Heart Protection

CHAPTER 48

Yan Hui's stomach hurt for three days. For those days, she practically didn't touch any other food besides Tian Yao's cooking. Every day when she heard Tian Yao's door open next door, Yan Hui would rush out, block him, and impatiently say: "To the kitchen!"

Tian Hui would give her a glance without a word. Then he really would turn and go......

Yan Hui would eagerly follow. She could eat yummy things everyday and was extremely contented.

Yan Hui's body still hadn't completely healed. Wang Yu Luo had good things to eat and drink, so naturally she didn't think about leaving. Tian Yao also didn't seem to be in a hurry to find his other body parts. He didn't bring it up with Yan Hui, and Yan Hui also pretended to not know. She just treated this period of time as recuperation.

She stuck by Tian Yao and ate for three days. Then suddenly a piece of news reached them.

Feng Ming's death had already spread in the jianghu. The announcement Qi Jue Group publicly made was that Feng Ming had fallen ill and suddenly died. But anyone with a brain wouldn't believe that. The opinions in the jianghu differed on Feng Ming's death. Most thought he was killed by his nephew in a power struggle. To be fair, there was nothing to naysay about that. However, there was a second opinion.

One opinion was Feng Ming was killed by a Qing Qiu fox demon. Another opinion was Feng Ming was killed by a xian cultivator.

Some guessed that the xian cultivator was a heretical cultivator. Others blamed it on Yan Hui.

But fortunately this was all conjecture. No one could do anything about it.

Yan Hui was drinking chicken soup made by Tian Yao when she heard the news from Xian Ge. Yan Hui finished the entire bowl down to the last drop before responding to Xian Ge: "Isn't it all rumors? Don't worry. Let them guess, guess away. The more the better. It's fine if no news comes out. Now that some news has been revealed, it's best that it's like how it is now, half real and half fake. That way, people can't tell which part is fake and which part is real. In any case, if I were the one gossiping, I would already be blaming it on Feng Qian Shuo."

"Xian Ge, it's better that you worry over Feng Qian Shuo than me. After all, I'm just a target of a few rumors. It doesn't bother me." Yan Hui licked her spoon wishfully. She turned and looked at Tian Yao, who looked like he hadn't been listening. "Is there no more chicken soup for today?"

Tian Yao was playing chess against himself and paid Yan Hui no heed.

Yan Hui scowled: "Stingy."

"You already drank a lot today. If you drink more, your stomach will hurt." Xian Ge looked at Yan Hui's greedy expression and couldn't help giving some advice. "Giving you less to eat is for your own good. Don't brush off the news I told you." She knocked on Yan Hui's head. "You love to get into trouble. If you still want to wander the jianghu, then you need to take more care. Otherwise if someone gets hold of information that harms you, who will protect you?"

Yan Hui brushed off Xian Ge's words and nodded: "Got it, got it." She nudged Xian Ge's arm: "Xian Ge loves me."

Xian Ge smiled. Her gaze strayed and just happened to see Tian Yao assessing them two out of the corner of his eye.

Four eyes met. Tian Yao acted like he had been caught red-handed. He coughed and turned his head away. However, the chess piece in his hand remained there for quite sometime without being placed down.

Xian Ge found it amusing and laughable. She patted Yan Hui's head.

In the future, perhaps she wouldn't be the only person who loves Yan Hui.

Yan Hui didn't pay attention to Xian Ge's news. She didn't think that in less than two days, she would get payback for not heeding those words.

Yan Hui felt like in these two days her wound had practically healed. It was time to make a few purchases and then leave Wang Yu Luo. After all, she was the owner of a jewelry store. She should go and inspect her "business". Then she wanted to go back and visit her hometown. She ought to light incense for her mother.

It just so happened that the village Feng Qian Shuo mentioned was rather close to Yan Hui's village. The road connected the jewelry store down to her hometown. She might as well drop by.

While Yan Hui wandered around the market, she mulled over what she should buy. Suddenly, a dark figure blocked her path. Yan Hui was looking at a stall off to the side and didn't notice. The person only moved when she was about to bump into the figure. Suddenly, the person reached out to grab Yan Hui.

Yan Hui automatically withdrew and rapidly slapped away the hand. However, the thought never crossed her mind that the person might be trained. Yan Hui whirled away. Evidently, she could never catch a break.

"Yan Hui."

That voice instantly froze Yan Hui. Her hand movements stopped. That's when she really took a look at the figure.

The person was wearing white robes, the dress of Chen Xing Mountain. His hair was tightly gathered at the top of his head. Not a hair was out of place. His guanmao hat was neat and proper, his back straight and rigid. A white jade ornament was attached to his waist. His hand gripped the Seven Star jian. His very persona extruded properness.

"Head, Head Senior Disciple."

Standing right here was the Head Disciple in Ling Xiao's sect, Zi Chen. He gravely looked upon Yan Hui. He measured her up and down: "Why is your aura so mixed?"

Yan Hui blankly stared at him. Suddenly she snapped back. Yan Hui didn't wait for him to finish. She spun around and started to run away.

Zi Chen was stunned. He rapidly reached out and grabbed Yan Hui's jacket: "Why are you running?" Again he didn't finished before another hand out of nowhere grabbed Zi Chen's wrist. That other hand was so fast that Zi Chen didn't have time to react.

Zi Chen looked over. A handsome and clever young scholar glared chillingly at him. Although the scholar was on the slim side, his glare was extremely intimidating.

Zi Chen's eyebrows furrowed. Yan Hui, who was still trying to run, stopped. She also looked over: "Tian Yao, why did you follow me? Never mind, don't answer." She grabbed Tian Yao's hand. "Let's go."

Of course Zi Chen wasn't willing to let Yan Hui go when he heard her words: "Stop." He grabbed Yan Hui's free hand with his other hand. Tian Yao wanted to block Zi Chen, but Yan Hui was holding onto his hand.

Thus, the three stood in a circle holding hands. They were deadlocked for quite awhile.

The people shopping in the market all turned their heads to see what was going on.

After long moments had passed, Yan Hui couldn't bear it anymore. She sighed: "Alright, I won't run. Let's all let go. We'll have a talk, okay?"

Zi Chen solemnly looked at Yan Hui. He saw she had kept her word and already released Tian Yao's hand. Yan Hui asked him: "Head Senior Disciple, why are you here?"

Upon seeing Yan Hui release her hand, Zi Chen slightly lessened his grip on Yan Hui's wrist. Tian Yao released Zi Chen, so Zi Chen completely let go of Yan Hui. Zi Chen said: "We were going southwest to fulfill a mission. Shifu Ling Xiao is the lead, and he picked two disciples out of the 28 peaks to accompany him, me and Zi Yue."

He hadn't finished when Yan Hui reached out to grab Tian Yao again.

But her movements weren't as quick as Tian Yao. Just when she slightly moved her hand, Tian Yao had already grasped her wrist. Ten fingers interlocked. Yan Hui didn't pay attention to that detail. An Escape Earth Technique later, the two figures disappeared from right in front of Zi Chen.

Zi Chen silently stood in his original spot. The wind plucked at his clothes.

Yan Hui used the Escape Earth Technique to return directly to Wang Yu Luo. They landed in the courtyard, and she started to laugh: "Did you see Head Senior Disciple's face?"

Tian Yao looked down at their intertwined fingers. Again he felt warmth bloom from where they touched and travel to his heart. When he saw Yan Hui's delighted expression, he silently tightened his grip a little.

"Let's go back inside." Yan Hui obliviously led Tian Yao back to the entrance of her room like this. It was only when she was about to push the door open that she realized Tian Yao was still holding her hand.

Tian Yao didn't wait for Yan Hui to say something before extremely naturally releasing her hand. It was like holding hands was something very natural.

Yan Hui also didn't mind. She pushed open the door and said: "Your reaction today was unexpectedly pretty fast. Oh, if you think about it, we have a pretty good understanding of each other."

Exactly, a deep connection.

Tian Yao looked at Yan Hui. He knew she was coming up with some terrible plan for some kind of misdeed. The day she stopped pulling pranks was the day she would become more considerate than anyone else.

They obviously hadn't been together for a long period of time, but he was able to understand Yan Hui very clearly.

It was like she was part of him.

However, it also goes without saying he was part of her.

Yan Hui entered her room and started to rummage through her things and pack up.

Tian Yao stood by and watched. While Yan Hui folded her clothes, she turned her head to Tian Yao and said: "I originally planned to wait for my stomach to be completely better before leaving. After all, it's comfortable living here, and your cooking is tasty. However, now Head Senior Disciple is here. He's pretty upright, but his strength is quite formidable. If I don't run, then I'm going to be caught by him."

Tian Yao raised an eyebrow: "What is he going to do when he catches you?"

Yan Hui pursed her lips: "Back then when I was expelled from the mountain, he wasn't there. Now he has returned and out to do an assignment, yet he broke from the group and made a side trip specifically just to find me. From his character, he definitely heard some rumor about me on his journey and wants to bring me back to Chen Xing Mountain."

"I know you aren't that kind of person. Come back with me to Chen Xing Mountain. I will help you plead for leniency from Shifu," said Yan Hui solemnly. Then she pursed her lips again. "Aside from those words, Head Senior Disciple definitely wouldn't say anything else." She sighed, but her lips curled into a smile. It was both mocking and helpless. "That dummy. Anyone could guess what he's thinking."

Tain Yao's gaze grew cooler after hearing Yan Hui's words: "He treats you quite well."

"He treats everyone well." Yan Hui continued. "His sense of responsibility is too strong. He likes to take on any matter. Many other shifus say he is most like my shifu."

Yan Hui fell silent upon reaching this point. Her hands also stopped moving. Her gaze dropped, thinking of some unknown matter. Then Yan Hui deeply sighed and rapidly folded up the remaining clothing: "I won't talk about this anymore." She raised her head and looked at Tian Yao: "Let's talk about the matter of me leaving instead."

Tian Yao looked at Yan Hui, silently waiting.

"From the beginning I didn't want to get mixed in with the grudge between you and Su Ying. You know that." Yan Hui continued. "Now you have your dragon bones and horns. You can absorb the word's spirituality and continue cultivating. For the remaining parts, you find them yourself. I really have to go."

"Yan Hui." Tian Yao rarely called her name so seriously. Yan Hui couldn't help being slightly stunned by those two words. She immediately gathered up her confidence and imposingly said:

"Don't try to convince me. I thought about it a lot. Although I have your heart protection scale, and you saved my life and have a deep connection with me......" As Yan Hui continued, her voice gradually became weaker. She had to cough and gain back some confidence. "These past few days I probably paid back my debt, a life for a life. In the end, we aren't kindred spirits, so we should return back to our places. Start again where we each belong."

Tian Yao remained silent for a long time: "I originally have no place in this human world." He looked down at his palm. There was still some remaining warmth. "But you....."

He lifted his head and looked at Yan Hui. His voice was both soft and slow: "Gave me a place to stand again."

So, this so-called "where we each belong" place to Tian Yao is where?

When Yan Hui heard those words, it was hard for her to control her despondency.

She was so strongly needed and depended on by someone. It turns out, in this world, she was that important to a person.

Fuck, why did her heart feel like some small fluttering bird singing a joyous song?

Fuck, why did she feel like Tian Yao's presence seemed to burn a little brighter?