# Chapter 1301: He Lin, He Ling
"He Lin... wanted me... to find... you... finally... ah... ahhhhh!!"
These few words exhausted the last shred of will that Yun Che had managed to muster in his difficult awakening, and then he fell once again into the abyss of nightmares, unable to utter a single complete word beyond hoarse screams and frenzied thrashing.
"Lin'er... Lin'er!!"
He Ling's mind was in chaos, her thoughts filled entirely with the image of He Lin, and before her eyes it seemed as if He Lin was struggling in agony, piercing her heart with a pain that made her instantly feel as though her heart was being torn apart. She turned abruptly and said tearfully, "Master, I beg you to save him... He is Lin'er... my younger brother Lin'er... I beg you to save him, I beg you to save him!!"
"..." Xia Qingyue stood in a daze, watching the weeping Wood Spirit maiden. She was pleading for Yun Che, pleading just as she herself had pleaded.
"Ling'er," Shen Xi's voice carried a soft sigh, "He is not your brother. He is merely someone who bears his Wood Spirit Pearl."
"Ling'er knows," the Wood Spirit maiden said, each word laced with tears, "But... he is Lin'er's benefactor, the one to whom Lin'er entrusted everything, and also the continuation of Lin'er's life..."
With a "thud," she heavily knelt on the ground. "I beg Master to save him, I beg Master to save him!"
If a Wood Spirit loses its Wood Spirit Pearl, the Wood Spirit is doomed to die. To seize a Wood Spirit's pearl is an unforgivable crime and makes one a mortal enemy of the Wood Spirit Clan.
But the Royal Clan Wood Spirit Pearl was different.
The Royal Clan Wood Spirit Pearl on Yun Che's body possessed a complete and intact aura; it was a perfectly intact Royal Clan Wood Spirit Pearl. For a complete Royal Clan Wood Spirit Pearl to appear on a human, the only possibility was that a Royal Clan Wood Spirit had willingly bestowed it.
As the purest beings in the world, Wood Spirits possess the ability to perceive good and evil. As a Royal Clan Wood Spirit, to willingly give up one's life and entrust one's Wood Spirit Pearl to a human... either that human had rendered a grace so great it could never be repaid, or that was the very person to whom the Wood Spirit was willing to entrust everything.
As a descendant of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan herself, He Ling understood this more clearly than any living being.
"..." In response to He Ling's plea, there was a long silence.
She could feel the sorrow and pain in He Ling's heart. Because her greatest longing, one might even say the driving force that kept her strong and alive, was to find her younger brother He Lin... just as He Lin longed to find her. For he was her last remaining family, and the last hope of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan.
Now, He Lin's Wood Spirit Pearl had appeared on a human, which meant He Lin was already dead.
It also meant... the Wood Spirit Royal Clan had come to an end.
For He Ling, this blow was undoubtedly like the collapse of heaven and earth.
And Yun Che, who bore He Lin's Wood Spirit Pearl, was like... the last straw... or rather, the last solace... in her moment of utter despair.
But...
"Master..." He Ling kowtowed heavily, her tearful voice already tinged with hoarseness. "Lin'er is dead... Ling'er... has no more family... Father and Mother died protecting Ling'er... and Ling'er... lost Lin'er... Not only could I not protect him for even a single day, I didn't even get to see him one last time..."
"He is the one Lin'er entrusted everything to... the last hope Lin'er left in this world... I must protect him no matter what... I beg Master... I beg Master to save him... Ling'er will never go anywhere from now on... I will serve Master for this life, the next life, and all lives to come... I beg Master... save him..."
Grief... Tears... Self-blame... Guilt... Despair...
This Wood Spirit maiden, so pure and beautiful, shy and timid at first sight, flawless and spotless—her will and soul had completely collapsed upon sensing the Wood Spirit Pearl on Yun Che's body...
She had watched helplessly as her parents and countless clansmen self-destructed their Wood Spirit Pearls and died,
buying them a chance to escape... She and He Lin had become separated during their flight... In those years, ignoring the danger of being targeted by others, she searched like a madwoman...
In this world that was terrifyingly cruel to Wood Spirits, finding He Lin was the greatest support that kept her alive. Almost every day, she lived in immense guilt over having lost He Lin... Three years ago, she traveled alone to a star realm where rumors said a Wood Spirit had appeared, searching for He Lin. She was surrounded by people, but fortunately Shen Xi saved her and brought her back here...
She served by Shen Xi's side, and her only request was to beg her to help find He Lin.
Now she knew that she could never see He Lin again. The only thing left in the world was his Wood Spirit Pearl.
All the hope, longing, and guilt of these years... under the bitter sorrow of approaching despair, were now firmly tied to Yun Che's body...
"Ah..."
From the drifting mist of the Reincarnation Forbidden Land came a long, profound sigh:
"It seems this too is heaven's will. When I brought you back that year, I promised I would help you find your younger royal brother. Since I made that promise to you, I would not break my word. Ling'er, rise... I will save him."
He Ling's sobbing paused slightly, then she bowed deeply: "Thank... you... Mas... ter..."
These three words carried a trembling of the soul. Although she had only been by Shen Xi's side for three short years, she deeply understood what these words meant to her... This heavenly grace was something she could never repay in all eternity.
With tear-filled eyes, she looked at Yun Che. His pained voice and appearance made her heart ache to the point of suffocation. She grasped his struggling hands and said tearfully, comfortingly, "Did you hear that? Master is willing to save you. You'll be fine soon... You'll be better soon..."
"..." As if a weight of ten thousand jun had been lifted from her, Xia Qingyue felt joy in her heart, yet at the same time, a deep sense of exhaustion washed over her. She glanced at He Ling, then bowed lightly toward the front: "Senior Shen Xi's great kindness, Xia Qingyue will never forget for all eternity."
"You need not thank me," the ethereal voice came slowly, as if in a dream. "I save him for Ling'er's sake, and also because he bears the Royal Clan Wood Spirit Pearl, which will not defile this place."
Xia Qingyue, however, shook her head slightly: "For Senior to be willing to save him is already a heavenly grace. Once the Death-Pleading Seal on his body is lifted, whatever Senior commands, Qingyue will... without exception... obey."
A wisp of divine consciousness gently swept over Xia Qingyue's body. It seemed that only then did the immortal silhouette in the mist truly take a good look at her. "What a stubborn woman. Are you always like this?"
Xia Qingyue: "..."
"Although I can save him, the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal on his body is extremely overbearing. To completely remove it will take at least fifty years. During these fifty years, he must remain here and not leave even half a step. Moreover, I need to seal his memories. During these fifty years here, he will not remember anything from before. When he leaves after fifty years, he will also not remember anything that happened here."
"Very well, thank you Senior for your grace." The words in her ear did not surprise Xia Qingyue in the least. "This junior will entrust someone to come here to pick him up in fifty years."
"Oh?" The immortal voice was slightly surprised. "Why is it not you who will come to pick him up?"
"..." Xia Qingyue did not answer. Instead, she asked, "May I ask Senior Shen Xi, during these fifty years, before the Death-Pleading Seal on his body is completely removed, is there any way to alleviate his suffering?"
"Rest assured," that voice quickly answered her, extremely gently, "Although I cannot remove his Death-Pleading Seal in a short time, I can cause it to gradually cease its attacks. Even if it does attack, it will not be unbearable."
As the immortal voice sounded in her ears, a streak of white light, so pure it was beyond belief, drifted down from the mist and enveloped Yun Che's body.
As the white light touched his body,
Xia Qingyue's beautiful eyes immediately focused... She felt as though her body, blood, profound veins, and soul were all being gently washed by the purest of springs. The pain from the wounds Yun Che had scratched into her body subsided, the confusion and sorrow in her heart were softly soothed, and even her five senses became exceptionally clear...
So this is... that "kind of power" her foster father had spoken of?
The white profound light gently shrouded Yun Che's body. Immediately, his struggles slowed, the twitching of his muscles and blood vessels, and his screaming, gradually eased. It was as if he had been pulled from a pool of hellish blood and soaked in a warm spring. Every cell and every pore of his body relaxed.
The chaotic pupils at this moment showed a hint of clarity. One of his hands slowly lifted in trembling—he had actually regained a bit of control over his body. From his mouth came two fairly clear words: "Qing... yue..."
Relief was merely relief, not complete removal. Yun Che's entire body was still in agony, but it had reached a level that his will could barely endure and resist.
The last worry in her heart dissipated. Xia Qingyue bowed deeply to the front once more, then said softly to Yun Che, "It's fine now... Senior Shen Xi has agreed to save you. You won't have to suffer like this anymore. There's... nothing else to worry about."
"Although fifty years is a long time, staying here with Senior Shen Xi means no one can ever harm you. If you can earn Senior Shen Xi's appreciation or favor, it will be... a tremendous opportunity."
"So, for these fifty years, stay here peacefully and forget everything outside."
Stricken by the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal, Yun Che was destined to be unable to enter the Zhou Tian Pearl, thus missing the great opportunity of three thousand years in the Zhou Tian Divine Realm. But with Qianye Ying'er targeting him, the world already had no place for Yun Che to hide. Staying here, for Yun Che, was fifty years of absolute safety.
Because this was a forbidden ground that even Qianye Ying'er dared not forcibly set foot in.
"Since I have agreed to keep him here, you need not worry any longer," Shen Xi's voice came slowly. "You bear a Liuli Heart, a daughter blessed by the Heavenly Dao. Since I have kept him, I can also permit you to stay here and keep him company."
For Shen Xi, this was yet another exception... all because of the Liuli Heart, which was seen only once in hundreds of thousands of years.
Gently placing Yun Che on the ground, Xia Qingyue slowly straightened up: "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Shen Xi. With him staying here, Qingyue truly has no more worries."
"Qingyue has already disturbed Senior for too long. It is time for me to leave and return to where I ought to be."
"Oh?" Shen Xi seemed quite surprised by this response.
Xia Qingyue gave Yun Che one last deep look, then closed her eyes, turned around, and prepared to leave with what seemed almost like finality.
But at that moment, her skirt was firmly grasped by a trembling hand. Yun Che's entire body shuddered, his face twitching, but the hand gripping Xia Qingyue's skirt was very, very tight: "Qingyue... where are... you... going..."
With the pain greatly relieved, his consciousness was slowly returning to clarity. Where would Xia Qingyue go, and where could she go? Only the Moon God Realm.
And as for the Moon God Realm wedding ceremony, she had become a sinner to the entire Moon God Realm. Even if the Moon God Emperor truly treated her like a daughter, as she had said, and could forgive her no matter how great the mistake... But besides him, there was the anger of the entire Moon God Realm.
Moreover, no one could believe that the Moon God Emperor had truly let go of all his anger... The Moon God Realm might imprison her, banish her, cripple her profound strength... or even execute her.
"..." Xia Qingyue stopped in her tracks but did not turn back. "Don't worry. I won't be in danger... This is something I must face."