Chapter 86 - The Silver Marks

"But it had been so many years since that day. Why the Northern Province looks like it had survived a war just a few days ago?" Li Ming asked the question that was poking her limited brain cells the most.

Her question worked as a distraction for Ruoshan as he came out of his trance and answered, "Whoever that mysterious enemy was, they were not happy to see their plan failing. Not only the Heaven Realm retreated but the Demon Realm was also proven innocent. This ruined their entire plan. Just as the army of Heaven Realm retreated, they realized that something had gone wrong in their planing. That's why they tried to finish me off and at the same time that dark mist took over the Northern Province."

"The black mist has been sucking out all the energy out of the Northern Province. It's not even possible to grow crops or vegetables. The dark clouds that you are seeing have been there for years by now. After that night, the Northern province has not seen a single glimpse of the daylight. My people spent their entire day fixing their houses so that they can sleep with a roof above their heads but at the exact time of sunrise, the houses crumble down on their own. It has been happening for years. They don't have food, no drinkable water, no permanent house to live in, and all this time they have been suffering." 

Li Ming's heart clenched as she saw the pure hurt and sadness in Ruoshan's eyes. The anger that was directed at himself for failing his people.

She had left his lap during the time he was telling her about his past. She stood against the opposite guardrail of the bridge as she took in all of his expressions in, most of them disappeared within seconds leaving a cold and distant one as a mask.

"If there was no water and food, how are they still alive?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

Ruoshan looked up at her. A sad smile adorning his peerless handsome face. "My brother has made sure to provide my people with food, water, and clothing. He has done everything in his power to find out about exactly what was wrong with Northern Province but nothing helped. There's something here which is stopping anyone, who's not a part of the demon realm, from entering the Demon Realm. Only my brother can enter in the Northern Province."

Li Ming let the information sink in. If a non- demon couldn't enter in the Northern Province that meant the Heaven Emperor and the other friends of Ruoshan were also unable to help.

"Why didn't your brother took these people to the Southern Province?" Li Ming asked suddenly. It was a very good solution and she couldn't believe that the Demon Prince of Southern Province never thought of it.

"That's why the protection barrier surrounding the Southern province became a bane. Though it's protecting them but it doesn't let anyone enter or leave the Southern Province." Ruoshan answered. His lips twitched at the end with a smile but it never reached his eyes.

"What the heck? This is....! But now you are back and you can lower that protection barrier, right?" She waited for his reply and when Ruoshan nodded his head slightly she continued, "....then what are you exactly waiting for? Why haven't you shifted them to the Southern Province yet?" 

"Feel it Xingan. Let your spiritual energy flow and you will find all your answers." Ruoshan said in a soft voice but didn't look up at her.

His voice was telling her that she wouldn't like whatever she was going to find out.

Li Ming stared at him for a few seconds before she sat down on the cold stone floor of the bridge in the lotus position. Her hands were folded in her lap, palm facing upwards.

She gave a last look to Ruoshan who was now looking at her with soft eyes and finally closed her own eyes.

In the past month, she had been cultivating during the night times. She had not slept most of the days in the past month.

Her days were too chaotic and busy. She didn't get enough time to cultivate. That's why she spent her nights cultivating and increasing her cultivation level. She was now on the last level of Middle Cultivator Rank and soon she would breakthrough to the High Cultivator Rank.

She focused on her energy and let it flow around her. It was barely a few seconds later when she felt the repulsive energy that was trying to suck her own.

A cold shiver ran down her back as she instantly pulled her powers back. Something was wrong with the energy of the Northern Province. It felt corrupted. A weird darkness loomed in the shadows waiting for its prey.

She took a deep breath before she once again let her energy loose but this time it was attached with a protection spell. The spell kept the darkness away from her energy, keeping it safe from the repulsive aura of unknown evilness that lingered in the air.

The air that was too silent to be real. 

As her energy spread more into the Northern Province, she realized that the darkness was in the black mist that was surrounding the Northern Province. 

But the meaning behind Ruoshan's words hit her hard when her energy came across a group of demon children playing with black stones at the outskirts of the town which she had just seen in crumbles just a few hours ago.

The same darkness that was surrounding the Northern Province, was also surrounding the children. It was like black smoke that was covering their bodies and clutching tight on them.

Li Ming tried to reach closer to the group of children but the black mist was so repulsive that her energy was fighting her order. It wanted to stay away from the darkness. Wanted to keep her safe and hidden from it.

Li Ming moved her energy away from the group of the children and searched for the town.

It took her barely a few minutes before her energy found the demons who were still trying to fix their houses and just as she feared, all of them were emitting the same darkness.

The level of repulsive energy coming from them was too much for her single thread of pure energy that it became claustrophobic.

Li Ming felt her breath coming in short pants as her heart rate increased. The black mist had noticed her energy and now it was trying to latch on it. To suck it in and taint it with the darkness.

Li Ming pulled her energy back. A loud gasp left her mouth as she sucked in a deep breath.

She felt large hands circling around her small frame and the next second she was back in the warm and protective embrace of Ruoshan.

He was clutching her so tight to his chest like he was afraid that she would disappear suddenly.

She felt something cold running through her entire body like it was searching for something in particular. But even though it was cold, she felt her body relaxing and giving in to the foreign energy flowing through her body, letting it fill her body with warmth.

"You are okay. You are safe." Ruoshan whispered softly in her ear as she felt him snuggling his nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent deeply.

At first, she thought that he was trying to calm her and that's why he said that she's safe but soon she realized that the truth was completely different.

The silver-haired immortal was trying to reassure himself that she was actually with him, safe and unharmed. She felt his stiff shoulder relaxing as he inhaled her scent a few more times.

She could feel the emotions that were a mess in his head. He was guilty of being a failure as a leader and he was worried about her.

Li Ming felt her heart getting heavy as she remembered what she had just found.

The demons in the Northern province were dying. The dark mist had poisoned them and everything in the Ever Night was crumbling under its darkness.

There was no point in shifting the demons to the Southern province. Not only it would be a dangerous move to lower the barriers because it could open a door for the dark evil mist to enter into the Southern province but the demons of Northern Province themselves were too tightly gripped by the dark mist that there was no guarantee they would be alive if they were forcibly separated from it.

And Ruoshan was seeing his Realm dying in front of his eyes. She was his only distraction from reality and the one who was giving him the energy to fight for his people.

A gasp left her mouth as she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She was confused for a second but then she realized that the pain was coming from Ruoshan.

She was experiencing his heartache and pain but it only confused her more. Why she was feeling his emotions so strongly? Li Ming thought as she tried to get the pain under control.

But then her eyes landed on the silver lines that were now glowing under the milky skin of her left wrist and with that, her world fell apart.