Chapter 57

Chapter 57.1 : Locked in Dreams

Everything returned and fell back into peace.

After that unusual commotion at the Barricaded Spirit Tower that day, no signs of any intruders were found after an investigation was carried out. Although it had everyone rather baffled, but since no disaster had come out from that, the Green Wave Emperor just strengthened the defenses in the surrounding areas and the little interlude was then covered over.

But the true sequence of events that happened that day might only be known to Qing Ye Li who had gone through it himself.

Yue Xin Yan was sensitive enough to notice that the atmosphere these few days had become heavier these past few days.

Although the All Saints Day had ended, they were unable to refuse the Green Wave Emperor’s passionate invitation when he asked the emissaries from the other kingdoms to stay a few more days.

In a certain private room within the Imperial Capital, an incredibly handsome man in white robes holding a folding fan with a landscape painting on it stood fanning himself leisurely. “I’ll say, are we still brothers at all? Is it really that difficult for you to share with me what you saw and heard that day?”

“There’s nothing to tell.” Qing Ye Li said indifferently. Fair and slender fingers picked up the wine cup and turned it around in his hand before his brought it up to his lips and took a sip from it.

Baili Ji Ran raised an eyebrow and shook his head, a knowing look on his face. “Something’s not right. You disappeared suddenly that day and then came to appear inside the Barricaded Spirit Tower. Could it be that you dueled with some powerful unparalleled expert in there and you were not even able to see their moves clearly and so….. you’re too embarrassed to say anything?”

Qing Ye Li was wearing his mask and hence the expression on his face could not be seen. But when Qing Ye Li raised his eyes up briefly to glance at him, Baili Ji Ran saw that the look in his eyes seemed a little conflicted, and a little speechless.

Like he was looking at a retard.

Baili Ji Ran was taken aback by that scathing glance and he then coughed lightly a couple of times. “Forget it, forget it. Since you are not willing to tell me, I shall not ask anymore. When are you going to leave then?”

Qing Ye Li immediately thought of that piece of bloodstained cloth and his eyes darkened. “There is something else that I have not yet investigated thoroughly into.”

“Are you still thinking of trying to find the lady in that painting here?” Baili Ji Ran immediately understood what he meant. “That is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I have already searched these lands for so long and not to mention even finding a woman that looked like her, there wasn’t even a sign of those unique eyes you described…..”

His voice suddenly trailed off.

And the expression on Baili Ji Ran’s face suddenly became startled, a strange feeling rising inside him.

Qing Ye Li was a little puzzled as he looked at the man, not knowing why he had suddenly stop talking.

It was as if his mind was suddenly stuck, when he came to recall something he had cleanly forgotten about. Seemingly a little stunned, he then said: “Don’t tell me….. I remember it now. During the All Saints Day festival, I discovered a very interesting young lady. I had been curious and had wanted to probe to see her cultivation. In the end, my consciousness was attacked but the other party must not have held any ill intentions or that one strike might have turned me into an idiot.”

“At that time, I saw a pair of….. It was golden in colour, eyes like those of a spirit beast.” Baili Ji Ran still felt a lingering fear in his heart as he recalled the incident. “Even in the White Fen Lands, I had never met anyone with such a powerful and oppressive aura. Unless we’re talking about Cloud Heaven, then will I come to encounter such a powerful entity.”

Qing Ye Li creased up his brows when he heard that. [Golden eyes, spirit beast?]

[A young lady, with a mysterious and powerful spirit beast hidden within her body. Wait…..]

He suddenly remembered what that hideously ugly woman said. [That lass possessed very rare, and the purest blood meridians there is. If she had not failed to see what was for her own good, it would be great if she was cultivated into a puppet. What a great pity…..]

The man’s tall slender frame then stood up from his chair, the highly exquisite wine cup in his hand broken into pieces from his overly tight grip, but Qing Ye Li did not seem to realize it as he stood there completely frozen in place.

[It could almost be confirmed….. The person in the Barricaded Spirit Tower that day, the bloodstained piece of cloth, and that one brief glimpse he had of a highly familiar feeling gaze back at the banquet.]

Chapter 57.2 : Locked in Dreams

[Why….. had he not noticed it earlier? It had clearly been just within his reach.]

It might be because the residual adrenaline from the All Saints Day festival had not passed and so no one came to notice that a certain teahouse that was surreptitiously out of people’s sight had soundlessly opened for business once again.

“And you still claim that you’re not a quack doctor huh? It’s been five days and the person’s still not awakened!” The beautiful and magnetic male voice was tinged with a hint of indescribable danger, sounding highly restrained and showing faint signs that he was about to explode.

“I’m being wrongly accused here! There is absolutely no sign of any injury on her at all and at most, it can only be said that her spirit is slightly unstable. But that is not supposed to be any big problem and logically, such cases will usually regain consciousness within two days. Who knows what other kind of devilry is at work here! !”

The bewitching looking man in a suit of devilish red said highly infuriated, his enchanting eyes wide as he glared.

[Is there no end to this! ?]

[When the Little Monster had been unconscious, Mei Ji had already called him a quack. How many days has it only been? Here he is being called a quack once again now, and by someone who grew up with him that’s as close as a brother!]

[The aggrievement was almost too much for him to take.]

[Back in the Cloud Heaven, who wouldn’t be rushing up to fawn on him with his fame as a great and famous medical cultivator?]

[This fella here only knew to show him scorn and disdain. He could overlook that fact if he was merely always being put down, but with someone new who caught the scoundrel’s fancy now, that scoundrel has forgotten all about his old lover, completely disregarding all those years of suffering he had endured leading a roaming and wandering life!]

[Why does it feel like something isn’t exactly right here…..]

Lou Jun Yao’s face was dark, that devilishly alluring pair of eyes tinged with an almost undetectable hint of worry.

The young lady lay in the bed quietly, and as her flawlessly beautiful countenance was one where she was deep in sleep, it was tinged with a hint of pure innocence, her long luxurious lashes lowered, casting faint tiny shadows upon her eyelids. Her breathing was almost non existent and it seemed as though those weak breaths would disappear anytime, looking like a sleeping beauty forever trapped in her dreams.

“You do not need to be too worried about this. She is most probably just too tired and wants to sleep for a little while more.” This was from a slightly raspy voice that sounded a little older and wizened.

Hearing that voice, Lou Jun Yao’s rage seemed to surge up. “You still have the cheek to say that? I made you go protect her in secret and this is how you do it? !”

In the corner, a grey figure straddled the chair lazily like there were no bones in his body who then shrugged his shoulders in nonchalance. “How was I to know that the lass would encounter such an incident just by attending a banquet in the palace? There were just too many people so how could I possibly keep a lookout on everyone in there…..”

The tall and slender figure by the bed then suddenly stood up, and his murderous aura congealed up into a solid beam of purple light, that blasted a physical hole the size of a bowl in the place that person had been leaning against.

The person who had originally looked like he was almost going to fall asleep was suddenly seen hiding behind Bai Zhi Yan in a quick flash, all ready to drag Bai Zhi Yan down together with him if he was going to have to die.

The corners of Bai Zhi Yan’s mouth twitched. “Calm down first and don’t be rash. We can discuss this calmly. Even if you take it out on us, the little lass is still not going to wake up!”

As he spoke, he reached one hand behind him to pinch the arm of the grey robed man with all his strength. [Everytime you go court death you’re always dragging me into the water with you. What a scoundrel!]

Having been pinched so hard, the man behind him did not show any reaction at all but went on to bemoan languidly: “What do you mean made me go protect her? You must be joking! Will such a ferocious little lass like that need anyone’s protection? By the time I got there, she had already resolved the crisis herself! Can I beg you to find me some weak chicken to protect next time? You just made me look completely useless here.”

Bai Zhi Yan laughed to himself in his heart. [You just realized that you are really completely useless?]

“If not for the fact that she did not suffer any injuries, do you think that you will be able to still stand there and talk to me?” Lou Jun Yao shot him a glance, his face completely expressionless. “Are you sure you did not see a second person in there?”

Chapter 57.3 : Locked in Dreams

The grey robed man rubbed at his chin. “There was just the little lass in that tower at that time.” And then seeming to recall something, his black eyes glinted sharply. “I can be certain that this little lass belongs to our Cloud Heaven realm. Although her powers have yet to grow, but she is now already able to kill a skilled pugilist from Cloud Heaven, and that is not the kind of powers someone from these low level lands can possess!”

“Why do you say that?” Bai Zhi Yan raised an eyebrow. Although he had suspected as much himself, but seeing that this scoundrel had not even come into contact with the lass, how could he be so sure of that?

“By the time I got there, I happened to see the moment when she took down the Demon King with just one stroke.” The grey robed man’s face was excited thinking about it. “Do you even know? It took her just one second! It was just one single stroke! Although the Demon King isn’t all that significant at all, but his powers can already be compared to that of a low leveled pugilist in Cloud Heaven. His soul dispersed and scattered into the wind in just a second, unable to defend himself at all…..”

“Demon King?” Luo Jun Yao creased up his brows.

“Mm. That’s right. The opponent was most probably a highly skilled Necromancy Priestess from the Bright Moon Temple who summoned them for a demon feast.” The grey robed man explained. “But I cleaned up the place completely and I guarantee that there isn’t a single trace left behind. Afterall, in such low leveled realms, having such an unfathomable incident happen will definitely kick up a great stir.”

“Demon feast? Ha! For someone from the respected Bright Moon Temple to employ such lowly methods to come deal with such a tiny little lass, how utterly shameless and despicable.”

Bai Zhi Yan’s face was filled with pure contempt as he spoke. [Cloud Heaven is really ridden with quite a great number of scums.]

Lou Jun Yao’s gaze glinted sharply. [This young lady who had suddenly appeared out of the blue, was shrouded with so much mystery.]

She had been able to come out completely unscathed coming into such close proximity to his body the very first time they met, the astounding and amazing she possessed making even the ever proud Bai Zhi Yan look at her in a new light. The skills and powers she held were not entirely clear, but since she was able to escape from his hands, it would not be weak.

And she had been come to be implicated into this all because of him, fallen into a coma, which caused Lou Jun Yao’s heart to rise with rather complicated emotions.

Although she had said that she was just repaying the favour for the Polar Fire Core back then, but just based on the fact that she dispelled the Emotion Devouring Curse and removed the fire and ice Yin Yang Grub for him, the two things that had tormented him endlessly for so many long years, she had already repaid him more than a hundred times over.

Lou Jun Yao had lived for several hundred years. He had never owed anyone much of anything, and no one was qualified enough to let him owe them any favours.

But now, he had not only owed her his life, he was accumulating the debt! ?

Seeming to have fallen into his highly conflicted thoughts, thinking how he was going to repay all that, his body suddenly stiffened, and his violet eyes slowly lowered to look down at his arm.

A tiny, fair and slender fingered hand was holding his, icy cold to the touch. Looking like she was caught in a nightmare, her grip was strong, and a sheen of cold sweat had formed over her forehead, her brows knitted up.

Lou Jun Yao subconsciously gripped the icy cold fingers, and called out a little hesitantly. “Little fox?”

The young lady’s long luxurious lashes fluttered slightly a couple of times, seeming to show signs of awakening, but an immense pressure was making it impossible for her to open her eyes no matter how hard she tried.

“Mistress! Mistress wake up! Mistress! Do not sleep anymore…..”

“Little Yu! Where are you? Do you know that I am looking for you? Where can you be?”

[Who is calling out for her?]

Under that muddled chaos, two human figures appeared before her. The golden haired youth was her weapon spirit Little Burrow, and when she peered to see the other person clearly, she was properly stunned a moment. Isn’t that the Water Edge Kingdom’s Duke of Vast Seas?]

Without waiting for her to think deeper into it, the two figures suddenly disappeared into the darkness.

To be replaced by a blood coloured sky, and within an enormous hexagonal astral array, a man and a woman were locked in a tight embrace. A chain the thickness of a man’s arm penetrated deeply through the man’s shoulder blade, while a dagger in the woman’s hand was stabbed in the man’s abdomen.

The woman’s countenance could not be seen clearly, but the smile at the edges of her lips was mesmerizing but bloody.

“We….. are together at last.”