I had never thought my inner core would be colder than winter's kiss. The last time I came here, I was only welcomed with darkness. A strong wind stirred the raining snow around us, the fuzzy fog rolled in thick ice. Which reminded me that my inner core had now become a winterland. Even the ground beneath us was frozen.
Kylin's power must have dropped the temperature, plummeting it into perpetual winter. Could it be because of E'mei, that fox fairy's dream butterflies triggered this to happen?
My thoughts were working, tracking back, analyzing everything. Then I ran my eyes suspiciously at Jie Moshu. Since I had met Kylin when I found out about that ultimate beauty poison flowing inside of my body, I didn't remember telling anyone about her. Not even after the sage herself told me revealing her presence would only cause me trouble.
But Jie Moshu knew about Kylin's existence?
"How did you—" I trailed off.
"It doesn't matter how I know about it," his hands around my waist grew tighter. "I promise I'll explain everything. Now you have to find Kylin. Fast."
I opened my mouth to ask more—did he even know Kylin might kill me just because he knew?—but the ground quaked beneath us surged again in a violent lunge, overpowering everything else.
I bit back a scream, squeezed my eyes shut. My lungs had frozen. My cheeks were tingling. All of my insides felt a prickle of panic: Oh my goodness, no. Oh no, no, no.
My mind began fathoming myself dying after having my first 'real' kiss. Though a much bigger reason because of the earthquake. But we shared a kiss! I would be amazed by my past life's memories of what happened after we kissed. Nothing was smooth. Either I was chased for my blood, executed, kidnapped… it all didn't end pretty.
I mean, shouldn't there be some romantic moment instead of this shaking and rumbling?
Shit. I almost threw up.
Suddenly, a bright, light flashed, followed by a crack of thunder. The ground trembled even stronger as though it was going to split open beneath our feet.
"You have to call Kylin now," Jie Moshu whispered. "We have to stop her before our way out is closed."
"H-h-how?" My eyes popped open, almost choked out of weariness. I swiveled my head to face him. "How am I supposed to do that? I don't know how!"
My fingers closed onto his shirt, and with more strength, I clenched them into fists. I was holding onto him to stop the world from spinning. Worse, there seemed to be two Jie Moshus in front of me now.
"Just close your eyes, and call out for her."
Easy for him to say. It wasn't like I could call her by phone, on the off chance no technologies could be used in my inner core. And I didn't have superpowers like him, who was practically a god. Okay, maybe I slightly overreacted, but how could I not be? I was the only human suffering from a deadly poison.
I closed my eyes again, but another rumble from beneath broke my concentration. My mind suddenly went blank. "I can't—I'm tapped out."
"Calm down," Jie Moshu drew in a breath. His voice somehow soothed me as he stroked my arm. "Hear me out, this is your inner core, Huayu. No one can hurt you, not even this earthquake. You can do it."
A violent lurch yanked my arms out from under me. I yelped as my chin hit his right shoulder and almost bumped my head to his jaw. Oh, God. Really? I was getting sick of feeling like a speck in a vast and dangerous world.
Being a god, Jie Moshu didn't seem overwhelmed with all of this. His words came out naturally to him as breathing. "It's just like when you called my name. Focus. Picture her, then push your senses."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to pinch in the concentration. For a moment, a hot, sweaty panic filled me but I pushed it away and forced myself to focus, to call up Kylin's image, just like that telepathic calling I had with Huashe. I could do this. I would do this.
Kylin, Kylin, Kylin—I chanted the sage's name in my head. Suddenly her image popped out, just momentarily. And then as quickly as it had come, the image vanished, leaving nothing behind but the empty echo of the wind in my head.
I shook my head out of frantic, "I get nothing! I felt nothing!"
Oh Heavens. We were going to die.
"Listen to me, I'm here with you." He leaned his head to me, both of his hands were on my cheeks. His neck was so close to my lips, I felt heat coming off his skin. His breath was warm against my ear. "Trust me, close your eyes. I'll always be with you, wife."
I saw Jie Moshu's fingertips glowed out of the corner of my eyes. A rush of warmth cascaded through my body, pulsing in time to my heartbeat, and I gradually felt calmer. I inhaled deeply, drawing in the soothing scent of that magic into me.
"Now, try to call her," he said in a low voice, swirling inside my head.
And I did.
Somehow, it felt a lot easier to focus this time as though the earthquake stopped. Then I pictured Kylin's mighty figure, focusing on the impression she left inside my soul. I could feel the relishing cool power flowing through my veins; then I pushed the sensation outward. Cold silver light flickered at the back of my mind. I dug deeper, and deeper into the light until I heard a loud groan ringing in my ears.
I arched an eyebrow, my mind called out, 'Kylin? Is that you?'
My voice echoed to the endless darkness of my mind, a frightened lonely little sound that seemed to stretch forever—
'Pretty soul,' a weak, strangled voice murmured.
Agony exploded on my chest, rushing like a burning river through my nerves, up to my brain. Surprised with the mixed pain—surprised that I could feel the sage's felt like it was mine. Grinding my teeth against the welling pain, I put in more strength as I concentrated on that flicker silvery light.
'Kylin, where are you? Are you hurt anywhere?' I whispered.
She answered in a sharp, direct tone. 'You know the reason why.'
And suddenly I did. The knowledge filled my mind. My breath hitched to find the image of Kylin sprawled underneath sharp pointy icicles with her horse-like dragon body cut and dark blue blood smearing everywhere. I looked over her wounded body, expecting nothing but her scales covered in hoarfrost. Her blue eyes stared right through my very soul. Maybe because she had done a great deed for me.
'I did this to you,' I said in a shaky voice. 'The second petal of ultimate beauty poison… you've suffered it in my place.'
She slightly nodded. 'I'm your protector after all. I won't die from this, but your mortal body will.'
I was surprised that I didn't cringe much. 'But why? How could this happen?'
'You've remembered what you shouldn't have,' Kylin answered me a few seconds later. 'The root of your torment and vengeance.'
'The memory from past lives,' I said in a small voice.
'Now, you're in great danger, my child,' the mythical sage shook her body, and those icicles crushed, ground into crystals. 'You may even encounter the gates of death sooner than I thought.'
Danger? I felt my head was going to explode. I mean, here I was getting a kick-ass mythical sage who was once the Heavenly Father's scallion to have my fortune read. And it was about nothing other than my time of death. Yeah, my brain was definitely exploding inside my skull.
'You've seen how your mortal past lives ended, don't you, Liu Huayu?' Kylin asked in a soft voice. 'About that priestess and they're people after for your life?'
I nodded.
'They're closer to finding your existence, heading to the Human World, sooner than anyone thinks. What you saw in your past lives was only traces of his followers, and you were now being aimed by the god they're serving. His prison is weakening, it's only a matter of time before his followers gained enough strength to release him.
Which is why you're in grave danger, pretty soul. You have my powers, it's what they need to let that evil god plunging the Three Worlds into second chaos.'
'Me?' I squeaked. 'Who's this god you're talking about?'
'The false god,' Kylin said with her eyes filled with hatred. 'One with no entity of an immortal body, living this world like a parasite.'
I was suddenly overwhelmed by the new information. And I didn't like the sound of that. My brain swam around inside my skull for a few seconds before it snapped back into place.
Instantly, the air around Kylin in my mind particularly felt heavy—and ominous, almost like it was a warning of things I didn't want to hear. I didn't know what specific reason had triggered the feeling. But one thing for sure, it suffocated me like wearing a corset compressing my lungs.
My stomach twisted at the thought of what she was going to say. For a moment, I was seized by the unbearable urge to cut off this connection. And I wanted to know nothing about this whole death matters that would befall me.
But it was too late.
'Dear child, he's none other than the God of the Sun.'