Chapter 74 The Sound of Pomegranate Blossoms in the Rain (?) Another dream. ...

"Why?" Xia Zhu looked at her hands and muttered to herself.

The natural stone had already been extracted and lay there; she could feel its cool texture and its sharp edges. But everything around her continued slowly.

She instinctively walked to Ying Huo's side. "Do you know why..." The question abruptly stopped as she noticed a blank expression on Ying Huo's face, as if his body was still there, but his soul had wandered a thousand miles away. This discovery made Xia Zhu's throat tighten. She scratched her head, regretting that she shouldn't have said such harsh words. She knew how fragile this person was; he now looked like a dried-up flower, whose delicate petals would crumble into dust at the slightest touch.

“Okay… I… this dream doesn’t seem to be over yet, I’ll go check on the situation over there…” Xia Zhu had just finished speaking and was about to turn around when her wrist was suddenly grabbed.

"Don't go! Don't go..."

Cold knuckles gripped her wrist tightly, the pressure strong but noticeably trembling. His skin was very pale, revealing faint bluish-purple veins beneath, so delicate they resembled a mannequin's. Xia Zhu followed his hand to his face. Ying Huo seemed to snap out of his daze, immediately releasing her hand and glancing hastily at Xia Zhu. Although he tried to remain calm, the dazed look in his eyes betrayed him.

Ying Huo was afraid.

“What I mean is… since the dream hasn’t ended, something must have gone wrong. It’s best not to act alone…” He stared at the ground diagonally in front of him, his fingers unconsciously twirling the red ring.

"Okay, let's do it together then." Perhaps out of a desire to make amends, her tone became very gentle, almost deliberately so, so she quickly added a few dry coughs at the end.

Ying Huo's appearance didn't seem to be simply affected by her words. He looked like he was having a panic attack, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his eyes darted around. But to be honest, the vulnerability he unconsciously revealed made Xia Zhu think he had become even more beautiful. However, commenting on someone's appearance under these circumstances had a cunning air of taking advantage of someone's vulnerability, so Xia Zhu deliberately shifted her gaze to the side, to a pomegranate flower ravaged by the rain.

Therefore, she didn't notice that the puddle at Ying Huo's feet was silently changing its texture. From clear and dispersed, it slowly gathered into a viscous muddy consistency, and its area grew larger and larger. By the time she realized something was wrong, the ground beneath her feet had already turned into a murky whirlpool.

The vortex sank instantly, and as Ying Huo opened her eyes wide, she lost her balance and fell into the deep pit created by the vortex.

Everything happened too fast. Before Xia Zhu could even see what was happening, her body instinctively lunged forward, grabbing Ying Huo's pale hand. As she touched his skin, a sharp pain shot through her right hand, as if her muscles were being torn apart. She suspected that her hand had been dislocated, but even so, she still clenched her fingers tightly.

A chilling wind, seemingly from hell, blew out from the abyss. The cold air almost frosted her eyebrows. The bottomless vortex seemed to have the power to captivate the soul. Xia Zhu only glanced back once, and a strong sense of loneliness welled up in her heart.

"Don't let go...please..." She heard Ying Huo's trembling voice, and was stung by the pleading look in his moist eyes. Ying Huo's eyes were bright red, as if they had been cut and bleeding, his thin skin stinging intensely.

What a joke, she will never let go.

Xia Zhu wanted to tell Ying Huo the truth so he wouldn't seem so lonely and afraid, but her body could only keep her holding his hand tightly; she couldn't do anything else. Although the healing ability was working on her arm, there was nothing around Xia Zhu could use for leverage. She was maintaining her delicate balance by relying on the friction between her clothes and the ground, even blinking cautiously, afraid that a gust of wind from the horizon would send them both plummeting into the abyss.

But to her horror, Ying Huo's weight was increasing, as if countless hands were reaching out from the darkness to drag them both in. Her weight and the barely maintained friction could no longer maintain balance; in a few more seconds, they would both fall into the black hole.

Ying Huo's expression proved this; he was pale and desperate, and his grip on Xia Zhu's hand, which he had been holding tightly, began to loosen slightly. He probably knew she would let go of him, so that at least one of them could escape the dream alive.

Xia Zhu hated seeing him make that face, so she gripped his wrist even tighter, causing red bruises to appear on his transparent skin out of a vengeful urge.

The next second, the weight beneath them increased dramatically, and the two were uncontrollably pulled into the black hole.

It was so quiet that it made you wonder if you were still alive.

There was no feeling of falling, no howling wind, and nothingness before her eyes—not even blackness. The only thing that let Xia Zhu know she still existed in the world was Ying Huo holding her hand tightly.

Xia Zhu didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but she heard some faint sobs. When she realized that it was Ying Huo making the sound, her vision gradually returned.

A gust of wind swept across the boundless plains, bringing a sweet scent. She felt as if something had gotten on her face, so she wiped some off with her fingers.

It was red, viscous blood foam.

As the wind blew, it covered her skin.

Ying Huo had already released her hand and knelt down beside her in the mud, his head bowed. The dark red soil soaked his knees. Xia Zhu tried to move closer to him, but her fingers, stuck into the mud, were deeply sucked in. She struggled to pull her hand out, but instead pulled up a piece of human finger bone.

She stared blankly at her palm, only then realizing that the dark red substance wasn't soil at all, but a mixture of various tiny human organs and muscle tissues. The sheer volume of it was astounding, creating an entire field. She then noticed the mountains of corpses in the distance, and under the crimson sunset, the plains were strewn with broken battle flags.

The lingering effects of a war are palpable everywhere here.

There were no intact corpses on the battlefield, only fragments. Half of a body, cleaved in two by a giant axe, was still twitching on the ground, intestines dragging out like slippery snakes. A young warrior lay beside Ying Huo, half of his face sliced ​​off, revealing his pale cheekbones and gums, his hand still tightly gripping the broken handle of a long halberd.

Xia Zhu tried to stand up so she could take everything in and quickly analyze their location. But just as she was about to brace herself, she suddenly remembered something crucial, causing her to slump back down next to Ying Huo.

What they should really be thinking about is not the era they live in or the war they are in.

Instead, the key question is "Whose dream is this?"

Yes, this is still a dream. She hasn't forgotten that the two of them haven't left Ye Li's dream.

Was this another dream of Ye Li's? She subconsciously looked at Ying Huo, scrutinizing his fragile trembling.

Perhaps Ye Li watched a gory movie before going to bed.

That's all she could tell herself.

A muffled sound spread from the horizon, growing louder and louder, and the earth seemed to tremble. Long spears and short swords appeared under the huge setting sun. A formidable army was rushing towards the two of them, their roars piercing the eardrums, like a pack of hungry wolves spotting two lone lambs.

Without a second thought, Xia Zhu grabbed Ying Huo and ran, dragging him by the hand like a wooden puppet. The good thing was that Ying Huo was obedient enough not to resist, which put them in a difficult situation once again.

Running in the opposite direction, she suddenly stopped. There were troops approaching from the other side, their rattan armor clearly indicating they were from a different faction. They weren't lambs to the slaughter, but rather innocent bystanders who had stumbled into the conflict.

Xia Zhu pulled Ying Huo and started running to the side, hoping to escape the area where the two armies were fighting. However, the encirclement surged up like a tide, and she sank deep into the swamp of flesh and blood, unable to outrun the well-trained soldiers.

All she could do was pull a broken spear from the ground to block her and Ying Huo's path, praying that, like in the previous dream, these people couldn't see them at all.

But her hopes were dashed. Two soldiers charging at the front of the battle thrust their weapons at the two of them. She had no choice but to let go of Ying Huo's hand and join the fight, hoping that as an unknown official, he would at least have the ability to save his life.

Xia Zhu deflected the sharp blade in front of her and plunged her spear into the man's chest. She could feel the bone being pierced through the weapon, a sensation that was not pleasant. These people seemed to be ordinary humans, not demons or monsters.

She turned her head to dodge another person's attack. A flash of cold light appeared, and she suddenly opened her eyes wide. In the center of the iron weapon was a totem stained with blood.

It was a shooting star with a trailing tail.

Could these soldiers be Chi You's subordinates?

Taking advantage of the moment when he knocked down his opponent, he turned his head to check on Ying Huo's condition, only to find him still standing there absentmindedly, his hair no longer neatly combed back but hanging messily in front of his eyes.

The other army was approaching him, but he remained unmoved.

Xia Zhu angrily pulled the spear from the corpse and rushed to Ying Huo's side, just in time to block an attack for him. Fortunately, the two armies clashed, and most of the firepower was dispersed, giving her a chance to question Ying Huo.

"What are you doing?" She brushed aside the black hair that was blocking his eyes, only to see his face covered in tears. Xia Zhu admitted that there was nothing more unsettling than seeing a man cry, especially since this man was Ying Huo. Faced with his beauty, she could forgive everything.

She stopped speaking, silently took Ying Huo's hand, and fought her way back, trying to slowly leave the area of ​​the battle.

But the soldiers were already bloodthirsty, and Xia Zhu's resistance became increasingly difficult.

A long sword pierced through from the side, its blade grazing Ying Huo's face. It was too late to block the sword with her bare hand, so Xia Zhu simply grabbed the tip of the sword with her bare hand. Blood gushed out and flowed down her elbow. She couldn't watch out for what was in front of her, and the people fighting behind her tripped her up, causing her to fall forward uncontrollably. The two of them fell to the ground like that.

The wound on her palm was so deep that the bone was visible, and her healing ability was temporarily ineffective. The glaring blood was reflected in front of Ying Huo, and he finally came to his senses, staring blankly at Xia Zhu who was pressing down on him.

"Why...?" His voice was hoarse and bloodless, his pale hand trembling as he tried to cover Xia Zhu's wound, but she stopped him.

Xia Zhu stared at his lips as they slowly regained their color, watching them move slightly up and down as if trying to say something, perhaps an "I'm sorry" or something else.

But she stopped imagining. The two were too close, even their breaths could be exchanged intimately. She noticed that Ying Huo suddenly opened his eyes wide, his eyes filled with fear and inexplicable anger as he stared intently at her from behind.

"There's a hawk!" he shouted. Xia Zhu instantly flipped over and parried the long sword thrusting from behind.

The killing had reached a fever pitch, and the two had to leave immediately. She switched to a longer weapon and led the way, while Ying Huo got up, picked up the spear she had dropped, and followed closely behind.

As the enormous sun completely sank below the horizon, extinguishing all its light, the battlefield gradually came to a halt, and the two managed to escape to a safe location.

Xia Zhu threw away the long spear in her hand, tore off a corner of her pajamas, and haphazardly wrapped it around her rapidly healing hand. She did everything with her head down, her back always to Ying Huo.

It seemed like a long time had passed before Xia Zhu turned around. The wind blew from the ends of the earth to this hellish wasteland.

She looked directly into Ying Huo's eyes, but perhaps because of the dim light, she couldn't discern any hidden emotions within them. All she could see was the pale yellow of the setting sun casting a soft glow on his chin, where his skin was stained with dust.

"Thank you." His dry thanks came out without any preamble, and then there was no more conversation between them.

Xia Zhu sighed inwardly, turned and walked towards the horizon. The sun had disappeared, but there was still a glow on the horizon. Following the light was the right way to go.

The two people walked one after the other, and the sunset stretched their shadows on the ground infinitely long, but there were always moments when they overlapped.

No one asked the question that was on their mind.