Remembering You For Eternity

2.42 The Returned Two

Shen Wei's heart jumped. His Shifu did not know about Zuo ZhouLei and Ji YuLan. He just told everyone that the both of them had perished when they left many years ago -having encountered some strong Daemons along the way. Shen Wei told them that he was the only one who managed to return.

Despite the grief or doubt the Chun Ping Gu sect's elders, and Sage Shen Zheng also expressed, none of them could afford to confirm the credibility of his claim. They had more pressing matters at hand, which had snowballed into their current predicament. Shen Wei himself had not seen the pair for a few years already, so he was also none the wiser. He had only assumed that by losing her virginity, and thus her pure Yin maiden status, Ji YuLan had also forgone her cultivation. The two of them should not be involved in the cultivation world any more.

Shen Wei sighed silently. He genuinely felt that if he had to die, then so be it. But he wanted to at least give some sort of comfort to his old teacher, knowing that Sage Shen Zheng had most likely almost reached the limit of his life. It was not just old age that had begun to corrode the Sage's physique, but also the pressure and stress of having to battle Daemons day in and out. None of them had the luxury to meditate in peace of late, let alone be able to properly regulate their qi to maintain the state of their Dantians.

"Shifu, do not talk nonsense." Shen Wei said, patting his teacher's back, "Even if I were willing to run away, where could I run away to? Soon, no corner of the world will be safe from malice and Daemons."

"If Lei should die as well, at least I hope the heavens will grant him a peaceful death before malice reaches wherever he is at the moment." He added as an afterthought.

For the past year, Shen Wei had felt Sage Shen Zheng's qi waning and the latter's strength gradually diminishing. Shen Wei had not realized exactly when, that his own cultivation had long surpassed his teacher's, tethering towards the top tier of Sageism. Having not lived for a full fifty years yet - which was considered young for a Sage of such achievement, Shen Wei was considered to be the leader of his generation.

Shen Wei was about to rebuke his teacher's pessimism more - a habit that he had grown accustomed to of late. However, he paused his speech that was hanging at the tip of his tongue when he sensed a pair of qi getting closer. He initially thought none of it due to the familiarity of him being in close proximity of those two particular qi's in the past. For the past years, he had traveled with a number of new and old friends, with the same or of lesser cultivation that he no longer thought much about who the owners of those energies were. The only thing that had mattered was whether or not any person he encountered was a Daemon.

His heart rippled slightly with disbelief and slight hope, as he looked up towards a line of trees that was obscuring his sight. The drumming of his heart became more urgent each passing moment, as he finally recalled the owners of those two strong, steady qi's.

As his lips silently mimed the name of a man - one that he had thought of as a younger brother, that he thought he would never see again, his eyes widened in disbelief. Two silhouettes walked closer, deft in their soundless approach. Soon, they came into his line of sight.

The woman, garbed in white, had not changed in her appearance since the last time Shen Wei had seen her. Despite supposedly losing her pure Yin countenance; despite Shen Wei himself having sensed her qi becoming weaker when he left. Now, he could only feel her Dantians overflowing with her familiar qi, as well as containing the other man's qi signature as well.

The same could be felt from Zuo ZhouLei, who calmly walked towards the dumbfounded Sage Shen Zheng. If years ago, even when Shen Wei had left him, his Dantians were supposed to be empty and broken, now Zuo ZhouLei emitted a perfect mixture of his own and Ji YuLan's qi.