Chapter 235: The Carp Leaps Over the Dragon Gate

I had a strange and absurd dream.

I dreamed that my body was covered with all kinds of butterflies.

Those butterflies emitted a pleasant floral fragrance.

Among the floral scent, there was faintly a hint of medicinal aroma.

They landed on my body, incessantly flapping their wings, and a continuous stream of power flowed into my body.

They fell in layers, and died in layers.

I don't know how long passed, but I only felt my soul filled, and my entire spirit became invigorated.

I suddenly opened my eyes and sat up.

Immediately, a small porcelain bottle was shoved to my mouth.

A cool, sweet, and slightly fishy liquid poured into my throat, then a milk candy was stuffed in…

When I finally came to, I saw Li Qingying with red, swollen eyes sitting beside my bed, looking at me full of guilt.

Only then did I realize that what she had just given me to drink was probably dragon bone blood.

"Qingying sis, you're back." I looked behind her and asked, "Where's Aunt Tang?"

Li Qingying said: "She left. I happened to run into her when I came back, and she didn't even say hello to me, just left as if fleeing."

I frowned, wondering how Tang Xun has been getting stranger and stranger lately.

But she helped me again.

I asked again: "What about Xue Feng? Did you see her when you came back?"

"None." Li Qingying said resentfully, "She probably can't face you either."

From the time we brought Xue Feng back until today, we have spent a lot of effort on her.

Uncle Huo helped with the rescue, Li Qingying took care of her daily… but in the end she allied with that Brother Qiu to harm me; how could Li Qingying not be angry and hateful?

I patted her hand and comforted: "She's just a young bird; the other side threatened her with over a hundred lives of the Xue Feng clan, so she had no choice."

Even if she leaves Dang Pu now, her life won't be easy.

"No matter how hard, I can't harm you!" Li Qingying still couldn't get past that hurdle in her heart, "She's just a white-eyed wolf; don't let me see her again, or I'll hit her every time I do!"

I smiled and said nothing.

The next moment, Li Qingying suddenly apologized to me: "Sorry, Xiao Jiu, I shouldn't have entrusted you to Xue Feng; I misjudged people, almost got you killed, and I also came back late..."

"Qingying sis, what nonsense are you talking about!" I feigned anger, "Who could have predicted these things would happen? You've been running around for my sake, giving your all; I'm grateful to you beyond words."

Li Qingying glanced at my right cheek, feeling distressed: "The ice silkworm's poison has been suppressed, your remnant soul has been temporarily filled like Aunt Tang's, your body should recover soon, but why..."

In that passage, I caught two points that astonished me.

First, my remnant soul was filled just like Aunt Tang's.

Yes.

Back then in the utopia, oh, Xue Feng said that utopia was called Lingdie Valley.

In that mountain hollow in Lingdie Valley, Aunt Tang's soul was completed by a layer-by-layer butterfly sacrifice.

And my dream just now was exactly the same.

But this situation... is it possible for everyone, or only for specific people?

If the latter, then between me and Tang Xun, there seems to be some inexplicable fate binding us.

It seems I need to find a way to talk to Tang Xun properly about this.

But now she seems to be deliberately avoiding us; what is she conflicted about?

The second point in Li Qingying's words that astonished me was her hesitation to speak.

I unconsciously raised my hand to touch my right cheek again.

A layer of gauze was placed there.

Even with the gauze covering it, I still felt some blood.

I hurriedly got out of bed, went to the dressing table, lifted the gauze, and saw that under the gauze, where the character "slave" had been, a large area had ulcerated, bloody and blurry.

Especially the center, a small blood hole had already appeared.

And my hair had turned two-thirds white, only the patch at the back of my head remained black.

At this rate, in just a few days my hair will be completely white.

Does this also foretell that by then my life will be nearing its end?

I originally wanted to make a trip to Cangwu Mountain, but now it seems I might not make it in time.

I sat before the dressing mirror, my eyes looking at the mirror, but my thoughts had already flown far away.

I thought of Feng Li Shu.

Thinking of Feng Li Shu's change this time, and the mutual attraction between us that we never had before.

Thinking of the scene where Tang Xun forced Feng Li Shu to leave.

Tang Xun doesn't let me get close to Feng Li Shu, so does she know something?

I also thought of the girl holding Feng Wu who repeatedly appears in my dreams amidst a sea of fire; between us there is also this attraction.

What kind of connection exists among the three of us?

I was lost in thought, so much that even when Li Qingying gently shook my shoulder, I didn't notice.

Li Qingying suddenly panicked, hugged me tightly, and said anxiously: "Xiao Jiu, don't be like this; you must trust Seventh Lord, he will find a way to save you."

Her emotions were very agitated, her voice trembling slightly.

Only then did I snap back to my senses, realizing my emotions had been abnormal, possibly frightening Li Qingying.

After all, my face is rotting, my hair has turned white—these all portend that my life is nearing its end.

Is Li Qingying afraid I can't accept this all at once, that I might give up?

I was just about to explain that I'm not that fragile; I won't become despondent.

Just then Li Qingying said, "Xiao Jiu, you will surely turn danger into safety and find life in desperate straits, just like I did back then. I've never told you about my past, have I? I was almost killed back then..."

I instinctively clenched my mouth.

Yeah, Li Qingying has never told me about her background or what she went through.

I only know that her horn is broken.

It's already hard for a carp to cultivate into human form, and to grow horns... that's as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

What a pity.

"I was born in Linghai, belonging to the Red Carp Clan." Li Qingying said slowly, "Since birth I bore auspicious omens; the elders of my clan all praised me as a reincarnated brocade carp. My cultivation talent is excellent—I could assume human form in less than a century, and when I was nearly two hundred years old, a red pointed horn unexpectedly sprouted on my forehead."

The clan elders were overjoyed, saying I might have a chance to transform into a dragon.

They nurtured me with care; the clan's finest resources were all poured into me. The horn on my forehead grew longer and larger, gradually showing signs of splitting. The clan chief said it was time for me to go to the Dragon Gate.

If a carp successfully leaps the Dragon Gate, it can become a dragon; if the Red Carp Clan had a dragon, what glory would that be?

So, when I was over three hundred years old, I was brought to that place—the Dragon Gate—where you and I have gone together; it is the forbidden area of the Linghai Dragon Palace.

I furrowed my brows—was it there?

Li Qingying paused, then continued, "I had made all the preparations. I had considered that I might fail the Dragon Gate leap, disappointing my clan's expectations, but I never imagined that those closest companions of mine would, at that crucial moment, stab me in the back and nearly destroy me."