Inside the cave, Yun's body was lying down on the cold ground. If not for faint breathing, one would think she were dead.
She had been in this state for a couple of hours now. Her clothes were drenched in sweat. There were blood marks on her dress probably from the injured hand. She had ripped off parts of her dress indicating the intense pain she had gone through. Smell if blood and piss wafted from her.
Finally, her breathing started to stabilize. Even after opening her eyes, they seemed listless. She felt she had spent an eternity experiencing only pain.
'It seems Young Master Yan felt pity for me, the pain was significantly lesser than yesterday. If it had been the original …' she shuddered at the thought.
Coming out of the cave, she looked like a beggar who has not eaten for weeks. Hair disheveled, clothes ripped in places, bloodstains all over, dried tears and snot on her face. The musty smell that came from her could make people not come near her without frowning.
'It seems there is still a chance that Young Master Yan could forgive me, he cleared all the beasts in this area so I won't die when I was defenseless. Though I can't say if he did it to help me or force me to endure pain by living,' she gave a wry smile and started moving towards the Lin family camp.
…
Moonshine Lake, Fallen Star Mountains.
Inside a large tent, Xue'er was currently in deep sleep. Elder Song had fed her the Detoxification pill that Xiao Yan had given him.
Xiao Yan had made use of a simple trick to make everyone believe he was still sleeping inside the camp when the attack happened. He had used a simple Substitution Doll, it didn't have any combat strength just creates a clone with the user's appearance. If someone tried touching it or even talking to it they would have found out it was just a dummy. Xiao Yan had used the same trick many times to sneak out of Xiao Clan.
During the intense battle, no one had time to check on him and after the battle, no one dared to, as Xiao Yan had said before leaving, 'Don't let my Young Master know I am here. It is his training. If you want to explain, say a wandering expert lent a hand.' Elder Song and others were too scared to even go and wake him up. Hence, when Xiao Yan came back this morning, he had taken out the dummy and slept peacefully in its place.
When Xiao Yan came into Xue'er's tent, he found her sound asleep. There was tear residue on the corner of her eye, her face was a bit pale but she still looked stunning, like a sleeping fairy.
Elder Song and others were sitting cross-legged around her. Yi and Elder Yue were sitting to her left and right respectively. When they heard someone entering, all of them turned around. When they saw Xiao Yan, except for Yi who was still holding Xue'er, rest of them stood up and made way for him.
But Xiao Yan didn't even notice them, he moved towards Xue'er and sat next to her. As if in his eyes except for Xue'er nothing else remained in this world. When he saw her sleeping face, he felt as if his heart was being stabbed by blade. He still felt it was his negligence that caused Xue'er pain.
They waited silently for an hour before sleeping Xue'er showed some reaction. Her eyelids started twitching, her fingers started shaking. Her brow furrowed as she was having a bad dream.
"Big brother Yan!!!" she yelled sat straight up with wide eyes but the pain from the wound on her back made her grimace.
When she saw Xiao Yan sitting next to her with a worried expression, all her nightmares disappeared like smoke and she smiled with tears running down her eyes. It was a simple smile from the bottom of her heart and tears weren't from sadness or pain, it was from pure happiness and bliss she felt. That smile was so beautiful, Xiao Yan's mind stopped working. His heart started beating a hundred times faster and before his brain could register what was happening, Xue'er rushed into his arms with tears still rolling down.
"Come on, let's give young one's some privacy," Elder Yue smiled and dragged everyone out with her.
neither Xue'er and Xiao Yan noticed them leaving.
Outside the tent,
"Is it okay? We don't even know his background," asked Elder Song.
"Whatever it is, I am sure of one thing. His family is terrifyingly strong. So strong it simply makes us despair," said another Elder.
"No matter what, I will support as long as our Xue'er is happy. And don't you remember? That expert said our Patriarch knows them," said Elder Yue.
When they were chatting, a guard rushed in, "Elders there is a problem at the entrance."
Meanwhile, inside the tent.
*snob* "snob*
Xue'er was still crying hugging Xiao Yan. He was already out of ideas for what to do. He might be an Emperor realm expert, but age-wise he was still a teenager. He had zero experience in matters of Love. Most of his time had been inside Clan where he was always training.
Without any options, he hugged her back lightly and started patting her back, "It's fine."
It sounded like a heavenly melody in Xue'er's ears which successfully calmed her down. A few seconds later Xue'er reluctantly left his embrace.
After an awkward pause, Xiao Yan tried to cheer her up "That was my last robe, now am I to go out naked? Ha-ha-ha" which failed spectacularly.
"Idiot," pouted Xue'er while her face turned beet red.
"Big brother Yan, when I the poison activated, I thought I was going to die. Can you guess what my biggest regret was?" asked Xue'er with a slight smile it seemed as if she had finally mustered enough courage to open up her heart.
"…" Xiao Yan shook his head.
"I thought I would never see you again and it filled my heart with so much pain that the wounds, poison no other pain came even close to it. It was as if my heart was being ripped apart beasts," tears started rolling from her eyes again.
"…" Xiao Yan could only remain silent and listen.
"Although I just met you a couple of days ago, just the thought of separating from you fills me up with so much pain that I am not able to handle it anymore. I don't know what's happening to me, I don't even know what this feeling is," said Xue'er.
"As long as I am alive, I want to be with you. Death seems easier than living without you."
"Big brother Yan, I Think I Love You," Said Xue'er with a wide smile as if a huge burden has been lifted from her shoulder. She now truly felt free.