Chapter 131 Porcelain She inevitably recalled that sweltering, alcohol-scented atmosphere…
From afar, Xia Zhu spotted Ji Yinxiu's figure.
His white hair was so conspicuous that even the Xuanyuan Sword could not cut through the fiery waterfall amidst the scorching heat.
When heavenly fire falls to the ground, it spreads like water. When it lands on a person, it produces a cold blue flame that does not burn the skin and seems harmless, but it burns the soul to ashes from the inside out.
If a person's soul is like water, listen carefully, and you'll hear a chilling hissing sound all over the mountains and fields.
Xia Zhu walked step by step toward Ji Yinxiu, dodging the flames falling from the sky. She forced herself not to look up, but that cold gaze was always hanging above her, reminding her that everything at this moment was a premeditated murder.
Those who had fled into the forest rushed out again, their bodies engulfed in blue flames. It seemed that the fire had spread across the entire land. Someone ran past in a panic and knocked Xia Zhu over. She rolled away to avoid the debris from the collapsing houses. When she looked up, she saw Yun Xuan not far away, protecting two elderly people with her arms.
As if sensing something, Yun Xian slowly turned her head to meet Xia Zhu's gaze. She grinned at her and then said something.
The distance was too far and the cries were too loud, so she couldn't hear clearly, but she could still make sense of it from simple lip movements.
"goodbye."
She said goodbye.
Xia Zhu's expression froze on her face. She couldn't tell whether she wanted to cry or laugh. A small cluster of blue flames, like a butterfly, landed on Yun Xuan's outstretched arm, revealing a desolate and tragic beauty in the moonless night.
She held her breath and struggled to her feet, rushing towards Yun Huan without hesitation. In just a few seconds, the butterfly spread its wings and grew larger, swaying in the night wind and instantly transforming into a raging fire that enveloped the girl.
Yun Huan spread her arms and fell down.
Xia Zhu rushed to her side, trying to catch her with his hands.
"Don't touch me!"
But she sternly stopped him.
She lay on the ground, looking no different from usual except for the layer of smoke-like flames on her body; only the hissing sound that pierced her to the bone told her that this was not the case.
"Does it hurt?" Xia Zhu didn't know what to say. She lowered her head, and a tear fell onto Yun Xuan, but instantly turned into water vapor and dispersed into the wind.
"It's alright," Yun Xian said with a wry smile, "I just feel a little weak."
"I haven't said thank you yet." She tried to suppress the sobs in her throat, wanting to say a complete sentence to Yun Huan, "Thank you for letting me see Grandpa again."
"What's the big deal?" Yun Xian smirked, just like her usual dismissive attitude. "Sister, you saw it all, didn't you?"
"What?" Xia Zhu rubbed her eyes, the tears blurring Yun Xian's face.
“Those spirits.” Yun Xuan tried to point to them, to show them the spirits that had been burned by heavenly fire before they could return to the earth, but she was too weak and gave up after struggling for a moment.
"No matter how long someone has been dead, I can summon them back. Do you know what that means?"
Every word she uttered was uttered with strained breathiness. Xia Zhu wanted her to stop talking, but she couldn't bring herself to speak, so she shook her head.
“When Grandma Jinmei said you were the reincarnation of Nuwa, I didn’t believe it at all. Sister, people don’t have an afterlife.”
"A lifetime is over once it's over, so I selfishly cling to Ah-Hui's body and want to live well. Of course, silly Ah-Hui also has to live well."
"However, death is not scary for me. My mother and father are in that world, and there are many, many people waiting for me there."
"So sister, don't shed tears for me."
Xia Zhu knelt beside her, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam. She felt that she had shed more tears today than in the previous nineteen years combined, as if she wanted to drain all the water from her body.
She tried to wipe away the tears that had just welled up in her eyes with her sleeve. Yun Huan was slowly closing her eyes. She opened her mouth slightly, looked at the sky above her head, and spoke as softly as a breeze.
"Sister, do you think I can still go over there and be with Dad and Mom?"
The blue flames only gradually died down after Yun Huan closed her eyes completely. Xia Zhu wanted to get closer to see if her chest was still rising and falling, and two tears fell onto her face again.
Her body, which had been lifeless, suddenly twitched. Xia Zhu took a breath and saw her eyelashes tremble slightly before she slowly opened her eyes.
"Yun Jiu?" Xia Zhu called her name cautiously.
Yun Jiu felt as if she had slept for a long time, and her body was still a little tired. She turned her head to look at Xia Zhu and reached out a finger to touch the tears hanging on her chin.
"Why are you crying?" she asked.
Then, as if sensing something, her gaze slowly shifted to the air, and a cold tear slid down her fingertips into her palm.
"Where did my sister go?"
Xia Zhu held her hands in his arms, like a drowning person grabbing a piece of driftwood. She opened her mouth wide and gasped for breath, but still felt dizzy. She didn't understand why this was happening. The murderous flames that fell from the sky were as easy as boiling water poured on an anthill.
So many lives vanished in the blink of an eye; what could possibly drive the gods in heaven to such a point?
What about the abilities she briefly possessed? Did they give her the illusion of being a savior, giving her the right to look down on her ignorance and naivety?
Xia Zhu felt a chill creeping up her body. She couldn't understand what was happening in front of her, but it all seemed absurd, like a prank.
Many people collapsed around her, and she saw Grandma Jinmei and Yunyi.
Passing through the gray smoke and rising flames, she could no longer find Ji Yinxiu's figure.
Just like when Fengmian left, she couldn't do anything and could only watch everyone leave.
A few sparks fell onto the grass beside her, and the roof beams collapsed from above. Xia Zhu stopped crying and threw herself onto Yun Jiu. She could hear her heart still beating in her chest, her breathing regular, and felt the warmth from their skin touching.
Suddenly, something furry burrowed in from under Xia Zhu's arm. She looked down and saw a round head with no eyes, like a hairy dumpling.
"Xiao Yuan?"
After arriving at Yun's house, Xia Zhu hadn't seen Chaos much. She only occasionally saw it sneaking out of the kitchen after eating. Its whereabouts were unpredictable, and now it seemed to have appeared out of nowhere again.
Xiao Yuan rubbed her head against Yun Jiu on the ground, then suddenly jumped off her. Like a puppy, she shook her long fur and, right under Xia Zhu's nose, grew bigger and bigger like an inflating balloon. Then, she suddenly opened her big mouth and swallowed Yun Jiu whole.
Xia Zhu stared blankly at it, then saw Chaos drifting towards her.
"I'm not leaving!" She realized that Xiaoyuan was trying to save Yunjiu, and shook her head at it. "I'm not leaving. You take her and escape to a safe place."
Xiao Yuan seemed to hesitate for a moment, still wanting to move closer to her.
"Run!"
Xia Zhu got up from the ground, ran two steps in the opposite direction, and then looked back. Xiao Yuan finally swayed her body nimbly to avoid a cluster of heavenly fire, and quickly disappeared from sight with Yun Jiu.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief and threw herself back into the fire.
She needs to find Ji Yinxiu.
The heavenly fire intensified like a torrential downpour, leaving almost nowhere to hide. But she couldn't care less. Ji Yinxiu had come here with her. If they were in Xuanyuan Hill, the Ji family would surely have a way to deal with it and save him from death.
But he chose to be with her.
So she has to find him.
In the firelight, she saw a figure from behind, his short white hair stained with ash, yet he still held the sword.
"Summer candle!"
She heard Ji Yinxiu calling her name, and tried to respond but choked on a mouthful of smoke. Xia Zhu pounded her chest and coughed violently. She looked up and started running without a care in the world.
Suddenly, an invisible pressure descended upon her head. Xia Zhu felt a chilling heat force her to stop. She froze on the spot and tried to look up, but was suddenly tackled and rolled several times before disappearing into the stilted building next to her that had not yet completely collapsed.
The man held her tightly, encircling her entirely in his arms. She smelled a familiar scent mixed with a burnt smell.
"This isn't some dream where you can do it all over again. How can you just blindly rush in like this?"
"Ying Huo?"
Xia Zhu knew it was him; his scent was so familiar, she had once described it as a sudden downpour on a grassy field, which seemed to instantly soothe the dryness and sting in her throat. She was somewhat delighted and pulled away from his embrace.
"Why are you still here? Aren't you...?"
The second half of her words got stuck in her throat, and Xia Zhu felt as if her lungs had been compressed instantly, making it impossible for her to breathe in any oxygen.
"What's wrong?" Ying Huo couldn't help but laugh when he saw her stunned expression.
“Fire…” Xia Zhu uttered the word with difficulty.
The eerie blue flames burned most of the right side of his face, but they did not spread as quickly as they did on others. The flames seemed to be imprisoned on his right cheek by something, enveloping his eyes, ears, and black hair as they swayed with the flames.
"Oh, that explains why it hurts so much." He released Xia Zhu, sat down beside her, and chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Isn't it interesting? I'm not so afraid of pain anymore."
Xia Zhu didn't speak, staring intently at his face.
Not only was the fire burning on him different from others, but the areas burned by the flames were also different.
Ying Huo's right cheek cracked like some kind of porcelain. Under the fierce burning of the fire, a small piece was peeling off. But what was exposed under his skin was not blood and flesh, but a silvery-blue gemstone luster.
At this moment, he looked like a cold and perfect work of art, perhaps created by the most advanced scientific technology. The movement of his eyes and the fine lines that appeared when he pursed his lips all showed his exquisite craftsmanship, yet none of them made Xia Zhu feel scared.
Ying Huo's expression changed slightly; he saw his own reflection in Xia Zhu's eyes.
"You're not even human?" Xia Zhu found it somewhat amusing to ask this question, but her smile froze awkwardly on her lips.
"Not human?" Ying Huo sneered. "I wish I weren't human." He reached up and scratched his left side of his hair, his voice becoming somewhat low. "I'm at least half a human, aren't I?"
Xia Zhu found it utterly absurd. She sat on the ground, her shoulders slumped, looking extremely disheveled and covered in dust.
"Can you tell me what happened now?"
Ying Huo glanced at her and sighed, "Alright, but none of this has anything to do with me. It's all part of the bet between Shao Dian and You Jiao. I'm just a bettor."
"What?" Xia Zhu found it unbelievable. "A bet?" She felt like she was about to laugh in anger. "You're saying this natural disaster was just a bet?"
Ying Huo immediately raised his hands, "No, no, no, the Heavenly Fire was purely Xiao Bai's own fault, it has nothing to do with the two of them, and of course, it has nothing to do with me either."
Hearing his words, Xia Zhu was even more confused. "Shao Dian is the main god?"
Ying Huo nodded. "There have always been two main gods, but they are not gods."
Xia Zhu thought for a moment, "So, besides the Lord... besides Shao Dian and those three demon gods, you and You Jiao also live in the Rift of Time? The Rift of Time is also your home?"
“Home?” Ying Huo’s expression became awkward. “I have never had a home.” He raised his eyes and looked at Xia Zhu. His voice sounded somewhat unreal. He said, “Xia Zhu, I never stopped before I met you. Whether I was running away or hiding, there was no place for me in this world. When I first found you, I did mistake you for You Jiao in disguise. But I soon realized that you are not. You are yourself.”
There seemed to be something flickering in his eyes as he looked at Xia Zhu. Xia Zhu didn't know if it was tears or something else. She wondered absentmindedly, "Does someone like him cry?"
Ying Huo just looked at her, as if he wanted to say something, but after a sigh, he decided to say nothing.
"Xia Zhu, let's not worry about the truth anymore, okay? Although I don't know the outcome of the bet, none of that matters now."
His right cheek had peeled away even more severely; apart from his eyeball, it seemed there was nothing human left. His once-proud face now looked comically like a ceramic toy carelessly tossed on the ground. The outside world was collapsing, and in this building whose future was uncertain, it seemed there was no point in clinging to anything anymore; it was other things that were teetering on the brink of collapse.
Xia Zhu stared at his face.
Will you die?
Ying Huo didn't answer her question, but instead smiled and said, "Why don't you ask yourself if you'll die?"
Xia Zhu pursed her lips and remained silent, still looking at him with that stubborn expression.
As if in resignation, he suddenly opened his arms to her.
"Okay, do you want to hug me?"
Xia Zhu stood frozen in place, unresponsive.
He added, "Maybe if you hug me, I won't even be afraid of death."
Xia Zhu felt her hands trembling slightly. Before she could react, a loud bang came from above. Ying Huo suddenly grabbed her hand, and the world spun before her eyes as he pinned her down.
The stilted house seemed unable to withstand the pressure any longer and began to disintegrate and collapse from top to bottom. Xia Zhu reached out to touch his face, but he grabbed her hand.
"Xia Zhu, listen to me. Although I don't know the outcome of that bet, I know you will live, you will definitely live..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xia Zhu suddenly pulled her hand away and wrapped it around his neck.
“I like you,” she said.
"I like you very much. I've liked you since the first time I saw you."
A moment of stunned silence appeared on Ying Huo's face. He lowered his head, his long hair sweeping over Xia Zhu's forehead, his left pupil slightly dilated. He stared at her for a long time, as if trying to etch her current appearance into his mind forever.
Then he smiled, but looked somewhat helpless because the right half of his face was almost gone.
He said, "If you had told me sooner, maybe I wouldn't have wanted to die."
Xia Zhu stared blankly at him, but then she heard a burst of sound in her ears, which turned into a long buzzing sound. She could hear nothing but that gray eye, which was brighter than the full moon tonight.
She seemed to have returned to that hot night when the smell of alcohol permeated the air, the world disappeared from her sight, and only the moon remained in her heart.
Xia Zhu refused to close her eyes, yet the world was inevitably plunged into darkness.
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