By the time Aiden arrived at the courtyard in front of the grand hall, it was already noon.
Little Morwyn was chanting scriptures in the courtyard. When he saw Aiden return completely fine, his eyes widened and he headed over, asking confusedly, "Junior Brother Mind Jin, are you alright?"
The little bald monk understood the terror of the burly man in the backyard.
If he was the one that was tormented for the entire night, he would have been exhausted and dispirited, unlike Aiden who was invigorated and chirpy.
"I'm fine,"
Aiden patted little Morwyn on the shoulders with a relaxed expression, saying with a fake smile, "I'm going to return there a month later. Do you want to join me?"
"N-No!"
Little Morwyn shook his head left and right like a drum and replied firmly.
Aiden smiled.
Right then, the old monk opened his doors and came forth, saying in a casual manner, "A woman arrived at the top of the Dragon Burial Valley this morning and has been crying for ten minutes… sigh, in the blink of an eye, a year has already passed."
"Woman? Crying?"
Aiden froze for a moment.
Immediately after, as though he recalled something, he turned and headed out of the old temple.
Little Morwyn turned around with a worried expression. "Master, lend me your divine weapon again. I'll go protect Mind Jin."
"There's no need."
The old monk shook his head. "Let him go alone. He has the Nigal Prayer Beads with him, those evil ghosts out there won't be able to get close to him."
Aiden pushed the doors open and walked out.
For a moment, he forgot that he was outside the old temple and there were malevolent spirits and ghosts.
At that moment, the only thing on his mind was the woman who was crying at the top of the Dragon Burial Valley so many months after…
Who was crying?
Who was she crying for?
Aiden had a vague guess in his mind.
The person outside thought that he was already dead.
Theoretically speaking, today was his death anniversary!
After leaving the old temple, Aiden meandered around the borders of the valley and headed forward slowly.
Not long after, he heard intermittent sobbing sounds.
He walked for a little more before coming to a stop.
Even though his Inner Core had not recovered completely yet, his hearing power was still around.
The woman sobbing was right above him.
One of them was at the top of the valley and the other at the bottom.
They were thousands of feet apart.
Aiden raised his head and it was dark above him with nothing to be seen.
However, he already knew the identity of the person up there.
A tear fell silently from above, through the gap thousands of feet deep, and landed on Aiden's face with a semblance of warmth.
Aiden was silent.
A long time later, the sobbing turned softer and came to a stop.
"Aiden, today is your death anniversary. I'm here to visit you," The woman's voice sounded.
For some reason, when he heard that statement, Aiden felt as though something pounded his heart and his vision turned blurry with a misty fog.
This was the Dragon Burial Valley!
How many people would choose to avoid it completely?
How many powerful living beings have been buried here for tens of thousands of years?
Just a year ago, countless paragons of the North Region died here!
Notwithstanding the fact that this was an unlucky place, how much danger did one have to risk to pass through the Great Forbidden Ruins and the obstruction of endless otherworldly soldiers just to get here?
"So much has happened since you left us... Now, unlike in the past, in front of others, I don't dare to and neither can I cry."
"This is the only place where I can cry without holding myself back. Aiden, you must not laugh at me."
"Aiden, don't worry. I've already have all those important to you be hidden safely. Unless I die, nobody will be able to find them. It's just that…"
At that point, the woman paused, "It's just that the martial artists of Crystal Palace Sect vented their frustrations on the masses of the Northern Countries, and many innocents were killed, sigh. Thankfully, the Pure Maiden Sect of the fiend sects arrived and saved many of them."
At that point, Aiden gripped his fists tightly and his eyes shone with a murderous glint!
Although his friends were safe, he loved the mortals as though they were his own children. Upon hearing that the masses of the north were massacred, he must have been tormented immensely internally!
That feeling was most likely worse than death for someone important to him.
"Crystal Palace Sect!"
Aiden's gaze darkened with a killing intent that was almost materialized!
After starting his martial, what he was most afraid of was implicating his family.
To think that it was something that couldn't be avoided at the end of the day.
Although his family was fine, those innocents that were murdered were actually implicated because of him.
"It's truly thanks to the arrival of Pure Maiden Sect that diverted the attention of all the sects and factions of the North Region. Almost everyone believed that Pure Maiden Sect was the one that saved everyone."
"Ah, let's not talk about such stuff anymore,"
The woman's voice seemed to turn much more relaxed. "Let's talk about happier stuff now that we haven't met in a year!"
"All in all, everyone is fine so you don't have to worry about that, Aiden. Azure Myst Sect is fine as well and I've also formed my Inner Core and stepped into the Martial Master realm."
The woman spoke to herself at the top of Dragon Burial Valley about everything that happened in the past year.
Aiden listened quietly and silently, feeling the ice-cold wall in front of him with his palm.
It was as though the hundred thousand feet distance between him and the woman could be gapped through the wall.
It was as though the both of them were inches apart.
It was as though he was standing beside the woman, listening to her soft comments.
Aiden's Inner Core was already crippled and the tears on it had not recovered fully yet.
He could not fly in the sky.
He could not soar through this height and meet the woman at the top of the Dragon Burial Valley.
Aiden lowered his head slightly and his eyes dimmed.
Even if he could soar through the air, he might not want to choose to meet the woman.
That was because… he was Aiden.
He was the man who had offended Crystal Palace Sect and the entire North Region!
He was a demon that was not accepted in the entire martial world!
The moment he showed himself in the North Region, he would definitely be met with a relentless pursuit!
Anyone related to him would be implicated!
It was the case for Su Hong and it was also the case for the citizens of the Northern Countries.
If he chose to leave the Dragon Burial Valley and meet with that woman or return to Azure Myst Sect…
He would bring about an apocalyptic catastrophe for both her and Azure Myst Sect!
The moment he stepped out of the Dragon Burial Valley would be the moment he left the North Region.
The sun rose and set.
Unknowingly, the skies darkened and it was already dusk.
Aiden could clearly sense that the malevolent qi in the surrounding had grown denser; the Nigal Prayer Beads on his left wrist glowed with a mysterious luster.
Many ghosts and spirits wandered nearby but none of them dared to advance.
If that was the case at the bottom of the valley, it was naturally the same above!
A deep look of worry could be seen in Aiden's eyes.
Right now, he was hoping for the woman to leave the place as quickly as possible!
A while later, the skies darkened further, and bright stars dotted the firmaments. Finally, the woman said softly, "Aiden, I have to leave now."
Aiden heaved out a sigh of relief.
A moment later, when he saw that there was no more activity up above and wanted to return to the old temple, the woman's voice sounded once more with a hint of sniffing, "Aiden, I miss you."
Aiden's heart skipped a beat.
The sob grew distant – the woman had already left.
Aiden stood there motionlessly for a long time in silence.
After the night passed and day broke out again, he heaved a deep breath and walked back to the old temple.
When Morwyn saw Aiden enter through the doors with a dejected expression and lost gaze, he was confused but was too awkward to head up and ask about it.
He was only in his teens and had spent his life at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley isolated from the outside world – how would he understand something as such?
Winter came and summer passed.
Spring came and autumn passed.
On this day every year, a woman would appear above the Dragon Burial Valley, commenting softly about everything that happened in the past year without stopping.