Against the Gods - Volume 08 - Cloud's End Mirage

by Mars Gravity

  When he had gone to the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, Yun Che had personally experienced the dreadfulness of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower and he was even more acutely aware that the dreadful result of having one’s soul stolen was no different from death.

  He fiercely bit down on the tip of his tongue as he regained some clarity of mind but his body, which had slipped out of his control, swiftly sank to the ground.

  This could not happen… He definitely could not faint here.

  Yun Che fiercely gritted his teeth but his wounds were too severe and his complexion was exceptionally pale. At this moment, he suddenly saw a silver-colored figure slowly drift out of the sea of purple flowers through his blurry eyes.

  “Ah…” Yun Che’s body had completely collapsed to the ground. He desperately tried to widen his eyes and look towards that silver-colored figure…

  It seemed to be the figure of a human and it was very tiny and delicate, it was just as small as Hong’er. The silver that gleamed in his eyes came from the light that gleamed on her long hair and her body was covered by a layer of lustrous white light.

  She slowly floated over, her feet not touching the ground but her silver-colored hair was long enough to reach the ground.

  His consciousness grew more and more blurry and his blurred vision could no longer clearly distinguish outlines or colors. Yun Che’s eyes closed many times but he forcefully opened them each and every time. And every time he regained his vision, he discovered that the figure that floated over from the sea of flowers had grown closer by several degrees.

  After he barely managed to open his eyes for the last time, he saw an unfathomably beautiful pair of eyes that was right in front of him.

  A pair… of eyes that seemed to glitter with all the colors of the rainbow.

  “Who… are… you…”

  Yun Che let out an extremely weak and faint voice as his vision turned white before everything turned black and his consciousness completely faded away.

  Chapter 884: Hong’er?

  After an unknown amount of time had passed, Yun Che gradually regained his consciousness. His surroundings were a completely white world, where he could not see anything nor feel his own presence.

  Where… is this place?

  Am I still alive…

  “Big Brother Yun Che…”

  Within the pale white world, the soft calls of a girl could be heard. This voice caused Yun Che’s consciousness to throb intensely as he let out a panicky shout, “Ling’er? Ling’er, is that you… Where are you?”

  He searched diligently, looking all around and yet, he could not find Ling’er’s figure at all. There was only her dream-like voice that rung quietly beside his ear, “Big Brother Yun Che, all these years, I kept waiting for you. Even though they said that you wouldn’t return, I believed that Big Brother Yun Che wouldn’t lie to me… I’m already sixteen… But, where are you Big Brother Yun Che… Why didn’t I manage to wait for you… Will I really… never get to see Big Brother Yun again…”

  Her soft muttering was still filled with deep longing and sadness.

  “Ling’er, I’m already here. I’m sure you’re safe and sound and must still be waiting for me… Where are you? Quick, tell me where you are…”

  Yun Che shouted with all his might as his desperately searched for Su Ling’er’s figure in the completely white world. Finally, in front of him, a moon white silhouette of a fairy gradually appeared. Looking at that figure in front of him, Yun Che muttered in shock, “Qing… yue?”

  Xia Qingyue who appeared before him was still beautiful and flawless. However, her temperament was far too different from the Xia Qingyue in his heart. She was his legitimate wedded wife but now when she appeared before him, he felt ashamed as though he was admiring a fairy that was on the moon.

  “Yun Che…” Xia Qingyue muttered softly, “I found what I’ve always desired but why is everything different from what I imagined… What I’ve always pursued and wished for have all deviated from my prediction. Instead, I was trapped in a cage that seemed to be beautiful…”

  “Yun Che, was I wrong… What should I do…”

  Xia Qingyue continued muttering words that Yun Che could not understand and her silhouette became more and more hazy. Just as Yun Che subconsciously stretched out his hand and tried to touch it, he suddenly saw that at the end of the pale white world, the shadow of someone else wearing a fluttering snow robe appeared.

  “Little… Little Fairy…” Yun Che muttered with a trembling voice.

  “Yun Che,” Chu Yuechan’s back was facing him and her ice cold voice was warm and gentle, “Our daughter is already six. She’s like you and like me, cuter than any single star in the vast night sky. However, she has never been able to see her father…”

  Bang…

  The pale white world suddenly collapsed and disappeared.

  “Little Fairy!!!”

  Yn Che cried hurriedly as he sat up furiously.

  It was a dream…

  He had experienced a weird dream like this before… that time, it was due to the Netherworld Udumbara Flower’s soul stealing.

  Wait, I’m currently at…

  The pain that spread throughout his body caused him to regain his consciousness swiftly. Yun Che opened his eyes swiftly. Before him, was the same world as the one before his lost consciousness. The dark world was filled with an demonic purplish glow. He immediately realized the origin of the purple glow and swiftly lowered his head yet again.

  Previously, an incomplete Netherworld Udumbara Flower almost took my life. But why is it that even though there were millions of flowers here, even though I am severely injured, I could still regain consciousness?

  Furthermore, the injuries had actually recovered by more than half… With my body’s natural healing rate, could I have been unconscious for several days already?

  Although Yun Che did not look at the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers with his eyes, his entire body was still being basked in the purple light. What Yun Che did not understand was that the feeling of the soul stealing was exceptionally weak.

  What’s wrong?

  Yun Che tried lifting up his head, looking in the direction of the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers and his expression instantly became stunned.

  The massive sea of flowers filled his eyes and he could not see the end of it. However, at this time, all the petals of the purple devilish flowers were closed and it turned into its budding state. Although the purple light was still bright, the power of the soul stealing had be weakened by several dozen times.

  At the same time, what was different from the other Netherworld Udumbara Flower that Yun Che saw that time was that in such a massive sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers, there was not a hint of the ghostly crying noise. They swayed silently within the purple light as though they were afraid of disturbing something present.

  What’s wrong? How long have I been unconscious? Why did I manage to wake up? Why are there such weird changes to the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers… Sssss… That figure?!

  Yun Che suddenly remembered that before he lost consciousness, he vaguely saw that figure walking out from the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers.

  Yun Che finally detected something at this time and turned around swiftly. His gaze suddenly met with a pair of eyes that were emitting an enchanting glow.

  “…” Yun Che was stunned.

  On his right, barely two steps away, there was a petite little girl silently floating there. Her galactic bright silver hair clung to her delicate body and hung all the way down. A long section of it dragged on the ice cold floor. The hair in front of her forehead danced even though there was no wind, complementing her white jade-like tender looks.

  Her body was covered with a white glow and beneath the glow, it seemed as though she was not wearing any garments. Her delicate white legs, however, were not covered by the white glow and were completely exposed. Her tender feet that resembled ice lotuses hung in the air and each snow white toe of
hers glistened as though she were carved from jade.

  Other than her long silver hair, her entire person seemed like a jade doll, flawlessly carved from white jade.

  But the strangest thing was her eyes… those were a pair of enchanting eyes that Yun Che had never seen before.

  The top half of her right eye was pale yellow in color while the bottom half gradually turned a faint green.

  As for her left eye, the top half was a pale blue color while the bottom half gradually became deep purple.

  A pair of eyes, giving off the glows of four different colors.

  The colorful glow that he had managed to capture before his sleep had not been an illusion!

  Yun Che had seen numerous abnormally colored eyes, before when he was practicing medicine with his master in the Azure Cloud Continent. In medical terms, abnormal colored eyes were being labelled “iris heterochromia.” However, he had never seen or heard of someone who actually possessed four different eye colors.

  Yun Che looked at the young girl in shock while the girl looked back at him quietly. Her entire person was quiet; she made no sound and had no expression. There wasn’t even any aura coming off from her. If Yun Che closed his eyes now, he would not be able to detect her presence at all.

  Beneath the deep abyss, in the world of darkness, the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers, four colored eyes…

  This girl who was in front of Yun Che right now was giving off a deep deep feeling of mystery and illusory… no, magical color.

  “You are…” Yun Che finally used an exceptionally gentle tone and asked but just as he opened his mouth, his voice was suddenly stuck and he became stunned once again. After that, he could not control himself and uttered, “Hong’er!?”

  Mysterious young girl, “…”

  Yun Che realized in surprise that other than the color of her hair and eyes, the face, facial features and even the figure of the mysterious girl before him were exactly the same as Hong’er!!

  It’s only… a coincidence. Yun Che immediately said to himself. After all, similar appearances were a common thing… though she was overbearingly similar to Hong’er.

  Furthermore, their demeanors were completely different. Hong’er was full of expression and loved to cry, laugh and make noise. There was nearly never a time when she was silent. Even in her sleep, she would say all sorts of weird things. However, the girl in front of him was too silent and it seemed as though she did not possess any emotions.

  Although the girl gave off intense feelings of mystery and magic, at least Yun Che could not detect any sense of danger from her.

  “Who… who are you?” Yun Che looked at her and quietly asked, “Was is you that saved me?”

  The young girl’s lips separated slightly before gently closing yet again. Then, they separated and closed yet again… She seemed as though she was trying to say something but could not make any noise.

  “You… can’t speak?” Yun Che asked probingly.

  “…” The girl looked quietly at him and lightly nodded her head

  “Then, you… understand what I’m saying?” Yun Che asked again.

  The girl nodded once again, the four colored glow in her eyes was firmly fixed on Yun Che’s face.

  One of Yun Che’s more exceptional abilities was that he could decipher a person’s intention from the look in their eyes. However, within the girl’s colorful gaze, there were many things but Yun Che could not understand any of them.

  Yun Che stood up from the ground. The girl could understand what he was saying but could not speak. This meant that he would not be able to ask her where this place was and who she was. But at least she had no ill intentions towards him and did not seem to reject him. To Yun Che, this was already an exceptionally bright light in a world of darkness.

  That he could wake up in front of the massive sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers, this mysterious girl… must be the only reason?!

  Surviving in this dark and deep abyss, this girl who was floating among the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers… just what kind of an existence was she? Was she a person or…

  Looking at the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers in the distance, he suddenly had a weird thought in his heart and directly blurted, “Those purple flowers, was it you that closed them?”

  The girl nodded slightly, her gaze still remained fixed on him and had not left him from the start.

  “…” Yun Che was stunned and after some hesitation, he asked rather boldly, “Since you can control those purple flowers, then… could you give one of them to me? I really need it. Just one is fine. Can you?”

  He did not forget that currently, whatever was supporting Jasmine’s soul was only residual netherworld powers and it could last for at most twenty to thirty years. If she wanted her soul and body to fuse perfectly, she needed a complete Netherworld Udumbara Flower.

  The young girl completely understood his words. She turned her body and stretched out her small hands, gently pointing towards the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers.

  Instantly, in the front of the sea of flowers, a completely closed Netherworld Udumbara Flower blossomed beautifully, giving off even more dreamlike purple glow. And immediately, all the petals along with the flower completely broke off from its stem. Then, while being engulfed by an eerie light, they flew towards the young girl.

  “…” Yun Che looked at this sight with a dumbfounded expression.

  Even though the complete Netherworld Udumbara Flower was just a small distance away, it was being engulfed within an mysterious and eerie light and its soul stealing powers could not be felt at all. The girl held up the flower that seemed huge to her and brought it in front of Yun Che. The four colors of her eyes remained beautiful and flawless.

  The shock and throbbing in Yun Che’s heart was so strong that it could not increase any further. He carefully stretched out his hand and said with gratitude, “Thank you. Not only have you saved me, you have given me such a precious present.”

  With both hands, he received the complete Netherworld Udumbara Flower and while receiving it, he touched the young girl’s hands… but he did not feel any warmth nor was there any feeling of contact. His eyes subconsciously shifted downward and he clearly saw his finger passing through her small hand.

  “This… is your soul body?” Yun Che asked in shock.

  “…” The young girl looked at him silently and after some time, she finally nodded lightly.

  Yun Che was shocked yet again. The young girl in front of him was actually the same as Jasmine who had just lost her body. It was just her soul body.

  What made him even more shocked was that Jasmine has once told him before, the devouring powers of high levels of darkness energy was exceptionally frightening to the soul body and it was nearly irrecoverable. Even someone as strong as Jasmine did not dare to appear within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest with her soul body.

  However, this girl who was similarly in her soul body was existing in this dark world where the dark devilish aura was many times stronger than within the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest… and from what it felt like, it seemed as though she had already been here for an exceptionally long time

  Chapter 885: Evil God’s Seed—Darkness (1)

  “You…”

  Yun Che opened his mouth, but for a long moment, he didn’t know what to say. The mysterious feeling she gave off was much stronger than when he met Jasmine in the past, as well as when he encountered a genuine primordial devil within Moon Slaughter Devil Nest.

  The four colored glow coming from the girl’s eyes was mysterious yet quiet as she continued to look at Yun Che. There wasn’t a glint of curiosity, and no matter how hard Yun Che tried, he could not decipher what hid behind that glow.

  “Have you been here for a long time?” Yun Che asked.

  Just like before, the girl just nodded slightly.

  As for how long “long” was, perhaps even the girl herself did not know.

  “Then you…” Yun Che hesitated for quite a
while before finally asking the question he cared about the most. “Do you know how to leave this place?”

  The girl’s lips parted a tiny bit… but she didn’t nod or shake her head. In the end, the shine in her eyes changed slightly.

  She did not shake her head… Could it be that she knew?

  However, the girl didn’t know how to speak. Therefore, even if she did know, she had no way to tell him.

  This girl was simply too mysterious. Although Yun Che really wanted to know who she was and why she was there, there was no doubt that the most important thing to him was leaving this place.

  Yun Che quietly took out the soul crystal. Although he did not know how long he had been unconscious, the soul crystal was still intact and its glow hadn’t diminished at all. He firmly believed that it wasn’t possible for Su Ling’er to be here. However, he was also more willing to believe that the soul crystal definitely belonged to Su Ling’er. This crystal had been given to Yun Che by Su Hengshan who was already determined to die, which meant that he had entrusted Su Ling’er’s life and future to him. How could he possibly be wrong!

  Intense pain constantly spread through every part of his body. Yun Che was eventually able to bear it after standing for some time. He put away the Netherworld Udumbara Flower that the girl gave to him and softly said, “Before anything else, I need a while to treat my wounds. I’ll talk to you afterwards, okay?”

  The girl did not react and instead continued to silently watch him. Her silence was like that of being under a starry night sky.

  Yun Che sat down cross-legged and swiftly calmed himself as he concentrated on recuperating. In the past, whenever he treated his injuries, he would devote thirty percent of his senses to in case danger were afoot no matter how safe the location was. Here, however, he concentrated entirely on healing and left no defenses.

  Although this girl was so mysterious that she could have been a dream, Yun Che was absolutely certain of one thing—that she wouldn’t harm him. On the contrary, she gave him a mysterious sense of security. She had helped him gather the Netherworld Udumbara Flower, and she was definitely the reason why the dark beasts didn’t dare to enter this area.