Yan Ling sat within the courtyard that had been prepared for her, leaning back in her soft chair as she surveyed the other courtyards. Three years, to cultivators it was a timeframe so small that it was basically negligible. But to her, these three years may as well have been a hundred times longer. The reason was simple, she was waiting. She didn't know when her target would come, didn't even know if it would come at all, so she could only wait and watch, each passing day adding another degree of severity to the punishment she would make her target suffer.
"No luck yet, I take it?"
A calm voice reached her from behind, making her jump slightly since she hadn't sensed a thing. But she recognized the voice so she didn't get defensive, it wasn't like she would be able to do a thing even if she tried to fight back after all.
"Not yet, no. But if there's one thing you can call him then it's an abrupt asshole so there's no telling when he'll just drop in. Good afternoon, Miss Luo."
She heard the sound of a chair being pushed so she turned her head slightly as she greeted, the newly-arrived woman flashing a calm smile as she sat down. Light pink eyes that tugged on your heart, a calm demeanour that almost made you want to sleep, and hair that seemed to swim with all the colours of the rainbow, she was about as far removed from the word nightmare as possible. But even so, that eerie word was attached to her title. Nightmare Queen, a terrifying Universal Heart in her own right, but at the same time she also carried a heavier title, wife of the Nine Star Demon God.
"It would be nice if he could arrive quickly, waiting in uncertainty is always painful."
The Nightmare Queen's gaze, Guo Luo's gaze, slid forward and passed through the hidden window ahead of them. The corners of her mouth were curved up slightly, almost hopefully, but the look in her eyes was one of reminiscence, pained reminiscence.
"It's fine. I'll just torment him a bit for making me wait like this after I already went through the trouble of looking all over for him. Really, he just had to go and drop off the face of the earth, I'll beat him if he thinks that he can complain about having to go through a few games..."
Yan Ling refrained from commenting on the look in Guo Luo's eyes and instead grumbled out her own grievances instead. When she finally returned to this universe after far too many years, the first thing she wanted to do was find Liang Chen so that they could finally reunite. But he was nowhere to be found, not even the Nine Star Demon God could find him. At first, she just put out a universe-wide notice for him to come, but there was still no reply. So she had to resort to this game, partly to call him out, but mostly to vent her grievances and make him suffer just a smidgen.
"They always complain. Even when they're the ones at fault. But trust me, beating them rarely ever works, they'd rather drop dead than make things that easy for you."
Another voice from behind caught Yan Ling off-guard, but this one was also familiar, albeit not as familiar as Guo Luo's. Another chair was pulled up as someone plopped down, Guo Luo's gaze wandering over as she flashed another smile.
"Rare for you to show yourself here. I take it something good is going to happen then?"
The woman that had arrived had a demeanour that was a bit different from Guo Luo's, it was colder and felt a bit more distant. She had pitch-black eyes that contrasted her snow-white hair, her gaze surveying the courtyards that spread out ahead of them, the corners of her lips pulling up into a small but tender smile.
"Mhm. Xu'er is on her way here so I've come to pick her up, I fear that the idiot would kick up too much of a fuss."
Yan Ling glanced sideways at the new woman that had arrived, not allowing the tender smile on her face to trick her. Anyone who could just sneak up on her like that was far from normal, and if you had to rank people then this woman would probably be among the top 10 worst people to have sneaking up on you.
"Aye, he certainly seems liable to do that, even if it's just for the hell of it."
Guo Luo, however, was still completely relaxed, even chuckling lightly as they spoke. Yan Ling was caught off-guard, but she didn't allow herself to just sit there like an idiot.
"Eeeh, even Miss Kongxu has shown herself today? That's gotta be an omen of good fortune, seem's like good things are gonna drop from the ceiling today."
She didn't try to be overly respectful or polite, she already knew that this woman didn't like that kind of attitude, it was said that her husband used that tone whenever he tried to annoy her. It was a strange statement, made all the more strange by her husband's identity, the Divine Emperor, a man said to be on par with the Nine Star Demon God.
And perhaps as was to be expected, anyone fit to be his wife was far from normal. Mei Kongxu, more commonly referred to as the Divine Empress by friends, and the Decayed End by enemies. Yan Ling had never gotten to see her fight, but from what she had been told, she was a woman who more than earned that nickname, and it would be for the best if you never had to learn how.
There was no response to Yan Ling's statement. Mei Kongxu did open her mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat. An odd sensation had suddenly started to fill the area, it was something akin to thousands of centipedes crawling across their skin. The sensation arrived in tandem with screams from the lone hallway that could lead people to these courtyards, a bit of child-like laughter mixed in with some of the screams. Guo Luo and Mei Kongxu looked a bit quizzical, but Yan Ling froze up as the sensation washed over her, the words practically spilling from her lips.
"...He's here..."
Yes, she would not mistake this sensation, or rather, its source. That dread, that existential fear, only one being could possibly bring that with him. Her fingers suddenly felt uncomfortable, her limbs so restless that she almost squirmed slightly.
"Bastard, you've finally decided to show yourself. I'll personally beat into you just how long I've waited, I'll have you jumping through hoops and doing tricks until I'm satisfied enough to come to meet you. I'll have you squirm like I... did..."
Her words slowly started to trail off towards the end. The reason was simple, he showed himself. He strode through the opening and stepped into the light, finally appearing before her for the first time in what felt like several lifetimes. He just stood there with a straight back, surveying the various courtyards while he held that infant.
"Oh? He brought along a child? It's not yours, but it doesn't really look like him either, did it inherit its mother's looks, or did he perhaps adopt it?"
Guo Luo tilted her head slightly as she looked at the youth that revealed himself. Her husband had talked a little about him so she wasn't unfamiliar with his appearance, but the infant he brought along was definitely something she hadn't been told about. Mei Kongxu also looked at the small child, her head tilting for a short second before she shook it.
"Doesn't seem like it's his. The blood flowing through its veins doesn't match his, there's no bloodline in it. Just a perfectly normal kid, so he probably adopted it due to some circumstances."
The two women quickly figured out the truth behind the small child, they had been alive long enough to see a lot of things so it was quite a lot easier for them to make accurate guesses in most situations. But Yan Ling was still quiet, she wasn't even looking at the child and was instead focused fully on Liang Chen, her mouth dry as she squeezed out her voice.
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"He looks...sadder."
That was the first impression she had, the first thought that struck her when she finally got to see him again. The plans she had to torment him, the games she had prepared, they all flew away as she looked at him. He wore his usual expression, there was even a bit of a smile on his face. But to her, he looked sad, he looked as if he was carrying a mountain on his back.
"That's the look of a man with a burden he's chosen to bear, you'll have to make sure that it doesn't end up crushing him."
Mei Kongxu spoke up again after Yan Ling's thoughts spilt out. Burdens were a heavy thing, but few burdens were heavier than those you chose to bear. And in her experience, it was always those who looked to be the freest that chose to bear the heaviest burdens, perhaps that was the only way they could truly feel their own freedom.
Yan Ling didn't say anything, any words she tried to squeeze out were just caught in her throat. She saw the distant youth turn his head slightly, his gaze drifting across the courtyard before finally settling on hers, she even felt that he was looking directly at her, his golden pupils swimming with experiences she had been unable to share. He muttered a few things, but he spoke so quietly that the words never reached her.
He looked as if he was going to head right on over, but someone from one of the courtyards called him over before he could move. Her gaze raised and landed on the courtyard, if her memory served her correct then the ones living there were Zhongzhi and Arie Ryung Agnis, one was a strong wanderer while the other was both strong and came from a strong background.
"Bastards... I should smash your heads into the earth..."
Her grievances slipped out as she looked at Liang Chen walking over to the two, the women at her side showing small smiles at the sight, she was quite similar to their husbands in that regard. Their gazes then traced Yan Ling's and landed on the youth in the distance, this was their first time actually seeing him in the flesh.
"He feels a bit different from ours, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, I guess subdued would be the best term for it. Or perhaps contained is more suitable. Whatever the case, he feels a bit more controlled and calm, guess it was about time we got one like that around these parts."
The two spoke their honest thoughts as they looked at the youth, who was calmly chatting with the two that had called him over. They looked at him a bit dumbly at times so he was probably saying some strange things, but the grander a person was the stranger the things they said would seem so perhaps it wasn't too weird.
But then they saw him turn towards their courtyard, a bright and sunny smile on his face as his free arm stretched out. The two women felt it before anything happened, the Qi within the area was starting to move violently, crackling erratically as it jumped about. And in that instant, they both realized the same thing.
"Ah, of course, he's not sane."
"What a shame, I was hoping we would have at least one normal person."
The words of the two women were punctuated by a blinding flash of golden light and a horrifying roar of thunder, both sight and sound fully blotted out by the combination of the two. Mei Kongxu frowned slightly when she saw the deep golden lightning bolt, it didn't seem like the youth had been able to sense her so the lightning was heading straight for her.
It tore through the land and instantly reached the courtyard so she quickly stretched out her arm, twisting her wrist just as the lightning was about to reach her. The lightning twisted away from her as a result, fizzling into pale white smoke with a subdued whimper. But contrary to her expectations, a sliver of energy still remained in the lightning she had diverted, enough for it to tear through the rest of the courtyard beside and behind her.
---
Liang Chen stood at the base of the gorge that his lightning had formed as it tore through the land, a lopsided smile on his face as he gazed at the distant courtyard. Ao Fentian was still in his arms, but he had shielded his eyes and ears so that the lightning wouldn't scare him, much less harm him. He could already envision Yan Ling's dumbfounded expression, she would definitely never expect him to flip the board like this.
But his eyes slowly started to catch sight of something he hadn't expected within the courtyard, other people. He had been able to sense Yan Ling with perfect clarity, his lightning had been accurately aimed since he could sense that she was alone there. But now he could see two other women there, and one just so happened to be sitting right where his lightning should have gone.
But she was obviously fine, there were even clear signs that the lightning had twisted away from her before it reached her. She was strong, he could instinctively tell that, strong and dangerous. The other woman felt a bit different, but she also carried a familiarity that he couldn't quite place his finger on, he would need to get closer to figure out where it came from.
But then his eyes landed on the girl sitting between the two women. Sapphire eyes that sparkled like the endless ocean and silky cyan hair that was tied into a single long braid, the sea and the wind, all gathered in a single person. A single glance was all it took to throw Liang Chen several years into the past, back to when he first stepped into the Mystic's Hidden Realm.
He could feel the wind around him, the breeze that brushed past him as he flew through the air. She had thrown him into the air while clicking her tongue and complaining. She was too weak to fly so the best she could do was simulate flight as she constantly grabbed him and threw him, first to get him to safety and then to position him so that he could attack.
What a first meeting it had been, she had done nothing but complain and shout at him before putting him to work even though he was wounded. And now here they were, years later, almost lifetimes later it felt like. Back then he had looked dumbfounded because she threw him, but now he just looked dumbfounded from seeing her.
"She looks lonelier."
The words slipped out without him even noticing. You could say that she had changed a lot, her hair had once been deep emerald and her eyes had been heterochromia thanks to her changing bloodline and laws. But you could also say that she had barely changed since this cyan hair and sapphire eye colour was what she had to begin with.
But right now, it didn't matter to Liang Chen which of the two could be considered correct. Her eyes were different, deeper. How many years had she spent in the other universe, how many years had she fought and trained on her own? And then how many years had she waited, quietly hoped for him to come? Her eyes looked lonely, and her shoulders were slightly slumped, as if she carried a mountain on her back.
Games, tricks, boards, payback, all of those things faded from his mind as he looked at those eyes, that familiar face. His feet moved before he knew it, his body instantly vanishing and re-appearing in front of her. He had moved so fast that both the two women beside Yan Ling and the two men he had been chatting with looked shocked, but he couldn't even see their expressions.
The only thing he saw right now was the girl in front of him, the only thing his eyes reflected was her visage. And as he stood there, she was the same. The entire world had vanished, all sound had been drowned out. The only thing that existed was that sad youth that stood in front of her, that pitiful kid who had grown through suffering until he reached his current point, only he was reflected in her eyes.
The two moved without words. The child vanished from Liang Chen's arms as he reached out his arms, Yan Ling stretching out her own so that she could hold his hands. He pulled her up from her seat and she opened her arms wide, coiling them around his chest as she buried her face in his embrace and he buried his face in her hair, the two sharing the same words.
"I've missed you."
"I missed you."