Chapter 46.1: It’s Been a Long Time
Yan Ning Luo was really terrifying when she became serious. The Faint Mist Sect often held contests among their sects’ inner disciples and she had always gotten first place every year. Moreover, the sect leader would also arrange for them to go out for rigorous training and her accumulated battle experience was definitely stronger than Yue Xin Yan. In the end, with just one wrong move, Yue Xin Yan was struck on the shoulder and blood churned within her, causing her to fall down from midair.
Yan Ning Luo stopped the moment she struck a hit and did not make any more moves. In a show of righteousness, she walked up to her opponent and extended her hand. “Appreciate that you’ve let me win, Ninth Princess.”
Yue Xin Yan was dazed for a moment before she pulled on her hand to stand up. Having been defeated she was not feeling dejected or depressed but was instead showing a sweet smile. “Yan Ning Luo, you’re indeed very strong, a proper prodigy through and through.”
Being praised, Yan Ning Luo did not show the slightest arrogance. “I am two years older than the Ninth Princess and when the Ninth Princess reaches my age, you will probably be stronger than I am now.”
Yue Xin Yan smiled. “Then we’ll battle again at that time.”
“It’s a deal.” Yan Ning Luo agreed to it, and her gaze then drifted over to Qing Ye Li on its own, to discover that he had not been paying attention to the fight at all but was instead looking rather distracted, his mind elsewhere. Yan Ning Luo could not help but feel a wave of disappointment wash over her.
It was Yue Xin Yan who then carefreely pulled her over towards her own seat and said: “From now on, you are a friend of Yue Xin Yan.” She went on to turn to Qing Ye Li and said: “Big Brother Ye Li, she’s really a prodigy! Haha, I have finally found a girl who is stronger than me.”
Standing at such a close distance right before the person that she loves, Yan Ning Luo froze for an instant at that moment. If not for the fact that she was born with a cold and indifferent personality who didn’t show strong fluctuation in her emotions, she would surely have turned red, her heart beat wildly, and became an embarrassing sight.
Qing Ye Li merely lifted his eyes up to glance expressionlessly at her and then grunted an indifferent acknowledgement without saying anything else.
Seeing him show such a lack of interest, Yue Xin Yan turned around apologetically and said: “Big Brother Ye Li is always like this. Although he always acts so cold, he is actually a very good person.”
But Yan Ning Luo did not mind his cold and indifferent demeanor at all, as that person was just being who he was. Her gaze looking straight at the man, she then broke into a highly enchanting smile and said: “Qing Ye Li, it’s been a long time.”
The smile of a beauty, could very well bring ruin upon cities and kingdoms.
Not to mention it was coming from Yan Ning Luo who possessed looks of unmatched beauty with such an icy demeanor, a smile that was so rare to see, so precious it was to be treasured.
It was such a clean and uninhibited smile that even Yu Xiao Ning who had always been close to her had never seen it before.
And it was just that one highly casual statement from her that had everyone stunned in shock.
She had actually addressed the Duke of Vast Seas by his name! And with a tone that was so familiar, like they had known each other from a long time ago.
But that smile of hers was thought provoking enough. It had seemed like her fiance was His Highness the Crown Prince wasn’t it? But that gaze filled with such gentleness, that was exactly the kind of gaze one gave when gazing upon one’s beloved…..
Xuanyuan Che saw that unusual scene, and seemed to suddenly understand something.
Back on the day when they had come across the incident where there was an assassination attempt on the Duke of Vast Seas, when Yan Ning Luo heard his voice, she had immediately come rushing out from inside the pleasure boat and looking rather worked up, as she relentlessly asked for that man’s location.
So, her feelings towards the Duke of Vast Seas…..
It seemed like it had been many years since he had heard anyone call him by his own name. Qing Ye Li’s eyes darkened slightly and then gazed straight at Yan Ning Luo. “We know each other?”
Over a span of eight years, this was the first sentence he had said to her.
The arc at the ends of Yan Ning Luo’s mouth deepened. “Of course we know each other. We knew each other since eight years ago.”
Chapter 46.2: It’s Been a Long Time
Qing Ye Li knitted up his brows, seemingly unable to recall that he knew this young lady before him. But before he could finish wondering, he heard the young lady say softly: “Eight years ago, in the back mountains behind the Faint Mist Sect, you were injured.”
Once those words came out, Qing Ye Li was immediately able to recall.
He had suffered a backlash when he was ambushed by a surprise attack at the most critical period when he was undergoing a breakthrough into the next level in his cultivation and he had unconsciously stumbled in a barrier array. It was a little girl who led him out of it and settled him in a remote little hut within the mountains to recuperate. He had stayed there for a period of about four to five days and left once he recovered from his injuries.
Qing Ye Li’s attention then came back out from his thought, his dark green eyes looking at the young lady with a measuring gaze. “It was you?”
“That was me.” Yan Ning Luo nodded and smiled.
“So, the Duke of Vast Seas and Little Ning….. are already acquainted?” The Green Wave Emperor watched from above for quite a while, before he finally spoke.
“Many years ago, I was injured from an ambush and it was all thanks to the helping hand Princess Ning Feng extended to me I was fine.” Qing Ye Li said expressionlessly.
“Oh? Is that so? Why has Little Ning never mentioned that you are acquainted with the Duke of Vast Seas?” The Green Wave Emperor feigned displeasure, but his eyes were filled with joy. He would never have thought that the lass would be acquainted with the Duke of Vast Seas and that she would have saved his life before.
Yan Ning Luo smiled faintly. “I did not do anything much and I don’t think I had helped all that much. I had not known that he was the Duke of Vast Seas back then as he had merely told me his name, and had not stated his identity.”
“So I see.” The Green Wave Emperor nodded in understanding, but he was already having some other thoughts in his heart.
The Duke of Vast Seas as a person, had a cold personality and was adverse to kindly human relations, keeping people far distant, also well known to be cold blooded and cruel. For many years, besides the Ninth Princess Yue Xin Yan, there didn’t seem to be any other lady who had dared to come close to him. Regardless of the fact that he was highly worshipped and revered, his bloody and brutal ways made people both love and fear him at the same time.
But Little Ning had been able to address him directly by name, and was not afraid to speak to him in a calm and composed manner, so it was thought that the relationship between them was definitely not just common acquaintance.
It would seem that he would be able to make good use of that.
Yue Xin Yan then finally managed to be able to react. “To think that Big Brother Ye Li actually knows Princess Ning Feng! I had not heard you mention about it before!”
Qing Ye Li did not say anything, but it was Yan Ning Luo who spoke: “I was just a little girl back then, and often remains within the Faint Mist Sect. How could he possibly know who I was?”
“That’s true.” Yue Xin Yan smiled and nodded. “But it’s great that you know each other. I heard that the Green Wave Kingdom’s All Saints’ Day is happening very soon, and I am looking forward to it very much. It will surely be filled with all kinds of activities and full of fun!”
“Mm. If you do not mind, I can bring you guys around the Green Wave Kingdom in the next few days for you to enjoy yourselves thoroughly, to get a feel of the local flavours and customs.” Yan Ning Luo had probably smiled less in the past ten years than she had tonight, showing a fittingly generous smile on her face throughout. Compared to the aloof image of a cold beauty in the past, she was exceptionally a lot more approachable tonight.
Everyone in the crowd could not help but whisper under their breath. [What could have come over Princess Ning Feng tonight? Always cold and indifferent and suddenly turning to become so warm and gentle, it was really quite hard to get used to it.]
Xuanyuan Che’s gaze was tinted with a tinge of irony. [Ah, he had thought that the woman was born with that cold and icy expression. So it was only because she had merely not met the right person yet. But what he had never come to expect was that the person she liked was actually the Duke of Vast Seas. That man did indeed possess the capital to make women go mad over him, but for the foolish woman Yan Ning Luo to fall in love with such a heartless man, she was destined to have to suffer.]
Chapter 46.3: It’s Been a Long Time
With a minor interlude where there was a duel between two young ladies, the atmosphere was warmed up quite a bit. After that an incessant stream of lithe and limber bodied dancers came onto the stage, and classical instruments played while the dancers waved their flowy sleeves in beautiful dance, a beautiful and mesmerizing sight.
“The Duke of Vast Seas’ surname….. is actually the same as ours!” Qing Bei muttered to himself, and then turned to the person beside him. “Sis, you….. Eh? Where is she? ?”
The seat beside him was vacant and unoccupied. Qing Bei’s eyes grew wide. She was just sitting here a moment ago, why had she suddenly disappeared? And she had not even said a single thing to him.
The lad pursed up his lips in thought. [He must have gotten too excited tonight when he saw the man he had admired for so long.] Qing Bei did not think any further about it and just continued to secretly look at the man who had his head lowered as he sipped at his drink without much expression.
At that same moment, with the moon hanging just over their heads, it was silent outside the palace and only the low chirping of insects could be heard.
During a midsummer season like this, the night breeze was supposed to make a person feel comfortable. But for some unknown reason, it felt a little chilly, and with the gust of cold wind blowing past her, her dazed and groggy mind seemed to clear up quite a bit.
Her beautiful and alluring eyes then narrowed slightly as she looked up at the round moon, a million thoughts going through her mind.
[Why did she have such an ominous feeling?]
[And it had started only after the people from the Water Edge Kingdom came in. But it did not seem like there could be any kind of link between them, so….. Whose eye could she have drawn upon herself? She usually kept a low profile and she did not remember making any enemies!]
“Ah choo~” She shivered and suddenly let out a sneeze.
Qing Yu rubbed her nose violently and cursed out softly. “Damn it! Who is the scoundrel cursing me?”
————
In the Cloud Heaven’s east, sat a large family sect with a hundred year history.
With their amazing skills in elixir cultivation, the family clan helped the dead and healed the injured, assisting the poor and alleviated impoverishment. Their upright and kindly morals gained the praise and approval of the people, known as the Divine Healers, with Bai as the family surname.
The current sitting Sect Leader of the Divine Healers Sect was the seventeenth Sect Leader, named Bai Qiu, highly skilled in healing, a sage who cared for all under the Heavens, and was also Bai Zhi Yan’s father.
But for the father and son who had not seen each other for many years, it seemed their reunion after such a long time wasn’t such a happy one.
“Ay ay! Father, don’t walk away yet. Let me explain…..”
‘Boom!’
The great big ancient doors of the Divine Healers Sect shut tightly with a boom, very nearly hitting Bai Zhi Yan on the nose.
Bai Zhi Yan was feeling rather melancholy as he turned his head back begrudgingly. “What do we do now? We’re not even able to get in through the door. Didn’t you say that it wouldn’t be a problem?”
Behind him in dominating and flamboyant purple lavish clothes, his facial features deeply handsome looking, wasn’t that Luo Jun Yao in person?
“Hmm….. Seems like your father….. does not want to see me, which leads to him not wanting to see you as well.” Luo Jun Yao rubbed at his chin, and came up with that conclusion.
“Dammit, do I need you to tell me that?” Bai Zhi Yan could not help but curse out.
“Then just barge your way in.” Luo Jun Yao said highly casually.
Bai Zhi Yan rolled his eyes. “Do you think the Divine Healers Sect is a place that anyone can barge into as they like? This place is not part of your territory and there could be countless traps waiting for you inside. I had not been back for so many years and I don’t even know if there were any changes made.”
Luo Jun Yao raised an eyebrow and went walking forward on his own. He placed his large hand on the door and pushed on it lightly. The door then opened surprisingly.
Bai Zhi Yan had clearly used almost all his might to push at the door earlier, and he had not been able to move the door an inch.
After the door was opened, it was completely silent inside, without even the shadow of a person in there. The place looked completely desolate, like no one had ever lived in that place before.
