Chapter 11.2 (1/2)

Chapter 12: Secondary Rainbow

*The t.i.tle of this chapter is ‘Ni Hong’, which is the name of the Fourth Disciple. It also means ‘Neon’ and ‘Secondary Rainbow’.

The four stand in silence.

Only the bronze mirror above Yin Chen’s head

is emitting soft white light.

Endless darkness surrounds them.

The relic before them

is like a ma.s.sively eerie grave panning out before them.

No one knows what is hiding within it.

[West of Aslan Empire – Surrounding waters of Rennes]

When Shen Yin regains her consciousness, the first thing she feels is the wet coldness of being submerged in seawater. She s.h.i.+vers before realizing that she cannot feel the numbing pain of the winter ocean.

She opens her eyes to see that she is currently sitting in the shadow waters along the coast. She is leaning against a black rock that is diffusing the fishy scent of the ocean. The half-naked man is reaching into the ocean with his eyes closed in search of something as he supports himself on one knee.

Shen Yin only realizes a couple of moments later what he carried her into the ocean in order to make the formation of arrays easier. Shen Yin looks down at the circle of brightness underneath the surface of the water. It surrounds her entirely and flickers as if it is breathing. Looking up, she sees the man’s body covered in golden soul’s return circuit as he pa.s.ses soul powers into the magical array continuously. Countless strong surges of soul powers envelop his body. The countless cuts on her arms and legs are healing at a rapid pace. Even the two fist-sized holes that cut cleanly through her abdomen have pink flesh reemerging. What is even stranger is that, be it the fatal wound on her abdomen or the thin but dense cuts on her limbs, all the pain from her injuries seem to have disappeared. The light from this man’s array engulfs her entirely, separating her from pain.

“Who are you?” Shen Yin asks the man who has his eyes closed in concentration.

When he hears Shen Yin’s voice, his eyes opens suddenly and he stands up slowly. With the aid of the gleam from the rotating array, Shen Yin manages to see his face clearly for the first time.

A pair of large, warm and dark eyes sits on his face, making him resemble the tamest animal. He radiates a blank look that is innocent yet primal at the same time, as if he is the purest child looking in concentration at the unknown world. His hair is as bright and red as fire. They are pushed up to reveal his clear yet distinct features. His nose bridge is high and this allows him to give off an intimidating masculinity, yet his thick yet soft brows and lashes, making him seem gentle, tones this down. His lips are open slightly, as if wanting to communicate his thoughts, but he maintains the same posture in fear that he may scare someone.

Only a young angel can have a face so gentle and pure.

Yet under this face, he has a tall and toned muscular body. He is almost entirely bare save for the short armour wrapped around his waist. His tanned skin is filled with different mysterious tattooed patterns from his neck to feet. Even on his face. There are still remnants of the thick blood and flesh of Shan Guihe has just killed on his chest and hands. The aggressive masculinity radiates overwhelmingly from his entire being. His chest is firm and broad, his limbs are long and strong. It is as if his entire body harbors a lightning like power.

These contradicting traits all fuse together conflictingly yet consistently onto one person. A person with qualities of both an angel and a devil.

“Who are you?” Shen Yin asks again softly.

He opens his mouth carefully, a mumbled sound emits from his throat, “Ni……Hong……”

“Ni Hong?” Shen Yin repeats.

He nods forcefully. A child-like yet handsome smile appears instantaneously on his face. Shen Yin can tell that such a perfect and untainted expression should not exist in this evil and strange world. It is as if he is excited solely because Shen Yin said his name right. There is nothing hidden underneath his smile, his white teeth and his hearty voice.

He stands suddenly and turns to dive into the ocean. Before Shen Yin has the time to react, he emerges with a few sea urchins in his hands and a struggling fish between his teeth. Water droplets cascade down his sculpted body like gems. He resembles Poseidon.

He dashes to Shen Yin and kneels down. After tossing the fish before her, he breaks apart the sharp sh.e.l.l of the sea urchins with his bare hands before holding them up before Shen Yin. A look of nervous antic.i.p.ation gleams in his dark and warm eyes.

His hands has been lanced by the sea urchin and his blood drips into the ocean. Shen Yin frowns before saying: “Your hand……”

A wide smile forms on Ni Hong’s face as he shakes his head as if it doesn’t hurt at all. The sea urchins are still held before Shen Yin as he looks at her in antic.i.p.ation.

Shen Yin feels touched, as if a warm spring has pa.s.sed through her heart. Reaching out a thin and pale hand, she retrieves the sea urchins from Ni Hong’s lean yet strong hands. She lowers her head for a bite. It tastes deliciously fresh.

Ni Hong smiles happily. On his face is the smile of excitement and satisfaction.

After eating, Shen Yin wants to get back on sh.o.r.e. The temperature of the ocean in winter really isn’t bearable and she could barely withstand it when she was injured. Now that all the soul powers in her body has been channeled to healing, she can no longer hold against the low temperatures.

Just as she pushes herself up to her feel, she feels a sharp pain in her abdomen. “Of course I haven’t recovered completely……” Shen Yin thinks as she falls back into the water. She lifts her head whens he senses a warm but forceful aura standing before her. Ni Hong reaches down to carry Shen Yin out from the water. Carrying her onto the sh.o.r.e with one arm, he grabs at the air with the other and within split second, a few walls of ice rise from the ground and surrounds the wall of a cliff. A small house of ice is created. He carries Shen Yin in and sets her down before crouching beside her with a questioning and pa.s.sionate gaze.

“Yes, this is much better. There’s no wind now.” Shen Yin tells him.

He laughs happily. The tenderness on his face is completely separated from the murderous air radiating from his body.

As if suddenly remembering something, he lifts an eyebrow and turns to leave the ice room. A short while later, he crawls back in. This time, he holds the pelt he has just ripped off of a snow leopard. There is still warm air rising from the blood on the fur. He taps at the pelt lightly with a finger and the sticky blood all freeze in an instant. With a forceful shake, countless red shards of ice fall onto the ground, leaving behind a dry and clean pelt. He moves beside Shen Yin and hands it to her before gesturing for her to cover herself with it. Shen Yin wraps it around herself before turning to look at Ni Hong. On his face is a prideful and pure expression, as if a youth showing off his treasure. Shen Yin giggles. “Thank you.”

Ni Hong squats before Shen Yin and gazes at her intently with his burning gaze. He then sits down with his long legs spread out. Lifting Shen Yin, he puts her between his legs and embraces her against his bare chest.

“You……what are you doing?” Shen Yin flushes immediately.

Yet it is as if he hears nothing, Ni Hong rests his head gently on Shen Yin’s shoulder. With his eyes closed, his thick lashes cause him to resemble a child in deep slumber. He moves all of the soul powers in his body, resulting in the flowing of gold across his body. Shen Yin feels the warmth and breath of early summer surrounding her layer by layer.

She moves her head to the side slightly and eyes Ni Hong who has his eyes closed while embracing her. “Can you not speak?”

Ni Hong lifts his head and purses his lips slightly. His warm and wet eyes are open and his gaze is a mixture of blankness and sadness. He nods slowly at her before putting his head back onto her shoulder.

The burning soul powers radiating continuously from his bare chest and inject themselves into Shen Yin’s body.

Healing flesh. New skin.

The blizzard howls on outside the house of ice.

[West of Aslan Empire – Relic of Youtuer]

Yin Chen stares at the tall stone door before him. n.o.body knows when this came to existence. The carvings on it are retro and aged, revealing the markings of pa.s.sing time. As if tens of thousands of years has flowed past on the surface.

The two large stone doors dozens of meters tall are shut tightly.

“We enter from here?” Qi Ling asks as he stares at the stone door that is as grand as a palace. It is obvious that this is the first time he is seeing the door to the relic since he entered through the chess piece the last time he was within the relic of the ancient city.

Qi La moves gracefully towards the door. Reaching a pale yet thin had from his dark battle robe made of feathers, he caresses the rough surface of the stone door gently as if caressing the dew on a leaf in the early rays of the morning. Countless golden silk threads flow from his fingertips and spread along the intricate carvings on the stone. The large door moves slowly, causing a loud ruckus in the silent and empty underground path.

Surprise fills Yin Chen’s heart. He is surprised every single time he sees Qi La use his powers. It is not because of the seemingly boundless soul powers that fill his body, but that when he employs them, it is as if carving an artwork, he will not use any more or any less. Every single thread and strand of soul powers is used on point. Not the slightest bit wasted or used to show off. This is the reason why he was known as one of the most terrifying n.o.ble Lords among the lords. This means that even he only has the slightest bit of soul powers left in his body, he can do tremendous damage with that remaining bit.

The stone doors open inwards. The dusty smell of the ancient city hits their senses when the large and hollow Relic of Youtuer appears before them.

“This……this is impossible……” The colour rushes from Qi La and Yin Chen’s face instantly. It is as if they are facing the purgatory on earth.