NEBM Chapter 61.1: A Fierce Battle

In the darkness, there was nothing but silence.

Sui Xian stretched out his consciousness and realized that there were no creatures around. He gathered spiritual energy into his eyes but still could not clearly see their surroundings.

He thought for a moment and decided to deal with Little Yan Jin’s issues first.

This time, he sealed the spirit pellet meticulously. Once finished, he left behind a strand of spiritual power in Little Yan Jin’s body as a means of protecting him should he meet with danger.

This entire time, Little Yan Jin still hadn’t awakened, but his breathing became much slower and more steady.

Sui Xian picked him up, put his arms around his neck, grabbed his sword, and carefully discerned which direction to take.

However, he couldn’t recognize anything. The darkness was thick and dense enough to blind people’s perception. As a result, Sui Xian could only vaguely pinpoint the direction he’d came from and tried to walk back little by little.

But, he had no idea where they were. After walking for half an hour, he still couldn’t see even a bit of light and still hadn’t found a way out.

The little hand wrapped around Sui Xian’s neck shifted slightly, indicating that Yan Jin had woken up.

When Sui Xian noticed, he said, “A’jin?”

Little Yan Jin’s breath quietly. But, after a short while, he let out a nasally sound.

Sui Xian felt the arms around his neck tightened. Then, there was a weight on his shoulder; Yan Jin had laid his head on his shoulder.

A slight wetness penetrated the thin clothing.

Sui Xian silently sighed. He sheathed his sword, patted Little Yan Jin’s back, and asked softly, “Is your body uncomfortable?”

Little Yan Jin responded vaguely.

Sui Xian asked, “Then why are you crying?”

Little Yan Jin whispered his words, his voice helpless with despair. “Sui Xian Gege, when I…when I was very young, someone stopped by my village and divined that I was a calamity. The villagers were afraid that I would bring disaster to them and so they drove me away…”

He choked and said, “I’m always involving you. You can throw me away. I don’t want to hurt you any more …”

Pursing his lips, Sui Xian stopped and put him down.

They couldn’t see each other’s face in the dark, but Sui Xian half-squatted, fumbling for Little Yan Jin’s face, and then gently wiped his tears away. He said in a serious voice, “Little child, if you think too much, then you’ll become bald. Our A’jin is very good and is definitely not a calamity. You haven’t harmed me either. Don’t speak anymore about throwing you away. I definitely won’t throw you away.”

“But…”

“A’jin, do you remember what I’d said before about going to Qingyun Sect? Actually, my master stopped accepting new disciples a long time ago so maybe he won’t accept you as a disciple…” He sensed that the little guy’s breathing had become choked and so he began to talk faster. “But, I can still accept you! I’m still a little young but it seems like you wouldn’t mind. If it’s okay, you can worship me as a master.”

Startled, Little Yan Jin’s breathing got even lighter. He hesitated for a moment before confirming, “Sui Xian Gege is asking…to be my master?”

“Yes. Although, we normally don’t receive any disciples who don’t have experience or haven’t been tested, it doesn’t matter. The people in our division are very good…”

He wanted to cheer Little Yan Jin up so he deliberately chose some light-hearted words. Noting that Little Yan Jin seemed more relaxed, he said with a smile, “How about you practice early? I want to hear you call me Master.”

Little Yan Jin hesitated and finally called in a soft voice, “Master.”

Sui Xian was very satisfied with this. Not to mention the fact that this word came from Little Yan Jin, this was also the first time hearing anyone calling him this. He felt that it was a very novel experience. Afterward, he pinched Little Yan Jin’s cheek and straightened. Holding Little Yan Jin’s small hand, he said, “Okay, good A’jin. Let’s go.”

It was too dark here. He worried that Little Yan Jin might be afraid so he cast a small ball of little white awns.

The little white awns exuded a soft light. First, it became a fish, then a rabbit, and then finally turned into a mighty little wolf. It floated in front of Little Yan Jin, its tail wagging.

The darkness seemed to be able to devour the light and so the bright white awn could only illuminate his small palm. However, this still made Little Yan Jin feel relieved. He held out his hand and the little wolf sat on the palm of his hand, its mouth opening in a silent howl.

“Ah-woo.” Seeing that the little white awn couldn’t make a sound, Little Yan Jin subconsciously whispered it softly.

Sui Xian smiled, his lip curving, and led the little person forward.

But, this black region seemed to be endless. They walked for a long time and still couldn’t find a way out. Little Yan Jin was very tired, but he gritted his teeth and held on until his legs became so sore that he stumbled. Sui Xian noticed.

“Tired?”

“No…”

“Let’s take a break.”

As Sui Xian pulled Little Yan Jin into sitting down, he sent out a strand of consciousness, concerned that there might be movements around them. Little Yan Jin pursed his lips and didn’t say anything. He carefully sat down beside Sui Xian but didn’t loosen his hand.

In the end, their situation was still unknown. They couldn’t stay for long. After Little Yan Jin rested, they continued on. They hadn’t walked far when a little bit of noise came from behind them.

It was the sound of the wind scattering a pile of dead leaves, followed by the sound of something dragging against the ground, intermixed with a noise that sounded like a baby crying.

In the darkness, something cold was approaching them. Little Yan Jin’s heart shuddered, and he shrank into Sui Xian’s side. His hands tightened on Sui Xian’s, holding him so tightly that their clasp grew clammy.

Sui Xian saw that he was frightened. After thinking about it, he turned his wrist and brought out a long hairband.

“A’jin, wait a minute.”

He squatted down, tied the ends of the hairband on each of their wrists. After fastening the knot, he said, “Even if you accidentally loosen your hold, we won’t lose each other.”

Little Yan Jin brought over the bright little wolf. In the faint light, he could see that the hairband was embroidered with a flowing cloud pattern with white, nearly translucent gold thread. The stitching was smooth and delicate.

He’d seen this hairband on Sui Xian, which made him look very cool.

Little Yan Jin pursed his lips and cherished the flowing cloud patterned hairband.

The movements around them were not an illusion. The more they walked, the more petrifying the movements became. At the beginning, only a few weak demons and fiends came to test them. Gradually, more and more came, slithering about in the darkness.

Sui Xian quickly raised his sword and killed seven to eight monsters in a row. But some of them were still undeterred.

In the darkness, there were too many demons and monsters to count. They’d been trapped in here for so long, swallowed by the darkness. They shrank back only momentarily before re-grouping.

The howls of these creatures seemed to be endless. When Frost Return’s sword spirit saw their numbers, it was not discouraged. As a result, they killed countless demons and monsters along the way, stepping on the their foul slime.

Although these demons were not powerful by themselves, they always appeared in groups, making them more difficult to deal with. Just like how a fly was useless by itself but became annoying and potentially dangerous when gathered in large enough groups.

Sui Xian didn’t know how long they’d walked or how many strong and weak demons and monsters he’d killed. Even Frost Return’s sword spirit, which was under Sui Xian’s control, became a little fatigue. After another fierce battle, it retracted into the sword to rest.

Meanwhile, Little Yan Jin could no longer push through. He was lying on his back in a semi-coma. Hunger and fatigue had almost captured all his consciousness. But, this was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that there was no water here.

Sui Xian gave him some spiritual power. For ordinary people, their spiritual veins hadn’t been tempered so they couldn’t bear too much spiritual power. Sui Xian only gave him a little. Fortunately, Little Yan Jin was a natural born devil so his tolerance for spiritual power was stronger than ordinary people.

Although nothing would happen now, this couldn’t go on for too long.

As warm spiritual power circulated in Little Yan Jin’s body, he reluctantly recovered a little of his consciousness. He laid on Sui Xian’s back, his arms wrapped around his neck, and the hair band tied firmly on his wrist.

Little Yan Jin tried to call out Sui Xian Gege.

But his throat felt as if it’d been glued together, making him almost unable to talk. Little Yan Jin coughed a few times and a faint, rusty taste of blood swelled up his throat. He leaned his head slightly forward and faintly whispered near Sui Xian’s ear. “Leave me behind.”

“I’m…just a bad child…not…not worth it…”

With heavy, dry eyes that could no longer teared up, Little Yan Jin blinked weakly. His hands and feet were cold, and he instinctively pressed his cheek against Sui Xian’s back for warmth.

Little Yan Jin thought sadly, Forget it. Like this, Sui Xian Gege was already very nice to him, and he wouldn’t give up on him so easily. This was his fate. Sui Xian Gege was such an awesome person. Once he died, at least Sui Xian Gege wouldn’t be dragged down by him anymore and would be able to leave this place.

Sui Xian should not have been here with him.

He opened his mouth, wanting to talk, but something warm pressed against his lips and a warm liquid flowed into his mouth.

Little Yan Jin was startled. Due to extreme thirst, the body’s instinct caused him to suck and swallowed the liquid down.

His throat became slightly moisturized, and gentle spiritual force fell into his belly along with the liquid, which greatly eased his discomfort.

Little Yan Jin finally registered the thick, bloody smell and he exclaimed in an astonished voice, “Sui Xian Gege!”

“Shh. Don’t talk.” Sui Xian’s voice was slightly hoarse. He retracted his hand, placed it against his own lips, and licked away the blood.

They’d been trapped in this weird place for a few days. During those days with no water, he could only give Little Yan Jin a little blood from time to time.

Frost Return’s sword spirit was also very tire after constantly fighting. In these places, devil qi lingered everywhere. Even a slight movement will cause the sword spirit to be awaken. As a result, Sui Xian sheathed the sword.

The wound on his wrist was opened and reopened so many times, each time in a slightly different position. Over time, a small piece of raised scar tissue was formed. Even though the expanse of scar was uneven and ugly, Sui Xian didn’t care so long as Litte Yan Jin was fine.

Little Yan Jin struggled against him, wanting to walk on his own. But his hands and feet were weak; his whole body was weak. This so-called struggle only encompassed a slight movement.

Sui Xian lightly patted his butt and said, “Don’t move around.”

He mildly added, “Don’t forget, you’re my disciple now.”

His tone was calm, as if he was just commenting on the good weather. Little Yan Jin felt scalding hot throughout his body, the heat making his heart hurt. His hands shook slightly and his hoarse voice said, “Master…”

He paused and once again said, “Sui Xian Gege…”

“Mmn. Very obedient. Once we get out, I’ll buy you pork steamed buns to eat. You didn’t eat enough last time. Next time we go out, you should eat it all…”

Little Yan Jin’s nose grew sour, and he let out a nasally sound of agreement.

The two encouraged each other in this way and walked for a long time. Gradually, the demons and fiends became less and less. Until, suddenly, there appeared a glimmer of light far away.

Sui Xian perked up. “A’jin. Look. There’s light over there.”

Little Yan Jin didn’t respond. He’d passed out again and was breathing weakly.

Sui Xian clenched his teeth and walked quickly. The faint light was far away and, occasionally, it would brighten and glimmer, like…moonlight reflecting off of water?

After remaining in the dark for so long, the faint light made the eyes uncomfortable. Sui Xian couldn’t help but close his eyes. After moving spiritual power slightly around to cloak his eyes, he opened them again.

Here, the land was wild and overgrown with weed. There was no devil qi nor spiritual qi. His own spiritual power had been nearly exhausted, and there was really not much left to squander.

After adjusting to the light, he quickly walked forward.

Upon seeing the light, he thought that he’d finally arrived at the edge of this dark domain. But, when he came near enough to take a closer look, he realized in surprise that there was instead…

A serene and calm sea in front of them.