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Bagu's face turned back as he replied, ”Naturally!”

”Oh? So it was I who remembered wrongly?” Zhangsun Wuji chuckled. He looked towards the top of Bagu's head and raised his eyebrows. ”If I may just ask your distinguished self, why is your wig coming off? Ah, and is that a mark on your forehead?”

Startled, Bagu quickly touched his forehead but found that there was nothing there. Observing the gaze from the surroundings, he came to the realization that he was duped by Zhangsun Wuji. Colour drained off his face.

Zhangsun Wuji laughed as he walked back. Calmly, he said, ”You should remove your wig yourself. If you were to trouble his majesty's Tiansha Golden Military, things probably wouldn't end up very nice.”

Those who were knowledgeable could not help but murmur. Bald, a mark on his forehead. In the entire Five Region Continent, there was a special existence, and only one, that was the ascetic practitioner of Qiongcang. According to legends, ascetic practitioners would never concern themselves with worldly affairs.

Could it be that this self-proclaimed Bagu from Fufeng nation was the most mysterious ascetic practitioner in the country? But his wig was in perfect condition, and his mark on his forehead did not appear. So how did Zhangsun Wuji find out?

Without turning back, Zhangsun Wuji walked back towards his seat. Bagu stood rooted to the ground when he heard someone whisper, ”Ascetic practitioners of Qiongcang are not allowed to involve themselves with worldly affairs. Not only did he break the rules of the True Martial Arts Meet, but also violated the laws of Qiongcang. Is he not afraid that his majesty would inform Qiongcang of his sins and ask for an oracle?”

Bagu trembled. 'This Crown Prince from another country is really as scary as rumors had it.' He was very cautious in hiding his identity till the last round, only using a little bit of the Qiongcang technique in the fight for the championship. He even concealed his techniques by passing it off as Fufeng's witchcraft. Even then, the Crown Prince still managed to spot it.

He subconsciously looked towards Pei Yuan but quickly withdrew his gaze for fear of Zhangsun Wuji finding out. He was determined to deny to the end yet feared Zhangsun Wuji's words. He stood there hesitantly, uncertain of what to do.

Grimly, Zhan Nancheng looked at Bagu and asked Zhangsun Wuji, ”Crown Prince, what are your thoughts on how to deal with him?”

”I have done my part,” replied Zhangsun Wuji, ”Strictly speaking, what Bagu used just now was no longer martial arts but a forbidden art, going against the rules of the competition.”

”Very well,” Zhan Nancheng nodded his head, ”Bagu's rights to compete will be re--”

”Hold it!”

The words actually came out from the mouth of Meng Fuyao, who was half kneeling and leaning on the sword for support.

Zhangsun Wuji was just about to return to his seat when he heard her. He froze. When he turned back, his expression was back to normal though his eyes were filled with exasperation.

His long lashes covered his gaze as he asked calmly, ”Is there anything you would like to say, General Meng?”

Meng Fuyao gripped her sword a little tighter as she looked up. She hasty swallowed a mouthful of blood that threatened to spill out and loudly replied, ”I cannot let his sneak attack just go like that! I want to fight him to the end!”

Everyone in the audience was baffled by her actions, staring at her like she was an idiot — With Bagu's contestant rights being removed and the battle of Pei Yuan and Ya Lanzhu still ongoing, despite Meng Fuyao's injuries, she could still beat the exhausted Pei Yuan or Ya Lanzhu easily. On the other hand, Bagu remained in top condition and had a forbidden skill in his hand. How could she be his opponent?

To refuse a championship given to her on a silver platter and to die in the hands of Bagu?

Furthermore, even if her battle with Bagu were to continue, it would not be under the True Martial Arts Meet but rather a personal grudge. That would mean that she would not be protected under the rules of the competition and the results would be hard to predict.

What a lunatic!

Half kneeling, she disregarded the gazes of others and only glared at Bagu — No, she wasn't a lunatic and wasn't just throwing caution to the wind to revenge for herself. There was only one reason, she really saw her mother in that instance.

It was not an illusion nor was it her imagination. It was a real scenario. She was certain that in that instance where she saw her mother in the hospital, it was not a snippet of her memory. She saw the flower by her mother's bedside was a crimson red plum blossom! Plum blossom!

Meng Fuyao's finger dug deeply into the crevices on the golden floor. If she did not put in so much strength, she was afraid that her tears would flow out unconditionally. As the tears in her eyes reflected, the memories of her past life unfolded, revealing a path towards a door.

The door opened, and the girl walked in. She placed a stalk of jasmine into the vase and kissed the patient on the bed. She carefully scrutinized the flower in the vase, complaining, ”The color of this flower is too plain. When the plum blossoms in the garden bloom, let's pick the most beautiful one!”

”It's okay, Fuyao, go ahead and do your stuff.” Her mother smiled. ”The climate in Yun Nan is humid, remember to bring some Pogostemon patchouli water”

”Okay!” She waved her hand and pushed open the door. A step out of the door, she suddenly popped her head back in and said, ” I don't know how long I'll be gone for. If anything delays my return and the plum blossoms have bloomed, ask Qiangzi to help you change the flowers every day.”

”Silly child, it is only summer now. Why wouldn't you be back by winter?” Her mother smiled kindly.

It was her last meeting with her mother — 18 years ago.

That year, that dimension, that promise about that plum blossom. In the many sleepless nights, she would sit on her bed with tears in her eyes as she reminisced the past and wondered, 'Is mother still waiting for me? Waiting for that plum blossom I can never personally bring to her? And waiting for me that may never return, how would mother be feeling counting the days to my return?'

It was that summer when she was finally promoted and had a pay raise. That summer, it was the first time she had the money to send her mother to the hospital. That summer, it was when the mother and daughter made the promise to put the most beautiful plum blossom on the bedside. But that summer, fate broke their promise apart.

But today, in a previously unimaginable battle, when that unsettling contestant opened his hand to reveal an eye, in that instant, she saw it. She saw the promised plum blossom, she saw her mother, she heard her mother's sigh and counted the new white hairs on her mother's head.

It was that flower and a more haggard Mother that made Meng Fuyao believe that the world that the eye opened was not a showcase of memories. It was a real scene projected across dimensions! She even came to the conclusion that the two dimensions had a different flow of time — the 18 years that had passed here was not equivalent to the time that had passed there.