The fearsome wave of energy came crashing into Ye Wei, and he was knocked flying before he could react and defend himself although the result would have been the same. He was shocked by the impact and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground feeling like his organs were all twisted together.
Ye Wei quickly got up and swallowed a pill. He sat in a lotus position and adjusted his disturbed Qi flow.
‘What is happening? I don’t understand!’ Ye Wei was increasingly confused by Lin Zi Yan, who was sitting still with closed eyes.
Under great pain, Lin Zi Yan’s lovely facial features were all squeezed together. Ye Wei had never seen Zi Yan looking like this. He could not help but empathize with her as she was going through this agonizing experience.
Just as Ye Wei started breathing normally again, the whirl of runes contracted. They touched Lin Zi Yan’s skin and disappeared altogether, and the Qi waves vanished instantaneously as well.
While Ye Wei was relieved, Lin Zi Yan did not look like she was suffering any less. A small amount of blood leaked out of her mouth and slid down her pale chin. She then lost balance and fell over.
Lin Zi Yan’s fall did not go unnoticed by Ye Wei. He immediately stood up and ran over to hold her tightly as she fell.
Lin Zi Yan had no strength left in her body, and she struggled just to open her eyes. Her brain registered the familiar face then she asked in a low whispering voice, “Ye Wei why are you here? Am I dreaming?” Zi Yan was barely conscious and weakening as she spoke.
Ye Wei grabbed her arm and tried to feel her pulse. He realized it was weak, and it felt like it would stop at any second. ‘What should I do now?’
While feeling Lin Zi Yan’s pulse, Ye Wei noticed there was a fading marking on each of her wrists that resembled a runic seal. They were only one shade darker than her skin was and were hard to notice unless observed closely.
Ye Wei was trying to work out whether these marks had anything to do with what just happened to Lin Zi Yan while he carried her to lay on the little bed to the side.
Ye Wei was close enough to smell the sweat on Lin Zi Yan’s drenched silk gown; it was sticking onto her body, and he couldn’t help but trace the outline of her body with his eyes. From her perky breasts to her flat, smooth stomach and all the way down her toned legs, every inch of her skin was driving Ye Wei crazy, but he had much more serious matter to deal with, and he knew it.
He took out a meridian nourishing Jade Moistener pill and fed it to Lin Zi Yan. It was not a valuable concoction, but Ye Wei knew from his experience that this common pill was exactly what she needed at the moment.
“Water…” Lin Zi Yan mumbled, having sweated for hours she was extremely dehydrated.
Ye Wei went downstairs and started a fire for the kettle then returned to pour a glass of lukewarm water slowly down Lin Zi Yan’s throat.
Afraid that Zi Yan might catch a cold, Ye Wei channeled his Qi around his arms to warm Lin Zi Yan up and evaporate the sweat covering her gown. After a minute, her body was warm again and covered by a dry and therefore less revealing gown.
After Ye Wei warmed Lin Zi Yan up, he checked her breathing and her pulse. Luckily she appeared to have stabilized but was still very weak.
After Lin Zi Yan had stabilized a little, Ye Wei could finally relax. He took a deep breath and sat down next to the bed. Ye Wei was just inches away from Lin Zi Yan, but he felt distant; he knew nothing about her apart from her name and her brilliance. Although they were becoming close, the mysteries around her still remained; where was her family? What was sealed inside her body? Why was she in Green Moon City?
Ye Wei appreciated Lin Zi Yan’s cute face while she slept meanwhile he asked himself these questions over and over again. He was trying to sketch a possible answer in his mind that would explain every question he had regarding her. He had a feeling that Lin Zi Yan was going to leave Green Moon City one day to return home. And that the place Zi Yan call home would be somehow related to the dynasty.
‘Either way, I just need to get stronger! I am Master Yi’s legacy apprentice. I won’t be trapped in this little city forever.’ Self-motivating had become a habit of Ye Wei’s whenever he felt challenged.
For the next twenty hours, Lin Zi Yan was going in and out of a comatose state while Ye Wei guarded her, and fed her pills and water. Lin Zi Yan was starting to move a little, and showing signs of recovery.
While Ye Wei was taking care of her with his best efforts, Lin Zi Yan had the two longest dreams she had ever had. In the first one, she visited a magnificent hall where her parents and the rest of her family were present; Ye Wei was there with her too.
Upon arriving at Green Moon City, Lin Zi Yan was solely focused on her studies at South Star Academy. Although she was a popular girl with a lot of admirers, she always kept a distance with them and enjoyed her own company instead. That was before she got to know Ye Wei.
Undoubtingly, Lin Zi Yan held Ye Wei’s talent in high regard. She was curious about how he acquired so much knowledge at such young age, and she greatly respected his resilience in the face of adversity. Maybe it was the fact that Ye Wei was two years younger than her that caused her to slowly let her guard down and welcomed him into her life like something akin to a little brother. Thus, that made Ye Wei one of the closest people she knew in this city.
In her second dream, she was training and attempting to break the seals on her body when she diverted her Qi to the wrong set of meridians. Not only did this accident cause her to failed, but her Sentient was impacted by her own Qi. She then used all her efforts to guide her Qi back to the right path. Although the situation improved, she was completely exhausted and dehydrated, and at this time, Ye Wei entered her second dream. She then felt embarrassed because her clothes were completely transparent from sweat but she was unable to do anything.
‘That was a strange dream!’ Was the thought that woke Lin Zi Yan up. She slowly opened her eyes, but the glaring sun made her narrow them again.
“Zi Yan, are you awake?” Ye Wei was ecstatic. He stood up enthusiastically and asked, “How do you feel?”
“Little Wei…?” Lin Zi Yan was shocked then she realized that the second dream was her actual memory. She then looked down to see if she was decently dressed. She could see a blanket on top of her body, and judging by the texture her skin felt, she knew she was wearing nothing but a thin silk gown.
Lin Zi Yan blushed, and the temperature of her skin dramatically rose upon realizing Ye Wei saw her bare body. It was the first time since she was born that anyone saw her wearing this little. It caused a complicated feeling to arise when she knew she revealed that much in front of a boy.
This was not the plan. Lin Zi Yan wore that thin gown assuming she would be training alone and that it would provide better ventilation when her body temperature eventually rose due to the amount of Qi involved in breaking the seals. Never would she have imagined that Ye Wei, or anyone, would come through the locked doors.
Ye Wei knew what Lin Zi Yan’s facial expression meant, and he immediately tried to explain the situation and ease the tension. He didn’t want to be labeled as a pervert after all, “Zi Yan, I didn’t mean to intrude, but I felt a big disturbance of Qi when I was waiting for you to answer the door. Judging by the magnitude of the pressure waves, it was not what I assumed you could create which led me to believe that you were under attack. I thought you were in danger, so I just rushed in. I couldn’t believe what I saw when I finally came in…”
While Lin Zi Yan bought the explanation and was touched by how Ye Wei cared about her, she was not at all over the fact that a boy just saw her body. She was a great scholar but nothing she learned taught her how to behave in such situation.
Ye Wei too was stupefied because of the situation the two were in. He just hoped what he did would eventually be forgiven or forgotten.
“I am so sorry!” Ye Wei said with his head facing down.