Chapter 175: Xuyan

Zongfang clearly did not believe her, and his method of verification was very direct; he bit his own wrist on the spot, and seeing that the wound indeed did not heal, he revealed the most genuine smile he had shown in so many days.

Afterward, no matter how Qiao Suisui coaxed him, this man refused to give in.

She had thought that transferring the Self-healing to him would put Zongfang at ease, but Qiao Suisui discovered that he was still very nervous the next day.

"You didn't bleed, did you?"

She answered him for the fifth time: "No, Zongfang, don't worry. It's fine once in a while."

Zongfang frowned and said: "I don't dare believe a word you say."

It was fortunate that he had forcibly restrained himself yesterday and had not let his heart be led astray by her; otherwise, he would certainly be blaming himself today.

Qiao Suisui sat at the dining table dangling her feet while eating breakfast, intending to gloss over the matter, but she heard the man ask in a sinister tone: "Besides Self-healing, what other talents have you had?"

Her hand holding the bread stiffened; good grief, was this settling of accounts after the fact? Wasn't this just a roundabout way of asking who else she had done this with?

Qiao Suisui gave a dry laugh and said: "None, really, only this one."

Zongfang's eyes were filled with a look that was neither quite a smile nor quite a frown, and it was unclear whether he believed her or not. But after this incident, both of them tacitly stopped mentioning it; she didn't bring it up because she was afraid Zongfang would misunderstand and cause more trouble, and Zongfang didn't bring it up because he truly wanted to be out of sight and out of mind—some things, once known, would only put him in a bad mood. He truly had no way to deal with her.

This day, Sang Yan suggested taking her for a ride, and after she greeted Ka'er and Zongfang, she went out.

She had assumed they were going out in a Flying Ship, but when she walked outside, she saw a Dragon parked in the courtyard.

No, a Dragon.

Sang Yan's wings unfurled, instantly appearing to blot out the sky and sun.

It was Qiao Suisui's first time seeing a Dragon, and she stared up in a daze; this was not the image of the Eastern Dragon she had seen in textbooks, but rather something like the descriptions of Dragons in Western fantasy worlds. His body was covered in thick, heavy scales, each one like finely crafted armor, shimmering with a metallic luster under the sunlight. Those wings, once spread, were broad and powerful, like massive canvases covering half the sky. With every beat, the air emitted a low, rumbling sound. His claws were as sharp as blades, as if they could easily crush rock. His tail was long and powerful, with sharp bone spurs at the tip.

She was a little afraid to approach, but the next second, the Dragon lowered his head and bowed his body, prostrating himself devoutly before her. He swept his tail tip over, and only after Qiao Suisui was seated did he slowly and cautiously place her upon his back.

She gripped the scales on his back, standing upon him very steadily, as if standing on the peak of a high mountain, and her field of vision immediately opened up.

Zongfang was a bit worried and wanted to follow, but he was stopped by Ka'er.

"Let her relax a bit; Sang Yan won't let her get hurt."

Zongfang watched her laughing heartily, her eyes bright and sparkling, so rarely full of spirit, and so he swallowed back all his further worries.

Sang Yan carried Qiao Suisui as they flew above the Freedom Alliance; the wind blew from all directions, as if washing away all the troubles in her heart. She closed her eyes, feeling the caress of the wind and the tremors brought about by the flapping of the Dragon's wings.

She saw mountain peaks towering into the clouds, like the fingers of giants pointing straight at the sky, majestic and magnificent. The tops of the peaks were actually covered in white snow, shining with a dazzling light under the irradiation of the sun.

Her hair was blown into a mess, but she didn't care at all; she just wanted to shout aloud, feeling as though her soul had completely merged with the vast world of the Freedom Alliance.

Looking further down, the vast forest was like a green ocean, the treetops shimmering under the sunlight; as the breeze brushed past, the leaves rustled. The river was like a silver ribbon, winding and twisting, the water surface under the sun sparkling like countless diamonds, the water flowing with a gurgling sound.

Qiao Suisui pointed excitedly into the distance, exclaiming incessantly: "Sang Yan, what is that? And what is over there?" After asking, she remembered that he couldn't speak now, and only a series of Dragon roars responded to her. Sang Yan took her flying over mountains and rivers, sometimes high and sometimes low.

His speed was not fast, one could even say it was very gentle, but she still found it thrilling.

During the flight, Qiao Suisui suddenly noticed a massive crack appearing on the ground, bottomless, as if the earth had been split open. She pointed at the crack and asked: "Sang Yan, is this the Xuyan?"

Sang Yan let out a Dragon roar, signifying an answer. "Can we get closer to look?"

Sang Yan slightly adjusted the angle of his wings and slowly descended, bringing Qiao Suisui closer to that massive crack. As their altitude lowered, Qiao Suisui could clearly see the edges of the crack, where there were jagged rocks, as if they had experienced the tearing and impact of countless crustal movements.

She stared into the depths of the crack, vaguely seeing blue-purple light flickering, as if it were an endless abyss hiding unknown secrets.

Did Lan Ze go in and out of here? How did he manage that? And why did he want to enter this place? What was down here? She leaned her body downward, directing Sang Yan to get closer; their altitude dropped again and again, flying almost right against the edge of the great rift, and just at this moment, Qiao Suisui suddenly saw her hands and body blur for a moment.

She thought her eyes had played tricks on her and stared wide-eyed at her hands; a few seconds later, her hands disappeared and reappeared like pixelated frame-skipping.

"What is going on?"

Sang Yan sensed that something was wrong with her and soared upward, flying back to high altitude. That frame-skipping phenomenon never happened again.

Qiao Suisui frowned as she looked at the great crack below, her eyes full of confusion.

At the same time, at the very bottom of the rift valley, Lan Ze stood in an endless darkness, the surroundings so silent that he could only hear his own heartbeat.

In the distance, the light and shadow of a door loomed ahead, like an eerie lighthouse guiding him forward. He approached that door step by step.

As the distance closed, Lan Ze sensed that there seemed to be a blurred figure inside the door.

The silhouette of that figure overlapped perfectly with his own, the physique exactly the same, as if it were himself reflected in a mirror.

Lan Ze's footsteps stopped abruptly; his mental power, like eyes, was now vibrating and shooting toward the person inside the door.

He 'saw' that the person's facial features were identical to his own, but the other person's face was etched with the traces of time, as if it were himself several decades later.

In an instant, the surrounding darkness seemed to have life, beginning to slowly close in on him. His previous absurd conjecture was confirmed at this moment. The old man sweeping the floor at the church was disguised as this person, and this person was himself?! He stared unblinkingly at the figure, trying to see more details. The figure inside the door seemed to be watching him as well.

"You came after all," the person inside the door said.

Lan Ze subconsciously took a step back, but that door and the figure remained like a shadow.

Was this a hallucination, or was it real? When he tried to reach out to touch the surface of the door, his fingers passed right through as if it were nothing.

"It's useless. These are two worlds."

"What do you mean?" Lan Ze suppressed his agitation, stared fixedly at the person inside the door, and asked: "Who exactly are you? Why did you say those things to me before? Why can I no longer use Precognition now?"

The person inside the door revealed a nostalgic smile and asked excitedly: "Did you succeed? Did you stop her from leaving that world?"

Lan Ze's brow furrowed tightly, and he asked in confusion: "What on earth are you talking about?"

The person inside the door only looked at him and smiled, "I understand you; as long as I told you those things, you would certainly go to change fate because of your unwillingness to accept it. Even if she ends up hating you, at least... at least you won't be like me, guarding a world without her, trapped in endless waiting..."

"Who is the 'she' you are talking about?" Lan Ze stepped forward rapidly, trying to grab him out from inside the door, but his touch only dissipated a phantom image.

"Go back; cherish the world that has her."

(End of chapter)