Yu Yi lowered her head in the night breeze, her gaze falling on the arms wrapped around her waist. Xue Chenjing's hands were tightly clasped together.
Even in sleep, the veins on his clasped hands were visible from the force of his grip, unshakably encircling her waist. His chest pressed against her back, his body heat impossible to ignore.
Yu Yi had noticed before that he had a strong self-healing ability, and this time was no exception.
After Xue Chenjing fell asleep, his body began to repair itself. His originally pale skin, due to lack of blood, was gradually returning to normal.
Probably due to the rapid iteration of cells in his body, his body remained in a high-fever state, like a furnace wrapped around her back.
Yu Yi placed her hand over his, her fingertips caressing the veins on his hand.
Undeniably, Xue Chenjing's words had indeed touched her. For a long time, she had been trying to resist his intrusion, cautiously building walls to defend against him. But there's no keeping a thief away for a thousand days; she inevitably had moments of relaxation.
It was these countless moments of inadvertent relaxation that allowed him to squeeze into her heart and take a place, leading her to impulsively pick him up and place him on Crane Senior Brother's back.
"Could it be that I'm inherently a love-struck fool? Is that eighty percent affection really mine?" Yu Yi thought, unable to help but doubt herself.
She didn't know what criteria the system used to calculate affection, but eighty percent was already very high for her, enough to be categorized as "one of her own."
However, standing by his side meant that their future would be filled with turmoil and fleeing for their lives. Yu Yi wasn't willing to do that. After all, even if she liked him, she didn't want to break her wings and fall into the abyss with him.
Yu Yi thought aimlessly, building a mental scale to measure the person behind her. Suddenly, she heard a soft murmur in her ear, "A-Yi..."
She slightly turned her head and responded with an "Mm." The person who was half-awake heard her response, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and he nuzzled affectionately against her neck before falling back into sleep.
Throughout the journey, Xue Chenjing had many such moments of half-waking, each time murmuring her name and needing her response to feel secure and fall back asleep.
If Yu Yi didn't respond in time, he would become restless, his fingertips twitching, and the muscles in his arms tightening in spasms. As if he were caught in a nightmare, struggling to wake up immediately.
"I'm here," Yu Yi comforted, finally unable to leave him behind as she had initially planned.
Before they flew out of Liang Province, Yu Yi sensed someone following them. The number of pursuers was not large, and they didn't seem to intend to attack immediately, but they kept following relentlessly.
Yu Yi hastily turned her head and saw the light of a communication talisman they had sent out. It seemed the pursuers wanted to call more people to surround them.
They had to shake them off before more arrived.
Yu Yi reached out and stroked Crane Senior Brother's neck, saying, "Crane Senior Brother, fly towards areas with heavy moisture and clouds."
Crane Senior Brother obediently sensed for a moment, then flapped his wings, making a neat arc in the sky and changing direction. Crane Senior Brother's flying speed was extremely fast, far exceeding that of ordinary cranes; the pursuing cultivators had to concentrate to barely keep up.
When the crane suddenly turned, the trailing lights followed, and two people nearly fell off their swords. By the time they stabilized themselves, the crane and their fellow disciples were already out of sight.
Crane Senior Brother, with his superior flying skills, shook off some pursuers, but there were still some following. If they couldn't shake off all of them, as long as one person could keep up, their whereabouts would still be in someone else's control.
Fortunately, a thick mass of clouds appeared ahead, and the starlight and moonlight became sparse again.
The crane, carrying the two, dove into the clouds without hesitation. Once inside, Yu Yi summoned the Qingzhu Sword with a finger gesture. Lightning flashed on the sword, and the sword spirit emerged.
After a moment, the crane emerged from the other side of the clouds, and behind it, the clouds exploded with golden lightning. The lightning spread rapidly through the clouds, forming an electric net that struck down from the sky, lighting up the world for an instant.
The sudden lightning bolt knocked down several cultivators, and those who dodged it lost their direction when they tried to pursue again.
Yu Yi shook off the pursuers and breathed a sigh of relief, but shaking off this group was only temporary. As long as they were still within the territory of the Twelve Great Sects, they would be found again.
At least they had to get him to a safe place.
Yu Yi gently placed her hand on his cheek and asked, "A-Qiu, do you have a place to go? A place that's absolutely safe where you can recuperate?"
Xue Chenjing's eyelashes fluttered violently. Blood loss had temporarily rendered him incapable of action, and he had to retain a sliver of consciousness even when asleep, unable to fully lose himself in sleep. This was a habit he had developed since locking Xue Mingyuan into his mind.
Because once he fell into deep sleep or unconsciousness, his control over the other person would weaken, and Xue Mingyuan would re-emerge to take control of the body, possibly leading him into unknown dangers.
So, even in sleep, he could vaguely hear the sounds around him, including Yu Yi's question.
An absolutely safe place.
Of course, there was. After going through so many lifetimes, each facing such a predicament, if he didn't know how to find a safe place and turn it into his nest, he would have lived in vain.
However, to get there, they needed to take a carriage, and after experiencing such a dream, he didn't want Yu Yi to see it now.
Xue Chenjing's heart was conflicted. He forced himself to wake up from sleep, struggling to open his eyes and hesitating, "There is, but A-Yi, I need to blindfold you."
Yu Yi was taken aback, then realized that the place must be his most important refuge, and it was normal for him to be so wary of others. If it were her, she wouldn't want to take Xue Chenjing back to the Bamboo Grove Secret Realm either.
She loosened her grip on Xue Chenjing's wrist and turned her head to him, saying, "If you're not comfortable with it, you don't have to take me. If you can go back by yourself..."
Xue Chenjing grabbed her hand, pressing it against his own, wanting her to hold him, and said urgently, "I'm not uncomfortable. I want to take you. It's just that the carriage to get there might make you feel uneasy."
Yu Yi didn't understand what he meant.
Xue Chenjing bit his lip, his palm turning over. He was too weak, and the spiritual threads in his palm gathered and broke several times before finally materializing something.
He threw the object into the air, and it quickly expanded, like a celestial maiden spreading her hair, releasing countless wooden boards, railings, and axles.
These things connected with each other in mid-air, fitting together like building blocks to quickly form a carriage, enveloping them inside.
Crane Senior Brother's belly slapped onto the desk that had just formed inside the carriage, and after hesitating for a moment, it flapped its wings a couple of times, finally finding it could rest and didn't need to fly anymore.
Then, the entire crane folded its wings and lay down on the table.
Yu Yi: "..."
She was held by Xue Chenjing with one hand around her waist, lifted off Crane Senior Brother's back, and her feet touched the solid floor.
The sound of "thudding" around them still didn't stop. After the main frame of the carriage was completed, smaller decorative items continued to assemble.
Heavy curtains, like fire, hung down from the windows, embroidered with golden patterns. Pearls, like flowing water, flew out of the carriage, linking together into a tinkling string hanging from the window frames.
Pearl-like night pearls flew into the carriage canopy, embedding themselves to form a dazzling starry sky ceiling.
The carriage was extremely spacious, about the size of a room, with tables and furnishings all in place, including a carved, hollow incense burner in the center, from which delicate smoke rose.
Yu Yi's eyes widened in amazement as something pressed against the back of her knees, and she followed Xue Chenjing's guiding hand to sit down. The seat was cushioned with soft lamb's wool, making her feel as if she had sunk into a cloud.
With the final click, the entire carriage was assembled. Through the carved side windows, one could see the enormous wings unfolding in front of the carriage. Crane Senior Brother straightened up from the table, stretched his long neck to look out the window, and quickly withdrew in fright.
The creature driving the carriage outside was a nine-headed fierce bird, the Ghost Car.
Yu Yi touched the carriage wall and realized why Xue Chenjing had said she would feel uncomfortable. She had once entered the Emperor's Dwelling Divine Tree in her dreams and was somewhat familiar with it.
This entire carriage was made from the Emperor's Dwelling Divine Tree. If she had woken up a little later, she would have experienced the sensation of being uprooted and sliced apart within the tree itself.
This carriage inevitably reminded her of Xue Chenjing's past cruelty and brutality.
However, as someone who had not participated in the war between the righteous and the evil and did not know the full picture, Yu Yi had no right to criticize him. She was not from this world and did not hold strong views about the righteousness or evil of either side. She did not believe that the righteous path was inherently noble and selfless, nor did she think that demons were inherently despicable.
In the Ghost City, she had seen the malevolent side of demons but also encountered innocent and kind ones like the little bird demon.
The war between the righteous sects and the demons, involving both races, was too complex to be judged simply as right or wrong.
Nevertheless, having entered the Divine Tree in her dreams and now sitting in this carriage made from the Divine Tree, she indeed felt uneasy.
Outside the carriage, the wind howled wildly, making it nearly impossible to see the scenery. The speed was far beyond what Crane Senior Brother could achieve. With such a divine carriage, Xue Chenjing could go anywhere without being tracked.
"With such a carriage, you no longer need Crane Senior Brother to escort you," Yu Yi tried to stand up, but the arm around her waist tightened immediately. Xue Chenjing leaned against her like a boneless creature, his forehead still burning as he murmured against her cheek, "Yi Yi, I'm sorry, please don't be angry with me."
"I'm not angry; it was just a dream, not something you induced."
