Chapter 162 - Affliction II
Lory's heart shuddered, in this world where magic does not exist, how could a curse appear? It's mind-boggling. Eventually, they reach the last stairs, the elders walked in front of them, in a wide room that is made of grey stones, a man is chained to the wall, another old man was watching from the side, he looked at the chained man with deep sorrow in his eyes.
The chained man is struggling like a wild animal, his hair disheveled and his robe tattered, he is screaming and hitting the wall like a madman, Yang Xi Ying had seen him like this but her heart still breaks every time she saw him like this, she unconsciously covers her mouth with her hands, tears fell on her face.
"Brother Li, it's me… Xi Ying, don't you recognize me?" her lips trembles, she wants to get closer but Mu Jan Ge stopped her, he shakes his head with grief, Yang Xi Ying couldn't hold her cry, she began to weep quietly, Mu Jan Ge felt bad for her, he patted her shoulder gently.
When they were not paying any attention to Lory, she walked carefully towards the chained man, Zhao Li Xin held her wrist to stop her but Lory assured him with her calm smiles, Zhao Li Xin gritted his teeth then reluctantly, he released her while Girsha remained on her shoulder protecting her as he used to.
Jin Hao, who also wanted to get closer to check the chained man was stopped by Lory, she raised her hand telling him to take a step back.
"No one gets close!" she warned them while walking towards the chained man carefully.
Everyone was stunned, they don't know why this seemingly weak girl dared to get close. Li Mo Zhen has high cultivation that's why they needed to chain him, if not he would slaughter all of Jiu Yun's members. Zhao Li Xin clenched his hand, he can feel cold sweat in his palms, his eyes fixed on Li Mo Zhen, if he dares to hurt his Princess he will kill him no matter what Lory's said.
[Lory….] Girsha warned her.
[Don't worry, I can handle this much.] Lory assured him, Li Mo Zhen roared at her, she can see deep resentment in his eyes. She bit her finger and with her blood, she wrote something inside her palm, after that, she showed her palm to Li Mo Zhen, he suddenly quiets down, his eyes were glued on Lory's palm, everyone was shocked, they looked at each other with disbelief.
[Lory, are you doing what I think you're doing?] Girsha becomes anxious.
[We can only do it the hard way, back me up!] she felt a little bit nervous, her palm is getting closer to Li Mo Zhen's face, while he stares at Lory's hand like a rabbit staring at the carrot.
"Li Mo Zhen, I know you can hear me! I can help you, but I can't do this alone!" Lory's breathing becomes unsteady, "You must release yourself, remember all the people that love you; your parents, the elders, and Xi Ying… Do you remember her? What would happen to her if you are gone?"
Li Mo Zhen's eyes widen, his expression stiffened, he gritted his teeth then he starts growling as if he's trying to get away from something.
"Good, just like that, you can do it. Fight it!" Lory's hand is getting closer to his face, "You see the light? Quickly follow the light, I'll guide you."
Li Mo Zhen's growl is getting louder and louder then he starts screaming, but it was not like how it is before, this time he screams like a human being, he keeps shouting, "let go!" like someone's holding him back.
Other people can only watch from the side, while Li Mo Zhen pulled his chains repeatedly, as though he's desperate to get away from something, while his eyes was fixed on Lory's hand as if his life depends on it.
While everyone's eyes are at Li Mo Zhen, Zhao Li Xin's eyes remained on Lory, he wants to jump in front of her to shield her from any danger. Girsha flew right in front of Li Mo Zhen, he makes a deafening squawk at him, Li Mo Zhen's body staggered backward, at that time Lory pressed her hand on his face.
[By the blood of Lucient, I blessed you!] A purple light appeared from Lory's body and illuminated her and Li Mo Zhen.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swipes her over and pushed her away like she was hit by a shockwave, Zhao Li Xin swiftly catches her before she hits the ground.
The shockwave hit everyone, Yang Xi Ying was almost pressed to the wall but Mu Jan Ge quickly shielded her then everything inside the room turned chaotic, thankfully all of them were high-level cultivation, so no one got hurt and was only shocked… very very shocked.
Lory found herself embraced by Zhao Li Xin, "Thank you," Lory smiled in relief but Zhao Li Xin glared angrily at her, Lory's aware she's in bigger trouble now.
"Mo Zhen!" Mu Jan Ge jumped towards him, Li Mo Zhen laid face down on the ground, he carefully turned his body up, a few seconds later, Yang Xi Ying also ran towards Li Mo Zhen, she stroked his face gently, his handsome face got a lot thinner, his face is covered with scratch and dirt making her heart pained for him.
Suddenly his eyes flutters, Mu Jan Ge was worried he would attack Yang Xi Ying when he wakes up, "Xi Ying, move over, I don't want Mo Zhen accidentally hurting you."
"No, it's been months since I can get close to him, I will not leave him!" she refused to go, she only understands how much she cares for him after everything that's happened, she feels so stupid, she hadn't told him she loves him.
Mu Jan Ge sighs, this girl care so much for his disciple that he feels happy but sad at the same time.
Li Mo Zhen's eyes slowly opened; everything looks blurred. He blinks a few more times, only then did his vision became clear.
"Mas…ter… Xi Yin…"
Mu Jan Ge and Yang Xi Ying looked at each other, both were in shock and then excited, "Mo Zhen, you recognize me!" Mi Jan Ge was overjoyed, "Do you recognize her? This is Xi Ying!"
Li Mo Zhen's eyes trailed at the beautiful face with swollen eyes beside him, "Of course… My Xin Ying…" he smiled softly.
Yang Xi Ying, hearing this, cried hard. It has been months since the last time he called her name, she thought she would never hear him called her again. All the sadness, worries, and fears she held for months burst out like a broken dam.
The other elders run to Li Mo Zhen, all of them have red misty eyes, Elder Wang Ji can't even speak, he just kept patting Li Mo Zhen's shoulder, his hand trembles from joy and relief.
"Brother Jin, please check his condition, we don't have much time, sadly it's just temporary," Lory said with remorse.
The elders and Yang Xi Ying was taken aback, "Miss Luo, what do you mean?" Yang Xi Ying suddenly felt defeated.
Zhao Li Xin helped her to stand, Lory took a deep breath, "Believe it or not, his condition is good, he's just affected by an affliction. We need to find the source of the affliction if we want to cure Master Li." If this is a real curse, he won't survive this long, and Lory can never help him with her condition right now.
"Let's get out of here first, we need to take care of each other's wounds." Zhao Li Xin lifts Lory, carrying her out from the dungeon, Mu Jan Ge also thought he needs to take care of Li Mo Zhen's wounds first, he had been chained for months. When they got out, Mu Jan Ge ordered one of the servants to prepare the room for Zhao Li Xin and his subordinate.
The room is quite nice for a humble sect like Jiu Yun, while Jin Hao checked on Li Mo Zhen's condition, Zhao Li Xin helped her wrap her finger, it's just a small wound but Zhao Li Xin insisted on taking care of it, Lory didn't resist as she knew his mood is not so well because of her.
"What is this?" Zhao Li Xin soaked the clean cloth in a basin, then he took Lory's hand, he saw what's inside her palm that's written by blood.
"It's a rune," Lory said, "It's an Ethion language."
"Hm?" he didn't know how to say or spell the word.
Lory smiled, "Et-hi-on... Don't bother, even in my world, very few people knew about it." she took the wet cloth from Zhao Li Xin's hand and wiped the blood rune on her hand.
"But you know about it?" Zhao Li Xin asked again.
"My mother taught me and Lucas privately, even my father only knew a little about this laguage," Lory reminisced about the old days when her mother would teach them secretly in her room, her father knew about this secret meeting but he never interfered.
"What does that symbol mean?" Zhao Li Xin helps her clean the dry blood on her hand.
"I wrote a symbol that means 'light'. It's used to calm and guide a lost soul," Lory said with a soft voice. The truth is she didn't need to use her blood if she has enough power but because she can't use her 'Gift', the only thing she can use is her blood. Lucient blood is special, as the descendant of the 'First King' of mankind in her world, her blood contained power like no one else.
Suddenly, someone gently knocked on her door, "Come in." Lory said.
The door opened slowly; the guest is Yang Xi Ying. Her eyes are still swollen from too much crying but the aura around her seem lighter than before, she looked at Lory with a gratefully, "Miss Luo, is it okay for you to see Brother Li right now?" she didn't want to push Lory, it's almost dawn and Lory haven't slept from last night, she worries that Lory will be too exhausted since she's just a normal girl… Okay, maybe not that normal.
"Yes, I need to see him as soon as possible too." Lory rose from her seat, her determined eyes prevented Zhao Li Xin to stop her.
"Thank you, Miss Luo. Please follow me." Yang Xi Ying earnestly said.