Zhu Yanyi understood everything. The Heavenly Dao’s trial for the Great White Shaman was also a trial for the Lucky Forest.
"Since that is the case, I must help manage it," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile. "I dislike the word 'dark' in 'Dark Forest.' I want to help the Lucky Forest."
Yan Aohan did not stop her. "Go if you wish, but remember to protect yourself."
"My cultivation is already higher than the Dean’s. Do you think I won’t protect myself?" Zhu Yanyi grinned.
It was true. Zhu Yanyi was nearing the mid-stage of Void Formation. Xi Muzheng could not defeat her. If she released her aura, most people could not withstand it.
"I wasted my breath," Yan Aohan laughed.
Zhu Yanyi remembered something and threw out five boxes of empty Meng Po's soup bottles. "Take these back to Meng Po. Please replace them with five new boxes when you have time."
"Only a short time, and you used five boxes? Were you drinking them like soda?" Yan Aohan was speechless.
"I gave some to senior brothers and sisters at first. Later, I drank them as a beverage. The taste is fine," Zhu Yanyi answered seriously.
Yan Aohan shook his head and collected the empty bottles. "Alright, I will send you back."
"Yes. We must return today. No one can know we left."
Yan Aohan sent them to their original location. Zhu Yanyi and Ouyang Tianyun returned to their tents to rest.
The next morning, students returning to the Sage Academy gathered on the back mountain. Their first task was to dig up the relics of fallen seniors and bring them back for burial.
Students from the other four academies could not return yet. They had to continue their training there.
Zhu Yanyi watched them pack the relics and board the flying boats. There were ten boats returning to the Sage Academy. Only over a hundred students remained for training; everyone else was leaving.
After so many years, they could finally go home. On the boats, some students cried openly.
They were not afraid of the demons, but now that they were leaving, they felt a strange emotion.
Crying seemed contagious. Soon, most people were weeping.
Zhu Yanyi recognized this as post-war anxiety. Their psychological burden was heavier. She took out her jade flute and played slowly.
She played Qingping Yue to calm their minds, then Dao De Jing to remind them of their dream of immortality.
They had suffered much, but they were alive and could continue their path.
Zhu Yanyi played many tunes until everyone calmed down.
"Junior Sister, your flute playing is wonderful. It has calmed us greatly," Sikong Xuran said.
She had cried when she saw others crying, but her music had truly restored her peace.
"Sikong Senior Brother, you are suffering from post-war insecurity," Zhu Yanyi said. "We are all healers. I can only calm you temporarily. You must heal yourselves."
"Post-war insecurity?" Sikong Xuran was surprised.
"Yes. You fought demons here for a long time. Now, the demons here are no longer a threat. To put it simply, your only goal was to defeat them. Now that the threat is gone, you feel empty, lonely, and restless. Crying is your way of expressing this. But you cannot cry forever. Afterward, you will still feel unstable."
Zhu Yanyi spoke seriously. Her voice was soft, but every student and teacher heard her.
"In my hometown, this is called Post-Traumatic Stress. It is a psychological illness after war. You must now treat your own trauma. This might be hard for others, but not for you. We are healers. The Sage Academy is famous for medicine. You know how to heal. Do not tell me 'a doctor cannot heal himself.' I do not believe that. True healers know what is best for themselves."
Zhu Yanyi’s small face was very serious. Her words made Sikong Xuran and others think deeply.
They were healers. They knew this condition existed. It was a psychological illness, just like their current state.
Their minds were stronger than ordinary people’s. But after thousands of years of fighting demons and watching comrades die, they felt a void. They did not know what to do next.
If Zhu Yanyi had not said it, they would have realized it later. Now, they had more time to understand themselves. They needed to adjust their minds.
Xi Muzheng saw this and sighed. "Ancestor, this is your fault."
The "Ancestor" was a middle-aged scholar sitting nearby. He looked helpless and felt guilty. He had been too arrogant. He thought he could solve everything with the Sage Academy students. Now he knew he was wrong.
Hearing Xi Muzheng’s sigh, Zhu Yanyi’s eyes lit up. She looked at the middle-aged scholar. "You are the Ancestor who sent the Sage Academy students to fight demons alone."
The Ancestor had never met someone so direct. But it was the truth, so he did not deny it. "It was me. What do you want?"