42 A Promise Unspoken

Just as the negative thoughts were starting to get to him, he heard a knock on the door. Van squeaked in surprise. Sanji jumped out of his bag of holding and let out a good humorous squeak. He had enjoyed watching Van cope with his dilemma and had finally decided to show himself. Van stared at Sanji with mock fury. Sanji continued to squeak joyfully and rolled around on the ground. Van rolled his eyes and slowly approached the door as if there was a dangerous creature behind it, which in Van's opinion, there likely was.

Van put his hand on the handle and took a deep breath before twisting it and pulling it towards him. He put on his best smile and waited to confront Maria. Instead, he found himself face to face with an unknown maid.

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"Here's your meal that you ordered, Honored Guest. I hope you can finish it before Maria gets to you."

She awkwardly shoved the tray into Van's hands and shut the door. Van stood there, stunned. Tears of joy started to drip from his eyes. He could survive for a few moments longer! He thanked whatever god there was out there before he dug into his meal as if it was his last. Van threw over two sausages for Sanji. Man and mouse sat on the bed enjoying a scrumptious meal in silence.

Sanji let out a loud burp, causing Van to start laughing. Sanji started to squeak in mock offense and the two started to wrestle each other. The sounds of vases crashing and furniture collapsing could be heard as the two completely destroyed the room. After about half an hour, the duo calmed down, leaving a room that looked like a hurricane had run through it. They lay there in the middle of the carpet, heaving heavy breaths while giggling like two little girls.

The creak of the door opening could be heard and footsteps as someone entered the room. Sanji and Van both inclined their heads to find the creature of their nightmares. Maria stood there, an expression of shock on her face. It quickly turned to one that was a lot uglier. A malevolent smile spread across her face as she thought of creative ways to torture the boy and mouse.

"Have you boys enjoyed yourselves?"

The demonic aura once again filled the room. Van and Sanji hugged each other for a moment of comfort before the pain began. Screams filled the halls of the Palace as Maria got to work on the re-education of Van and Sanji.

About an hour or two later, she emerged from the room. She proceeded to dust herself off before heading off to attend to whatever matters required her attention. If one peeked inside, one could see that Van and Sanji laid on the bed, tears leaking out of the corners of their eyes. They looked like corpses, husks of their former selves, as they lay on the bed, trying to recover from the traumatizing punishment that they had just endured.

The servants, as if on queue, popped out of seemingly nowhere and started to take care of the duo diligently. They were probably used to cleaning up and helping the victims of Maria's antics because they were experienced and seemed to know everything that Van and Sanji needed.

Before long, Van and Sanji were up on their feet, albeit shaky and disorientated. Sanji had crawled his way back into Van's bag and had vowed not to come out until they had left the Celestial Heavens. Van felt as if he had aged a hundred years. The unspeakable horrors that he had experienced would be a lesson that he would never forget.

Van started to wonder how the City Lord had endured such unspeakable tortures time and time again. Was it that he had gotten immune to its negative mental effects and had gotten stronger through constant exposure? Or was it just because he had become rather dull in the head after suffering permanent mental repercussions?

Van assumed it was the second. Van shivered to himself as he thought of the implications of the first. A man with such a will would be unparalleled in willpower in the entirety of the universe. But then again, having such a master would help him to temper his own will, without the risk of losing his mental capabilities of course. One time was enough for him.

He had a little under 4 days left in the Celestial Heavens. Van sighed to himself. He felt that he hadn't made the most of his time in the Celestial Heavens. The unexpected events were starting to take a toll on his cultivation time.

He walked through the hallways and pulled over one of the servants to lead the way to the cultivating grounds. Van followed the servant through the winding hallways of the palace and finally made it after many twists and turns. He was led to the best cultivation grounds, for he is the student of the City Lord after all.

Van sat down and could feel the difference in Qi density from the other rooms of the palace. Van calmly breathed in out to settle himself before he started cultivating. He would continue to cultivate for the few days that were left, going out for a few times to have a chat with Hao Daiyu, as her father was still in recovery so he didn't need to fear his wrath.

Van looked at the timer in the corner of his vision, in a minute he would be transported back to the Red Rock Continent, not able to visit the Celestial Heavens for a long time. Van sat down next to Hao Daiyu and continued to converse. During the 4 days that he had spent cultivating and conversing with her, they had developed a more intimate relationship.

Van turned his head to look at the beautiful girl dressed in white next to him. She was still in the same dress as she had worn when they had first met in the garden. She looked at him and a mischevious glint flashed through her eyes. She decided to speak up.

"You shouldn't have much longer now."

A hint of sadness could be seen in her expression. Van rushed over and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll come back as soon as I can."

Van promised her, trying his best to console her.

"Tell your father, I said goodbye."

He had noticed the timer reach 10 seconds in the corner of his eye. He sighed to himself. He had enjoyed the time that he had here, encountering the Celestial Heavens City Lord, his daughter, and Maria. The scenes of the past 10 days seem to pass through his thoughts at that moment. Van closed his eyes, engraving the memories into his heart. He felt something soft touch his lips. Van slowly opened his eyes and they immediately widened in shock.

He found that Hao Daiyu's face was straight in front of him. He was about to pull back, but the look in her eyes held him back. A few seconds later, she withdrew from him and smiled radiantly, stunning him.

"Here's something for you to remember me by."

He watched her as he started dissolve motes of light. Her smile seemed to reach into the depths of his heart and shatter the chains of ice that had bound his heart for many years. His expression softened and he smiled back at her. She imprinted his look into her mind and heart and turned around.

"I know you've been looking."

"Ah, my daughter has grown up so fast."

The City Lord emerged from the green shrubbery and had his hand on the back of his head, rubbing it in embarrassment. Hao Daiyu's face changed back to her usual expression of blankness.

"You can stop with the act now, Martial Uncle."

The City Lord sighed; he had wanted to keep up the act longer. He looked off into the distance, wondering where his real daughter was in the universe. Was she still stuck in the river of reincarnation or was she somewhere far off?