Chapter 121 (1/2)

Chapter 121

”I'm okay now, Yundong . . . Really . ”

Li Yundong put the gla.s.s of water on the floor and looked at Su Chan worriedly .

”Are you sure? Coz . . . Fifteen minutes ago, you really looked like you were about to die . ” Li Yundong's heart clenched at the memory .

Su Chan stood up and started jumping up and down . ”Hehehe . . . See! I'm fine . . . Woohoo! Weee—”

Li Yundong pulled her into a crus.h.i.+ng hug . ”I'm so sorry . . . Su Chan . . . This is all my fault . G.o.d d.a.m.n it . I should've come home as soon as I left the company . I should've been here! I shouldn't . . . I shouldn't have let you go through all that alone . . . ”

A moment later, Li Yundong felt the light strokes of Su Chan's finger on his scalp . He closed his eyes to savor the feeling . He could've lost her tonight, but he didn't . She was still here, alive . And that was all that mattered .

”It's okay, Yundong . . . You came back in time . You saved me . I'm alright now . See?” Su Chan pulled away . And good G.o.d, that smile could light up his whole world .

Li Yundong lifted his hand and let his fingers trailed along the planes of her cheek . ”Are you really okay? I don't know what the h.e.l.l she did, but she hurt you really bad . I've never seen you so…” So lifeless . So debilitated . ”I mean, that was the worst shape I've ever seen you in . ”

Su Chan shook her head gently . ”The damage isn't physical . It's . . . ”

Li Yundong jerked back in surprise . ”What? What do you mean it's not physical? Are you hurt elsewhere?” He scanned Su Chan's body up and down .

Su Chan looked away . ”It's the aura . I was incapacitated because I was exposed to its aura . ” Su Chan pointed at the red damask lying on the floor .

Li Yundong stared at the damask while secretly entertaining thoughts about burning the d.a.m.n thing to ashes .

”Don't bother . You can't destroy it,” Su Chan said as if reading his thoughts .

Li Yundong shot her a worried glance . ”But . . . Is it . . . Is it still affecting you?”

Su Chan shook her head . ”No . The magic is gone . ”

Li Yundong lowered his head with a sigh . Moments later, he glanced at Su Chan again . ”How are you feeling?”

”Tired . . . ” Su Chan said . ”But I'm fine . You mobilized my Qi when you gave me the ma.s.sage . The movement of my Qi helped expel the aura from my body . ”

Li Yundong huffed, then ran a hand through his hair . ”This is all on me . I should've done something . ” He paced back and forth in the living room . ”I should've told you something about the noise instead of just dismissing it . ” He stopped pacing and stared at Su Chan . ”Remember that day when Ruan Hongling visited us?”

Su Chan nodded meekly .

Li Yundong shook his head in disgust . ”Yeah . That's the first time I heard the swis.h.i.+ng noise . Heard it after Ruan Hongling left . It sounded like someone waving a flag . Now we know what was causing it . ” He glared at the red damask .

Su Chan sighed . ”It doesn't matter Yundong . It has a stealth mode where it turns invisible . ”

”So she's been spying on us . . . since . . . ?”

Su Chan shrugged . ”My guess? Since the day she knocked on our door . ”

”Right . . . Wait . Is that why you hid inside your room that day? Not because . . . ” Not because we made out like a bunch of h.o.r.n.y teenagers and you got scared, he added silently .

”Yeah . . . But I was listening to your conversation . . . ”

Li Yundong frowned . Something felt off . ”Those guys have been hunting you since you stole the . . . ” Li Yundong pointed at his chest .

Su Chan smiled wryly . ”You can say it, Yundong . It doesn't matter anymore . ”

Right . Their cover was blown anyway . Li Yundong cleared his throat . ”When Ruan Hongling came by the other day, it didn't seem like she knew you were here . She kept introducing herself to me . Then she asked me about my school and who my master is . ” Come to think of it, Lin Youfa kept asking him the same thing as well . Maybe it was a Cultivator thing .

Su Chan toyed with her sleeves . ”That's because she really didn't know that day . I hid my aura well . ” Su Chan looked him in the eye . ”I think she came that day because she was curious about you . ”

”Me? But how could she possibly . . . ” Li Yundong sighed and let his chin drop to his chest . ”Right . Because I roared in the middle of the night like some nutcase . ”

”She must have traced your roar to this area,” Su Chan said pensively . ”Only a Cultivator can roar that loudly and for such a long period of—”

Li Yundong groaned and slapped his forehead . ”d.a.m.n it, I'm such an idiot . . . ”

”What?”

Li Yundong stared at Su Chan . ”She didn't have to trace the roar here . She lives in this area . I actually saw her the first day we moved here . ”

Su Chan frowned . ”What? Where?”

<hr>

Li Yundong sighed . ”At the gazebo near the gates . I didn't tell you back then because I didn't think it was significant . She lives in the block just opposite ours . Remember that morning when I first experienced Xianjue? She's the one I saw on the balcony!” Li Yundong sighed again . ”After that I guess it just slipped my mind, what with all the crazy s.h.i.+t happening around us . Zhao Yujian, Lin Youfa, and all that c.r.a.p . . . ”

Su Chan sat there quietly with a thoughtful look on her face . Moments later, she closed her eyes and pounded her head with her fist . ”Of course . . . Of course she would be living here . . . ”

Li Yundong grabbed her fist and ended her bout of self-harm . ”What?”

”Don't you see? She's a Cultivator! Of course she would pick this place as her home . This is the ideal place for a Cultivator to stay!”

All those strange criteria Su Chan had when they were apartment hunting suddenly made a lot of sense .

Su Chan chuckled . ”Ruan Hongling and I were both thinking like Cultivators . So it's no surprise that we end up staying in the same area . ”

Li Yundong shook his head wryly . ”I guess it's just s.h.i.+t luck then . . . ”

Su Chan snorted . ”She must have felt dissatisfied after her first visit . ” Su Chan stared at Li Yundong . ”You practically dismissed her . ”

Li Yundong rolled his eyes . ”I thought she was nuts . Can you blame me though? None of the stuff she said made any sense . I even did a search on the internet afterwards . ”

Su Chan look adorably puzzled . Silence spread between them, and the look of puzzlement on Su Chan's face deepened .

”What?” Li Yundong asked .

”But we didn't have fish that day . . . or the day after . ”

Now it was Li Yundong's turn to look confused . ”What? Fish?”

”You said you searched in a net . I thought . . . ” Su Chan blushed . ”I thought that's . . . that's what they use to c- catch fish . . . ”

Li Yundong's laughter expelled every ounce of tension in his body . ”Oh, G.o.d . . . Seriously, Su Chan . I adore you to death . . . Hahaha . . . You really are something else, you know that?”

”S- Sorry . . . ”

Li Yundong reached over and ruffled her hair . ”Don't be sorry . I like this innocent side of you . ” He sighed . ”It's so tiring to deal with schemes and ulterior motives all the time . Being with a girl like you makes life better . ”

”E- Even though I'm a troublemaker?”

Li Yundong chuckled . ”Yes . Even though you're a troublemaking chipmunk . ”

Su Chan pouted and swiped at him .

Li Yundong caught her hand and held it firmly in his palm . ”Which means she found you when she was trying to spy on me…”

Su Chan's expression turned grim . ”That's partly my fault I guess . . . ”

Li Yundong gave her a funny look . ”What? Why is it your fault?”

”I got careless . Didn't conceal my aura well enough . . . And you weren't here . ”

”Me?”

”Your presence alone can act as a smoke screen,” Su Chan explained . ”Remember when I told you about the night we first met? I hid the Jindan in your mouth and stayed close to you . Your Yang Qi can mask auras . ”

”Is that why you insist on tagging along wherever I go?”

Su Chan nodded . ”But that was before . ”

Li Yundong's expression softened . ”And now?”

”Now it's because I can't imagine my life without you . ”

***

”I think we're all set,” Li Yundong said, zipping up the suitcase . ”Anything else you wanna bring, princess?”

Li Yundong heaved the suitcase off the bed and placed it on the floor . ”Princess?” he said, turning around . Su Chan was sitting on her bed, staring off into s.p.a.ce . She was hugging her pillow to her chest .

Something tugged inside Li Yundong's heart . ”Do you want to take that pillow with you?” he said, keeping his tone light .

Su Chan's lips quivered . Moments later, she sniffed . Dark spots formed on the pillowcase . Li Yundong walked over and sat down on the bed . ”What's the matter, princess? Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere else?”

Su Chan shook her head and rubbed her eyes . ”I . . . I'm gonna miss our home . . . ”

Li Yundong's features softened . Su Chan had insisted that they stay somewhere else tonight lest Ruan Hongling returned with more reinforcements . Apparently, Su Chan thought they didn't stand a chance against the Zhengyi School, not even with the Jindan . Li Yundong pulled her into his arms . ”It's gonna be alright,” he said, stroking her hair . ”Whatever happens, it's gonna be alright . ”

They left the apartment with two suitcases in tow . Li Yundong decided to keep the lease of their apartment until they sorted this mess out, though to be honest, he hadn't a single clue what ”sorting things out” would entail . Was the Zhengyi School open to negotiations? Would they leave Su Chan alone if he allowed them to remove the Jindan from his body?

They took a cab to town and wandered around for a bit . Two hours later, they walked into a dingy motel, deciding that it was going to be their place of stay for the time being . They walked up to the reception and booked a single room . With the last of Li Yundong's savings, it was all they could afford .

Li Yundong sat down on the bed with a sigh and pulled Su Chan into his arms . ”Looks like it‘s us against the world again . ”

Su Chan wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest . ”I'm sorry . . . ”

Li Yundong stroked her head . ”Don't be silly . You've got nothing to be sorry for . ”

”You got into this mess because I came into your life,” Su Chan said .

Li Yundong chuckled wryly . ”My life was a mess before you came into my life . A meaningless mess . ” Li Yundong held her gaze and cupped her cheek . ”At least now I've got you . ”

Su Chan closed her eyes as though she was feeling his touch . Suddenly, she opened her eyes and pulled his hand away from her face . ”You're hurt!”

When Li Yundong followed her gaze, his eyes landed on the circular wound at the center of his palm . The wound had stopped bleeding . It didn't even hurt anymore .

Li Yundong gave her a rea.s.suring smile . ”Nah . Don't worry about it . It's just a scratch . ”

Su Chan looked at him like it was nuts . ”It's not nothing . You were injured by a magical object . ”

Li Yundong pulled out the red damask from his pocket and held it out in front of them . ”I wonder how this thing works . I mean, right now, it looks just like an ordinary piece of cloth . ”

Su Chan took the damask and stared at it in awe . ”This thing is made from the Rainbow Cirrus . ”

Li Yundong shook his head . ”The rainbow what?”

”The Rainbow Cirrus . It's a magical substance found in the Heavenly Lake . ”

”The Heavenly Lake . So, what, is that like Cultivators' favorite fis.h.i.+ng spot or something?” Li Yundong joked .

Su Chan giggled and smacked his arm . ”No, dummy . ”

Li Yundong smiled . He loved making Su Chan happy . ”This Rainbow Cirrus thing… What does it look like?”