Chapter 240 - Her Fears

Li Ming finally reached the shore at the South end of the Island where the rest of the participants, who chose the Array Sect, were waiting for her.

"This junior asks for forgiveness for being late. Hope the seniors will forgive this young junior of yours." Li Ming said as she greeted the three Seniors that were standing at the front of the group of participants.

"Little sister, it's alright. It was not like you are late on purpose. Don't be so harsh on yourself." One of the seniors said as she smiled sweetly at Li Ming. 

"You all will use this teleportation array which will drop you into different parts of the Array island." Another senior told them as he signaled towards the teleportation array that was standing at some distance from them.

"You all have only one task....., to find the core of the array and destroy it. As soon as you will find the core and destroy it, you will pass the exam." The senior continued passing more information about what was waiting for them at the other end of the teleportation array.

"Also keep this in mind. Even though all of you will be facing the same array formation in this exam but the struggles will be based on your strengths and fears." The lady senior said as she looked at all of them with serious eyes.

The teenagers around her started whispering among themselves as they tried to discuss the hardships that they would be facing on the Array Island.

"Once again you will have twenty-four hours as your time limit. We are hoping to see all of you as winners, but only your performance in this exam will decide whether you will join the inner sect, the outer sect, or would rather return to your home. Good luck!" 

The head Senior wished them luck as he started directing them towards the teleportation array one at a time.

Li Ming was not really nervous, mostly because she had no idea what was waiting for her in the exam.

There was no point in racking her brain on something that was out of her power.

However, she could tell that the seniors were properly trained in making sure that they would succeed in scaring all the participants with their words.

She took in a deep breath before falling into the line that was walking towards the teleportation array. 

There were nearly fifty teenagers in her group who chose the Array Sect as their future and due to some weird coincidence, she found Young Master Chong standing right in front of her in the line.

She raised her eyebrows in question as soon as Luo Ying turned to look at her. However, seeing her cold look he immediately turned back towards the front, running towards the array.

But Luo Ying was not the only person present in her group whose presence surprised her as the person standing behind her In the line was the same pollaxe guy whom she met in the Hall of Elders.

Li Ming just sighed at her luck as she moved towards the teleportation array that was waiting for her.

She had no idea how the exam was going to work but she was wishing to not come across any of the other participants, especially that Young Master Chong.

The entire process of teleportation barely took a minute before she found herself standing near the edge of a high cliff.

"This was not what I was expecting." Li Ming said out loud as she looked at the beautiful scenery of a deep valley down below the cliff.

"So exactly what were you expecting to see here?" 

The mocking tone that belonged to none other than Hei Long disturbed her thoughts and as she hurriedly turned towards the direction from where her mate had spoken, she was surprised to find all of her mates standing there.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked as she looked at them with confusion.

"Why? Are you not happy to see us?" Ruoshan asked with raised eyebrows as he walked closer to her.

Before Li Ming could grasp what was about to happen, she found herself standing at the very edge of the cliff.

The rock beneath her feet was shaking under her weight and it won't be long before she would be free-falling down the high cliff.

"W-what are you doing?" Li Ming asked the Immortal who was holding her from around her waist. 

One of Ruoshan's strong arms was wrapped around her waist as he kept her from falling down the cliff.

All her mates were aware that she was not really fond of heights and she had always avoided anything that had anything to do with heights.

Even though one part of her brain was aware that she was not a mere mortal and falling from the cliff won't hurt her as long as she would use her powers, the bigger part of her brain was taken over by her fear of heights.

"R-Ruo-Ruoshan.....p-pull me back. STOP JOCKING!" 

Li Ming could not help the tremor and the stuttering in her voice as she shouted at the Evernight Lord.

However, rather than pulling her back into the safety of his arms, the Immortal gave her a little shove which almost made a cry leave her lips.

He did not let her fall but he also did not pull her back. He moved his lips closer to her ears as he muttered, "Did you seriously think that you won't face any consequences for lying to us? Are you really that naive?" 

Li Ming could not find any kind of warmth in Ruoshan's voice. Her always caring and soft-hearted mate was suddenly acting so cold towards her.

Although she could not see the rest of her mates who were standing behind her and Ruoshan, but the fact that none of them stopped Ruoshan made something burst inside her.

Her face was looking as pale as one that belonged to a ghost. Sweat was covering her forehead and her breathing was quickening with each passing moment.

And if all of this was not enough to torture her, then she soon found a familiar presence around her.

The very familiar black mist appeared in front of her as it started surrounding her from all around.

Li Ming felt light-headed as she tried to make sense of the sudden things that were happening around her.

Nothing was making sense. The weird behavior of her mates, the presence of the black mist inside the most powerful wards that were surrounding the Guixian Islands, and the way her body was reacting.

However, before she could ponder much on that part of her current situation, a painful whimper left her lips as weird images started appearing in front of her eyes.

It was making her head throb in pain and the worst part was that she could not see anything clearly in those images. She just knew that the images carried unhappiness with them.

Right when she thought that she would finally pass out due to immense pain that had taken over her head, she found herself being turned around with a force that almost made her head spin.

One after the other, the faces of his mates appeared in front of her eyes. They looked at her with their eyes filled with anger, accusation, hurt, sadness, and the worst....hate.

Their eyes were filled with hate for her as they accused her of being a liar, for plating with their love and trust.

Li Ming felt like someone was crushing her heart as each accusation that was covering her mates' eyes made a deep cut into her heart, making it bleed in agony.

She could not understand exactly why they were being like that. How could they hate her?

She had always thought that they loved her too much to let any issue ruin their relationship. Then why did everything change?

And that's the question that got stuck in her mind. The why. And as the question kept repeating itself in her mind she soon found her entire mind focusing on that very question.

Since her mind finally found something to concentrate on, the dizziness that was trying to take over her, finally started to disappear.

"Exactly! They can never hate me! They never will. Even though I was wrong with my judgment this time but that doesn't mean my mates would start hating me. Never!" 

The strong and determined voice that left her lips made a cold look appear in her eyes as she started once again regaining control over her body.

She finally knew exactly what was happening.

Her fear of height, fear of losing her mates, the black mist that kept chasing her, and the nightmares that had made her fear the very sleep that was once one of her favorite things to enjoy, these three were what she feared the most in her life.

She was facing her fears and now she was struggling to get herself out of their clutches. She was facing the deadly array set by the Array sect.