know what Mei had asked him to help with, Qu Wenyuan bowed deeply to Xiriel and requested.

Xiriel produced a bottle of potion, handed it to her, and said coldly, "Drink this, then stand still and don't move!"

Qu Wenyuan hurriedly took the bottle and drank it in one gulp. The taste was beyond her imagination, making her almost vomit. In the end, under Xiriel's gloomy gaze, she clutched her mouth tightly and managed to swallow it.

After she finished the potion, Xiriel began to chant an incantation. A pale halo of light enveloped Qu Wenyuan from head to toe.

The incantation was short and ended quickly.

Qu Wenyuan felt a series of sharp, spasming pains in her body, which only seemed to intensify.

"Don't move. If you can't even endure this little bit of pain, I think you'd better give up early," Xiriel's gloomy voice rang out just as Qu Wenyuan was tempted to curl up in agony.

Hearing his slightly mocking words, and supported by her belief in returning home, Qu Wenyuan gritted her teeth and persisted.

The others watched silently as Qu Wenyuan trembled from the pain yet held her ground. An identical thought crossed their minds: perhaps she really could make it back this time.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly felt a sense of lightness throughout her entire being. Her soul had finally left her body!