121. Beneath The Cloak
.
Two Friends turned Enemies faced each other in a mighty clash.
Luoyin could feel it...
Fei Yun had poured his aura and will into this strike, their swords, simply a metaphor for who bore the strongest will.
So Luoyin responded in kind.
"I think you forgot as well!" He countered, darting to meet Fei Yun's swing. "My sword is crafted from the eldest dragon scales!"
BOOM!
The swords met, crystal against scale, and the clash split the heavens, light drowning the night sky and rending apart the drifting clouds.
For the first time, fear flickered in Fei Yun's eyes.
Cracks crept along his crystal wings, bleeding shards of green radiance, and his sword shattered like a broken glaze.
"Impossible!" His eyes narrowed. "A mortal body should not be able to endure such an impact!"
Enraged, his fingers blurred into a series of seals.
"Heaven-Piercing Verdant Owl!"
The sound of shattering jade filled the air as his cracked feathers tore free, clinking as they merged mid-air into a vast crystal owl. The Owl's shrill cry pierced the night, and with wings like blades, it dove straight for at Luoyin.
Luoyin's entire body trembled from the earlier clash, and he could feel himself losing strength, blood burning through his meridians.
Yet he never faltered as his sword dissolved into light, and his hands formed a final seal.
"Appear! Azure Dragon- Second Form!"
He pushed both palms forward, and water roared, swirling around him and surging upwards into a colossal dragon gleaming with azure scales, its eyes blazing with sea-blue light.
The dragon's roar shattered the night- its waves rising like mountains as it hurled itself at Fei Yun's crystal owl.
The owl screeched and its wings beat with desperate fury, and the wind lashed about like thousands of blades...
But the dragon's force was unstoppable, and its wave engulfed both the owl and Fei Yun, slamming them into the ground with earth-shattering force.
The near-endless wave of the dragon's water crashed into them, filling the entire space within the golden bell, and by the time the waters finally dispersed, Fei Yun was on one knee, completely drained of qi.
His breath was ragged, and he vomited blood in large gushes.
The crystal owl had vanished, taking his wings with it, and even his mount, the eagle had disappeared- nearly drowned, and severely wounded by Yinying.
Luoyin hovered above, not much better off physically, but he glared at Fei Yun, barely noticing the golden bell vanish.
Yinying appeared beside him, back to the size of a regular tiger.
~"Xiaobai, are you okay?"~ He asked with some worry, and Luoyin gave an imperceptible nod.
~"Find Yanyan!"~ He replied, and Yinying vanished.
"You mentioned 'forgiveness'..." Luoyin began, still glaring at Fei Yun. "I also don't know if I can ever forgive you. After all, directly or indirectly, I suffered by your hands for so long..."
"You deserved it!" Fei Yun spat. "You will never understand the loss and grief I swallowed these thirty thousand years!" He fisted his hands.
"Oh? You think I didn't know 'grief'?!" Luoyin raged. "Even if we don't count the thousands lost on Caoyang, did you forget...? I also lost Weiwei, without the slimmest chance of reincarnation...
"These thirty thousand years, I tasted the so-called grief you wear as a hanging token, and it can be said my case was much worse... I don't even remember Weiwei's face!"
A smug expression crossed Fei Yun's face. "Hmph! Don't play the victim here... Didn't you deserve every bit of that torment?!"
Luoyin scoffed. "Give your ears away if you don't need them. I made it clear before... I never harmed the Sky Empress or Zhurong Fen!"
"Lies! Now that you've been discovered, won't you say anything to clear your name?!"
"Clear my name?" Luoyin raised an eyebrow. "You've been flitting around in the shadows like some mad crow, so you probably don't know..."
"You-!"
"By now, most of Sky Realm should know I was never guilty."
"Nonsense! Isn't that because your close friend is the Sky Emperor?! Blatantly changing black and white for your sake?!"
"Tch. Not only stupid, but blind as well... 'Close friend'? I don't have any such things in Central Sky Realm. However, I'd admit the Sky Emperor eventually acquired some of the sense you still lack.
"Sky Realm is at war, but the 'Fate Immortal' foolishly chases some pointless vengeance, leaving Fate Hall empty, and Sky Realm blinded. Are you worthy of your late Fate disciples? You've lost your conscience and reason!"
Fei Yun's face briefly showed a sad expression, as if he also realized how far he had fallen.
But then he gritted his teeth. "Tch! What's the point of trying to convince me right now?!" He thundered, indeed blind to reason.
"You've won! Go on and kill me! If you let me live even for a breath, I won't fail to come after you!"
Luoyin simply sighed. "If you insist on being lost, then be lost on your own. Hmph, I don't think I ever truly hated you, so I won't lower myself or stain my own hands to kill you.
"But as we were friends before, I will leave you with a few questions you can answer in your own heart. The first...
"Who was close enough to the Sky Empress to manipulate her and sow discord between me and the Sky Emperor?"
"Sky Empress...? What nonsense are you spouting?!"
"The second question." Luoyin continued. "Over the last millennia, how many were born with power so immense that Sky Realm was worried?
"The second links to the third. Why did this person of immense power specifically pick the Floral Realm to control? Why were they even there?
"And also the fourth. Who is the power currently controlling the Floral Deity and ruling over the entire floral realm?"
Fei Yun looked confused. "What're you -?"
"Fifth. Who can break the seal for the Zhan Yin dagger which only a royal can break?
"And the sixth- you should like this one! The Sky Empress and your little loving flower died on the same day, and in the same way... The Fate Sea prioritizes Mortal souls as compensation for their short lives, yet the Sky Empress has reincarnated several lifetimes over.
"But why haven't you found or heard anything about your darling flower for over thirty thousand years? Umh? Because she doesn't want to be reborn? Why... Didn't she love you?"
"Shut up!!" Fei Yun thundered, but Luoyin scoffed.
"Hmph. Individually, these questions hold no water... But you do realize the one who overlaps through all of them..." He turned away. "You're the type who *'won't cry until you see the coffin', so I won't bother with you any further.
(*Stubborn until it's too late)
"Make of my words what you will!"
And with that, he flung his sleeves and vanished, leaving Fei Yun behind in the silence.
As Fei Yun remained on the muddy floor, he did not know when his raised knee joined the other on the ground, settling into a full kneel.
Luoyin's words remained ringing in his mind.
Those words hinted at Zhurong Fen- His love...
Those words insinuated that his treasure was somehow alive and not just alive, but responsible for all that was happening!
'Impossible!' Fei Yun shook his head.
Yet Luoyin's questions tormented him...
The First... Zhurong Fen had been rather close to the Sky Empress.
The Second... Over the last millennia, Zhurong Fen, Yan Li Wei, and Bailong had been the only three born with enough power to shake Sky Realm by any means, and...
The Third... Zhurong Fen had been Floral Deity, so acting in the Floral realm made sense.
The Fourth...
Fei Yun really could not imagine Zhurong Fen controlling Qin Yuelian, but for the fifth question, Zhurong Fen was a royal who could easily unlock the Zhan Yin dagger and necklace.
And for the sixth one... The one which tormented him most...
'Could A-Fen really be... alive?!'
But he shook his head in disbelief.
'Surely not!'
He could remember...
He could clearly recall that cruel day, when he had cradled Zhurong Fen's lifeless body, and how she had dissipated right before his eyes.
After her death, he had stormed the Starry Pavillion, but the previous Night Immortal had patiently showed him Zhurong Fen's star, which rested in the Sea of Fate.
"She's likely waiting to be reborn." He had said. "Don't bother me any further..."
Fei Yun endlessly searched the Fate Mirrors for her ever since.
He had indeed found the Sky Empress's incarnation several times, recognizing her even with her different face.
Zhurong Fen however, was nowhere to be found...
And whenever he swallowed his pride and returned to Starry Pavilion, enduring the cool and calm disdain of Yin Xing, the new Night Deity, it was only to find Zhurong Fen's star still resting in the Fate Sea region.
Everyone he asked said the same thing, "Perhaps, for whatever reason, she doesn't wish to be reborn."
Tianlong had said the same thing and even went on to add, "It might be for the best. I found Xiaxia (Sky Empress), but she's different... *cold and unbelievably cruel in every lifetime... I also want to find A-Fen, but wouldn't it be better to remember her as the kind and beautiful flower she was...
?"
(*Remember, the Sky Empress reincarnated as Zhang Furen in this life)
Fei Yun had been unwilling to accept such nonsense, so he kept searching.
But there wasn't the faintest trace of Zhurong Fen's essence, except...
'The Fate Mirrors!'
There were several times he had sensed a flicker of her aura through the last thousand years, but whenever he hurried to the Fate Mirrors to check, there was no sign, and it felt like a passing dream...
Each of those times, Jin Lan, his vice, would hover around with an extremely worried expression.
"Master! Perhaps if you tell me what you're looking for, I- no we could help find it... All of Fate Villa have been worrie-!"
"Get out!" He would thunder, and the matter died away.
Back then, he hadn't been the least bit suspicious of Jin Lan, but with recent events, he couldn't help wondering if Jin Lan's presence was really a coincidence...
What if Jin Lan had been there to tamper with the Fate Mirrors, preventing him from finding Zhurong Fen?
'But why...?' He wondered.
However, he shot to his feet in sudden realization, as he noticed an even bigger coincidence.
Every single one of those days coincided with the Black Dragon attacks in the Mortal Realm!
'Impossible!' A reverse flow of blood rose to Fei Yun's chest and he spewed out a torrent, bent double in weakness.
More and more, Bailong's words dove around him, now beginning to make sense as he realized the sheer number of coincidences surrounding Zhurong Fen.
Especially recently...
The iridescent butterfly which had flown into his window, bringing him the beautiful 'dream'...
That day, he could have sworn it was indeed Zhurong Fen with him, only for it to end in a nightmare where she faded away again.
And then he woke up to find a black butterfly...
Zhurong Fen had always been able to control butterflies!
And wasn't that dream-turned-nightmare the perfect way to reopen his wounds, ensuring he was hateful enough to work for them and come after Bailong...?
'No!' He refused to believe it. 'A-Fen wouldn't do such a thing to me!' He mentally raged, his heart in turmoil.
'Have I spent thirty thousand years mourning an enemy...?'
Had he spent thirty thousand years condemning a true friend...?!
'No way!' He straightened, shaking his head in utter disbelief, and he staggered back towards the Arena.
'I must find the black butterfly!' He hadn't seen the butterfly since he arrived in this city, but he was more determined than ever. 'Yes! I must find the cloaked woman!
'There's no way it's A-Fen beneath that cloak!
'Right...?!'
.