CH 73

The next day early morning, Yan Hui and Tian Yao finally reached Black Mountain.

A winding stream flowed from the mountain. It was so clear the bottom could be seen, not at all as dirty as its name implied.

Yan Hui knelt down and reached one hand into the water. She had just placed her hand in when she felt her pain in her fingertips. It was like being cut open. The cultivation in her body flowed out and into the water.

"This is it." Yan Hui drew her hand back and stood up. She turned to look at Tian Yao: "I don't have much cultivation in my body. The medicine apprentices said about a six hour soak in the waters will be enough to cleanse me. Are you going to wait for me here?"

Tian Yao nodded.

However, Yan Hui just stared at him. After a long time of staring, Tian Yao slightly raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

"I need to go in naked."

At those words, Tian Yao's gaze tremored. He turned around and walked behind a tree off to the side. He clasped his hands and quietly waited there. He was only missing his dragon heart now. His hearing was already greatly enhanced with the return of his other body parts. He could hear the rustling sounds as Yan Hui took off her clothes. He could tell by the rustles which piece of clothing she was removing.

The longer he stood their quietly, the more restless Tian Yao got. He gazed up into the sky. When Yan Hui entered entered the water with a splash, Tian Yao couldn't stop himself from listening in that direction.

When Yan Hui entered the water, she couldn't help letting out a small gasp from the icy water and the force of its flow.

That quiet sound caused Tian Yao to involuntarily look over. However right before he turned his head, he snapped back to his senses. He immediately straightened his head. He couldn't understand what had happened to him.........

He was like a vulgur peeper secretly watching a girl bathe.......

Right when Tian Yao's inner struggle was at the peak, there was a suddenly low cry from Yan Hui followed by a splash. Tian Yao froze and listened closely. There was no more sound of movement.

It was then that Tian Yao suddenly looked over. Yan Hui's clothes were piled by Black River's riverbank, but there was no sign of Yan Hui in the river itself.

Tian Yao hurriedly walked forward to the riverbank. In this short amount of time, he could no longer sense Yan Hui's aura.

Tian Yao's forehead furrowed. He bent forward and put his hand in the water. He also felt pain in his fingertips, and shortly after that the sense of his cultivation, outside of his control, flowing away into the water. 

Tian Yao stayed there sensing for a while. There was no rush to pull his hand out. As he was stooped over the water, suddenly there was another force pulling on his fingers. It was tugging him down.

This Black River didn't just have the power to cleanse away cultivation. There was also some other power hidden below the surface. Tian Yao focused on the river water. It was still clear enough to see though to the bottom. There were no impurities. The hand that was immersed in water also wasn't touching anything.

However, with each passing second, Tian Yao could more clearly feel a force tugging down on his fingers.

Was Yan Hui tugged down by this same force?

To find where Yan Hui was, following the force down would be the fastest and most dangerous route. Tian Yao focused his gaze. He thought about it for only a split second, practically not at all, before following the force down into the water.

Black River's water flowed as clean and clear as always after Tian Yao fell in. There was no image of a person at the river bottom. It was like what just happened didn't happen at all. 

When Tian Yao followed the pulling force, he was immediately tugged into a black space. The clear river waters had disappeared. All that was around him was blackness.

Slowly, numerous spots filled the darkness. More and more, until it was all covered with the pinpricks. Then in a flash, they condensed into trees around him, the ground under him, and the person in front of him.

Tian Yao was a little lost by the face that appeared right in front of him. 

Su Ying calmly looked back at him. Her voice matched her innate icy nature: "What is it?"

Tian Yao looked around. The surroundings were very familiar. This was the valley he stayed in 20 years ago. He lived in half of the valley. From time to time, he would go to meet the other demons in the valley and discuss cultivation techniques. However after meeting Su Ying, he seldom returned to the valley.

Tian Yao looked as the scenery for a long time. Finally, he looked at Su Ying.

Su Ying slowly walked toward him: "Why are you looking at me like that? Even though I'm going back to Guang Han sect tomorrow, I won't leave you."

That's right. 20 years ago, Su Ying said those words right before she left him to go back to Guang Han sect to the spell array. Su Ying walked forward and lightly hugged Tian Yao: "You have to remember to come to Guang Han sect in 10 days to marry me."

That was the first time Tian Yao had been hugged by her. Back then, Tian Yao felt his heart overflowing with love. He was so happy that he wasn't like someone who had cultivated for 1000 years. He was just like a foolish groom about to marry his future wife.

Back in those days.......

"Marry you? Then you split me into pieces and peel my scales? Create an immortality dragon-scale armor to give to the one you really love?"

The Su Ying in his arms wasn't horrified. She merely looked up with confusion: "What are you saying? The one I love is you."

Tian Yao coldly laughed: "A weak illusion spell trying to charm my heart into loosing myself in the past." Fires leapt from his hands. He captured Su Ying's head in his hands and directly lit her on fire. Immediately, her body melted away to ash. Tian Yao moved his hands and also throughout lit those ashes on fire. "Such a pity. You picked the wrong person."

The surroundings returned to darkness. It was absolute stillness. Those pinpricks didn't even reappear. 

Tian Yao took two steps in the darkness when suddenly bright moonlight shined down. He slightly lifted his eyebrows in surprise. Behind him was a tree, and in front of him was Yan Hui, illuminated by moonlight. She was holding a jian to protect him. Her head was slightly cocked, and the curve of her cheek could be seen. She cut a dashing sight.

Tian Yao's heart stopped. He stared at her silhouette. 

"I'll protect you." 

When Yan Hui said that, Tian Yao couldn't help his eyes from softening. The darkness in front of her seemed to hide countless plots and conspiracies, but she did not shrink away at the slightest. She bravely faced it all.

Tian Yao walked up and stopped behind her. Yan Hui angled her head to the side and looked at him: "Stay by my side. Don't wander around."

"I can't," said Tian Yao. "I'm going to save you."

Yan Hui was surprised. She turned her head to looked him: "Save me?"

Perhaps because this was an illusion, Tian Yao didn't hide his emotions. He raised his hand and patted Yan Hui's head: "Save you from your sorrow."

Before Yan Hui could reply, Tian Yao looked down. He didn't say another word before flames burst from his head. The image of Yan Hui was destroyed.

Even though he knew this was all an illusion, Tian Yao's heart still ached when he saw Yan Hui's face shatter.

After Yan Hui's figure was thoroughly destroyed, Tian Yao's gaze became solemn. He unleashed a murderous aura. The heat of his aura spread out from under his feet. When he took a step forward, the dark surroundings quaked.

With every step, raging fires burned away the darkness.

"Come out." His voice was extremely cold. It was like one thousand knives, really to stab the person hiding in this darkness. "If you keep hiding, don't blame me for being impolite."

With those words, he took another step forward. Another fire many times stronger than the previous one swept out from under his feet. It completely burned all of the dark surroundings with crackling flames.

In a split second, the surroundings were lit up. However, the illusion spell was still there.

Tian Yao looked up at the blue sky above. There were even some sprightly swallows flying overhead.

In this illusion world, the air was filled with spirituality. From time to time, some people would fly overhead using the Propelling Sword technique. Looking around, there were 27 mountain peaks. Including the one he was standing on, there were 28 peaks in total.  

To save Yan Hui, Tian Yao went to Chen Xing Mountain for the first time. However, he already committed it to memory. 

"Yan Hui! Don't run!" A young person called out and ran past Tian Yao. The young person reached out and grabbed a female clothed in gray clothes. She seemed out of place in this illusion world. "Why did you fight with Zi Yu again?! She's your senior disciple. You ought to respect her!"

The gray-clothed female turned around. Sure enough, it was Yan Hui. She blankly looked at the young man in front of her for a long time: "Head Senior Disciple."

It seemed like Yan Hui didn't realize she was out of place with the surroundings. Yan Hui foolishly looked at Zi Chen: "I dreamed.......that you died to save me......."

Zi Chen lightly scolded her: "You're spouting nonsense! This time, don't think about getting past me. If you fooled me, I ought to let shifu know. We'll see how he treats you!"

Yan Hui shook her head: "Shifu doesn't care about us."

Zi Chen frowned: "Yesterday, you said you had trouble learning the jian. Today, shifu gave you a new one, yet you say shifu doesn't care about us. You're getting more and more ditzy! Everyday your imagination runs wild."

Yan Hui had been staring at Zi Chen from the start. Finally, she nodded her head. "You're right. It's all my imagination. I just had a terribly chaotic dream." Saying that, a small smile broke out. "Later I'll apologize to Senior Disciple Zi Yue. Then, help me with the jian later. Shifu gave me a new one, and I'm still not used to it."

Zi Chen nodded. Yan Hui followed along with him as he started to walk away. She was still smiling.

Seeing this, Tian Yao sharply frowned. He hesitatingly followed her for a long distance. He watched her accompany Zi Chen. In the end, he could no longer endure it. Tian Yao strode up and pulled away Yan Hui.

Yan Hui looked back. Her smile still hadn't faded away yet. She looked at Tian Yao with what appeared to be nonrecognition.

It wasn't unitl Tian Yao solemnly looked at her for a long time that Yan Hui disappointingly recalled something. The smile on her face slowly faded.

"Let go," said Yan Hui. "I want to go with Head Senior Disciple."

"You know this is an illusion."

"Let go."

Tian Yao didn't pay any attention. He still tightly held onto her: "You can't keep following him. You'll get deeper and deeper into the illusion. The longer you're here, the harder it'll be to get out."

Yan Hui shook her head. Her voice quavered: "Let go......."

"I won't let you go." Tian Yao captured Yan Hui in his gaze. He firmly said: "From the moment I met you, it was fate. From then on, I would never let you go."

"Let me stay here." There were faint traces of sobs in Yan Hui's voice. This was the first time she had cried every since leaving Chen Xing Mountain. "This place is good even if it's an illusion. Let me stay here. Let everything be how it used to be." She tried to struggle free from Tian Yao.

"Yan Hui." Tian Yao still didn't let go. Even if his grip hurt her, he wouldn't relax it a single inch. "This is all fake."

"So what if it's fake!" Yan Hui finally yelled out. "So what if it's fake!"

Yan Hui struggled extremely hard. Tian Yao's gaze grew heavy. He forcefully tugged Yan Hui into his arms and let her do whatever. Nothing she did, whether kicking or pushing, seemed to alleviate her anger. Yan Hui even bit Tian Yao's neck. 

She didn't hold back any force. She bit until his neck was marked and bleeding, but Tian Yao silently allowed it. He didn't let out any sound of pain.

This pain was nothing. It was nothing compared to the deep, riddled pain they have both felt before in their hearts.

But all will eventually be well.

Tian Yao held Yan Hui and patted the back of her head. He quietly pacified her with extreme gentleness: "Yan Hui, all will be well."