Chapter 1364
Chapter 1364: [Epilogue] Yunxi, you’re still not leaving?
Long Feiye's heart felt like it was being stabbed as he glanced at the unfamiliar scenes in the pool of water. He steeled his heart and actually wanted to push Han Yunxi down!
"Han Yunxi, go! Go back to your world!"
Perhaps everything would be fine after she went back to her original world. She might be fine there! Her arrival had changed Cloud Realm Continent history. Once she left, there would be no such person in this world. Everything that happened would disappear! Everything would be fine, including herself! He'd rather her return than see her sealed into ice and die here!
"Go already!" Long Feiye shoved Han Yunxi as hard as he could, but he was truly out of strength. He couldn't budge her a bit.
He said, "Han Yunxi, you leave! There's not enough time, hurry and go!"
Not expecting this, Han Yunxi looked at him at a loss while her tears kept falling.
There was no time!
Long Feiye had to be cruel even if he wasn't! What right and wrong, compassion or cruelty? He could care less as long as this woman lived. No matter whether she lived, he just wanted her alive! A second ago he had been holding onto her for dear life, but now he endured the piercing pain in his heart to release her hand.
Choked up, he said, "Han Yunxi, you're still not leaving?"
Han Yunxi's you're still not leaving…still not leaving.
Back then in the empress dowager's palace, he had presented the bloodstained white silk to prove their relations as husband and wife, then turned to leave. She was pulled back by the empress dowager while surrounded by concubines as if abandoned, looking at his back without knowing what to do. He had reached the door before suddenly turning back to ask, "Han Yunxi, you're still not leaving?"
That was the first time he said that to her.
Afterwards, she followed him wherever he went across Cloud Realm. No matter what happened, as long as she was behind him, he would never go very far. Even if their hearts were 100 steps apart, within 10 steps he'd turn and extend his hand to ask, "Han Yunxi, you're still not leaving?"
But this time he didn't reach out for her. He let her go and was chasing her away.
Han Yunxi, you're still not leaving?
Why are you still leaving?
Han Yunxi's tears fell like rain. Even if her arms were already frozen solid, she still raised her hands to reach towards him. Word by word, she declared, "When the days are calm and beautiful, I speak with the lord…when the world is in dispute, I plot with the lord…when prosperity fades, I grow old with the lord[1]…Your Highness, Yunxi won't leave even if I die…I won't!"
As soon as she spoke, the xuan ice reached Han Yunxi's face and instantly froze her face and tears. The ice on her arms also rapidly spread to her palms.
"Yunxi!" Long Feiye's face was streaked with two trails of tears. He anxiously went to take her hand so their fingers were intertwined, hoping to retain a little warmth. Unfortunately, the xuan ice kept spreading and even moved to Long Feiye's hand. He looked at it in astonishment as it crept past his fingers and up his arms before actually laughing out loud.
"Together in life, not parting in death…no farewells or abandonment!"
The xuan ice spread extremely quickly and soon froze Long Feiye entirely. Husband and wife remained holding hands as they were encased into one body by the ice. After that, the water pool that Han Yunxi had sank into also gradually froze while the illusionary scenes disappeared. Beyond the ice cavern, the entire Ice Sea had been shattered. Gradually, the ice pieces came together and merged as if recovering its original state.
That's right, everything was reverting!
Gu Qishao was still bringing Rui'er on the ice to look for Yan'er, Han Yunxi, and the rest. When he saw the ice and snow coming back, he immediately took Rui'er away from the Ice Sea! Soon enough, the large Ice Sea returned to its original appearance, only leaving the huge ice cavern unfilled. The bottomless ice cave was like the heart of the Ice Sea that had been hollowed out. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were frozen here along with the ice crystal inside her.
Gu Qishao and Rui'er waited a long time by the shore until the Ice Sea stopped moving before heading down to the cave to search for people. They didn't find Yan'er, but discovered the ice cavern.
"Yan'er, father, mother, are you all down there?" Rui'er shouted.
"Long Feiye, Poison lass, are you down there?" Gu Qishao added.
But only echoes replied.
"Rui'er, you stand guard, I'll take a look down below!" Gu Qishao declared.
Rui'er nodded, but followed suit as soon as Gu Qishao jumped down, giving the man no time to stop him. The two of them drifted down for a long time before finally hitting the bottom. Here there was an ice field. Gu Qishao and Rui'er didn't notice the frozen Long Feiye and Han Yunxi at first, but discovered them after approaching the frozen pool.
"Father! Mother!" Rui'er cried and threw himself atop the ice, knocking into his father's frozen body. He didn't even register the pain as he stared at the man before him, stunned. After a long time had passed, he finally looked at Gu Qishao and opened his mouth, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears. His voice had turned completely hoarse. "Fath…"
Gu Qishao didn't dare to believe his eyes. He kneeled on the ice, looking at Han Yunxi frozen solid and the bloodstained Long Feiye. It was as if his soul had been sucked out, leaving his eyes empty with no signs of laughter. After a long period of silence, Rui'er finally broke into sobs.
"Father…mother…"
Gu Qishao only stared without comforting him. He couldn't even soothe himself, so how could he console Rui'er? He slammed his fists against the ice encasing Han Yunxi, but to no avail. Like the ice from the Ice Sea, it couldn't be damaged no matter what!
"Phoenix power!" Gu Qishao suddenly exclaimed. "Right, Phoenix energy! Phoenix energy can break the ice!"
Rui'er recovered his wits too. "Yan'er…find Yan'er!"
Like madmen, Rui'er and Gu Qishao found a group of snow mastiffs in the vicinity and took them all over the ice to search, but even circling the Ice Sea yielded them no Yan'er. At last, they returned to the ice cave, disillusioned.
"Godfather, is my father and mother already…" Rui'er didn't dare finish the sentence, but Gu Qishao was already scolding him.
"No way! Impossible! Why did the Ice Sea recover? There has to be a reason! There must be!"
Rui'er didn't speak again. He slowly sank down and hugged his father through the ice. Soon enough, he was cold and shivering. Gu Qishao didn't have true qi protecting his body and was actually colder than Rui'er. But he still picked Rui'er up and drew him into his embrace for warmth. He said, "Rui'er, be good and don't scare godfather. Godfather can't lose you too."
Rui'er really did obey and didn't move at all, but his tears didn't stop. Gu Qishao wiped at them nonstop. The two of them remained there in silence, not knowing what to do yet not wanting to leave.
It wasn't until late night when Rui'er suddenly pushed Gu Qishao's hands away and exclaimed, "Godfather, my father and mother aren't dead! I can feel their true qi, I sense it!"
He threw himself at his mother's body and slapped it nonstop, shouting, "Mother, can you hear me? I'm Rui'er! Mother!"
He took out the dagger he always carried around and stabbed hard, trying to break through the surface of the ice. But no matter how strong he was, he couldn't hurt the surface.
"Father, mother, I know you're still alive! You have to be alive!"
Gu Qishao couldn't believe it. He pulled back Rui'er and asked, "Is it true?"
"True! Really!" Rui'er was both surprised and moved, crying as he hollered, "Father and mother didn't die! They're not dead! I can feel their true qi. They seem to be in closed door cultivation, their true qi have all converged together."
Gu Qishao was overjoyed. "Really…honestly…truly?"
Could it be that Long Feiye and Han Yunxi hadn't lost their lives after being frozen? Thus, they could only use close door cultivation to cultivate their true qi in order to ward off the cold and hunger while waiting for rescue?
"Godfather, let's go find Yan'er! Quickly!"
"The Phoenix power can destroy the xuan ice. As long as we find Yan'er, we can save them!"
Rui'er was so excited that he found it hard to speak, to say nothing of Gu Qishao. The two of them immediately left the ice cavern, but Gu Qishao sensed something wrong when they flew away.
He landed on the ice and said guardedly, "Rui'er, there's poison!"
"Where?" Rui'er knew poison arts too, but he wasn't as sensitive as Gu Qishao.
"Below our feet…" Gu Qishao murmured.
Before Rui'er could process his words, Gu Qishao hugged him and turned to flee for the Ice Sea's southern shore. He didn't explain but Rui'er quickly discovered the poison was spreading out from the ice cavern and on its way to afflict the entire Ice Sea! Rui'er didn't dare let his injured godfather hold him, so he quickly got down and ran himself. The two of them used a lot of energy to reach the shore away from the ice's surface. As they gasped for breath, they stared at the now blackened Ice Sea and each other for a long time.
In the end, Rui'er spoke first. "How can this be…did…did mother do this?"
Gu Qishao had nothing to reply. Why did the Ice Sea suddenly recover its original state? Why was it now a poisonous ocean? Where did Yan'er go and what did Long Feiye and Han Yunxi run into? Everything happened so fast and bizarrely that he couldn't figure it out. He only knew that he couldn't detoxify the poison in this Ice Sea because it was the Water of Ten Thousand Poisons. Could it be that the ice crystal, after being contaminated by the same poison inside Han Yunxi's poison storage space, spread it to the rest of the sea? There was no antidote for Water of Ten Thousand Poisons, so Gu Qishao was helpless.
"How can this be?" Rui'er felt powerless.
Gu Qishao hesitated before he said urgently, "Find Lil Thing! It's not afraid of Water of Ten Thousand Poisons." After some thought, he pulled at Rui'er and added, "Rui'er, remember your father and mother are still alive. You have to hold on. We'll go find the Grand Tutor and plan for the long road!"
Rui'er nodded earnestly. "All right!"
As long as father and mother were still alive, he wouldn't be afraid!
1. These lines are taken from a historical transmigration called 《神秘王爷独宠妃》The Mysterious Wangye Only Dotes on [His] Concubine by author 仙枫红叶 Xian Feng Hongye (Fairy Red Maple Leaf). As far as I know, there's no translation for it yet, but you can find the raws by pasting the Chinese title and author name in Google search!