Heart Protection

Chapter 105

When Yan Hui rushed over to the cold springs, she saw the surroundings were already a mess. Trees were broken, and the springs' waters were turbid. Some of the treetops were also on fire. If something wasn't done, this area would go up in flames.

Yan Hui didn't see any trace of Tian Yao yet. Even though she was anxious, Yan Hui still first used the spring water to put out the blazing treetops.

The sun had already set, but the moon still hasn't risen over the mountain peak yet. Everything was dark. Yan Hui covered her eyes with demon magic and started to look for Tian Yao among the trees. 

She searched for a long time before finally seeing a flash of firelight in the forest. Yan Hui immediately focused in that direction and headed over. As she was running over, she also heard hurried sounds of someone walking.

He was forcing his way through the underbrush, and Yan Hui could clearly heard him bumping into tree branches. 

Yan Hui gave chase, calling out the entire time. She was even starting to go a little hoarse. But the person in front just wouldn't stop. From the sound of his footsteps, it didn't seem like he was in bad shape. Even though he wasn't running fast and was a bit hurried, his footsteps were steady. He probably didn't experience any big problem, but then why did he keep running?!

Yan Hui continued to chase. They almost ran all the way to the palace when Yan Hui angrily stopped: "What are you running for?!" She seethed, "You stop right there!"

And the running sounds actually stopped.

Yan Hui felt a little crushed. She had accompanied him for so long, seen so many different sides of him. And now he was unexpectedly avoiding her, acting like a little kid who did something bad and hiding from his mom to avoid a spanking.

Yan Hui felt somewhat helpless but mostly wanted to laugh. She pretended to be angry: "Come here."

It was silent over there. It seemed like hesitance. Finally, slow footsteps were heard coming through the the underbrush. He was going towards Yan Hui.

In due course, the moon had already revealed herself. It was like misty water undulating within the forest. Tian Yao had his head tilted and somewhat unnaturally stood in front of Yan Hui. On his head were two little horns that appeared some unknown time ago. They were different than the impressive horns his dragon form normally had. These two little horns were like a little child's fingers and didn't stick up far from his head. It was like the suddenly appeared with a "puff" on his forehead.

Yan Hui's gaze immediately fell on the little horns. Then she bit hard on her lips to keep a "puff" of laughter from escaping.

"What is that?"

Tian Yao turned his head and sighed: "Horns......."

"Ha......." In the end, Yan Hui couldn't hold in her laughter. Tian Yao helplessly looked at her. Yan Hui reached out, held those two little projections, and squeezed one of them: "It feels.......a little soft......"

Tian Yao held her hand and spiritedly said: "Yan Hui......."

"I'm just going to squeeze the other one......."

"........" Tian Yao was silent for awhile. "Only squeeze it once."

He barely finished speaking when Yan Hui raised both hands. Each hand squeezed once. She was clearly enjoying herself.

When Tian Yao saw how happily Yan Hui was messing with his horns, he didn't stop her. He just stood there and let her play with his extremely strange horns. He waited for Yan Hui to finish playing and take back her hands before turning his head away: "Don't stare......"

Yan Hui teased him: "You're a majestic millennium dragon demon. You just grew two small fleshy horns, yet you're already avoiding me like this?"

Tian Yao didn't plan on explaining and remained silent. In that moment, the area around his heart flashed with burning light and spread to his neck. From there, it burned its way up through his blood vessels and onto his face. There, it traveled around his face before finally taking the shape of a dragon scale and settling on his face.

Tian Yao tightly clenched his teeth the entire time, not letting out a single sound. But after the blaze in his blood vessels subsided, the dragon scale mark it burned into this skin remained. The mark stayed on his cheek, and it make Tian Yao look a little......terrifying.

Yan Hui was shocked.

Tian Yao looked down and covered his face with his hand: "It's the beginning of melding with the nine-headed snake's neidan. It's still not complying. It'll be better after two days." His voice was a little hoarse.

They had been together for so long. There was no way Yan Hui didn't understand him. When he was enduring extreme pain and wanted to pretend that everything was alright, his voice would be like that.

The Yan Hui from before would bulldoze that and call him out on his lies, clearly you are in pain so why don't you lay in my arms and cry?

But now, when Tian Yao doing his best to protect her life and protect her mood, the one kind thing Yan Hui could do is to help him succeed. Don't bulldoze his lie that everything was alright.

"Are the fleshy horns caused because the neidan hasn't adapted yet?" Yan Hui smiled and pretended like nothing happened. "I must say, growing horns that short on your head has its own special style!"

Tian Yao sighed again at her words. When he turned to look back at Yan Hui, there was a warm smile in his eyes: "If you like, even if they disappear, I'll make them come out for you."

Yan Hui agreed without any hesitation: "Alright, if you don't magic them out, then I'm going to plant mushrooms on your head."

Tian Yao laughed: "Okay. You be in charge of planting, and I'll be in charge of growing. What ever you want to see, I'll grow."

Yan Hui also laughed: "I'll wait for that day."

Tian Yao quietly looked at her for awhile. Suddenly his heart had another blaze of fire. He turned away and headed towards the cold spring: "The neidan still needs to adjust." His voice was somewhat hoarse but still stayed steady. "I need to go to the cold springs to meditate and adjust my inner breath......"

He hadn't finished talking when Yan Hui took a step forward and hugged him from behind.

Tian Yao was stunned. The power of the nine-headed snake's neidan, which stirred and agitated his blood, was immediately suppressed by a force. He no longer felt as terrible.

Yan Hui's body had his neidan's aura. To Tian Yao, being close to Yan Hui was like a life-saving elixir. It could bring him out of the abyss. 

She was always the strength that was saving him..........

Yan Hui just hugged him like this with her arms around his waist. She lightly rubbed her face against his back.

Tian Yao blankly stared. Even though his heart had echos of pain, he could feel a warm and fuzzy feeling at the bottom of his heart: "What is it?"

"No-........" Yan Hui paused. She heaved a sigh, "I just suddenly felt that I really like you, Tian Yao."

Tian Yao looked down and held her hands. The moonlit scene was quiet. He didn't say anything. Yan Hui also didn't say anything. The just silently stood there and savored the rare, peaceful night. Even in the burning fire light in Tian Yao's heart subsided, Yan Hui still didn't want to let go.

In the end, it was Tian Yao who lightly patted Yan Hui's hand: "Return and rest early. Tomorrow intensify your cultivation of 'Demon Bestowal'. Otherwise you'll be tired tomorrow."

"Okay."

Yan Hui accompanied Tian Yao back to the cold springs. She watched him enter the water and immerse himself within. She stood by the shore for awhile before silently leaving.

But she wasn't going back to her room. Instead, she turned and went to the imperial palace.

Even though Tian Yao did all he could to cover up his situation, but there was no way Yan Hui didn't know what was going on.

The nine-headed snake's neidan gave Tian Yao a huge amount of burden and suffering. Otherwise, the cold spring area wouldn't have turned into such a huge mess before he was able to enter the water. Even before at the time when Su Ying was still there, Tian Yao suffered a lot at the Autumn Festival, but still restrained his demon magic. He didn't light the trees on fire back then.

The nine-headed snake's neidan wasn't a good choice for Tian Yao.

Never before has a person been permitted to enter the royal palace so late at night. Thus, the fox demons who lived around the area came out to take a look. They poked their heads out and curiously looked at Yan Hui.

Yet when Yan Hui reached the entrance, the two guards outside didn't move to stop her. One of them even opened the palace's door for her. The guards bowed and invited her in. 

Yan Hui stood in the entrance and gave the guards a weird look. The guard respectfully said: "The king ordered if Miss Yan Hui came by in the next few days, then to allow her to enter."

Yan Hui nodded at that and entered the palace.

Qing Qiu's king knew that she would come again. Even though he was near the end of his life and his powers were weak, but he was still keener than anyone else in the matters of foresight and people's thoughts. Perhaps it could be said he saw the matters of the world clearer than anyone else.

Yan Hui was inside the palace, but she didn't see the king within. Instead there were a few fireflies floating in front of Yan Hui. When she took a step towards them, they floated forward a step.

Like this the fireflies slowly led Yan Hui to another part of the enormous tree. A small door was slightly ajar, and the fireflies flew outside. Yan Hui followed after them. She saw the pathway was no longer really a pathway. It was a tree root. Yan Hui walked on the tree root path and ended up a cliff that projected outwards.

Yan Hui remembered the first time Zhu Li took her and Yan Hui to the palace, they saw this cliff from the bottom of the mountain. The king was standing there at the time, looking off into the distance. This place was probably also where the king's wife died.......

Tonight's sky was deep without a star or cloud in the sky. There was only the bright moon in the sky, making the nightscape crystal clear.

Yan Hui saw the king was standing at the very edge of the cliff. The wind swept around, and it pulled his clothes and hair into disarray. The king had been a resolute and decisive man his entire life, but in the peace of the night, he seemed delicate like the wind could blow him away at any moment.

San Chong Mountain could be seen via moonlight in the distance. Qing Qiu laid visible beneath his feet.

"King." Yan Hui didn't advance any further. She stood at the base of the cliff and spoke: "I have a question to ask you."

The king slightly looked back to indicated he was listening.

Yan Hui solemnly said: "50 years ago, you fought against Qing Guang. You know better than anyone his strength. I want to know if Tian Yao adapts to the nine-headed snake's neidan, what are his changes of winning against Qing Guang?"

Qing Qiu's king look back into the distance and mildly said: "None."