Chapter 123: A Lone Man and Woman in the Cave

Chapter 123: A Lone Man and Woman in a Cave

Lu Xuemei had accidentally revealed the little secret in her heart in front of her brother. A blush spread across her breathtakingly beautiful face, and she was so embarrassed that she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.

“Hahaha!”

Watching his sister’s bashful expression, Lu Zhengtian laughed heartily.

“A perfect match! A perfect match! In my eyes, only Brother Li Hao is worthy of such an outstanding sister of mine.”

Lu Xuemei flushed with embarrassment and anger.

“Brother, you’re awful! I’m not speaking to you anymore!”

Now that her little secret had been discovered by her brother, Lu Xuemei’s heart pounded wildly out of control. At the thought of Li Hao’s handsome, dashing face, she felt nervous, excited, and expectant all at once.

Looking at his adorable sister, Lu Zhengtian felt both sorrowful and reluctant at the thought that one day this beautiful girl might run off with Li Hao.

The two siblings stopped while they were ahead and did not continue discussing the awkward subject.

Before the wind and thunder arrived, Lin Huashu and Qin Yanyun had also found a cave in which to take shelter.

Lin Huashu and Qin Yanyun were alone together in the cave, a man and a woman with no one else around. Although they were sworn siblings in name only, the circumstances still made them extremely tense.

Before long, the sound of wind and thunder reached them, giving Lin Huashu an opportunity to speak. Hoping to ease the awkward atmosphere, he listened to the roaring storm outside and gazed toward the cave entrance.

“Across empty mountains, wandering toward the edge of the world,
The sounds of wind, thunder, and rain rise to the heavens.
The storm descends from the highest skies, roaring through the night,
Countless grains of sand fly like barrels in the gale.
Endless stones and dust whirl wildly in the wind,
Leaving hearts pounding and bodies worn thin.
Where thunder crashes and raging winds pour down,
Heaven and earth lose their color, and trembling grips the heart.
Before falling asleep, one lies fully clothed upon the bed,
While a lovely maiden brushes the hair from her temples with jade-like hands.
The wind cuts across her delicate cheek like a blade—
Which maiden’s heart would not ache?
In this harsh land, the cold is like ice,
And worry congeals in the heart like frozen water.
At the first cry of the wind, courage melts away;
People panic, terrified to face it.
Yet beside me sits a charming younger sister, my heart burning like fire—
On this first night in the cave, we await the storm’s end.”

Qin Yanyun heard Lin Huashu muttering to himself and understood that he was trying to ease the awkwardness between them.

She grasped the general meaning of his words. He was expressing how terrible the conditions were that night, as well as the tension between them.

Qin Yanyun then said,

“Living apart from all others in this cold autumn cave,
I leave my silken robes untouched and stand quietly within.
When will calm finally arrive?
When the wind comes and thunder rises, sorrow fills my heart.
The lonely wind comes of its own accord, and so does sorrow.
One kind of unrest, countless places of grief.
How can this feeling and scene ever be dispelled?
It leaves the brow, only to rise again within the heart.”

Lin Huashu immediately understood her meaning. Qin Yanyun was worried and sorrowful over the unsettled night that lay ahead.

When she finished speaking, Lin Huashu comforted her.

“Little Sister Yanyun, you need not worry so much. Nothing happened last night or the night before, did it?”

The moment Qin Yanyun heard him mention the previous night, she remembered the storm that had ravaged her without the slightest mercy. Her heart grew heavy with distress.

Lin Huashu still had no idea that he had touched upon her painful memories.

Qin Yanyun thought to herself:

“The two of us are sitting here in silence, and the atmosphere is so tense. We might as well find something to talk about and get through tonight first.”

With that thought, and not knowing what else to discuss, Qin Yanyun told Lin Huashu about what had happened to her the night before.

“It is rather embarrassing to speak of, and I hope Brother will not laugh at me. Last night, I failed to find a proper place to hide and ended up beneath a mountain cliff. I was battered by the violent storm all night, and today I feel utterly worn out.”

Lin Huashu felt a faint ache in his heart when he heard this. He asked her with concern,

“I am truly sorry. I was a poor brother and failed to think things through. I brought up an unpleasant memory for you. Last night’s storm sounded terrifying even from a distance. Were you injured?”

Hearing the concern in his voice, Qin Yanyun felt a warm current rise within her. She smiled faintly, her smile graceful and lovely, then replied,

“Thank you for your concern, Brother. I am fine. I simply had to sustain a barrier of law throughout the night and resist the storm, so I look rather haggard today. I have also been terribly unlucky. Not long after the storm stopped today, I went out for a stroll and ran into that bastard Jiang Jianghua of the Ten Thousand Poisons Palace.”

When Lin Huashu heard this, he felt that he had to say something. Otherwise, he would seem like a useless brother with no manly spirit. At last, he said to Qin Yanyun,

“Little Sister, do not dwell on unhappy things. What is past is past. Tonight, I will protect you.”

Qin Yanyun was delighted by his words. But after looking at Lin Huashu, she also felt that this handsome scholar might merely be putting on a brave front.

Remembering that Lin Huashu possessed little combat ability, she thought to herself:

“You certainly know how to boast. Aren’t you afraid of biting your tongue? You have hardly any fighting ability, yet you want to protect me. By the end, I will probably be the one protecting you.”

Naturally, she could never say such words aloud. They would deal Lin Huashu a terrible blow and make him lose face. The thought merely flashed through her mind.

After all, Lin Huashu had shown such concern for her. She could not pretend it meant nothing. She was a well-mannered, sensible girl who knew how to repay kindness, so she had to offer at least a polite response.

She said to him,

“Then I thank you for your concern, Big Brother.”

Hearing this, Lin Huashu felt that protecting the girl before him was only natural. He replied casually,

“There is no need to thank me. It is only right that an elder brother protect his younger sister.”

Just as the two were becoming engrossed in conversation, the wind outside grew stronger and rudely interrupted them. The thunder also deepened, its rumbling causing their hearts to tremble faintly.

Hearing the furious howls of the gale and the dull thunder outside, their thoughts were interrupted, and both turned their attention to the storm raging through the night.

Lin Huashu noticed something unusual about the wind and thunder.

He turned to Qin Yanyun beside him and asked,

“Little Sister, have you noticed that tonight’s thunder and storm are different from those of the past?”

Hearing his question, Qin Yanyun answered,

“You noticed it too, Big Brother? I thought I was imagining things.”

Lin Huashu replied,

“This is no illusion. It is real. The wind and thunder tonight possess the power to disturb one’s mind. Our emotions are being affected by the violent storm, making us irritable.”

Qin Yanyun sensed it for herself, then answered,

“It really is just as you said, Brother.”

Not long afterward, the storm penetrated the cave where the two of them were sheltering.

Watching the fierce wind surge toward them, Lin Huashu reminded Qin Yanyun anxiously,

“Little Sister, be extremely careful. Tonight’s storm is many times stronger than last night’s. It has actually entered the cave.”

Hearing his warning, Qin Yanyun was deeply grateful.

“You must be careful too, Brother.”

“Mm. I will.”

The small happiness they had found amid their hardship lasted for about a quarter of an hour, as though the heavens of this world within a world had grown jealous of them. Then torrential rain suddenly began to pour down.

Both of them developed an ominous feeling.

Lin Huashu said to Qin Yanyun,

“Why do I feel as if something is going to happen tonight?”

“Do you feel it too, Brother? I do as well. My instincts tell me that danger is drawing closer with this heavy rain.”

“Damn it!”

Qin Yanyun was startled when Lin Huashu suddenly cried out in panic. Completely puzzled, she asked,

“What happened, Brother?”

Hearing her question, Lin Huashu replied,

“This rain is so dangerous. I am worried that my little sister has no one to look after her. I am afraid something may happen to her.”

Qin Yanyun understood whom he was worried about and comforted him.

“You need not be so concerned, Brother. Perhaps she is with her friends. She may be perfectly safe.”

Lin Huashu said to her, “If she encounters danger, only the siblings Lu Zhengtian and Lu Xuemei are strong enough to help her. As for her other friends, every one of them is at a lower cultivation level than the last. None of them is capable of protecting her.”

“Do not worry too much, Brother. We do not even know where she is right now. Worrying will not help. Let us get through tonight first, then continue searching for her tomorrow. Once we find her, we can protect her together.”

Hearing Qin Yanyun comfort him so thoughtfully, Lin Huashu’s favorable impression of the beautiful girl before him deepened without his realizing it.

The relationship between Qin Yanyun and Lin Huashu seemed destined to develop into love over time.

In the cave where Li Hao and the other seven were sheltering, halfway up a mountain peak, they had not yet been affected by the heavy rain. For the moment, they only had to resist the violent wind.

Even so, Lu Yao’s fragrant sweat had already soaked through her clothes, which clung tightly to her petite, exquisite body. The barrier of law formed from the laws of heaven and earth was also on the verge of collapse. Li Zhan, Kui Hu, and Ling Guanghan had begun to feel the strain as well.

At this point, only Lin Xueyou, Zhen Ba, and Li Hao still had energy to spare.

Everyone knew perfectly well that if the storm continued like this, their strength would eventually be drained completely by the night’s violence. When that happened, they would face a true, endless crisis.

They had also begun to sense that these peaceful days would last only three brief days. Afterward, conditions would become increasingly difficult and dangerous, until they might eventually be unable to take even a single step.

Li Hao was deeply worried. He was worried about how they would survive the night, whether Lu Yao could hold on, and how much longer the friends beside him could endure. He kept thinking, searching for another way out and trying to find a solution to the crisis before them.

As he thought, Li Hao warned everyone,

“Hold on, everyone. Do not give up. This is only a trial. If we endure, we win. Every additional minute and second we hold out gives us a greater chance of survival. Do not be too worried. There will be a way. There must be a way. Let us think together and see whether we can find another solution.”

Hearing Li Hao’s words, everyone began racking their brains for a way to resolve the crisis before them.

They struggled on for another two hours.

By then, many cultivators who could no longer endure had already been eliminated and vanished from the world within a world. The most serious casualties were among the group trapped by the floodwaters. The cultivators swept away by the flood were also the ones eliminated in the greatest numbers.