The Grimoire World.
While Young Lord Mingzhu slept soundly, Yue Yang had slipped back in secret.
This time he’d returned not for the night raid Princess Qianqian had imagined; on the contrary, he sat quietly a whole night at the slumbering Xue Wuxia’s side. Ever since the great battle with the evil god, Xue Wuxia—who had lent her spiritual power to aid him—had once more sunk into a chaotic slumber. Were it not for Yue Yang sensing it in person, he’d scarcely have dared believe that she had, that day, broken through every obstacle to give her all in his aid…
Xue Wuxia’s condition had improved compared to before.
Though Yue Yang’s heart-call still couldn’t rouse her from that country of slumber, at the very least she now had a certain response.
Perhaps not very distinct.
But that didn’t matter.
So long as she knew it was he who was calling her, that was enough.
Gently he clasped her small hand, and gently poured out to her the words in the depths of his heart.
She who slept and would not rise gave no reply, her small face serene as if merely sleeping, not even her eyelashes trembling once. Yet Yue Yang knew that from the depths of her soul she could hear the voice of his heart, hear his call—and that she would surely return as fast as she could, back to his side.
“Xue girl, come back quickly! I can’t be without you. Without you at my side, a piece of my heart has caved in, and no matter how I try, I can’t fill it back up; even laughing away every day, I still can’t manage a real smile. Come back quickly—I’ve waited so, so long. And not just me—tiger-girl too. Without you, she doesn’t quite feel alive either. With no rival to compete against, no old adversary, no you to keep her thoroughly in check, she has no drive for anything, and her cultivation’s stalled; she who once advanced by leaps and bounds now breaks through so slowly, so very slowly. And there’s Luohua and Inan, Wuhen and Sister Yu—everyone’s waiting for you too. You can’t go on sleeping like this. You’re not some drowsy little pig—you’re my cleverest, most powerful bride-to-be. Without you at my side to teach and remind me, there’s nothing I can do well on my own. I never thought it would be like this before, but ever since you fell asleep, I’ve found that without you it really won’t do at all. Xue girl, do you hear me? I miss you… I miss you so much. So you have to come back as soon as you can…” Yue Yang had never been so tender. Sneaking a look this way from afar, Princess Qianqian—strong as she was—felt something like tears at the sight of this scene.
A night passed.
Yue Yang bent and pressed a light kiss to Xue Wuxia’s smooth little forehead, then turned and left.
Outside, the students’ Life Assessment bouts still had to go on. Even though Ji Wuri and the others had bargained with the evil god, even though the former powerful foes Ranfeng and Wanmo now held mighty trump cards, even though the once-ant-like Jinji had, against all expectation, gained the power of an evil-god projection-avatar—
—Yue Yang, all the same, feared none of it.
He, whom even the evil god couldn’t crush, would absolutely never be cowed by the likes of those who’d merely gained an evil-god projection. Because he was the one and only time-crosser in this world, Yue Yang—Yue Titan—whom no force and no difficulty could ever break! With the support of countless kin and friends, with a supremely perfect Sovereign Intent, with the Innate Invisible Sword Qi that could defy the heavens and rewrite fate, with a supreme divine intent that rose surging past the Dipper to pierce the firmament and would never bow its head though the galaxy itself were ground to dust, with a monstrous, prodigious talent unprecedented and unmatched in all of history—with peerless, unrivaled gifts, guarded by immortal beasts and with the power of fate gathered in one body—this third young master of the Yue family, this man, would his heart fill with fear before an enemy?
The answer, of course, was no!
Even without all of this, as a time-crosser, Yue Yang was a man of iron who bent a hundred times without breaking and never gave up.
The greatest boon the old Daoist had granted him wasn’t a treasure, but a chance—a chance for Yue Yang to go from dead-end shut-in to time-crosser… With that one stroke of fortune, Yue Yang was like the roc of the Southern Sea, riding the wind to soar upward, wings spanning ten thousand miles, thenceforth wheeling through the firmament and looking down upon all living things and all creation!
“Morning!” When Yue Yu saw Yue Yang come out, her smiling face was more beautiful than the proud sun just cresting the horizon.
“Wait for my good news!” Yue Yang smiled too. He went to meet Yue Yu, walked over, and gave her a light embrace; under the reproachful gaze of her bright eyes, he shook a fist with a hundredfold confidence, showing her his resolve.
Princess Qianqian did not come out.
She deliberately hid from him.
Knowing full well he needed her encouragement right now, she still wouldn’t come out.
Because she was deeply afraid that the moment she went out, she’d hold him tight and never want to part from him again… Facing an opponent like the evil god, Qianqian bitterly resented that she wasn’t strong enough, couldn’t go out to lend him a hand at this difficult Human Valley gate. Since she couldn’t help him, Qianqian didn’t want to act the delicate little maiden, lest he worry over her; nor did she want him to see the cowardly part of herself.
After Yue Yang left, Qianqian came to Xue Wuxia’s bedside.
Likewise clasping her soft little hand, she called gently to this former rival, just as Yue Yang had. “I won’t fight you for him anymore—come back! If it were you at his side, perhaps you’d have a way to help him. In this, I really do fall short of you! But you know, I—I won’t concede defeat. I, Jun Yuan, am absolutely no worse than you; however far you surpass me, I’ll catch right back up. That fellow—I admit it, he can’t do without you. But there’s a place at his side for me too; I’m indispensable as well. Come back. Only an awake you is my rival. Maybe you don’t know yet what realm I’ve broken through to in my cultivation now—if you hadn’t been so lucky, with a divine nature to fuse, I might’ve left you in the dust long ago. Don’t be sore about it—if you want to prove you’re the better one, then wake up and match yourself against me!” Speaking to the very end, Qianqian suddenly heaved a sigh. “All right—I have to admit it: I got jealous. You don’t know—that fellow’s never once been so tender. He’s always bullying me, but to you, he’s this good…”
From Xue Wuxia’s body there seemed to emanate an exceedingly faint, all but formless breath of aura.
As if making some kind of response to Qianqian’s words.
Qianqian fixed her attention, concentrating.
But it had long since vanished.
Not a trace left.
Seeing this peculiar response, Qianqian nearly doubted whether it had been an illusion. In the end she smiled, patted Xue Wuxia’s small hand lightly, then bent and pressed a light kiss to the bright forehead Yue Yang had kissed. “He kissed you, so I’ll kiss you too—which is like him kissing me by proxy. That makes us even, and sets my heart at ease!”
After Qianqian left, Xue Wuxia’s body again seemed to emanate an all but formless aura, faintly appearing and fading.
Only it was far too slight—so slight that even Qianqian, in high spirits and striding out the door, failed to notice.
Outside the door, Yue Yu watched Qianqian with a smile.
Saying nothing.
But Qianqian knew she was teasing her, and flushed, half-covering her small face. “Don’t look. So I got jealous, all right? So I went in to fight for favor a little with that most-doted-on Xue girl—all right? Whose fault is it that your brother plays such favorites? He kept her company a whole night, and didn’t spare me so much as a glance!”
Yue Yu spread those lotus-root jade arms and lightly embraced Qianqian. “He hugged me too—let me give you a hug, and then we’ll really be even!”
“You’re teasing me as well—ai, it’s all that fellow’s fault…”
Bashful and flustered, Qianqian stamped her feet, wishing in her heart she could seize that scoundrel who’d made her lose her composure that very instant, and give him a good, hard bite with her teeth—if she didn’t bite a bead of blood out of his lips, she could absolutely never forgive him!
That heart-stealing thief!
Truly a little thief one could never forgive in a whole lifetime!
Young Lord Mingzhu’s mood at present rather resembled Princess Qianqian’s.
The Mingzhu of now was gripping Yue Yang by the collar, his face pressed in close, puffed up with rage and thoroughly beside himself—as though at any moment he might open his mouth and give this little thief, Yue Yang, whom he could never forgive in a lifetime, a hateful, vicious bite: if he didn’t draw blood, he’d absolutely never let go! Toward Mingzhu, Yue Yang wore a look of timid meekness on his face, but even a blind man could see it was put on—the real him was still grinning, without the slightest hint of repentance.
“There’s a woman’s fragrance on you again. What tremendous nerve—you actually snuck out in secret while I was asleep?” Mingzhu had never seen so brazen a little thief; plainly in the wrong, and yet daring to show such a wild, unbridled grin? Truly his bones were itching—there was no help for it but a beating!
“It’s a misunderstanding!” The moment Yue Yang saw the golden hammer appear, he hurried to explain. “It was my sis!”
“Hm?” The great hammer in Mingzhu’s hand vanished in an instant, and he set Yue Yang—hoisted halfway into the air—back down, then reached out to straighten his collar for him. “Ah, so it was a misunderstanding—why didn’t you say so sooner!”
“It’s you who gave me no chance to explain…” Now Yue Yang was the villain filing his complaint first.
“I didn’t sleep well yesterday, you should know—people who don’t sleep well are always a bit grumpy getting out of bed, so there! The weather’s fine today. Aha, classmate Titan, you’re in high spirits and glowing with health today; you must have rested very well!” Mingzhu, a case of “near vermilion turns red, near ink turns black,” had learned Yue Yang’s “laugh-it-off” hoodwinking technique too, instantly changing the subject and, for a rare change, praising Yue Yang.
“Naturally—today I woke myself up with my own handsomeness!” Yue Yang, for his part, accepted it wholesale without a shred of shame.
“Ah, is that so? Heh heh!” Mingzhu had no way to converse with this thick-skinned fellow, and could only answer with a “heh heh.”
“I woke myself up with my handsomeness today too…” Chimu, for his part, felt he really ought to praise himself a bit as well—because he’d only just realized that, compared to Yue Yang, he’d been far too modest before. As they say, excessive modesty is hypocrisy, and Chimu resolved that from this day forward he’d definitely be a non-hypocritical person.
“Get lost!” Yue Yang, for his part, kicked this fellow sprawling to the ground with one foot—a pair here whispering sweet nothings to each other, and you, punk, come barging in to make trouble?
“If you two won’t honestly affirm—say that this young lord is handsomely built—then I, I really just won’t leave!” Chimu had actually been a bit afraid in his heart, because neither Yue Yang nor Young Lord Mingzhu was someone he dared provoke, especially the violent latter. But since he’d already taken a beating, to slink off in defeat without so much as a single benefit would be a real net loss; so no matter what, he had to win himself back a high-grade appraisal of “handsome fellow,” or wouldn’t the beating have been for nothing?
“You…” Yue Yang, for his part, was caught between laughing and crying by this rascal. Handsome or not—can’t you go look in a mirror yourself? Pockmarked or pitted, it’s plain as day at a glance!
“Handsome, my dead corpse-head—buzz off!” Mingzhu was enraged; the golden hammer crashed down, the earth quaking like a magnitude-ten earthquake, and Chimu, for his part, was so frightened his very soul fled his body. He barely dodged in time—only to be caught off guard as Mingzhu launched a flying kick square to his face, and the whole of him instantly turned into a shooting star, kicked clean off into the ninth heaven!
An hour later.
The battered-out-of-shape Chimu returned to the students’ quarters and, with tremendous confidence, knocked open Hauge’s door.
Nose bruised and face swollen, he swept back his hair and, positively smug, gave a hum. “How about it—handsome, eh? I was handsome enough already, but I’ve found that every day when I get out of bed, I turn even more dashing!”
The giant Hauge’s eyes went wider than a bull’s; he stuffed both hands into his mouth and, in unspeakable terror, cried out at the top of his voice: “A GHOST!”
(End of Chapter)