Chapter 99 The World Turns, Time Presses On (Part Four) Scattered Jade and Broken Pearls...

It's a deep night, and the bright moon shines brightly.

Everything in sight was rapidly receding to both sides of him, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the trees echoing the beating of his heart.

Yu Chan walked alone in the dark night. Looking at the gradually familiar surroundings, Xia Zhu guessed that she must be sneaking up to Qiongyin again.

She ran through the woods, and Natsumi, who was closely connected with Isuzu, was also jolted up and down, her vision blurred. Fortunately, it was dark, and not being able to see things clearly made her feel less dizzy.

For some reason, Yu Chan stopped, took a step back, and looked up at a spot in the sky where there were no branches to block the view.

A strange, long-tailed red star appeared on the horizon, dyeing the night clouds as if the sky were on fire.

That's the top of Qiongyin Mountain.

The cicada stopped and quickened its pace.

Si You's little house was just ahead, with glimmers of light shining through the window. Yu Chan breathed a sigh of relief, took three steps at a time, and strode into the yard, pushing open the wooden door.

Si You sat cross-legged on his bedding with his back to the door. A grease lamp stood on a small table in the center, and there was another person opposite him.

A man dressed in black silk robes and wearing a bronze mask.

"A-Chan? What brings you here?"

Si You turned around and found Yu Chan standing outside the door with a look of horror on her face. He straightened up and whispered something to the person sitting opposite him, then stood up and walked towards Yu Chan.

"Who is he?" Yu Chan subconsciously took two steps back.

"A-Chan, listen to me..."

Si You's voice vibrated and distorted in the air, as if this memory was being fractured due to someone's emotional fluctuations. Xia Zhu couldn't hear what he said to Yu Chan.

She was just staring at the other person in the room.

Although the black-haired man wore a demon mask with a blue face and fangs, the part of his wrist exposed by the wide sleeves of his robe, which he rested his chin on his hand while leaning against the table, was delicate and fair.

Si You and Yu Chan's voices turned into sharp tinnitus that drilled into Xia Zhu's brain. She heard her heart pounding heavily in her chest, her blood rushing, and her body temperature rising.

Following his wrist upwards, Xia Zhu noticed a red tattoo on the man's naturally bent right knuckle.

Even from a distance, she could still see it clearly. It meandered and unfurled, like a cloud or a perpetually shining star.

Suddenly, an invisible spark, like an electric current, ignited in the dry air. As if sensing something, the masked man abruptly looked up in this direction.

Xia Zhu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and the skin on the back of her neck tighten. She had a strange feeling that the person was not looking at Yu Chan, nor at the Isuzu hanging around Yu Chan's neck, but rather looking at Xia Zhu through the span of ten thousand years.

Just one glance, looking into those light gray eyes, and everything changed.

The scene changed in an instant. Before Xia Zhu could recover from the shock, she immediately heard Yu Chan's heavy breathing.

She seemed to have just woken up from a nightmare, and all she could see was ordinary darkness.

“Si You…” Yu Chan murmured to herself, then suddenly seemed to remember something, jumped off the bed and rushed out the door.

She ran all the way to the foot of Qiongyin Mountain, but instead of going straight up the mountain as usual, she circled around half of it before finally deciding to run in a certain direction.

Xia Zhu knew that she must have sensed Si You's location, relying on nothing more than two hearts that had once been closely intertwined, disregarding all common sense.

She ran further and further away, the moon set and the stars slanted across the sky, the sky turning blue on the mountain ridge. Yu Chan had unknowingly reached the border of Puyang, but she had no intention of stopping.

A figure suddenly rushed out from the side and pounced on Yu Chan without warning. Before the ice blade could even be flipped out of her hand, she smelled the crisp scent of pine wood.

The two rolled into the grass by the roadside. The heavens and the earth spun overhead, and in the blink of an eye, it felt like ten thousand years had passed. In Yu Chan's world, there was only one pair of dark and unclear eyes, yet filled with uncontrollable longing.

"You still came, I knew it."

Si You lay on Yu Chan's body, his tone filled with undisguised joy. His cool fingers caressed her eyebrows and eyes, and Yu Chan heard the morning dew falling from the tips of the grass beside her ear.

He slowly approached, their foreheads touching, and Yu Chan's body undulated like surging waves.

"Achan, this is the first time in my life that I have descended into the depths of despair." His voice was soft and slow, but Yuchan could detect the tremor hidden beneath his calm demeanor.

"A-Chan, can you smell it? The scent of the morning sun shining on the green grass. Is the mountain breeze blowing from afar? Soon, we'll be able to see for ourselves..."

"Si You... how are we going to leave here?" Yu Chan whispered. She actually wanted to ask if they were really going to leave Puyang, but she was afraid and didn't dare to ask. Si You looked so happy; she had never seen such a gentle and tender expression on his face.

Eighteen years have passed, and he has finally broken free from his shackles and truly stepped into this world.

She should be happy for him.

"That person... promised me that once we leave Puyang, a demon god will come to our aid. In an instant, we'll travel thousands of miles. All you need to do is close your eyes and open them again, and we'll be in the east where the sun rises. Is that alright?"

His palm lightly touched Yu Chan's cheek, and she could feel the unease and anxiety beneath her skin. So Yu Chan grasped that hand and rubbed her face against it.

"Okay." She heard herself answer with unwavering conviction.

A slight tremor ran through the ground beneath her, startling birds from the distant woods, where a trail of fire seemed to meander. Yu Chan suddenly felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. She anxiously searched for Si You's eyes, but he covered her face with his hands. The world plunged into darkness, but her other senses became heightened. She realized that Si You was holding her tightly in his arms, and their trembling hearts nestled together once more.

She heard a hidden sob coming from her chest, as if a small beast was hiding there, no longer hiding or pretending not to care, determined to let out all the grievances and pain of the past eighteen years.

Yu Chan also heard a dense, rain-like sound of footsteps coming towards the two of them from all around.

“Yu Chan.” Si You suddenly called out her name.

"Live well."

That was the last thing he said to her.

A rain of icy blades fell from the sky, piercing deep into the grass beside them.

Warm tears welled up in Xia Zhu's eyes; she knew it was Yu Chan crying.

*

When she woke up again, Yu Chan was all alone.

The image in my mind froze at the moment when the female cultivator led the unidentified official from her clan to the border.

Her mind was foggy, as if something sticky and thick was binding her thoughts, and there was a herbal taste in her throat. Yu Chan sat up from the bed and looked out the window.

The daylight was bright and clear, yet the tribe was eerily silent, as if only the sound of the wind could be heard.

A bad feeling welled up inside her, and she got out of bed, her steps unsteady as she walked to the window.

At this time of day, an old woman would lead a group of children to practice martial arts in the square in front of the main hall, or at the very least, men would pass by the window chatting while carrying bowls of rice. But now, the sun was high in the sky, and there was not a soul in sight outside the window. A gentle breeze stirred the twin flowers planted under her windowsill; the newly formed buds trembled precariously, one struggling to bloom while the other had completely withered and lifeless.

She felt a sharp pain in her chest, which pulled at her lungs and made it difficult to breathe. Yu Chan knelt down uncontrollably, bracing herself with her hands on the ground to prevent herself from falling headfirst.

A warm breeze blew over her head, but echoed emptyly inside her, as if something was missing.

What is it?

Yu Chan clutched her chest tightly.

"Si You... Si You!"

She struggled to stand up, but her limbs were still weak. Realizing that her mother must have fed her something, she flicked her wrist to create a curved ice blade and stabbed it into two acupoints on her palm and neck. The pain felt like two clear springs that instantly cleared her stagnant meridians.

Ignoring the blood flowing from his wound, he hurriedly left the house and ran towards the square.

It felt like walking on soft clouds; even though I could move, my body was still strained. The sun was like a drum covered with animal skin at a celebration, the drumsticks pounding with unstoppable force.

Strange chanting echoed in Yu Chan's ears, pulling her into a vortex of illusion in sync with the drumbeats. Her eyes seemed to be veiled in mist, making it impossible for her to discern the path ahead. The world spun around her, forcing her to stop, close her eyes, and try to discern the faint heartbeat beneath the chaotic and eerie sounds.

One sound, two sounds…

Accompanied by the clanging sound of ice blades slicing through the air.

Without seeing, relying solely on senses, the cicada stumbled along, leaving behind a winding stream of blood.

The closer she got to that familiar heartbeat, the more uneasy she became. It wasn't until she heard the commotion of the crowd that Yu Chan opened her eyes.

The area in front of the main hall was crowded with clansmen, all with solemn expressions and disgust on their faces.

Her mother, a female cultivator, stood below the high platform surrounded by a crowd, perhaps with two other brothers beside her. On the lonely high platform, only Si You knelt there in a humiliating posture of atonement, his hands tied behind his back to the Xuan Bird Pillar symbolizing the god Zhuanxu.

A turbid feeling stagnates in Yu Chan's chest, her eyes become burning hot, her breath is scorching, and even her teeth begin to chatter. She unconsciously twists the front of her clothes.

Crime? What crime did he commit?

Yu Chan couldn't help but think, but her fingers trembled involuntarily.

"Si You, you still don't realize your mistake!"

The female cultivator's voice came from afar, its powerful tone resonating among the totem poles surrounding the main hall, ensuring that every member of the tribe could hear how their wise and selfless leader had decided on the fate of her own child.

The deeply sinful man kept his head down, seemingly with no intention of defending himself.

He stared at the land before him, recalling the day eighteen years ago when he was born here. Perhaps most of the people below the stage witnessed his birth, but before his cries could escape his throat with confidence, his mother sent him to the underworld.

Eighteen years isn't a long time, yet it passed in the blink of an eye. But those lonely nights, with loneliness washing over me like the tide, were so hard to bear.

Ah, he suddenly chuckled softly, wondering how he managed to get through those difficult days.

Then, Si You remembered a face, a face that was incredibly similar to her own, like a reflection in water.

The female cultivator saw that her son did not respond to her accusations, and her anger was brewing among the crowd. She heard them accusing Si You of being unruly and disobedient despite bearing the name of the plague demon, and of trying to steal away Zhuanxu's future hope.

So she looked up, raised her hand, glanced at the vast blue sky, and twisted her wrist to form a sharp ice blade, which she then swung at the person on the stage.

*Pfft*

The ice blade pierced through the body, easily shredding it like fish on a wooden chopping board being sliced ​​by a stone knife.

"Si You, do you know you were wrong?" she continued loudly.

Hidden behind the crowd, Yu Chan trembled all over. She tried to open her mouth but could not make a sound. She didn't even have the strength to lift her hand. Just standing there and witnessing everything felt like her life had been exhausted.

Si You couldn't actually hear his mother's question at all. His thoughts had already drifted back to the Qiongyin Mountain, which he had spent his whole life trying to escape. In those flickering past images, he heard that familiar voice softly calling his name. He longed to see her face again.

So Si You struggled to lift his head, even though this action would cause his cotton-like body to bleed more, but through the crowd, he actually saw that face.

"You're here again. I knew it."

He murmured softly.

It just seemed incredibly sad.

Yes, Si You couldn't help but think that during those painful and lonely days, only Yu Chan was the only spark in his cold life.

Everything happened so fast. Suddenly, a man's furious voice rang out from the crowd. He shouted, "Kill him! Kill this unrepentant plague demon!" Then the tribesmen erupted into chaos. In the shoving and pushing, a young girl was pushed onto the stage. She looked around blankly, as if she had no idea what was going on. But the next second, her expression changed drastically. As if in a nightmare, she raised her hand towards Si You on the stage. Countless sharp ice spikes shot out from her palm, piercing his thin body like a rain of ice.

Shouts erupted from below the stage, as they proclaimed that this was the will of the supreme god, and the female cultivator's voice was drowned out by the deafening roar.

His snowflake-like body was slowly melting away under the burning gaze of the crowd, the accumulated blood forming a small river at his knees, until the last breath of life was drained away.

Just when everyone thought the matter was over.

Suddenly, an extremely sinister black aura rose from Si You's corpse. Like billowing smoke, it fiercely blocked out the sun and shrouded the entire Zhuanxu tribe in gloom.

The once-boiling crowd suddenly cooled down, followed by immense panic and fear.

Everyone heard that familiar voice hovering overhead, carrying an undeniable sinister and terrifying rage, leaving behind a curse that would haunt them for millennia to come.

"My name is Si You. With this body and these bones, I will use my three souls and seven spirits to cast a wicked curse, determined to cause chaos and persecution among the descendants of Zhuanxu for generations to come! May they be united with their enemies! May they never find peace for all eternity!"

Everyone present was terrified by the black aura, their legs trembling. Only the female cultivator stared blankly at the skeleton on the platform, muttering to herself.

"Are you really... a plague demon?"

At this point, the past history came to an end, and the entire Zhuanxu was shrouded in fear. They naturally believed that this was all because the plague demon was unjustly killed by the leader and turned into evil energy.

As the turbid air rose to his head, Yu Chan felt a tightness in his throat and vomited a mouthful of stagnant blood.

She stared blankly as the black mist fled above the square, her pupils suddenly shrinking.

That's not how it works.

The cicada tried to open its mouth, but black blood gushed out again.

That's not how it works.

Just now, she witnessed a transparent, white shadow descend from the sky, entering Si You's body before he breathed his last. Then, black energy emerged, and an evil curse appeared.

This matter is not so simple, yet no one seems to have noticed.

"No...that's not it...that's not Si You!"

"He gave up...he gave up a long time ago..."

That's why they stopped her within the boundaries of Puyang.

So the last thing he told her was to live well.

He had long foreseen his fate and accepted it calmly.

She collapsed to the ground, using her last strength to scream in a heart-wrenching voice, but her sound dissipated within half a meter, as if melting into water. No one heard her cries, no one saw her despair and helplessness.

Except for summer candles.