What If...I Remember?

Chapter 58

"How do you feel, Yan Zhi?" Xuan Nü patted her sister-in-law's shoulder with a weary smile, and Yan Zhi caught her Sao Zi before Xuan Nü could collapse from her lack of strength, "I think you'd better rest, Sao Zi." "No...not when we are so close to our goal. Help me up, Yan Zhi." Xuan Nü refused Yan Zhi's proposal with a determined gleam in her eyes, "We must move to the coast of Ruo Shui at once."

"But that's too far from here for you to make it!" Yan Zhi protested, but Xuan Nü gave her a roll of her eyes, "Don't be foolish, Yan Zhi, if we travel the same way we did as before, it'll be a good week before we get there. We'll cloud leap there." "And risk getting discovered?" Su Jin snapped in disagreement, and Xuan Nü sneered back in return, "It's the final part of our plan, Su Jin. The faster we head to Ruo Shui, the better. I don't care about exposing our tracks now. They could follow us for all I care."

"Once we activate the bell, none of them can stop us." Xuan Nü continued on with an expression filled with glee, "They will regret everything they have done. They will kneel for mercy, to me, to us, and to Qing Cang." "Provided they don't arrest us first." Su Jin got to her feet, speaking with plain annoyance as she brushed past Xuan Nü, "We should take one cloud, since it'll be a quick journey over the North Sea." "But we'll pass Kun Lun." Yan Zhi pointed out worriedly, but Xuan Nü shrugged her off, "Mo Yuan probably doesn't know what's coming, that old man."

"He's Ye Hua's twin. He might." Su Jin pointed out, but Xuan Nü had already called a cloud to their feet, "Well, are we going, then?" "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Su Jin grumbled under her voice, and the trio leapt onto the cloud.

Kun Lun was unusually quiet. It lacked the sound of its students and disciples chanting mantras and reciting different types of poems. It also lacked the sound of liveliness, for the waterfalls were silent, and the herons did not not call. The clanging of swords were missing, as were the students meant to spar, and only Xuan Nü did not notice the absence, for she was too absorbed in murmuring how she'd have Yan Zhi open the bell grandly.

"We're here...at last..." Xuan Nü gave a sigh of familiarity, upon seeing the sight of the coast that she had been on only once, and even as they alighted on the sandy shore of Ruo Shui, Yan Zhi immediately felt a chill down her spine, and she whipped around almost instantly, her eyes sweeping the surroundings for the Crown Prince and his men, but it was either the Crown Prince's troop was well hidden, or that the Crown Prince and his men had yet to arrive. But even as she panicked, unable to locate any sight of the Crown Prince's men, she felt a hand slip into hers, and Zi Lan's gentle voice spoke by her ear, "Look at the cliffs more closely. They are there."

Indeed they were. Yan Zhi barely noticed that the soldiers were all crouching by the ledge of the cliffs, black and white chainmail all gleaming under the moonlight, and a few figures stood further back, seemingly in discussion, and Yan Zhi didn't have to look too closely to guess who they were. High God Mo Yuan. The Crown Prince. Brother. High God Zhe Yan. High God Bai Zhen. Princess Feng Jiu. And...was that the Crown Princess? Yan Zhi paused, attempting to focus on the last white figure that stood, speaking to the only female figure in pink, but before she could squint, Xuan Nü had yanked her by her collar, "Yan Zhi, I said, Unseal. The. Bell."

In the fleeting moment, Yan Zhi caught a glimpse of movement by those lined on the edge of the cliff, but she soon came face to face with the horrendous bell that had haunted her dreams for months after the war. The East Emperor Bell was intricately designed, yes, but it shone with a dark red light that made Yan Zhi feel like it had stabbed her with a spike of malice and hatred. "Yan Zhi?" A gruff voice called, and with a jolt, Yan Zhi found herself on the verge of running away from the bell and into safety's arms, but she forced her legs to stay as she gulped, her voice a fearful whisper as she answered, "Father?"