As the sun dipped, the horizons dyed in a strange orange color. One that aroused nostalgic feelings, especially in men older than five centuries.
Han Li's gaze was... calm if anything. Yet, even his own birth mother hadn't seen him so conflicted ever before in her life. Yue Li looked at him with a sigh.
Sitting on the river bank, he had one of those rare, painful gazes plastered into his eyes, and he felt much more irritable than his usual self. Li Yao and Liyue were not here, but Hua Yu was behind him, looking at him with a pensive glance.
Sitting in Yue Li's lap was Little Ruo, her countenance much less paler, but at the same time, her eyes fidgety. She had been sleeping for a long time, nearly more than a day and night combined, and had just woken up some time ago.
Other than in Yue Li's comforting embrace, she would become immensely nervous and would curl up into herself.
Rarely did anything make Han Li feel so pained. Rarely did one fact cross his mind: unlike him, Ruo, what to say, even his Mother didn't have memories of the future. They hadn't lived the years he had spent with them. They didn't have those memories he had.
He wondered if he could bring those memories back if he had a higher cultivation strength. Maybe. Someday.
"Hua Yu, you can leave," Han Li said.
He had needed her help to descend from up there to the ground below, but he didn't appreciate any more breach of his privacy. Especially matters that concerned emotions.
The Power Born was obviously curious why a little girl of around 13 was with them. She was all things, but Hua Yu wasn't one thing, a scum of society. Even as opportunistic as she could be, she wouldn't let something like using a child in any dark ways slide.
She squinted slightly but then looked at Yue Li's solemn face before sighing and flying away. Han Li himself, she found him an enigma, but Yue Li, the woman, was simple enough, and she wasn't nearly cruel.
Said in a bad way, Yue Li was incapable of cruelty and was a naive person at her core. The fool would only know once something precious to her gets taken from her. Only then would she actually learn what true cruelty and self-defense were.
She was a Power Born herself; she could see through some things like those, but it also baffled her slightly. How did such a person take care of someone like Han Li?
He was obviously capable of cruelty to himself and to others. After all, the man had threatened Hua Yu with both of their deaths ruthlessly to get her to sign a Heart Qi bond.
The mind boggled. At least, her mind did.
But for now, she flew away. Yet, she was curious.
...
Han Li looked up at her, receding back into the waterfall. He sighed, "That woman certainly doesn't make my mood any better."
"Xiao Li, don't be too harsh on yourself. So why did you bring us here? Liyue was pumped to see Ruo finally waking up. She wanted to try and talk to her."
Han Li shook his head and looked at Ruo and Han Li. His gaze was warm, "As I told you Mom, Ruo is far from safe. Her heart is made out of Gu Worms, just like her spine is. It is of a sort of twin variant. If the Fang Family side killed the part of it in their hands, she would die."
Yue Li bit her lips slightly. Death that, death this... she closed her eyes and sighed.
"So you have a way to save her completely?"
"More than one."
Yue Li nodded in relief and caressed the girl's white hair.
"Ruo, we are talking about you. Can you understand?"
She trembled but didn't speak. Han Li sighed.
Even in his past life, it had been months before she became slightly fine with speaking. But even then, it was his mother whom she was first attached to. He was happy she was the same this time around, too.
Han Li asked, "You are quite something, Monk. Did you win all the Seven Trials?"
The Monk's face was full of smiles, but he said with pity, "Sadly not. The Sacred Lust Demon's ways sure are profound... Even this Monk, with all his arrogance, couldn't win the 6th Trial. It is way too hard, way too hard."
Han Li was shocked inwardly. In his past life, Hen Shin had only reached the 5th Trial, and after he came out of the Trial, was renowned as the strongest Power Born of his time. He was an unparalleled Power Born, and that man was now standing before him. Hua Yu stood a fat chance of winning against him.
Smiling wryly, Han Li asked, "How did you come exactly to where I was, I almost feel as if it was all predestined."
"It was the 5th Trial's reward." Hen Shin laughed. "I can now send teleport once a year to anywhere I want in the whole Sacred Lust Continent, just like this red mist method. From one edge to the other, amazing, right?"
Han Li almost felt a wave of envy wash over him, but he quickly calmed down. Hua Yu looked at him, warning him with her eyes not to fight this person. She was saying, 'No, this person is beyond us. He can kill us.'
He scoffed.
"Monk, I have many questions. Why don't we sit down?"
Hen Shin took a deep breath.
"You seem thirsting for blood, young friend."
"Oh, that's not against you. I was waiting for someone here whom I have a death feud with, but he would take some more days to arrive."
Many of the monks around murmured in agitation, but Hen Shin was calm. The monk sighed. "I thought it was against me. How fortunate."
Han Li's eyes twitched. Fortunate that you didn't have to soil your hands with blood?
He hated people stronger than him who were not his women. Period.
And fuck. That Teleportation...
He groaned inwardly.
That would have made everything so easy if he had gotten it....
His hope for Yang Wei increased even more. That guy better have something good. But for now, he took back his sword and Hua Yu's [Parasite Healing] moved promptly to heal the young monk's wounds.
The boy calmly bowed, "Many gratitude for not killing me. We have a little Temple around here and would be pleased to see you come inside. Your fame had caught our attention."
Han Li frowned.
"...My fame?"
Something was going on.
Hen Shin was understandable. He got the power to teleport now, but how did all these monks appear around him, and what fame? He was as inconspicuous as anyone.
At least, he sighed inwardly.
This was not really a bad thing.
At least, Hen Shin still seemed to lack any negative emotions against him.
But at the same time, he had questions. Since there was no use being wary of the man, and Han Li was at his mercy, he dropped his sword in his mother's hand, who quickly put it into her Empty Space. At the same time, an ascetic calm began to emanate from his person. He almost seemed like another monk.