That Fair-Faced 'Sage' {Completed}

108. The Demon War

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Meanwhile, Yun Qin slept...

But even in his sleep, something stirred.

It was an unsettling feeling. An insistence that something was immensely wrong...

The potion forced him to remain asleep, and from watching Lien use it on others, he knew he might be asleep for an entire day.

But he felt too restless. Too anxious.

And so, he began to force himself out of sleep.

It was nearly dawn, by the time Yun succeeded and opened his eyes, and though he was weakened by the potion, he dropped shaky legs to the floor, and immediately hurried to find Lien.

He slowly ambled his way through the vast manor, till he came to Lien's bedchamber, and his eyes immediately darted to her pale figure on the bed.

"Lien!" He rushed to her side, falling to his knees beside the bed. "Lien-er." He took her hand and shook her slightly, then noticed how cold she felt, and the strange clammy feel to her skin.

'Poison!'

"Lien! Lien!!" He checked her pulse, but only realized she was fast slipping away. He wanted to rise and go and find a healer, a cure, anything, but Yin Long placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"It's too late..."

Yun Qin knew as much.

He knew as much, but didn't know how accept it. "What do you mean? Lien-er was okay just a few hours ago!"

"She was putting on an act, from the moment we arrived." Yin Long explained. "She must have sensed that you hadn't used the blood Lotus, so she tricked us." Yin Long quite pale himself, as he had been pouring out as much energy as possible, for hours on end.

"I couldn't let her leave without meeting you first, so I transferred energy to her... I don't even know why it worked, but I couldn't dwell on it." Yin Long finished, before rising and leaving them alone.

Yun turned back to Lien. "When did you become someone I couldn't read?!" He asked, grasping her hand tighter.

Surprisingly, Lien stirred, and weakly squeezed his hand in return. Her eyes fluttered opened, as she turned to lock gazes with him, casting them both into the memories of happier times.

A ray of early sunlight flooded in, basking them both in its warm glow.

"I'm sorry." Lien forced out. "Thanks to me, you experienced so many hardships."

Yun shook his head furiously, as tears gathered in his eyes, but Lien continued. "I will also apologise for lying... I had to become 'someone you couldn't read', so you would live..."

"Where's the use in living, if you aren't here?" Yun asked calmly. "I will surely swallow poison and follow after you!"

But Lien just smiled at him. "Silly. The Lotus will heal you of all ills for a few months... Give life a chance till then, and only follow me, when you can no longer breathe..."

Yun was sobbing fully now, and Lien placed her hand on his head, then caressed his face. "Going by looks, I surely senior you as a human..." She chuckled weakly.

"I know you've had to gather karma. Don't let hate dwell in your heart, and complete your task to become human. The life of a human is fleeting, so the years without me will be like 'shutting your eyes and opening them again'..."

Her hand fell limply, and Yun felt her leave, as an unbearable pain settled in his heart.

He wailed in agony and clutched at his chest, as he clung to her limp hand.