Published at 27th of June 2020 4:41 am

Chapter 12 - Companion

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Cang Jia Shan's main peak along with the other seven peaks falls perfectly into the shape of a crescent moon. Three of it's four sides are the Eastern Sea, if one doesn't look twice, may even mistake it for a island drifting on the surface of the water.

Xu Wang Cliff is located exactly on the back ridge of the crescent. In order to get to any of the other peaks, the only way is to cross over an area with an extremely steep cliff. That steep cliff in the eyes of cultivators, certainly does not achieve any sort of barrier effect. Hence, barriers and enchantments have been erected all around the Xu Wang Cliff.

When Ling Xi arrived here with Qing Kui, night had already fallen. To describe the kind of night as one where she would not even be able to see her own fingers if she waved her hand before her eyes is not an exaggeration. Qing Kui seemed to have foreseen this, bringing out a string of glowing pearls, tying it around her wrist. Afterwards, he set down the sack that he had packed up from Tian Mai Peak, spoke a few words to her and left.

At that time, Ling Xi's body was still in pain from the whip wound. Since reaching Tian Mai Peak her mind had started to enter a state of muddiness. Cang Yu's God-Spurring Whip also just happens to be unhealable by spell nor medicine, the only way of recovery was to wait for it to heal on it's own. With that being so, how she had arrived at the Xu Wang Cliff, what kind of things Qing Kui packed for her, what words he said to her, when her mind finally cleared up she could not recall any of it.

The only thing she knew was that when she awoke, her eyes were still greeted with a stretch of pure blackness.

No chirping of insects, no call of birds, not even a trace of wind could be heard. It gave the illusion of a completely isolated world.

When she had awoken that time, it was only for a brief moment before she fell into sleep again. The second time she awoken, everything was still a stretch of total blackness.

This Xu Wang Cliff, could it be that it was cliff of eternal night, with only darkness and no daylight?

It was merely a thought that flashed through her mind, Ling Xi fell asleep once again.

When she woke up the third time, she was stirred awake by a sudden pain.

Ling Xi couldn't tell how many days exactly did she sleep either, but when she woke up the whip wound on her body already didn't hurt as badly. Looking for the source of that scathing pain, she found it was actually the work of a little black turtle crawling back and forth over the wound on her shoulder. She wanted to reach out and brush it off, but to her helplessness she realized that she didn't even have the strength to lift her arm.

Ling Xi scolded herself useless inside her head, cultivated for three years, not a bit of progress achieved. She was still no different from a mortal, merely not drinking any water and not eating food can snatch her life away.

This time though, she did not immediately fall asleep again. The little black turtle was constantly shifting around on her wound, as if it were tickling her. If it weren't for her lack of strength, she would've burst out in giggles long ago.

Ling Xi surveyed the surroundings, realizing that somehow she was sprawled on a bed and that this bed was even inside of a wooden hut. From where she was laying, looking through the window, the sunlight was radiant outside.

Good thing this place wasn't completely without daylight...

Thinking this, Ling Xi's heart felt lightened somewhat, wanting to fall asleep again. In this deafeningly silent place however, sounded a man's voice.

“Do you want to die?”

Ling Xi wanted to answer 'of course no', but she didn't have any strength and there was nothing she could do about that... Even the strength of merely keeping her eyelids open was about to leave her already. All she wanted was to just sleep like this forever...

“Useless.” That man spoke again, the scoff in his tone apparent.

Only then did Ling Xi realize, how come this voice seems so familiar to her ears?

“Xiao... Xiao Hei?” Ling Xi's parched throat managed to force out these two words with much difficulty.

“If you don't want to die then keep your eyes open.” That voice was still cold and calm as it had always been.

Ling Xi shook her head fervently to try to get rid of the blackness veiling her eyes. When she opened her eyes a sliver, the little black turtle that was on her shoulder was nowhere to be found. She forced her eyes to stay open and swept through her surroundings. Just this one glance nearly made her forget all the wounds on her body and bounce off her bed!

It was a spring day with radiant sunlight. Outside the the house were lush grasses. A few rays of sunlight spilled in through the window, splashing the floor with an ethereal glow. A black shadow fell right in the center of that patch of light. Immediately it occupied Ling Xi's entire line of sight.

Ink black hair slid down from a shoulder as if it were satin, a few strands landed on a pale collarbone. All the black that had scattered over the floor was like an ink stain, unable to tell the black of his hair apart from the black of his robe. All she could see was that pair of eyes, black in color, dense like dried ink, cold like a winter lake. Although facing the sunlight, not a flicker of light could be seen in their depths.

He just sat there against the window, gazing at her.

Ling Xi's heartbeat suddenly quickened, at that moment all the sleepiness disappeared.

This... this is not her little black turtle.

This... this... this is obviously a person!

Ling Xi's forced her eyes wide open, blinking again and again. The young man still sat there against the window, facing the sunlight. His face was like ice, cold and void of any emotions.

Ling Xi was in shock for a long time before she finally snapped back, struggling to sit up, “You're... you're that little... little black turtle?”

The color on the man's face sunk drastically.

Ling Xi could be sure now, this little black turtle hates it most when people call him a turtle... but she really couldn't believe that after her black rose turned into a little black turtle, it managed to achieve a human form this quickly, turning into Hei Gongzi!

“Xiao... Xiao--” Ling Xi who was caught in a moment of excitement, curled up in her bed and started coughing profusely.

Hei Gongzi turned his head over, looking at the sunlight outside. After a while, as Ling Xi's coughing had still not stopped, a hint of irritation surfaced on his face. He uttered an incantation, just like that, a bowl of water drifted over to Ling Xi's bedside on its own.

At this, Ling Xi's eyes widened even more, without coughing and without drinking the water, only staring in awe at her nonchalant... black rose? Or was it her little black turtle? Hei... Gongzi? Although he was acting as if nothing spectacular had happened but Ling Xi knew something was definitely off.

Before being sent here, Qing Kui had slipped the little black turtle back to her, saying that night it had turned into a giant eagle and swooped in rescuing him, but afterwards that swarm of Muo went crazy, encircling and trapping them. When they finally shook them off, it was already exhausted, hiding inside it's turtle shell. He reckoned it would probably need to rest for a good few months.

But now it has not only achieved a human form, it can even... move objects without lifting a finger?

* * *

Regarding her black rose suddenly turning from a little black turtle into a graceful black-robed Hei Gongzi, Ling Xi accepted the fact rather easily. After all, the black rose's spiritual capacity was exceptionally high to begin with. All of the medicine and tonics she had given it in the last two years probably helped it's cultivation immensely, adding to the two hundred years of cultivation that Qing Kui shixiong had given it, it must be quite natural for it to have achieved a human form by now.

Also, Hei Gongzi's appearance made Ling Xi very happy. Although she realized that on this Xu Wang Cliff, there was only a brief period of an hour each day where one could see sunlight, that kind of happiness did not become washed out in the slightest.

If she had to name a reason, for example at this very moment, as the fleeting hour-long daylight was about to pass before her eyes, as the sky grew ever darker, Ling Xi was curled up on her bed looking up at that sliver of sky that did not have sunsets, she finally understood why Qing Kui shixiong had carried her up and down on his back before arriving at Xu Wang Cliff. He had taken her to see all of Cang Jia Mountain's beautiful scenery already.

“Have you seen the sunset on Cang Jia mountain before?” Ling Xi gazed at the gradually darkening sky, asking the young man that was leaning against the doorway, “Qing Kui shixiong says that sunset on Cang Jia Mountain is the most beautiful of the six realms.”

It's true, Hei Gongzi's purpose to her, firstly was so that she could have somebody to talk to. In this Xu Wang Cliff with only a single hour of daylight, where besides the sound of one's own breathing, nothing else could be heard, what is besides her is not a beautiful flower, is not a cute little turtle, but a person that she could have conversations with. Even if this person could only be seen but not touched, even if for the majority of their conversations he actually ignored her, she still felt comforted.

This moment was the same, Hei Gongzi did not respond to her.

“You spent sixty years at the peak of Cang Jia Mountain, certainly you've seen it right?” Ling Xi didn't mind, shaking her head and continued talking, “Wait, at that time your spiritual consciousness probably hadn't awakened yet, so you probably hadn't seen it before...”

“But you must've seen it before on Tian Mai Peak right? At that time you were on my desk, should've been able to see it.” Ling Xi continued talking by herself, “Wait, my desk was facing south, you shouldn't be able to see...”

The young man leaning against the door frame had his eyes closed like usual, his face expressionless.

“But seeing how Qing Kui shixiong always comes here and sneaks you away, since he loves watching the sunset so much, maybe he already took you to see it before.” Ling Xi had gotten used to his lack of response a long time ago, so she continued talking, “Wait wait, when you were still a flower he was always thinking of ways to eat you. After you became a little turtle, he always stomps on your turtle shell...”

It suddenly got colder inside of the little wooden house. Ling Xi shuttered, shutting her mouth immediately. She had stepped on Hei Gongzi's tail again...

“So that time Qing Kui shixiong carried me back to Tian Mai Peak, you must've seen it right?” Ling Xi fell silent for a little while, then started to talk again, “Wait wait, that time you were completely exhausted, needed to rest more than anything. Besides, you were inside of my sleeve...”

Hei Gongzi suddenly opened his eyes, although they were still expressionless, they were indeed looking straight at Ling Xi.

Ling Xi's lips pulled into a smile, “You're awake?”

He diverted his eyes elsewhere, glanced at the wild fruits on the table. Ling Xi's heart jumped in alarm, hurriedly she blurted out, “Next time I'll--”

The third word barely made it out, her mouth was already plugged by one of the wild fruits.

Ling Xi batted her eyes in frustration. What she wanted to say was, next time she'll take him to go see it... although she doesn't know just how long the Zhangmen planned to keep her locked up here...

The sky was getting darker and darker. In a sliver of a moment, the only light left in the entire Xu Wang Cliff was the faint purple glow of the bracelet around Ling Xi's wrist. Without Ling Xi's chatter, the surroundings fell into a dead silence.

In this place, not only is sunlight blocked out, it also blocked out all of the sounds from the outside world.

That's why Ling Xi, as long as she was awake, would be talking. Because as soon as she stopped, she would have the feeling that this world, even herself didn't actually exist.

“It's dark again...” Not knowing how much time had passed just now, Ling Xi guessed that Hei Gongzi was no longer mad at her. Only then did she start talking again in a soft voice.

“Look, there's lightning outside the house...” Ling Xi watched as a silver light flashed across the sky, “But we can't hear the sound of the thunder...”

Hei Gongzi still didn't pay any attention to Ling Xi, Ling Xi fell silent too.

“I'm scared of the dark...” After a while, Ling Xi finally started talking again.

A ray of light slowly flared up inside the house. In a brief moment, it filled the entire room with light.

“I'm hungry...” Ling Xi added.

There was a heap of wild fruits piled up in one of the corners of the house. At this moment, they floated up into the air getting in a line, one by one, drifting over to Ling Xi and stopping in front of her mouth. After eating a few of them, Ling Xi said, “I'm thirsty.”

Likewise, a bowl of water drifted over to Ling Xi, stopping in front of her mouth.

“I'm sleepy.” Ling Xi's eyes blinked tiredly, the light in the room dimmed out.

“Cold...”

Beside her, she felt a warm and fuzzy backside that hadn't been there before.

Ling Xi wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself close, tucking herself away in his embrace. Looking up at his awkward face, which was now that of a bear, she couldn't help but break into a smile, eyes twinkling brightly.

This is her xian spirit, her disobedient xian spirit, her expressionless xian spirit, her xian spirit that thinks she talks too much, but it was a xian spirit that cared about her. When she says she's afraid of the dark, he would hold a light up for her. When she said says she is thirsty, he would bring her a bowl of water. When she says she's hungry, he would look for food for her. When she says she is cold, he would turn himself into a big black bear that she could snuggle against and warm herself.

Ling Xi curled up next to his chest, closing her eyes, whispering, “If in the future, however far that future is, even forever, however far forever is, if it's still just you and me, I won't be afraid.”

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