Chapter 1399: Lost and Found
“Great.” Looking at Yun Che’s barely restrained excitement, He Ling’s eyes shimmered with misty tears as she spoke softly.
Yun Che turned around, looked at He Ling, and suddenly said, “He Ling, I must have scared you, right?”
“…” He Ling lowered her head slightly and finally said, “A little…”
“Don’t worry,” Yun Che said with a gentle and sincere gaze. “To me, Dark Profound Force is just a type of power that belongs to me, and it cannot distort my nature. I know what it means to possess Dark Profound Force in the Divine Realm. So, in places where others are present, I will never use this power, and I will never let anyone know that I possess it.”
“Mm.” He Ling nodded. Her pure and spotless eyes showed no rejection of Yun Che due to his Dark Profound Force. “I have followed Master for so long; of course I know that Master is not that kind of Demon person from the legends.”
Yun Che shook his head with a smile. “Having Dark Profound Force makes one a Demon person… By this standard of the Divine Realm, I am indeed a Demon person. Uh… but this is my biggest secret. If I ever return to the Long Shen Realm in the future, be sure not to tell Shen Xi.”
Shen Xi possessed Light Profound Force, and what she most rejected was undoubtedly Dark Profound Force. If she found out, the consequences would be unpredictable. He wouldn’t even be surprised if Shen Xi wanted to destroy him.
“Mm.” He Ling agreed, lifting her head to look at Yun Che. “On the day I followed Master, I said that no matter where Master goes in the future, whether good or evil, alive or dead, I will follow forever and never regret it.”
Yun Che smiled, also looking into her eyes, and said word by word, “He Ling, I’ll say the same promise once more: your revenge, He Lin’s revenge, the revenge of your Wood Spirit Royal Clan, I will definitely avenge for you… no, we will avenge it together. The revenge you are obsessed with is also the revenge I am obsessed with.”
“…” He Ling nodded vigorously, her eyes slightly moist.
Yun Che glanced at Hong’er… this glance couldn’t help but linger for a long time before he finally withdrew his consciousness and left the Heavenly Poison Pearl.
In the darkness, the young girl slowly woke up.
She opened her colorful eyes. Around her, the ground was covered with shimmering purple Netherworld Brahma Flowers. She was surrounded by purple nether light, and even her bright silver hair was tinted with a layer of purple.
She blinked her eyes, then quickly turned her gaze, as if urgently searching for something. At that moment, the sound she wanted to hear came to her ears:
“You Er, you’re awake.” Yun Che was sitting right beside her, speaking with a smile.
The young girl’s colorful eyes looked at him, just like before, without blinking.
“I guessed that these Netherworld Flowers might help with your recovery, so I picked some and brought them over,” Yun Che said. “I don’t know if you’ll mind.”
The young girl’s colorful eyes moved slightly. She stood up, and with a gentle touch of her small finger, the Netherworld flower petals spread around her lightly flew up and then flew back into the Netherworld Flower Sea. Under Yun Che’s astonished gaze, all the plucked petals returned to their branches and stems, reforming into intact Netherworld Brahma Flowers.
Yun Che was momentarily stunned.
The young girl lowered her finger and became still, standing quietly and obediently in front of Yun Che like an exquisitely carved porcelain doll.
Whether it was the first time he came or this time, the girl’s gaze never wanted to leave him. Yun Che couldn’t read the meaning in her eyes, but he could feel her closeness… especially, when she woke up just now, that obviously flustered action was looking for his figure.
Was it because she was too lonely here and longed for someone’s company, or… just because of me?
She actually… called back Hong’er?
That black light, that sword mark, and Hong’er, who had been lost but now perfectly reappeared in his world…
What exactly happened?
Her identity, the Dark Seed she gave him last time, and the reason she exists in this world…
You Er’s existence was already extremely mysterious and eerie. Her body also held too many foggy mysteries, but she could not speak, and even the most basic expression was particularly difficult, making it impossible for him to get answers.
But one thing, Yun Che was already extremely certain.
That was… her identical appearance to Hong’er was definitely not the coincidence he initially thought!
“You Er, thank you for bringing back Hong’er for me.” Yun Che crouched down. Facing the girl before him, he didn’t know how to express his gratitude. He thought for a moment and still asked, “You must know Hong’er… right?”
Last time, he had asked this question, and both she and Hong’er had given him negative answers.
But this time…
You Er still shook her head.
“…” Yun Che was stunned for a long time.
Last time, Hong’er appeared without being summoned by him, and facing You Er, she suddenly burst into loud crying, but said she didn’t know why she was crying and didn’t know who You Er was. This time, the black sword mark and Hong’er’s return were undoubtedly because of You Er… but You Er still didn’t know who Hong’er was?
Could it be that all of this was just out of some instinct that they themselves did not understand?
“Alright, it’s okay.” Yun Che smiled. “You just slept for a long time, and now you must be very weak. Rest well in your favorite Netherworld Flower Sea for a while. Your soul body must not be damaged at all costs.”
Back then, Mo Li had told him more than once that if the soul body was damaged, repairing it would be harder than reaching the heavens.
“I should go back now.”
After saying this, he saw the young girl’s hand reach out urgently, touching the hem of his clothes.
Yun Che’s voice softened even more as he comforted, “Don’t worry, I will come to see you often. Next time I come, I promise it won’t be this long again. Mm… how about this: from now on, I will come to visit you every month, okay?”
“…” You Er’s colorful eyes looked at him without blinking, then finally nodded gently.
“It’s a shame you can’t leave this place. Otherwise, I would really want to keep you by my side and take care of you.” Yun Che reached out and gently touched her soul shadow. These words came from his heart, not only because You Er had saved him and saved Hong’er, but also because of that subtle, hard-to-describe feeling of closeness, and… the desire to protect her.
Bidding farewell to You Er, Yun Che moved upward through the dark world, left the dark world, left the Jueyun Abyss, and in a long-missed ray of light, returned to the edge of Jueyun Cliff.
Roars of profound beasts, chaotic aura, and even faint bloody scent vaguely carried in the air.
The current Cang Yun Continent might be even more terrifying than the dark world of the Jueyun Abyss.
Yun Che did not leave immediately. He released his divine sense, covering the surroundings. After a long silence, he finally leaped into the air, and his body began to shine with an increasingly intense pure white profound light.
“Master, are you going to ‘purify’ this place?” He Ling asked, a trace of unease in her voice. Because she knew that releasing such a special power as Light Profound Force carried the risk of exposure… Although the probability of someone from the Divine Realm being nearby was extremely low, given Yun Che’s current state, the consequences of exposure would be too severe, and no matter how small the possible risk, he should not touch it at all.
“This place, after all, once carried my entire life,” Yun Che said calmly. “Although I have no attachments here, I cannot just stand by and do nothing.”
“Don’t worry, I will limit the power range and purify piece by piece. Although without removing the root cause, the peace won’t last long, but… this counts as the last thing I do for the Cang Yun Continent.”
As his voice fell, the Light Profound Light sprinkled down from the sky, covering this continent that had turned into a land of disaster.
As he said, he narrowed the purification range as much as possible so as not to release overly strong Divine Path aura and Light Profound Force. He continuously flashed across the sky above the Cang Yun Continent, performing dozens of long-distance spatial shifts and dozens of releases of light, finally sprinkling the Light Profound Light over the entire Cang Yun Continent.
Including the adjacent sea areas.
After doing all this, Yun Che’s heart felt much lighter. This could be considered a small repayment for the heavy blood debts he had incurred here in the past.
Although… the time wheel of the Cang Yun Continent had changed due to the Lunhui Jing, and those ‘blood debts’ had been erased, becoming ‘never happened.’ But they were only erased in the Cang Yun Continent, and could never be erased from Yun Che’s heart.
The roars of profound beasts had clearly weakened a lot, and the ferocity floating in the air was also obviously receding. Yun Che could not predict what would happen to the Cang Yun Continent after today. However, the next time he returned here to visit You Er, he might purify it again.
After doing all this, Yun Che faced the west and prepared to leave.
At that moment, a red light suddenly flashed before his eyes, and Hong’er’s delicate little figure appeared.
As soon as she came out, she let out a long yawn and stretched her small waist vigorously. “Waa… Hungry! So hungry! Master, I’m about to starve to death! Hurry up and bring me some food!”
“Gurgle…”
As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach cooperated perfectly with a gurgle.
“Hong’er…” Seeing her lively and jumping appearance, hearing her ethereal and melodious voice that was so familiar, waves stirred in Yun Che’s heart. He stepped forward and gently held her to his chest: “You’re back, that’s good. I thought…”
Before his emotional words could finish, Hong’er had already ‘whooshed’ out of his embrace. Her two little hands rubbed her stomach as she cried out in dissatisfaction, “Wuu… I’m about to starve to death, and you’re still thinking about hugging me… Hurry up and bring food! Quick quick quick quick!”
“Uh… okay okay.” Yun Che quickly nodded. With a grab of his hand, he took out a few small pieces of Purple Vein Divine Crystal. But before he could hand them to Hong’er, a red light flashed before his eyes, and the Purple Vein Divine Crystals were already in Hong’er’s hands, stuffed into her mouth like sugar beans, crunching loudly.
Yun Che grabbed again and took out a long sword emanating a freezing cold aura… This time, before Yun Che could even see the sword’s shadow clearly, Hong’er snatched it at a frighteningly fast speed. Her sharp little fangs bit into the blade, and with a series of crackling sounds, the originally icy and flawless blade now had a large row of tooth-shaped gaps.
Yun Che had long been accustomed to this. If it were anyone else, they would probably have their jaw drop on the spot.
Hong’er hugged the ice sword and devoured it wildly, her face full of happiness and satisfaction, without mentioning the matter of her ‘silence’ during this period. Yun Che stood by, silently watching her, until she finished eating the entire sword and patted her flat little belly with satisfaction. Then he smiled and said, “Hong’er, have you been sleeping all this time?”
“Of course.” Hong’er burped and said energetically, “What Hong’er likes most is sleeping.”
“Uh…” Yun Che blinked. “You didn’t forget… what happened before, did you?”
“Eh?” Hong’er blinked her vermilion eyes. “What is Master talking about? So hard to understand.”
“It’s about… the Xing Shen Realm. I was killed by someone, and you also… uh, have you forgotten everything?” Yun Che probed. After He Ling ‘awakened’, she hugged him and cried intensely in excitement and fear, but Hong’er… was completely fine, like nothing happened!
“Oh, of course I haven’t forgotten. I’m not a fool like Master.” Hong’er tilted her little head and said with a smile. “But Master is fine now, Hong’er is fine too, and I’m full, so it’s already nothing. Why does Master bring this up?”
“~!@#¥%…” Yun Che then recalled that Hong’er’s brain circuits and way of thinking had never belonged to normal humans. He twisted his mouth and said weakly, “Then that day you cried and shouted that as long as Master could be safe, from now on you would be good, listen to everything I say, and never be willful or lose your temper… mm, you definitely haven’t forgotten this either, right?”
“Huh?” Hong’er bit her finger, then her brows curved. “Because I was too hungry just now, so I completely forgot, hehe.”
“I… knew… it.” Yun Che gritted his teeth weakly.
“Oh, there’s a secret I want to tell Master,” Hong’er kept her brows curved, her pink cheeks like a newly blooming delicate lotus. “After sleeping a very, very long sleep, Hong’er seems to like Master even more.”
Her body suddenly floated forward. Using her lips that had just eaten a sword, yet were unusually soft and delicate, she forcefully pecked Yun Che’s cheek. Then, with a giggle, she turned into a red light and disappeared into the sword mark on the back of Yun Che’s hand.
“…” Yun Che involuntarily touched his own cheek, then shook his head with a smile. “This little girl, who did she learn that from…”