novelraw Chapter 191 - 190 - Finding Each Other
Chapter 191 - 190 - Finding Each Other
Lind studied the demonic tarp that allowed him to cultivate. It was somehow preventing the Dread Desert from making the Qi flow out of his body as they sat around a fire in a cave they found.
The silence weighed on him but all of them were exhausted. Lind's harmony let him retain his Qi but he had to use World Stones to recover afterwards which burnt through them quickly in this part of the world.
The demonic formations inscribed on the leather tarp solved the problem which he had never heard of. He had felt tired but now he was deeply studying the fascinating new toy in front of him.
A couple of giggles pulled him out of his focus to find Annabelle and Cyntilla looking at each other in surprise.
"He still does that a lot?" Cyntilla asked and Annabelle nodded.
"He finds a new piece of knowledge or examines these artifacts that are just array puzzles and will let hours go by." Lind was chagrined as they began to speak about him as if he was not there. His face began to blush deeply as Annabelle happily talked about how he would go on for hours about elemental theory or new ideas he had from Masters Cain or Harold.
Cyntilla then spoke about their time in the Ruin at the Lotus Academy and how she had marveled at how much he loved puzzles. She then recalled watching Lind happily work on the very puzzles she gave him like he was a little boy.
Lind began wondering how strong the stone was exactly beneath his feet and if he could just be buried right at that moment.
"He always talked about you." Lind froze when Annabelle suddenly talked about that. Cyntilla looked surprised before glancing at him. Lind was like a deer in headlights as he did not know what to do. Surely the stone could not be that hard to dig his grave right?!
"Why?" Cyntilla combed out the dust in her raven black hair. The comb appeared to be made of bone from what he could tell but he noted it looked remarkably like a half a ribcage to him. He noted her leathers were fraying while the robes also were tattered. It showed how hard she had lived in this desert.
Annabelle hummed for a bit but since Lind said nothing, she took it as permission.
"There are 2 others who are close to him. One you know. Qing." Cyntilla nodded in understanding as Qing had been there for when Lind was dealing with that horrible heart demon. "The other is Shoti. You may have–"
"That crazy woman!" Annabelle frowned but Lind began to laugh. Both turned to him as he held up his hand as Qi began to flow and an image of Shoti from when he first met her appeared.
Annabelle's jaw dropped in shock as Cyntilla arched her eyebrow. Neither of them had seen Shoti like she was back then but Lind then projected her current self. The much more conservative battle dress and profound whip at her waist was much more profound and firm compared to the teasing smile and barely there skirt in the first.
"Shoti used to use her body as a weapon of distraction and play with the minds of her enemies for fun. She also railed against serious cultivation as Qing explained it to me." Lind sat down around the fire and told some stories of both Solon and Shoti that shocked Annabelle who had only known them as the serious World Realm cultivators that were respected.
Cyntilla knew more of the old days but even some of the stories shocked her.
"To get back to what you asked, Cyntilla, while I was not blind to how close people wanted to be with me, I would not move forward without you." He rubbed his right cheek and smiled as he then summoned all the puzzles she had ever given him. Only one had been lost but all the rest were safe.
She looked at the collection and her face softened but then firmed up as he put them back in his storage ring.
"Define got closer to you?" Lind shivered at the coldness in her voice but then Annabelle sat up sharply and looked annoyed.
"We want to marry him! We want to date him but he refuses to move forward without talking to you and understanding how you feel!" Her frustration was clear and it surprised Lind a bit but Cyntilla only looked on calmly before she let her peak Iron Tier aura fill the cave.
Annabelle also put hers out but her Qi was much lower so Lind caused a snap to echo in the cave that made them flinch.
"I was in a very dark and desolate place in my life. I was alone and there were days I wanted to die." Both stared at him but he did not shy away from the past anymore. "I developed or worsened heart demons because I almost gave up. There were only a handful of reason I was able to hold onto myself. One was my Master, Younger Twin and the progress I made in elixirs but I would have never reached that point if I had not been given hope."
Lind stood up and knelt towards Cyntilla.
"I know how much you risked and how far you went for me. If Shoti, Qing, and Annabelle have anyone to thank for me not being lost to a heart demon long ago, it was you." Lind then sat up and found both women misty eyed. He scratched his cheek in embarrassment but then moved forward.
"For a long time, I was not sure how I felt about myself at all. Qing had a lot of stuff to work with me on and I faced a trial to finally overcome and accept my heart demons. It took years to really accept that I was loved but I held back." Lind then summoned a scroll he handed over to Cyntilla.
It was not a great work but they all recognized Cyntilla standing in front of a Ruin. Cyntilla was stunned he had put such work into it but she still wanted clarity.
"So, what do you expect from me?" Lind huffed as he knew she was being a bit difficult for having other women but he would not deny their feelings no matter what.
"I don't know. I know I care deeply for all of you but I am not your owner nor do I insist my will be done. We are cultivators. We live by our Dao and rules. I cherish all you did and the time we spent together in the Ruins. Now, I want the chance for us to get to know each other again." A flash of the recent kiss made him blush but it was an emotional moment to be sure so he gave some leeway for that.
Annabelle looked at him in anger for some reason.
"Are you an idiot?! We nearly lost you! You nearly died in Cimmeria and I heard you nearly died in the Saint Kingdom. You risked everything to save strangers and have pushed yourself all to get back to her! Don't hold back, cause we are not going to anymore!" Her golden and sapphire eyes blazed fervently.
Cyntilla sat up now and also stared at him.
"Speak, now!" Lind sighed as he had hoped to come back to this particular topic with Shoti and Qing nearby, but clearly the 3 Maidens had discussed some things over the 6 years he was gone. He could hardly blame them.
"Well, let me start with my trial…" Lind began to outline his journey since leaving the Lotus Empire. Anytime he tried to hold back, Annabelle would volunteer more details that he was stunned she knew of. Apparently, Lady Estelle had dug very deeply into his past even after he 'died.'
When he got to the false Ruin in the Saint Kingdom, both women stared at him in shock to know he only lived due to the mercy of karma. No one else knew of the changes in his meridians from that adventure.
The reason he could now fight 1 tier above was in part due to those same meridians being improved. After that the many events in Cimmeria which Annabelle was quick to defend his visit to Midnight.
They were up very late into the night listening to his words but the more he spoke, the more Lind realized he did not appreciate how much he had been through. The big ones stood out but even the small moments piled up over time.
After he caught up to the present, Cyntilla was looking at them both in awe.
"You escaped a Sky Realm 6 bolt tribulation?!" The sandstorm that helped her escape was due to that very event. She had seen such an event from afar but it had succeeded in her case. Even so, the feeling of the pressure even from 100 kilometers away left no doubt that being closer would be horrifying and tempting death.
Cyntilla seemed to try and digest the journey Lind had gone through. Even though it was clear that 3 women wanted to be with him, he had held back because he still valued Cyntilla but did he really know her anymore? He had been through so much but so had she.
Lind was looking at her and waiting to see what she wanted to do but sleep would be recommended, yet she looked up and seemed conflicted.
"You have changed. I can still see the boy I chose in you, but there is more now. I think the same is true of me." Cyntilla then began to relate to them the terrible journey she had gone through. Lind looked concerned as her mother's fate was unknown.
The amount of people killed by her should have horrified him, but he only had to recall that the number was not the issue so much as the reason. She was striking back while living in the desolate Dread Desert. She should be in the Gold Tier by now but living in that place held her back.
She was looking down into the fire when Lind moved forward and embraced her. He could not explain it, but he felt her need. She needed to be told she had not become a monster and had kept her honor.
"You are still Cyntilla. You have fought against the cage they kept trying to put you in. I am here for you not to claim you but to be with you as we talked about. I will not make any grand promises but I will never force you to be anything but what you wish to be." Her whole life had been dictated to her and she had fought back the whole time. She had been forced to live on the knife edge existence in the Dread Desert while hurting those that only saw her as a commodity.
Lind had not come to enforce the mark given to him. He had come because he promised her he would. He had come because the one person that held out hope to him needed hope in return.
Lavender hands suddenly grasped him tightly as tears began to flow. Annabelle was also crying as she enveloped them both together. It was a bit awkward but the moment felt like a bond was reforged between Lind and Cyntilla. It was a new beginning and hopefully the start of being together in the future.