Chương 48: blood-haired Liang Chen.
Yan Ling placed Liang Chen's body on her back, carrying him in a piggyback position. Blood was dripping from all his orifices and several cracks that had appeared in his body, staining both his and Yan Ling's robes in blood. Yan Ling glanced at the blood, suddenly remembering something.
"Oops, can't be seen wearing these."
The robes had hidden Liang Chen's features, but people would still be able to recognize him if they saw her carrying him and they were both clad in those cloaked robes. She quickly stripped Liang Chen, storing the bloody robe into her interspatial ring. This was the first time she had seen Liang Chen's bare body, so this was the first time she saw all the scars that covered his back and arms, as well as a large portion of his chest and legs.
She couldn't help but be slightly stunned, tracing the crack like scars with her fingers. How had his entire body been covered in scars like this? Not only were there crack like scars, but there were also scars gained from other wounds, such as the large scar on his shoulder, where a Demonic beast had taken out a large chunk. She quickly regained herself, focusing on the task at hand. She took out a light yellow robe and quickly put it on Liang Chen, repeating the process for herself right after.
After she clad both of them in the new robes, she carried him through some of the smaller alleys and roads that went away from the palace. As she carried Liang Chen and ran, she could hear people surrounding the palace behind her, their shocked voices sounding out.
"What the hell just happened?!"
"Where did Liu Daning go?"
"Where did all this blood come from, did all the men inside the palace die?!"
Yan Ling couldn't blame them for their shocked reactions. With all the cultivators inside the palace melting, a veritable flood of blood started seeping out from every opening. She was completely confident that the inside of the palace now looked like a scene straight out of hell itself.
Yan Ling quickly retraced her steps, dashing away from the palace and heading to the market where her big brother was. It seemed like Yan Ying and his men had noticed the commotion, as she spotted them running towards the palace. She quickly called out to them, holding Liang Chen's body on her back with one arm and using the other to wave at Yan Ying, a bright and amused smile on her face.
"Big Brother, over here!"
Yan Ying quickly turned his head when he heard the voice of Yan Ling. His eyes landed on the unconscious and bloody Liang Chen, and he instantly guessed at what had happened. His group quickly ran over to Yan Ling, and Yan Ying couldn't help but let out a deep sigh when he saw the smile on his sister's face.
"Of course it had to be you. I knew that something was wrong the moment I hadn't heard from you in two days."
For him to not hear from his sister in two days, it could only mean that she was being rowdy somewhere, probably getting on the nerves of some poor fellow who had to deal with her. Yan Ying gave Liang Chen a quick check, his expression turning a bit solemn when he saw the extent of the injuries.
"Old Chen, take care of Little Chen. I don't think a few pills will make it this time."
Yan Ling handed Liang Chen to Old Chen, who was most suited to dealing with injuries. The moment Old Chen saw just how serious the injuries were, he poured his Qi into Liang Chen's body, ice starting to gather on some of the larger wounds, preventing him from bleeding out. His body was slowly healing itself, but if left alone, he would bleed out before he finished healing. While Old Chen was taking care of Liang Chen, Yan Ying sent a slight glare at Yan Ling.
"There was only one thing you had to keep in mind inside the city, one thing! Can you tell me what that one thing was?"
Yan Ying thought that his sister had understood after he made sure to repeat it several times, at least three times a day. Yan Ling gave a quick nod of her head, repeating what Yan Ying had told her several times. She even wore a serious expression on her face.
"Don't stir up any trouble."
Yan Ying gave a faint nod, she at least remembered what he had told her several times. He then sent her another slight glare, pointing at the distant commotion.
"And what did you just do?"
Yan Ling didn't even glance at the commotion behind her, her lips curling into a smile that revealed her cute canine teeth, a bright laughter escaping her lips.
"Nihihi, we just stirred up quite the trouble!"
Her expression clearly showed that she held no remorse for doing the exact thing that Yan Ying had told her repeatedly not to do. Yan Ying felt a headache approach, he wanted to scold Yan Ling, but in the end, he could only let out a defeated sigh.
"You... you... Ha~ah, just tell me what the hell you did."
Yan Ling quickly started to explain what Liang Chen had told her, as well as what Liang Chen had done. Yan Ying's eyebrows twitched slightly after hearing about the things Liu Daning had done. Yan Ling had watched Liang Chen for two days, so she had been able to come up with a guess at what he was doing as he sat there, so she also told Yan Ying about what she guessed Liang Chen had been doing for those two days. After hearing the entire story, Yan Ying gave a nod of his head, but he still let out another sigh.
"Well, I can't say this Liu Daning and his men didn't deserve it. But couldn't you wait for a better time, like right before we leave the city?"
Yan Ying and Yan Ling didn't know what Liu Daning's men had done, as Liang Chen had passed out before he could tell Yan Ling. But birds of a feather flocked together, so they were likely just as vile as Liu Daning. Facing Yan Ying's exasperated sigh, Yan Ling let out another bright laugh, her eyes gleaming with light.
"Nihihi, where's the fun in that? Hey, did you see that lightning at the end, did you?!"
When she closed her eyes, Yan Ling could still see those three bolts of lightning that soared into the sky. One golden, one azure, one crimson, all three coiling around each other as they ascended into the sky. It was a truly magnificent, and terrifying, sight. The group quickly returned to the market, to the only place in the city where battles were forbidden.
Of course, since Liang Chen had just killed one of the rulers of the city, the ones that ensured that the rules within the market were upheld, there was no telling whether or not anyone would still care about those rules. While making their way back to the market, Yan Ying responded to Yan Ling's question with a somewhat exasperated voice.
"Of course we did, the whole city saw that lightning!"
Not only had the lightning created a thunderous explosion that resounded through the entire city, but the bolts of lightning were also so large and eye-catching that it was impossible to miss them. When Yan Ying thought about those three bolts of lightning, even he couldn't help but feel a slight shudder go through him.
"I knew that Little Chen could produce quite the amount of strength, but I didn't expect it to have reached that level. It seems that he can't handle all that power right now, but imagine the day where he can properly control all that power. He can launch as many of those attacks that he wants without ending up as he has now! And it seems like his poison is quite a bit stronger than I first expected it to be."
Looking at how Liang Chen tore himself apart whenever he wanted to use lightning of that strength, it was clear that the power was far stronger than his body could handle. But that was only for now! One day he could use as much lightning as he pleased, decimating everything with heavenly wrath! And what if he had stronger lightning? What if that crimson heavenly lightning wasn't his strongest? Just the thought that Liang Chen might have violet heavenly lightning caused Yan Ying's heart to thump violently. Yan Ling couldn't help but give a rare solemn nod of her head.
"Yeah, it really was quite terrifying. Blood poured out from the openings in the palace, like a tide of blood had suddenly been unleashed inside it."
Yan Ying shuddered at the thought of Liang Chen's lightning, but Yan Ling was more amazed by his poison. She knew that his poison was weaker than his lightning, that was why his cultivation had stagnated for the moment. But even that weak poison had caused several cultivators to completely melt! What would it become once he strengthened it? What sort of insidious and terrifying poison would be born then? But her solemn expression didn't last long, a smile appearing on her face.
"But hey, he's on our side, so the freakier he is, the better!"
Liang Chen had already agreed to join their Storm Wolf sect, and he was on good terms with everyone in their group. He was a terrifying enemy, but an amazing ally. Yan Ling suddenly thought about something, her smile growing even wider, a somewhat mischievous and even slightly sinister laughter sounding out.
"Nihihi, I'd like to see if those ghouls and lizards are still going to dare be arrogant once the next sect competition starts."
Since all the sects were technically rivals, they would often compete with each other. Even normal training exercise and hidden realms like this turned into competitions between the younger generation. Hearing her somewhat sinister laughter, Yan Ying gave a slight nod of his head, agreeing with her.
"True, Deng Wuying and Qian Yunwen aren't bad, but compared to how strong Little Chen might be once the competition rolls around? They fall a bit short I fear."
Yan Ying knew the strength of his sect quite well. While the older generation of disciples still had some very power disciples that could keep the other sects at bay, the younger generation was quite a bit weaker when compared to the other sects. But that was mainly because of how the Storm Wolf sect treated their younger disciples, mostly forbidding them from experiencing the cruelty of the world before they were a certain age.
The group reached the market after not too long, heading to the eastern side of it. They quickly reached a row of small square houses, each one only a few rooms large. Yan Ying took out a gray quartz from his interspatial ring, placing it against the door as he spoke.
"Alright, let's go and hide in the house we have rented, keep out of sight and hope for the best while we wait for Little Chen to wake up and the rest of our guys to arrive."
--
While Yan Ling was carrying Liang Chen through the city, Liang Chen found his mind sink through the darkness, approaching a red light. Once he passed through the red light, he found himself standing in a familiar ruined city. He once again stood in Green Rivers city, looking at the scaffolding where his parents were executed.
But things were different this time. There were no people around the scaffolding, he didn't relive that day. The city around him was also ruined, split open at the middle, a massive black crack that resembled a maw dividing the city in half. Liang Chen recognized this crack, it was the one that had appeared last time he fell unconscious, when he heard that strange and distorted voice.
There was also a thin layer of blood covering the ground of the entire city, bones and corpses lying in the blood. Liang Chen recognized these corpses, they were the people he had killed. Even the young girl he had killed out of pity was there, her ruined body lying face down in the blood. As Liang Chen was looking at the crack and the blood, his own voice suddenly sounded out from behind him.
"You know, for a guy who does his best to not fall asleep, you knock yourself out quite a bit. This is, what, the third time already since you entered the hidden realm?"
Liang Chen quickly turned around to inspect whoever it was that had arrived. The person that arrived looked almost exactly like him, but there were a few differences. His golden pupils were narrowed, like a serpent's, and instead of emerald hair, he had hair that was as red as blood. Liang Chen looked this clone of himself up and down for a short moment.
"Your voice is different from the one I heard last time, what are you?"
The voice of this clone was the same as his own voice, it was different from the distorted voice that had told Liang Chen to release him. The blood-haired clone put on a mysterious smile, casually walking closer and looking at the massive crack that split the city in half.
"I wonder who I am, I wonder. I am part of you, just like that voice you heard last time. Well, that thing is quite a bit more monstrous than me, so I would prefer if you never get in contact with it, just keep it sealed away down there."
The blood-haired Liang Chen didn't seem interested in giving a proper answer, but it also didn't seem interested in attacking Liang Chen. Liang Chen looked down into the crack, but all he saw was an all-encompassing darkness.
"That thing? It's sealed away inside me, that voice I heard last time?"
Could it be that someone had sealed something inside him when he was a baby? Was that why he had been abandoned in the forest? The blood-haired Liang Chen tilted his head slightly, seemingly uncertain of the answer as he responded, returning a question to Liang Chen.
"Not exactly sealed, just slumbering, waiting for you to release it. Or maybe it's waiting for you to release yourself? I wonder which one applies in this situation?"
Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulder in the face of the question. If not even this blood-haired clone knew, how could he? A short moment of silence fell over the two Liang Chen's, both gazing into the crack in silence. After a little while, Liang Chen's body started to become faint and translucent, the blood-haired Liang Chen letting out a slight sound in surprise.
"Oh, leaving already? Your body must be healing faster than I thought, seems you have already come into contact with that thing down there."
Liang Chen raised an eyebrow at the words. Was it because of that thing in the crack that his body was so strong, healing itself? His body quickly started to vanish, the blood-haired Liang Chen letting out a slight laugh, a mysterious smile on his face.
"Don't worry, I'll be waiting here for you. No matter how much time passes, no matter what you do, the two of us can never be separated again, so I'll always be waiting."
Liang Chen vanished from the bloody city, leaving behind that massive crack and the blood-haired Liang Chen. The remaining Liang Chen sent one last glance into the depths of the crack, turning around and walking away, his light laughter echoing through the empty city.
"Haha, I wonder what will happen first. Will I get to eat you, will you eat me, or will you reach that place and release that beast?"
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