Chapter 198: Night Visit [PART 2]
"Yao Yao, why are you here?" Xiang Yu asked as he deactivated the formation with a wave of his hand. The arrays shimmered and dissolved, allowing her to pass through.
Li Yao didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she reached out and tugged at his robes with trembling fingers, her movements a little hesitant.
"You lied," she spoke, her voice so quiet he had to strain to hear her words.
"What?" Xiang Yu asked in confusion as he studied her downcast expression.
"You lied," she repeated, this time a little louder.
"You said you wouldn’t go," she continued, her grip on his sleeves tightening.
Xiang Yu finally understood what she was talking about. He wondered if she had actually been awake during that moment earlier. He had thought she was simply having a bad dream.
He looked down at her, but she kept tugging at his sleeves, her gaze fixed firmly on the ground, not meeting his eyes.
"Yao Yao," he called out gently, reaching up to lift her chin so she would face him.
She didn’t resist his touch and slowly looked up at him. Her eyes held a vulnerability he rarely saw in her which made his heart ache a little.
Xiang Yu wondered what he should say to comfort her. But before he could speak, she suddenly fell forward onto his chest, her arms wrapping around him.
"I was really scared," she spoke against his robes, her voice muffled but filled with emotion.
"When I heard what happened, I was really scared," she continued, her words coming faster now.
"When I imagine how close I was to losing you, it really scares me," she spoke, her grip on him tightening.
"When I close my eyes, I try to imagine what would’ve happened if I really lost you," she said, but her voice was now different, making Xiang Yu’s blood run cold.
"Do you know how it feels?" she asked, pulling back slightly to look up at him.
That’s when he saw them, her eyes were glowing a brilliant red color. No, they weren’t actually glowing. She was bleeding from her eyes.
Xiang Yu was so shocked by the sight that he couldn’t respond.
"See, even senior brother can’t imagine it," she spoke, letting out a smile that sent shivers down his spine. The expression was wrong, this wasn’t the Li Yao he knew.
"It’s the same for me. When I try to imagine it, I see nothing but blood everywhere. Nothing but corpses. Master, martial aunt, everyone. The world itself comes to an end. I don’t see a world without you," she continued, her grip tightening even further and her unsettling smile growing even more.
Xiang Yu tried to pull himself free from her embrace, but he couldn’t move. She was just holding him casually, yet he found himself completely immobilized. What did she mean by "no world"? Would she actually destroy the entire world? Was that even possible?
"Yao Yao, calm down," he tried speaking.
But she wasn’t listening anymore, lost in her own spiraling thoughts. Her smile grew even more menacing, and her spiritual aura began flaring around them.
"It really pains me, even just thinking about it," she spoke, her voice becoming increasingly unhinged.
"I was too careless. It’s too dangerous to leave senior brother alone. Someone is always targeting me, trying to get senior brother from me," she started speaking rapidly, her words tumbling over each other in a frantic rush.
"But who is it?" she continued without waiting for an answer, her eyes darting around wildly.
Xiang Yu continued trying to get her attention, calling her name and attempting to break through to whatever rational part of her remained, but she was completely lost in the sauce.
"No, I can’t be sure who it is," she spoke, her aura flaring up even more intensely, creating distortions in the air around them.
"Then I have to get rid of everyone,"
Her spiritual pressure exploded even more.
"That’s right, this way, only I and senior brother remain. We can love each other forever, just the two of us. Beautiful, isn’t it? Just thinking about it..." she continued, her voice taking on a dreamy, almost euphoric tone.
Before she could spiral any further into her delusions, Xiang Yu acted on pure instinct. He held her firmly with both hands and pressed his lips against hers. It was more to shut her up than anything really.
She was startled by the sudden kiss, her eyes widening in shock as her grip on him loosened just enough for him to move again. But Xiang Yu didn’t release her, continuing the kiss until she finally let go of him completely, her aura gradually subsiding.
When he finally stopped and pulled back to look at her, her face was completely flushed red, and she couldn’t meet his gaze, looking away in embarrassment.
"Dammit! What have I gotten myself into?" Xiang Yu thought. This girl was completely insane.
"That was so embarrassing, what was I saying to senior brother?" Li Yao thought, covering her burning face with both hands as she regained her senses.
Deep within Li Yao’s consciousness, the Empress finally spoke up with a heavy sigh of relief. [Are you finally back?] she asked.
The Empress reflected on what had just occurred. Li Yao had almost fallen into qi deviation. What made it even stranger was that when Li Yao had started falling into that state, the Empress had tried to interfere and help stabilize her, but their connection had been mysteriously cut off.
How was that even possible?
...
Xiang Yu placed his arms firmly on her shoulders, his grip gentle but insistent as he forced her to face him directly. She felt his warm hands on her face, causing her to relax a bit.
"Senior brother, I—" she began, her voice trembling.
"Come with me," he spoke, cutting her off as he pulled her hand and guided her into the spirit vein. She followed without resistance as he led her deeper into the inner cavern of the spirit vein.
Xiang Yu entered the spirit vein pool without bothering to remove his clothes. He then tapped the surface of the water with his hand, gesturing for her to join him.
She gently entered the spring and slowly lowered herself down and settled between his legs, her back nearly touching his chest.
Xiang Yu wrapped his arms around her from behind, causing her face to flush a deep red as she felt the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against her back.
"Senior brother..." she tried speaking once again but Xiang Yu placed a finger gently against her lips.
"Shhh," he said softly, causing her to fall silent immediately, though her heart continued racing from their closeness.
"Yao Yao," he spoke directly into her ear. She could feel his warm breath against her ear as he spoke.
"Mh," she answered with a small sound, leaning back slightly into his embrace.
Xiang Yu thought to himself that since he was already this deep in this mess, he might as well commit completely. Pulling back now would only end badly for him.
"You know I love you the most, right?" he asked.
Li Yao nodded without hesitation.
"It really pains me to see you sad like that," he continued, his voice growing even softer. "I want my Yao Yao to always be happy."
"I know it’s because I’m weak that I make Yao Yao worry," he said with a tone of regret.
"No, senior brother, it’s not like that," she said quickly, turning around within his arms to look at him directly.
"It’s okay, I’ll work even harder to not disappoint you," he spoke, his gaze meeting hers.
He placed his hand gently on her head, "You’re still tired, right? You can sleep," he said. "This time, I won’t go anywhere," he promised.
"Really?" she asked.
"Even if you closed your eyes today and opened them a billion years later, I’d still be there waiting," he spoke.
She chuckled softly at the declaration. "How could you live a billion years?" she asked in amusement.
"I’d do it just for you," he replied immediately, then gazed deeply into her eyes. "Wanna try?"
She shook her head quickly, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I don’t want to stay a billion years without seeing senior brother," she said.
Xiang Yu smiled at her response, thinking she had relaxed a bit. "Me neither, so please don’t sleep a billion years," he said as she shifted to lay her head against his chest.
After some time passed in peaceful silence, with only the gentle sound of the spiritual water lapping against the sides of the pool, she finally fell asleep.
Xiang Yu thought to himself that she must have really been shaken up by the day’s events if she was still like this even now. Well, he had essentially jailed himself to this place by making such promises, so he wouldn’t be following his routine.
After carefully checking to ensure Li Yao was sleeping peacefully, he closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to sink into his spiritual sea.