Chapter 1816 - So Close Yet So Far (1/2)
“Eh? Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace? H… how?”
Xia Yuanba stared at the Snow Region of Extreme Ice in front of him in shock before looking at Shui Meiyin.
Oh my god, this girl is amazing!
Wait a second, it took me four months to get to the God Realm! I haven’t even stood on its soil for three days, and now I’m all the way back already!? Come on!
Xia Yuanba complained a bit in his head before facing toward Yun Che again, shouting, “See, brother-in-law!? This is the Snow Region of Extreme Ice! Not only is the Blue Pole Star fine, it’s way more stable than it was several years ago. And you wonder why I’m surprised when you said that it was de… de…”
“...” Yun Che didn’t react in the slightest. He looked like his soul wasn’t present in his body.
“Palace Master Murong and Fairy Yuechan should be inside the building right now. Wuxin frequents here daily as well… ah! That’s right!” Xia Yuanba abruptly grabbed Yun Che’s arm and pulled. “Come on! Let’s go meet them already so they can rest easy—”
Shui Meiyin’s eyes flashed before he could finish his sentence, and Xia Yuanba abruptly froze like a statue. His eyes widened when he realized that he could neither move nor speak. From an outsider’s point of view, the only thing that proved that he was still conscious was his moving eyeballs.
“Big brother Yun Che,” whispered Shui Meiyin while moving closer to Yun Che and feeling the tremors in his soul, “Don’t doubt that this is the Blue Pole Star. You are without a doubt in the home planet you miss so, so much right now. This is neither an illusion nor a dream.”
“Your relatives, your family, your best friends, your lovers, your daughter… they are all alive. They have always been alive and well.”
“... Ugh…” Yun Che’s fingers shook in Shui Meiyin’s palm. His teeth were chattering visibly as well.
Shui Meiyin continued, “It’s because the planet the Moon God Emperor destroyed was a planet called Sky Water Star. You mistook it for the Blue Pole Star because they are similar in terms of size and color. It is even harder to differentiate them from space.”
“The position we’re at right now is where the Sky Water Star used to be.”
“Blue Pole Star and Sky Water Star had switched places before that destruction. The Blue Pole Star was teleported to the south of the Southern Divine Region, and the Sky Water Star was teleported to the east of the Eastern Divine Region.”
“...???” Xia Yuanba’s eyeballs nearly fell out of their sockets. He felt like he was listening to some impossible myth.
Shui Meiyin raised the World Piercer and said quietly, “Moving planets sounds like the kind of miracle only an ancient True God can pull off, right?”
“But there is still one item in the world that can do this… it was a one-time miracle that may never happen again, but it happened perfectly because of you.”
Her voice brushed his soul again and again like a gentle wind.
Yun Che’s fingers twitched as he slowly, very slowly, stretched his arms forward. He looked like he was trying to touch the world before him.
A world he thought he had lost forever in his life.
The shivering in his arms wasn’t a conscious action. It was a kind of desire born from the bottom of his heart.
At the same time, he released his soul perception in an attempt to reach out to the people and souls he thought he had lost forever.
A surprised Shui Meiyin tried to stop him, but Yun Che himself shivered as if realizing something and withdrew it in a panic. He even stopped breathing as if the action was enough to reveal his presence to the world.
“Big brother… Yun Che.” Shui Meiyin felt a twinge in her nose and hugged him gently.
Yun Che hadn’t stopped shivering since the beginning. He clenched his teeth tightly and forced down something primal that was threatening to escape his throat.
Shui Meiyin’s voice caused a tear to fall off, however. It fell toward the infinite snow beneath his feet and vanished from sight.
Ten breaths… twenty breaths…
It was so quiet that only the wind, the snow, and the occasional sound that escaped Yun Che’s throat could be heard.
“Big brother Yun Che.”
Shui Meiyin tugged at his sleeve once, and the silence was finally broken. Yun Che slowly turned around to face Yuanba.
His eyes were closed, and he was doing his utmost to control his expression, his emotions and his aura… but his facial muscles were still twitching uncontrollably against his will.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded hoarse and distant, “Go home, Yuanba. Don’t… tell anyone that you’ve seen me.”
To regain what he lost…
But to have to conceal his presence from his loved ones, much less meet them...
Right now, his soul felt like a lone boat braving the biggest storm he had ever seen in his life.
Shui Meiyin released her soul shackle on Yuanba, and the latter regained control of his body and his senses after a shiver.
A sudden pressure pressed against his heart when he looked at Yun Che again. He felt so heavy that he almost couldn’t breathe.
Xia Yuanba had far too many questions he wanted to shoot at Yun Che, but he wasn’t the innocent, foolish youth he used to be anymore. He knew that this was not the time.
He simply asked, “When… will you come back, brother-in-law?”
A short silence later.
“When I have killed… everyone… who deserves to die.”
He said the darkest things in the shakiest voice.
“Got it.” Xia Yuanba nodded before sucking in a small breath. “I haven’t forgotten the day you risked your life to save me, brother-in-law. Later on, you saved Blue Wind, Illusory Demon Realm, Profound Sky Continent, and even the entire Blue Pole Star…”
“Although I’ve not truly seen the broader world with my eyes, you will always be the greatest hero in my heart. I know that you are bearing something I can’t understand again, and it’s something heavier than anything you’ve ever borne in the past. But no matter what happens, you must come back safe and sound.”
“There are countless people who are worried about you and waiting for you to return. You are far more important to them than you can ever imagine. That is why… you must come back safe and sound, okay?”
“...” Yun Che didn’t reply or turn away. The only visible reaction Yuanba could see was Yun Che’s fingers whitening from the sheer amount of force he was exerting on them.
A long time later, after Yun Che finally looked away from Yuanba, the brawny man exhaled a little and got ready to jump down to the snowy region below him. That was when he saw something that caused his eyes to shrink, and his mouth to blurt out, “Wuxin!?”
Yun Che’s shivering abruptly ceased completely.