V2C75

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The voices, abruptly brought back to life the moments that had passed. She was plummeting to the bottom, completely out of control.

There was endless darkness in front of her eyes, with a thread of crimson vaguely visible at the bottom, as if a huge eye had silently opened in the depths of hell – a bottomless chasm, searing fire pouring out of the bowels of the earth, and a sky full of violent golden lightning, like a vision of doom and damnation.

Where is this place? Such a familiar sight, as if I’ve been here before…

Oh right, this is the extreme end of the Yellow Spring Waterfall, the legendary Abyss of Cangwu! Had she already died and therefore come to this place?

On the verge of falling into it, she managed to stop her frame at the last possible moment, using all her strength.

The hell was only a short distance away, and the waters of the yellow spring flowed upwards through the chasm, carrying with them the cries and wails of countless departed spirits. She dragged her heavy body towards the bright light above her head, however the light was so distant that it seemed to stretch to the end of the sky. It was strange though, why was her body so heavy? Could it be that…

She reluctantly turned her head around only to realize that she was carrying another person on her back! That person… was actually the Master?

The Master was looking pale and motionless and his eyes were sealed shut – he looked as if he was in his early twenties and was not wearing the robes of a Great Priest. Could this be…

In that moment, in her boundless trance, somewhere between life and death, she suddenly remembered: this was not after her death, but in a never-ending nightmare when she was thirteen years old!

Right now, she was crawling out of the abyssal ground with her dying master on her back. Behind her were the blazing fires of hell, the ferocious waters of the Yellow Spring, and the furious roar of a dragon – those golden lights were not lightning bolts, but the chains that held the Dragon God, the binding chains of the trapped beast set up by the ancient Xingzun Emperor of Kongsang!

It is a reflection of her memories from when she was thirteen years old.

At that time, her Master took her to cultivate in the Nightmare Forest, but was unexpectedly ambushed in the dense forest by the Cangliu Empire by surprise. They broke out the siege fighting their way out, but plunged into the Cangwu Abyss, a terrible purgatory that no one could ever overcome. Her Master was dying, and she was completely exhausted.

At thirteen, she was not strong enough to carry a man weighing more than herself as she climbed up the wall, her ten fingers were dripping with blood, but she had only one thought in mind: she must take her Master out alive!

A sudden, terrifying roar erupted from the abyss behind her. As soon as she turned around, she saw a huge claw poking out of the dark depths, slamming her against the cliff edge with a single strike!

Gargantuan eyes, like blazing suns, emerged from the earth and glared at the two intruders. In that moment, pinned against the wall, she could no longer hold back her involuntary scream – it was a dragon! From the abyss sprang the legendary Dragon God of the Sea Kingdom!

Alerted, the Deity emerged from the Abyss of Cangwu and seized them, opening its mouth to confront them and spewing out a huge burst of flame that was about to incinerate everything.

“No! Please don’t!” She subconsciously opened her arms to face the flames, shielding the unconscious Master behind her, and shouted, “Don’t hurt my Master!”

Flames strong enough to consume everything came crashing down on her, licking the ends of her hair and engulfing her in a fiery mass of fire.

However, a miracle happened: when the flames died down, all her hair had been totally restored and her body completely unharmed!

Upon seeing the little thing under his claws actually intact, the Dragon God, who had been trapped in the abyssal underground for thousands of years, released an even more furious whine and lunged towards her!

The little girl couldn’t help but scream and cover her eyes at the sight of such a terrible vision, but she refused to move her body – her Master was injured and unconscious, and if she moved her body, this terrible monster would attack him.

However, the sharp fangs pressed against her throat, only to stop in the nick of time. The Dragon God from the Abyss lowered his head to look at Zhu Yan and suddenly let out a low growl of confusion.

What… happened? The child opened her eyes shuddering at the sight of the Dragon God’s enormous golden eyes, as huge as the wheel of the sun, which were gazing for an instant at her chest with a spurt of breath that carried up her sash like a whirlwind – there was something gleaming and glowing like a jewel in the shreds of her sash!

This… was the ancient jade that Yuan gave to her as a gift and which she carried close to her body.

The Dragon God lowered his head, apparently perplexed, and examined the small, pale, frightened face exposed between his claws, bowed his head and came closer, sniffed around her, and his nostrils curled up like a wild wave – the ancient jade she wore, echoing the dragon’s nostrils, glowing brightly!

“Is that you?” The Dragon God spoke, his majestic voice echoing from the abyss.

What? Can this dragon… actually speak like a human? Did he, did he just talk to her?

She looked at the huge dragon in bewilderment, while the weight on her body was suddenly relieved. The Dragon God pulled his claws away from her and peered down at her, his fierce, ferocious eyes gradually fading from their initial rage and murderous intent and revealing a kind of confusion, even going so far as to reach out and ruffle her hair with the point of his claw.

She was shaking in fear, but never dared to move her body for fear it might hurt the unconscious Master behind her.

“Well… a Kongsang person?” The Dragon God scrutinized the little girl, shook his head and spat out the words, “Strange… you don’t seem to be the one I’m waiting for…”

“You’re… you’re talking to me?” She stammered the words while asking, her voice trembling.

“It’s not you. Though you somewhat resemble her.” The Dragon God examined repeatedly the girl who had fallen into the abyss, and seeing the emblem on the corner of her coat, shook his head, “You are the Princess of the Red Clan, whereas the Khongsang woman I was waiting for… is supposed to be from the White Clan. There must be a mistake somewhere…”

The Dragon God plucked the little girl with his huge claws and muttered, “You shouldn’t be here. But of all people, why is it you wearing this thing?”

Zhu Yan failed to understand what he was talking about for a moment, and just shrank back inch by inch, gradually stepping out from the gaps of the giant sharp claws. However, before she could escape, the Dragon God’s claws lifted once more and snapped her against the rock wall again with a splat. She screamed in terror and closed her eyes.

“What are you doing here? Did the Emperor of Kongsang sent you here?” The giant dragon lowered his head, his voice low and majestic ringed with solemnity, “The Abyss of Cangwu is not a place for the living!”

“I… didn’t mean to come and disturb you on purpose!” Zhu Yan hastily distanced herself, “We… we got caught in an ambush and just fell inside by accident!”

“Caught in an ambush?” The Dragon God murmured, gazing down at her for a moment, “Who were trying to kill you?”

“I… I don’t know!” She mumbled in panic, “Those people had icy blue eyes… it seemed like they were from the Ice Clan… they were after my Master, trying to kill him!”

“Your Master?” The Dragon God suddenly blurted out as he looked behind her, “Who is that man behind you? Move aside and let me see!”

“He’s my Master.” She replied in a trembling voice but refused to move her body, “He… is the young Divine Priest of the Jiuyi Temple and is a good person!”

“A young priest? No, it can’t be… he has a strange aura… with the same scent of the man who trapped me a thousand years ago!” The Dragon God suddenly became violent and growled, swishing out his sharp claws and trying to seize the unconscious man, “Who the hell is the man? Let me see!”

“No!” Zhu Yan didn’t know where she got the guts to cross her arms, and swiftly formed a magic barrier, shouting, “Do not touch my Master!”

Before the words could leave her lips, the Dragon God’s sharp claws were already reaching her!

With a loud crash, the little girl stumbled backwards so violently that she would have fallen several feet away if it weren’t for the support of the stone wall behind her. She spat out a mouthful of blood as her chest ached, but she still held on to her master’s body with a deadly grip: “What are you trying to do? No… you are not allowed to touch my Master!”

The Dragon God retracted his claws, the tips of which were now marked by the scorching flames. He lowered his head and measured the quivering little girl, somewhat surprised – such a tender little creature, yet in this instant glowing with a fierce power, like a flame roaring into exuberance!

“Still putting up a real fight, huh?” The Dragon God appeared to ponder for a moment, the golden light in his eyes gradually dimmed, showing signs of drowsiness as he seemed to murmur, “I was the one who miscalculated the time… There are still seventy years to go before the commencement…”

Miscalculated the time? What is he talking about? What does he mean by seventy years left?

The Dragon God’s claws retracted as he muttered, “But since you’ve come down here and you’re carrying this thing with you, you must have something to do with the fate of the Kingdom of Sea – what if by killing you, I’ll upset the start of the Wheel of Fortune? Well… I can’t afford to take that kind of risk.”

She was unable to understand what the dragon was saying, except that the murderous tone in his voice was slowly diminishing. However, the little girl still did not dare to budge her body, shielding her Master behind her with a deadly force.

The Dragon God yawned and shook his head, “Well… little girl, I’ll let you off the hook this time. Go back to where you belong before I change my mind!”

Before Zhu Yan could return to her senses, her body suddenly became lighter and she soared up like a cloud.

With a swish, she had been hurled out from the Abyss of Cangwu by the Dragon God, and fell onto the grass at the top of it, carrying her Master on her back. The sunlight sprinkled down on her face through the leaves, bringing a brilliant warmth of renewal that instantly brought tears of joy to the little girl’s eyes – they had, at last, escaped from hell!

With her face charred black, her long hair almost burnt out and her body bruised all over, she gritted her teeth and lifted her Master on her back, trudging through the Nightmare Forest almost on her hands and knees.

The journey has been long, the path bristling with thorns, and strewn with demons and ghosts.

“Don’t die …… don’t die!” Along the way, she prayed over and over in her heart, forcing herself not to cry aloud, not daring to look back to check if her Master was still breathing behind her.

When, exhausted, she collapsed on the steps in front of the Jiuyi Temple, she had no idea how much of a shock her reappearance had brought to the whole Yunhuang Kingdom – at that point, everyone presumed that the two of them had died in the Abyss of Cangwu, with no bones remaining behind. In the span of two months, the Bei Mian Emperor had already accepted Consort Qing’s slanderous words and crowned Shi Yu as Crown Prince.

A day at the top of the mountain is a thousand years in the world. Everything has changed completely.

She only knew that she did her best to bring her Master back, and that she must watch over him until he regained his senses.

“What happened to your face?” Was the first question Master asked when he finally woke up from his coma after half a month and opened his eyes to see her.

“Burnt… is burnt.” She was sitting on the side, her face wrapped in a gauze, hot and aching, but she did not dare to complain further in front of him, but only said, “The Grand Master said it will heal after the medicine is applied and will not leave a scar.”

He nodded in silence, but after a moment abruptly asked again, “It was you… who saved me?”

The little girl who had worked so hard all these months was waiting for her Master to ask this question, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl up and nod with pride, “Mmhm!”

However, upon hearing this reply, a peculiar and complicated expression swept across the face of Shi Ying, who turned his head away quietly and remained silent for a long time.

She had been looking forward with anticipation for her Master to praise her, but now she suddenly became apprehensive after seeing this scene – uh, Master had been such a proud person, it was always him who saved others, now for the first time in his life, he was actually been saved by someone else? Would he… be angry with her? Is she going to be scolded?

She waited anxiously, but only managed to hear a short reply, “This life, I will return it back to you in the future.”

“Huh?” She was a little confused, unsure of what her Master was talking about, but in her heart she had a vague feeling that those were ominous words, and subconsciously reached out and tried to tug on his sleeve.

However, in a trance, there was an ocean of blood before her eyes instead! In the ruins of the Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion, sharp blades pierced through the heart and blood gushed like a spring of water.

“That year, you saved me from the Abyss of Cangwu… I said that I will definitely return this life to you in the future.” He looked at her and whispered, “You know what?… when I said ‘in the future’… I meant today.”

No… no! She couldn’t hold back her shouts any longer.

“Don’t die!” She cried her heart out, trying with all her strength to hold on to what was fading away, grieving out loud, “Not today! Just not today! Don’t leave me alone!”

However, he closed his eyes in eternity.

The pain was so deep it almost shattered her from the inside out, yet there was never an end to it – why? Why couldn’t it all stop? If she were to die like this, all this pain would be over, wouldn’t it? Why couldn’t she die yet?

She struggled in a never-ending agony, trying to reach the end with all her might, but unable to get to the bottom.

In her trance, someone tapped on her forehead, “That’s enough… wake up!”

She snapped awake with a jolt – the old and withered hand, as if it had reached into her dream in a heartbeat, forcing her out as soon as she got entangled in the nightmare!

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