Chapitre 5: 1.4 Star Dancer
Tian He started removing his clothes to clean his wounds but was surprised to find out that his blood was black in color, he's poisoned! She takes a second glance at the black figure's face, why do those people want to get rid of him that badly? It couldn't be that he was some major criminal, right?
But that's not right either, since there were 'Heavens' in this world, he wouldn't have the luck to survive in that river with these injuries and lucky enough to meet her who could evoke healing sacred powers strong enough to cure him.
She silently contemplates her luck values, and realizes it wasn't that high. She got over feeling sad because of the comparison and looks up at the night sky, I guess there really is such a thing as 'Heaven's' beloved child.
She returns her attention to the bloodied person on the ground. Since evoking her healing sacred powers required her to dance, she felt a bit of an injustice because this was the first time she's dancing for a man, her world and this world, and it's this kind of person.
At least, he'll be unconscious the whole time, so this shouldn't really count as dancing for him, right?
After she stops her miscellaneous thoughts, she takes a deep breath to relax herself, since his injuries are severe, she'll have to use her full strength to heal him.
She backs away to give herself enough space to dance, then raises her head to look at the current unobscured moon, since there isn't any music, she'll have to sing while she dances. Although she hasn't sung since she arrived into this world, she has enough confidence that her skills haven't diminished.
She wants to hurry and get this over with, not giving herself the time to think whether saving him is something she should be doing or not, she's afraid that she'll change her mind and for some reason, that scares her even more. Ignoring this sudden feeling, she begins to sing.
The melody starts off soft, almost like a whisper, then Tian He slowly lifts her hands above her head, and her voice gets gradually louder. Small particles of light started forming, except this time, mixed in with the golden lights were light blue colored ones. Tian He was a bit surprised, but she didn't stop her movements, she waved her hands in front of her and her voice goes higher, causing the blue particles of light to gather and form blue roses, and from there, her song truly begins.
"Smoothly fly across the vast skies,
Seeking love and many wonders
We must away before dusk nears,
To find our hearts and desires."
"The spirits sing their mighty spells,
Heaven enchants like ringing chimes
In other places we will go,
In other great skies we shall fly."
The moonlight was reflecting off the water-like rose petals, and Tian He's movements accelerated as she steps and spins around them, her fluttering clothes made her look like an ethereal spirit of the moon. Then, golden lotus blossoms started forming and surrounding themselves around her, synchronizing with the blue roses and glowing brighter.
As Tian He dances and sings, she didn't notice that the black figure became conscious as soon as she started singing. At first, he thought she would leave him and although he took medicine to treat his poison, his condition continued to worsen, and his consciousness was gradually fading but when he thought he was a goner, he heard her voice.
It began as a soft hum, then steadily became stronger, he thought her voice sounded pleasant and nice like sweet singing orioles. Suddenly, he felt the warm glow of the lotus blossoms, they floated on him as she danced in his surroundings, and he realized that some of his strength had returned to him. He was astounded, he knew how heavy his injuries were, and even if she could heal that, the poison inflicted upon him was by an expert singer that could evoke poison gases as her sacred powers; it could only be possibly cured by the imperial palace's official dancer, but he was certain that the girl in front of him was not her.
Then, who is she? How come he hasn't heard any news of an expert that could evoke such strong healing sacred power that's on par with that official dancer? Wait, on par? When he saw the lotus blossoms and blue roses glow brighter due to its synchronization, he felt his strength return at a faster pace and immediately changed his earlier conjecture, she's stronger!
Tian He was reaching the end of her song, and the moonlight was starting to dim. Her feet leaped, and she waved her hands in the air, like she was trying to bid it goodbye, the golden lotus blossoms felt her meaning and flew in sequence with her actions.
When she ended her song and dance, the golden lotus blossoms threw itself near the 'unconscious' black figure and real lotus blossoms began to sprout on the ground, treating the last remaining wounds and toxins in his body.
Although Tian He has stopped her movements, she didn't immediately go and check on the black figure's injuries but remained with her eyes closed in the same place as her last dance move. When she danced earlier, she subconsciously moved according to the last dance move described in the 'advance's dancer' book, and after she finished it, she felt a warm energy well up inside of her, making her feel invigorated.
She broke her bottleneck! She laughed in delight and it seemed like the nearby blooming blue roses and golden lotus blossoms responded to her happiness and glowed brighter.
The fully healed black figure managed to capture this scene and his eyes deepen, he felt that her smile was pleasant to look at. He relished at the thought of grabbing that smile for himself, so he could look at it whenever he wanted to.
Tian He noticed the black figure's movements and her smile faded. She walked towards the sitting black figure and gave him a glance.
"This gentleman, since you have recovered, please leave the premises, the night is still going and I'm going to retire soon." Tian He didn't want him near her when she's sleeping.
He was about to introduce himself and thank her for saving him when he was caught off guard with her abrupt alienation. Didn't she want to know his identity and receive compensation for saving him? If not, then why did she rescue him?
Although Tian He couldn't see the black figure's face because of his mask, she still caught the bewilderment in his eyes through the mask's eye holes. Don't tell me he couldn't understand what she said?
Before Tian He could ask, the black figure nobly stood up and politely bowed, "Thank you this miss for your life saving graciousness, if you don't mind, please let me stay with you and when dawn breaks, I'll see to it myself that you are sent home safely and richly compensated for your help."
Tian He couldn't believe what she heard, stay with her?! Hell, because she 'accidentally' wandered into his fight area, she was chased by him, and had to swim in a cold river. Although her sacred powers dried up her wet clothes, and she wasn't worried about him taking advantage of her, she couldn't be sure what will happen if she stayed any longer with him. What if more assassins show up? She feels like her luck has went down ever since she met him. She even had the misconception that he was absorbing the luck around her.
Tian He cleared her throat, "This gentleman, I appreciate your thoughts, but there's no need. It was just a whim of mine to save you, I don't require any compensation. You should hurry and find another place to rest before the sun comes up." Tian He didn't want him to stay with her a second longer, she kept getting weird vibes from him, and she didn't know if it was good or not, but she wasn't going to wait and find out.
The black figure was puzzled that she wanted him to leave her so quickly, with her strength, she doesn't have to be worried that he'll take advantage of her, not that he would, but for some reason, he kept getting the feeling that she didn't like him and was impatiently trying to drive him away. If so, then why did she save him?
Whatever the reason, he didn't want to follow her instructions, with him here, he could protect her if his pursuers were to appear and trouble her. Although they knew that he was poisoned, he didn't know if they were stubborn enough to search for his body to prove his death. After some thought, he looked at the girl in front of him, and made his decision, he at least wanted to stay longer and find out the identity of his savior. Who knows, maybe if he makes her laugh, she'll show that sweet smile of hers to him again.
When thinking about making her smile, his lips couldn't help but curve upwards a bit, changing his whole aura from powerfully noble to serenely relaxed.
Tian He watched the black figure's eyes show puzzlement first, then changing to joy after. She wasn't sure if she saw correctly because there wasn't really anything out here that could bring joy besides the dirt and plants, or was he happy because she wasn't asking for any compensation? If that's what he's thinking, then he officially just went from strong gentleman to an ungrateful bastard in her mind.
She no longer wanted to concern herself with him and directly walked away, not giving him the chance reply.
The black figure who just got back from his thoughts, saw his savior walking away. Was it something he said? Why did he get the feeling that she hated him now?
Tian He ignored the black figure and gathered some leaves to rest on. When she looked up, she saw that he didn't leave but laid down a distance away from her. Her eyebrows scrunched together, and her lips curved downwards into a frown, why is he still here? Didn't he get her message? When she saw that the black figure closed his eyes to sleep, she felt that she was too tired to continue to persuade him to leave, so she laid down on her leaves and closed her eyes to sleep. The night was still going, and she needed to get some rest or else she wouldn't have any strength to walk back tomorrow.
Even though her strength has increased from breaking her bottleneck, her mind was awfully weary from tonight's events.
Once the black figure heard Tian He's heavy breathing, he got up and walked towards her. He stared at her sleeping face for awhile and noticed her eyelashes were moving. They looked like softly flapping butterfly wings, and when he was close enough, he could smell her breath; it smelled like sweet honey, unnoticeably tickling his heart. He suddenly had the urge to peel off her mask to see what her face looked like, and before he could think twice, he listened to his urges and gently pulled it off, revealing Tian He's beautiful features.
He couldn't help but suck in a breath of air in amazement, she was beautiful! The moonlight shone on her white jade skin and her red delicate lips, making them shine in an ethereal glow. He wanted to touch her lips, they must be pretty soft; however just when he was inches away, Tian He moved a bit, and the black figure quickly withdrew his hand.
What am I doing?! How could I touch a lady's lips, and my savior at that? He breathed in deeply to calm himself. I better go to sleep before I do anything else to her.
He laid down some leaves next to her and took a look at Tian He, smiling softly before he too, went into slumber.
…..
While Tian He and the mysterious black figure slept peacefully in the woods, the outside world was in chaos. It turns out that the 2nd Imperial Prince met with assassins and his whereabouts were currently unknown.
All of the capital city's guards and imperial soldiers were still awake searching for their missing prince.
"Crash-bang!" An expensive porcelain cup shattered on the ground.
"How could you let him get away?! There were five of you and only one of him! Don't tell me that even with numbers on your side, he's still powerful enough that you guys can't even touch him?"
"Please forgive us Your Imperial Highness, however; you can rest assured that the poison you gave us must have already deeply infiltrated into his wounds, and since the official Imperial's Dancer stayed in the palace after her performance on the lake, his hope of surviving is zero." A guard dressed in black replied.
If Tian He was present, she would have recognized him as the lead assassin who chased the black figure earlier. There were also several bandages on him, it seemed like he was heavily injured when he fought the black figure earlier.
An extravagantly dressed woman who looked she was in her forties, stood regally in front of a huge throne that was over embellished in chunks of gold and silver. All of her hair was neatly secured into a large bun at the center of her head, just right above her forehead, and elaborately decorated with silver and jade hairpins. Her purple skirt had many gems inlaid on its side, dimly glowing in the candle lit room.
She sat down regally after hearing her lead guard's report. "Are you telling the truth?" She questioned as she placed her hands on her thighs.
"I will stake my life on it." The lead guard answered immediately.
She looked at her lead guard for a moment, then burst out in laughter, "Huang Li Qiong, you have finally met your doom in my hands. Ten years ago, my poison failed to kill you only because of that wretched dancer, but even if she was sent out now, she won't be able to get rid of my poison in time, my evocation of my sacred powers is nowhere near my past weak self."
"Soon, the Emperor will hear of his beloved son's grievous news and will have no choice but to give the throne to my son, no matter how unwilling he is!" Her crazy laughter continued to loudly echo into the night.
…..
In the Imperial's capital most famous artist academy, near the first-year student's dormitories, worried shouts and cries could be heard from a housing structure filled with many pink and yellow peonies. Sounds of chairs turning over and glass breaking resounded throughout that peony filled courtyard.
"Qin Liu Wei, if you don't get out of my way, I'll make sure these tables make a sandwich out of you." Yu Yan shouted while holding a wooden chair with her hands.
"Yu Yan calm down, although Tian He hasn't returned yet, you shouldn't be too worried, you know her martial art skills better than I do, if she has run into any trouble, you and I wouldn't even be able to help her."
"Liu Wei, don't you think I know that, we need to tell the academy teachers, so they'll dispatch people to look for her."
"Yu Yan, we can't do that, the 2nd Imperial Prince has met with assassins and is currently missing, the teachers and most of the imperial's forces are busy searching for him, if we say anything now, they'll only misunderstand."
"I don't care, it's more important for me to find Tian He." Yu Yan throws her chair at Liu Wei and tries to run out.
Liu Wei sees her actions and dodges the chair, while swiftly catching her before she could run out the door.
"Yu Yan!" Liu Wei hugs her tightly and yells at her. He felt bad for screaming at her, but she would be in trouble if he let her notify the teachers. He knew that since even the imperial army was sent out, this was no simple assassination attempt. The power struggles for the throne has always been cruel, he couldn't let Yu Yan run into any danger. Although the city guards and soldiers were usually responsible for the citizen's safety, if they heard her request now, they wouldn't hesitate to throw her in jail for interfering with royal orders.
Yu Yan paused her struggles and looked up at Liu Wei, this was the first time she has heard him yell at her.
Suddenly, she felt so weak and powerless, she tightly hugs him and sobs on his shoulders. She knew that what he said was right, but it hurt her that they couldn't do anything about it. If she was strong enough, she would have gone out to look for Tian He instead.
Now the whole capital was searching for 2nd Imperial Prince, she couldn't risk sending out her family's guards either, any suspicious people would be directly thrown into jail and interrogated, she would only be adding onto her friends' trouble if that happened.
Yu Yan stayed within Liu Wei's warm and safe embrace, praying silently in heart that Tian He would be alright and return to them.
Liu Wei was taken aback by Yu Yan's initiative, but he snapped out of it once he heard her crying. His heart ache but he couldn't do anything except softly pat her back, hopefully assuring her and lessening her cries. He looked up at the night sky and hoped that the 'Heavens' would watch over Tian He and safely return her to them.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone