The Lotus Platforms on his forehead shone brightly as light from them quickly congealed into a white lotus, blocking Gu Qingluoâs attack.
However, at the same moment that he defended himself, he heard Su Chen yell out, âMidsection!â
Gu Qingluoâs palm slammed into Zhou Yashanâs midsection.
Blood sprayed from Zhou Yashanâs body as he flew backwards. A slender, white hand reached out and snagged his body. This time, even seven Lotus Platforms wouldnât be able to save him.
Five sharp fingers penetrated deeply into his body. Large amounts of Origin Energy flooded his body, paralyzing him and robbing him of any strength to fight.
Gu Qingluoâs voice boomed through the sky. âThe situation now is simple. Either you die, or your son dies!â
âYouâŚâŚâ Zhou Yashan howled with rage. âThatâs not fair! If it werenât for that brat interferingâŚâŚâ
âThis isnât a match with rules,â Gu Qingluo replied coolly as she tightened her group. Zhou Yashanâs vision blurred.
He was still trying to hold on, but Zhou Yunkeng spoke up from below, saying, âForget about it. If Qingkuang was the one who stirred up this trouble, he needs to pay the price himself. Since you arenât able to protect him, you can only chalk this up to fate.â
As he spoke, a person began to fly into the sky. It was Zhou Qingkuang.
A swath of clouds bore him up to Gu Qingluo. Zhou Qingkuang howled madly as he ascended, âFather, save me! Father, save me!!â
Unfortunately for him, Zhou Yashan himself had already fallen prey to Gu Qingluo and had no way of saving anybody. He could only close his eyes and say, âYou must pay the price for the sins you have committed.â
He refused to watch any longer.
Zhou Qingkuang had arrived near Gu Qingluo.
Zhou Qingkuang felt a chill run up his spine when he saw Gu Qingluoâs expression, which was filled with killing intent. âQingluo, I know I was wrong. I just suffered from a moment of confusion, a rush of blood to the brain. Please, spare me just this once. I wonât do anything like this ever again in the futureâŚâŚâ
âYou wonât have to worry about the future anymore,â Gu Qingluo replied coldly.
She didnât say anything more to Zhou Qingkuang. Instead, she lifted her hand and placed it on Zhou Qingkuangâs forehead. His head trembled momentarily before exploding to bits.
The swath of clouds disappeared, and the headless corpse descended to the ground, landing in the Zhou Clanâs courtyard. The Zhou Clanâs ancestor harrumphed angrily.
Once she had taken care of this matter, Gu Qingluo felt her energy beginning to drain from her body, and she started trembling.
She released her grip on Zhou Yashan, who stared deeply at her for a moment. However, in the end, he did not say anything and merely turned around before leaving.
Gu Qingluoâs figure trembled as her muscles began to relax.
The feeling of fighting had been quite exhilarating, but it wasnât until she had stopped that she realized that she had been attacking without reservation. Gu Qingluoâs bloodline had still only just awakened; if it werenât for her rage supporting her and Su Chenâs help, she wouldnât have been able to defeat Zhou Yashan.
Such was the power of true anger. She was able to squeeze out every last drop of power from her body, simultaneously unintentionally increasing her latent potential.
However, when compared to what she had lost, Gu Qingluo would rather that none of this had ever happened in the first place.
Su Chen flew over to Gu Qingluo on the Mountain-Beheading Blade and embraced her.
Gu Qingluo weakly said, âLetâs go.â
Su Chen carried Gu Qingluo on his back and returned, all the while Patelocke was complaining unhappily, as he was now bearing the weight of two people. Thankfully, Gu Yaoye sent over a cloud, stabilizing the wobbling Mountain-Beheading Blade.
They flew like this for an unknown amount of time before arriving at a nearby mountain.
Gu Qingluo said, âThe scenery here is pretty good. I want to look around.â
Su Chen put Gu Qingluo down.
The scenery here was pretty good. Uneven mountain peaks loomed far off in the distance, while the slopes were covered in lush green pine trees. Clouds circled the peaks of the mountains, and the roars of a nearby waterfall completed the scene.
Su Chen and Gu Qingluo descended to a point right next to the waterfall.
Gu Qingluo lay in Su Chenâs embrace, watching the clouds float by and listening to the waterfall. âDo you remember the first time we met?â
âI remember. Back then, you were taking a bath near a waterfall, but that waterfall was much smaller.â
âThings were also much more peaceful,â Gu Qingluo said leisurely. âAfter we separated, I thought a lot about those days behind the Su Clanâs mountain. Things wereâŚâŚ really nice then.â
Su Chen gently stroked her hair. âMe too.â
Gu Qingluo continued, âActually, I had already begun to like you back then, but I wasnât sure at the time of how deep my feelings were. I just liked being with you, because you made me feel carefree and happy. But after the Three Mountains Regionâs exam, everything changed. You poured out your heart, but I became afraid. I didnât know what to do, and I was really worried that the matter between the two of us would anger my clan and get you killed. Thatâs why I could only leave abruptlyâŚâŚâ
âI understand,â Su Chen consoled gently.
Gu Qingluo snuggled deeper into Su Chenâs embrace. âBut I didnât want to leave. Every day I was apart from you, I thought about you. But I could only suppress these feelings and hide them deep in my heartâŚâŚâ
Su Chenâs heart trembled as he felt a prick of pain.
Even though his relationship with Gu Qingluo had been restored, there were some things she had never said to him and that he had never wanted to ask for fear that he would make her uncomfortable.
However, Gu Qingluo had chosen to tell him all this of her own will.
She continued, saying, âIt wasnât until the Goldwater Ruins that we had an excuse to be openly seen together. However, at the time, my heart was filled with fear. I was worried that you wouldnât be able to do what you had promised, and I didnât want to be seen in public with you. Now that I think about it, I was really selfish and dumb.â
âThat wasnât your fault, Qingluo.â
Gu Qingluo shook her head repeatedly. âI missed too many opportunities and wasted too much time. If I had just trusted you a bit more and was a bit braver, we might not have landed in this situation.â
Su Chen comforted her. âEmpty Mountain isnât a death sentence; you donât need to be like this. I promise you that we wonât separate again.â
âBut I always feel like there is always some kind of malevolent power trying to separate us and keep us from being together,â Gu Qingluo said teary-eyed as she gazed at Su Chen.
She hugged Su Chen tightly. âIâm afraid that fate has something in store for us and wonât let us go to Empty Mountain together.â
âSilly girl.â Su Chen smiled slightly. âNothing like that will happen.â
Gu Qingluo hugged Su Chen even tighter, unwilling to let go, as if she was afraid that Su Chen would fly off as soon as she released him.
She had once given up on Su Chen on her own, and for a long time she had wavered over her choice indecisively, but now her hesitant nature was nowhere to be found.
Her determination had manifested itself in love, and she refused to let go of Su Chen.
âWherever I go, you will go,â she said.
âWherever you go, I will go,â he said.
At that moment, Su Chen suddenly felt his wrist heat up.
He lowered his head to look at his hand. A strange symbol had appeared on the back of it.
âWhat is that?â Gu Qingluo asked.
âAn emergency transmission from the Dreamrealm,â Su Chen replied, a strange expression on his face.
Emergency transmissions could only be sent by those at least at the Dream Officer rank or above. Su Chen had yet to met someone like that.
Who would send him an emergency transmission at this point in time?