Against the Gods

Yun Che raised a hand and waved it in the darkness, “There has been a great change in the auras here and you definitely must have felt it. Actually, the change hasn’t only been limited to this place, some changes are also happening in the outside world and these changes are getting more and more violent.”

“...” the young girl with strange eyes quietly listened to what he was saying. She did not have a body and even her spirit body was not whole, so she did not have the ability to speak or even express her feelings.

“...”

“The last time I came here, I found you in this sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers and you are still here when I came today. It looks like you are not only unable to leave this dark world, you probably also can’t really leave this sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers very often, huh?” Yun Che said with a faint smile. He did not know whether it was because she liked these Netherworld Udumbara Flowers or because she could not be too far away from them in her current state… He figured that it was more likely the latter than the former. After all, if someone was stuck in one place for an unimaginably long period of time, they would inevitably grow tired of even the things that they loved the most.

Of course, what answered him was only that pitch-black silence and that young girl’s extraordinarily splendorous but completely emotionless eyes.

“Or perhaps, you’re very used to darkness and it’s possible that you like the darkness very much as well.” Yun Che looked at the girl as he spoke in an exceptionally gentle voice, “But to any living creature, loneliness has always been a very terrifying thing. Yet you can only be here by yourself in this place and that truly makes one’s heart ache… The reason why I was not able to come and see you over the last few years was because I went to another world and after I returned, I had lost all of my power as well. In fact, I only recovered my powers a few days ago… However that came at the cost of my daughter losing her innate talent forever… whew.”

“After listening to these things, you must think that I’m a very bad father, a failure of a father,” Yun Che said as he smiled bitterly. During the past few days, he had appeared completely normal in front of Yun Wuxin and the rest. In fact, he seemed to grow happier by the day. However,the deep guilt and remorse he felt as a father could definitely not be so easily dispelled over this short period of time… and perhaps it would never be dispelled for the rest of his life.

“...” The young girl shook her head gently, those strange and bewitching eyes staring at him unblinkingly. Those eyes had not stopped staring at him for even a fraction of a second during this entire time.

“I can guarantee this one thing to you,” a faint smile once again appeared on Yun Che’s face, “from now on, I will come to see you often.”

The young girl’s lips parted softly and she raised a lustrous white hand to lightly touch Yun Che’s chest… but it could only pass through him.

However, the things that she wanted to express had been clearly felt by Yun Che… His words had made her happy.

This was a very subtle feeling… They clearly knew nothing about each other and they had only seen each other once before, yet there had always been an indescribable feeling of intimacy between the two of them.

“That’s right, you know that I’m called Yun Che, but I don’t know your name.” After Yun Che had finished speaking, he thought of something as he stared at that girl’s colorful eyes, eyes which seemed bewildered at the moment. After that, he asked her in a very soft voice, “Do you still remember your own name?”

“...” The young girl shook her head.

“Eh…” Yun Che tapped his chin, “Then… how about I give you a name, is that alright?”

“...” The young girl was briefly stunned by his suggestion, but after that she obediently nodded her head.

“Let me think about it for second…” Yun Che looked the little girl once over before breaking out into a faint smile, “You exist as a spirit, you live in the gloom, you lie among the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers, so from now on, I will call you ‘You’er’, okay?”[1]

“...” The young girl’s hand, a hand which flowed with a pure and lustrous light, stretched towards Yun Che. It was as if she was trying her very best to touch him as the color in her eyes grew even more brilliant.

She nodded her head, her long silver hair dancing in the air nimbly. Yun Che could sense that she was very happy and he did not know whether it was because she really liked this name or she liked the fact that he had given her a name.

“Alright, You’er… You’er. Mnn, I feel that it’s a name most fitting for you.”

Yun Che called her name twice as he looked at the girl’s face and eyes… His gaze gradually grew misty as the image of a girl who had the exact same features surfaced in his mind. But this girl had red eyes, long red hair, and had always been full of vigor and life.

…………

Red clothes, red hair, red eyes… she had even said that her favorite color was red… Mnnn…. Let’s call you Hong’er then!

“Hong’er… Hong’er… Hong’er… Hong’er… Then, call me Hong’er next time… Hehe! I have a name! Hong’er, Hong’er… Next time don’t call me little girl, or little brat, not even little beauty. You can only call me Hong’er!”

…………

He gave a slight shake of his head as he tried his best to dispel that ebullient and bubbly image from his head. But immediately after that, the image of her appearing by his side and wailing loudly during his last moments in the Star God Realm clearly resurfaced in his mind… He could not put down the heaviness he felt in his heart at this moment for a very long time.

“Do you still remember… that girl who looked just like you, a girl with very beautiful red eyes and long red hair?” He unwittingly spoke those words, “All those years ago, an old person who was only left with an incomplete spirit, just like you, entrusted her and the Primordial Profound Ark to me. Right before Jasmine left, she also told me that I had to take good care of her… During all of these years, she had never left my side and had always been with me. Not only was she a companion who had granted me great power, she was also my most important Hong’er…. But…”

He shook his head, his gaze growing even more blurry. During this period of time, he had always tried his best to not think about Hong’er, but upon seeing You’er, who looked exactly the same as her, the pain that he had striven to hide could not help but bubble to the surface. “I’ve always been… a vile and repulsive omen of calamity. I clearly wanted to protect all of the people beside me, yet I ended up harming them one after the other.”

You’er, “...”

After he recovered some of his wits, Yun Che forced a laugh and said, “I came here to see you, yet who would have thought that I’d tell you about so many unhappy things. Lemme think…. Mn! The next time I come, I will bring you a present, it’s just that I don’t know if you’ll like it or not.”

Yun Che had already thought of something when he said these words. Before he came the next time, he would instruct the Black Moon Merchant Guild to prepare some Profound Imagery Stones for him, so he could let You’er see what the world outside looked like while also slightly relieving some of her loneliness.

“...” You’er’s lips softly parted before she stretched out her hand once again. But this time, she did not stretch it towards Yun Che’s chest, she stretched it towards his left hand instead.

When that hand that was as sparkling and translucent as a diamond came into contact with Yun Che’s palm, it once again passed through it without fail. After that, her finger came to a stop against the back of Yun Che’s hand.

“You’er?” Yun Che looked down, a questioning look appearing on his face, but he did not move his left hand away.

Just as he asked that question, a cluster of gloomy black light suddenly flashed on the tip of You’er’s finger.

The world which had originally been filled with lustrous purple light instantly turned completely black and gloomy the moment that cluster of light had appeared… Furthermore, the light that was given off by the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers was no ordinary light, it was a soul-stealing light that possessed an extremely strong penetrative force. Additionally, there were not just one or two stalks of the flower in this place, there was a huge sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers...

Yet, in only a single instant, all of the purple light that was released by the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers had been devoured!

Yun Che’s expression changed as just as he was about to speak, he suddenly realized that, under the black light that radiated from the tip of You’er’s finger, a sword mark was slowly surfacing on the back of his left hand.

“...!!” This scene caused him to instantly let out an involuntary cry as his entire body shook fiercely.

Because the shape and form of this sword mark… was clearly exactly the same as the sword mark of the Heaven Smiting Devil Slayer Sword that Hong’er could transform into!

The sword mark that had not appeared even after he had recovered his power, the sword mark that he had thought had been destroyed forever!

But what was different was that the original sword mark had been the same vermillion color as Hong’er’s eyes and long hair. But at this moment, what had appeared on the back of his hand was a pitch-black sword mark. Under You’er’s slender finger, the sword mark gradually turned from blurry to solid. The light also gradually turned deeper until it was nearly as gloomy as the black light that radiated from You’er’s finger.

“This… is?” Yun Che did not dare move a single muscle and his eyes had also widened to their very limits.

The young girl remained silent and the black light radiating from the tip of her finger continued to glow for several breaths before finally and slowly fading away. At this moment, her finger left the back of Yun Che’s hand… and the back of Yun Che’s hand was now imprinted with an incredibly distinct, pitch-black, sword mark.

You’er’s small and delicate body softly trembled and after that, her body actually turned blurry for an instant… Her face had also clearly grown even more lustrously white than it had been before.

His gaze remained fixed on the pitch-black sword mark that had appeared on the back of his hand for a long time. When he finally looked away and was about to ask You’er what had happened, he saw You’er’s condition and fierce shock jolted through his heart. He could no longer be bothered about what he had been going to ask her previously. Instead, he asked in a very anxious voice, “You’er, are you… okay?”

“...” The young girl gave a gentle shake of her head. After that, her colorful eyes slowly started to close again and again… She tried to struggle against it but in the end, her eyes fully closed and her body slowly sank to the ground and collapsed against her hair.

“You’er!” Yun Che lunged forward and tried to catch her in his arms… Yet, he could only powerlessly flail as he was unable to touch her.

She lay quietly on the ice-cold floor as she sank powerlessly into a deep sleep. Even though she was only an incomplete spirit that had existed for an unknown amount of time, Yun Che could still clearly sense her weakness.

Yun Che was momentarily left at a complete loss. His gaze swiveled toward the sword mark on the back of his hand… It was very clear that she had exhausted a large amount of her soul energy to create this sword mark. It was just that he did not know what You’er had done for him and neither did he know what this pitch-black sword mark, that looked exactly the same as Hong’er’s sword mark, signified.

However, amidst his bewilderment, the black light radiating from the sword mark on the back of his hand suddenly started to soundlessly dissipate and this black light continued to dim as it slowly dissipated… and what replaced this black light was actually a cluster… of vermillion light that was growing deeper and deeper!

Yun Che’s gaze froze in shock and he was unable to avert it.

The black light was fading away and the the red light had started to appear… and in the end, just as if its black-colored outer shell had been peeled away, a sword mark that Yun Che could not be more familiar with reappeared once more. This was the vermillion sword mark that belonged to Hong’er, belonged to the Heaven Smiting Devil Slaying Sword!

At this moment, He Ling’s incomparably excited and agitated yell rang out in his heart, “Master… Hong’er, it’s Hong’er!”

He felt as if something invisible had dealt a fierce blow to his heart as it shook fiercely and without pause. Yun Che swiftly focused and closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the Sky Poison Pearl.

The world of the Sky Poison Pearl was colored a dark and pure shade of green. He Ling stood there charmingly and in front of her, a girl dressed in red dress lay straight on the ground, as she slept while using her long red hair as a pillow. She slept very deeply and peacefully and even He Ling’s loud and agitated shouts had not been able to wake her up.

“Hong’.... er…” Yun Che softly mumbled as he stood there in complete shock, he felt as if he was in a dream.

It was Hong’er, a living, breathing, Hong’er. The sword mark that belonged to her appeared on his body once more and her figure reappeared in the Sky Poison Pearl as well as she once again returned to his world.

A huge gap in his heart and soul had been filled up and Yun Che’s heart throbbed with an indescribable feeling. He heavily panted for a long time before confirming that everything was not an illusion. After that, he walked towards Hong’er and gently lifted up her delicate and exquisite body before placing her on the small bed that she always loved to sleep on.

She was sleeping very soundly indeed and when Yun Che carried her over and put her down, a very soft and drowsy mumbling sound came from her lips. But she did not wake up, she only snored adorably.

What were the two most beautiful things in the world? The first was receiving a false alarm, the second was regaining something that was once lost.

Hong’er was his sword, but she was also his Hong’er. She had been a constant part of his world and he had thought Hong’er, who had been tied to his very soul itself, would never leave him. He had long been accustomed to her existence and he had also been imperceptibly relying on her existence.

He had only become intensely aware of the fact that Hong’er had long ago become an irreplaceable part of his life after he had lost her.

But now he had regained what had been lost… His finger softly touched Hong’er’s small, tender and white face. A sensation that was as supple as jade filled his fingers and it felt so great that it felt like a dreamy fantasy, something that was basically impossible to use any words to describe.

[1] TL note: this is a play on words based on the fact that "You/幽" is present in the words "spirit", "gloom" and the Chinese name of the Netherworld Udumbara Flower (幽冥花)