HEART PROTECTION: CHAPTER 26
When Tian Yao woke up, he discovered he was laying on a soft daybed.
------It had been a long time since he slept on such a soft and warm bed. He laid there for a long time. It wasn't until he heard Yan Hui's voice from outside the room did he recall his thoughts.
"I want three orders of wontons. The meat kind with lots of meat. I want extra meat. Don't skimp on the meat."
"Alright. Would you like to add any soup or vegetables to your order?"
"No. If you have any good alcohol, bring a jar."
The waiter nodded and clattered down the steps.
Tian Yao struggled upwards, but when he moved, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He helplessly laid back down. Yan Hui heard his movements and walked into the room to his side.
She glanced at him: "Don't try to be tough. I examined you. You have internal injuries, so just quietly lay there for a few days."
Yan Hui didn't need to say that for Tian Yao to realize the extent of his injuries. When he had been knocked into the tree by the burly demon, Tian Yao knew his wounds weren't minor. He couldn't even struggle up. It was just that he was so used to enduring pain. It wasn't until he jumped into the river that the pain was too much for his body to handle. That's why he fainted.
He didn't continue along with what Yan Hui was saying. Instead, he changed the topic: "Xian cultivators under the Dao avoid eating meat and drinking. Are you not concerned you're harming your cultivation?"
Yan Hui rolled her eyes: "You still have the guts to ignore me." She snorted, "If it wasn't for me eating so much, do you really think I would've had the strength to haul your deadweight onto the bank?"
Tian Yao moved his head around. His shoulders felt sore and swollen, as if someone had been dragging him. He asked Yan Hui: "You really did haul me out." His tone wasn't skeptical but certain.
Yan Hui really did drag him out. She also almost ripped his pants in the process......
She cleared her throat. She turned her head and sat down by the table to get a drink of tea.
The room was silent for a long time. In the end, Tian Yao broke the silence: "Didn't you say you wouldn't help me?"
"I didn't want to help you," Yan Hui pouted. "But I am a righteous and benevolent girl. How could I let someone be killed by demons in front of me......"
Tian Yao's eyebrows furrowed, and he interrupted her: "You saw me?"
"Your heart protection scale allowed me to."
"Oh." Tian Yao slightly looked down. His slightly hidden eyes concealed what he was thinking.
Yan Hui didn't mind him interrupting her this time. She continued to talk: "Because I saw, as someone who has been cultivating for a long time, I couldn't block my conscience. I had to save you."
Yan Hui said it so carelessly, almost like a joke. However, anyone would've known that scenario last night was dangerous. It was extremely likely that she would've died along with him......
But she still came.
Tian Yao closed his eyes. In his mind, he could still see her standing in front of him, her silhouette bathed in moonlight.
"Since you came back and saved me, you can't leave anymore."
Yan Hui put down her cup: "Who says I can't leave? My body has legs. If I want to leave, then I leave. I can go anywhere I want. It's just seeing you weak like this......" Yan Hui paused. "If you were being chased by xian cultivators of the Dao, then I don't care. But if you fall in the hands of demons, then I can't just let it go. You listen carefully, my conscience barely extends to protecting you from bullying demons."
Tian Yao turned his head to look at her. He only paid attention to the latter part: "How do you plan to protect me?"
"I have a good friend. She has a collection of rare treasures. Perhaps there's something that can mask your scent and not make it so enticing to demons."
Tian Yao nodded: "It's true. I need it. How far does your friend live from here?"
"Not far. She lives in Yong Zhou City."
"We will go tomorrow."
Yan Hui shot him a glance: "With your frail body? Drop that idea. Peacefully rest here for two days instead. If we go, you might make your wounds worse. I'm not going to treat you." At this moment, it was like Yan Hui suddenly thought of something. From the side, she took a piece of paper and brush and wrote one word, 'Bill'. She said: "What's done is done, but the bill still has to be totaled. From yesterday till now, I gave you treatment, I gave you lodging, got you medicine, etc. There is a whole series of expenditures that I need to record and stick on your head......"
"It's find that you don't have money right now. This is for just in case when you strike it big. I don't want more from you. Returning what I itemized is fine. Ah, actually I should add on interest......" As she was talking, she started to calculate it out on her fingers.
Yan Hui looked even more serious and solemn than when she saved Tian Yao yesterday.
Tian Yao watched her. After a few moments, he turned his head aside and pretended to sleep.
When night came, Yan Hui spread out a blanket in the corner of the room to sleep on. The reasoning behind her actions didn't escape Tian Yao. Of course it was to save money.
Since she didn't make a fuss, Tian Yao just let her be.
He woke up in the middle of the night because of thirst. He resisted it for a while, but in the end he opened his mouth: "Yan Hui."
No one responded. Tian Yao thought she was asleep, so he called out two more times. Yan Hui didn't stirr. He couldn't help thinking back to that day in the abandoned temple when Yan Hui was suffering under sleep paralysis. Tian Yao frowned. He endured the sharp pain in his chest and stood up. He moved to the corner where Yan Hui was sleeping.
He saw Yan Hui was sweating. Her eyes rolled under her eyelids. Tian Yao shook her.
Yan Hui's eyes snapped opened. Compared to the last time, she was much calmer. She didn't immediate sit up. Instead, she laid there and gathered her breath. Then she slapped the floor and angrily said: "Now it's coming every day! There's no end to this!"
Yan Hui looked at Tian Yao: "Do you have any heart techniques to drive away demons? Teach the chant to me. The heart technique you taught me that night was pretty useful."
"You have my heart protection scale. Teaching you my heart technique is most appropriate." Tian Yao continued, "However, I don't know any heart techniques to expel demons. I never had those troubles."
Yan Hui helplessly sighed: "Oh well. You should go back to sleep."
For the rest of the night, Yan Hui stayed awake and watched the sky brighten.
The next day, she was extremely tired. She resisted until noon. Then, she took a small nap but didn't dare sleep heavily. But when night fell, Yan Hui couldn't resist any longer. She fell asleep sitting on the floor while leaning against the wall.
As expected, the same thing happened. She had sleep paralysis again.
When she woken up again by Tian Yao, Yan Hui was in a rage. She loudly berated: "I can't do anything about your matters or situation! There's not point in paralyzing me in my sleep!"
Hearing those words, Tian Yao slightly raised an eyebrow: "You have a history with that demon?"
Yan Hui's face contorted for a moment. She wiped the sweat from her face. Then after a long silence, she spoke: "I didn't know before. But tonight she kept yelling in my ear. I guess we are now......"
Tian Yao watched her and calmly waited for her to continue.
Yan Hui glanced at him. This was a long story, and she originally didn't plan on telling him. However after seeing the moonlight through the window, if she didn't talk to someone, then she would fall asleep again.
She sighedand said: "Actually, she paralyzed me in the past......"
Actually, this female ghost could be considered an old acquaintance. The ghost also placed a big role in getting Yan Hui expelled from the Chen Xing Mountain.
Two months ago, the xian cultivator meeting at Chen Xing Mountain had just finished. The disciples returned to their daily routine. Yan Hui went about her usual schedule: attending morning lectures, practicing martial arts, practicing meditation, and occasionally arguing with her senior disciples, making relationship worse. The days passed peacefully with no disruptions.
Until that fateful day when Yan Hui suddenly had sleep paralysis.
Actually strictly speaking, it wasn't sleep paralysis because the female ghost didn't paralyze Yan Hui down until she couldn't move. The ghost only appeared in Yan Hui's dreams and endlessly wailed: "Save my daughter, Save my daughter, Save my daughter."
Yan Hui endured it for two days, ignoring the ghost.
But Yan Hui's principles didn't allow for a third time. On the third night, she let loose her temper.
When Yan Hui was woken up by the wailing, she reigned in her temper and left the room. She walked to a remote area and then drew a spell, letting the ghost out.
Yan Hui told the female ghost: "I don't know who you are nor who your daughter is. Just because I can see ghosts doesn't mean you can just enter my dreams and disrupt my life. It isn't right."
The female ghost was clothed in white. Behind her swayed three white fox tails. Judging by the ghost's aura, it was a recently deceased three-tailed fox demon.
For fox demons, the greater their tails meant the greater their strength. Back in Qing Qiu, the head of one of the demon clans was a nine-tailed fox demon. It was said the head was about to become a xian. Yan Hui hadn't seen the leader before and had no interest. She told the fox demon: "Although you're a dead demon, you're still a demon, yet you have the audacity to enter Chen Xing Mountain. Such impudence. However, it does show a little character. I won't deal with you. You should quickly leave and go reincarnate."
The three-tailed fox demon didn't leave. She only looked at Yan Hui with a face filled with grief and started to talk about her situation: "My daughter was taken by people from Chen Xing Mountain and locked away in Xin Xiu Peak. Please, save my daughter. She's just a child."
"It sounds very pitiful," interrupted Tian Yao. "But based off your 'saving is having high moral character, not saving is as it should be' view, you probably didn't feel anything."
Yan Hui coldly looked at Tian Yao: "Do you know how many unreasonable requests I've gotten from ghosts? Some are so pitiful, but it's actually a trick. Some will fake circumstances so you'll help them. When you go to help, you'll find out the real objective is to kill you and reincarnate in your body."
"......"
"That's why every time I hear something like this, of course I'm suspicious." Yan Hui curled her lip and said: "And I had another reason for not wanting to help her......"
Tian Yao looked at Yan Hui. She crossed her legs together, looking like before when the female disciples gathered together to gossip, and said: "You know that Chen Xing Mountain has 28 peaks, right?"
"Yes. They were named after the 28 Xiu Constellations. As natural spell arrays, Chen Xing Mountain's spirituality is more potent than other places"
Yan Hui nodded: "That's right. Every peak has a different shifu in charge of it. As for the Xin Xiu Peak the three-tailed fox demon mentioned, it belonged to Ling Fei......" Yan Hui paused. Her expression became disdainful. "Ling Fei is Chen Xing Mountain's famous cold-faced beauty. Everyone in Chen Xing Mountain knew she loved my shifu." Yan Hui continued: "So I don't like her."
Tian Yao looked at Yan Hui. He heard her indifferently say: "The reason is simple. It's because I was jealous."
Tian Yao was silent.
Yan Hui liked her shifu. Tian Yao knew she probably liked her shifu sometime in the middle of their association. However, Tian Yao couldn't help be surprised after hearing her admit it so frankly.
At the same time, he suddenly realized he felt conflicted about it. But the strange thing was, he didn't know why he was feeling conflicted.
Perhaps it was because a shifu-disciple relationship was seen as immoral in the eyes of xian practitioners of the Dao. Even the demon clans did not permit that kind of relationship. They believed it was not ethical.
Tian Yao didn't say anything and remained silent.
Yan Hui continued: "But she also didn't like me. Probably.......because of jealousy too. Oh, that's right. Speaking of Ling Fei, you might also know her." Yan Hui looked at Tian Yao: "Before she became a shifu at Chen Xing Mountain, she was called Su E. She's the little sister of Han Guang Sect's Zhenren Su Ying."
Tian Yao was startled. He was silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, his tone was slightly cold: "I didn't know."
Because Su Ying never told him anything about her family or close friends.