The Untamed 2: The Unlikely Hero -Book 1-3

33. Adrift

33.ADRIFT

White. Blinding white light and a beautiful warmth was the only thing she could feel as she drifted in an empty nothingness of brilliant white light. She had never felt so at peace.

She was dead. She was dead for sure. A tiny spark in the center of her flickered in an unseen wind as if in response. 

She didn't want to leave him that way, she knew there was no other way to kill the demon.

The demon! She searched her own mind and core for even a hint of the energy she had felt before. If even a trace was left...

She felt nothing respond. If she could have sighed in relief, she would have but, her mind drifted back off into the empty white abyss.

She didn't know where she was, as she looked out into the vast emptiness she saw nothing. Was this heaven? Was it hell? She honestly didn't care. It was the first time in her life she didn't feel the pain, the hunger, the coldness of humanity like a weight on her shoulders. She felt truly at peace. She closed her eyes.

"You have no regrets then?" The distant sound of footsteps approaching woke her out of her trance. She opened her eyes and saw a young man standing over her staring down at her. 

He had a lean build, and long black hair that almost reached his back. It was tied back with a white bandage that covered his eyes. The long white robes that he wore seemed to shine in an ethereal glow around him. The beautifully gentle and kind smile on his lips was something Huang Jin would never forget.

"Xiao Xingchen?!"

She immediately wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. She could recall the last time that she had been able to do this.

Xiao Xingchen had found her close to death, starving, scavenging for food in a village outside of the Yunmeng Jiang sect. It had been just a few weeks after she had escaped the clutches of the Wen clan. She had been weak after the ordeal and she had no idea who she was or what had happened. Her mind had blocked it all out. She had enough instincts to avoid the men in red, though.

He had looked like an angel, even then. He was her guardian angel. They looked around the same age at the time, yet he had felt so much taller before. 

She smiled into his neck and she swore she felt tears dripping down her face. "I missed you."

She truly did. He had, after all, taught her everything she knew about cultivating. Him and his less trusting companion Song Lan. She recalled Song Lan's instant mistrust of her. It hadn't taken long for her to break down his walls though. Much like Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had done, they had shown her how to control her natural talent.

She remembered all of it vividly.

The countless hours of meditation and sparring with Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. The constant and vigilant training they had for what seemed like months and months. In truth it had only been a few weeks that they had mentored her as they were still conducting nights hunts throughout her training. But, it had been the best thing to have happened to her in her life. For the first moment in her life she had felt like she had a family.

Her heart had felt like it had shattered the day she found out that he had been killed. She had spent countless months looking for him after she had gotten word about Song Lan.

She felt a warmth spread through her at his contact. Not the burning warmth she felt with Jiang Cheng, but a pleasing one, like laying by an open fire on a cold night.

"I missed you too." Xiao Xingchen smiled down at her. He stepped back and held her shoulders with hands. "Now, you didn't answer my question. Do you regret anything you have done?"