16 Chapter 16: Wilderness vision. (1/2)
Never before had Li Yang's eyes felt so heavy and his mind so bleary, it felt as if his consciousness was trying to wade through a quagmire. Worse yet, the cacophony of noises only got worse and worse, practically hammering his consciousness deeper into darkness. And as his mind sank into the depths of the darkness, he saw a vision that felt like a dream.
He seemed to have suddenly arrived above a vast wilderness, trees and majestic mountains stretching out as far as the eye could see, the occasional plain or lake interrupting the monotony. Li Yang saw the entire wilderness from above and could move his vision slightly, but he could only control the direction in which he looked, he wasn't even able to feel his body much less move it.
He was certain that he had never seen this wilderness before, but looking down upon it he felt a soft pang of pain and longing in his heart. Li Yang looked at the wilderness with some puzzlement, wondering exactly what was going on. It didn't look like the descriptions of Svarga, so could it be that this was what the descent into Naraka looked like?
But before his random musings could get anywhere close to an answer, his vision started moving. It descended into the wilderness at breakneck speed, guided by an unseen force as it rushed through the sea of trees. And then, as it reached the depth of the wilderness, a small two-story cottage entered his sight, a silent and depressing atmosphere surrounding the entire area.
His vision shot forward again after stopping in front of the cottage for a bit, passing through the walls and ending up on the second floor. He arrived in a cosy room where the entire ceiling was covered in hanging vines sprouting with blue flowers, a silk-sheet covered bed large enough for two people serving as the centrepiece of the room.
There were currently two people in the room, one lying on the bed while the other sat on a chair by the side of the bed, watching over the other with unshed tears. The one lying in the bed was an elderly man with skin so sickly pale it almost seemed to turn transparent, his sunken in golden eyes so dull and faded that he probably wasn't even able to see anything. His head had a few patches of white hair left, but Li Yang couldn't tell if the hair was white due to his current state or if it had always been white.
As for the one sitting at the side of the bed, she could be considered the exact opposite, a young woman in her late twenties who had an appearance that could only be described as ruinous. She had pitch-black eyes so deep that you could lose yourself in them and the silky hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall was just as black as her eyes. She wore a simple brown linen robe, but that was far from enough to hide her curves and practically soul-stealing features, even her faintest movements enough to draw the attention of everyone who saw them.
The old man raised his arm with stilted motions, his hand moving through the air for a few seconds before the woman reached out and took hold of it, placing his palm against her cheek. The old man seemed to somehow detect the unshed tears in the woman's eyes, opening his mouth and speaking out in a voice so raspy that it sounded like his throat was completely shredded.
”Ah, I made you cry again. Seems like just breaking my second promise wasn't enough, I ended up breaking the first one too...Ghk!”
The old man suddenly started coughing violently, blood spurting out from his mouth with each jerk of his body. The woman hurriedly leaned forward with a pained expression, but the old man waved his hand as if to show that he was fine. His chest and throat tensed, his coughing dying down so that the man could direct his blank gaze towards his now blood-covered hand and sheets, a weak laugh escaping him.
”Haha, nine attempts and nine failures, it's not even a tragedy anymore, just a very poorly written comedy. To the bottom of Naraka, the peaks of Svarga, the distant reaches of the Abyss, and yet, nothing to show for it. I really did not do justice by you.”
The lips of the old man curled up bitterly as he spoke, as if he couldn't do anything but laugh in this situation. The old man didn't even bother to wipe away the blood on his hand, or the blood running down his chin, he simply turned his head in the direction of the woman and smiled in a lonesome manner.
”This is the last one, I've used up all nine lives and have done nothing but fail. I got to use all nine next to you, and while I regret that things will end like this, I will have to say myself content with the time I got with you. Should there ever come a day where you find ano...!”
The woman's hand shot forward before the old man could finish his sentence, gripping onto his cheeks while covering his mouth. The eyes of the woman had turned somewhat bloodshot, her outstretched arm trembling slightly.
”Don't you even dare say it, don't you dare utter those words. I am yours, and yours alone, just like you were mine and mine alone. One day we will meet again at the bottom of Naraka, and at that time this accursed thing will not get to interfere.”
The woman looked directly into the eyes of the old man, whose pupils wavered slightly under her intense glare even if he wasn't able to truly see it. He nodded his head in understanding, the woman removing her hand so that the old man could let out another weak laugh.
”Haha, just like they said, you were really too good for a nobody like me.”
The man's laughter caused his chest to convulse slightly, the woman quickly helping him lay down again before he fell into another violent coughing fit. She gently wiped away the blood around his mouth, speaking softly to raise his mood but receiving a swift and regretful chuckle as a response.
”If you are a nobody, then no one else in this universe will ever amount to anything.”
”If I wasn't a nobody, I would have found a way to get around that accursed thing. But I couldn't, so I'm a nobody.”
The man continued to chuckle regretfully and weakly at himself for a few seconds before he stopped, his chest convulsing again. A short silence descended over the two people, who only silently gazed at each other, but the woman broke it with a faintly choked-up voice after a minute.
”I don't want this to be the end... You said you had to call yourself content with the time you got with me, but what about me? Will I have to call myself content being the monster who has had to kill you nine times?”
Li Yang felt as if he had just heard something incredibly major, if these two were as close as they seemed, how come she had killed him nine times? For that matter, how had this old man seemingly managed to go through nine lifetimes? He still didn't know what he was seeing, but he felt like it was highly unlikely that this was his descent into Naraka. As for the old man, he reacted strongly to the woman's words, his sunken in eyes narrowing and turning sharp.
”You haven't killed me a single time, and don't you dare ever say or think that. It was me, it was always me. I chose it full well knowing what end I would face should I fail, and I would choose it again if the opportunity arose. Because to me, you are worth the world and more, so please don't speak like that about yourself, you are insulting the one I treasure above all else.”
The man reached out with his hand again after he finished speaking sternly, the woman once again guiding his palm to her cheek and leaning against his hand. The man silently enjoyed the sensation, his breathing eventually turning shallower and weaker. And in the end, just as he was about to reach the end, he raised his gaze as if he wanted to look through the ceiling, using his last breath to sigh and curse.
”Ha~ah, nine is a good number, but curse you heavens for forbidding the tenth.”