Chapter 63: Falling In |
[October 2, 2023]...
Shěn Lí frowned. “I only know that my parents were both members of the military, and that I was born in the battlefield. The Demon emperor raised me as his own. I don’t feel like my life experiences are anything strange. No one has ever questioned my identity.”
Lady Jīn was silent for a moment. “Perhaps your Demon emperor is hiding something from you. After your recovery, it would behoove you to ask him about it. Maybe you’ll get some new information.” She reached out to help Shěn Lí fasten her belt. “There are still two more sessions we need to complete, after which, I will not be able to touch you like this anymore. I’m reluctant to let you go.”
Shěn Lí smiled. “Lady Jīn has been kind to me. After I take care of my affairs, I will return to drink tea and play chess with madam to keep madam company.”
Lady Jīn covered her smile with her hand. “In that case, I will be waiting for you.” Before she finished her eyes suddenly sharpened with murderous intent. “Oh, what is a strange day. There are some fellows behaving atrociously in this humble servant’s home.”
Shěn Lí looked serious. “Will they be difficult to deal with?”
“Probably a little bit, but don’t be afraid, little sister. No matter how difficult, no hands that touch me or High God will remain intact. Just wait here for older sister to take care of them. I will come and bring you out after they’ve been taken cared off.”
Shěn Lí frowned. “I’ll go to.”
Lady Jīn pressed her down. “How much of your mana has been restored? Haven’t you lost your sense of touch today? What about your weapon? Do you intend to go barehanded into battle?”
Lady Jīn touched Shěn Lí’s head. “Be good. Until you’re completely healed, rest easy and let someone else take care of things. I will go.”
Shěn Lí sat staring at her hands in the silent cave after Lady Jīn left. Being so powerless was unacceptable to her. She wasn’t used to being on the other end of someone’s shield, sitting and waiting for news of victory. She should. . .
She heard the faint sound of wind, but in an almost enclosed cave, there shouldn’t have been any. Her brows darkened and her eyes suddenly fell on a corner of the cave. The tiny sound awakened her already sensitive hearing. She should. . .
Danger!
Shěn Lí abruptly raised her head as a sharp blade flew past her head, taking a few strands along with it. Her gaze immediately shifted to the direction it came from, but she was too slow and something flickered just out of view. “Who is it?”
It stood to reason, with both Lady Jīn and Xíng Zhǐ guarding outside, even a mosquito couldn’t fly in. So how did this person . .
The intruder stepped out, revealing a familiar face. Shěn Lí remembered he was with the group who attacked her that day and Xíng Zhǐ had made him carry the frozen leader away. But the way he was now was different from before. . .
He crouched hunched over with a ferocious expression, his teeth was bared and specks of spit smeared all over the corner of his mouth. If it weren’t for his human form, Shěn Lí would have thought he was a beast.
Why was he. . . how did he become this way?
Before Shěn Lí could come up with possible answers, the man roared and rushed forward. Shěn Lí ducked to the side and narrowly avoided him. He was nimble though, and quickly reacted, stretching out five sharp fingers at Shěn Lí’s waist. Her opponent was fighting at a higher level than from just a few days ago!
Shěn Lí gritted her teeth and summoned the little mana she worked so hard to regain and used it for form a magic barrier.
It would be impossible for her to fight him head on, so she looked around and noticed the dark hole behind the stone bed. That gave her an idea. She dodged and retreated back to the bed. As she stumbled onto it, she deliberately yelped to make it look like she was trapped. The man did as expected, and rushed toward her. She got into position and laid flat on the bed, then as he was about to reach her, she raised both feet up against him and used his momentum to swing him straight into the hole behind the bed.
She sighed in relief as she watched him fall into the hole in the wall.
“Shěn Lí!” Suddenly she heard Xíng Zhǐ calling out her name. Turning around, she saw him running in.
“How is it going outside. . . ” Before she could finish her sentence, something tugged at her clothes from behind. She turned her head and was shocked to see the man trying to crawl out of the hole like some ghost escaping hell. Behind him were pair of scarlet eyes that seemed to be staring directly at her. Before she could clearly make it out, a sense of weightlessness came over her and a strong force yanked at her. She had nothing to grab onto and was dragged into the abyss.
The moment she fell, she felt that her hand, which had been cooled by the wind, was being held firmly in a warm grasp.
In spite of everything, someone was accompanying her in her fall into the abyss.
Shěn Lí opened her eyes as cold water dripped on her race. She saw a deep darkness all around. Had she fallen into such a place or had she lost her five senses again? Shěn Lí pinched her face. Feeling the pain reassured her and she knew she hadn’t lost all five senses again. Since touch was restored, it had to have been some time since her fall. She didn’t know if it was time for her treatment with Lady Jīn again or not. If she missed the treatment, she was afraid things would not turn out well for her.
Shěn Lí stood up and touched the hard stone wall with her fingers. The place should be a cave at the bottom of the hole. Her current magic wouldn’t be enough to fly out with. Would she. . . have to use her hands and legs to physically climb up?
Just as she was feeling helpless, she heard footsteps coming from the other end of the cave. The footfalls were light and steady – they had to be Xíng Zhǐ. Happy, she called out, “Xíng Zhǐ.”
The pace quickened and he reached her before long. “You’re awake.” Then after a pause he said, “Are you blind today?”
Shěn Lí was stunned. “Is there light in here?”
“Not originally, no. But the stone you picked out from the sea turned out to be luminous. Its light is just enough to see by. “
Shěn Lí nodded. “Just now I was thinking about how I couldn’t fly out. But things are better with you here. Let’s fly out together.”
Xíng Zhǐ thought for a moment. “I’m afraid it’s not that easy to get out. I walked around this place several times before you woke up. It looks like an ordinary cave with eight passages, but the thing is, the passages are all sealed. They’re dead ends. I can’t get out and I can’t find the passage we fell down from above either. I think there is a seal there.”
“Hmm. . . Lady Jīn did say something about this place being where she sealed her evil thoughts and desires.”
“So, that’s it. She’s chosen a good place. It’s a sealed place between Heaven and earth, easy to enter, but difficult to exit. Coupled with her strength, she can indeed seal monsters here. It’s a good place, but. . . ” Xíng Zhǐ smiled wryly. “Because it’s so good, it’s quite bad for us.”
“This. . . could it be even High God doesn’t have a way out?”
“There is a way, but it would take time you don’t have.” Xíng Zhǐ’s voice was gloomy. “There’s only three hours until your next treatment, and that’s not enough time for me to do anything.”
“Then we can wait. Maybe Lady Jīn will have a way to rescue us.”
Xíng Zhǐ sighed. “It’s our only option for now.”
The cave had been silent for a while when Xíng Zhǐ asked, “Cold?”
As Shěn Lí shook her head, she heard Xíng Zhǐ say, “I am a little cold.”
“High God has a delicate body.” After that she followed the sounds of Xíng Zhǐ’s breathing and stood next to him. “Lady Jīn said I was like a furnace. Do you feel better standing together like this?”
“Hm. . . a little closer.”
Shěn Lí took another small step.
The corners of Xíng Zhǐ’s mouth quirked a little. “Come closer.”
“I’m standing right next to you!”
Xíng Zhǐ laughed, and because of how close they were, his breath blew behind Shěn Lí’s ears and her cheeks burned.
Shěn Lí lowered her head and didn’t say anything for awhile before suddenly asking, “Lady Jīn said the power clashing with my spiritual power inside my body may be demon power.” The rest of her sentence came out muffled. “Since she can see that, High God and I, we’ve been in contact for so long, High God should be able to tell that too.”
Xíng Zhǐ just said, “Hm. . . ” without further explanation.
Shěn Lí opened her mouth wanting to ask, “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?” But she didn’t dare. People had their own reasons for things, so why bring it up?
Time slowly crept closer to Shěn Lí’s deadline, but there was no movement from above. Xíng Zhǐ suddenly said, “How did Lady Jīn treat you?”
Shěn Lí knew what he was thinking as soon as he asked the question because she was thinking it too. Regarding the meridians, Xíng Zhǐ would certainly be able to do it, but the problem was. . .
Shěn Lí quieted her emotions and calmly said, “She bit the skin on my neck, then injected me with her spiritual energy through there. Afterwards, she used her energy to clear the qi in my body.” Shěn Lí left a lot out because she thought Lady Jīn asking her to take off her top was just so it would be easier for Lady Jīn to cool her body off.
They should be able to do something similar enough with her clothes on.
Xíng Zhǐ frowned. “Is that all?”
Shěn Lí confirmed. “That’s all.”
Xíng Zhǐ was silent before speaking. He knew the deadline was approaching. “This time I will be helping you.” He lifted Shěn Lí’s hair and gently pulled the fabric around her neck aside, exposing the faint outline of her collarbone. He thought back to the cool night when he was the mortal Xíng Yún and had stumbled upon the naked Shěn Lí. Back then, he had draped a blanket over her without even skipping a beat, but now. . .
Now just a little collarbone was distracting him.
How hopeless.
Shěn Lí waited a long time, feeling Xing Zhi’s breath falling on her skin. Then she wondered if perhaps her neck was dirty, so she reached out to rub it. “Is my neck dirty?”
Xíng Zhǐ sighed and grabbed her hand saying, “It’s clean,” in a slightly hoarse voice. He bit her neck firmly but Shěn Lí’s skin was sturdy and his teeth weren’t as sharp as Lady Jīn’s teeth in snake form. As a result, the bite hurt, but didn’t break skin.
Shěn Lí gasped a little angrily. “Are you toying with me? Can’t you be more serious?”
Xíng Zhǐ wanted to hold his forehead.
Finally, he imbued magic to his teeth and bit. In one bite her skin broke and the coppery smell of blood flooded his mouth. He sent magic to slowly course through her blood, however, he didn’t expect he would encounter more skirmishes the farther he went. Shěn Lí’s temperature increased every time he resolved a battle. They hadn’t completed one entire circuit and Shěn Lí’s forehead was already covered in sweat. The head in her body had increased dramatically in just that short period.
Xíng Zhǐ knew Shěn Lí was hiding something from him. He immediately condensed cold air in his hands and sent it through Shěn Lí, but the speed of the cold air failed to keep up with the rising heat. His heart sank. He reached over and slid his hand down in front of Shěn Lí and untied her belt. Shěn Lí was delirious from the heat and offered no resistance when he took off her belt and clothes.
However, when Xíng Zhǐ put his palms on her, he discovered that his own clothes were acting as a barrier against the transmission of cold air. He froze when he realized what needed to be done. The spiritual aura he poured into her body stagnated and Shěn Lí became unwell almost immediately. Xíng Zhǐ came back to his senses and closed his eyes. Focusing, he lowered his robe and hugged a naked Shěn Lí in his arms.
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