Chapter 681 – Reunion (1)
“Little Che, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Xiao Lingxi was relieved after Fen Juechen had finally left. She immediately grabbed Yun Che’s arm to make sure he wasn’t hurt by the attack just now. After all, she saw first hand how scary Fen Juechen was now.
“I’m alright, don’t worry, he didn’t even hurt a single hair of mine,” Yun Che smiled and comforted her.
“That’s good.” Xiao Lingxi was slightly settled, but her fine face was still covered with a layer of paleness from the excessive shock. She quickly said in an anxious voice, “Little Che, you must not confront him in three months. He has become very strong, far stronger than you can imagine. No matter what, don’t go, or else you really will be killed by him. Even the large army from the Divine Phoenix Empire doesn’t dare to offend him.”
“…Little Aunt, you mentioned earlier that he saved you and all of Floating Cloud City, what was that about?” Yun Che asked.
Xiao Lingxi tried her best to calm herself and said in a soft voice, “A year and a half ago, Big Brother Fen, he… he came here looking for you for revenge. He killed many from the Xiao Sect, but he stopped after I stopped him. After that, he had been staying here, and he hadn’t killed anyone else since… Then, after a year had passed, two hundred thousand soldiers from Divine Phoenix Empire’s army suddenly arrived. After their leader entered the city, I happened to run into him, and he suddenly ordered them to kidnap me…”
“Ordered them to kidnap you?” Yun Che’s expression suddenly darkened.
“Mn… Fortunately, Big Brother Fen showed up just in time to save me and killed a person who was with their leader. He hasn’t killed anyone since and warned the Divine Phoenix Army that they aren’t allowed to kill anyone from Floating Cloud City. Because of his deterrence, the two hundred thousand strong Divine Phoenix Army didn’t kill anyone from Floating Cloud City anymore. They rarely even step foot into the city now. Or else, with how brutal the Divine Phoenix Army is, even if Floating Cloud City didn’t get slaughtered, in half a year, they definitely would have stepped all over it and destroyed it in its entirety.”
“…The reason he didn’t continue killing the people of Divine Phoenix Army must be because Little Aunt stopped him, right?” Yun Che said as his eyebrows slanted, and there was an inconspicuous hostility in his eyes. At this moment, he felt glad on top of the regret that he didn’t kill Fen Juechen back then… If it wasn’t for Fen Juechen… it was extremely possible that Little Aunt might be…
Leader of the two hundred thousand strong Divine Phoenix Army… No matter who you are… Even if you are the Heavenly Emperor, you must die!!
“Mn, if he attacked the Divine Phoenix Army, the somewhat peaceful situation would lose control completely. Then, Floating Cloud City would very likely be involved in a large calamity, so I had to stop him… and he hasn’t killed any more people. Even though Big Brother Fen looks very cold-blooded and everyone is scared of him, he really isn’t a bad guy, I… have been grateful for what he has done this entire time. But… how did it become like this between you two…” Xiao Lingxi helplessly mumbled. Back then at Burning Heaven Clan, he stopped Fen Juecheng desperately for her; in Floating Cloud City, he saved her again, and protected all of Floating Cloud City for her.
But there was the hatred of extermination of an entire clan between him and Yun Che.
“Little Aunt,” Yun Che comforted her in a soft voice, “don’t you worry, I will handle the matter between me and him properly.”
“Big Brother,” Xiao Yun slowly brought Number Seven Under Heaven over. He peeked at Xiao Lingxi, turned away nervously, and said with worry, “Who was that person just now? Is he Big Brother’s enemy?”
“Mn, you could say that it is a blood feud,” Yun Che said very directly.
“That person’s aura is so scary.” Number Seven Under Heaven said with lingering fear, “Big Brother Yun, didn’t you say that the profound energy plane in the place that you grew up in is very very low? How come there is someone that strong… I have never felt an aura this terrifying before.”
Xiao Yun nodded his head strongly in agreement.
“It’s complicated,” Yun Che replied, half dismal and half helplessness. “Okay, don’t think about him now. His self-esteem is extremely high. Since I promised to fight with him three months later, he shouldn’t appear to find me again before that.”
“Little Che, you haven’t introduced me, they are…” Xiao Lingxi looked at Xiao Yun and Number Seven Under Heaven and revealed an amiable smile.
“I… I… I… I am Xiao Yun.” Facing Xiao Lingxi’s question and gaze, Xiao Yun was so nervous that he stuttered because he heard Yun Che calling her Little Aunt this whole time. In Illusory Demon Realm, he heard this reference too many times from Yun Che. Towards Yun Che, she was the most important person in his life. And towards himself, Xiao Yun… she was one of the two blood relatives that he had left in this world!
One was his grandfather, and the other was his little aunt who has seniority over him even though she was actually one year younger than him.
Number Seven Under Heaven roughly pinched Xiao Yun, who was incredibly nervous, and said openly, “I am Brother Xiao Yun’s wife, everyone calls me Seventh Sister. Big Brother Yun mentioned ‘Little Aunt’ a lot in front of us, and we finally met you today… Little Aunt is even prettier and more charming than imagined.”
“I welcome the both of you to Floating Cloud City. My apologies… you two must have been frightened even though you just got here,” Xiao Lingxi smiled and apologized. If she was complimented like that three years ago by someone Yun Che brought, she would be joyful without thinking twice. But she had greatly changed after these three years, and she was no longer that naive, childish young girl. Everything she said and the smile she gave all showed grace and subtleness on her that rarely appeared before.
“He’s Xiao Yun, my sworn brother, same age as me. This is Xiao Yun’s newly wedded wife, they just got married less than a month ago. Other than this, they have another… more important identity,” Yun Che said mysteriously.
“Another identity?” Xiao Lingxi was confused.
“You will find out soon.” He said softly without waiting for Xiao Lingxi to question, “Little Aunt, is grandfather home?”
“Mn, he is in his own courtyard.” Mentioning Xiao Lie, Xiao Lingxi’s expression became eager. She grabbed Yun Che’s hand. “After princess sis told us you returned, your grandfather has been waiting for you. I wonder how happy he’ll be after he sees you.”
“I also missed grandfather a lot… Let’s go right now!” Yun Che vigorously nodded his head, and started walking out of the courtyard with Xiao Lingxi.
“Hurry and catch up!!” Number Seven Under Heaven dragged Xiao Yun who was staring into space. Then, as if he had just woken up from a dream, he immediately followed behind Yun Che.
The interior of Xiao Sect hadn’t changed much, and he didn’t forget where grandfather’s courtyard was located in the slightest. He could also remember all the names and faces of the people that he passed by… and when those people saw him, they would be stunned, yell in shock, or would turn aghast as if they had just seen a ghost.
He was getting closer to where Xiao Lie was step by step, and he ignored the exaggerated reactions of everyone in Xiao Sect. Yun Che asked very worriedly, “How has grandfather been these three years?”
Xiao Lingxi lightly bit her lip as soon as she heard him ask that. This unconscious action caused Yun Che’s heart tighten, and she answered faintly, “Three years ago, after we received news that you passed away, father was very calm. He had been trying his best to comfort me and the previous emperor, and he didn’t shed a single tear. But I know that it must have been very hard on him… it was harder on him than anyone else. When father was at the Blue Wind Profound Palace, he had a great appetite, but after that, he would only eat one meal at most each day… and he has been like this ever since.”
“After that, the previous emperor was killed. Father was helping princess sis handle the previous emperor’s funeral, and he suggested taking me back to Floating Cloud City. The day that we returned, dad was suddenly unconscious and had lapsed into a coma for a full day. After that, he was seriously ill for a long time. Even though he was cured from his illness later on, his body grew weaker every day, and he aged extremely quickly. Starting from a year ago, he couldn’t… couldn’t even walk on his own…”
“…” Yun Che held his fists tightly and took a deep breath. When he was in Illusory Demon Realm, the thing that he worried most about was Xiao Lie’s well-being. Three years ago, Xiao Lie had already once resolved himself to die because he had nothing left to live for. It was because Yun Che said in a firm tone and gave him the hope that his “biological grandson must still be alive and must have grown up safely into an adult.” Hearing that, he then no longer had the will to die.
And receiving the news of his death, there was no question that Xiao Lie would be affected heavily… He had received too many cruel shocks throughout his life, and this would be the one that extinguished his final flicker of hope and would cast him into the depths of despair. The reality was even worse than he had expected because accompanied with the news was the disaster of the Blue Wind… The thing that caused his body to become weaker was obviously his dark and heavy will to die.
“Grandfather will recover… he will recover!” Yun Che said loudly, and his eager footsteps became even more rapid.
Xiao Lie was still living in the same courtyard. The door of the courtyard had been taken down which should have been Xiao Lie’s idea. Standing at the entrance of the courtyard that he had once visited everyday but hadn’t stepped in for a whole six years, Yun Che saw the old man sitting in the middle of the courtyard on an old bamboo chair… His eyes were closed, and he was sunbathing under the sunlight that was somewhat warm. There was indifference on his calm face… that was an indifference that was often seen on the dead. His hair was completely white, without a trace of even a single black hair.
A sour feeling spread from Yun Che’s nose to his whole body, and there was deep heartache and guilt, directed at himself. Xiao Lie was only slightly over sixty years old now, and on top of that, his profound energy was close to Earth Profound Realm, so he shouldn’t show any trace of being old. He hadn’t seen him for three years, but he seemed like he aged thirty years. He was about sixty, but he looked like he was eighty or ninety.
They slowly walked in. Just as Xiao Lingxi was about to call out, Xiao Lie slowly opened his eyes, looked at Yun Che, and revealed a joyous smile on his face, “Che’er is back.”
Xiao Lie was very calm, there was the color of joy and gratefulness in his aged eyes, but there was even more of an extremely thick and heavy grayness. Yun Che walked up quickly and kneeled down heavily in front of Xiao Lie with his palms on his knees. “Grandfather, Che’er is unfilial and caused you to suffer.”
Xiao Lie shook his head, smiled lightly, and said, “Seeing that you are alive safe and sound, how would grandfather be suffering. Che’er is a lucky one, you could resolve danger every time. In the future you will definitely achieve great happiness. Heh heh, as long as you and Lingxi are safe, my life will be without regrets.”