Chapter 1304: Mysterious Shen Xi
Yun Che didn’t know how long he had been unconscious. When his awareness finally stirred back to life, the first thing that greeted him was a rich, fragrant aroma at the tip of his nose.
"Ah... you’re awake."
A surprised, joyful voice reached his ears. Opening his eyes, he saw a stunningly beautiful girl with emerald green eyes, as if she had stepped right out of a painting, looking at him... She seemed to have been crying just moments ago, her green eyes rimmed red, tear streaks still visible on her cheeks.
Neither his body nor his soul ached anymore. Throughout his entire body, there was none of the fatigue that usually followed prolonged torment and unconsciousness. Instead, he felt exceptionally comfortable. Dazed, he sat up straight. As far as his eyes could see, there was a sea of flowers, insects and birds chirping in delight, a gentle breeze and clear skies, and a fairy before him... For several long breaths, Yun Che felt as if he were in a dreamland, unable to wake up.
"He... Ling..." Yun Che stared fixedly at the wood spirit girl before him.
He Ling—He Lin's older sister.
Back then, He Lin had left his hiding place without permission, all to find his sister. Back then, he had knelt before Yun Che, begging to become his disciple, all to find his sister. He had given Yun Che his Wood Spirit Pearl, and when his life was about to end, with tears streaming down his face, his only request had been to find his sister...
And now, he had finally found her.
He hadn't forgotten. Before he lost consciousness, it was she who had knelt and begged Shen Xi, allowing Shen Xi to permit him to enter the "Reincarnation Forbidden Land," and thereby escape the nightmare of the Death-Seeking Seal.
"Please... find... my sister... for me..."
"I am the last royal wood spirit of my entire clan, carrying the last hope of my people... But I am so useless. I couldn't protect my sister, I couldn't protect my clan... I can't do anything. Even if I continue to live on in shame, I would only harm Brother Yun Che, who has been so kind to me... Useless me... I can't find my sister, let alone protect her... So I can only... selfishly beg Brother Yun Che..."
"Don't say anymore... Don't worry, even if I have to traverse the entire God Realm, I will definitely find your sister! I will protect her. Whoever tries to harm her, I will kill! Even if I have to risk my life, I will never let her suffer any harm! I swear... I swear!!"
"Thank you, Brother Yun Che. This is the only... thing... I can give you to repay you..."
"When I was very young... my parents said... my Wood Spirit Pearl was very special. It is a seed of miracles. I hope that one day... it can truly... bring the power of miracles to Brother Yun Che..."
Yun Che unconsciously pressed his hand to his heart. He Lin's tearful, life-filled words from back then had never left his mind or soul, not a single word forgotten.
This time, it wasn't just He Ling who saved him, but also He Lin. If not for his Wood Spirit Pearl, even if Yun Che weren't dead now, he would be living a fate worse than death.
"Mm..." The wood spirit girl nodded vigorously. She had thought she had already cried all her tears dry, but at Yun Che's soft call, her eyes instantly glazed over with a mist of tears. "It's me, you..."
Looking at this man before her, who was a stranger yet carried the scent of her closest kin, she choked up, unable to speak.
"Thank you... for saving me." Yun Che straightened up and offered thanks that felt utterly inadequate.
"My sister's name is He Ling... He Ling!"
"Then... what does she look like? Does she have any features that set her apart from other wood spirits?"
"Sister is the most beautiful wood spirit, the prettiest sister in the world. She's more beautiful than all the flowers, more beautiful than the stars and moon in the sky!"
He had once thought that He Lin's words were just the instinctive affection and praise of a younger brother for his sister. But now, looking at the wood spirit girl so close to him, he realized He Lin hadn't lied to him at all.
Wood spirits were blessed with pure natural power. Regardless of gender, they all had extremely good looks—it seemed to be a gift of nature's power itself. He Ling was the last descendant of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan, and this was evident in her to the utmost. Ten thousand flowers bloomed in splendor, yet they could not match even half of her grace. A trace of a tear on her face made the entire world seem tinged with sorrow.
The wood spirit girl shook her head. When Yun Che had been unconscious, she had watched him every day. Now that he was awake, facing his gaze, she timidly looked away.
"How long... was I asleep?" Yun Che asked.
"Thirteen days," she answered softly. She stole a glance at Yun Che, then quickly averted her beautiful eyes.
He... after all, was not He Lin. For her entire life, this was the first time she had been in such close contact with a human male.
"Thirteen days..." Yun Che murmured to himself, a silent sigh in his heart. Even if the Buddhist Soul Death-Seeking Seal was no longer on him now, it was already too late for him to enter the Zhou Tian Divine Realm.
Looking at the ring on his finger that came from Cai Zhi, he thought darkly to himself: Mo Li, I have already failed to fulfill the promise I made to you back then... and to Cai Zhi.
Qian... ye... Ying... er...
That name, along with the golden figure, flashed through his mind. A surge of dark malevolent aura immediately swept across his soul... but when his gaze fell upon the wood spirit girl before him, he forcibly suppressed that dark impulse.
This woman was far too terrifying.
Divine power that could shatter stars with a single finger, a mind as deep as the abyss, and cruelty like a viper or scorpion. And yet, she was also extremely cautious—acting outside the Eastern Divine Region, away from all prying eyes, and against someone like him who had no strength to resist, she had still gone so far as to plant the Buddhist Soul Death-Seeking Seal...
Yun Che had never been one to fear the strong. Back when he was only at the Divine Soul Realm, he had dared to take on the entire Black Soul Divine Sect alone, throwing a huge realm king sect into chaos.
But Qianye Ying'er was simply too powerful. Facing her, Yun Che clearly felt like an ant crushed under a ten-thousand-zhang mountain. No matter what power, methods, or schemes he exhausted, he couldn't hope to move her even a fraction.
Since she had already made her move, and had even gone so far as to plant the Death-Seeking Seal, there was no reason for her to stop.
And now, he was forced into a position where he couldn't enter the Zhou Tian Pearl... Was he going to live the rest of his life in her shadow?
Thinking of her terror, and the torment he had endured under the Buddhist Soul Death-Seeking Seal, Yun Che's scalp went numb and his soul trembled. Qianye Ying'er... I won't die that easily... If one day you fall into my hands...
I'll rape you ten thousand times and then cut you into a thousand pieces!!
He reserved the most vicious thoughts of his life for Qianye Ying'er... Of course, given the gap between them, that was all he could do—just think about it.
"What... what's wrong? Are you in pain again?" Seeing Yun Che's face suddenly twist slightly, He Ling asked worriedly.
Yun Che snapped back to himself and quickly said, "No, no. I was just thinking about some things. Um... where is Senior Shen Xi? I haven't yet thanked her for saving my life."
He Ling's gaze shifted toward the bamboo hut standing in the middle of the sea of flowers. She said softly, "Master is in seclusion. Master cannot be disturbed while in seclusion. However, these past few days, Master has been suppressing the Buddhist Soul Death-Seeking Seal for you every day, so her seclusion periods are never very long. You should be able to see her soon."
"Alright." Yun Che nodded, then asked, "Just who exactly is Senior Shen Xi? I had never heard of her before coming here."
Qianye Ying'er had said that the Buddhist Soul Death-Seeking Seal could only be undone by herself under heaven. Given her level and strength, that statement was beyond question.
But Shen Xi could undo it.
And now, he truly could not feel the pain of the Death-Seeking Seal at all.
Who was she? How could she suppress power on the level of Qianye Ying'er?
No! Qianye Ying'er had said that anyone hit by her Death-Seeking Seal, even a Divine Emperor, would either beg for death or beg for mercy... Could it be that she was even more powerful than a Divine Emperor?
And the place she inhabited was the greatest forbidden zone of the Dragon God Realm!?
He Ling thought for a moment, then said, "Master is a very powerful and very great person. Three years ago, Master saved my life. Taking pity on my loneliness and suffering, she brought me here. But I don't know much else about Master. I only know... that she seems to be bound by something, forced to stay here. Although she can occasionally leave, each time she cannot be away for long. Otherwise, she will disappear."
"...Disappear?" Those two words startled Yun Che.
"Mm. That's what Master said." He Ling nodded gently. "Master goes into seclusion here every day in order to break free from her 'bonds.' But this time, because of me... it will take much longer for her to break free."
She lowered her head and bit her lip tightly.
That "much longer" was not a matter of a hundred or a thousand years, but twenty thousand years.
"..." Yun Che was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "No, it's not because of you. It's because of me."
Back then, outside the Reincarnation Forbidden Land, he had heard every word Shen Xi had spoken in her ethereal voice. He remembered that Shen Xi had said that saving him would destroy twenty thousand years of painstaking effort...
In other words, by saving him, she had delayed her liberation from her "bonds" by a full twenty thousand years.
He reached up and scratched his scalp. This was yet another great debt he could never repay.
He always seemed to encounter all sorts of disasters, and yet he always found one benefactor after another. He didn't know whether to feel angry or fortunate.
No wonder Xia Qingyue had begged so desperately, and Shen Xi had refused so resolutely... Twenty thousand years! That was an incredibly long time, even for someone at the Divine Lord level. After all, the maximum lifespan of a human in the Divine Lord Realm was only fifty thousand years.
That she had ultimately agreed to save him was actually quite unbelievable.
He Ling still shook her head. Slowly raising her eyes, she finally stopped avoiding Yun Che's gaze and looked at him fixedly. In a very soft voice, she asked, "Can you... tell me about Lin'er? How... did he... die..."
As she spoke these words, Yun Che saw an extremely deep pain flash through her emerald-crystal eyes.
From He Lin's longing for her, Yun Che had long known that the siblings shared a deep bond. He Lin's death was not only the blow of losing her last relative for He Ling, but also the severance of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan lineage...
"Alright." Yun Che nodded. Even though it was cruel, he had to tell He Ling.
"I first met He Lin in a lower star realm called Heiya Realm. At that time, I desperately wanted a Wood Spirit Pearl..."
And so, he told her everything. How he had entered Heiya Realm to obtain a Wood Spirit Pearl, how he had "bought" He Lin, how he ultimately couldn't bring himself to kill him and sent him back to his hiding place... only to cause the massacre of all the wood spirits there. He recounted every detail as vividly as possible, especially every word He Lin had spoken, every plea, every tear, for He Ling to hear.
All the way until He Lin had offered up his royal Wood Spirit Pearl and then, in Yun Che's arms, dissolved into tears and faded away...
He Ling listened quietly throughout, not interrupting a single word. When she heard those familiar names, when she heard that they had all died, her snow-white hand pressed tightly against her lips. Tears streamed down her face like mad rain, and her entire body trembled violently, as if she were standing in the bitter wind of the polar regions.
"Dead... all... dead..." she sobbed, every word drenched in tears.
"..." Yun Che dared not look into her eyes. "It was my fault. I brought disaster there. I cremated the body of the culprit, Lei Qianfeng, and buried it where they now rest in eternal sleep, but..."
Yun Che's voice suddenly stopped. His gaze caught sight of a drop of green, crystal-clear liquid falling onto the ground at his feet.
He jerked his head up and saw, to his shock, that two emerald-green streaks of moisture were trailing down He Ling's snow-white cheeks.
That was the color of wood spirit blood!
But even more terrifying was the fact that her originally emerald-green eyes... were now covered in a heavy layer of grayness.
Yun Che's heart seized. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed He Ling's shoulders. "He Ling... He Ling! You..."
"Granny Qingye... Uncle Qingmu... Feiyu... Zhuyin... Qingzhu... all dead... all... dead..."
She murmured softly, her green blood heart-wrenching, her eyes unfocused. There was only pain, despair, and an ever-deepening grayness... a grayness that should never appear on a wood spirit.
"He Ling!" Yun Che shook her frail shoulders urgently. "Listen to me. They are gone. You are the last descendant and the last hope of the Wood Spirit Royal Clan. You must be stronger. I have He Lin's Wood Spirit Pearl now. I am half a wood spirit too. From now on, I will search for and protect the other wood spirits alongside you. Don't..."
A hand weakly pushed him away. He Ling turned and staggered off, leaving behind a long trail of emerald-green bloodstains...
"He Ling!"
Yun Che quickly got up to chase after her, but behind him, a soft sigh echoed.
"Sigh... Let her go."
Yun Che stopped in his tracks and turned around.
She was bathed in a pure and holy white light. Her features were invisible, but her form was ethereal and graceful, like a fairy or a dream.
Though she was right before him, she seemed to stand on an unattainable cloud.
Shen Xi.