Chapter 298: The Tragedy
Chapter 298: The Tragedy
Dao Ming pulled Xiang Ling closer before he surrounded her small frame in his strong and muscular arms and hugged her tightly. He patted the back of her head softly, almost as if he was giving her a head massage. "Thank you so much, Little Star. Both of us owe you a lot. Thank you for trusting us despite everything. Thank you so much."
He then placed a soft kiss on her temple before he placed his chin on the crown of her head. All the fake strength left Xiang Ling and she allowed herself to have a moment where she could show her true feelings. Resting her face against his chest, she confessed in a small voice, "I’m starting to get scared, Ah Ming."
"Don’t." The one who spoke was Xin Cheng, and as Dao Ming pulled away from the hug and stepped aside, the Demon Emperor walked forward to stand in front of Xiang Ling. "We have been searching for the Shadow Lord all this time, and it seems like we finally have a lead. We will find him soon. So, don’t worry."
Very slowly, Xiang Ling nodded her head in understanding, hoping that they would indeed find the Shadow Lord as soon as possible. Little did she know that the said Shadow Lord was also preparing to be found.
* * *
While Xiang Ling got busy with the students enrollment process in the Academy, Xin Cheng and Dao Ming got busy as they started tracking down the demonic activities that they were finding out about. After several long, peaceful months, there were suddenly several demonic presence felt all around the Mortal Realm. Not only that, but even North Sea Realm felt the presence of demonic energy inside their borders.
Couple of days later, Little Pink gave Xiang Ling a letter sent by the Heavenly Empress. The letter stated that the day before, someone tried to break into the Heavenly Realm and there were presence of demonic energy all around the Heavenly barrier. She reminded her to keep a close watch on both Night Immortal and the Crown Prince of Heavenly Realm, confirming that she had been aware of the true identities of mortal Wei Guang and Li Xian from the very beginning.
At first, Xiang Ling wondered if it was either Xin Cheng or Dao Ming who tried to break into the Heavenly Realm to steal the blood of the True God, but when she confronted the two about it, she found out that they had nothing to do with the matter. It was only at that moment she got to know about the findings of other demonic presence all around the Five Realms.
At this point, it was more than obvious that something huge was about to happen. The enemy was prepared this time, and he was one step ahead of them.
It was not until the morning arrived did all hell broke loose in the Mortal Realm. A total of seven cultivation sects, including Jingsheng Academy, were attacked during the night by a group of demons belonging to the Dark Force. That very night, one more place in the Mortal Realm was attacked - the Imperial Palace.
With the arrival of the morning, the news of the passing of the Emperor arrived at the door of the Chen Manor as the Chief of the Imperial Shadow Guards arrived there to inform the Crown Prince of the tragedy that had been kept a secret for the time being in absence of Wu Tian.
"We need to leave, Ah Xiang." Su LiangLin spoke with a grim face as she sneaked a peek at her husband who had locked all his emotions and was carrying a blank face while he talked with the Chief of the Imperial Shadow Guards.
Xiang Ling slowly nodded her head before she pulled the woman into a hug. "I’m not sure when will we meet again, but when we return to the Upper Realms, I will like us to have a cup of tea together. Take care of yourself until then."
There was a small, but genuine, smile on Su LiangLin’s lips as she pulled away from the hug. "Sure. We will do that. You should also take care of yourself."
Wu Tian and Wu Ding also bid their farewell before all three of them teleported away with the Chief of the Imperial Shadow Guard.
Xiang Ling immediately went to find Xin Cheng and Dao Ming only to get to know that the two men had been absent from the manor since the night before. Left alone without any knowledge of what was going on, she could do nothing but to pace the courtyard as she waited for the men to return home.
As the morning turned to evening, neither of the two arrived. Instead, Zhang Xuan came to find her as she hadn’t eaten anything since morning.
"Ah Ling, let’s have a talk."
There was something about the seriousness that he was carrying on his face that made Xiang Ling worry. Instead of talking in the courtyard or in their rooms, Zhang Xuan took her inside her Spatial Realm.
"Is something wrong?" She asked with her heart racing like crazy.
Zhang Xuan pulled her to settle down on the edge of the bed inside the Summer Cottage before he took his place on the floor at her feet. Taking hold of her hands in his, he looked up at her face and asked, "Ah Ling, do you trust me? Like... really trust me?"
The question came out of nowhere, but Xiang Ling didn’t have to think about the answer as she quickly nodded her in a positive response. "Of course, I do." She was expecting a smile to grace his lips, but no such thing happened. Instead, the man let out a deep sigh.
"Then please trust me as I say this - no matter whatever is going to happen, I will be by your side. I will make sure that the real you is safe and sound, but... I might not be able to help the Mortal you."