Bai Zhu only frowned while staring at that vast of deathly silence, the fist at his side tightened. After a long while did he turn to say "Thank you for your assistance. Your guiding me till here is good enough. The Abyss is dangerous, it would be better if you leave first."
Bai Zhu's brows furrowed deeper, after awhile he finally said in a grave voice, "Within there is my fellow Bai Mu disciples, I must go save them!" As he said, raising the corner of his lips, slowly becoming a smile. At that moment, flowers bloomed! "You stay here, not long and help from the various sects would arrive! Nothing will happen!"
"Then I will go too!" Perhaps it's because his smile is too entrancing, without thinking, Yin Luo grabs his hand. It wasn't until she received his stunned gaze, did she realize what she had said, but she didn't regret. "I....I have friends in there also! I want to go save him!" She said those words that even she didn't believe, couldn't help but laugh inside her heart. Friend? Does she really have friends?
Bai Zhu took a look at her, showing a little hesitance.
As expected, Bai Zhu appeared slightly more at ease. Taking another look at her, he lifted his hand above the head and swept it down. A transparent force field suddenly surrounded the two. He said, "Be careful!" Without waiting another moment, they flew into the complete darkness of the Endless Abyss.
The Yellow Springs is a path where the dead must pass through, although it's heavily eerie with ghastly atmosphere, but it still has evidence of life. As for the Abyss, it is a wasteland, no humans and no ghost, and not even an evidence of life. Taking a broad view, other than darkness, there is still only darkness. To be in this type of place, you will feel as though even you, yourself, isn't actually existing.
"Follow closely!" The hold on her hand tightened, some warmth transfers into her palm. Yin Luo's panicked heart at that moment calmed down quite a bit. Even though still unable to see, she knows that he has been watching over her, "Gather your thoughts, be calm, don't think too much. Follow me and nothing should happen!"
"Bai Zhu!" She can't restrain herself to speak up again.
Biting onto her lip, some acidic bubbles surfaced in her heart. Desperately retaining her impulse to reach for a preserved honey, she hesitates for a long awhile before finally speaking up, "I.....I'm Yin Luo!"
Yin Luo's heart had completely sunkened, he indeed doesn't know her. That's why he would treat her this gently.
The other person fell into a brief moment of speechlessness before speaking, "Just call me Bai Zhu is fine. Yin Luo, isn't that exactly your name?"
He paused, "No."
He didn't have a response, only tightening his hold on her hand.
Yin Luo wanted to smile again, lowering her head to look towards the hand in the darkness. Alright, she has already said it this apparently, why not take the final step? "We're suppose to be sisters, although when together we don't speak much, but we still have the same blood flowing through. So, still often there are those who put us together in comparison. She's too perfect, so perfect to the point of not being able to find a thread of flaw. If there must be a flaw, then it's probably me! Perhaps it's because I don't try hard enough, looking at those people besides her, no matter which one is picked out, who isn't a talent? Only I am without a single redeeming aspect, stubbornly becoming the black streak of ink on this perfectness. You say...suppose both are born from the same mother, why is it that there is such a difference? Sometimes I suspect, am I really my mother's child? Perhaps it's as the six realm says, I am even disowned by heaven?"
"Gong Zi, have you heard of the Goddess Yan Xi?" Yin Luo asked.
See, It's true that her Lord Honor's name is well known! "I ask you, this perfect of a person, how did she come to be? How come I can never reach that? No matter how hard I try, even if I lock myself on the Divine Mountain for a whole year to practice the arts of riding a sword, yet still unable to get even ten feet off the ground. Even if I studied a full ten years on a Divine Manual, yet still unable to produce any xian-remedy. Perhaps I'm suppose to be naturally this dim-witted."
"....." Before he spoke, Yin Luo wondered if he was shocked by her true story or that after finding out about her identity, no longer wanted to acknowledge her. Subconsciously, a hand reaches into the bag at her side for a piece of preserved honey.
His hand suddenly loosened, the warmth around her hand immediately disappears. Suddenly, even her heart feels the cold. Sure enough, no one is willing to take her hand and pull her along. As she's thinking that, there was a sudden tight hold on her waist.
"My discourtesy!" After awhile he finally let go of her, "The Abyss is not only heavy with negative energy, it is also flowing with turbulence. No matter how powerful one is, it can still cause damage."He was saving her just then?
"Why should I push you away?" Bai Zhu questioned back. "You're helping me to save the assembly of xians, my protecting you is natural."
For a moment he remained speechless, "My intention was to come here to save people, of course I would."
"I would."
"I would."
"You're naturally kind, no matter who you are, whether or not you can help me save the assembly of xians, I would still protect you."
Since she was little, she has already gotten used to everybody approaching her. They all held a purpose. The warmer their smile, often the more dangerous. She's only a stepping board, although coated with the brilliance of a 'God,' yet can do nothing to change her nature of being trampled by others. No matter what dazzling shoe the person that approaches her is wearing, they would still trample her under their feet.
She suddenly sees hope.
"Right under the Jade Pool!"
After awhile, a warmth pressed over her hands. Bai Zhu held her hands, tightening his hold, "The secret passageway you spoke of is right ahead. Once inside, we will be able to see it. Hold tightly!"It's as if in a movement of the heart, the temperature in his hand is burning a bit, yet unexpectedly, she no longer wanted to remove it.
Just Stare! Just Stare!
"You've said that before." His reply was still those simple words. Putting away the sword, but not stopping his steps, he continued to pull her along towards that hidden passage.
He stopped his steps, turning his head towards her. His brows tightly gathered together, carrying a probing expression while he looked at her. With that kind of expression, he kept staring at her until Yin Luo's heart again twisted like a knot. "If....If...you have something in need to ask of her Lord Honor, or if you would like to meet her! I.....I....I will try my best!" If it's him, to be a stepping board one more time, it's alright, really!
Voice deep, missing that affect of running spring water from before. Very apparently, there was a light tone of temper. Had she cause him to be unhappy?
"Ah?" Yin Luo was taken aback, looked forward, than finally realized that they have arrived at a fork in the secret passageway. In a hurry, she pointed to a small passageway on her side. "Right!"
"Bai Zhu!" She lowered her head, not knowing why her heart was feeling slightly heavy.
"You know why I would know this secret passageway?" She held onto the bag on her side, restraining her impulse to reach in.
"Three hundred years ago....it was also the Jade Pool Party! It was my first time coming with her Honor here. Then, there were many from the Divine Mountain that had come. But I fly slow...and there was no one willing to give me a ride. hehe.. By the time I've arrived here, the assembly had already dispersed. I had never attended this kind of gathering, so I thought, even if it's already dispersed, just taking a look around the Jade Pool can still be a memory right? So.... I spent a entire day's time, walking through all the routes around the Jade Pool. Yet, when wanting to return, I took a wrong step and fell into this secret passageway." Thinking back to that time, she can't help but start tugging at the corner of her lips. "Happens that this secret passageway was quite complicated. I ended up using an entire month's effort to find the correct exit path. Now, it's already been 300 years since. Didn't think that my memory would be this good, to still remember the route from back then."
"Her Lord Honor didn't come to search for you?" With her powers as a God, finding her could have been done without effort.
Since I've finished the whole book, and this being my second time reading it, it feels so much different reading it the second time around. Knowing all the background to everything makes every thing, movement, or word said much more meaningful. It makes me love Bai Zhu a notch more this time around.
Lastly, I might have translated the title wrong. I'm seeking help from fellow Baidu fans to see if I can get more opinions on the meaning for the title. This 禁 character either have a very straight forward meaning like "banned" or "forbidden." Thinking it through I don't find any love to be forbidden in this story. While translating chapter 6 got me to redefine that the character 禁 could also mean "contain." So if that character is used with that meaning it would mean "Flowers that contain Love," which actually makes much more sense to me. I'll be using "Flowers of Love" as the new title. Sorry for the mix up.