Chương 8: Ke Lei Ba
I fell through a deep and elongated tunnel. The inside of it was shooting past me at an insane speed that I could only see straight bright lines after it. I had a sense of déjà-vu as I floated within the rift's space, a sense of events that I have seen far too much as of now. These places all looked like the coats of starry spaces I had already seen in both Demonic God and Lady Kun.
Was that how one felt and saw when he entered these places?
I got to admit, they're not the best of sensations. My body ached extensively and I sensed a cold airway near my abdomen. Or perhaps that's just the injury from the spear throw. It pierced yet my flesh and forced another hurl of fluids out of my mouth. This time, a clear and straw-coloured liquid poured out mixed with clots of red blood.
Assessing it as it floated uniformly in the tunnel, I could tell my wound had probably reached my abdominal organs and that my intestinal fluid was now filling up my body. Moreover, the presence of blood in my vomit suggested that it extended to my stomach too and caused internal bleeding.
Normally, I would have already kicked the bucket. But the immortality was still up and running…only when it deactivated would I actually die.
In the meantime, I had to pull out the spear as it discomforted me and released a stinging sensation throughout my innards. I wouldn't want to die with a stick protruding out of me anyway.
With my red tainted hands, I wrapped my fingers around its shaft and pulled it out smoothly. It prickled me on its way out. I took a long look at it as I had nothing else to do and could not do anything within this dark and cold place.
The shaft had apparently absorbed my blood and I could notice it due to the crimson coated spots along its handle. I rubbed my failing fingers across it and nothing changed, nothing got smudged. It was as if the spear had incorporated my blood into itself.
"Done…brother…immortality…down…" I heard Luo's distant and fading voice though I could not see him anywhere near me.
"Good…" I heard Demonic's triumphant snigger soon afterwards.
An electrifying noise suddenly burst and a scream followed. It was all faint but I could hear it at the back of my head as if someone was whispering the events directly into my ears.
That scream was probably Kun's.
If she had succumbed, then I would do too as of now. The immortality array was down and it meant that I and the countless of other prisoners would die…Me of my wounds and them from old age.
I closed my eyes expectantly for I didn't know how death felt like. Was it as atrocious as described? Or simply a peaceful moment before disconnecting from reality? I was robbed of that feeling the first time it should have happened and I thus wondered what it would mean to experience it after my millennia of torture.
I hope it is soft. Or perhaps tender.
I am ready!
I do wonder what happened to the other kings…
My thoughts wondered and wandered.
Pondering for a few minutes, I did not embrace death once again. Was it fortune or the total opposite?
In my endless wait for demise, a golden speck of light travelled along the starry tunnel and towards where I was. Its presence was not made to be known and kept silent. My eyes still closed, it breached through me, refuging right where the bell had previously installed itself.
Nothing much happened afterwards. My body kept floating limply in the space void of gravity and I yet awaited to be rested once and for all. It was then that…
Soft winds blew into my face. I was falling down now, no longer leafy and carried by a current.
"Is this it?" I asked myself now that change was finally occurring.
Hesitant, I sneaked an eye open to glimpse at what was happening around me as I supposedly fell. Astounded by what I had just seen, I pushed aside my long dishevelled hair out of my face so that I could perfectly assess the scenery. Something was wrong with my hands…
First, as I reached my hair, my hands casually protruded my face as if I was some type of gas or the likes. Second, after inspecting them, I noticed that they were translucent.
I did not know what my current situation was, but I had heard of etherealness...
Beings like spirits from folklore were said to have an incorporeal and intangible body, unobstructed by the senses.
I kept falling and that was my only concern. I gave attempt at manoeuvring myself in mid-air, but my body was led straight down and through a greyish cloud. Once through, under the clouds lied a massive settlement, swarming with houses.
I, on a side note, was freefalling directly over one, unable to move away from some sort of invisible traced route.
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"That's it Bai Ling. Push harder! That's it…"
In a modest house, two midwives worked hard to help a woman give birth. Unannounced and in the very dead of night, Ke Bai Ling*, youngest daughter of one of the most prominent families in this city, was brought over by her husband. After her water broke, he hastened to deliver her to the midwives' care.
Since the local clinic was too far, the couple was forced to barge in on their home and go about the delivery right there.
"I can almost see the baby's head. You're doing a very good job! Push..."
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Bai Ling pushed as hard as her efforts could muster. "Huff…Huff…"
Her screams were heard throughout the streets. Many curious gossipers went out to check the source of such a noise even at this time of day. In a matter of minutes, there were already a hundred souls swarming before the house of Yang Qiao*, the midwife.
Drawn to the screams, they stopped before her house, where a man stood in wait outside. He was nervous and circled around in place like a cyclone. People could see him biting into his nails and scratching his head from time to time. Whenever a scream occurred, he first cursed then prayed consistently.
"Qi Tian?" one of the public interrupted his crazed sequence. "What are you doing here so late at night?"
Ke Qi Tian*, a man due his thirties, turned around to whoever called out to him. He looked so pale that even his auburn hair did no justice to complement his complexion. Under his blackened eyes, dark spots were revealed, a sign of restless nights.
"Brother Lin?" Qi Tian swivelled in relief.
"What is happening brother? Who is screaming in aunt Qiao's house?"
"It's Bai Ling. It's Bai Ling. She's giving birth…" his expression darkened once again, his momentary smile turning upside down once more.
Huang Lin*, Qi Tian's sworn brother, already knew why that matter was worrisome. It had not been long since Bai Ling had gotten pregnant and an early birth could only be a bad omen. Only six months of pregnancy…it has been only six months.
"This early? Oh gods, let us pray for the baby's good health."
"And Bai Ling's" he continued.
Lin joined Qi Tian next to the door and helped him calm down through this difficult moment. Not only was the baby at risk, it could very well mean that his wife Bai Ling could die in the process.
Some of their acquaintances joined in while the bystanders began spreading the rumours of this event.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
Back inside the house, the screaming progressed. Now, in the final phase of the delivery, the most effort was needed. Yang Qiao was still by her side, guiding her through it and keeping her mind focused and encouraged.
Ke Bai Ling was a known beauty. It was a hard felt day when the city's men knew she had gotten engaged to some guy they had barely heard of. She had silky black hair, eyes that resonated of jade and a fair complexion radiating atop her skin.
"Mei! Bring me more towels" the midwife called out to the next room, keeping a tight grasp of her patient's hand. "Fetch another bowl of clean water too, quickly."
"Yes, mother!"
Knocking over an end table, a young woman rushed inside the bedroom, carrying an overflowing bowl of water and a bunch of dry towels in her hands. She handed her mother the items requested and helped.
Yang Mei* was not an astounding beauty but a fair face nonetheless. Unlike her aging mother, Mei was young and a ripe bachelorette.
"That's it my dear. One more push and I can get hold of the baby properly"
"One more push, miss Bai Ling!" Yang Mei participated too after a few nods from her mother. "Breathe….and push."
It went that way for a long time until the baby's head was finally out. Yang Qiao could finally help Bai Ling by pulling the baby herself while Mei took on her task.
"It is a boy!" she celebrated after checking his genitals.
"Congratulations, miss Bai Ling!"
It was frail and very skinny even in comparison to other babies.
The midwife was not surprised of this due to the fact that the pregnancy only lasted six months. Now the only problem was to hope the baby had no anomalies and was breathing normally.
No breathing. First, she had to try the old techniques.
Between the palms of her hands, Yang Qiao dangled the new-born upside down by the feet and gave it a slap on the back. The baby still didn't cry. No gasp for air was heard also.
"Aunt Qiao…" Bai Ling murmured exhaustingly, catching her breath and relaxing, "can I hold my baby please?"
She didn't answer her and was already in the process of resuscitating the babe. There was only a small window in which a new-born could be saved if there was breathing failure. Taking several factors in consideration, Yang Qiao laid the baby flat on a table where she could work properly. Being a physician and a cultivator at the same time, she was more than skilled to get the job done. What she needed to perform was an acupuncture to force the baby to breathe through his lungs.
With swift fingers, she closed off some acupuncture points and opened the necessary ones. Even though such methods were usually unadvised, doing nothing would only end in the same result. Everything was done exactly as she was trained to do so but the baby was yet unresponsive.
Qiao folded her sleeves quickly and went straight for manual reviving. It was their last and only hope. Every chest compression she performed was just the right amount of force the baby could endure without having his body crushed…
"What the hell!" terrified shouts emerged from the outside.
"Are those heavenly tribulations? Is someone breaking through to the Heavenly realms?"
"Perhaps Master Gudu has finally resolved his bottleneck and gained enough insight."
"Master Gudu is truly a dragon among men!"
After the celebrations from the outside broadened, sounds of lightning strikes resonated. To them, these were heavenly tribulations, punishments of the Heavenly Dao to whoever attempted to practice the Heavenly realms of cultivation.
They did not fear them and instead cheered when each strike happened since it would have meant that the practitioner was able to endure the backlash. Strike after strike were lashed until one of them blazed through Qiao's house and split it apart in one fell swoop.
The gathering scattered immediately, running for their lives.
Yang Qiao, who had fallen upon the ground after that strike, raised herself arduously. She had to make sure her patients and her daughter were safe first. A quick glance to the back assured her that neither Mei nor Bai Ling were hurt. As for the baby, it was…
"Aunty Qiao! Aunty Qiao!" the door was breached aggressively by a few men.
"Qi Tian…" she coughed when dust reached her face.
"Aunty…my wife…my baby…are they safe?"
She patted him on the shoulder with comforting taps.
"Your wife made it and your boy—"
"A boy?!"
"Your boy is healthy too!"
Following the lightning strike, the baby boy had miraculously awoken and breathed normally. One peculiar thing about him was that he had a red line encircling his neck like a collar.
"What is this red scar on his neck?" Qi Tian asked, grabbing his son off the table for a closer inspection.
Qiao bent over the child too, "I don't know. It wasn't there when I pulled him out."
Qi Tian was smiling for some reason. He held his baby tightly and walked over to Bai Ling who was still laying on the bed. He crouched beside her and announced in a merry tone,
"A lightning and a scar. How about we name him Lei Ba. Our son's name is going to be Ke Lei Ba!"
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*Check the very first chapter at the very beginning for the Index*
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CJJChedid
CJJChedid A closure to the introduction of my novel! Hope it was worth the wait and to your tastes. As always stay tuned for the next and encourage me through your comments and votes.
Note: As of this chapter, there will be foreign names and new terms. If you wish for simple definitions then check out the Auxiliary Volume 000 at the very beginning of the chapters for an index.
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