Chapter 100 – The Fall
When Yun Che and Lan Xueruo suddenly jumped down like that, Xiao Zaihe was caught unexpected. By the time he stopped the Fierce Storm Hawk, he already could not see their silhouettes.
“Hmph, they must be crazy! Even if it was me, I would be smashed into pulp if I jumped down from this height. But that brat was hit by the Poison Fire Rod, so he is already doomed to die.”
The ground below seemed to be a vast area of wilderness. Within the calm atmosphere permeated a foreboding sense of danger. He was certain the two people who jumped down were doomed to die, however, Yun Che took everything from his sect’s treasury so he may have an item with enough spatial capacity to contain all those stolen items. Yun Che’s life or death did not matter; what was more important was finding his sect’s treasures.
In the fastest speed possible, Xiao Zaihe plunged straight down. As soon as he dropped, he received a violent attack from a wild True Profound Beast. He struck out his palm to swiftly eliminate it, but he didn’t expect that his attack would accidentally pierced a hornet’s nest. A large group of True Profound Beasts started to roar from all around, forcing him to have no other choice but to quickly flee in fear.
The wilderness stretched for hundreds of miles. For more than four hours, Xiao Zaihe searched like a fly without its head; yet he did not find the slightest trace of their presence even after continuously searching till the sky had turned completely dark. The profound beast population here was unexpectedly dense, and most of them had a ferociously violent temperament. Despite searching for only four hours, he had already suffered dozens of attacks. Included amongst them was even a low level Earth Profound Realm profound beast. Even though he managed to escape by relying on his Fierce Storm Hawk, his entire body was still covered with a layer of cold sweat.
This area’s aggressive profound beasts were abnormally dense. Enough time had passed for these aggressive beasts to devour Yun Che’s corpse till not a speck remained, which would make it impossible to find him. As he thought to here, despite having a bellyful of gloom, Xiao Zaihe had no choice but give up his search as he steered the Fierce Storm Hawk towards the direction of New Moon City.
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For Yun Che to allow Lan Xueruo to hug him and jump down together was definitely not a choice made out of desperation. Instead, it was because if they didn’t, they would have definitely died in the hands of Xiao Zaihe. But if they did jump, they would definitely survive.
Because there was Jasmine.
“Are you mad?!” Yun Che’s actions gave Jasmine a big shock.
As his body quickly plunged downwards, the other soft and warm body was firmly hugging him. However, he had no time to enjoy this kind of wonderful sensation. He raised his left hand and seven different kinds of medicinal herbs quickly appeared within the gentle grasp of his palm. Under his light grip, the seven medicinal herbs turned into a single pill after being refined by the Sky Poison Pearl. He then slapped the medicinal pill into his mouth with effort and forcefully swallowed it down. After that, he finally spoke to Jasmine in a hurry: “Jasmine, you mustn’t try to save me! Or else you’ll die! For now, try to lend me a portion of your power; enough for me to use the Profound Floating Technique.
After killing the Flame Dragon, the powerful poison in Jasmine’s body made her incapable of using her powers for three months. However, if a small portion of her power was lent to Yun Che without her personally releasing it , the rebound effects would definitely be decreased by quite a lot. However…
“Profound Floating Technique? Don’t you know that in order to use the Profound Floating Technique, your strength needs to at least be at the Sky Profound Realm! With your current body, how can it be possible for you to withstand this Sky Profound ability! If it goes wrong, within a few moments of activation, your profound veins would immediately rupture!”
“Don’t forget, my current profound veins are the Evil God’s Profound Veins! I believe that they won’t be destroyed so easily! Also, I don’t need to use it for long; just the few seconds right before we hit the ground is enough!!”
Beside his ear, the sound of the wind was becoming more and more acute. The sight of the scenery beneath them also rapidly enlarged at a quicker rate. Lan Xueruo’s eyes were tightly closed as her arms subconsciously tightened while holding onto Yun Che. This was not only for his protection, but more out of subconscious fear.
His consciousness slackened but Yun Che firmly kept his eyes wide open as he focused on the view beneath him. The assaulting wind pressure under his feet distinctively changed, which meant that he was already very close to the surface of the earth. Within a few breaths, they would fiercely smash into the ground.
“Jasmine!!!”
Following the shout he had yelled in his mind, an incomparably large power started to wildly fill into his profound veins…. It was an enormous power which made him feel that he could control space, and even a force powerful enough to instantly burst his profound veins.
Yun Che opened his eyes wide and his eyes instantly sharpened. He started to release this profound power without reservation; a portion was sent against the air stream below, and the other portion was made to protect the area around his body. Suddenly, as though they were caught by something, the speed of his and Lan Xueruo’s fall greatly decreased. It became more and more slow, more and more slow…. But for these short breaths of time, even for the power of the Sky Profound Realm, it was fundamentally impossible for it to completely negate such an excessive falling force. The moment right before smashing to the ground, their falling speed was still quite fast…. Yun Che grasped the Lan Xueruo’s arm without hesitation and forcibly pushed her tender body upwards.
Lan Xueruo immediately opened her eyes and saw the slight smile that lingered at the corner of Yun Che’s lips. However, that smile gradually faded into the distance before her eyes…. At that moment, she felt as if her heart was severely impacted by something that was warm yet bitter. She opened her lips, but it was already too late to make a sound.
Bang!!!
Yun Che’s body finally reached the ground. After heavily smashing upon it, hard ground immediately cracked into many pieces. He didn’t even have time to feel the pain before his consciousness instantly went dark.
“Junior Brother Yun!!”
Only after an entire four breaths from Yun Che’s fall did Lan Xueruo finally reach the ground. When he pushed Lan Xueruo, the force was very soft but unexpectedly long. It was like a gentle yet irresistible surge of wind which gradually slowed her descent; gentle to such an extent that around ten meters off the ground, she had actually suspended in air. When she fell, it was like falling off from a height of ten meters.
At that height, it was fundamentally impossible for her to suffer any damage. Lan Xueruo landed very smoothly on her feet and then rushed towards Yun Che as if she had become insane. After seeing the terrifying giant crater beneath him and the fissures on the ground that extended over ten meters away, her tears frantically spilled out.
“Junior Brother Yun! Junior Brother Yun…. Junior Brother Yun!!”
Lan Xueruo knelt next to Yun Che’s body and mournfully called out to him. She, who had not shed a single tear for over ten years, was now thoroughly weeping. Her tears flowed like the surging of a flood and quickly covered her entire face. Although she forcibly covered her lips, she was still incapable of stifling the sounds of her weeping no matter what.
She had told Qin Wuyou before, that Yun Che would be someone that viewed honor and friendship with great importance. If he was helped during difficult times, he would definitely return the favor. At least, he would not refuse her request when that time arrives. In front of the Xiao Sect’s Outer Sect, she indeed saved him using her contracted spirit beast to flee from Xiao Zaihe’s pursuit. However, she never guessed that he would returned the favor in such a passionate and decisive way; that he would desperately protect her using his body and life two consecutive times.
In this world, there were many people who were good to her, and also many more who desperately strove to please her. But from her youth until adulthood, she had seen enough callousness, seen enough insincerity and heartlessness, seen enough blades within honeyed words and sinister ambition…. Among them even included her closest family members. She was discouraged time after time; a few times, almost to the point of despair. Otherwise, she would not have left home to move through seven Profound Palaces within two years, all in order to find the slightest trace of hope.
Her warm and gentle treatment of others was due to her nature. But she, who had suffered through too much apathy and trauma, had never opened her heart to anyone. Every time she spoke and laughed with people, the inside of her heart was actually thousands of miles away.
She would never have guessed that in this world, there would be a person who, in her most dangerous hour, was willing to lay down his life to guard her front. At least, her family would not do so, and neither would those who flattered and attempted to please her…
But Yun Che, this little junior who she attempted to seek out, made the depths of her heart flutter, made her tears fall like rain. He also made her understand for the first time in her life, that in this world, there really existed a person who would be willing to protect her using his life…. And on top of that, twice.
However, she perhaps understood that a bit too late; because in the exact moment she understood that, this person could very likely never wake up again. Such a terrible fall was absolutely impossible for someone that only had the profound strength of Nascent Profound Realm to endure. The only outcome, was death.
Lan Xueruo’s heart was wracked with a terrible pain and her tears completely blurred her vision. In her distress, she didn’t notice that although Yun Che’s impact smashed such a huge crater and so many cracks on the ground, there was actually no sign of any accumulated blood under his body.
In the midst of her crying, she suddenly felt a warm touch within her palm. In that instant, as if she had been shocked by electricity, her entire body quivered as she suddenly widened her beautiful eyes. Through her still blurred vision, she saw Yun Che slowly open his eyes. Because she had cried too miserably, her face was completely spent from crying but he gazed at her and gently smiled. His hands were precisely resting in her palm, which told her that he was not dead.
“Junior Brother Yun….” Lan Xueruo suddenly had a feeling as if she suddenly left hell and entered heaven. Under such a great surprise, even her voice became erratically obscure: “You… You’re okay?”
“Originally…. I did die.” Yun Che slightly moved his lips and spoke with a hoarse and weak voice. But that slight smile at the corner of his lips did not lack any of its usual flair: “But Yama told me that there was a beautiful and kind girl who was crying so miserably because of my death that even he could not bear to watch any longer, so he …. sent me back….”
At the cross of sadness and surprise, Lan Xueruo didn’t know whether she should cry or smile. Somewhat embarrassed, she wiped the tears on her face and tried very hard to make an reproachful expression. However, this reproachful expression was like a pear blossom after the rain and was indescribably poignant and moving: “You’re already in this state, yet… yet you still don’t forget to be shamelessly loquacious. In the future, who knows how many girls this mouth of yours would harm.”
“Hehe….” Yun Che laughed. Just as he let out a laugh, his wounds were affected and the pain caused his eyebrows to spasm: “Then, is it possible…. to harm to Senior Sister….”
From the first day they met till now, Lan Xueruo and Yun Che did not hold many conversations between them. In addition, a large portion of their conversation consisted of slightly teasing jokes. She was already accustomed to hearing such words from his mouth and she would think that they were either funny or interesting. But this time, she suddenly felt an unexplainable and inexplicable throbbing that came from somewhere within the depths of her heart. She moved her lips and was just about to speak, but discovered that Yun Che had already closed his eyes and lost consciousness.