Chapter Ninety-One: The Rift! (A Five-Thousand-Word Chapter)

A voice suddenly rang out, right in front of Yu Daoyi, yet he seemed to hear nothing at all. He kept repeating the motion of throwing punches, kept laughing wantonly, and on his strikingly handsome face there surfaced an expression of haughty contempt for the world, as though he would not rest until everything before him had been destroyed.

"You! You're trapped in an illusion!" A tremendous voice came from the peach tree, like a thunderclap over the head, a sudden awakening.

Yu Daoyi came to himself in an instant. The black markings on his body vanished at once, and the space grew calm. Then everything that had been ruined before him slowly began to restore itself. Yet whether because it had been restored too many times already, the speed this time was far slower than in the past, as though its strength had been greatly weakened.

After several breaths, the illusion finally returned to its original state, only the sky did not remain as clear and blue as before. It was still dim and heavy, and the rain had not stopped.

Lowering his head, Yu Daoyi looked at his rain-soaked hands. They were a pair of hands white as jade, flawless and perfect, so perfect that they felt unfamiliar even to him.

Yet his face was full of bitter wryness. He lightly pressed a hand to his forehead, then sat down heavily on the grass, wet with rain.

"What... happened to me?" Yu Daoyi asked himself silently in his heart, but there was no answer.

The power within him began to ebb away slowly, and as if suffering a lingering aftereffect, an overwhelming weakness surged over him, even stronger than in the previous times.

The strange, handsome, flawless features on his face underwent subtle changes; here and there, sharp edges began to take shape, and he returned once more to his former refined appearance, no longer so dazzlingly beautiful.

The scarlet radiance on Yu Daoyi's body dispersed into nothing, and his crimson hair shortened greatly, then turned black and fell over his shoulders. His pair of formerly crimson, uncanny eyes now held an indescribable weariness.

After the power faded, he began to gasp violently. Whether it was the misty fine rain before him or his own extreme fatigue, his vision blurred. Faintly, he saw that peach tree no longer had the lush abundance it had shown before.

What entered his eyes was a dying peach tree, its petals fallen, its branches withered, its entire body steeped in a dead and desolate stillness. The rough trunk was riddled with hole after hole; dark bark peeled away from it in strips, cracked and mottled, like the wrinkled face of an old farmer carved by wind and frost and time, as though one gentle touch could scrape off a great sheet of it.

Gradually, he seemed to lose consciousness. This time it felt as if he might never wake again. He wanted to question the spirit artifact in his brow, but he was too exhausted, too weak, to utter even a word, or rather, he no longer had the strength to move even a single finger.

"If you die like this, then heaven has decreed that you are unworthy of having me. I said it before: I have never acknowledged you. Even if I grant you my power, you are still a piece of trash."

"You said you would surpass the one I spoke of. So now, can you still say such arrogant words?"

"The one I wish to acknowledge will not be a waste, nor will he die so easily."

"Yu Daoyi, you are too self-righteous, too clever for your own good."

"Even if I have always been buried deep in this place, I will not acknowledge a piece of trash! I have waited far too long, longer than you can imagine."

"This world is wider than you think, more complex than you think. What I need is someone worthy of my waiting! Before that, I can keep waiting!"

"He will be like the man you once saw, standing at the very summit of every world! And you? You are nothing more than a clown hopping about in a side show!"

One ethereal voice after another came from the center of Yu Daoyi's brow. Yet he no longer even had the strength to move a finger. Slowly, he sank into darkness.

Waves of coldness came from every part of his body. Cold, bitterly, piercingly cold.

There was nothing. He could see nothing. He reached out to touch, yet could touch nothing. In every corner here there was only darkness.

He felt his consciousness floating and sinking in that darkness, drifting everywhere without purpose. He could not control anything.

Until even his consciousness dispersed, and the fragments of memory began to break apart. He truly seemed on the verge of death. So cold.

Finally, at some unknown moment, his awareness returned to darkness, and all sensation was lost.

...

Outside, in the Yu Residence, the sky was dark and overcast.

With a sharp clack, the lid of a teacup fell to the ground and shattered.

Madam Yu took several stumbling steps back. A feeling of fear and dread suddenly rose in her, as though she had foreseen something terribly bad.

Looking at the broken shards scattered across the hall floor, Madam Yu stood there in a daze, then crouched down. Without any spell at all, she simply stretched out her fair, delicate hands and picked them up piece by piece.

Until blood slid from her fingertips, and a tiny, tiny wound appeared on her index finger. A cultivator had actually had a finger cut by a fragment of porcelain.

As though remembering something, an even stronger premonition rose within her. Fear, dread, terror, her whole body seemed drained of strength.

As cultivators, one of the greatest differences between them and ordinary people was this sixth sense. For example, when mortals dream, it is merely a dream; everything in it that does not accord with reality is false, and if it happens to match reality, it is only coincidence.

But cultivators are different. Cultivators rarely dream, because unlike mortals, they can better control their spiritual world, that is, their consciousness.

And once one dreams involuntarily, it must signify something. Often, the higher the cultivation, the more accurate this sixth sense becomes, and to make good use of it is divination and augury.

A tremendously strong premonition hovered in Madam Yu's heart. The more she tried to trace its source, the more frightened she became, as though something very important was gradually slipping away from her.

"Sir! Sir!" Madam Yu clutched her chest. Her exquisite face instantly turned deathly pale, as though all color had fled it at once, cold sweat constantly beading on her brow.

She turned toward the outer courtyard, desperately wanting to find the only support she had left. She wanted him to tell her personally that the thing she feared most would never happen.

"Madam? What is wrong? Why is your face so pale?" Hearing his wife's cry, Lord Yu appeared at once beside Madam Yu, asking anxiously and worriedly.

"Our child, our child!" Madam Yu kept repeating under her breath, her gaze blank, as though she had not yet come to her senses.

"Madam, do not panic. Speak slowly, slowly. Your husband is here; everything will be all right." Lord Yu looked at his wife with great distress, slowly channeling his spiritual energy into her body, easing her emotions.

"Yun'er? No, not Yun'er, it's Dao'er, it's Dao'er! I can feel that something has happened to him! Something must have gone wrong!" Somewhat calmed at last, though her face was still pale, Madam Yu shook her head and said anxiously, clinging tightly to Lord Yu's hand and not letting go.

"Don't rush, don't rush! Speak slowly. I am here. Your husband is here!" Lord Yu gently embraced Madam Yu and spoke softly and tenderly.

Within his embrace, Madam Yu seemed to relax somewhat. The heart that had been raised in her chest suddenly steadied, and the tightly knit brow gradually smoothed.

"Have you calmed down?" Lord Yu lightly stroked his wife's long hair as he spoke.

"Sir, something must have happened to Dao'er in the back mountain! I can feel it. I am his mother, his only mother, I can feel his presence."

"But just now, that faint connection between us seemed to break. I am so afraid. I am afraid that what I feared has really happened."

Madam Yu gently pressed a hand to her chest. There she could feel something hollow, and it hurt terribly.

"Don't be afraid. Even if the sky falls, your husband is here. Leave everything to me. Dao'er has always been a little trickster since childhood. He knows what should be done and what should not."

"He is clever. He will be fine. Don't frighten yourself, all right?" Lord Yu said, lightly patting her back. Yet unseen by Madam Yu, his own eyes were also full of worry.

"Sir, I am so afraid, truly so afraid. Since that snowy night I brought him back, I swore to myself."

"That is my child, that is our child. I swore I would never let him fall into danger, swore I would fulfill a mother's duty. But now, now I don't even know what he has encountered."

Madam Yu buried her face deep in Lord Yu's chest and gave a soft sob. Crystal tears fell down her cheeks, dampening Lord Yu's robes. Her helplessness was enough to make anyone's heart ache.

"Don't be afraid. He is like Yun'er. He bears the Yu surname; he is our child together. I promise you, I will not let anything happen to him. I will send people there at once." While comforting Madam Yu, Lord Yu escorted her back into her room to rest.

After carefully soothing and settling Madam Yu, Lord Yu walked out of the room with his head lowered. His expression could not be seen clearly, and he hastened toward the study.

Along the way, as Lord Yu continued toward the study, shadows kept gathering behind him. In only a short while, a great mass of shadows had appeared behind him, following closely, never leaving his side.

Outside the study, Lord Yu still stood with his back to those shadows, facing the study itself. As though he had made some decision, he pushed open the door with a creak and strode inside.

From the cluster of shadows below, one shadow drifted out, rising slowly from the ground. In the blink of an eye, a man clad in black appeared out of thin air. He lifted his head toward the study door, which now stood wide open. After a brief hesitation, he slowly raised his right hand. The other shadows below scattered instantly in all directions and vanished in the next moment.

With his head lowered, the man in black entered the study with grave seriousness. After seeing Lord Yu standing with his back to him inside, he dropped to one knee in a most solemn manner, awaiting instructions.

"Number Ten," Lord Yu said softly.

"Shadow Ten awaits orders!" the man in black replied, still keeping his head lowered.

"How is the back mountain?" Lord Yu asked, looking at the painting on the wall before him.

"The formation has shown some movement, but it is still within our control."

"And Number Eleven?"

"My younger brother still remains in contact with us. We still cannot enter the formation, but according to him, blood light has suddenly erupted within it, and killing intent has spread everywhere. It should be the work of a killing formation." Shadow Ten weighed each word carefully as he spoke. "Quite a few people, unable to withstand the effects of the killing formation, have already begun slaughtering one another. Eleven is now with Song Tianhan of the Song family in Green Mountain Town. For the moment, there is no major danger."

"That fellow likes to show off. Tell him to be careful above all else."

"Yes!"

"Also, something must have happened inside involving Dao Yi. I need you to do something."

"Please speak, my lord!"

"Take your men in and join Eleven. Under any circumstances, you must ensure Dao Yi emerges unharmed. If anyone dares harm him, kill without mercy!"

Lord Yu turned sharply around. His eyes were unexpectedly deep, his long hair stirring slightly. A burst of killing intent rose suddenly. Even the tiniest trace of it was enough to make Shadow Ten feel suffocated, and it also revealed how unsettled Lord Yu truly was.

"Shadow Ten obeys!" Shadow Ten answered with his head lowered.

"Go. And remember: deal properly with anyone who hurt him. No one can lay a hand on my son, Yu Moyuan's son!"

Lord Yu's voice was low, suppressing a fury within it.

"Shadow Ten takes his leave!"

Shadow Ten withdrew slowly, head bowed. Only after gently closing the study door did he raise his head. Still clad in black, he turned to look at the open space before the study and raised his right hand once more.

No words were needed. Several shadows converged again from all directions and formed ranks before Shadow Ten.

"My lord's orders: protect the eldest young master at all costs, no matter what the price!" Shadow Ten's voice was cold and devoid of feeling as it came from within the black clothing.

The shadows below gathered, and a large "yes" appeared out of nowhere over the open ground, then vanished. In an instant, several shadows set out from the Yu Residence and raced toward the back mountain.

Shadow Ten, seeing this, first turned back to glance at the study, then performed a careful bow. In the next instant, he disappeared, once more becoming a shadow that left the Yu Residence and followed the others toward the back mountain.

Inside the study, the light was dim and the silence complete. Lord Yu still faced the wall. Upon it hung an ink painting, full of artistic conception, yet otherwise quite ordinary.

With a sweep of his hand, the ink painting vanished into thin air. A hidden compartment appeared, and within it lay three things.

A robe that seemed somewhat old, a finely made little skirt, and a faint amber crystal stone.

Lord Yu gently picked up the crystal stone. Within it was a picture, of a child, a little boy dressed in an exquisite skirt.

Lord Yu smiled softly. The worry between his brows eased somewhat. Looking at the crystal stone, his heart could not help wandering, and after a while he murmured to himself:

"One year, one month, one day, I do not know. I only remember that night, the night you slept in my robe, you became my child, and in the blink of an eye you grew up. Time truly passes quickly."

"I do not know how long your mother and I can still accompany you. The road ahead is one we cannot walk for you; you must go on by yourself."

"But before that, I am still here. Your father is still here."

...

In the darkness, fragments of memory filled every corner. Upon those fragments were scenes from his life, both his past and his present.

His easygoing, carefree father, his inarticulate mother, his cool and sly younger brother, the graceful yet violent girl, Song Cheng, always making a fuss, and Lin He, Lin Tao, Wang Hongjun, the siblings of the Duan family, and many more. There were also the orphans from his previous life, each like himself.

Yet all these fragments were shattered. To die so hopelessly felt somewhat unwilling. In ordinary days, no matter how recklessly he acted, he always lived well enough. Here, however, he had carelessly fallen into the trap of a broken spirit artifact.

So quiet.

Quiet enough to be terrifying.

Hiss... cold, so cold.

His own memories also began to drift away from him little by little, and he could no longer tell who he was, where he was, or why he had appeared here.

There was no sense of time. Here there was only darkness and cold, and he could do nothing but wander on and on, adrift.

The reason people possess hope is that they cannot see death. And when they do see death, they come to realize that hope was always so distant, so unreachable.

Death is truly a terrifying thing.

I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I'm unwilling! I haven't done anything yet. I want to live, to live for hundreds, for thousands more years!

Move! Remember! Who am I!

Open, my eyes! Beat, my heart! Burn, my blood!

I do not want to die!

Suddenly, a shaft of light appeared out of the darkness, blindingly bright, a pale whiteness spreading everywhere. Wisps of white mist rose, dispersing all darkness. Yu Daoyi, curled up in the dark, slowly opened his eyes, his mind bewildered, his gaze vacant.

"What is this?" In an instant, the light flooded every corner, so fast that Yu Daoyi could not react at all.

A crack, a crack neither too large nor too small, and the blinding light was pouring from within it, bringing a trace of warmth, dispelling the cold of the darkness. The power coming from within it seemed like a force beyond this world, standing above all things, far beyond his imagination.

So bright. So warm.

Shaking his head, the somewhat recovered Yu Daoyi looked carefully toward that crack. It felt strangely familiar, as though he had seen it several times before from somewhere, yet no matter how he tried to remember, he could not recall where.

Bathed in that piercing light, the force flowing into him made Yu Daoyi feel as though he had been born anew. Unlike the spiritual energy and demon power he had known, this was a force he had neither seen nor heard of before.

But then another flash of brilliance rushed at him, instantly dizzying him and causing him to lose consciousness completely, beyond all further sensation.

In the darkness, or perhaps within the light, time could not be told; only after what felt like an age did a voice finally sound.

"Does this fellow still have something like that inside him?" A faint scarlet glow slowly appeared, and the spirit artifact's voice came from within, speaking with a touch of caution.

After the voice fell, the white light vanished at once, and everything returned once more to darkness, to coldness. Yet within that darkness, compared with before, one person was gone.

"Heh, that fellow really does have a strong life. I wonder what that thing was. I really underestimated him." The spirit artifact gave a self-mocking laugh, and then that tiny red glimmer slowly faded away.

In some corner of that darkness, a crack, plain and unremarkable, not too large and not too small, appeared there.

Within that crack, something unknown lay hidden.